coneyraven Posted April 11, 2016 Report Share Posted April 11, 2016 This one should be very simple .... Do you Have To Make A Reservation each night for My Time Dining, or can you just show up? My wife and I like the idea of flexibility because we never quite know how each day will go.... and making an advance reservation might be counter-productive for us ... Also, assuming we are seated at a table with others ..... do they work it so you sit with those that are also being seated at the same time.... I know I wouldn't want to sit at a table with others that are finishing up their meals.... plus, the thought of that seems a bit like sitting at a dirty table.... Just trying to get a feel for how it works from start to finish. And yes, Matt, I agree with you whole-heartedly, the planning and anticipation of an upcoming cruise is almost as much fun as the cruise itself.......almost. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAAAYTOOO Posted April 11, 2016 Report Share Posted April 11, 2016 Yes, you can go to MTD without a reservation. There is sometimes a short wait but with just 2 of you, it wouldn't be more than a few minutes. You can ask for a private table or agree to be seated with others at a larger table. It's whatever you are comfortable with. Because MTD is intended to serve people who will be eating at different times on different days, it is difficult to eat with the same people but it can be done ! We always use MTD but we try and eat at the same time every night (usually as early as possible...5:30) so we usually ask for the same table and server for every night of the week. Someone with your schedule - just going with the flow - no idea what they might be doing any particular evening - is exactly who MTD was designed for. Just show up ! They will find you a nice table...but as you suggest, they will not seat you with someone who is halfway through their meal or having dessert. They would seat you with someone who was just coming in, like you ! If you decide that you really like your table and server team and you want to have them serve you again, just ask the host/hostess at the podium (as you are leaving) to please hook you up with the same servers again. They will do it if they can. Conversely, if they stick you in a terrible location or with a server that you don't like, you can make sure to avoid that the next night ! That rarely happens to us but it has. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coneyraven Posted April 11, 2016 Author Report Share Posted April 11, 2016 Thank you for the quick response ..... Just the answer I was hoping for .... Sounds like we made the right decision going with MTD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocLC Posted April 11, 2016 Report Share Posted April 11, 2016 Making a reservation for MTD seems counter intuitive to the whole purpose of the option. I've never made a reservation and only once had to wait, largely because it was a busy night and I requested a specific server. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawn9999 Posted April 18, 2016 Report Share Posted April 18, 2016 The party of 4 other people we are travelling with have booked MTD for a particular time. Will it be possible for us to eat seperately from them at a different time if we so wish? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocLC Posted April 18, 2016 Report Share Posted April 18, 2016 The party of 4 other people we are travelling with have booked MTD for a particular time. Will it be possible for us to eat seperately from them at a different time if we so wish? Yes. That won't be a problem. Dawn9999 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnK6404 Posted April 18, 2016 Report Share Posted April 18, 2016 We usually choose MTD because we want to schedule our dinner around the activity of the day. On sea days, we prefer 6:00 PM, BUT on days in port when we are coordinating with excusions, we choose other dining times (7:15 PM, 8:15 PM, whatever you want to fit your need for that day). You can book MTD reservations online (which we do after we plan our excursions), but you can also book once onboard and can change "on the fly" if your plans change during the cruise. We like booking it in advance so that the reservation is set and coordinated with our excursions and evening entertainment/shows and we only change it if something comes up. We also like to book our specialty dining online... less to plan while onboard and we never have any issues with time slots not being available, etc., and we never wait for a table. You can link your dining reservations with other parties with MTD as well. We've done that every time we've cruised with family. The only potential inconvenience of MTD reservations that are not consistently scheduled (eg. 5:30 PM one night and 8:45 PM the next) is that you may not always have the same waitstaff since their section could be full at the time you selected on any given evening. We have been lucky the last two cruises and they were able to accommodate us in the same section with the same waitstaff (sometimes at a different table in the section, but always seated with our family). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirk Posted April 26, 2016 Report Share Posted April 26, 2016 We always choose MTD because of the flexibility that we have with it. And we only made reservation for a certain time once. I don't like the idea of making reservations for diner, otherwise I could do the traditional dining. I like the idea to go to diner when I am hungry and not because i have made a reservation for a certain time, but that is just my personal preference . Even when the waiting line seems to be long, we never had to wait more than five minutes to get a table for two. I only would recommend to make a reservation when you are a group of more than 4 people. DocLC 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wsyrob Posted April 26, 2016 Report Share Posted April 26, 2016 The only potential inconvenience of MTD reservations that are not consistently scheduled (eg. 5:30 PM one night and 8:45 PM the next) is that you may not always have the same waitstaff since their section could be full at the time you selected on any given evening. We have been lucky the last two cruises and they were able to accommodate us in the same section with the same waitstaff (sometimes at a different table in the section, but always seated with our family). How does that work with tipping your waitstaff on the last night of the cruise if you have had several different ones? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocLC Posted April 26, 2016 Report Share Posted April 26, 2016 How does that work with tipping your waitstaff on the last night of the cruise if you have had several different ones? A gratuity/service charge is added to your account daily and it's distributed by the ship to those who served you, including those in the buffet and those serving you in the dining room for breakfast and/or lunch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wsyrob Posted April 26, 2016 Report Share Posted April 26, 2016 A gratuity/service charge is added to your account daily and it's distributed by the ship to those who served you, including those in the buffet and those serving you in the dining room for breakfast and/or lunch. I realize that but thought it was customary to tip your cabin attendant and MDR servers cash on the last night in addition if you got great service. (which is generally the norm on RCCL ships.) I believe they even gave us little envelopes for that purpose on Freedom last year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocLC Posted April 26, 2016 Report Share Posted April 26, 2016 I realize that but thought it was customary to tip your cabin attendant and MDR servers cash on the last night in addition if you got great service. (which is generally the norm on RCCL ships.) I believe they even gave us little envelopes for that purpose on Freedom last year. With MTD, that can be difficult unless you seek the individuals out on the last night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wsyrob Posted April 27, 2016 Report Share Posted April 27, 2016 With MTD, that can be difficult unless you seek the individuals out on the last night. OK thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnK6404 Posted April 27, 2016 Report Share Posted April 27, 2016 How does that work with tipping your waitstaff on the last night of the cruise if you have had several different ones? If you had several different servers, and did not really connect with any of them, I would not feel too guilty about not leaving additional gratuity. In our case, we were fortunate each of the last 2 cruises with MTD to have the same team throughout the cruise (just sometimes a different table in their section depending on the time of our reservation). We really liked them so we gave them an additional amount on the last evening (and the cabin attendant). Our head waiter for our last cruise was outstanding and each night he would always ask us what our plans were for dinner the following evening and told us to make sure we asked for him when we checked in upon arrival to the MDR (if we had a later reservation than usual). wsyrob 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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