Brilliance MTD

[travelhelp]

We will be on the Brilliance for a Med cruise. We have always done traditional dining but since this itinerary is so Port intensive, we are inclined to to MTD. Reading the posts, many people that do MTD like tables for 2 but we really enjoy having dinner with other people and sharing experiences. Also, the MTD seems to vary from ship to ship.

What has been your experience?

[cb at sea]

If you enjoy tablemates (we do, too!), then opt for traditional seating...you'll have plenty of time to get ready. Most MTDer's want to eat alone, so even if YOU'RE willing to share a table, most of them won't want to share with you.

[oldandslow]

We did my time on a 12 night med cruise in 2009 on Brilliance and found it a perfect fit with such a port intensive itinerary. We were able to sit at tables for 4, 6, or 8 and had a nice time interacting with the other people at our table.

 

I would recommend my time as you can plan your days around what you want to do and see and then make reservations (or just show up) for dinner based on what works best for you.

 

Have a great time!

 

We will be on the Brilliance for a Med cruise. We have always done traditional dining but since this itinerary is so Port intensive, we are inclined to to MTD. Reading the posts, many people that do MTD like tables for 2 but we really enjoy having dinner with other people and sharing experiences. Also, the MTD seems to vary from ship to ship.

What has been your experience?

[Langley Cruisers]

...you'll have plenty of time to get ready...

 

This from someone who has never done MTD. :rolleyes: There is not "plenty of time to get ready", hence the decision to use MTD. A Med cruise is port intensive; 8 or 10 hours in one port per day is not a lot of time. Having to cut that short in order to get back to the ship for dinner at a specific time, especially on a Med cruise, can be precarious at best.

 

OP, if you want to join others for dinner in MTD, I'm sure the manager will accomodate you. Enjoy Brilliance - we are on in 6 months. :)

[SewCruise]

I'll be on Brilliance in June and I selected MTD to make getting to dinner less stressful after a long day in port. I also hope to meet and dine with fellow cruisers! Hopefully not all other MTDers will want to keep to themselves.

[sippican]

We will be on the BOS in September and have also opted for MTD. We do want some opportunities to dine as just a couple, but will also welcome opportunities to dine with others (we have enjoyed larger dinner groups on past cruises).

As others have, we chose MTD so we could dine when we were ready, not on anyone's schedule.

Enjoy!

[travelhelp]

Thanks everyone for your input. I'm a little confused about this. We reserved late seating when we booked and when we called to change it to MTD were told we'd have to pay pay upfront which is no problem since it an expected expense, however, our full payment isn't due until March. I have read about waiting lists for MTD so will take care of it in March when we pay final. Will that work out for us???

[unberwoob]

We cruised on the Brilliance in November and tried MTD for the first time. We enjoyed it so much that I don't think we will go back to traditional dining times. We did a 2 top, but there were larger tables that seemed to fill up similar to open seating at breakfast.

 

I do advise you to reserve times in advance. I had read that you could get the same time and same table every night by just reserving the night before, but this was not the case on the Brilliance. I started out reserving the next night as we left. We did not get the same table each night, although we always got the same area so the same wait staff. After dinner one night I could not get the same time the next night. However, I had made a reservation online for each night and got the times we wanted. Also I did not see many walk ins. There was not two lines as reported on other ships.

 

 

We found that most tours got back early enough to dine at 6:15 every night, but it was nice to dine later some nights on big port days. Also dinner took less time with MTD-much more efficient than traditional dining. We loved it.

 

I would switch to MTD ASAP, and reserve times.

[GEORGET]

The beauty of MTD on the Brilliance is that you can turn up between 6pm and as late as

9 30.

It is in the Minstrel Dining Room, DECK 5 and has more two seat arrangements than before.

Saying that there are plenty of 4,6 and 8 seating.

If you turn up and there is a queue just inform the Head waiter that you would or would not like to share a table that night.

They are excellent staff and if you want something different the following day will try to provide it.

Enjoy the cruise

g