Reservations for "My Time Dining"

[MLinFL]

We will soon be on the Mariner of the Seas. In the past we usually get the set-time dining so this problem has not come up. This time we booked "My Time Dining". We thought that this would mean that when we wanted to go eat, we would go to the dining room and put in our request. If they had a table, we would be seated, if not, we would have to wait. However, I just received an email from RC that says I can make my "My Time Dining" reservations. When I went to the reservation page on their web site, it offers the opportunity to make a reservation for the same time, every day of the cruise. Huh???? Isn't this like "set-time" dining? We have been on a LOT of cruises and have had both reserved and my-time type dining on many ships and have not run across this. Is this something new and if I don't make reservations for each night, will I end up waiting a LONG time to be seated? BTW, when I tried to make a reservation, the web site didn't take it. It went through the whole process until "Submit", then I got an error message. This whole procedure is very frustrating.

 

Mary Lou

[megr1125]

you do not have to make them...you can just show up....seems that the wait is around 15 minutes, if that....

 

i tend to make them as i like the same table at the same time...but in case i can't get there i can go when ever i want.... i like to call it Meg Time Dining!! :D

 

many people like to make them as they prefer to eat at, say 7 PM or something but there is no need to reserve ahead...

[pattpga]

On our last cruise, we had MTD, every day(am) we would check and see what our plans were for the day,then either call or go down to the reserv.desk and put our name in for the time we wanted,sometimes the exact time or sometimes eariler or later,but always close. When we didn't do this we never waited more than 10 min. for a table. You can also make your ressie for the night before after your dinner if you want a specific time or table. There are alot of ways to go. Enjoy your cruise ,the Mariner is one of our favorite ships:p

[milhouse0506]

You can make a reservation if you want to, it's not required. We used MTD last time and we made reservations ahead of time, but didn't actually use any of the ones we made. You are more than welcome to just show up when you want and you will be seated as soon as possible. We usually went at the first seating time and ate at the same table all but one night.

[Lionesss]

I would book a late time like 7:30pm.

But, when you are ready, go ahead and go to the Dining area. People book and do not show.

The worst case senario is you wait 15 min.

Also in the event of the place being packed ( for whatever reason), you will still have your time.

Safe travels

Sue and crew

[Ashland]

RCI seems to be reminding (pushing) everyone to make a MTD reservation....However this isn't necessary....Just show up....the whole point of the "My" in MTD :)

[poncho1973]

We have done MTD since like 2008 or 2009. Never once made a reservation.

 

We've never had to wait more than 5 minutes or so. I've heard friends say they waited 10-15 during peak times (basically the folks that can't get early seating and pretend MTD is early seating II), but we haven't experienced it.

[jenesaisquoi]

My experience of MTD was a bit different. My husband and I tried it for the first time on Explorer of the Seas. It was a 9 day trip in April, and there were lots of couples on board. We thought we would be able to get a table for two by arriving fairly early (around 6 p.m.) but that was never the case.

 

On the first night, we were informed that we should have reserved a table for two if we wanted to eat alone. We made a reservation then for the next night, which was a formal night. We didn't want to be locked into a specific time for the rest of the week, so we didn't make any more reservations. By the third night, when we tried to make a reservation for the next formal night, we were told that there were no more reservations for two available for the rest of the week.

 

However, there was no problem showing up and eating at a table with others. We would be seated in a few minutes and ended up enjoying meeting new people.

 

My advice to you would be to make reservations if you have your heart set on eating at a table for two (or four). If you don't mind sharing a table with others, then reservations are not necessary. Of course, each ship will be different, but there were very few tables for two in the main dining room of the Explorer.

[mj]

95 percent of the time we just show up for dinner and never make a reservation. The only time that I make a reservation is, for example, on the Oasis, we have a 9pm reservation for the Aqua show and want to make sure that we have dinner and get to the show on time.

 

You can just show up or make reservations. It is your choice. I know some that don't like the set time for early or late seating, but like to eat at 7pm every night. You can do that as well.

 

I find the setup very flexible giving you a lot of options. If you like a certain wait staff, you can request them as well. For me, don't like to make reservations and just show up.

[death_star]

we made reservations with the cruise planning tools for MTD and yet we keep getting emails about making reservations. anyone else have this problem?

[cb at sea]

It's just a standard e-mail notification. If you don't want to make reservations, ignore it. No worries!

[Zoedokey]

How hard is it to get a table for a large group, like 12 people? If you make a reservation in the morning or the day before do you have a better chance of sitting together?

[angelinaxox1]

We did the anytime dining on the Jewel last April. We made set reservations ahead of time for a table for 4 at 6:15 pm every night. I loved the time, the fact that we didn't have to sit with other people and yet still got to keep the same waiters each night which I prefer.

[travelnut4]

How far in advance does MTD reservations show up as available to book in the precruise planner?

[mein18]

We just posted almost the exact same question in a different thread. In the past, we have never made reservations and just showed up and I only recall waiting once for more than a few minutes. Never even attempted to make the reservations so had no idea what the website said as what was available.

For our cruise next week, we decided to make reservations on one day because we needed to eat early for a commitment in the evening. When we looked online at the other days, almost all times said "no seating available". In a panic, we went ahead and made reservations but the earliest available online was around 8:30 each and every day.

I am not sure if the times getting filled up are a result of the many emails RCI sends out telling people to make the reservations or if this is the way it always has been.

We have decided to make the reservations for each night albeit times we are not happy with but each day will try to get seating at the times we are comfortable with and if successful will cancel the reservation for that day.

Unfortunately, while waiting in the past, I have heard the hostess get a little upset about the many who make the reservations and don't show up. The hostesses do have a rough job getting everyone seated and happy and I am sure they do remember the many who skip their reservations and I wouldn't want that to be me when I ask to be squeezed in at a time that we show up and they are full.

[Kellie Poodle]

RCI seems to be reminding (pushing) everyone to make a MTD reservation....However this isn't necessary....Just show up....the whole point of the "My" in MTD :)

 

We booked MTD on our next cruise and RCI emailed each of us separately about a week apart, to suggest we make reservations.

 

Since we have a port intensive itinerary and we also like the shows, especially production shows, I'm not making reservations in advance. I might make reservations on a daily basis.

[peteukmcr]

OK, so you are booked on Mariner, but I can't see what itinerary.

 

The only advice I will give is that if you are sailing out of an Italian port and like to eat around 8:30 - 9:00 pm then make advance reservations.

 

We have just returned from a Mariner sailing and trust me if you have MTD and no reservation and like to eat around 8:30 - 9:00 you will have a long wait in line.

 

It extends down the the Royal Promenade past the Champagne Bar.

[lisiamc]

we made reservations with the cruise planning tools for MTD and yet we keep getting emails about making reservations. anyone else have this problem?

 

Yes, this is happening to us as well. I made all the reservations, but I keep getting the reminder emails every few days. I can see the reservations when I check the site, but I'm wondering if there is a problem, and Royal Caribbean doesn't really have a record of them.

[poncho1973]

How hard is it to get a table for a large group, like 12 people? If you make a reservation in the morning or the day before do you have a better chance of sitting together?

 

You'll make your lives 100x easier if you divide up into 3 groups of 4 or 2 groups of 6.

 

Just mix it up yourselves every night. "we want to see with Jethro & Granny tonight... you sit with the others. Tomorrow we want to sit with Lovie & Thurston and you can sit with Jethro & Granny."

[death_star]

Yes, this is happening to us as well. I made all the reservations, but I keep getting the reminder emails every few days. I can see the reservations when I check the site, but I'm wondering if there is a problem, and Royal Caribbean doesn't really have a record of them.

 

glad we're not the only ones. im hoping it's just stupid notification software and not a faulty reservation system.

[monicajay]

Something about having to make reservations months in advance for MTD to me just seems wrong.:confused: I am hoping that we will still be able to get a table without waiting for hours. I'm not making reservations now despite the continuing e-mails from RCL.

 

Our plan is to make reservations a day or two in advance depending on who we meet and what we are doing each day.

[darla723]

It almost seems to me that MTD (which we will try for the first time next July) adds MORE stress instead of making your vacation easier. I'm tired of structured dinner times-6 is too early and 8:30 is too late-but at least it's a no-brainer when to show up!

 

We'll still do MTD, but I am a bit concerned.

[MLinFL]

After reading all the replies to this thread, I thought that I would go ahead and make the reservation for every night since we usually seem to eat early rather than late. On three different days this week (including right now), I went to my reservation on RCI's web site and got all the way through making the reservation but when I pressed "SUBMIT", I get an error message saying they are having trouble and are working on fixing it. Very frustrating! Also --- even though my cruise is a 16-night TA, when I went to my login page, over on the left side, WITH the CORRECT reservation number, it said my cruise was a 3-night Bahama cruise! When I actually clicked on the reservation number, it did bring me to the correct itinerary. I guess I'll call them and see what's up.

 

MaryLou

[P&C4/16/67]

This is our first time doing MTD too and with past experiences with like dining programs, we decided to make our reservations in advance. Early seating at 5:30 is a bit early for us and 8:30 is way too late, so we chose 6:30 each night. Since we’re rather fast eaters, and don’t care to linger two hours over dinner so we chose a table for two. Remembering Freestyle on NCL, you couldn’t even make reservations. We’d show up and ask for a table for two, and the host would say there’s a wait for a table for two but we can seat you right away if we’d share a table. It almost turned out to be like The Cheesecake Factory or the Outback, sign up and wait 30 minutes or more. I’ve read here that people were seated right away by just showing up, but since we know what time we want and want a table for two, making reservations made sense. Looking at our cruise which is two weeks out now, we wouldn’t had been able to book our time now had we not booked earlier.

[travelnut4]

How far in advance does MTD reservations show up as available to book in the precruise planner?

 

Still not sure if I see when people are able to make their reservations in the precruise planner. What have you found to be an approximate timeframe?