What's up with Dinner...Considering RCI?

[sguywilson]

Hi,

 

Just curious...Never cruised RCI...Really like the itenerary on Explorer of the Sea's out of NJ on 3/31/2011.

 

With RCI...You have to eat with other people in the dining rooms? I love people but maybe just not every night LOL

[DonnaK]

You have a choice of traditional dining, or My Time Dining, and you can request a table for two if you wish. Pretty much the same as on all the mainstream lines (except NCL)

[Merion_Mom]

Hi,

 

Just curious...Never cruised RCI...Really like the itenerary on Explorer of the Sea's out of NJ on 3/31/2011.

 

With RCI...You have to eat with other people in the dining rooms? I love people but maybe just not every night LOL

 

Well, if you don't like eating with people, have room service dinner. :)

 

But I believe that you are referring to traditional dining where you eat at the same time each night with the same people at your table.

 

You can choose "My Time Dining" and ask to be seated at a table with only your party. It is a separate area of the main dining room, and you can choose the time that you want to eat also.

[sguywilson]

Awesome!! I'm goin then! THANKS!

[negc]

Hi,

 

Just curious...Never cruised RCI...Really like the itenerary on Explorer of the Sea's out of NJ on 3/31/2011.

 

With RCI...You have to eat with other people in the dining rooms? I love people but maybe just not every night LOL

 

Sounds like you have never cruised on any cruise lines,not just RCI. You have several different dining options on RCI just as you would have on most other lines. If you are serious in your question and not just spoofing us, you should know the following: You can request a table for two or ask to be seated with others at a larger table. You can dine at one the two traditional seatings (early or late) or you can take advantage of the My Time Dining option to dine anytime between 6 and 9 pm, either alone or with others. You can dine some or all evenings in the casual Windjammer Cafe or you can dine in one of the specialty restaurants (Portofino or Johnny Rockets) or you can grab something in the Cafe Promenade on the Royal Promenade. You don't HAVE to do anything that you don't want to as far as dining and you can pretty much tailor your dining arrangements to fit your personality. However, if dining with people is a particular problem for you, you might want to reconsider your decision to sail on a ship that carries in excess of 3000 people on every cruise.:rolleyes:

[Bound4Bermuda]

You don't have to choose My Time Dining to eat alone. We have Traditional Dining, early seating, and just asked for a table for my party only.

[wethetraveler]

I saw a post on this board where a gentleman and his wife just want to be left alone to eat and talk to each other. I totally agree with him 1000 percent. I do not want to hear your stories or feel the courteous obligation to tell you my stories. Each cruise that we have taken, my wife and I get a table for two. Within one hour after boarding the ship, we check the table assignment. If it is not what we want, we immediately go the the head waiter and request a change to a table for two. I am happy to report that we have not been disappointed yet. Even though you are eating with hundreds of people, the table for two seems like you are in your own little world.

[maxxedout2]

Interesting.

 

We (DH/DW) just booked 5 day Navigator with early seating in MDR.

 

However, we want to try Chops and Portofinos or buffet some nights

so that really only leaves 2 nights in MDR.

 

Question: Should we just switch to MyTimeDining? Are you

supposed to tell MDR that you will not be there?

 

Thanks.

 

Oh, it may be just the 2 of us...not sure if any family can make it yet.

[dixieva]

I always tell the MDR if we're not going to make dinner. We always book early seating but some nights we eat in the WJ or the speciality restuarant. I always tell my waiter not to wait for us if we're not seated by dinner time. If I know ahead of time that I won't be there I tell him the night before. Most nights we do eat in the MDR.

[sellwingri]

One of the reasons I love cruising is meeting different people. We've made life long friends after sitting with them during dinner. We once were seated at a table with 3 who were very upset because they had requested a private table. After our cruise, they were so happy to have been seated with us.

 

Only once (we've been on 8 cruises) did we have a bad experience with our dining table and we asked to be moved the next night. This was done and we once again had an excellent experience.