Pros and Cons of MTD - Help!

[haywardwis]

I am a lot nervous to do My time dinning. Do you sit by yourself? What problems do you have? Any restrictions?

[Happy ks]

I can only relate our experience. On Radiance (5 night cruise) we only ate there the first night, we showed up at around 8-8:30 and were seated right away, a party of 4.

 

In December, Christmas week, I was a bit let down on Mariner. I thought it would be we could customize our dining time (party of 7), but we could make reservations at 6:15 or 8:30, nothing in between. If we had known, we would have just had reserved the traditional dinner seating. I suppose it could have been because of a sold out ship.

 

Other than the reservation time, it was no different than the main dining room experience.

[cruizinmimi]

I am a lot nervous to do My time dinning. Do you sit by yourself? What problems do you have? Any restrictions?

 

If you want to eat alone, you can. If you want to be seated with other people, they will do that also. We have done MTD twice now and really enjoyed it both times. The 1st time we had our family (5) and we got a table every night just the 5 of us. The 2nd time, it was just DH and I, and we asked for a table for 2 every night. Go for it....don't be nervous.

[mtchg]

...on a European cruise. They say they wouldn't do it any other way again; they loved it.

 

So we are going to try it ourselves next time.

 

Mitch

[Nanannjen]

We just came back from our first experience with MTD on Mariner. Based on that, personally, I'm not sure that I will do it again. It worked out best this time for our party of 6 (three generations) because late seating was too late for my parents, and early was too early for the rest of us! We had hoped to get a fixed reservation for 7, but by the time I got to the reservation desk the first day (after muster) that spot was filled - we were pushed to 7:30 or 7:45.

 

Our first night, the service was wonderful - loved the waiter and the assistant. The second night, to accomodate our 7:15 time request, they put us at another table, where the service was about the worst we've ever had on a cruise. The next night they put us at the same table, but we asked if we could sit at the one next to it (easier for my dad/wheelchair). We found that to be a different waiter, who was acceptable, but nothing more. The next night, they put us back at the lousy waiter table -and afterwards I went and begged the maitre'd to go back to our original table! We moved our time to 7:30/7:45, and we were MUCH happier the last few nights.

 

Overall, the maitre'd and headwaiter were excellent - they knew us by name and did what they could to schedule us. However, this is the first cruise where we have not sat with someone else - and I found that I really missed it! I enjoy meeting the different people and finding out what they did that day - in the past, we have played trivia with tablemates, taken shore excursions, etc. I missed not having that interaction - so based on that and the spotty service, for me, this will probably be my last MTD.

 

Just my two cents!

[vermontvoyager]

We had MTD for a b2b on Independence this past December and it was great. We will always do MTD from now on. Food was always good and service was excellent.

We were able to get a table for 2 every night that we requested also without a problem.

We will be back on Indy again in a couple of weeks after our experience on our last cruises there.:cool::D

[wayne_trisha]

Get on the ship early and make your request for the week if you want to eat at a specific time. I thought we would not like it but we gave it a shot and we will take MTD from now on.

[cb at sea]

Do you want to eat alone? Then choose MTD. If you want tablemates, choose Traditional, so you'll have folks to talk to!

[PreciousCruiser]

On my previous Cruise, we had the 8:30 seating, but decided to do the MTD this time. I hope we are able to sit at a table for more than the 2 of us. Is that possible? I like having dinner with different people.

 

Also, can I email RCCL and make a reservation for a certain time prior each night prior to boarding?

[sandgrand]

Do you have to set a time for everynight or can you show up at different times each night - We want a table for 2? Thanks.

[andrzej5914]

Do you have to set a time for everynight or can you show up at different times each night - We want a table for 2? Thanks.

 

You have 3 choices:

 

1. Reserve the same time for every night (IMHO, it kind of defeats the purpose)

2. Each evening make reservations for the following night

3. Just walk in - you may have to wait few minutes (probably the best option if there are only 2 of you)

[Dett]

We tried MTD for the first time on our January 10 cruise on Freedom of the Seas. We liked it. We were asked one time if we would share and table and we said yes. Most of the time we were alone since there was just 2 of us. Some of the tables for 2 are real close together but sometimes they sat us at a table for 4 and I liked that better. I will say that you have to plan your own schedule if you want to go to the shows since the ship plans the shows around the traditional seating. We ate at 6, 8:30, 7:15 and 7:30. We made reservations usually in the morning once we knew the schedule for the day. I would do it again.

[bgetter]

Thanks for all the great information in this thread. My wife and I are wrangling over the decision.

[cruisedawgg]

Say you and your spouse decide to go out to dinner in your home town. How would you feel if you followed the host/hostess to your table and found several other people sitting there as well?

 

 

Do you want to eat with strangers, or just with your spouse?

[silentbob007]

It really seems geared to eating by yourself. We tried eating with others and it only worked out a few nights. There are many more tables for two than bigger tables from my experience.

[depplep]

We were talked into trying MTD on Enchantment because we wanted a table for two. I wouldn't try it again anytime soon. They told us to show up when we wanted and then each night we still had to wait in a line. Some nights it was only 5min. or so, other nights it was up to 15min.

Each night our waiter wanted us to give him a specific time frame as to when we wanted to eat the next night, I kept telling him I didn't know as I thought that was the whole point of MTD.

We did get a table for two in front of the windows but it was just such a hassle to us to have to reserve a time I'd rather just talk to the maitre d' and get the table for two at late seating like we always do.

[castle701]

I can only relate our experience. On Radiance (5 night cruise) we only ate there the first night, we showed up at around 8-8:30 and were seated right away, a party of 4.

 

In December, Christmas week, I was a bit let down on Mariner. I thought it would be we could customize our dining time (party of 7), but we could make reservations at 6:15 or 8:30, nothing in between. If we had known, we would have just had reserved the traditional dinner seating. I suppose it could have been because of a sold out ship.

 

Other than the reservation time, it was no different than the main dining room experience.

 

Is this the case always for a larger party? We are 7 and thinking out MTD for our next cruise in April, but looking to do 8pm on most nights. If we can't make reservations between 6:15 and 8:30 we will just keep our late seating assignment...

[KeywestK]

We did MTD last April on Monarch, and we were 4 of us. Worked beautifully. We are doing it again in March on Radiance, and we will be 6 of us. I've read on other threads about MTD that it works better with smaller parties. For larger parties, 8 or more, it gets a little more difficult to accommodate. I think for a party of 2, it should be fine. Go for it.

 

Karen