Todd W

That might require a call to RCI so you can link up the reservations.  Or you can wait until you board and go to the MDR and talk to them.

Similar question was recently discussed on the below thread. Consensus seemed to be that with groups of 8 or more, it's really better to go with traditional dining rather than MTD. Partly for table availability, partly because you can just tell everyone in your group "this is dinner time every day, so plan to meet then" rather than having the daily discussion (or argument) about what time to meet up.
 

I agree with @JLMoran that choosing a traditional dining time might be better than MTD.  We had 8 people in 4 cabins on Oasis a few years ago. All the reservations were linked.  We had a table for 8 at the first dinner seating.
 

If you want MTD then don't worry about it. The 5:30 is way too early for us to eat as we feel we miss too much in the afternoon to get ready so I always make 6:15 reservations. Just be there at least 15 minutes early the first night! I think you will be fine with MTD with 8.  There are quite a few large round tables but they will join two 4 top tables together too.  If you can link the reservation in the cruise planner and then make one reservation for everyone.
We normally travel with 6 but last cruise on Harmony we had 7.  I made MTD reservations and verified everything upon boarding.  They told me when I checked in for the evening to go to another desk that dealt with seating large parties.  We were in an dining area where we were the smallest dining party for the week....many parties of 12+.  Never had a problem. 

No worries at all Annette.  My intention wasn't to air my dirty laundry but to provide honest feedback of my experience to the OP.     Thanks!

Don't go in with the mentality that you have to see and do it all.     bring a highlighter with you and once on board, go through the cruise compass and highlight those "must do" items that are top priority for you.   Give yourself some room to just "wing it" while on board.   Half the fun is just wondering around meeting people and seeing where you end up.   The first cruise my wife and I went cruised, i tried to make sure we did as much as possible and we ran ourselves ragged.   It's a vacation,   relax and have fun!   cheers!

Don't go in with the mentality that you have to see and do it all.     bring a highlighter with you and once on board, go through the cruise compass and highlight those "must do" items that are top priority for you.   Give yourself some room to just "wing it" while on board.   Half the fun is just wondering around meeting people and seeing where you end up.   The first cruise my wife and I went cruised, i tried to make sure we did as much as possible and we ran ourselves ragged.   It's a vacation,   relax and have fun!   cheers!

Don't go in with the mentality that you have to see and do it all.     bring a highlighter with you and once on board, go through the cruise compass and highlight those "must do" items that are top priority for you.   Give yourself some room to just "wing it" while on board.   Half the fun is just wondering around meeting people and seeing where you end up.   The first cruise my wife and I went cruised, i tried to make sure we did as much as possible and we ran ourselves ragged.   It's a vacation,   relax and have fun!   cheers!

No worries at all Annette.  My intention wasn't to air my dirty laundry but to provide honest feedback of my experience to the OP.     Thanks!

No worries at all Annette.  My intention wasn't to air my dirty laundry but to provide honest feedback of my experience to the OP.     Thanks!

Don't go in with the mentality that you have to see and do it all.     bring a highlighter with you and once on board, go through the cruise compass and highlight those "must do" items that are top priority for you.   Give yourself some room to just "wing it" while on board.   Half the fun is just wondering around meeting people and seeing where you end up.   The first cruise my wife and I went cruised, i tried to make sure we did as much as possible and we ran ourselves ragged.   It's a vacation,   relax and have fun!   cheers!

Thanks!     Best of luck in your decision as well.   Cheers!
 

Thanks for sharing your experience. I have seen good things about 3 or so of the MEI reps and some not so good things about some others. I'm sure this is true of all companies, but is exactly why I am on the fence about this. Good luck and happy sailing!

for another perspective, i'm also a control freak and booked my first two cruises on my own through RCL and left them that way.   After hearing all the positive things about MEI, i booked through RCL a year ago for a cruise in April of 2019 and then switched it over to MEI to see how things would go.  Part of that booking also included 2 more couples which i got to switch over to MEI as well.   Now...   During this last year, i've had zero contact from my MEI rep other than when i reached out to make a payment of nearly all the balance.   During that call which was at the beginning of March , i had also told her i was interested in getting some pricing on HOTS for April 2020 for the same 6 of us from our 2019 cruise.  she said she would check into things for me and nearly 2 months have passed and again, not a word from her.     So,  I went ahead and have been watching pricing and booked my wife and I on my own for our first HOTS / Oasis class cruise (whoo hooo!)  in April 2020.   will I switch this one over to MEI, no.   for the $25 OBC that i would get, it's not worth it to me.   particularly because of the lack of any and all communication, as well as this rep had a minimum payment amount she "preferred" me to make when i called in.   I'd honestly rather have the ability to log into RCL's wonky website and chisel down my payments with as little or as large as i want to over the next two years.      This isn't intended as a slam on MEI because i always hear such great things about them.  in fact, now that i write this, i may very well switch over to them again but use a different rep.   I just booked last week so i have some time to consider it.    

Person after my own heart lol
 

I tend to spend more time reading the drink menus rather than the lifeboat serial numbers. ?

My wife and I are Buffet fans so any time a cruise is sneaking up on us,  Buffet gets more play than normal along with any other type of "Island" music.  While Mariachi music may be more indigenous to your ports, im my opinion that just doesn't get me into the mood.    In my long winded sort of way,  anything Buffet-esque you can't go wrong with.   Anything played on Radio Margaritaville (#24) on Sirius keeps me ready for the crusing mood.     Kenny Chesney, Marley, Jack Johnson, Little Feat and so on.   Cheers!
 

ok i've made one post on this forum prior to this,  but this one brought me out of hiding as i was laughing my head off.   I totally agree!  sounds to me like she needed something else to focus on.   

ok i've made one post on this forum prior to this,  but this one brought me out of hiding as i was laughing my head off.   I totally agree!  sounds to me like she needed something else to focus on.