merissa123 Posted February 2, 2018 Report Share Posted February 2, 2018 Hi! First time cruiser here as well as my first post! I will be cruising on Liberty of the Seas in April. I chose MTD because I thought it would allow more flexibility. However, I see that you can start booking the reservations now. It doesn't feel that flexible if I am still booking 2 months in advance, lol! So I have a couple of questions that I am hoping this forum can help me with. 1. If I don't book the reservations now, and wait until I am on the ship, is this a bad idea? 2. If I do book the reservations now, and decide I want to change them later (either before the cruise or on the cruise) is this something that I can do? 3. If I book the reservations but decide just to go grab a sandwich or slice of pizza, is this a faux pas if I don't show up to the reservation? Any additional tips are appreciated! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjac Posted February 2, 2018 Report Share Posted February 2, 2018 Hello Merissa, Welcome aboard! Feel free to ask any questions you may have, don't worry, there won't be a test later. I recommend you go to the "podcast" section above in the light blue banner and type in "my time dining" in the search section. That will give you a couple of podcasts to read that should answer all of your questions on MTD. Enjoy your cruise! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melski94 Posted February 2, 2018 Report Share Posted February 2, 2018 Welcome! You technically don't need reservations and can walk right in, however, just like a land restaurant it can and will get full and you may have to wait. If you have a large group with you, then you should make reservations as there are only so many large tables. The first night tends to be the busiest but after that it is really easy. The earlier or later you go the easier to get a table. Prime time is between 6 and 7. One thing I like to do is book reservations for the week and change them on board as needed. If we decide not to go, its easy to quickly call and tell the desk that we won't be there so they don't hold our table. Its also easy to call and modify reservations (assuming there is a table available with your request). Listen to podcasts and read all you can. Matt has some great articles for first time cruisers...lots of answers for questions you never even thought to ask! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAAAYTOOO Posted February 2, 2018 Report Share Posted February 2, 2018 Welcome aboard, Merissa ! melski94 has it right ! Make your dining reservations with your entertainment schedule in mind and if you need to make a change just be willing to be flexible and all will be well ! Just remember, you will NEVER go hungry on a cruise. There is always SOMEwhere to eat (as long as you're not expecting lobster at 3AM). To me, that's part of the fun. Do your best to anticipate what you will be doing but don't be afraid to deviate, throw your schedule overboard and make a whole new plan ! That's what MTD is for ! The impulsive ones among us ! LetsTryThisPlace 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovetocruise2002 Posted February 2, 2018 Report Share Posted February 2, 2018 And sometimes, even if you make all your plans, one thing might force you to throw it all out the window anyway. Once, we planned all our dining around shows (as always) and then the entire show schedule for the week switched when we got on board. A stage part had broken the day of embarkation and they had to shift the schedule for the whole week! All dining plans went out the window. But yes, try to plan around shows. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted February 2, 2018 Report Share Posted February 2, 2018 I tend to make reservations in advance at the same time each night, then when I get on board I adjust as needed or go without reservations and just show up on a day or two. If you like to eat in prime dinner hours reservations are very helpful. Otherwise it could be like showing up at an Outback or similar land based restaurant at prime dinner hour and being told you have a 30-45 minute wait. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merissa123 Posted February 2, 2018 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2018 Thank you for all of the helpful replies! I think I will just do the reservations in advance and tweak them as necessary. Were pretty casual, and I like to go with the flow regarding meals on vacation. But it might be nice to have reservations each night just in case! Is there a place to find out what time the shows are? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RestingBird Posted February 2, 2018 Report Share Posted February 2, 2018 We never set our MTD reservation before boarding. We go to the dining room first thing after boarding and set a time for whole week. But we can change it at any time, just walk up, or not show up at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RestingBird Posted February 2, 2018 Report Share Posted February 2, 2018 4 hours ago, merissa123 said: If I book the reservations but decide just to go grab a sandwich or slice of pizza... P.S. you won't want to decide on pizza. LetsTryThisPlace 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melski94 Posted February 2, 2018 Report Share Posted February 2, 2018 16 minutes ago, merissa123 said: Thank you for all of the helpful replies! I think I will just do the reservations in advance and tweak them as necessary. Were pretty casual, and I like to go with the flow regarding meals on vacation. But it might be nice to have reservations each night just in case! Is there a place to find out what time the shows are? We've been on Liberty twice. You can do a google search for Liberty cruise compasses. On Liberty, there are no reservations so the shows won't be on your cruise planner. From what I remember (its been almost a year), Saturday Night Fever was shown twice one night (for early and late seating) and I think we saw the 8:30 show. Most of the time the headliner (typically comedians) would have an 8 pm and 10 pm shows (10 pm for 18+). We had 6:15 reservations and had no problem seeing shows if we chose. SNF was a fine production but I don't enjoy that story in general. Other things to see are In the Air and the ice skating show (during the day). If the cruise compass comes out and there is a conflict, you can make changes to MTD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merissa123 Posted February 2, 2018 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2018 Okay thank you for the suggestions! I have made a note of the pizza problem. That's weird...! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted February 3, 2018 Report Share Posted February 3, 2018 18 hours ago, merissa123 said: Is there a place to find out what time the shows are? You can refer to a past Cruise Compass, which will give you a ballpark idea of what time shows typically are. https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/cruise-compass LetsTryThisPlace 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocLC Posted February 5, 2018 Report Share Posted February 5, 2018 I've never made a reservation for MTD either in advanced or while onboard as it goes against my desire to have MTD which is to show up when I'm hungry and around my own schedule. I've rarely had to wait, and when I have it's been relatively short. Note, though, that we usually avoid the 6:30-7:30 window which seems to be the busiest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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