I was referring to the practice of wait listing people for TD, whether for late seating from early or from Anytime to late seating TD. Several of us old timers have said this was a common practice. By asking "when" you indicate you do not believe it. That's all. I think it's admirable that you are trying to figure out ways to jimmy rig the current system to allow for a psuedo-TD, but for me, at least, it's beyond help. As soon as the FCC is depleted, I am moving on to other lines (a transition already in progress.)
BTW, my last cruise before shutdown was Dec. 2019 on the Royal, and the late TD dining room was full every night. That was the dining room deck 6 aft. It would take some effort to casually check every night to see how full it was, up and down those stairs...