Should I switch to My Time Dining?

[Lucky]

Hello,

In October, I will be on Wonder of the Seas with my wife and oldest daughter. Upon booking, we chose the 5:30pm dining time in the main dining room. We have always eaten in the main dining room for dinner. However, on this cruise, we want to try a few different things, such as Hooked, Chops Grille, and Coastal Kitchen since we have a crown loft suite. My question is this: if we know we are not going to be eating in the main dining room for at least 3 of the 7 nights (likely even more), should I change our dining time to 'my time dining' out of courtesy so we don't have a table reserved for us that's not being used, and out of respect for the wait staff?

Thanks for any help on this.

[Pooch]

It would be very kind of you.  Just understand for the nights you do want to go to the MDR, you will most likely have a bit of a wait with no reservations.

[CanHardlyWait]

If you think waiting for a table on days when you will use the MDR will be an issue, just keep it as is. We had a 5pm on Wonder last month and the 3 night plan. Some nights we were not there and life went on. Also, waitstaff told us they could see we had reservations at other locations anyway.

[smokeybandit]

If you don't show up, your seats will go to MTD patrons anyway, so they wouldn't go to waste.

[ScottD]

Just tell the server or head waiter at MDR when you won't be there... so if do MDR Tuesday but know you won't be there Wednesday, tell them that Tuesday night and that way they can fill that table with other patrons. 

[AndyPandy]

This is what I have done. I am in a suite and will use Coastal kitchen and speciality restaurants. So I switched from traditional dinning to My time dinning.

I didn’t want to hold a table in the MDR and serving team, and/or block anyone on any waitlist for MDR sittings. 

[OCSC Mike]

Was just in a GS on Wonder & had dinner in CK all 7 nights.

Strongly recommend skipping the MDR entirely.  And fwiw, night one filet mignon & night six lobster plus several other entrees were our family’s favorite CK nights.

[MaryCS62]

We have late dining for our B2B in August.  Plan on MDR or Coastal kitchen (jr suite, so fingers crossed) for dinner the first one (9 night, and 1 of our party has celiac, so feel more comfortable in the MDR). The 2nd week, we have UDP, so plan on telling them we probably won't be there that week, but will wait to do that AFTER we have our specialty reservations. 

But, if you like the 530 time (which may end up being 5pm, I've heard they are changing early dining) just tell them what nights you won't be there as a courtesy

 

[Cil and Deb]

We booked an October 21 cruise a few weeks ago. I wanted any time dining but they told us it was not available. Had to book the 8 PM dining. Not too happy about that one. 

[OCSC Mike]

13 minutes ago, Cecile Struwe said:

We booked an October 21 cruise a few weeks ago. I wanted any time dining but they told us it was not available. Had to book the 8 PM dining. Not too happy about that one. 

You can try to switch between now and then. Worst case, ask after you board.

[Pooch]

4 hours ago, OCSC Mike said:

Was just in a GS on Wonder & had dinner in CK all 7 nights.

Strongly recommend skipping the MDR entirely.  And fwiw, night one filet mignon & night six lobster plus several other entrees were our family’s favorite CK nights.

We tried CK on Harmony last year and were totally underwhelmed.  Didn’t feel any of the dishes served were better than MDR, filet night one was not good nor was my son’s duck.  Waiter was rather snooty.  After our second meal there, we cancelled the rest of the week & went back to the MDR.  I know I am in the minority here but it was our experience.

[OCSC Mike]

20 minutes ago, Pooch said:

We tried CK on Harmony last year and were totally underwhelmed.  Didn’t feel any of the dishes served were better than MDR, filet night one was not good nor was my son’s duck.  Waiter was rather snooty.  After our second meal there, we cancelled the rest of the week & went back to the MDR.  I know I am in the minority here but it was our experience.

Sorry to hear. Harmony May/June last year was my first CK experience (think we ate there 3 nights) and we enjoyed it. On Wonder earlier this month the food was great but the staff made it an experience we don't expect to ever be able to match.

Generally speaking, we haven't enjoyed the MDR in over a decade (so it's not a new menu, post-covid issue). We found CK to be magnitudes better.

Everyone has different experiences and opinions.

[Pooch]

20 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said:

Sorry to hear. Harmony May/June last year was my first CK experience (think we ate there 3 nights) and we enjoyed it. On Wonder earlier this month the food was great but the staff made it an experience we don't expect to ever be able to match.

Generally speaking, we haven't enjoyed the MDR in over a decade (so it's not a new menu, post-covid issue). We found CK to be magnitudes better.

Everyone has different experiences and opinions.

Very true.  We had the opportunity to eat at CK last month and the entire family said no thanks.  I was really surprised at the, I don’t know, haughtiness of the waiter.  There was not a welcoming warm bone in his body.  Really made it an off putting experience.

[WAAAYTOOO]

I am not a huge fan of the food in the CK but the environment is orders of magnitude better than the MDR (our opinion).  We have not had the negative experience of @Pooch thank goodness.  So, given a choice between the MDR and CK, we will almost always choose the CK…and @OCSC Mike’s recent account of being able to order food from the MDR menu while dining in the CK was very encouraging.  We usually have a 3 night dining package these days so there are generally only a few nights of dining room options anyway.  If you’re eligible for the CK, I say give it a try first and if you find it lacking, move over to the MDR or specialty dining.

[OCSC Mike]

10 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

@OCSC Mike’s recent account of being able to order food from the MDR menu while dining in the CK was very encouraging.

I know you know this but just so I don't feel bad, this could easily be a YMMV or "it varies by ship" thing.

I'm far from a suite/CK expert (I'm actually an interior expert, lol); I was just sharing my experience. No one told us "yes, this is standard fleet wide, order away!"

[AshleyDillo]

Since you are in a CLS you will have access to the Suite Concierge who can make your dining reservations a before sailing, just respond to their introduction email that will come the week prior to the cruise. Remember you can also get the MDR delivered as room service so that's another option to add to along with Coastal Kitchen.

[happy cruisers 2]

Wife and I will be in a suite soon and this next cruise is our first time to have a Coastal Kitchen available.  Currently, we have a 6:30pm slot selected each night of the cruise for My Time Dining in the MDR, however we think we will probably be quite happy to go to CK each night.  For those of you who book suites, do you think we should keep our 6:30 MTD reservations just in case we switch it up and go to MDR some evenings?  Or would that not be a good idea?

[Ampurp85]

2 hours ago, happy cruisers 2 said:

Wife and I will be in a suite soon and this next cruise is our first time to have a Coastal Kitchen available.  Currently, we have a 6:30pm slot selected each night of the cruise for My Time Dining in the MDR, however we think we will probably be quite happy to go to CK each night.  For those of you who book suites, do you think we should keep our 6:30 MTD reservations just in case we switch it up and go to MDR some evenings?  Or would that not be a good idea?

Yes you can keep both. You can also see the CK menu and just keep it the nights that appeal to you.

[RCIfan1912]

After last year on Oasis we will never do MTD in the MDR again. It was just about the worst experience we have ever had. The first night we never got into the MDR and ended up at the Windjammer which I do not like to do for dinner. 

We have switched all 3 of our upcoming cruises to 5:30 dining and we have the 3 night specialty dining package. 

[Xaa]

That's the sweet spot @RCIfan1912.  Early traditional with a 3-night package.

[ScottD]

15 hours ago, RCIfan1912 said:

After last year on Oasis we will never do MTD in the MDR again. It was just about the worst experience we have ever had. The first night we never got into the MDR and ended up at the Windjammer which I do not like to do for dinner. 

We have switched all 3 of our upcoming cruises to 5:30 dining and we have the 3 night specialty dining package. 

We had 530 (now 500 on Oasis since the dining time change) . We are considering asking to change to MTD for a slightly later time if we can. But every time we think about it, we see posts like this, lol.  5pm is just so early but I don't feel like dealing with potential lines or waiting so still trying to figure it out 

[RCIfan1912]

8 minutes ago, ScottD said:

We had 530 (now 500 on Oasis since the dining time change) . We are considering asking to change to MTD for a slightly later time if we can. But every time we think about it, we see posts like this, lol.  5pm is just so early but I don't feel like dealing with potential lines or waiting so still trying to figure it out 

We are still 5:30 at the moment on Liberty but 5:00 would be fine for us as well. When I lost 80 pounds 5-6 years ago I developed certain rules that I strictly follow and one is I eat dinner anywhere between 5:00 and 6:00 so 5 or 5:30 works for me. I also don't eat anything after 8 PM and that goes for cruises too. I know, so sad.

 

But it's Oasis was so freaking bad! I was stunned, just stunned how bad MTD was. I thought it was a post Covid thing but I'm not taking a chance. No more MTD again for us. 

[WAAAYTOOO]

I guess we have been extremely fortunate.  We have never had any problems with MTD and still do MTD.  At the beginning, there were some long lines that formed just prior to MTD commencing, but those lines went FAST.  Their process has refined and those long initial lines no longer form, as far as I can tell.  In all honesty, I have never waited more than 10 minutes from start to being seated.  We find the earliest MTD times to be perfect - usually 6:45 - 7:00.  Since I am not a super huge fan of having the same wait staff every night, I always just go-with-the-flow and take whatever table they offer as long as it isn't seating with strangers.  I can't do that.

[WAYNO]

This whole MTD thing... Sometimes it works, some times not so much.  So, I always schedule an early dinner.  If I can't make it, I just go to Windjammers.  Or if I have a 7:00 show and don't think the dining room can get me out in time, I again go to Windjammers.

One time, we cruised with cousins on the same reservation.  For whatever reason, they had scheduled dining, and we had MTD.  Almost never could the dining room adjust tables or dining times where we could sit together.

And I've found often, at my scheduled table with the same table mates throughout the cruise, when anybody can't make their dining time, the chairs are quickly filled with MTD guests.

So I just schedule my dining time and let the chips fall where they may.  And I still love it!