Dining Questions

[NJCruisers]

I'm currently signed up for MTD thru my TA.  We might be in the minority, but my hubby and I were looking forward to eating dinner with others as it will only be the 2 of us on the cruise.  Is it better to switch to a regular seating?  However, I've also heard of instances where it was observed of only one or two people sitting at a large table all by themselves.  We certainly don't want that either.  We also do not have any plans (as of yet) to eat at any of the signature restaurants. 

AND, the only other cruise we went on together we enjoyed having the same waiter every night.  I guess the upside to MTD is that you get to meet a bunch more and if you get a dud, you don't have to worry about being with them all week.  We aren't picky eaters and have no allergies so that's not a concern. 

Can you tell I'm all over the place right now?  Mind you I don't sail till November but my last few vacations were Disney World so I'm still in obsessive planner mode!

[melski94]

With MTD you typically sit at a table with only your party unless you request to sit with a larger group.  Granted these tables for 2 can be VERY close together so you may feel like you are seated with a larger group.  With MTD, if you make a reservation at the same time each night, you typically will receive the same wait staff unless you request to be moved or dramatically change your time.  

If you want to sit with others, then yes you should request to change to traditional dining.  You will take a chance if your tablemates will show up for dinner or not. 

If you plan on doing several specialty dinners then maybe stick to MTD so you don't leave people sitting by themselves with the traditional table.

 

[NJCruisers]

53 minutes ago, melski94 said:

With MTD you typically sit at a table with only your party unless you request to sit with a larger group. 

 

Thanks for your reply!  So is there a way to request to sit with a larger group online? Or can that be taken care of by a visit to the dining room on embarkation day?

Also, how long should we normally plan for meals - like is an hour long enough?  I liked the idea of having dinner at 530/6 then being able to leave the ship for a bit before we have to be back on it.  If we get 6pm traditional dining we may not be able to do that then I'm guessing.  First world problems, I know!

[JasonL]

3 hours ago, NJCruisers said:

I'm currently signed up for MTD thru my TA.  We might be in the minority, but my hubby and I were looking forward to eating dinner with others as it will only be the 2 of us on the cruise.  Is it better to switch to a regular seating?

My wife and I love to sit with a larger group and make get to know some people with traditional dining. Traditional dining is best for this, unless you just want to show up for MTD and tell them you want a larger table at check-in. We enjoy seeing the same table mates and waiter staff though. If we take our kids with us on the cruise we get our own table though, I wouldn't do that to strangers 

[melski94]

2 hours ago, NJCruisers said:

Thanks for your reply!  So is there a way to request to sit with a larger group online? Or can that be taken care of by a visit to the dining room on embarkation day?

Also, how long should we normally plan for meals - like is an hour long enough?  I liked the idea of having dinner at 530/6 then being able to leave the ship for a bit before we have to be back on it.  If we get 6pm traditional dining we may not be able to do that then I'm guessing.  First world problems, I know!

You would need to visit the dining room on embarkation day and they can try to take care of you.  There would have to be others willing to sit with others too.

An hour minimum, typically 75-90 minutes. 

2 hours ago, NJCruisers said:

  I liked the idea of having dinner at 530/6 then being able to leave the ship for a bit before we have to be back on it.  If we get 6pm traditional dining we may not be able to do that then I'm guessing.  

Some ships have early traditional dining at 5:30 and other ships it is at 6.  Not sure what time your ship has traditional but you should check to see if it is even available to move to.  Often the early seating fills up quickly.   If you plan to leave the ship after dinner but you may want to plan the earliest 5:30 MTD or even a WJ dinner on that port evening. 

[JLMoran]

If you want to have a group of regular table-mates and are concerned about whether they'll be there every night, I'd recommend getting the late traditional dining slot. Yes, you're eating at 8:30 every night, but based on my experience and what others here have reported, this is the ideal traditional dining slot. Especially if you want a big table.

• MyTime Dining is just about done by this point, so the wait staff can actually catch a breath and aren't running all over the place; this translates into better service
• You get more of that "classic" experience of getting to know the wait staff and them getting to know you
• While it's not guaranteed you'll lose fewer table-mates to specialty dining or other things, it should be less likely
• The food quality should be better since the kitchen isn't as hard-pressed to keep up with demand

[NJCruisers]

16 hours ago, JLMoran said:

If you want to have a group of regular table-mates and are concerned about whether they'll be there every night, I'd recommend getting the late traditional dining slot. Yes, you're eating at 8:30 every night, but based on my experience and what others here have reported, this is the ideal traditional dining slot. Especially if you want a big table.

• MyTime Dining is just about done by this point, so the wait staff can actually catch a breath and aren't running all over the place; this translates into better service
• You get more of that "classic" experience of getting to know the wait staff and them getting to know you
• While it's not guaranteed you'll lose fewer table-mates to specialty dining or other things, it should be less likely
• The food quality should be better since the kitchen isn't as hard-pressed to keep up with demand

You bring up a lot of good points.  Initially I was worried about missing out (I believe the kids call it FOMO these days, lol).  I need to get in the Disney mindset that I won't be able to see/do it all & that's okay.  This is supposed to be a relaxing vacation!  Which means if I do have us up and out early & on the go most of the day, we can get back to the ship and take a little nap before dinner if needed, lol.