Dining options - none at all it seems

[RSLeesburg]

I went online tonight to book a cruise (my first one), and when I scrolled down to the dining plan preferences, they were all marked as "unavailable" except for 8:30pm in the MDR. Does this mean that all the other options are already taken? We will be traveling with our 4 y/o son, who is in bed by that time, so that option will not work for us.

[rcrdale]

When are you cruising and on what ship? You might be able to get My Time Dining (MTD) which allows you to book when you want to eat each day. There is also the windjammer buffet you can do if you don't want to do the main dining room.

[Clarea]

I went online tonight to book a cruise (my first one), and when I scrolled down to the dining plan preferences, they were all marked as "unavailable" except for 8:30pm in the MDR. Does this mean that all the other options are already taken? We will be traveling with our 4 y/o son, who is in bed by that time, so that option will not work for us.

Yes, it means the quotas are filled for the other dining options. However, dining slots open up as the cruise date gets closer, and you should be able to change. Call Royal and get on the wait list for the dining time you prefer.

 

Worst case is that you will have to try to change once on board. They go out of their way to try to please you, so there's a good chance you will be accomodated.

[RSLeesburg]

We were looking to sail on the Grandeur in Sep out of Baltimore.

 

There was an option to be put on a waiting list, and then you select which option you want; however, we were looking to book either GS or OS, and I was not going to pay that kind of money on the hopes that we could eat at a decent time. Maybe I will call RCI in the morning to see what they can do.

 

Does this mean that most of the premier restaurants will be booked up too? I wanted to take my wife out one night for our 10 year anniversary.

[Clarea]

We were looking to sail on the Grandeur in Sep out of Baltimore.

 

There was an option to be put on a waiting list, and then you select which option you want; however, we were looking to book either GS or OS, and I was not going to pay that kind of money on the hopes that we could eat at a decent time. Maybe I will call RCI in the morning to see what they can do.

 

Does this mean that most of the premier restaurants will be booked up too? I wanted to take my wife out one night for our 10 year anniversary.

No, main dining room slots have nothing to do with specialty restaurants.

[MR NW GUY]

I would not worry about the dinning options. When you get onboard, go see the concierge or Head dinning room waiter. Flash your Gold card and I bet you will have early seating the next day. Also, we like to use the speciality resturants on the first day and the last day of the cruise. Enjoy your first cruise!

[RSLeesburg]

That's good to know - I know you can order off all the menus for inroom dining, but did not to have to eat all my meals in my room :)

 

We did that last year at WDW as my son would only eat grilled cheese (do they serve that in the MDR?).

[Clarea]

That's good to know - I know you can order off all the menus for inroom dining, but did not to have to eat all my meals in my room :)

 

We did that last year at WDW as my son would only eat grilled cheese (do they serve that in the MDR?).

Yes, there is a children's menu in the MDR and grilled cheese is one of the options.

[Sassy19305]

If you book an OS or GS you will also have priority seating for MDR, so it won't take them long to confirm your early dining time.

[Cindy]

We were looking to sail on the Grandeur in Sep out of Baltimore.

 

There was an option to be put on a waiting list, and then you select which option you want; however, we were looking to book either GS or OS, and I was not going to pay that kind of money on the hopes that we could eat at a decent time. Maybe I will call RCI in the morning to see what they can do.

 

Does this mean that most of the premier restaurants will be booked up too? I wanted to take my wife out one night for our 10 year anniversary.

 

If you book an OS or GS you will also have priority seating for MDR, so it won't take them long to confirm your early dining time.

 

I agree with Sassy19305 -- if you book a suite you will have priority for your preferred dining time. Even if you aren't confirmed when you make your reservation, the concierge should be able to handle your dining request before you get on the ship. The concierge can also take care of your specialty dining request(s) for you.

Call to make your reservation instead of booking on-line.

[waterbug123]

We were looking to sail on the Grandeur in Sep out of Baltimore.

 

There was an option to be put on a waiting list, and then you select which option you want; however, we were looking to book either GS or OS, and I was not going to pay that kind of money on the hopes that we could eat at a decent time. Maybe I will call RCI in the morning to see what they can do.

 

Does this mean that most of the premier restaurants will be booked up too? I wanted to take my wife out one night for our 10 year anniversary.

 

No. However, they only release a certain number of specialty dining slots to be booked in advance of the cruise, so you may find that you can't make a reservation for that now either. But you should still be able to book something once onboard. Once onboard, do so as soon as possible, but again- things change as the cruise progresses so other specialty dining slots are apt to open up as the week progresses and people cancel or change existing reservations.