Royal Caribbean just made an update to its website that makes planning dinner simpler.
Up until now, picking a time for dinner required a call to your travel agent or the cruise line to change assigned times and add in notes about any celebrations.
Royal Caribbean has now made that easier and faster because it's part of the website now.
A Royal Caribbean Blog reader noticed the change and posted about it on the message boards, and it's the kind of update I think will make everyone's life a little bit easier.
Here's what's new and how to access the changes.
You can now change dining times
Royal Caribbean gives every passenger the choice of what time to have dinner on the ship. There is Traditional Dinner or My Time Dining.
You select which option you want at the time of booking, but now it's easy to change your plans.
Here are the steps:
- Log into the Royal Caribbean website
- Find your upcoming cruise and click Manage Reservation
- Click Room and Guests
- Under "Preferred dining time" you will see the option you have now. Click Edit to change it.
From here, you can choose from one of the three Traditional dinner times that have a set time each evening: Early, Late, and Later. Royal Caribbean added a "middle dinner time" in 2024.
Or you can opt for My Time Dining.
If an option is full, there's a check box to select to ask to be put on the waitlist.
The waitlist is a way to get automatically signed up for it should a spot open up.
In my experience, even if the waitlist doesn't work before the cruise begins, you can usually go to the Main Dining Room on embarkation day and ask to change. That almost usually works to get changed to your preferred time.
Let the ship know you're celebrating
At the bottom of the same screen under Room and Guests is an option to add a celebration note.
"What better way to celebrate life's important moments, a wedding, honeymoon, reunion, birthday, graduation, and anniversary than with luxury aboard Royal."
From a dropdown menu, you can let Royal Caribbean know if you're celebrating an anniversary, birthday, honeymoon, or retirement.
To be clear, selecting one of these options does not inherently get you anything special or extra. But now the crew members will be able to see the note anytime they look into your account, such as at a restaurant.
Typically, crew members that see it at a restaurant could surprise you with a cake, wish, or special treat.
Should you pick Anytime dining?
Now that it's easier than ever to change your dining preferences, which should you choose?
These choices apply to dinner in the Main Dining Room only. Traditional Dining is where you’re assigned a set seating (early, middle, or late) with the same table and wait staff each night.
My Time Dining offers a more flexible choice that lets you choose when you want to eat each evening between roughly 6:00 and 9:30 p.m. under availability.
With Traditional Dining, you know exactly when and where you’ll eat every night, and there’s no wait once dinner begins. It’s routine and simple.
However My Time Dining works more like dining out at a restaurant: you can reserve a time ahead of your trip or show up and wait for a table, giving you more control to plan dinner around shows and excursions.
| Feature | Traditional Dining | My Time Dining |
|---|---|---|
| Dining Time | Fixed early or late seating each night | Flexible arrival between set evening hours |
| Table Assignment | Same table every night | Table assigned upon arrival or reservation |
| Wait Staff | Same wait team each evening | May vary depending on section and night |
| Reservations | Automatically scheduled for the full cruise | Can reserve specific times in advance or show up |
| Wait Times | No wait once your seating begins | Possible wait if arriving without a reservation |
| Best For | Guests who like routine and consistency | Guests who want flexibility around shows and activities |
I prefer Traditional for the simplicity. There's no extra steps to reserve dinner and no waiting for a table. While early is "too early" and late is "too late" for my taste, I'd rather make it as simple as I can.
Royal Caribbean is making its site and app better because it benefits customer and company
Improvements to the Royal Caribbean website aren't the result of a benevolent web team (although they're a great group of people). The cruise line sees digital engagement as a win-win opportunity.
During Royal Caribbean Group's earnings call last month, executives saw a growing segment of its customers leveraging its site and app to make planning their cruise easier. That translates to more pre-cruise sales and a better planning tool.
Royal Caribbean Group CEO Jason Liberty said active users on the company app rose 25% year over year in fourth quarter and e-commerce traffic grew 10% in 2025 with improved conversion rates.
"Our digital channels are increasingly the gateway to long-term guest value," he said.
While Royal Caribbean is clearly working towards compelling its guests to spend more, these kind of updates also help make managing a reservation easier.
