All We Want to Do Is Eat Together (aka My Time Dining)

[dln929]

I think I am probably making a mountain out of a molehill but I need to get this resolved or I'll drive myself crazy. Here's the deal. We are going on our cruise with my brother- and sister-in-law. We are American; they are English.

 

My BIL wanted to make reservations to eat at 7:15 pm so we said sure! Both of us are doing the My Time Dining (which they've never done before; we're new cruisers so we have no experience with any kind of ship dining :o). On the RCI site there's a little box where you check off if you'd like to link/associate your reservation with that of another guest.

 

Every time we tried to do this we got a message to the effect that since both our reservations were made with a different currencies, it would be impossible to link them.

 

All we want to do is eat together at the same table!!! We don't care if everyone on the ship eats with us or if we eat alone, but we do want to eat together.

 

I called RCI and they told me since we're dealing with reservations made on two continents, I should send an e-mail to the UK side of the operation and ask them to link our reservations. I did so. Here's the response I got back:

 

"Royal Caribbean International requires permission from all involved parties in order to cross-reference reservations for dining purposes. To ensure that everyone in a group is assigned the same table for dining, guests booked directly through Royal Caribbean International should contact our Reservations Department at 1-800-327-6700 with a list of all relevant reservation numbers, while guests booked through a travel agency must contact their travel agent for assistance. Once we have received permission from all parties, we can then link the booking numbers together to make certain everyone is seated together."

Frankly,is it worth the trouble to get in touch with my travel agent, and have my BIL and SIL get in touch with theirs, so that we can get permission to eat together?

 

Our reservation confirmation for the My Time Dining said this:You and your guests will be dining in the Main Dining Room. Once you check-in at the pier, the specific dining room name and deck will be indicated on your SeaPass card. You can change or cancel your My Time Dining Daily reservations online up to 4 days prior to your sail date.

 

My BIL is all worried that our SeaPass card will put us on the dining room on the 3rd floor and theirs will put them on the 2nd floor. I asked a question about this here and was told that one section of the MDR is set aside for those of us who are doing My Time Dining, so it would be impossible for us to end up in different places, wouldn't it? And I can't imagine that the maitre'd would tell us that we four couldn't eat with each other!

 

I promised my BIL that I would get to the bottom of the dining conundrum so can anyone put his mind (okay, mine too;)) at rest? I am sure we are making what's supposed to be carefree dining into something that it's not!

[waterbugohio]

dln, I feel your pain.

 

We went thru this same thing in April when taking a "girls only" cruise. We had two of the friends from Canada, and could not make MTD reservations ahead of time.

 

I was very upset and tried and tried to get thru to RCI. why can't reservation be made??? only because they bookings were made in to different countries. This is truely a computer problems and something RCI doesn't want to correct.

 

I was told by many, many people on cruise critic to not worry about it that we would be able to get the times and the table we wanted once on board. As much as I was sure we would be ok, I still pushed. We finally emailed the head of dining. Again, told there was no way the computer would allow us to book MTD ahead on the computer. They did however, make the head of the dining aware of our situation.

 

The day we boarded we went directly to the dining room. Sure enough the dining staff were aware of us and our situation. Everything was taken care of and we were given a great table with the times we wanted.

 

It all worked out in the end, but is still very frustrating that a company the size of RCI cannot figure their computers out and allow friends from different countries to make reservations together. RCI are you living in the dark ages???

[trudle]

I have not done My Time Dinning but all we have done in the past, if we were not seated together, is go to the Maitre'd, when you first board, and he can fix it. But I think with My Time Dinning ( if you all show up together, there is no way you can be seated at different tables.) Don't get stressed, it will all work out in the end. Have a great cruise.

 

Hope this helped and if you have more questions, just ask. So many people here, to answer your questions.

[cb at sea]

Not to worry...you do NOT need reservations in advance...and as long as you all are signed up for MTD...no problem. Show up, tell them how many in your party (just like a restaurant!) and you'll be seated together.

 

Stop stressing about this, and start stressing about what to pack!!!!

[Shekim]

All MTD is in on the same floor; no matter where or who you made the reservations. Just go to the desk at the entrance when you're ready to eat and they will seat all 4 of you at the same table. As long as you are all signed up for MTD.

 

No worries! :)

[dln929]

dln, I feel your pain.

 

We went thru this same thing in April when taking a "girls only" cruise. We had two of the friends from Canada, and could not make MTD reservations ahead of time.

 

I was very upset and tried and tried to get thru to RCI. why can't reservation be made??? only because they bookings were made in to different countries. This is truely a computer problems and something RCI doesn't want to correct.

 

Thank you for the sympathy and letting me know I'm not the only one who has had this happen to them! I was starting to feel like a bit of an oddball. I used the search box to see if anyone else had run into this particular dining dilemma, and I couldn't find a single post about it.

 

I have not done My Time Dinning but all we have done in the past, if we were not seated together, is go to the Maitre'd, when you first board, and he can fix it. But I think with My Time Dinning ( if you all show up together, there is no way you can be seated at different tables.) Don't get stressed, it will all work out in the end. Have a great cruise.

 

Hope this helped and if you have more questions, just ask. So many people here, to answer your questions.

 

So true, so true. I've had lots of questions as we're first-timers and I can honestly say that I've fallen in love with cruising even before the fact, mostly due to this wonderful community of cruisers here at CC. :)

 

Not to worry...you do NOT need reservations in advance...and as long as you all are signed up for MTD...no problem. Show up, tell them how many in your party (just like a restaurant!) and you'll be seated together.

 

Stop stressing about this, and start stressing about what to pack!!!!

 

Don't make me laugh! I already asked the packing question months ago!!! But I will have you know that despite all the "formal night wardrobe" posts that I've read here, I am committed to dressing up even if everyone else shows up in casual clothes. I have a beautiful formal dress and by golly I am going to wear it on this cruise and yes, it will fit in my suitcase, come hell or high water. :D

[dln929]

All MTD is in on the same floor; no matter where or who you made the reservations. Just go to the desk at the entrance when you're ready to eat and they will seat all 4 of you at the same table. As long as you are all signed up for MTD.

 

No worries! :)

 

Thank you! I am hoping for a seat by the windows but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Baby steps, baby steps...

[dsjlcruise]

I think I am probably making a mountain out of a molehill but I need to get this resolved or I'll drive myself crazy. Here's the deal. We are going on our cruise with my brother- and sister-in-law. We are American; they are English.

 

My BIL wanted to make reservations to eat at 7:15 pm so we said sure! Both of us are doing the My Time Dining (which they've never done before; we're new cruisers so we have no experience with any kind of ship dining :o). On the RCI site there's a little box where you check off if you'd like to link/associate your reservation with that of another guest.

 

Every time we tried to do this we got a message to the effect that since both our reservations were made with a different currencies, it would be impossible to link them.

 

All we want to do is eat together at the same table!!! We don't care if everyone on the ship eats with us or if we eat alone, but we do want to eat together.

 

I called RCI and they told me since we're dealing with reservations made on two continents, I should send an e-mail to the UK side of the operation and ask them to link our reservations. I did so. Here's the response I got back:

 

"Royal Caribbean International requires permission from all involved parties in order to cross-reference reservations for dining purposes. To ensure that everyone in a group is assigned the same table for dining, guests booked directly through Royal Caribbean International should contact our Reservations Department at 1-800-327-6700 with a list of all relevant reservation numbers, while guests booked through a travel agency must contact their travel agent for assistance. Once we have received permission from all parties, we can then link the booking numbers together to make certain everyone is seated together."

 

Frankly,is it worth the trouble to get in touch with my travel agent, and have my BIL and SIL get in touch with theirs, so that we can get permission to eat together?

 

Our reservation confirmation for the My Time Dining said this:You and your guests will be dining in the Main Dining Room. Once you check-in at the pier, the specific dining room name and deck will be indicated on your SeaPass card. You can change or cancel your My Time Dining Daily reservations online up to 4 days prior to your sail date.

 

My BIL is all worried that our SeaPass card will put us on the dining room on the 3rd floor and theirs will put them on the 2nd floor. I asked a question about this here and was told that one section of the MDR is set aside for those of us who are doing My Time Dining, so it would be impossible for us to end up in different places, wouldn't it? And I can't imagine that the maitre'd would tell us that we four couldn't eat with each other!

 

I promised my BIL that I would get to the bottom of the dining conundrum so can anyone put his mind (okay, mine too;)) at rest? I am sure we are making what's supposed to be carefree dining into something that it's not!

 

We needed to sync 5 different reservations. We all emailed and/or called RCI with all 5 reservation numbers. A notation was made in all of our reservations and when we boarded the ship I headed directly to the dining room. They assured me we were all linked and we all sat together.:D

[Daghis]

Last year, we sailed on the Oasis of the Seas with a friend of ours. We didn't have our reservations linked, but we did all sign up for My Time Dining.

 

We went to the dining room at dinner time and were able to be seated together with no problems whatsoever. In fact, since we ate as a group, they noted that so that on subsequent nights, it was already assumed we'd be together. The process was really quite seamless.

 

The really nice thing about My Time Dining is the flexibility. You should be able to make your specific arrangements onboard with ease.