Phasing Out Specific Dinner Times?

[Saberj]

I love Royal Caribbean cruises. I've went on two of them before, as well as 3 Carnival cruises, the last two of which I haven't enjoyed at all. But when I go, we always go with a decent group (5-8) of family. We are all pretty adamant that we like having a set time for dinner. However, looking into booking a cruise for October, we've looked at 4 or 5 different sailings on the Oasis and Allure. The one problem we've ran into is that they ONLY have My Time Dining available on every sailing we've looked at. Apparently the set dining times are completely booked up.

 

In at least one case, we were even told that there was no waiting list for the dining times. What's up with that? Is Royal Caribbean trying to phase out set time dining in favor of My Time? You would think that if the particular times are filling up, that they would see the demand is high, and shift more of their table space to people that want that option. But that doesn't seem to be the case. The Travel Agents I've talked to have said that there is pretty much no way around it, short of being on the wait list, and getting a spot like that.

 

Now I realize that you can make reservations with My Time, and ultimately you could get the same time every night. But every since we started cruising, one of our favorite aspects was getting to know your particular waiter. You start to develop a relationship. He knows you, you know him. You cheer for him in the dining room entertainment. Your service gets better and better throughout the week as he learns everyone's drinks, and how they like their food, the minor things you ask for (Extra butter, plenty of bread), etc.

 

Finally, I'm hesitant to even mention it, because of the vehement opinions that people have on the subject. However, My Time dining requires pre-paid gratuities. We are firm believers in using the actual definition for the term gratuity. "Something given voluntarily or beyond obligation usually for some service". How can something be given voluntarily and beyond obligation if you are obligated to give it and it's a set amount? We like basing our gratuities on the level of service that we get, and that is impossible if it is decided ahead of time. The only time I've ever pre-paid gratuities was on Carnival. That was a case where I felt that the service level dipped because the dining room staff felt they had already "gotten theirs".

 

Ultimately, I'm curious why this is happening. Is it part of a larger movement to complete My Time Dining? Can the two types of dining not co-exist? Is there a way to get around it, and go back to set dining times? Is there somewhere you can complain about the lack of options and actually be heard? Any help would be much appreciated. It's the lone annoying part of trying to book our cruise. One would think that 6 months out, you would still have some options when booking. But that's not appearing to be the case, currently.

[Sun Lover]

I totally agree with you. One of our favorite parts about the dining room is talking with and getting to know the waiters. It makes it seem much more special and personalized.

[dkmiller3356]

I also prefer a set dinner time (late for us) as opposed to My Time. I like getting to know our waiter and all that fun stuff.

 

There is clearly market pressure after NCL debuted Free Style Dining to provide more flexible options. I think many, many cruisers like this concept.

 

That being said, the issue with RCCL is not that they are phasing out scheduled MDR times but that are making subtle shift to provide this option and thus losing a number of seats in the MDR. The issue is complicated by ship size on Oasis and Allure. They are running out of reservations slots simply because it is too many to handle.

[Saberj]

Glad to see I'm not the only one that likes the ability to have a set time. I figured they were doing the My Time Dining thing because it's the popular thing right now. But I'd really like to see them adjust that, as they see what way the bookings are going. I mean ultimately, you still have the same number of people using the same number of tables. So the question is, why can't you move those empty tables around to the type of dining that you need as you need it? It definitely shouldn't be a problem 6 months out, IMO.

[MrsPete]

I do think Traditional Dining is on its way out, but it's because My Time Dining is a superior product. My family loves it, and we certainly aren't alone.

 

We've always found early dining to be too early -- you have to hurry to get back from an island stop in time to shower, or you have to leave the pool earlier than you wanted; and we've always found late dining to be too late. We love that we can go anytime we please, and we've not had to wait more than 5-10 minutes to get in.

 

The "I wanna get to know my waiters" hasn't been a problem either. Even with My Time Dining, you'll be assigned to a spot in the dining room and a team of waiters will still "be yours" all week. We had the same 6-8 waiters all week, and they were excellent. To give an example, on the first night of our last cruise, my super-shy daughter was enjoying dinner but wouldn't speak up to say what she wanted for dessert. The waiter said, "Oh, I'll just bring you the Shy Girl Special. He returned with a tall wine glass filled with vanilla ice cream and chocolate syrup and a couple chocolate chip cookies around the base. The other three girls immediately chimed in, "Tomorrow I'm having the Shy Girl Special!" For the rest of the week, they asked for it. When one of the waiters didn't know what that meant, Layton (the waiter who started this) was nearby and said he'd take care of it -- and he did. So don't think that My Time Dining waiters don't remember you and give great service. They do!

 

We also haven't minded paying tips up front. It's one less thing to do onboard, which suits me fine, and we've never had bad service anyway.

 

I'm not clear from your post, but I think you have not yet tried My Time Dining? If so, give it a try before you judge it. Speaking only for my family, we wouldn't go back to the restrictive Traditional schedule.

[Saberj]

I'm not clear from your post, but I think you have not yet tried My Time Dining? If so, give it a try before you judge it. Speaking only for my family, we wouldn't go back to the restrictive Traditional schedule.

 

To be fair, I haven't. However, IMO, a $2000 vacation isn't the time to be experimenting with things that can make or break your trip. Dinner is one of things that I always enjoy the most out of these trips.

 

Personally, getting "the same 6-8 waiters" isn't the same as "getting the same waiter" to me. I can definitely see where a lot of people would find My Time dining to be vastly superior. It's definitely a lot of rushing around in order to get ready in time for dinner. But it's something that has always worked well for my family, and we've enjoyed it for about 13 years now, so we aren't in any hurry to change that up.

 

There are many other things on the ship that I can try that don't have the potential to negatively effect our enjoyment of the trip as a whole. I'm certainly glad you enjoy it, and I'm definitely not suggesting that the option be removed, but instead that it be just that: an option. In fact, I'd definitely like you to talk it over with all the other people sailing in October. Maybe you can convince them to get out of my dining preference. :D

[newbiecruiser09]

My guess is that they are providing more spaces for MTD because that is what diners are requesting. I know that the wait lists for MTD when they first started introducing it were rather long. We loved MTD-had the same waiters each night (and sat at the same table each night except one-ten we were at the next table) and got fantastic service.

[Saberj]

My guess is that they are providing more spaces for MTD because that is what diners are requesting. I know that the wait lists for MTD when they first started introducing it were rather long. We loved MTD-had the same waiters each night (and sat at the same table each night except one-ten we were at the next table) and got fantastic service.

 

 

I would imagine the demand is pretty high, considering it's the only option available. If nobody can book anything BUT MTD, then I'm not sure how there can be a fair comparison.

[Merion_Mom]

Saberj, I do not believe that they are trying to phase out traditional dining. I think that spots in traditional dining are being filled up, as pointed out in the second post.

 

But I do concede that there is a possibility that Royal Caribbean is putting more people into My Time Dining initially, knowing that when they board, they will be able to go see the Maitre D' to have their assignment switched into one of the traditional times.

 

As MTD was eased in, a couple of years ago, the push was the opposite. People who wanted MTD couldn't get it, they could only get a traditional seating assignment. Then when they boarded, they went to the dining room and were re-assigned to MTD.

 

Royal Caribbean may be finding that it is easier to transition people from MTD to traditional than the other way around.

 

Pure speculation on my part, I admit.

[hfweather]

Last time we had MTD we had the same table and wait staff every night. Overall we had an excellent experience with MTD.

[Paulxyz2004]

Glad to see I'm not the only one that likes the ability to have a set time. I figured they were doing the My Time Dining thing because it's the popular thing right now. But I'd really like to see them adjust that, as they see what way the bookings are going. I mean ultimately, you still have the same number of people using the same number of tables. So the question is, why can't you move those empty tables around to the type of dining that you need as you need it? It definitely shouldn't be a problem 6 months out, IMO.

 

 

You are not the only one and the fact that traditional is not available should already tell you, you are not the only one.

On my Osasis cruise 1 level of the three level MDR was MTD and 2 levels were traditional, so no way was traditional on the way out, or in the minority.

[JADE75]

We also had the same waiter every night last year on Freedom of the Seas. We were with out daughter, her husband and two children. We chose MTD because of the girls aged 9 and 11 who wanted to dine with us some nights but not all. We requested the waiter after the first night and had no trouble getting him thereafter.

My DH did not like the MTD as we had booked 7.30 every night and this did not fit in with the shows which he really enjoys. We also enjoy, when sailing on our own, to go to a large table at 2nd sitting where we can chat to our regular table companions.

[FLACRUISER99]

I had no trouble booking late dinning an my Dec. Allure trip. I thinks folks book up "fixed" dinning because of being forced to prepay tips for MTD.:rolleyes:

[bellybutton530]

Color me traditional. I like eating late, and at the same table, with the same wait staff, every night.

[Crewzer33]

I am going on the Allure over Christmas and New Years 2011. We just recently booked it (maybe a month ago) and were told the same thing, no traditional dining spots available, so we were put on MTD. I used a travel agent that I have used in the past without any problems. They were told by RC that there was no waiting list for traditional dining times. But, when I did a "dummy" reservation two weeks ago through the RC website, it showed that traditional was not available, BUT also asked if I wanted to be put on a waitlist for it. So I called the travel agent back and explained what I had found (since I couldn't do it myself) and she called RC and we were put on a waitlist. Then last week, I check my reservation and it says that I have 6 p.m. confirmed dining! We have two reservations, which are linked together, and they were both added to the elusive waitlist and then both confirmed at the same time.

 

However, the prepaid gratuities (because of MTD) are still on the reservation. So, I call the travel agent again and she also confirms with RC that we have confirmed traditional dining and asks that they remove the prepaid gratuities from our reservation. We always tip the staff, however, I would rather not pay out an additional $500 at the time of final payment, if I can wait until I am on the ship and have it billed then.

 

I thought it was strange that a cruise that far out, with LOTS of available cabins, would have traditional dining full, but my advice to you is to keep checking and get you and the rest of your traveling companions on the waitlist!

[Retiredprofessor]

We booked an October sailing on Freedom and asked for MTD. We were told that we needed to be waitlisted for it and assigned to early seating. Still hoping to get it as we also enjoyed it on our last cruise. And yes, we also had the same wait staff, except for one evening.:)

[negc]

Color me traditional. I like eating late, and at the same table, with the same wait staff, every night.

 

And you still can, although with My Time Dining, it is still possible to have the same wait staff every evening if you request it. in most instances they will be able to accommodate you.

As far as phasing out traditional dining, when My Time Dining was first introduced, RCI stated rather unequivocally that they would always offer traditional dining. Despite the apparent growth in interest in MTD, I have seen no evidence that they are doing away with traditional. In fact, when we sail with our daughter, son in law and their three kids in just a few weeks, we have signed up for traditional dining.:)

If traditional dining is endangered anywhere it is more likely to be on Princess which regularly forces those who request traditional to take Anytime Dining and allocates more dining rooms to Anytime than traditional regardless of the demand for the latter on any given cruise.:rolleyes:

[mdvlprof]

Glad to see I'm not the only one that likes the ability to have a set time.

Me too. Don't like NCL mainly because of their dining [among other things]. I like having a set time, and the same waiter for the whole cruise.

[MrsPete]

To be fair, I haven't. However, IMO, a $2000 vacation isn't the time to be experimenting with things that can make or break your trip. Dinner is one of things that I always enjoy the most out of these trips.

 

Personally, getting "the same 6-8 waiters" isn't the same as "getting the same waiter" to me. I can definitely see where a lot of people would find My Time dining to be vastly superior. It's definitely a lot of rushing around in order to get ready in time for dinner. But it's something that has always worked well for my family, and we've enjoyed it for about 13 years now, so we aren't in any hurry to change that up.

 

There are many other things on the ship that I can try that don't have the potential to negatively effect our enjoyment of the trip as a whole. I'm certainly glad you enjoy it, and I'm definitely not suggesting that the option be removed, but instead that it be just that: an option. In fact, I'd definitely like you to talk it over with all the other people sailing in October. Maybe you can convince them to get out of my dining preference. :D

I can see that you don't want to experiment under those circumstances, but having done both I can claim a broader viewpoint -- and I'm not saying I didn't like Traditional Dining, just that I found the set times restrictive. I haven't found any difference in the enjoyment of our dinners -- just a lifting of the time restriction.

 

And I don't think you're going to find a big change in the quality of the service. We almost always had the same two waiters (because our girls loved them and requested them). When we weren't placed at their tables, they'd come over and say "hi" to our girls. I specifically remember that one of the girls' favorite waiters on our last cruise introduced himself and told the girls he was from Transylvannia. He asked if they knew who else is from Transylvannia, and their eyes grew wide as he assumed a menacing posture and growled in his lovely accent, "Dracule!" In their eyes, he was officially the coolest guy on the planet. They really played up to our teenagers!

 

You're welcome to show your fellow cruisers what I said about My Time Dining, and if you have specific questions about it, I'll be glad to answer.

 

 

One more reason I like My Time Dining: My family always seems to luck into the best staterooms with wonderful locations . . . but our luck doesn't extend to dining assignments. We've been stationed way in the back with a lovely view of both the kitchen (and its swinging door) and the salad-making /drink area. At the worst, on Mariner we were not even given a table in the dining room. The ship was full, and we were placed in an "overflow room" called Melodies -- the type of room that appears to have been created for a group that wants separate dining. I never even knew it existed before we were assigned there (and the ship was FULL, so no chance of changing). In each of these situations, we were stuck with that bad table for a week. I understand that someone's going to have to sit at the bad table, and I don't mind taking my turn -- but I don't want my turn to last all week!

 

With My Time Dining, we've had good and bad tables -- but we didn't worry about it because it was a one-meal assignment. Sometimes we've been seated in the middle of things at a ho-hum table, but we've known that the next night we'd have a chance again at the lovely table by the window -- or the table by the balcony overlooking the lower levels of the dining room, where we can people-watch.

 

That reason is just my personal experience, and it may not make a difference to anyone else, but it's annoyed me to look forward to dinner, to bring dinner clothes, and to feel like they picked out the worst possible table in the room just for me.

[briscogun]

We booked an October sailing on Freedom and asked for MTD. We were told that we needed to be waitlisted for it and assigned to early seating. Still hoping to get it as we also enjoyed it on our last cruise. And yes, we also had the same wait staff, except for one evening.:)

 

We booked an August sailing on Freedom and had the exact opposite problem. We wanted the early dining (3 kids, they don't like to wait), and they only had the late dining slot open. Even MTD was full! We waitlisted for the early shift, but we're not holding our breath. I've always had every meal in the dining room on every cruise, but this time we may end up having to try the Windjammer and Johnny Rockets a few times.

 

If this is the biggest issue I have for a weeklong cruise, I'll survive!

 

RCI did say that their cruises are booking up faster and faster and farther and farther in advance, so if you want a specific dining slot or room type, don't wait. Apparently the cruise industry is thriving!

[bellybutton530]

I've been on NCL and done both fixed and freestyle.

 

I absolutely hated freestyle. Never returned after that mistake of a cruise in 2002.

 

I have always asked for, and gotten, late seating on my Celebrity cruises. Not a problem over there.

 

Keep trying, saberj. It might be waitlisted now, but there always seems to be folks canceling their cruises, and thus the fixed dining often opens up. You may have to be vigilant, but in the end you should be able to get what YOU want.

 

Good luck.

[Saberj]

Thanks for all the input. I hope that traditional dining will get worked through for us before October. I was thinking that this could possibly be like the premium dining options. They start small, but before you know it, it's all over the place. On Carnival, I always had the problem that you could get some things (Like Cheesecake) for free, but the paid versions would be vastly superior. I'm not a fan of tactics like that, and I was concerned we might see something similar with MTD. Guess I'll just play it out, and see how it goes.

 

Thanks again! :cool:

[wwcruisers]

Color me traditional. I like eating late, and at the same table, with the same wait staff, every night.

 

Hi Bellybutton! Glad to see you're still kicking around on our "Aloha Cruise" roll-call thread. :D

 

We also are traditional late-seating cruisers. On our recent Liberty cruise, we deferred to the wishes of the friends we were sailing with, and tried MTD for the first time. Overall, it was a very positive experience. With a minimum of hassle, we managed to get the same table for six, with the same (fabulous) waitstaff -- at 7:30 every night. The only downside is that all of the shows and events are still scheduled around the early/late seating paradigm. So, dinner times take a little more planning, if you want to attend the ice show, or have your picture taken at the Captain's reception, etc. That being said, we'll probably go back to 2nd seating on our Hawaii cruise. :p

[publicpersona]

I like having a fixed dining time with the same servers every night too. It's just that 5:30/6 PM is way too early and 8:30/9 PM is way too late.

 

So we do MTD and eat about 7:15 every night. Usually with the same servers and table.

 

I'll admit that execution of MTD has been variable. We had really, really bad MTD on Navigator, and most of the time good enough MTD on other ships. On Oasis recently, as much as I wasn't thrilled with other aspects of Oasis, their MTD was the best organized and best dining experience ever.

[beachbuddy]

We did MTD on our last Explorer cruise and loved it! Like others, 6 pm is to early and 8:30 is kind of late but we always did late seating because we'd never make early seating. Anyway, when we did MTD we went to dinner around 7:30 - 7:45 each night and it was great! We basically were seated in the same area of the dining room........had a lot of the same waiters and had really good service. Even though we had a different waiter some nights, the assistant was the same and he remembered what type of bread we both liked and came right over and put it in our dish as soon as we sat down. We're doing 2nd seating on our next cruise because we have friends cruising with us so all 8 of us will sit together but when cruising with just DH, we definitly would do MTD again.