ZBrady Posted October 31, 2022 Report Share Posted October 31, 2022 My family prefers Early Dining and on our next sailing we have booked an excursion that overlaps with our regular dining time. Normally in this situation we would eat at a speciality restaurant that night, but my all-time favorite RC food is being served in the MDR that night. I know it is an inconvenience for the dining staff to show up at a different time than you are scheduled in the MDR - is there any way you can think of to not inconvenience them? Ideally I could switch to MyTime for just one night and make a reservation but I don’t believe they will allow that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAAAYTOOO Posted October 31, 2022 Report Share Posted October 31, 2022 You either have traditional dining or My Time Dining. You cannot switch between them. Unless you are only going to be late by a few minutes (15 minutes or less), you will not be able to eat in the MDR that night. If it's really important to you that you eat in the MDR for this particular night, I recommend that you switch from traditional dining to MTD so that you can adjust the dining time for that one evening. CruiseGus 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaryCS62 Posted October 31, 2022 Report Share Posted October 31, 2022 26 minutes ago, ZBrady said: My family prefers Early Dining and on our next sailing we have booked an excursion that overlaps with our regular dining time. Normally in this situation we would eat at a speciality restaurant that night, but my all-time favorite RC food is being served in the MDR that night. I know it is an inconvenience for the dining staff to show up at a different time than you are scheduled in the MDR - is there any way you can think of to not inconvenience them? Ideally I could switch to MyTime for just one night and make a reservation but I don’t believe they will allow that. How far into the dining time do you expect to return to the ship, and how likely are you to be able to show up looking decent (ie not dripping sand, etc) from your excursion? If you can get to the MDR within 15 minutes of your time, you should be good. We had one night (excursion got cancelled for weather), where DH & DD were going to get back too late for our dining time, and while they could have just gone to Windjammer, we didn't like that because DD has Celiac, and preferred to stick with our waiters, etc. Spoke to the headwaiter, and he told us not a problem, just show up when they could & he would take care of us. Speak to your headwaiter the night before, and see what he/she can do for you WAAAYTOOO 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ampurp85 Posted October 31, 2022 Report Share Posted October 31, 2022 I believe if it is an excursion issue, you could speak with the MDR Host/headwaiter about allowing you to show up to the later dinner seating. They might be willing to do a onetime accommodation. MTD has been waitlisted a lot, so switching might not be an option. Neesa 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FloatyBoaty Posted October 31, 2022 Report Share Posted October 31, 2022 We had early dining on our last cruise and also had a night that we would have been late. We mentioned to our waiter that we would not be there that night as we would be arriving back at the ship a half hour after the early seating. She asked us to please come anyway. We arrived an hour late and she was more than happy to see us - there was a 5:15 seating and an 8 pm seating, so plenty of time to accommodate us in a more expedited service. Many of the tables were empty throughout that cruise (Wonder Mediterranean) and I think she was happy to have something to do. So of course, all situations are different, but I guess anything is possible depending on how many people are dining regularly, the waitstaff, and communication, of course. WAAAYTOOO 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZBrady Posted October 31, 2022 Author Report Share Posted October 31, 2022 I appreciate everyone’s feedback Our excursion is scheduled to conclude at 5:00pm and dinner is at 5:30pm. With our group I don’t envision us making it within the 15-minute late arrival window. The ship leaves port at 8:00pm this particular day, so I’m anticipating there will be a decent number of people not utilizing the MDR that normally would. I think I will just stop by the MDR the morning we board and speak with the host to see what they think is possible. I could call now but not sure how helpful that would be. Thanks again. WAAAYTOOO, FireFishII, Baked Alaska and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FireFishII Posted October 31, 2022 Report Share Posted October 31, 2022 @ZBrady The worst that can happen is they say no. But I bet they will accommodate you. Baked Alaska, Neesa and ZBrady 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregD Posted November 2, 2022 Report Share Posted November 2, 2022 @ZBradyI think you will be fine. My family has typically done the early seating in the MDR. We have had excursions that end close to dinner, and we talked with our waiter the day before, and it was never an issue getting there later. We have arrived at 6:00-6:15 before. They would just "speed up" our service once we got there, so instead of dinner being at a leisurely pace, dishes would come out faster. ZBrady 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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