Did anyone else find the line for MTD annoying?

[Oville]

Capnlars ..... I forgot to mention that there was no line on the Brilliance! ...thats how well run it was on there .... at the most we only ever saw 6 peole and they all had booked beforehand so were taken to their tables. Seems like the rest of the RCI fleet could do well to mirror the Brilliance.

 

Most do mirror this. It seems like a few ships on a few sailings have encountered problems. No problems the 4 or 5 times we've done it.

[Rala]

Sounds as if Brilliance are doing it the right way. If everyone had to make a reservation and the staff implemented this to the letter then there should not be lines at any time!

 

We were on Brilliance this past March and from our traditional table we could look right aross to the MTD section and there was hardly anyone using it and we were in the dining room every evening from 6pm to 7:45 or so. Maybe that is why it worked so well on Brilliance unless all the MTD folks were dining after 8pm ?? Just a thought.

[marci22]

We were on Brilliance this past March and from our traditional table we could look right aross to the MTD section and there was hardly anyone using it and we were in the dining room every evening from 6pm to 7:45 or so. Maybe that is why it worked so well on Brilliance unless all the MTD folks were dining after 8pm ?? Just a thought.

 

Good point. I have friends that complain about the NCL anytime dining: they say they always have to wait, sometimes as much as an hour (they travel as a larger group). Even in a restaurant, which is basically MTD, when lots of people show up at once, someone has to wait. I don't see how it is any different on a cruise ship.

[Jeka]

The OPs situation is why MTD needs to be segregated from traditional. And that would also make those who are bothered by traditional diners lining up too early to suit those who choose MTD.:rolleyes:

 

The waitstaff has more than enough to do without having to dodge those in MTD who are constantly coming and going.

 

From reading your response above, I can only assume you have never been on a ship that has implemented MTD. It is indeed a segregated area where only MTD dinners sit. Also, the only waiters who have to "dodge" those in MTD are the MTD waiters, as again, the MTD area is separate. It is also set up so that no MTD dinners are walking through the tradional areas.

 

To the OP, sounds like MTD on the Granduer needs a lot of work. I've done it on the Jewel, Indy, Liberty and the Nav and have never run into anything like you described. Seems to be a case of poor mamagement from the MTD staff. Hopefully, they can get their act together as MTD is a nice option if it is done well.

[CeeAngel]

If you have made a reservation for MTD, and when you get to the dining room there is a line of people...if you go to the head of the line to let them know you have a reservation will they seat you right away or make you wait until the people that just "showed up" are seated?

[RetireeWannabee]

If you have made a reservation for MTD, and when you get to the dining room there is a line of people...if you go to the head of the line to let them know you have a reservation will they seat you right away or make you wait until the people that just "showed up" are seated?

Sounds to me like the line is folks with ressies also, so going to the head of the line could start a riot.

[Bakincakes]

From reading your response above, I can only assume you have never been on a ship that has implemented MTD. It is indeed a segregated area where only MTD dinners sit. Also, the only waiters who have to "dodge" those in MTD are the MTD waiters, as again, the MTD area is separate. It is also set up so that no MTD dinners are walking through the tradional areas.

 

To the OP, sounds like MTD on the Granduer needs a lot of work. I've done it on the Jewel, Indy, Liberty and the Nav and have never run into anything like you described. Seems to be a case of poor mamagement from the MTD staff. Hopefully, they can get their act together as MTD is a nice option if it is done well.

 

The "area" is separate. The OP was disturbed by perturbed MTDiners who were not happy they had to wait as they checked in, which was indeed in the same vicinity of the traditional dining area.:eek:

 

They should not even be in the area of the traditional diners. I would not be happy to have someone hanging over the railing watching me have my dinner. And it would certainly solve your angst at having Traditionals line up too early and disturb your check in for MTD.:)

[Bakincakes]

Sounds to me like the line is folks with ressies also, so going to the head of the line could start a riot.

 

 

Well then...there would be dinner entertainment for the traditional diners.:p

[vavasmom]

If you have made a reservation for MTD, and when you get to the dining room there is a line of people...if you go to the head of the line to let them know you have a reservation will they seat you right away or make you wait until the people that just "showed up" are seated?

On Grandeur, if you went to the podium you were told to wait in the line even if you had a reservation. In fact one night all 8 parties or so in the line had a reservation. If you showed up w/o a reservation, you wre given a time to come back and wait in the line. It was a mess - very poorly run. I loved MTD on Freedom and we are goingt o try iton Enchantment next year

[Bakincakes]

On Grandeur, if you went to the podium you were told to wait in the line even if you had a reservation. In fact one night all 8 parties or so in the line had a reservation. If you showed up w/o a reservation, you wre given a time to come back and wait in the line. It was a mess - very poorly run. I loved MTD on Freedom and we are goingt o try iton Enchantment next year

 

 

Guess that scenario blows the original intent of MTD out of the water.(No pun intended).

 

I can imagine that MTDiners who were expecting to just breeze in when they wanted to weren't too happy with the outcome.

[Guest maddycat]

When we did MTD on the Explorer in May it worked very well. We never made a reservation. We showed up anytime between 6:15 and 7:00 and were seated immediately. We were always given a table for 2. Just what we wanted. The service was excellent. We were served quickly but never rushed. There seemed to be extra assistant waiters working the MTD area.

 

We signed up for MTD on our next cruise in Oct. on the Explorer. I hope that our experience is once again enjoyable.

[Bobal]

The MTD desk on Legend is outside the dining room, so people waiting to be allocated a table line up in the lobby area. MTDiners only enter the Dining room to be taken to their table.

[Oville]

Fortunately, MTD works rather well on most ships. This mishap seems to be isolated to the Grandeur and maybe to one cruise on it.

[pepsicruiser]

Wow, what a nuisance! Do they have a MTD line on each level of the dining room? I am sailing on the Explorer on Sept 26, and as usual

 

teddie

 

Can you please report back here when you return from Explorer? I'm doing MTD for first time in Oct and am interested in how you liked it. TY

[monicajay]

When we did MTD on the Explorer in May it worked very well. We never made a reservation. We showed up anytime between 6:15 and 7:00 and were seated immediately. We were always given a table for 2. Just what we wanted. The service was excellent. We were served quickly but never rushed. There seemed to be extra assistant waiters working the MTD area.

 

We signed up for MTD on our next cruise in Oct. on the Explorer. I hope that our experience is once again enjoyable.

 

Hoping it works this well on the Rhapsody in December. We like to eat around 7 pm most nights, right in between both seatings. A table for two is preferable but I don't mind sitting with others sometimes. At least if we don't like the people we are not stuck with them for the 10 nights. :eek:

 

I will make a reservation if needed but I was told (by RCCL) that it was like 'freestyle' on NCL and we could just show up when we were ready.

[vavasmom]

Fortunately, MTD works rather well on most ships. This mishap seems to be isolated to the Grandeur and maybe to one cruise on it.

Just to clear it up - based on their signature - the OP boarded the ship for 5 night Bermuda cruise the day I disembarked form the 9 night Eastern.

 

I think it is isolated to the ship and possibly a change in the person doing the seating since early reviews of MTD on Grandeur were very positive. I am certain that names mentioned in those reviews (which I tried to find a little while ago but search does not seem to be working) were not the staff running the MTD area the 9 nights we were on-board. RCCL did contact me via telephone based upon the comments I wrote about the MTD experience on the ship.

[lakette3]

Have done MTD on Magesty and Enchantment with absolutely no problem. We dined some nights and 7 and others at 7:30. Had a window seat each time. MY DH and I were able to go right in except one night we waited all of 3-5 minutes. We are sticking to MTD.

[love2vacation]

We tried it on the Jewel and there was never a line. We made reservations for the next evening as we left the dining room each night. We ate at either 7pm most nights or 7:30 a few and one night we ate at 6:30.

 

I think this is like anything new there may be some "kinks" to work out before every ship gets it right.

 

Sorry you had problems.

[Oville]

Just to clear it up - based on their signature - the OP boarded the ship for 5 night Bermuda cruise the day I disembarked form the 9 night Eastern.

 

I think it is isolated to the ship and possibly a change in the person doing the seating since early reviews of MTD on Grandeur were very positive. I am certain that names mentioned in those reviews (which I tried to find a little while ago but search does not seem to be working) were not the staff running the MTD area the 9 nights we were on-board. RCCL did contact me via telephone based upon the comments I wrote about the MTD experience on the ship.

 

Thanks for the clarification, I wasn't sure if the problem has been at all Grandeur MTDs or a recent develop. What I can't understand is why some who have never experienced MTD are on here being so negative. Clearly, your experience wasn't so good so appreciate your input.

[Michuck]

Just returned from the Majesty yesterday and we chose MTD.....We won't again. We made a reservation for each nite, the first night went along relatively well, although a bit slow and the wait staff seemed a bit overwhelmed with some just starting dinner, and others finishing....the second nite was not as good. Although we had a reservation (at 8:00) we had to wait in line for about 10 minutes (not really a big deal) but then when we were seated, we waited 25 minutes before a waiter took our order. We didn't go to the maitre d' figuring we were on vacation, what the heck, but still....dinner took us nearly an hour and half, which we weren't too thrilled with. There didn't seem to be the same interaction with the wait staff as there is when you are in traditional dining, when they have time to 'chat', and you knew they would serve you the next nite....also, I had to use the restroom and when returning, the 8:30 traditional dining people were lined up and when I tried getting through the crowd (remember, we were already seated), I was rudely told that I should "wait in line like everyone else"....I told them I was already seated, but it seemed to fall on deaf ears...a very uncomfortable situation. We wound up eating in the Windjammer the last nite, and frankly, it was far more relaxing...We did ask the maitre d' (and even gave him a cash gratuity that first nite), requesting the same table if possible, or at least the same server the next nite. It didn't happen.

 

M.

[Big Kev]

Just returned from the Majesty yesterday and we chose MTD.....We won't again. We made a reservation for each nite, the first night went along relatively well, although a bit slow and the wait staff seemed a bit overwhelmed with some just starting dinner, and others finishing....the second nite was not as good. Although we had a reservation (at 8:00) we had to wait in line for about 10 minutes (not really a big deal) but then when we were seated, we waited 25 minutes before a waiter took our order. We didn't go to the maitre d' figuring we were on vacation, what the heck, but still....dinner took us nearly an hour and half, which we weren't too thrilled with. There didn't seem to be the same interaction with the wait staff as there is when you are in traditional dining, when they have time to 'chat', and you knew they would serve you the next nite....also, I had to use the restroom and when returning, the 8:30 traditional dining people were lined up and when I tried getting through the crowd (remember, we were already seated), I was rudely told that I should "wait in line like everyone else"....I told them I was already seated, but it seemed to fall on deaf ears...a very uncomfortable situation. We wound up eating in the Windjammer the last nite, and frankly, it was far more relaxing...We did ask the maitre d' (and even gave him a cash gratuity that first nite), requesting the same table if possible, or at least the same server the next nite. It didn't happen.

 

M.

 

 

Gidday .

 

You obviously had a bad experience.

 

It seems as if there is a communication problem with MTD more than anything else.

 

From what I have read on the boards, expectations differ dramatically.

 

We are relatively new to cruising anyway, but our first experience of cruising was with NCL, who have "Freestyle dining".

 

Freestyle with NCL is where you just arrive at ANYTIME, and are seated when a newly vacated table becomes available. You then dine at the table with others who arrive and are waiting to dine at that same time. ... (RCL does the same for breakfast and lunch)

 

It dosnt take a long wait for dinner unless at the very peak times between 7 and 8.30 PM. (They also have screens around the ship which indicate wait times).

 

THEY DO NOT TAKE DINING ROOM RESERVATIONS. --- First in line, first seated. (however, they will give you a beeper/pager)

 

I think that RCL intended to mean that MTD is to work on the same principle. (or didnt they)? I imagine that they mean you just arrive and take pot luck as to the wait time. Is it that staff havent really understood?

 

I would not expect to just nominate when I want dinner and demand a seat.. Any magicians here? Anyone know how they can achieve that???

 

Sue and Phil.

.

..

[love2vacation]

Just returned from the Majesty yesterday and we chose MTD.....We won't again. We made a reservation for each nite, the first night went along relatively well, although a bit slow and the wait staff seemed a bit overwhelmed with some just starting dinner, and others finishing....the second nite was not as good. Although we had a reservation (at 8:00) we had to wait in line for about 10 minutes (not really a big deal) but then when we were seated, we waited 25 minutes before a waiter took our order. We didn't go to the maitre d' figuring we were on vacation, what the heck, but still....dinner took us nearly an hour and half, which we weren't too thrilled with. There didn't seem to be the same interaction with the wait staff as there is when you are in traditional dining, when they have time to 'chat', and you knew they would serve you the next nite....also, I had to use the restroom and when returning, the 8:30 traditional dining people were lined up and when I tried getting through the crowd (remember, we were already seated), I was rudely told that I should "wait in line like everyone else"....I told them I was already seated, but it seemed to fall on deaf ears...a very uncomfortable situation. We wound up eating in the Windjammer the last nite, and frankly, it was far more relaxing...We did ask the maitre d' (and even gave him a cash gratuity that first nite), requesting the same table if possible, or at least the same server the next nite. It didn't happen.

 

M.

 

Just as service seems to differ from ship to ship MTD seems to be the same. It could be the way the MDR is set up because we never had to part the crowd waiting for second seating to get out of the dining room.

 

Since we are on vacation and want to do things somewhat on our time we prefer eating between 7-7:30 and MTD works for us. I guess it will be interesting to see if the Serenade does as good a job on MTD as the Jewel. We just doen't mind a little inconvenience to be able to eat at when we want.

 

I agree that everyone has different expectations of MTD and that would include the ship staff not just the diners. ;)

[CeeAngel]

THEY DO NOT TAKE DINING ROOM RESERVATIONS. --- First in line, first seated. (however, they will give you a beeper/pager)

I think that RCL intended to mean that MTD is to work on the same principle. (or didnt they)? I imagine that they mean you just arrive and take pot luck as to the wait time. Is it that staff havent really understood?

I would not expect to just nominate when I want dinner and demand a seat.. Any magicians here? Anyone know how they can achieve that???

Sue and Phil...

 

I have chosen MTD for my Oct 2010 cruise. No, I do not expect to demand a seat, but I do expect to be seated, if I have made a reservation, before someone that shows up at the same time as myself without a reservation. I would prefer the first in line, first seated MTD with no one making reservations.

[land lover]

No, I did not find it annoying, we probably had to wait 1/2 the time...that's life, when we waited we always received an excellent table.

 

They did not allow us to make a reserved time, stated they were already "full", so we just arrived at "odd" times and it worked out great.........we will use it again in a few weeks.

[Morecruisesplz]

I was on Indy recently and felt very sorry for the people sitting anywhere near the queue for MTD and also for the people sitting anywhere near the entrance to the dining room (although I think some of those tables were for MTD). The nature of MTD means that people are coming and going at all times, and it would have spoilt it for me to have people walking past my table all night. I'm sticking to traditional dining :p

 

You have hit the nail on the head exactly. I was the OP and our cruise was on the Grandeur but this proves the problems are not just on that one ship. One thing that would help is to put the check-in podium outside the dinning room doors so that the line is not near those trying to enjoy their dinner. But that would not solve the problem of the constant coming and going of people being seating and/or leaving. Someone suggested that MTD is a "separate area" which is not possible. They have no separate dining room for that many people. The only choice is to carve out space from the area left after assigning those who want early and late traditional seating. And that will always cause an area where the two types of seating are adjacent to each other. In our case the line was down the aisle of one side of the dining room only (upstairs). So all traditional time diners were separated only by the aisle. When busy they were even seating MTD folks at empty tables for 2 or 4 on the side where traditional diners were seated. That caused 2 sets of waiters to try to serve meals that started at different times in the same area.

 

We did not complain because there were no obvious other choice of tables for a group of 10. We have cruised the Grandeur many times and this was our first problem of this type. We knew our headwaiter from previous cruises and he was aware of the problem but like many recent RCCL changes has no control over what they are told to do. I think we know him well enough that if he had a better choice for us he would have moved us without us having to ask.

 

I think RCCL minimizes how this can annoy traditional time guests -- as it did us -- and I started the thread to find out if others are bothered.

 

I did get a chuckle out of the guy who said they love MTD dining because they like to eat at 7:00. Gezz... it's vacation! Either go in a little late for 6:30 or just tell your waiter to slow things down so that you are eating at 7:00. No need to reinvent the wheel just because you "like to eat at 7:00."