Tira04

I go through phases but rarely buy specialty dining.  Sometimes I get one from a travel agent which tends to be the only time I visit specialty.
I'm in a Windjammer phase right now.  When I vacation on land or at home I don't have big sit down meals nights after night after night.  Occasionally having the full service meal is cool but most of the time I prefer to dine and dash.  I also find greater variety in the Windjammer.  I can have mostly a salad one night or I can create a meal that's not available in the MDR.   
Sometimes the MDR is too much for me, sitting for periods of time between courses when I could be out and about doing something on the ship.  Sometimes a full 3 course meal is too much food.

Its a matter of preference and interest.... my gf and I are not foodie's...we eat cause we have to basically.... Just like we only book interior cabins as we spend NO time in there....except to shower and sleep....but others wont cruise without at least a balcony room.
 
We have done 4 cruises together and only one meal in a MDR(and not on Royal)....we always hit up the WJ or whatever buffet or snack area there is. The food is always good..selection is great.....sitting for 2 hrs would be a buzz kill for me and be ready for bed by the end of a 3 course 2 hr dinner. There is so much going on to see and do that we would rather be doing.
 
That being said, our upcoming cruise is a 7 night one..so I am guessing we will hit the MDR once for the experience.

We spent 12 nights on Serenade last fall, and the MDR was fine.  Food was always hot and well-prepared.  Our waiter Mario was the best, and worked hard every night.  We ate in the MDR I think 9 of the 12 nights.  One night we did Izumi, and the other two we went to the WJ.  WJ is hit or miss, depending on what you are eating.  We're primarily plant-based so we're not trying the meat options.  My husband does eat seafood and wasn't interested in any of the seafood options in the WJ.  
We were sick of the MDR by the time we reached the final night, and honestly only went to say good bye to our wait staff.   We reluctantly ate our meal there, but as it was a repeat of a previous menu (that only has one vegetarian option) we really were not interested in the same dish again and just picked at our food.  I think I ended up eating pizza at Park Cafe for dinner later. 

We love the Main Dining Room because the food is good, the service is excellent, and we feel like royalty.  We find that when we get to know the wait staff, we have a richer cruise experience. The Windjammer is fine for breakfast or lunch (especially made-to-order omelettes or stir fry), and it is useful for dinner when you don't want to dress up to whatever the dress code is in the MDR.   That said, there have been changes over time, so you can't compare the MDR five years ago with the MDR today.   In a cruise last month on the Harmony, we noticed items that we used to see all the time weren't there or were available only occasionally.   I was chagrined I couldn't have escargot on one of the formal nights (it's a thing...) On the other hand, we've tried specialty restaurants and noted the following: (1) they aren't that special (decor/ambience), (2) a growing number of guests don't dress appropriately. (3) the food isn't much better than the MDR and occasionally worse, (4) the service can be slow, but (5) the wait staff usually do whatever they can to please you.  If you want a particular food item, you will want to check the restaurant menus to see if the item is available.  A lot of guests swear by the specialty restaurants, which are generally less crowded, but I really don't see the value proposition.  Remember a dinner in MDR is penciled in about $25 or so (when you calculate the 18% gratuity built in to the daily rate, the food now pars out at $45-$50 per day per person).  Thus, when you pay an extra $30-$45 for a specialty dinner, it is like paying $55 to $70 or more per person.  My specialty dinners haven't been that good..... The strength of the WJ is the incredible variety, the disadvantage the crowds at peak periods.   Every cruise our family looks forward to eating duck, lamb, lobster tail, and pork loin/shank in the MDR. 
PS.  If you are ever on a vessel with a norovirus outbreak, you will see certain measures put in place on buffet lines.  In Australia/NZ in 2018, the Windjammer rules changed -- guests couldn't fill their own plates in the buffet line -- only staff could handle the food.  it was a bit slower and more tedious. 

I'm just 28 days from my next cruise on Serenade out of Stockholm and getting excited!!
I've read a lot about the speciality restaurants. But what does everyone think of the MDR? Is the food quality in decline? What about the MDR versus the WJ? Does anyone prefer one over the other? 

I've booked back to back RC shore excursions for St. Petersburg. Our first excursion should return to the ship at 11:45 with the second meeting at 1:30pm. I'm just wondering if the first is late will we miss the second? Or would they wait? Has anyone else done a back to back excursion day?

Yes, we have, in Rio de Janeiro. We made it but only just. However, that was mostly the fault of the stragglers in my party who were late getting down to the meeting point for the first excursion. This meant we were on the very last bus of several doing the same excursion and had to wait a bit longer yet for some more stragglers. As a result we got back to ship only with enough time to go to the toilet and grab a sandwich to eat on the way back off the ship for the next one.
So you should be ok for your double trip but make sure to get to the meeting point early to try and get on the first bus out. The earlier your bus leaves, the earlier it will be back. Enjoy!

There have been some of those on every excursion we've been on. I don't think they can be avoided, unfortunately. Punctuality is a pet peeve of mine, so stuff like that really bothers me. Admittedly too much some times. 
We fell behind on one of our excursions to Peggy's Cove in Nova Scotia because this guy on our bus just HAD to buy caramel corn at the gift shop. Really?
The world would be a better place if we all just thought about others once in awhile, more than we thought about ourselves. Just a thought.

I`m from Sweden but not from Gotland, I think you can definitely fill the time there. Visby is a cosy and beautiful town with lots of shops, cafés, bars and restaurants. Dont forget to walk around the ringwall or "Ringmuren" in swedish. it´s about 3.5 kilometers around and it was built in the 12th century, also the botanical garden is pretty nice to stroll through.
And if you want a meal with a view I can recommend restaurant Krönet, you cant book a table though and it can be quite full in july. 
Maybe you can get more ideas from here: https://gotland.com/en/visit/articles-guides/visby-4-hours/

The Royal VIP Signature Breakfast that was one of the choices on the debarkation breakfast menu for the Key program. Huge portion also. Absolutely delicious!


 
 

That might be 2 hours before scheduled ship departure, in order to allow time for check in and processing....

The arrival times are suggestions and you really can get there whenever.  I’m cruising out of Barcelona and figuring on getting there about 930.  I figure I’d rather wait in the terminal and see the ship than at my Airbnb!  I will be following to see what others who have actual knowledge (ie not me lol) have to say.  Have a great cruise!! Jane

Hi Jane
You won't get sick from the water in Cuba or Europe.
I went to Havana on Majesty of the Seas last year. There are not public water fountains that I saw but plenty of vendors sell it. Also the ships dock right in central Havana and it's very easy to go on board and off again if you need to. The cafes sell drinks like mojitos and coffees but no blended drinks
In Europe there are plenty of shops and vendors that sell water as well as public fountains. I've not been to the Vatican, but I can say that some larger museums don't let you take food or drink into the galleries for security and to protect the artwork from accidental damage. 

Hi @hsweat22 !
Here are all of the MDR (dinner) menus from my cruise last week on Allure (5/19/19-5/26/19)... Western Caribbean itinerary w/ formal evenings on MON and THU...
 
Day 1 (SUN)...
+
 
Day 2 (MON)... 1st Formal Evening...

 
Day 3 (TUE)...

 
Day 4 (WED)...

 
Day 5 (THU)... Second Formal Evening... Lobster night...

 
Day 6 (FRI)...

 
Day 7 (SAT)... final evening...