Jason Posted December 30, 2018 Report Share Posted December 30, 2018 Am I able to make dinner reservations in the MDR and specialty restaurants at different times each day? We’ll be on Freedom of the Seas in June and each port has different times we’re in port (8-8, 8-9, 8-5, 8-6, and 8-5). Should I switch to My Time Dining or keep my 8pm reservation time even though I’ve already purchased the 3 meal specialty dining package? TIA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLMoran Posted December 30, 2018 Report Share Posted December 30, 2018 Hi @Jason! My personal feeling is that once you have more than half your nights booked with specialty dining or some other venue like Coastal Kitchen, it makes more sense to just be on My Time Dining. You won’t really be seeing any table mates you’d have with Traditional Dining, and it open up the seats for anyone who’s been wait listed. Jason 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melski94 Posted December 30, 2018 Report Share Posted December 30, 2018 It sounds like My Time Dining is exactly what you want. With MTD, you can make reservations based on the times that you would like to eat in the MDR which sounds like that would be perfect for you. Jason 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Posted December 30, 2018 Author Report Share Posted December 30, 2018 Thank you for the information. This will be our first cruise so we’re still learning. How far in advance can I make reservations with Chop’s Grille 2x, Giovanni’s, and a table for 2 in the MDR? Also, any idea where/when I can find out what times the shows/entertainment are at to make the appropriate times for dinner reservations with MTD? Thank you once again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLMoran Posted December 31, 2018 Report Share Posted December 31, 2018 5 hours ago, Jason said: How far in advance can I make reservations with Chop’s Grille 2x, Giovanni’s, and a table for 2 in the MDR? Also, any idea where/when I can find out what times the shows/entertainment are at to make the appropriate times for dinner reservations with MTD? Dining reservations are typically available pretty far in advance of sail date. If it’s not visible yet in your Cruise Planner, keep checking once a week. No shows on Freedom require reservations, and all are timed around the traditional dining hours. Figure one show each night at 7 or 7:30, and a second performance at 10 or 10:30. Plan on 90 minutes minimum for specialty restaurants, more likely two hours since all food is typically cooked to order; you might be able to eat in less than that on your My Time Dining nights, but better to err on the longer side, even with a heads-up to your waiter. Jason 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Posted December 31, 2018 Author Report Share Posted December 31, 2018 2 hours ago, JLMoran said: Dining reservations are typically available pretty far in advance of sail date. If it’s not visible yet in your Cruise Planner, keep checking once a week. No shows on Freedom require reservations, and all are timed around the traditional dining hours. Figure one show each night at 7 or 7:30, and a second performance at 10 or 10:30. Plan on 90 minutes minimum for specialty restaurants, more likely two hours since all food is typically cooked to order; you might be able to eat in less than that on your My Time Dining nights, but better to err on the longer side, even with a heads-up to your waiter. Thank you and I’ll definitely keep checking the Cruise Planner. I’m glad to hear that there’s typically 2 shows per night to plan our dinner reservations accordingly. I’ve become almost obsessed with doing research about our first cruise, but we’re both extremely excited and want to be prepared for the trip. Thanks again! Baked Alaska and mom2mybugs 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2mybugs Posted December 31, 2018 Report Share Posted December 31, 2018 7 hours ago, Jason said: Thank you and I’ll definitely keep checking the Cruise Planner. I’m glad to hear that there’s typically 2 shows per night to plan our dinner reservations accordingly. I’ve become almost obsessed with doing research about our first cruise, but we’re both extremely excited and want to be prepared for the trip. Thanks again! Have an amazing trip...I have been on freedom twice and loved it. I agree with @JLMoran that my time seems the way to go. I found the last time we did traditional seating, we were at a huge 10 table and at least 4 people a night were gone with specialty dining or ports. We ourselves were only there 3 nights and it just seemed kinda forced to make conversation. It was very different than my first cruise but I can think with the dining pkgs it will be the trend. We are doing 4 nights of specialty dining on our upcoming allure cruise, and with 2 being the BOGO and taking the first 2 nights, we will just go my time or windjammer (which I have never done for dinner!). Jane Jason 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melski94 Posted December 31, 2018 Report Share Posted December 31, 2018 Here is a Freedom cruise compass https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/cruise-compasses/freedom-of-the-seas/sun-2018-12-09-0000 You can use that to get an idea of show times, etc. I find that the MTD times shows up about a year before your cruise. Just an FYI, there are typically no reservations between 6:30 ish and 7:15. We try to make the latest "first table" seating which is around 6:15/6:30. We typically have no problem making a show after 8 with that time. My cruises have seen a 6 and 8 show but Freedom may be different. Jason 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Posted December 31, 2018 Author Report Share Posted December 31, 2018 3 hours ago, mom2mybugs said: Have an amazing trip...I have been on freedom twice and loved it. I agree with @JLMoran that my time seems the way to go. I found the last time we did traditional seating, we were at a huge 10 table and at least 4 people a night were gone with specialty dining or ports. We ourselves were only there 3 nights and it just seemed kinda forced to make conversation. It was very different than my first cruise but I can think with the dining pkgs it will be the trend. We are doing 4 nights of specialty dining on our upcoming allure cruise, and with 2 being the BOGO and taking the first 2 nights, we will just go my time or windjammer (which I have never done for dinner!). Jane Thank you and I’m also going to look into reserving a table for 2 if available to make our cruise a little more intimate since this will be our 20 year Anniversary. What’s your opinion on which 3 specialty dining restaurants to go to? Initially we were wanting to go to Chop’s Grille, Giovanni’s, and Sabor, but I’ve read a lot of reviews Sabor isn’t worth going to. We’re considering going to either Chop’s twice and Giovanni’s. Also, we purchased THE KEY so we’ll be going to Chop’s for lunch on embarkation day. Thanks again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Posted December 31, 2018 Author Report Share Posted December 31, 2018 3 hours ago, melski94 said: Here is a Freedom cruise compass https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/cruise-compasses/freedom-of-the-seas/sun-2018-12-09-0000 You can use that to get an idea of show times, etc. I find that the MTD times shows up about a year before your cruise. Just an FYI, there are typically no reservations between 6:30 ish and 7:15. We try to make the latest "first table" seating which is around 6:15/6:30. We typically have no problem making a show after 8 with that time. My cruises have seen a 6 and 8 show but Freedom may be different. Thank you so much for the Cruise Compass link and other suggestions! I haven’t seen one this current. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2mybugs Posted January 2, 2019 Report Share Posted January 2, 2019 On 12/31/2018 at 12:42 PM, Jason said: Thank you and I’m also going to look into reserving a table for 2 if available to make our cruise a little more intimate since this will be our 20 year Anniversary. What’s your opinion on which 3 specialty dining restaurants to go to? Initially we were wanting to go to Chop’s Grille, Giovanni’s, and Sabor, but I’ve read a lot of reviews Sabor isn’t worth going to. We’re considering going to either Chop’s twice and Giovanni’s. Also, we purchased THE KEY so we’ll be going to Chop’s for lunch on embarkation day. Thanks again We did all 3 and we liked sabor, but it was definitely hit or miss the 2 cruises in terms of food and service. The quac and desserts were really good, and the specialty margaritas were fun. Since you are doing the key, I would go ahead and try sabor. Chops was amazing, as was Giovanni's. Any way you do it will work great! Happy anniversary!!!! Jane Jason 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Posted January 2, 2019 Author Report Share Posted January 2, 2019 8 minutes ago, mom2mybugs said: We did all 3 and we liked sabor, but it was definitely hit or miss the 2 cruises in terms of food and service. The quac and desserts were really good, and the specialty margaritas were fun. Since you are doing the key, I would go ahead and try sabor. Chops was amazing, as was Giovanni's. Any way you do it will work great! Happy anniversary!!!! Jane Thank you so much and I think you’re right about us going to Sabor too. I have heard nothing but positive things about the guacamole, margaritas, and desserts. We might as well go to all three since we will be going to Chop’s for lunch anyways. Thanks again! mom2mybugs 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonL Posted January 5, 2019 Report Share Posted January 5, 2019 I'm a chronic micro manager. Last cruise I was almost afraid to make my MTD dinner reservation before hand, because I didn't know exactely what shows I would be seeing and whatnot. This is silly, don't be like me. Just make your best guess and book all your MTD reservations as early as possible. Then simply call and change them as needed while you are on the cruise, this gives you the best shot at having a dining time that suits you. Jason 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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