My time dining on the Radiance

[Little Buddy's Mom]

What kind of MTD process is this when it seems that someone on RCL is determining the pax dining time.

 

It does seem Royal has a lot to learn about running a smooth dining process. They've been doing MTD for years now and just cannot get it right. On the Allure, last year, even people with reservations, were forced to wait 15-30 minutes to get seated. Everyone, with or without reservations, had to stand in one line until you got up to the desk. I finally had enough of this and voiced my frustration with this process. After that, we went directly to the desk and they seated us immediately.

 

It is true, the squeaky wheel gets the grease but it shouldn't have to be that way.;)

Edited September 15, 2016 by Little Buddy's Mom

[Biker19]

It's not a one-off it is a new system they announced on the ship weeks ago they were going to implement. It does not sound like it's working for everyone yet.

 

Sounds like another DD-like issue in the making.:eek:

[PCWalton1]

Sounds like another DD-like issue in the making.:eek:

 

Yeah, not sure why they wanted to add the complication of delivering tickets every day.

[Biker19]

I'm still unclear what problem they were trying to fix with the tickets.

[TBone2K]

I'm still unclear what problem they were trying to fix with the tickets.

 

It *sounds* like they are trying to come up with a way for people with MTD reservations at the same time every night to bypass the line.

 

However it doesn't seem like it is working since some people are still waiting in line.

 

On Explorer, we had MTD with the same time every night at the same table. Outside the dining room there were two lines, one for people with a reserved time but no specific table, one for people with no reservations at all. When we came we just went past the lines, said hello to the maitre'd who waved us on to go to our table.

 

However it doesn't always happen this way and it may explain the situation being discussed... I mentioned before that on Brilliance, we wanted to reserve the same table every night, but were told they couldn't as they only have a certain number of tables available to do that. After that you can reserve a time but have to see what you get (hence the line).

[JCMass.]

That sounds like a one-off for this ship for this sailing. Normally for MTD, there are two lines, one with and one without reservations. I assume something happened with the host being overwhelmed and to cut the wait time for the folks with reservations they handed out these tickets. Granted, the wait is usually very brief but every sailing I've been on, the MTD line (even with reservations) had a wait. The OP made it sound like there has never been a wait for MTD.

 

As with other introductions of a new system (even if perceived to be "better"), there are "issues".

 

I too am used to the two lines one for reservations and one for those who walk up. I don't understand how you could walk up with a time and table on a slip and just hand it in and walk to your table. What if passengers were still there eating. It isn't as if there is a table and a seat waiting for each and every person who wants to eat sometime between 5:30pm and 8:30pm. Even with a reservation do they just keep the table open for just you ?

 

To me MTD is very much like a restaurant on land, if you have a reservation they make sure there is a place for you, but it could be any one of several tables. If you just walk up you take a chance there is a place for you.

 

Now I am getting nervous about our upcoming Serenade of the Seas cruise. We have already starting thinking about eating at the Windjammer for the first night and let things settle down.

[Cel_cruise]

We are also used to the 2 lines - one for MTD reservations and one for walk ups. If you were checked in and your table wasn't ready - you sat/stood in a small waiting area. We had reservations. I can't remember if they ever offered us a different section if we didn't want to wait - but we LOVED our waitstaff - so we would have always chosen to wait unless we had a time constraint!

 

 

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[TexasBelle]

We just came off the Radiance cruise on Sept 9th. It was the last Alaska cruise for the season and they are headed to Hawaii and New Zealand for that season.

 

Our dining room waiter, Ralte, said that they were moving MyTime Dining downstairs and moving regular dining upstairs. Which means the staff had to move ALL the tables and chairs too! Seems the larger tables are more suited for regular dining.

 

She said MyTime Dining is much more popular and they are trying to help with the long lines by moving it downstairs to a larger dining area.

 

Hope it helps everyone. I would not like to wait in line for my dinner, with or without a reservation.

[Bluebird74]

we booked MTD but I was hoping it was in the nice bit on the bottom you see in all the pics. Are you saying MTD is somewhere else stuck away from everything? 😩 Or it's moved into the bigger main part. I was just hoping to have dinner with my partner just us two, like we always do, we are quite shy and just like to chat between us. If we have preset time for just table of two do they still try to put you on bigger tables with other people???? 😩😩😩😩😪😪😪

[Cel_cruise]

we booked MTD but I was hoping it was in the nice bit on the bottom you see in all the pics. Are you saying MTD is somewhere else stuck away from everything? [emoji30] Or it's moved into the bigger main part. I was just hoping to have dinner with my partner just us two, like we always do, we are quite shy and just like to chat between us. If we have preset time for just table of two do they still try to put you on bigger tables with other people???? [emoji30][emoji30][emoji30][emoji30][emoji25][emoji25][emoji25]

 

 

You should be able to get a table for 2 at either dining option. Both take place in the MDR which has multiple floors.

 

Now - all that being said - if you want a truly private table - you should email dining ahead of time. Often tables for 2 are very close to other but some are certainly more private than others.

 

 

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[4774Papa]

We have two cruises on RCI coming up in 2018. We have 9 cruises on Celebrity and 6 on NCL. NCL handles all it MDR seating as any time. They manage it well, but occasionally you have to wait up to 15 minutes.

Celebrity has figured out any time (Select ) dining and we have never had to wait for a table . We are generally willing to sit a large table with others. Perhaps that makes it easier..

[bennob66]

Can anyone tell me is the Mytime dining is on the ground floor of the main dining roomer up on the 1st smaller floor which is around the edge of the ground floor?