MDR seating

[Joe B]

Can you reserve a table for a dining time or do you show up and have to wait or fight for a seat?

Joe B (First Time Cruiser)

[Lovetocruise2002]

3 minutes ago, Joe B said:

Can you reserve a table for a dining time or do you show up and have to wait or fight for a seat?

Joe B (First Time Cruiser)

You can reserve a time for MTD on your cruise planner as long as you are not within 3 days of sailing.  You can also just show up and the wait would be like a land based restaurant.  If it's peak dinner hours, the wait might be a bit longer.

[Joe B]

@sabrinaklai - thank you. I hate waiting in lines to eat but I understand that is the case on cruises.

[Lovetocruise2002]

1 minute ago, Joe B said:

@sabrinaklai - thank you. I hate waiting in lines to eat but I understand that is the case on cruises.

Even if you reserve a time, there is sometimes a 5 min wait or so.  What ship?

[rjac]

We always get the early seating (5:30 or 6:00) in the MDR and have never had to wait. Just show  up, go to your table and enjoy. Had a not so good experience with MTD two years ago on the Allure. There were six of us, had booked the 6:30 seating for MTD and still had to wait up to 30 minutes. 

[Joe B]

18 hours ago, Sabrinaklai said:

Even if you reserve a time, there is sometimes a 5 min wait or so.  What ship?

Ovation of the Seas. Our trip in not until June 2019. Ovation was sailing in China and Australia. Being reassigned to USA. We are trying to get a feel for cruising. 

Joe B

 

18 hours ago, Sabrinaklai said:

Even if you reserve a time, there is sometimes a 5 min wait or so.  What ship?

strailia. 

[Lovetocruise2002]

@Joe B, if you are booked in right now for MTD then I would keep an eye out on your cruise planner for dining to pop up.  It varies by ship and sailing but I have seen it as far as about 170 days out.  You can book all your dining then.  Shows usually open up after that so you might have to adjust your dining time a bit once the entertainment comes out.  Or just wing it and show up.  You'll still get a table, you just might have to wait a bit.

If you are with a large group you might want to make reservations though just to be safe.

[Guest toodle68]

We do my time dining and reserve a time through cruise planner..   sometimes, the 6:15pm time we like is not available but we select as close to it as possible and turn up near the time when we are ready..  You can pretty much walk in around the 6pm time.. but when we leave after 7, the line can be long.  

[Joe B]

7 hours ago, Sabrinaklai said:

@Joe B, if you are booked in right now for MTD then I would keep an eye out on your cruise planner for dining to pop up.  It varies by ship and sailing but I have seen it as far as about 170 days out.  You can book all your dining then.  Shows usually open up after that so you might have to adjust your dining time a bit once the entertainment comes out.  Or just wing it and show up.  You'll still get a table, you just might have to wait a bit.

If you are with a large group you might want to make reservations though just to be safe.

There will be 4 of us so I don't anticipate a wait. By waiting I meant 1+ hours. 15 to 30 minutes is not bad. You have been a wealth of info.  Any tios on what to do once on board.  We will be at the dock at approx. 10:30am the day of the cruise.  Las Vegas to Seattle is a 2 hour + flight.

Thank you again

Joe B

[NS8VN]

I know this seems like a silly question, but as it is your first cruise I want to make sure you aren't confusing something:

Do you for sure have My Time Dining?  Or do you have Traditional Dining?

[Lovetocruise2002]

3 hours ago, Joe B said:

There will be 4 of us so I don't anticipate a wait. By waiting I meant 1+ hours. 15 to 30 minutes is not bad. You have been a wealth of info.  Any tios on what to do once on board.  We will be at the dock at approx. 10:30am the day of the cruise.  Las Vegas to Seattle is a 2 hour + flight.

Thank you again

Joe B

Well, assuming you have booked all your activities already ahead of time then just grab a bite to eat, explore, and relax. If you have not or were not able to book all your activities and entertainment ahead of time then you'll want to take care of that right away as soon as you get onboard. As far as suggestions go, there is a great thread on that from a few days ago:

 

[twangster]

4 hours ago, NS8VN said:

I know this seems like a silly question, but as it is your first cruise I want to make sure you aren't confusing something:

Do you for sure have My Time Dining?  Or do you have Traditional Dining?

This is a great point and important question.  There are two options for the main dining room. 

Traditional dining and My Time dining offer the exact same food but in a different manner.

Check out these blog posts:

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2014/10/24/first-time-cruisers-dinner-royal-caribbean

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2016/08/08/food-royal-caribbean-cruise

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2015/06/13/top-10-insider-tips-royal-caribbeans-main-dining-room

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2017/05/04/avoid-these-ten-royal-caribbean-dining-mistakes

 

[RestingBird]

On 2/11/2018 at 3:37 PM, Joe B said:

 

[Orange Crush]

As first time cruisers, I recommend traditional dining.  You keep the same table and servers and I think it adds to the overall experience.  You don't also don't need to reserve  times with traditional dining, you have a fixed time and assigned table every night.

[Matt]

57 minutes ago, Orange Crush said:

As first time cruisers, I recommend traditional dining.  You keep the same table and servers and I think it adds to the overall experience.  You don't also don't need to reserve  times with traditional dining, you have a fixed time and assigned table every night.

Agreed

[Joe B]

12 hours ago, Orange Crush said:

As first time cruisers, I recommend traditional dining.  You keep the same table and servers and I think it adds to the overall experience.  You don't also don't need to reserve  times with traditional dining, you have a fixed time and assigned table every night.

Good advice. I like it when its structured.  

Thank You

O C

[Lovetocruise2002]

2 hours ago, Joe B said:

Good advice. I like it when its structured.  

Thank You

O C

If you want traditional dining and have not selected it yet, I would get on that asap.  I have found from past experience that traditional dining fills up fast, even for cruises I booked almost a year out.

[Joe B]

21 hours ago, Sabrinaklai said:

If you want traditional dining and have not selected it yet, I would get on that asap.  I have found from past experience that traditional dining fills up fast, even for cruises I booked almost a year out.

The Cruise Planner tells me it is to early.

[Lovetocruise2002]

5 minutes ago, Joe B said:

The Cruise Planner tells me it is to early.

Joe, I don't believe you can select traditional dining via the cruise planner. If that is the route you want to take you would either have to call your TA (if you used one) or call RC directly.

[Joe B]

38 minutes ago, Sabrinaklai said:

Joe, I don't believe you can select traditional dining via the cruise planner. If that is the route you want to take you would either have to call your TA (if you used one) or call RC directly.

E-Mailed Travel Agent and the dining has been changed to Traditional Dining with a 5:30pm reserved time. 

[Lovetocruise2002]

3 minutes ago, Joe B said:

E-Mailed Travel Agent and the dining has been changed to Traditional Dining with a 5:30pm reserved time. 

Awesome! One check off the "to do" list ?

[rjac]

11 hours ago, Joe B said:

E-Mailed Travel Agent and the dining has been changed to Traditional Dining with a 5:30pm reserved time

Good for you Joe. One of the first things you do when you get on board, I recommend you go to the MDR and check out your assigned table. If the location is not to your satisfaction, ask to have it changed. You do not want to be seated near a service door (where the wait staff comes and goes with food orders, dirty dishes, etc) nor the main entrance. Not unless you enjoy a constant  parade of waiters, waitstaff and cruisers.

[Orange Crush]

2 hours ago, rjac said:

Good for you Joe. One of the first things you do when you get on board, I recommend you go to the MDR and check out your assigned table. If the location is not to your satisfaction, ask to have it changed. You do not want to be seated near a service door (where the wait staff comes and goes with food orders, dirty dishes, etc) nor the main entrance. Not unless you enjoy a constant  parade of waiters, waitstaff and cruisers.

Another benefit of checking out your table as soon as you get on the ship--there can sometimes be a bit of a wait to get in the MDR as people line up to be shown to their table--especially on the first night.  You will already know where yours is and can walk right to it.

[rjac]

2 hours ago, Orange Crush said:

Another benefit of checking out your table as soon as you get on the ship--there can sometimes be a bit of a wait to get in the MDR as people line up to be shown to their table--especially on the first night.  You will already know where yours is and can walk right to it.

Excellent point!

[Joe B]

15 hours ago, rjac said:

Good for you Joe. One of the first things you do when you get on board, I recommend you go to the MDR and check out your assigned table. If the location is not to your satisfaction, ask to have it changed. You do not want to be seated near a service door (where the wait staff comes and goes with food orders, dirty dishes, etc) nor the main entrance. Not unless you enjoy a constant  parade of waiters, waitstaff and cruisers.

Thanks rjac

[Joe B]

10 hours ago, rjac said:

Excellent point!

Good Advice, OC