1st time cruiser with some questions...

[saved4ever1]

My husband and I along with a couple that we are good friends with are taking our first cruise in about 6 weeks on the Royal Caribbean ship, Vision of the Seas, and I have a few questions...

 

We're scheduling our "my time dining" and I was wondering what time the Broadway style show is and do they only have one showing a day?

 

Also could someone explain the difference between my time dining and traditional dining? which do you prefer?

 

 

 

What other activities are available for the evening besides the show? (We are not into the lounge/bar atmosphere.)

 

Do they have blow dryers in the cabins? We are booked in a oceanview stateroom if that makes a difference.

 

When setting up the precruise planner what for room arrangements what does it mean together/both together?

 

Thanks everyone for your help!

 

Shannon

Edited May 10, 2014 by saved4ever1

[cb at sea]

We prefer traditional..no guesswork! And, we enjoy tablemates, so we always ask for a large table....MTD folks tend to be less likely to want to join with others. If you do MTD, then you must schedule your dining time around whichever show you want to see.

 

The shows are scheduled around the 2 traditional seating times...so you never have to worry about missing a show. Early (main) seating goes to the after-dinner show. Late seating goes to the before-dinner show.Easy!

 

We aren't "late night" folks, so we do late seating after the shows, and then walk the deck or hit the casino for a while...then head to bed! There are not many (if any) schedule activities, aside from the "game shows"....Quest, Love and Marriage, that take place late at night.

 

The blow dryers are in the vanity...they are crap. If you're hair is longer than 2 inches, bring your own blow dryer! The provided dryers get hot..but they don't blow much...and that's the whole point of "blow drying"!

 

Don't worry about the together/both together thing. If the bed isn't how you want it (and it's generally made into a queen/king), the cabin attendant will fix it.

 

You will have a fabulous time!

Edited May 10, 2014 by cb at sea

[saved4ever1]

Thanks so much,

Another question, is there an additional charge for My Time Dining?

[karena1]

My husband and I along with a couple that we are good friends with are taking our first cruise in about 6 weeks on the Royal Caribbean ship, Vision of the Seas, and I have a few questions...

 

We're scheduling our "my time dining" and I was wondering what time the Broadway style show is and do they only have one showing a day? As far as shows, look at your Cruise Compass in the morning. It will tell you what time the shows are and you can schedule your dinner around them.

 

Also could someone explain the difference between my time dining and traditional dining? which do you prefer?We LOVE My Time dining. have not done Traditional dining since Royal came out with MTD. Go to dinner when we feel like it. we rarely if ever make reservations. That is the beauty of MyTime, you eat WHEN YOU WANT! we never wait more than a few minutes for a table.

 

 

 

What other activities are available for the evening besides the show? (We are not into the lounge/bar atmosphere.) There is a 70's dance party, trivia, and lots of other stuff. Look at your Compass every day and it will tell you what is going on.

 

Do they have blow dryers in the cabins? We are booked in a oceanview stateroom if that makes a difference. Yes there are, I don't like them so I always take my own

 

When setting up the precruise planner what for room arrangements what does it mean together/both together? Just means they are together. They take the 2 twins and make them into one bed, you won't even know the difference. Beds are very comfy!!

 

Thanks everyone for your help!

 

Shannon

 

see above

[karena1]

Thanks so much,

Another question, is there an additional charge for My Time Dining?

No, you just have to prepay your gratuities instead of paying them on the ship. You pay them either way, so it is nice to have them taken care of before you leave home. You can tip extra if you with but it is not something you have to do

[saved4ever1]

Thanks so much for the help!

 

Another question...What times would be considered early dining? and late dining?

[girlzillla]

We haven't cruised for 10 years and the My Time Dining is new to us. How does it work? Our TA told us that the traditional dining options were wait listed.

[panoramaofthepast]

Thanks so much for the help!

 

Another question...What times would be considered early dining? and late dining?

 

Early seating will generally be 5:30; late seating 8:15, but it can vary a bit from ship to ship. It should indicate in your documents what time it is on your ship.

[rummenroman]

We haven't cruised for 10 years and the My Time Dining is new to us. How does it work? Our TA told us that the traditional dining options were wait listed.

 

The best way to describe it - it works just like a restaurant in your home town.

 

You can either make a reservation or show up. If you show up, you may have to wait for a table to open up. In 10 cruises we have never had to wait more that 5 minutes for a table to open up. The only time we have made reservations is when we had a large group (16, 11). If it is just the 2 of us, or if there is 4 of us we just show up.

 

You can make a standing reservation for the same time each night of your cruise, or you can make daily reservations based on the nightly activities you wish to attend.

 

Servers will come by, take your orders and bring you the food. My Time usually doesn't take as long, as the pace is determined by how fast or slow you eat. Traditional dining the servers try to keep everyone in their section on the same course.

[NorbertsNiece]

I'm a big fan of MTD. Not only are the basic gratuities taken care of but I eat when I want and where I want. I can eat in the MDR when I'm ready and will typically reserve a time for day 1 to avoid the queue. Subsequent nights I may go to the buffet or a specialty restaurant. I don't need to tell anyone in the MDR that that is what I am doing which is the polite thing to do if you eat at one of the traditional set times.

 

Edited : you can have your beds set together so it looks like a double / king or set apart so they are 2 singles

Edited May 10, 2014 by NorbertsNiece

[dacsmom]

I still do both traditional dining (early seating) or MTD. I really do not have a preference of one over the other. With MTD I prebook times depending on the activities of the day and the shows and I have always gotten the same waitstaff. I like to prepay my gratuities so this is not an issue for me, but I can understand some people not wanting to.

[girlzillla]

Thank you for your response, that does help. One more question, you're seated seated in the main dining room, right?

[lilybob]

We like MTD for the flexibility. The last cruise we did we made some friends from our roll call that were doing the late fixed time. One night they joined us for MTD and another night when they had room at their traditional table we joined them. If you have a sea day, consider the MDR for lunch as it is a treat from the buffet. Splurge a night in one of the specialty restaurants too.

 

Depending on the ship, if there is an outdoor movie screen you can also enjoy a movie under the stars after dinner.

 

Check out the roll call for your sailing to see what other passengers are doing. Enjoy your cruise!

[NorbertsNiece]

Thank you for your response, that does help. One more question, you're seated seated in the main dining room, right?

 

Yes the MTD dining area is part of the MDR :)

[akcruz]

I know you got one response on the hair dryer but I will add mine. Yes there is a hair dryer in the vanity which is similar to what you would find in a hotel. My hair is way longer than 2 inches and it has worked fine for me. Personally I would rather the space/weight in my bags for other things.

[griffy116]

There are two shows per evening. One is scheduled around traditional early dining (you go to the show after dinner); the other is an earlier show (you get out of the show in time to go to late traditional dining in the Main Dining Room). We choose traditional early dining because it gives all of us a chance to do whatever we want after dinner. For me, I go to the show and then to the casino. You'll want to schedule the ice show, which is great and they have some late shows with a comedian (adult show), and The Quest is NOT to be missed. It happens around midnight. Be sure to be there. Sometimes there are activities in the Promenade like the parade, "street" parties with a theme. We have 3 generations traveling together so some of the teens/early 20's go to the pool area. Some evenings there are parties/events going on there, plus there is a game room. Having a drink and/or cigar in the cigar bar, shopping, walking around under the stars on the deck, checking out the library for a book to read at the pool the next day...There are so many choices that we try to make it as convenient as possible for everyone to get to do the things they enjoy. MTD is not an extra charge, it just means you have pre-paid the tips. Since we choose traditional dining, we go to guest services and have pre-paid tips added so that is taken care of beforehand. We love the pre-paid tips. One less thing to worry about on our last night. Together/both together means the beds are together, like for a couple. Apart is when the beds have a nightstand between two twin beds. The blow dryers provided are fine for me, but my daughters are more picky and prefer to bring their own. They are pretty weak. There are no little bottles of shampoo, conditioner or lotion. They have a container in the shower with some sort of combo ingredients. I don't have a problem using it to shower with, but I wouldn't use it on my hair. Bring travel size containers of your own shampoo and conditioner and lotion.