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My Time Dining question


JerseyJoe

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I've read that it can take up to 2 hours to complete a meal in the MDR. So, if the regular seatings are at 5:30 and 8:00, will it be difficult to get a table at other times if there will be a ton of people still in there from those times? Also, is it possible to get a table at those times if you are using My Time Dining, or are you limited to times other than those times?

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You can get a table at any time when it comes to My Time Dining .... just check the cruise compass to make sure the MDR is open when you want to go.

Now, they will suggest that you make reservations .... and if you are part of a larger party, then that would be the way to go, but if it's just two of you, you can just show up as though you were at a land based restaurant and be seated when a table comes available.

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Just now, coneyraven said:

You can get a table at any time when it comes to My Time Dining .... just check the cruise compass to make sure the MDR is open when you want to go.

Now, they will suggest that you make reservations .... and if you are part of a larger party, then that would be the way to go, but if it's just two of you, you can just show up as though you were at a land based restaurant and be seated when a table comes available.

Thanks. There will be 6 of us, so we will be making reservations. I'm not sure what to expect, or how many people can actually fit in there at one time. And if there are disadvantages to going at a certain time (for example, showing up for dinner at a time when a huge group of non-My Time Dining people are being served dessert).

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13 minutes ago, JerseyJoe said:

Thanks. There will be 6 of us, so we will be making reservations. I'm not sure what to expect, or how many people can actually fit in there at one time. And if there are disadvantages to going at a certain time (for example, showing up for dinner at a time when a huge group of non-My Time Dining people are being served dessert).

I don't think you said, but I don't think it really matters with Royals fleet except on some of the smaller ships.

Usually the main seating and MTD are in 2 different dinning rooms. On the bigger ships there are 3 dinning rooms, 1 per floor on floors 3, 4 and 5, so in this example 1 dinning room is reserved for MTD and handled with reservations or walk ups, the other 2 floors are for traditional dinning times.

As far as times, traditional dinning is usually busier at the early seating, for MTD it is usually busy around peak times at a land based restaurant, IE., 7, 7:30, so if you reserve early you should be OK.

If you go early and get hungry later there are plenty of places to get a snack at, if you go late go get a snack early to hold your group over, most people on here call it Windjammer reconnaissance.

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17 hours ago, JerseyJoe said:

I've read that it can take up to 2 hours to complete a meal in the MDR. So, if the regular seatings are at 5:30 and 8:00, will it be difficult to get a table at other times if there will be a ton of people still in there from those times? Also, is it possible to get a table at those times if you are using My Time Dining, or are you limited to times other than those times?

I think there is some confusion on how Traditional and My Time works  Depending on the ship there are multiple MDR restaurants (say on deck 3, 4 or 5).  Your assigned restaurant will be on your Sea Pass card.  So Traditional diners would be on Decks 4 and 5 and My Time would be on deck 3 (examples as it could be different on your ship).  They are usually not mixed together, with the exception of if My Time is full and traditional isn't they may send a few My Time diners to a traditional dining deck with many empty tables so they don't have to wait.  

You will be able to make reservations on the Cruise Planner for My Time Dining.  I book anywhere from 6-6:30 for my family of 6.  I highly suggest you make reservations as like a land restaurant it can fill up at popular times and you will have to wait.  If you want to get the same table and wait staff every night, reserve a time about the same time each night.  It does make service a bit easier as then the wait staff learns your drink preference and the meal goes a bit quicker.

 

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45 minutes ago, melski94 said:

I think there is some confusion on how Traditional and My Time works  Depending on the ship there are multiple MDR restaurants (say on deck 3, 4 or 5).  Your assigned restaurant will be on your Sea Pass card.  So Traditional diners would be on Decks 4 and 5 and My Time would be on deck 3 (examples as it could be different on your ship).  They are usually not mixed together, with the exception of if My Time is full and traditional isn't they may send a few My Time diners to a traditional dining deck with many empty tables so they don't have to wait.  

You will be able to make reservations on the Cruise Planner for My Time Dining.  I book anywhere from 6-6:30 for my family of 6.  I highly suggest you make reservations as like a land restaurant it can fill up at popular times and you will have to wait.  If you want to get the same table and wait staff every night, reserve a time about the same time each night.  It does make service a bit easier as then the wait staff learns your drink preference and the meal goes a bit quicker.

 

That was very helpful, thank you. Having never done a cruise before, I didn't have an understanding of how it worked. I assumed there was one massive dining room, not 3 separate ones.

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2 hours ago, JerseyJoe said:

That was very helpful, thank you. Having never done a cruise before, I didn't have an understanding of how it worked. I assumed there was one massive dining room, not 3 separate ones.

Try a google image search for the name of your ship and "dining room".  Most of them are really multi-story rooms where the main floor is full of tables and the other floors have an open area in the middle to look down so they seem like huge balconies.  There's a grand staircase connecting them that all the waiters will gather on for a photo op at some point.

 

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3 hours ago, Atlantix2000 said:

Try a google image search for the name of your ship and "dining room".  Most of them are really multi-story rooms where the main floor is full of tables and the other floors have an open area in the middle to look down so they seem like huge balconies.  There's a grand staircase connecting them that all the waiters will gather on for a photo op at some point.

 

I've seen that picture, but it wasn't clear to me that it was actually considered 3 separate dining rooms as opposed to one dining room that spans 3 floors.

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23 minutes ago, JerseyJoe said:

I've seen that picture, but it wasn't clear to me that it was actually considered 3 separate dining rooms as opposed to one dining room that spans 3 floors.

The Quantum Class are the only ones that are really different, Royal was going to try Dynamic dinning similar to what other lines do (Disney comes to mind), they rotate you through the different dinning rooms because each one has different theme.

I think the rooms on the Q class still have different themes but Royal stopped the dynamic dining. Now it is just Main dinning and MTD.

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In addition to what has already been said, I recommend linking all of your reservations together (if you didn't book all the reservations) to make it easier to book the MTD.  You can do this by calling in to customer service at any time.  Once you are linked together, it makes it easier to book the reservation in the cruise planner under dining.  You can manually link them in the cruise planner using each party's reservation number but sometimes its glitchy and a PITA.  ?

We do MTD all the time and have never had an issue but yes they do fill up by the so book as soon as you can.  I'm 47 days out and just booked out MTD reservations and noticed that the 7p slot was already filled up on several days and we are just a party of 2 this time.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I believe the Cruise Planner opens about 90 days out from your sailing but that number isn't exact. On my next cruise the My Time dining option opened at day 80 and the show reservations didn't open until day 59. You just have to keep checking. My cruise mate likes to eat early so if the traditional early seating isn't available, I set up My Time. I complete reservations on the Cruise Planner but I always stop at the MDR on Day 1 - there's someone there just for taking and discussing reservations- just to make sure everything is set. They have never not been able to accommodate us. If there's anything you find that you would like changed after the first night, just stop by the reservation person on your way out and they'll work it out. You'll find that the staff will go above and beyond to give you a great cruise. I call it the "Royal" treatment. Enjoy.

 

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6 hours ago, FloridaMac said:

How many days in advance of set sail does My Time Dining usually open up for reservations?  Has anyone seen it available to book via the dining email or customer service before it's opened up to Cruise Planner.  The early time for traditional on our 3/20 cruise is already full.

On my Radiance sailing for summer 2019, MTD was in CP more than a year in advance. I've learned that that, and many CP offerings for that sailing, were an anomaly.

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48 minutes ago, Baked Alaska said:

On my Radiance sailing for summer 2019, MTD was in CP more than a year in advance. I've learned that that, and many CP offerings for that sailing, were an anomaly.

I've done MTD on 6+ cruises and all my MTD reservations have opened up 9+ months in advance.  My 3/20 Harmony cruise has MTD already open.  I've never had a problem getting the time I wanted.  

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