Is It rude to skip the Main Dining Room without telling your waiter?

[jcosmo7]

I had a question on this post but don't have a Facebook account to comment...

I agree informing wait staff is nice. I kind of assumed the ship tracks who is eating in specialty dinning and at least informs their normal MDR staff that those people might not be at the main dinner. I thought this based on how much is tracked of each guest by their card of some YouTube videos I've seen.

[OCSC Mike]

1 hour ago, jcosmo7 said:

I agree informing wait staff is nice. I kind of assumed the ship tracks who is eating in specialty dinning and at least informs their normal MDR staff that those people might not be at the main dinner.

You're giving Royal too much credit... that would be logical and efficient. We had the UDP on our last cruise and an assistant manager from the MDR actually found us eating in Mason Jar one night and asked if we would be eating in the MDR. Ummm... you looked us up and had to see we had specialty booked every night... that would be a no. 

Before we switched to MTD we would let our servers know which nights we wouldn't be there out of courtesy, like you mentioned.

[jcosmo7]

1 hour ago, OCSC Mike said:

You're giving Royal too much credit... that would be logical and efficient.

I forget which YouTube video I saw, but it mentioned that if you are rude to staff(which is something I'd never do), they make notes so their colleagues are aware. It also mentioned notes on if you spend a lot. I was guessing if it could do all that, it could know if the two people from room 8XXX are eating in the Mason Jar at 7pm so won't be doubling up on dinner in the MDR.

[smokeybandit]

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2026/01/21/it-rude-skip-the-main-dining-room-without-telling-your-waiter

[ChessE4]

We try to bond with MDR staff. It's part of our cruise experience. Therefore, our practice is to tell our waiter in advance if we expect to miss dinner or arrive late. This would normally be due to excursions as we limit specialty dining to lunch. We also alert staff when we are seated if we are pressed for time to catch a show. MDR staff are very accommodating.

[Sealegs]

We always let our waiter(s) know if we have other plans for the following night, and they always appreciate being told. That way, if it busy, they can fill our seats with a walk-in or MTD.    

[Pooch]

YouTube, a fountain of accurate information   BUT on our Allure cruise in November, we told the maître d’ that our party of 7 would only be 2 the next night & they changed the rest of the cruise to only 2 people.  MDR was an ongoing problem that week.

[Doug_Texas]

They should integrate cancelling MDR plans on the app.  They run around selling specialty dining and also there is the unexpected delay getting back from shore.  We also make a point at being on deck for many "sail aways" and it’s a frequent occurrence that the ship doesn’t sail away on time knocking out MDR plans.  We tell our MDR servers if we know about specialty dining plans but they should make it easy on the app to notify the staff about changing plans.

[Ditchdoc]

If you don't show up, they probably like it.

[JFCruise]

Here's something kinda related that happened to me during a recent sailing. We were on a Junior Suite, so we were in the "well maybe you get access to Coastal Kitchen " status. During the first day, I quickly made my way up to CK and got a reservation for that night.

Then, while messing around on the app, I got a notification that "You have plans" for dinner both on CK (because they had my reservation in the system) and in the MDR. And sure enough, I had both "events in the app". After dinner the first night, I made a reservation on CK for the second night. I got the same experience in the app with the notifications that night.

However, by the third night (or fourth?) something changed. The guys at CK were like "yeah just come tomorrow, no reservation needed". My reservation plans for the MDR were also gone. I'm guessing by that night they just figured it out internally and gave my table to someone else.

[mom2mybugs]

We just switched to my time dining because I was feeling guilty.  On our icon sailing we are doing supper club and giovannis.  I'm guessing with shows and all day sunning we will miss another couple nights.  I just didn't want to hold up a table when we might be there only 2 nights.  I will say that on sailings we have done mdr, I usually tell our waitrstaff the night before that we have specially dining, or if I can, stop by on a day we are just tired that we won't be there. Jane

[Geezer Of The Seas]

We were assigned MTD on Star  last November, no assigned table so  it's like we weren't even there.  4 specialty dinners and winged it the other 3 nights.

[Bowler]

I don't necessarily think it's rude as there can be many reasons you have plans change late, but it certainly helps them to free up tables etc. if they are aware. 

[WAYNO]

When I know ahead of time, and when I have the opportunity to tell the wait staff I wont be at a given dinner, I do try to let them know I wont be there.

But there are circumstances where I am unable to let them know.  I feel it's a courtesy to let them know, but they must understand the best of intentions are not always doable.  

I think too, with the the number of empty tables and empty seats at any given dinner, I don't believe we're taking dining opportunities away from anyone by not showing.