MTD Help on Freedom

[Belle102498]

Hi everyone! This will be my first time cruising on RCI, and my husband and I opted for the My time dining feature during our Eastern Caribbean Cruise in May on Freedom. Can someone please explain how this works...our travel agent told us we just go to the main dining room whenever we feel like eating dinner, and they will take care of it. I have seen here though, that people reserve their mealtimes months in advance. Since this is our first cruise, I am now confused and I am worried that I am doing something wrong...especially since I really have no idea when shows begin/end, or what time our excursions will get us back in time for whichever meal rotation. Any and all help is greatly appreciated! :D

[setsail]

Its done both ways/either way. We always book a time and then fine tune it after getting on the ship, sometimes each day.

[RCI Cruisers 004]

We have done MTD a few times, but always made our time slot reservations ahead of time. When you go to the dinning room, there will be two lines, one for those with reservations and one for those without. The lady at the desk asks what our room number is, checks it on her computer and within minutes we are heading to our table. We ask for the same table every night to get to now our servers better. I'm not sure how long a wait for those that don't have a reservation, but it seems quicker to us to have one !

[fourkittys]

We prefer MTD and have never made reservations for a table. But..we do go early enough as to avoid the most popular dining time. My DH likes to eat rather early so we go around 6 - 6:30 and very seldom have to wait over five min if that.

[Belle102498]

Thanks so much for the information! It looks like both ways are acceptable :)

[cb at sea]

MTD takes place in a special area of the main dining room, so folks coming and going won't disturb the traditional diners. You may go any time during the open hours. You don't have to reserve in advance, but you can, if you want to! The shows will be scheduled around the 2 traditional seating times, so you pick the show you want to go to, and have dinner accordingly!

[negc]

I am now confused and I am worried that I am doing something wrong...especially since I really have no idea when shows begin/end, or what time our excursions will get us back in time for whichever meal rotation. Any and all help is greatly appreciated! :D

 

Your daily cruise compass will indicate the times for the various shows and you can expect that they will be scheduled around the times of the traditional early (first) and late(second) seatings. With MTD you can adjust your dining times each evening to fit your schedule and you can either make a reservation for a specific time (even different times each night) or simply show up in the dining room set aside for MTD -usually Deck 5- when you wish to dine. When we have chosen not to make a specific reservation, we have never had a lengthy wait for a table (usually less than five minutes). If we find an especially good team of servers, we may request that we have them for the rest of the cruise. In those instances, it might be advisable to make reservations for the specific times when they have a vacant table.

You'll quickly catch on to the system, so don't worry. Relax and enjoy.