Why is Night 1 in MDR Always a Disaster?

[LuCruise]

I keep hearing how the first night in the main dining room is awful, with long waits and very unorganized. They have a "first night" every single week so why all the chaos? How much longer should we plan to wait? First night we have a reservation via My Time at 6:15pm and a show at 9pm so am hoping this timing is ok.

[Clarea]

I can think of a couple reasons:

 

The crew have had an hour or so to know their assignment and collegue.

 

Some guests are unhappy with their assignments and many changes have been made in table assignments. This delays seating and starting of service.

[sparklies70]

Lol. I really think it's just because people wait UNTIL their dinner time to complain and want to make changes. I fell asleep at the table on night 1 this year. That taught me a lesson: seriously no more than 15 minutes in the whirlpool.

[champagne123]

The second seating is 8:30 and the people for the first seating HAVE to be out....leaving time for the waitstaff to clean and reset ALL of those tables...So you will make your 9:00 show. Yes, I agree that the first night is chaotic....

[BillOh]

Maybe MTD has it worse? I'm still a hold out for traditional late. Been mostly a good experience for us in 11 tries.

[DrD]

I've never had a problem with traditional second seating. We find our table ahead of time and then when it's time for dinner we sit and eat. Simple.

[LuCruise]

The second seating is 8:30 and the people for the first seating HAVE to be out....leaving time for the waitstaff to clean and reset ALL of those tables...So you will make your 9:00 show. Yes, I agree that the first night is chaotic....

 

We're on MTD so this is a separate dining area on Allure. First time trying it, but I think this wouldn't follow the same rules/timings as traditional dining.

 

The only reason I didn't book earlier is because we want to catch the sail away party which is at 5pm.

[champagne123]

Maybe MTD has it worse? I'm still a hold out for traditional late. Been mostly a good experience for us in 11 tries.

 

100 percent agree. We always get the 8:30 seating for TWO reasons. The staff is by FAR less stressed and waaaaay less children. :eek:

[OCruisers]

One reason for first night confusion is some people don't understand exactly where they are suppose to go for dinner.

[TravelerThom]

The second seating is 8:30 and the people for the first seating HAVE to be out....leaving time for the waitstaff to clean and reset ALL of those tables...So you will make your 9:00 show...

OP said they were in "My Time" so your info has no applicability...

[champagne123]

We're on MTD so this is a separate dining area on Allure. First time trying it, but I think this wouldn't follow the same rules/timings as traditional dining.

 

The only reason I didn't book earlier is because we want to catch the sail away party which is at 5pm.

 

Oops...sorry. Did not see that you were MTD. I still think you have plenty of time to eat .....cannot see it taking 2 hours and 45 minutes. You should be fine.:):)

[papaflamingo]

Lots of reasons, many mentioned. But for traditional seating, part of the chaos is the waiter getting to know each diner, passengers show up late sending timing of meals into confusion, people order wine packages, etc. Plus I think more people show up at the MDR on night one, then start going to specialty restaurants, etc. the rest of the week. But, you are right, I never plan anything on night one. I just expect dinner to take longer. No biggie.

[setsail]

Where do you hear that? Never had a problem with Td but MTD can be slow the first night for those with no resi but not a disaster

Edited February 24, 2016 by setsail

[LuCruise]

Where do you hear that? Never had a problem with Td but MTD can be slow the first night for those with no resi

 

I keep reading comments on here. Don't remember if it's limited to the Oasis class where they are dealing with more people or if the first night is bad on all/most ships the first night.

[SheehanDJ]

I believe the delays and chaos is mostly caused by the cruisers not the wait staff.

 

One of our first stops when initially wandering around the ship is the MDR to check out where our table is. A lot of time when we are wandering around the dinning room fellow cruisers "peek" in almost like they are scared they aren't suppose to be in there.

 

We are pretty easy to please so the only time we ask for a new table is if we are right next to a waiter station, and we request that change very early day one long before any seating. We've made this request twice and had no issue getting a change.

 

Night one there is usually quite a long line to get in the MDR just with people asking where their table is. We bypass that line. Groups being separated is another issue, one that could have easily been taken care of earlier in the day. Table location issues are probably the bottom of the delays, and from what I've experienced is that somewhere along the booking process they were promised a two top as opposed to a 6 or 8 they found themselves at.

[minn0315]

On Navigator in December our waiter actually forgot to put in our food order on the first night. When we and the head waiter realized this we walked out and never went back to the MDR for the rest of our cruise.

[LuCruise]

I believe the delays and chaos is mostly caused by the cruisers not the wait staff.

 

One of our first stops when initially wandering around the ship is the MDR to check out where our table is. A lot of time when we are wandering around the dinning room fellow cruisers "peek" in almost like they are scared they aren't suppose to be in there.

 

We are pretty easy to please so the only time we ask for a new table is if we are right next to a waiter station, and we request that change very early day one long before any seating. We've made this request twice and had no issue getting a change.

 

Night one there is usually quite a long line to get in the MDR just with people asking where their table is. We bypass that line. Groups being separated is another issue, one that could have easily been taken care of earlier in the day. Table location issues are probably the bottom of the delays, and from what I've experienced is that somewhere along the booking process they were promised a two top as opposed to a 6 or 8 they found themselves at.

 

Great explanation. Makes sense.

[susancruzs]

I'm one of those, I'm on vacation, relaxing and don't care if things take a little longer the first night. I refuse to stress, get concerned over things totally out of my control.

[Dave4120]

I always chuckle when someone says I've heard, then assumes a ton of chaos.

 

What if you heard everything was fine on the first night?

 

Again, everyone has a different option about everything and anything in life nowadays. And, each person has different expectations and standards on a 1-10 basis.

 

We are approaching our 30th cruise in a couple of months and we've never experienced a disorganized first night, or for that matter, any bad nights or terrible food. We've always been satisfied, but maybe, we are not expecting as much as others. Some people feel that because they are on a cruise they should be treated like a King and Queen. I'm sure if it were a land vacation the hotel food and accommodations might not be great from time to time either, or it could be excellent based on expectations. Heck...I've had worse food and chaos at our local restaurants but we don't seem to complain about that. We take it for granted. So I guess I don't understand some people's comments.

 

Because you heard what you heard, someone new and reading your opening comments would be concerned. But if it were my post and someone new we're to read it, they would get a totally different positive spin. So, it's difficult to know what is accurate.

[whitsmom]

I've never had a problem with traditional second seating. We find our table ahead of time and then when it's time for dinner we sit and eat. Simple.

 

We do this too, but with the first seating. We have never had any problems that would cause me to remember :D. This time we will have 8 of us at the same table so that will be different; but I am not expecting any major issues.

 

Sometimes I think everyone is so tired from traveling the first day that maybe their nerves are on edge.

[goodycruising]

I have experienced it a couple of cruises. It is not a disaster, but the service is slower, things get forgotten or not offered, and the atmosphere is different to other evenings.

 

Both times would have been MTD. No actual wait to get seated so we don't understand why the rest of it is not the same as every other evening.

 

That has been our experience and we don't go to the MDR first night any more. I wouldn't give up going the rest of the cruise though. We don't go some other evenings as we do other options.

 

Maybe that is part of the issue - they have cut dining room staff due to more people using other venues but get a higher number of people first night?

 

I can't understand that if people say they have had an issue why others that haven't can't just take their word that there has been an issue. I take things with a grain of salt, but sometimes forewarned is a good thing. You can come back second night knowing it will most likely be better.

 

I would also just walk out if I wanted to go to the show. If you have been there that long you probably will only rush to eat it and not enjoy it anyhow.

[jagsfan]

We're always escorted to our table the first night, so no wandering around looking for it. I can certainly understand a little more confusion on sailing day, though. New cruisers that don't know where the dining room is, or running late because they're waiting for their luggage. It's never been a big deal ever, though. If you are worried about a show you booked, skip dessert. I hardly have room for it, anyway.

[TravelerThom]

...We are approaching our 30th cruise in a couple of months and we've never experienced a disorganized first night, or for that matter, any bad nights or terrible food...

I've never experienced any meal on a ship were the bad outweighed the good, but in 90 cruises I can't think of one where the first night was not more disorganized than the following nights - which makes sense to me, as most of the people are trying to find there way around a new venue.

I've never had a problem with traditional second seating. We find our table ahead of time and then when it's time for dinner we sit and eat. Simple.

The last time we did traditional (first) seating was on the Allure in 2012. Knowing how long the lines are the first evening (most people not knowing where they are going, and being taken to their seats by waiters) we didn't even show up from the Diamond Lounge until 20 minutes after opening (already prepared for flames on that), and the line at the door STILL stretched down the hall, past the elevators and to the Casino. We knew where our table was, but I'm not willing to have 50 different people yell "The back of the line is that way!" at me, so we waited...and waited...

[RuthlessBoss]

I believe the delays and chaos is mostly caused by the cruisers not the wait staff.

 

One of our first stops when initially wandering around the ship is the MDR to check out where our table is. A lot of time when we are wandering around the dinning room fellow cruisers "peek" in almost like they are scared they aren't suppose to be in there.

 

We are pretty easy to please so the only time we ask for a new table is if we are right next to a waiter station, and we request that change very early day one long before any seating. We've made this request twice and had no issue getting a change.

 

Night one there is usually quite a long line to get in the MDR just with people asking where their table is. We bypass that line. Groups being separated is another issue, one that could have easily been taken care of earlier in the day. Table location issues are probably the bottom of the delays, and from what I've experienced is that somewhere along the booking process they were promised a two top as opposed to a 6 or 8 they found themselves at.

 

It's hard for a seasoned cruiser to remember when they went on their first cruise and were clueless as to where to go. The slowness is likely not to understand how to order, what they can order. Each table slows the waiters a bit and that multiplies quickly as they ask multiple questions. I don't think it is disorganized waiters, although one may occasionally crop up,

[beshears]

I have not read all the postings, but I would think one of the main reasons is that a lot of times, people wait until dinner time to "find out" the location of where there table is, and then, only then do they go looking for it. As for us, we try to check it out before dinner time, so we have a clue of what deck/area it will be close to.