Starry Eyes

13 minutes ago, SquishTheWhale said:

Sorry if not relevant to the topic of 3 dining times, but I booked early dining on our upcoming Oasis sailing in May and it's showing at 6pm which is perfect for us with a small child. But the comments on here seem to be saying early is 5 or 5.30?

Do you think the 6pm could be incorrect, or do Med cruises tend to have later dining times?

Our only other RC cruise we did MTD but that starts too late for those with kids.

The dining times can change when a ship moves from Caribbean to Europe sailings.

The system will know you you have four guests.  If a JS that accommodates four becomes available, RoyalUp could be a nice deal for your family because the first two guest are charged.  The other two just get to enjoy the space! Good luck.

1 hour ago, island lady said:

 

Yeah, I would love to win the Lottery too.   Dreaming is fun...but posting false information is not.  

What false information did I post?

 I never said the program is currently available on Wonder.
 

1 hour ago, doghog said:

@cruiseboy89130 is a she? Which  post did @cruiseboy89130  correct it in? I missed that one. 

 

"...It is already available on Wonder..."

Island lady has corrected the record pretty throughly.  She corrected cruiseboy.  For good measure, she seems to have corrected me (even though so didn’t make the actual misstatement, LOL).  Can we move on, dog?

15 minutes ago, doghog said:

Unfortunately @cruiseboy89130 provide second hand inaccurate info. "...It is already available on Wonder..."

And she has corrected that firmly and repeatedly.  Perhaps she wishes to go correct the blog writer, too, but meanwhile maybe the rest of us can move on with the discussion🤣🤣🤣Discussing should be what we do best, right?
 

My prior post speculated how the early, middle, late times might work if and when it they roll it out.  Late dining might actually be late again; true late diners might like that.  The middle dining might be a popular choice, and might remove some people from early dining.  Dare to dream… maybe it might move enough people from early dining that MTD might start at a better time again?  Nah, that’s probably a pipe dream🤣

1 minute ago, island lady said:

 

 

The more accurate information comes from someone actually on the ship....  😉  That info is false.  

I understand it has not started on Wonder, but they may be planning to roll it out🤷‍♀️.  
A small pilot program could have been done sometime 

31 minutes ago, doghog said:

We'd like to see RC got back to 6:PM and 8:30 PM TD and same times for MTD. We hate the later start time for MTD and not thrilled with the 5:30 start time for early TD. But we've gone back to early TD. We don't cruise on the huge ships. Freedom class is the biggest we've been on. 

5:30 start time for early dining? Consider yourself lucky.  We’ve had 5:00 early dining start times lately.

51 minutes ago, cruiseboy89130 said:

They will overlap I assume the other 2 times will stay

When I read that blog article, I thought they planned to squeeze in three faster seating (trying to get diners out in 75 minutes, and leaving a bit for leeway and cleaning) and push back late a bit.  For example on ships in earlier dining cultures: early at 5:00, middle at 6:45, and at late at 8:30.  Or on other ships maybe early at 5:30, middle at 7:15, late at 9:00.

4 hours ago, BORN A BOWLER said:

I am traveling alone and if I bid do I get charged for one or is it for double only.

Thank You

Every RoyalUp bid entered is doubled (as if there are two guests).  That happens if there is one occupant or four.  Strange, yet true.  Just adjust your bid and enter it knowing it will be doubled on the confirmation page when you enter your CC #.

5 minutes ago, schooner_Drinker said:

That’s why I typed in my original post

 

Hopefully we don’t have $528 in extra OBC to spend

 

Nancy 

 

LOL…It would be your original amount of OBC.  It would not be “extra.”  You’d be returned to your starting position. 

Just now, schooner_Drinker said:

Didn’t use a credit card or debit card 

 

Nancy 

Did you buy it with OBC?  If so, I suppose you might get your original OBC back.  

2 minutes ago, schooner_Drinker said:

Hopefully we don’t have $528 in extra OBC to spend. 

If you paid by credit/debit card, it should be refundable OBC so you wouldn’t have to spend it.

Thanks for coming back to share the positive ending.  I’m glad it worked out for your family.  

4 hours ago, Engineroom Snipe said:

That is understandable and I am starting to get the flow. Lots of moving parts as always on any cruise.

 

Type of cruisers onboard, length of cruise, dining options (according to ship class) and so much more.

 

I was concerned that Royal is starting to sell more UDP than can be handled. Royal keeps track of EVERYTHING that sells on every ship for decades. I am concerned that this might be happening while Royal knows from past experience that it is being limited before the sale even occurs. Upon point of sale, I would like a little "buyer be aware" that dining options might be severely limited instead of finding the limitations after I have boarded.

 

I guess no salesperson want to say "no" to a sale but if the "unlimited" becomes "limited", something should be communicated up front to make me aware.

Dining packages such as UDP have sold out in the cruise planner on some of my cruises, so RCI seems to be making an attempt to keep the number of diners with packages in line with the number of slots typically available to them in the specialty restaurants.  Of course, timing and location of the available reservations might not appeal to every diner trying to make reservations.  

26 minutes ago, Engineroom Snipe said:

 

Trying to keep up with the postings.

 

Did you purchase an Unlimited Dining Plan, pay for it, possibly found that the unlimited plan had severe reservation limitations and they refused to allow you a refund once you got onboard?

We purchased the UDP for a recent cruise then cancelled it on day 1.   We received refundable OBC.  In our case, the cancellation was precipitated by an unanticipated dietary restriction rather than reservation limitations, but I think we’d they’d have refunded for either reason if we held firm.  They did try to talk us into keeping a specialty dining package.

4 minutes ago, mramella said:

Does anyone know if they're cracking down on booking now and paying, and then getting a refund once you're onboard?

 I have not tried it, but it sounded like the person in front on me in line on day one on a recent cruise had.  She and the restaurant manager talked for the longest long time, including how she reserved times then decided to buy a dining package.   She also said that she’d done the same thing on previous cruises (self-described “repeat offender”).  After a long time, the issue had not been resolved to her satisfaction and she finally left, saying she’d check with him again later.  That’s not the way I’d want to spend day 1 (and maybe day 2).

Hibachi is usually quite popular.  If that is vital to your happiness, send someone straight to Hibachi to make that reservation and/waitlist and be as open minded as you can about timing.  

5 minutes ago, cruiseguy1016 said:

I've stayed in many oceanview cabins on RCI ships and in every one of them, the bed has been under the window. I've never seen one 90° to the window.

Well, I have stayed in a few OV cabins on RCI with the bed 90 degrees from the window.  The ones that spring to mind are the forward facing OV cabins.  They typically have a bit of extra lower headroom space by the slanted front windows.

That said, if I booked a standard OV cabin on deck 3 of Jewel I would anticipate the bed under the window.

The C&A memberships are not going to shorten your wait for a MTD table.

Some people here still like MTD, but many of CruiseCritic posters choose early or late traditional rather than MTD.  Royal delayed the MTD start time a few years ago and many of us do not care for the newMTD schedule.  Have you considered early dining (if available) with the kids? That’s what I’d select, but it is personal preference.

As I recall, MTD is on deck 3 on Mariner.  Here’s how it now works:  The deck 3 dining room opens with every seat assigned to a guest with early traditional dining.  Of course, some won’t go to the MDR any given night (they use WJ or specialty dining etc).  So a few tables are available about 20-30 minutes after early dining begins (when early diners have missed their opportunity).  Smaller parties probably have better odds if slipping into those slots than do larger parties, but you don’t know unless you try.  Otherwise MTD really begins as they early traditional diners finish their meals and begin to leave the dining room.  Dining speeds vary greatly, but larger parties seem less likely to be the first to vacate early dining compared to some quick solos and couples.  
 

If you stay with MTD, you can try to get reservations as soon as you board.  There may be reservation options on day 1 that were never posted on line.  If you do not get suitable reservations, I’d suggest either showing up 20-30 minutes after early dining starts to see if a table is available or just lining up in the No Reservation line when you like (MTD probably officially opens at 6:30 or so).  Reports of wait times vary by cruise.

4 hours ago, grandgeezer said:

How about charging luggage handling fees, like the airlines? According to Forbes magazine, they made $32,000,000,000, yes billion, last year. Only allow carryons, the same size restraints as airlines, to be brought on the ship. Start at $25 for the first bag and $30 for each additional bags, which is less than the airlines do. $$$$$.

If they charge by the checked item, they better place limits on weight and size of those checked items or people arriving by car are apt to pack fewer but larger, heavier pieces.

2 hours ago, Mum2Mercury said:

I have seen terminal staff dividing people into groups based upon entrance times.  

Since I've always had the earliest entrance time, so I don't actually know what went on after we were admitted.  

We had the second arrival time on a recent sailing, so we were in the second set of gates outside the terminal building.  After the earliest group entered, our group was allowed in the doors immediately after.  The people in the next set of gate followed immediately after us as there was still space in the security line inside the terminal that week.  YMMV if the number of passengers arriving early is greater, if terminal doors open later, etc.

Presumably a computer algorithm that maximizes profit for the company decides which bids are accepted.

There are a lot OV balconies and few ultra spacious OV.  Because there are so many balconies, your odds of winning one of those are probably better.  I think you should only bid on cabins you will be happy to win.  Decide if you will be happy if your bid for that ultra spacious is accepted.  If so keep it; if not cancel it.

On 1/24/2024 at 5:31 PM, smokeybandit said:

Viking Crown is never busy.

I recall a couple times that weddings have been held in Viking Crown on embarkation day.  Not only busy but also was unavailable to non wedding guests.  

The OP has written a good reminder of why cruisers, even healthy, active ones, should buy travel insurance.  Though an unhappy poster may want to blame a cruiseline, the problem, of course, was the lack of insurance and the lack of understanding of the process.  This was bad enough with a broken leg.  It could be even worse with other severe or complex medical issues.

Medivacs off the ship seem relatively rare compared to the number ambulances meeting the ships at the docks.  I would think the OP might have ended up paying a steep Medivac bill if the ship was near Mexico.  

4 hours ago, travelberlin said:

If you get the upgrade, do your bookings like restaurant reservations, the Key, etc, get changed to your new cabin automatically?

Though you cabin number changes, your reservation number remains the same and cruise planner purchases should remain intact.  
 

If you win at the very last minute, sometime loyalty items are not in the correct cabin on day 1. So similarly I would suspect if you ordered something from the cruise planner scheduled for cabin delivery at start of cruise, it might not be in the right cabin on day one if you win an upgrade at the last minute.  I’m sure they would sort it out for you.

15 hours ago, Gtex said:

I have never bid on an RC upgrade before. Hoping for an ocean balcony instead of a Boardwalk balcony in March. I am confused.  When do they let you know your cabin number? Will we just find out when we get to the cruise terminal? What about our luggage tags? Will they send them a couple of days before the cruise? 

If you win the upgrade, you will receive a congratulatory email.  Approximately the same time your new cabin number will appear on the app and in the cruise planner.  You will print your luggage tags.  Your eDocs will probably need to update for the new luggage tag to appear; that may be a few hours or overnight.  

You can check on boarding day, though the odds five seats will be available at a single Tempenaki table are low.

Sometimes people cancel later in the cruise, so keep watching.  For example, a family dining with us said they picked up last minute cancellations.  It was a 5:15 seating on a port day.