What if we will miss our 6:15pm dining time on some nights?

[youngreflection]

You probably won't have any problems as the dining room traffic will probably be light those nights since the ship is in port. A good number of people will eat on shore.

 

I don't think they do this very often, but the one cruise we took which went to Santorini, back in 2007, had a Greek buffet for dinner out on deck. The MDR was still open but I think it was open seating that night similar to what they do at breakfast and lunch since so few people ate there. The Greek buffet was very nice and made for a nice evening out on deck with the sun setting along with views of Santorini.

 

 

Nice to know we can readily be accommodated---that Greek buffet dinner out on deck during sunset sounds magical!

[Redtravel]

I like select. You can be late. On one cruise our excursion came back at 7pm. I had a reservation at 6pm which we missed. There was no problem. Just explained the delay.....and were seated. On any seating, there will be people who opt to eat elsewhere.....room service, specialty, oceanview, bistro on 5, and on land. There is space. If you do this often, the maitr'd may get upset. Once or twice is not a problem. Relax....you will eat!

[spookwife]

Hello! We have traditional dining time of 6:15pm. However, what if on some port days, we aren't able to make it back to the ship in time. So we just let it lapse? And if we return to our ship past our dining time, we aren't allowed to take dinner at the MDR anymore but we can still go up the oceanview to get some food? Thank you for any info

 

if you have companions at your table, let them know that you will be late as the wait staff will wait until everyone has arrived before beginning service. also if you are alone it is considered polite to let the staff know if you will not be dining for whatever reason.

 

anything past 10 minutes is unacceptable so if you are more than 10 minutes late please dine elsewhere. Buffet, room service, specialty restaurant.

[7leagueboots]

You probably won't be affected by that problem too many time during your cruise. Most times the ship has left the port before the MDR opens. The few times that we were still in port we came back to the ship early as the port wasn't that exciting and we did all we wanted to do, plus many times some of the ports roll up their sidewalks around 5 and call it quits for the day.

 

 

 

 

 

I think you are correct. I don't recall ever getting back to the ship after the MDR opened. Our issue was that we sometimes were just too tired to make it to the dining room - in which case we went to the buffet later in the evening.

[Tiggertastic]

gosh you have so many options

 

Change to late dining with the MTD

Eat in oceanview

change to select and pay your gratuities upfront so you can go whenever you want

go to a specialty

order room service

ask the wait staff to make arrangements for a table for 2 and let them know you will be coming at 7 - it takes a lot less time to serve 2 than 6/8

 

eat big at lunchtime and snack only in the evening

[casandbliz]

We had the same problem on our Equinox Caribbean cruise last April. Our Costa Rica excursion wasn't due back to the ship until 6 PM (I believe the ship was in port until 8 PM). Since we were in a Sky Suite, we had the ability to order dinner from the MDR to have in our cabin. We set everything up with our butler in the morning, and when we got back to the ship, we took a shower, put on comfy clothes, and had a wonderful dinner! I even brought along an electric candle for the occasion!!

[dblane]

We usually dine early seating in the MDR and on two occasions we were late returning from excursions. On the first my sister and I boarded at 6p and knew we could not get ready in time, so I ran into the dining room still carrying my backpack, we had a table for 8 right near the door and apologized that we wouldn't be there. Our wonderful waiter and tablemates insisted we stay, we went and washed our hands and returned to a wonderful meal.

 

Second time was my family of 7, missed first seating and went to the maitr'd who found us a table on second seating.

 

Bistro on Five is a great place to eat.

Edited November 13, 2013 by dblane

[Aloha 1]

Hello! We have traditional dining time of 6:15pm. However, what if on some port days, we aren't able to make it back to the ship in time. So we just let it lapse? And if we return to our ship past our dining time, we aren't allowed to take dinner at the MDR anymore but we can still go up the oceanview to get some food? Thank you for any info

The dining room doors remain open for 30 minutes past the scheduled dining time and you are able to enter up to that time. if you miss, throw yourself at the mercy of the maitre'd and see if he can get you in.