Dinner takes 2 hours?

[brianastree]

According to the guidebook, a dinner takes about 2 hours.

Is this true?

On Day2, we reserved Main Dining Room at 7:30PM and have a reservation of Comedy Show at 8:45PM.

This meas we have only 1hour 15mins for the dinner on the day.

 

Is this OK?

[twangster]

Dinner can take anywhere from an hour to the full two hours.  

Day 2 is often a formal night but unsure of your ship or itinerary.  

[brianastree]

I will sail on HOTS.

[jticarruthers]

If you need to be out faster you can push the pace a bit by letting the waiters know you are in a rush, skipping desert , etc.

Its a little bit limited since they are trying to serve multiple tables and keep them all on "pace" together so that they arent trying to get your entree out while still serving the appetizers at the next table over, etc. but they will do what they can if you let them know.

Our general experience is about 90 minutes but we have done much faster at times, lots of variables in the mix.

[SpeedNoodles]

I sailed solo on Mariner with My Time Dining and was always out in 45-60 minutes. I found MTD to be less relaxed than I remember traditional dining (10 years ago).

[brianastree]

32 minutes ago, SpeedNoodles said:

I sailed solo on Mariner with My Time Dining and was always out in 45-60 minutes. I found MTD to be less relaxed than I remember traditional dining (10 years ago).

Thank you for your information.

I have reserved My Time Dining, which seems to be in time for what I will be doing.

[melski94]

My MTD on HOTS experience was that dinner took 1 hour and 7 of us were at a table.  It is possible but not guaranteed.  You'll need to tell your wait staff and possibly skip dessert as they will start opening the comedy show to standby 10 minutes prior to the show.  Is it possible to change your reservation to 7:15 just for that night?

[Srp431]

Formal nights always take longer than casual nights in the main dining room. I've also found that smaller tables have a quicker turn around time than larger tables

[brianastree]

6 hours ago, melski94 said:

My MTD on HOTS experience was that dinner took 1 hour and 7 of us were at a table.  It is possible but not guaranteed.  You'll need to tell your wait staff and possibly skip dessert as they will start opening the comedy show to standby 10 minutes prior to the show.  Is it possible to change your reservation to 7:15 just for that night?

Thank you.

 I couldn’t find an entry for 7:15 nor 7:00 on the day.

 I will ask the waiter.

[brianastree]

1 hour ago, Srp431 said:

Formal nights always take longer than casual nights in the main dining room. I've also found that smaller tables have a quicker turn around time than larger tables

I will have a small table for two.

[ama537621]

I expect that we will only use the main dining room a couple of times on our 8 day upcoming cruise. My wife hates to eat later then 6:15. And main dining will take away her sunset pictures. 

[Lovetocruise2002]

@brianastree here’s another idea...If you have time, just show up earlier (maybe 6:30pm) and just go to the “without reservations” line. If there are only 2 of you, it might not take that long to get a table and then you can eat earlier.

[Srp431]

Another thing to add to the list is to let your waiter(s) know what your in a hurry, this happened to us last yr on Oasis and they got us out in about 1hr.

[Mrs. RoyalMoyal]

Let you waiter know the speed that you want service, skip dessert (oh my!) and don't order alcohol (egads!) and the entire meal will be quick.  I wanted to get to the Flowrider at 6:00 PM last Anthem cruise, because it was one of 2 warm days.  We sat down at 5:30, I ordered "just fried chicken", and it came with my family's drinks and I was on my way in 20 minutes, leaving my husband with my teenage boys. My waiter told me that he could have taken my order the night before and had my meal ready for me when I sat down!  

[Jedi Jason]

Lots of great suggestions.  Combo some of them:  show up early, tell them you are in a rush to make a show, consider skipping dessert (you may be able to get it delivered to your room).  I would normally expect about 1.5 hours from my prior experience unless you told them to serve you quickly.

[CyclingVa]

Dinner in the MDR has always seemed to take 1.5 to 2 hrs but it doesnt ever seem that long because the waiters always check on you bringing bread, drinks, appetizers etc... then dessert and coffee etc....  alot of waiters will entertain a little too with a trick or joke etc...