My Time Dining - travel agent made a mistake

[Sydney32203]

[quote name='mr walker']Same for me when I try & make a MTD reservation for our VOS cruise in 2 weeks. I get this message:
"[I]Daily reservations for your My Time Dining selection are currently not available for your sailing. If your cruise vacation begins more than two months from today, please visit the website closer to your sail date. Please note that certain itineraries preclude online reservations, but they may be available onboard[/I]."

Our dining reservation shows:
[I]Dinner Seating: My Time Dining , No Waiting Lists[/I]
So that's all good, just can't make actual reservation times at this stage.[/QUOTE]

Yep, that's what I got. Don't ask you travel agent to reserve it for you in case they stuff it up like mine did.

[Sydney32203]

Is RCLDining very efficient in terms of responding to emails? Just wondering how long I should wait for a reply.

[mr walker]

[quote name='Sydney32203']Yep, that's what I got. Don't ask you travel agent to reserve it for you in case they stuff it up like mine did.[/quote]

My exact thought :)

[mr walker]

[quote name='Sydney32203']Is RCLDining very efficient in terms of responding to emails? Just wondering how long I should wait for a reply.[/quote]

When I contacted them prior to our last cruise in Jan, I got an auto-reply back within hours saying they had received my request.
Within I would say 48 hours they emailed me and had arranged exactly what I has requested. So my experience was great.

[Yellowsmartcar]

Hi Sydney32203

I feel for you we are in the same boat
Half our group is MTD and other half been put onto trad 6pm. 2 different agents,2 different countries we ALL want MTD so the other family are now wait listed for that.
I emailed rcldining on Sunday but no word yet, so hopefull we will hear soon.
Our cruise is Christmas I will be really pinged if we can't have a our dinner together!!
So am keeping my fingers crossed for all of us.
I will let you know if I hear anything.

Cheers
V:)

[Sydney32203]

[quote name='mr walker']When I contacted them prior to our last cruise in Jan, I got an auto-reply back within hours saying they had received my request.
Within I would say 48 hours they emailed me and had arranged exactly what I has requested. So my experience was great.[/QUOTE]

I didn't get an auto-reply.....hmmm....hope they received it. I sent it about 11 hours ago.

[Sydney32203]

[quote name='Yellowsmartcar']Hi Sydney32203

I feel for you we are in the same boat
Half our group is MTD and other half been put onto trad 6pm. 2 different agents,2 different countries we ALL want MTD so the other family are now wait listed for that.
I emailed rcldining on Sunday but no word yet, so hopefull we will hear soon.
Our cruise is Christmas I will be really pinged if we can't have a our dinner together!!
So am keeping my fingers crossed for all of us.
I will let you know if I hear anything.

Cheers
V:)[/QUOTE]

Did you get an auto-reply to say they have received your email?

Just thinking, if you have no young kids and you can't get MTD maybe you could consider 2nd seating traditional dining for all of you. 2nd dining is usually not filled up. At least then you all can dine together.

Thanks, please let me know if you hear from them.

[Yellowsmartcar]

No auto reply has arrived. both families have sent emails. NOTHING
We haven't got young ones, but having have a favourite waiter who will be on our cruise , he is MTD so wanted our friends to experience how wonderful he is.

Will keep our fingers crossed.

V:)

[believer33323]

[quote name='Sydney32203']I just spoke to Royal Carribean and they said MtD is full and closed so theres nothing they can do. They said my chances aren't very good in trying to get back on MTD. Aarghhhh!!! They said to get my travel agent to ring them and see what can be done.

So, what can my travel agent do, if royal carribean has just told me its full and closed. The only way i can see is to bump someone off and put us back in?

Why should we bear the cost of our travel agents mistake? One of the most important thing for us going on a cruise is MTD and we book early so we can get it.

I'm really upset........[/QUOTE]

I would ask your TA to book one or two specialty restaurants at their cost for the couple days you are out on excursions and getting back late. It may cost her a couple hundred but hey thats part of business and making the customer happy after they made the mistake. You should not have to eat at the buffet because they screwed up. I deal with vendors all the time and when they screw up they are more than happy to make it right. That's how some companies stay in business for years and others do not.
Second thought have her give you the money and you book them online yourself so you get it right.

[Clarea]

[quote name='Yellowsmartcar']No auto reply has arrived. both families have sent emails. NOTHING
We haven't got young ones, but having have a favourite waiter who will be on our cruise , he is MTD so wanted our friends to experience how wonderful he is.

Will keep our fingers crossed.

V:)[/quote]
I usually get the auto reply too, so I'd try again in a day or two if you don't hear anything. Also check your spam folder.

[PH8]

[quote name='Sydney32203']I didn't get an auto-reply.....hmmm....hope they received it. I sent it about 11 hours ago.[/quote]
I have never got an auto reply when I emailed the ship directly....so dont look for one for the [EMAIL="VY_RestaurantOperationsCoordinator@rccl.com"]VY_RestaurantOperationsCoordinator@rccl.com[/EMAIL] Remember too,11 hours is not that much time...they may be sleeping/busy,etc..

I also email the maitre d.... try this [email]VY_maitred@rccl.com[/email]

[mommabean]

Why is it that I'm totally annoyed with the OP and all these responses saying they should get free specialty dining from the TA?

OP is the one who has told us it's because of children that they need to dine early. OP then told the TA to make reservations for a time that coincides with the early dining time. OP never mentioned telling the TA that they need reservations for a little bit later on port days. Did OP tell the agent to make reservations for maybe 7 or 7:30 on the late port days? No. That to me makes it clear that OP is not a very good communicator.

With children that seem this needy, specialty dining is NOT the place for them. Are they going to sit there at 7:30 for 2 hours? By the time they finish in specialty dining they could have eaten and been done at either late dining or at the buffet. Eating at the buffet isn't the end of the world for a couple of days.

Did OP ask anyone if there is space available in MY family time dining? There is a different program for families who want to eat at a faster pace and earlier because of children.

The entire misunderstanding is based on the OP not telling the TA that they wanted different times each night. For that matter, all the ships I've been on don't expect reservations for MTD anymore. They have TWO lines, one for reservations and a separate line for NO reservations. OP should just ask to be put on the waiting list for MTD now. And when they board they can go to the MTD reservation desk as soon as it opens. Usually there is space. At least there usually is for those who are pleasant and nice when they ask.

The ROC is the one I'd hope would be able to correct the problem at this point. But I certainly wouldn't go into some blame game in the email to them. This will put them on edge almost certainly. OP should just state there was a simple misunderstanding and they would really appreciate being put back in MTD.

TAs don't have an easy job dealing with clients who aren't clear about what they want. And this OP was definitely not clear. It didn't seem the kids or port times were an issue when the request for early dining reservations was made.

That's the way I see it.

Gina

[The Big Booper]

I just scanned this thread.

How old are the kids? Maybe after a long day on an excursion they might not be able to make it thru the MDR or a specialty. The buffet seems the right thing to do with antsy kids. Lots of people do it and are OK. Same food, less time required.

[mommabean]

[quote name='The Big Booper']I just scanned this thread.

How old are the kids? Maybe after a long day on an excursion they might not be able to make it thru the MDR or a specialty. The buffet seems the right thing to do with antsy kids. Lots of people do it and are OK. Same food, less time required.[/QUOTE]

Actually it's not exactly the same food. It's the same PLUS more options. We tried it once because of poor MTD service on the first 2 days of a cruise. We ended up loving it. It was on Mariner when it was in Los Angeles and they had white table clothes, the same waiter every night, ice cream cart, magic tea, great service.

Once the dining room manager figured out what was happening, he called the last day and offered to send us to a specialty restaurant to make up for the reason we never came back to MTD. We thanked him but said no thanks. We liked our WJ experience that much and wanted to see our waiter the last night.

Entirely too much has been made out of the minor problem OP created with their misunderstood request.

Gina

[marci22]

I don't think I'd worry for even 2 seconds about this. Have someone from your party go to the MDR as soon as they get onboard and request MTD for everyone. Worst case scenario: you don't get it, and you have to go to WJ or an alternate venue on a couple of days. It is really not a big deal.

[JPEvans]

[quote name='Lionesss'][SIZE=4]On the Western this past July we arrived 3 hours later than the time we were supposed to from our tubing, zipping excursion.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=4]Need I say it was after 6 when we got back on board, and we would never make dinner.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=4]We ordered and ate in our room. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=4][/SIZE]
[SIZE=4]Our server got very upset that we did not notify him that we would not be there (we did not know we would miss dinner), and the next night he thought he did something wrong, which he did not.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=4][/SIZE]
[SIZE=4]Our table mates said no one replaced us at our table, and if late again we will call.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=4][/SIZE]
[SIZE=4]Sea Ya [/SIZE][/QUOTE]

Why would you have to notify your server? On a ship that has multiple places
To eat why would a server be upset that you ate somewhere else. Your
Server did something wrong. Question why you were not at dinner.

[marci22]

[quote name='SeaUs']Did the TA change just you to early seating or everyone in your group?
I'd bypass the TA and email dining at [EMAIL="RCLDining@RCCL.com"]RCLDining@RCCL.com[/EMAIL].
Tell them what happened and the names, ship, date, all the booking numbers that are affected[/QUOTE]

Good idea. You don't have to use a TA to change your dining reservations.

[marci22]

[quote name='mommabean']Why is it that I'm totally annoyed with the OP and all these responses saying they should get free specialty dining from the TA?
Gina[/QUOTE]

I agree. It's crazy.

[Clarea]

[quote name='JPEvans']Why would you have to notify your server? On a ship that has multiple places
To eat why would a server be upset that you ate somewhere else. Your
Server did something wrong. Question why you were not at dinner.[/quote]
It's not required to notify your server if you won't be eating in the MDR, however I believe it's courteous to do so if you are able.

Also, the servers are very motivated to pleasing the guests. They live and die by the guest satisfaction survey, and if they get a bad rating, they might be assigned fewer guests in subsequent cruises, and therefore make less money. So if their guests don't show up, they naturally wonder if the guests were not pleased with the service or food.

[mommabean]

[quote name='clarea']It's not required to notify your server if you won't be eating in the MDR, however I believe it's courteous to do so if you are able.

Also, the servers are very motivated to pleasing the guests. They live and die by the guest satisfaction survey, and if they get a bad rating, they might be assigned fewer guests in subsequent cruises, and therefore make less money. So if their guests don't show up, they naturally wonder if the guests were not pleased with the service or food.[/QUOTE]

I always tell them the night before if I don't plan to be there.

I also warn them before I start eating that I will NOT eat everything on my plate so they shouldn't think I don't like it. I even let them know if we plan to leave before dessert.

They are a bunch of worry warts. :)

Gina

[Clarea]

[quote name='mommabean']I always tell them the night before if I don't plan to be there.

[COLOR=Red]I also warn them before I start eating that I will NOT eat everything on my plate so they shouldn't think I don't like it. I even let them know if we plan to leave before dessert. [/COLOR]

They are a bunch of worry warts. :)

Gina[/quote]
I think that's a great idea, about telling them up front you might not eat everything, especially dessert. I'll have to start doing that. Thanks for the tip!:)

[Amy from Delaware]

[quote name='clarea']It's not required to notify your server if you won't be eating in the MDR, however I believe it's courteous to do so if you are able. [/quote]

I agree.

[quote name='clarea']Also, the servers are very motivated to pleasing the guests. They live and die by the guest satisfaction survey, and if they get a bad rating, they might be assigned fewer guests in subsequent cruises, and therefore make less money. So if their guests don't show up, they naturally wonder if the guests were not pleased with the service or food.[/QUOTE]

I like getting good service, but I don't feel obligated to do anything on behalf of the staff except be polite, and tip them appropriately. On my upcoming cruise, if the waitstaff makes me feel like I [u]owe[/u] them something (even something as simple as showing up), I'll be much less likely to give them a glowing review at the end of the cruise. One of the things I like about cruising is the ability try out different venues, when I feel like it. I'm more likely to contact my tablemates in advance if I don't plan to be in the MDR.

I don't understand this obsession with many cruisers that feel responsible for the livelihood of every staff member.

[Sydney32203]

[quote name='mommabean']Why is it that I'm totally annoyed with the OP and all these responses saying they should get free specialty dining from the TA?

OP is the one who has told us it's because of children that they need to dine early. OP then told the TA to make reservations for a time that coincides with the early dining time. OP never mentioned telling the TA that they need reservations for a little bit later on port days. Did OP tell the agent to make reservations for maybe 7 or 7:30 on the late port days? No. That to me makes it clear that OP is not a very good communicator.

With children that seem this needy, specialty dining is NOT the place for them. Are they going to sit there at 7:30 for 2 hours? By the time they finish in specialty dining they could have eaten and been done at either late dining or at the buffet. Eating at the buffet isn't the end of the world for a couple of days.

Did OP ask anyone if there is space available in MY family time dining? There is a different program for families who want to eat at a faster pace and earlier because of children.

The entire misunderstanding is based on the OP not telling the TA that they wanted different times each night. For that matter, all the ships I've been on don't expect reservations for MTD anymore. They have TWO lines, one for reservations and a separate line for NO reservations. OP should just ask to be put on the waiting list for MTD now. And when they board they can go to the MTD reservation desk as soon as it opens. Usually there is space. At least there usually is for those who are pleasant and nice when they ask.
[/QUOTE]

Thank you for responding to my original post. I would like to clarify a few things. I wanted my travel agent to book me in for 6pm every evening on My Time Dinig and I was very clear to her on that. The days we were to come back late from an excursion, I was going to change my reservation times early that morning of the excursion or the night before which is what I read could be done.

My Family Time Dining would not be something I would consider because while the two young kids in our group prefer to eat early at 6pm they are slow eaters and are quite used to the fine dining table service experience. So, just because young kids have to eat at 6pm or us wanting the flexible option of MTD does not mean our kids are needy.

In terms of specialty dining which was suggested by a few people, I wouldn't have considered doing this and getting the TA to pay for it because firstly while she did make a mistake I would feel really bad asking her to cover the cost of specialty dining for all 8 of us for a night or two. Secondly, after a long day excursion no matter how well behave young kids are they would still be tired and the specialty dining experience would be wasted on these days. However, tired kids do not equal needy kids.

[Sydney32203]

Thank you all for responding to my post and thanks to those who provided me emails addresses in order to contact the right people in Royal Caribbean.

I received a reply from RCLDINING and they have put us all back into MTD and made daily reservations of 6pm for us.

This is what I call great service! Thank you very much Royal Caribbean!

[believer33323]

[quote name='Sydney32203']Thank you all for responding to my post and thanks to those who provided me emails addresses in order to contact the right people in Royal Carribean.

I received a reply from RCLDINING and they have put us all back into MTD and made daily reservations of 6pm for us.

This is what I call great service! Thank you very much Royal Carribean![/QUOTE]

I would still go after your TA and get some free money, maybe even sue her for mental anguish(LOL):D:D
Only Kidding Mommabean.

All kidding aside, I'm glad you got it all straightened out. Have a great trip..