Gigi Posted June 17, 2015 Report Share Posted June 17, 2015 First time RC cruiser. Have been on 1 Disney cruise prior. We are sailing on Freedom of the Seas in November. Loved the rotational dining on Disney. We initially signed up for the choice (My Time) dining but now are having second thoughts. Would love everyone's input on the pros/cons of each. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jticarruthers Posted June 17, 2015 Report Share Posted June 17, 2015 At present I don't believe Freedom of the Seas has the option of either of the Dynamic Dining styles it is purely Traditional Main Dining Room vs. My Time Dining. I will also be on her in November but thought the rumors of DD on Freedom class had died so I am addressing my comments as Traditional vs My Time, if you were implying changing to a different ship to have access to the Dynamic Dining options that would be a whole 'nother answer ! In terms of Traditional vs My Time; there are a lot more similarities than there are differences since they both refer to eating in the same restaurant with the same menu. The only real difference is whether you prefer a fixed dining time, at a set table, with the same wait staff and tablemates or prefer the flexibility of dining at the time of your choice, in which case you can either make reservations or just show up and you will be seated at a table with possibly the same wait staff. Personally we have always been very happy with the Traditional approach and have no interest in trying My Time so read into my comments some bias if you wish :) I do know it is possible to try and replicate the Traditional experience using My Time, by asking for the same table/wait staff and that many people have reported it working fine. Gigi 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAAAYTOOO Posted June 17, 2015 Report Share Posted June 17, 2015 Actually, you CAN replicate the traditional dining experience with My Time Dining (MTD), but as I am often reminded, why would you ? The purpose of MTD is to allow you to eat at [almost] any time you wish vs having to eat at 1 of 2 assigned times. Having said all of that, I will say (as I have many times) I do MTD at the same time every night SO THAT I get the same waiters and have the same table. How is this different from traditional dining ? It is not. I am a MTD abuser. The reason I do MTD instead of traditional is b/c I like getting a private table and I have always believed that it was easier to get a private table (MTD upstairs) than it was downstairs at traditional. Since joining this blog I have been assured that I am completely wrong and that it would be JUST as easy to get a private table downstairs as it is to get one upstairs so I truly have no real excuse to continue using MTD like traditional dining except....it's habit by now. Truly, I do believe that the line is shorter waiting for a MTD table since you don't have a horde of people all trying to be seated at the same time but that's just my opinion. I'm probably wrong. So I will continue to abuse the MTD system and eat at 5:30 every night instead of going downstairs with the rest of the early diners...because I can. AGSLC5 and Gigi 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AGSLC5 Posted June 17, 2015 Report Share Posted June 17, 2015 Raye, That is so funny because I am like you. I enjoy eating at 6:00 PM and if I am really daring I eat at 6:30 but mostly 6:00 PM. The reason I choose MTD is because I prefer a table for 2 and I found with traditional dining downstairs I could never get a table for 2. So I stick with MTD as well. I think for our group cruise however, one night I will choose to dine al fresco on my balcony since its such a cool room. Gigi 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAAAYTOOO Posted June 17, 2015 Report Share Posted June 17, 2015 Steph, I am in complete agreement with you. Glad to know I'm not the only MTD abuser ! I HATE to be in the middle of something (usually gambling !!) and have to stop and go to dinner. I would rather just eat early and get it over with so that I can have the rest of the evening to do what I want to do (usually gambling). One of the BEST things about being a suite guest is that you get to enjoy anything on the regular dining room menu in your room, if you care to do that. On our last cruise we were in the Royal Family Suite on the fantail and I have to tell you....we got pretty spoiled pretty fast for getting our dinner delivered to us on our balcony. I think we ended up doing that the last 4 nights in a row ! In that room we had a regular, full-sized table and it was very convenient to have our dinner delivered on the balcony. I'm not sure it's going to be QUITE as cozy in the aft Grand Suites on the Allure. From what I can see there are only small, low tables on the balconies in those rooms....but I'm certainly willing to give it a try ! Galveston Steve and AGSLC5 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted June 17, 2015 Report Share Posted June 17, 2015 I think based on your preference for how Disney does dining, traditional dining would be the better fit. You have set times and the same waiters and tablemates. The only real difference is you do not change restaurants every night. Gigi 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gigi Posted June 17, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 17, 2015 Actually, you CAN replicate the traditional dining experience with My Time Dining (MTD), but as I am often reminded, why would you ? The purpose of MTD is to allow you to eat at [almost] any time you wish vs having to eat at 1 of 2 assigned times. Having said all of that, I will say (as I have many times) I do MTD at the same time every night SO THAT I get the same waiters and have the same table. How is this different from traditional dining ? It is not. I am a MTD abuser. The reason I do MTD instead of traditional is b/c I like getting a private table and I have always believed that it was easier to get a private table (MTD upstairs) than it was downstairs at traditional. Since joining this blog I have been assured that I am completely wrong and that it would be JUST as easy to get a private table downstairs as it is to get one upstairs so I truly have no real excuse to continue using MTD like traditional dining except....it's habit by now. Truly, I do believe that the line is shorter waiting for a MTD table since you don't have a horde of people all trying to be seated at the same time but that's just my opinion. I'm probably wrong. So I will continue to abuse the MTD system and eat at 5:30 every night instead of going downstairs with the rest of the early diners...because I can. So how do you do that? Get a table at the same time? Maybe I'm just confused, but this actually sounds pretty good to me. Do you make reservations in advance or on the day. I appreciate your feedback. Oh and it appears you are a gambler too.....how is that? We are gambler's too and am wondering how it works with money? Is it all on paper or are you handling real cash in the casino? Thanks for the feedback! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AGSLC5 Posted June 17, 2015 Report Share Posted June 17, 2015 Gigi, it's very easy. First you need to make an online account with Royal Caribbean. Then you link your reservation to your account. Then you can have access to the cruise planner which is how you book dining, shows, shore excursions etc.. So once in the cruise planner you click dining and it will say My Time Dining. Then it will tell you that you can make a reservation for every night and choose if you want a table with just your party or with others. It's very self explanatory you will get it. Now on to the Casino. You actually are dealing with real Cash. if you play slots you put cash in the machine and then when you win a paper ticket comes out which you then exchange for Cash. If you play tables you give them cash and the dealers give you chips. Then when you are ready to cash out just go to cashier and trade your chips for cash. Very Simple... Raye, in 2011 for Allure's Inaugural year I was on in January for my birthday. IT was my actual birthday and I was winning quite a bit on this one slot machine. Somehow I was up about $800 I think it had a flaw because I kept getting the bonus. Anyway my point is it was time for dinner and there was No way I was ready to stop so I skipped dinner until later. Ever since then I book MTD because like you I like to eat then get to the Casino and also shows I like shows too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAAAYTOOO Posted June 18, 2015 Report Share Posted June 18, 2015 Yep, Steph has it right, Gigi. The trick with getting the same table for MTD is to let the Maître di (sp??) know, when you leave after that first night, that you want the same table for the rest of the cruise. That is, of course, if you LIKE your table location and waiters....sometimes you WANT to change them but most often, you want to keep them throughout the cruise. I have never failed to get the same table and waiters when I did that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocLC Posted June 19, 2015 Report Share Posted June 19, 2015 My Time Dining is not all that different from traditional dining other than the fact that your usually seated alone and have more flexibility in your dining times. We did MTD on the Jewel in January and were always seated at the same table with the same wait staff when we dined with our son. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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