New MDR dining times?

[MaryCS62]

So, in my FB sailing groups for my Oasis Aug cruises, someone posted that if you try to book a new cruise for this summer, traditional dining times are now 5 & 730pm. I then did a mock booking and that is what I saw as well. Anyone else seen/heard this officially? 

[Ryan79]

That’s what they are for my July cruise.

[KWofPerth]

5:00 is crazy early.

[TexanTwoStep]

6 hours ago, KWofPerth said:

5:00 is crazy early.

Catering to the older crowd/families with young children I'm sure.  the 730 is great though

[Tania Grange]

On Rhapsody in June, ours are 6:30 and 8:30.  

[OCSC Mike]

I have seen 5:00 and 7:30 before. It's either been that or 5:30 and 8:00 in my experience.

[Lexster]

I usually eat at 5, so I'm okay with that.

[MaryCS62]

On Explorer 10 years ago, early dining was 6pm, which I liked.  730 is better than 8 in my opinion, but 5 would be too early for me. Since we have 8pm for our cruises in August, I'm going to assume it will change to 730, although the app hasn't caught up yet

[JohnK6404]

When we first booked our JAN 2023 Wonder sailing, we choose 5:30 Traditional, but it was eventually moved to 5:00. 

[smokeybandit]

I hope they don't change mine to 5pm. That really messes with our "get a drink or two in the suite lounge before dinner" strategy

[OCSC Mike]

3 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

I hope they don't change mine to 5pm. That really messes with our "get a drink or two in the suite lounge before dinner" strategy

I'm pretty sure the SL/DL happy hour starts 30 mins before early seating for just that reason. I swear I've seen 5pm early seating before and gotten drinks from the DL at 4:30pm back before the vouchers were introduced but I could be wrong.

[Cakemeister]

I did a mock for Allure in September. I'm currently signed up for My Time, but I would change to 7:30 for sure. I'm seriously considering this 7:45 time.

[DoomSlayer]

I like the 5/5:30 time personally. It gives me an opportunity to get my 4th meal in later that night. 

[OCSC Mike]

1 hour ago, DoomSlayer said:

I like the 5/5:30 time personally. It gives me an opportunity to get my 4th meal in later that night. 

Agreed but you've only had 2 meals by 5pm? I have 2 breakfasts every morning, lol. "Pre-breakfast" is usually a Park Cafe McMuffin when available or else just some pastries to go with my DL/SL cappuccino before having an actual sit down breakfast with the wife (or extended family if it's a family cruise). Then there's lunch, afternoon meal, dinner, and 2nd dinner.

 

[rjac]

3 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

I hope they don't change mine to 5pm. That really messes with our "get a drink or two in the suite lounge before dinner" strategy

Smokey,

You really don't need a drink or two before dinner. The food is pretty darn good you know. 

[barjpoe]

2 hours ago, OCSC Mike said:

I'm pretty sure the SL/DL happy hour starts 30 mins before early seating for just that reason. I swear I've seen 5pm early seating before and gotten drinks from the DL at 4:30pm back before the vouchers were introduced but I could be wrong.

I thought the DL opened for drinks/food an hour before the 1st dinner time and stopped serving at the time 2nd seating started.

[billdauterive]

2 hours ago, DoomSlayer said:

I like the 5/5:30 time personally. It gives me an opportunity to get my 4th meal in later that night. 

Ditto.  Late night Sorrentos is a must!

[CanHardlyWait]

I think they have to have early dine get even earlier to get ready for all the my time folks. Need a bigger gap between early and late because of all that happens in the middle.

[ChessE4]

16 hours ago, KWofPerth said:

5:00 is crazy early.

I eat at 4 PM at home. It depends when you get up, etc. I do agree cruise time is different from home time, however.

[SpeedNoodles]

5pm is basically lunch for me, lol.  

[BrianB]

On the Anthem...it says 5:30 for early dining, but the doors open at 5:15. And there's always a line waiting to get in.

[PPPJJ-GCVAB]

When I booked our family summer cruise on Oasis (17 in all) I chose 5:30pm.  My app still shows 5:30pm as our traditional dining time.  It will be interesting to see if that changes once we can check-in and see our set sail pass.  That’s not until mid-June!   Doing a mock booking does show time as 5:00pm.

So I received the emails for balance due by April 29…the dining time is listed as 5:00pm.  So there you go!  Problem solved 

Edited April 20, 2023 by PPPJJ-GCVAB
Added info

[need2cruz]

My last few cruises had 5pm for early dining.  Our cruise last summer, July '22 had 5:30 printed on our cruise card and then someone manually crossed it off with with a sharpie and wrote 5pm.  Just because it says 5:30 on your invoice, doesn't mean anything. 

[CanHardlyWait]

The beauty of the early time (at least for me) is the opportunity to grab some grub at the WJ if the MDR experience doesn't go well. My plan B. LOL.

[ScottD]

I wouldn't mind 5 but that means getting back on board a little earlier in ports and even on embarkation day dinner will before we even pull off!

[CanHardlyWait]

4 hours ago, ScottD said:

I wouldn't mind 5 but that means getting back on board a little earlier in ports and even on embarkation day dinner will before we even pull off!

I also see these things as issues. My schedule already has 2 WJ diners in it because making the 515pm just isn't gonna happen on those days. But the wait times for my time at 6 or 630pm sound like more trouble than they are worth

[CruiseGus]

50 minutes ago, CanHardlyWait said:

 But the wait times for my time at 6 or 630pm sound like more trouble than they are worth

That is part of the reason that 5:30 Traditional has been creeping up to 5:00.

Now if on deck 3 they would just enforce the dining room closes at 5:15 we could easily accommodate al the 6:30 MTD crowd.

If you have Early  Traditional Dining especially on deck 3 show up on time!

Hate leaving at 5:45 and having to watch you nonchalantly wonder in !!  How entitled are you?

[CanHardlyWait]

1 hour ago, CruiseGus said:

That is part of the reason that 5:30 Traditional has been creeping up to 5:00.

Now if on deck 3 they would just enforce the dining room closes at 5:15 we could easily accommodate al the 6:30 MTD crowd.

If you have Early  Traditional Dining especially on deck 3 show up on time!

Hate leaving at 5:45 and having to watch you nonchalantly wonder in !!  How entitled are you?

I think maybe do away with "my time". And have a 5pm, 630pm, and 8pm slots. One and a half hours per. First booked get first pick. That's how it was with just two times early and late. You could only pick what was still available at time of booking. As it stands now the my time flexibility in the middle just seems like a "blank" show according to so many. Trying to please everyone by being too flexible doesn't seem to be that realistic. Back in the stone age if you had early, you had early. If you had late, you had late. And everyone delt with having to be on time or hitting a buffet if they couldn't. And the world kept spinning. LOL.

[WAAAYTOOO]

9 hours ago, CanHardlyWait said:

I think maybe do away with "my time". And have a 5pm, 630pm, and 8pm slots. 

In reality, this is exactly what they are doing now.  There are a few stragglers still showing up for random MTD times, but for the most part, everyone [MTD] is showing up at 6:30.

[Ampurp85]

I just booked a cruise for 2024 and the options were traditional at 5 or 8pm and MTD. I chose MTD because I'm solo and perfer not to be sat at a shared table.

[jbrinkm]

16 hours ago, CanHardlyWait said:

I think maybe do away with "my time". And have a 5pm, 630pm, and 8pm slots. One and a half hours per. First booked get first pick. That's how it was with just two times early and late. You could only pick what was still available at time of booking. As it stands now the my time flexibility in the middle just seems like a "blank" show according to so many. Trying to please everyone by being too flexible doesn't seem to be that realistic. Back in the stone age if you had early, you had early. If you had late, you had late. And everyone delt with having to be on time or hitting a buffet if they couldn't. And the world kept spinning. LOL.

I really like this idea. It would save a great deal of stress on both sides. 

We were on Allure 2 weeks ago. When we booked, my documents said 5:30pm dining, but the app eventually said 5pm (and my TA confirmed that it changed). Our window was 5-5:15pm for arrival, although there were some around us that arrived after 5:15pm and were still served. We had a sold out sailing and we were still done always between 6:10-6:40pm. There were LONG lines of MTD guests waiting when we left. We didn't mind the early dining because we had a time change, so 5pm felt like 6pm, but in the future, I'd probably pick 6:30pm if they offered it as a fixed time, especially because of the port issue that @ScottD mentioned.

[CruiseGus]

8 hours ago, Ampurp85 said:

I just booked a cruise for 2024 and the options were traditional at 5 or 8pm and MTD. I chose MTD because I'm solo and perfer not to be sat at a shared table.

Just an FYI, I choose Early and always request and get a table for 2 and eat alone when solo.

[Jolly Ogre]

On my upcoming Symphony of the Seas sailing I am booked for 6:30 pm, but i usually book as soon as they open.

On the Freedom and/or the Oasis in 2024 I only got 7:00 pm... but that is ok.

 

The menus are still not up on the APP yet.

[ScottD]

11 hours ago, Jolly Ogre said:

On my upcoming Symphony of the Seas sailing I am booked for 6:30 pm, but i usually book as soon as they open.

On the Freedom and/or the Oasis in 2024 I only got 7:00 pm... but that is ok.

 

The menus are still not up on the APP yet.

There are no menus or MDR is missing all together? I've noticed on the app that MDR doesn't even appear on some cruises coming up, but shows for mine, with menus for my October cruise. 

[FloatyBoaty]

There are no menus for MDR or specialty restaurants (except Chef's Table) in the iPhone app for my June Liberty cruise.  There's not even the word menu where it has always been.  I tried switching to the May 4 dates for the same itinerary and no menus up there yet either - only for the current cruise. This was also the case before my March Quantum cruise - nothing for that cruise started populating in the app until the cruise immediately prior was underway.

[Jolly Ogre]

6 hours ago, ScottD said:

There are no menus or MDR is missing all together? I've noticed on the app that MDR doesn't even appear on some cruises coming up, but shows for mine, with menus for my October cruise. 

There are menus but it is the welcome aboard day 1 and then all the rest are the children's menu and the wine list but that is all for the MDR. The specialty dining and Coastal Kitchen has the full menus up.

this is for android. 

[ScottD]

2 hours ago, Jolly Ogre said:

There are menus but it is the welcome aboard day 1 and then all the rest are the children's menu and the wine list but that is all for the MDR. The specialty dining and Coastal Kitchen has the full menus up.

this is for android. 

Yeah I'm also android... the only trick I have, which you may have tried, is to click on Main dining room 5 on the app...  that one always shows the full menu for me if its available. 

[Shirley Ranzau]

On 4/17/2023 at 1:29 PM, billdauterive said:

Ditto.  Late night Sorrentos is a must!

 

[MathLady112358]

On 4/17/2023 at 1:51 PM, OCSC Mike said:

Agreed but you've only had 2 meals by 5pm? I have 2 breakfasts every morning, lol. "Pre-breakfast" is usually a Park Cafe McMuffin when available or else just some pastries to go with my DL/SL cappuccino before having an actual sit down breakfast with the wife (or extended family if it's a family cruise). Then there's lunch, afternoon meal, dinner, and 2nd dinner.

 

Right? I'm pretty sure I'm actually a hobbit  

[RCIfan1912]

On 4/16/2023 at 7:01 PM, MaryCS62 said:

So, in my FB sailing groups for my Oasis Aug cruises, someone posted that if you try to book a new cruise for this summer, traditional dining times are now 5 & 730pm. I then did a mock booking and that is what I saw as well. Anyone else seen/heard this officially? 

I'm actually great with 5 o'clock but I understand a lot will not like that. I've always ate between 5:00 and 5:30. I really picked that up when I lost 80 pounds 5/6 years ago. I don't eat past 8 o'clock either including cruises. But again most are definitely not like that.