Oasis Dining Questions

[MrsTiffanyH]

We will be cruising with another family in April (each a family of 4). We booked at nearly the same time but they have My Time Dining and we got Early Dining. I am reading on the roll call that they aren't even taking names on the wait list any more for Early Dining. For the nights we aren't doing specialty restaurants, is our best bet for my family to change to My Time Dining? I'm reading you are able to reserve times online before the cruise (have also seen complaints about long waits for MTD on the ship) so just trying to figure out what we need to do to eat together with as little stress/wait time on the ship as possible.

 

Second question, my family is in GS and they are JS, so we want to do Coastal Kitchen one night. I want to say I read that the formal night (which we don't care so much about) with lobster is good to go to CK as they also prepare it and it's great. Oasis will be out of Port Canaveral at that point - is there any way for us to tell what nights are what types of dinner/dress now?

 

Any thoughts appreciated!

[Clarea]

If your friends cannot get early dining, and you want to eat together in the Main Dining Room, then it's best for you to switch to My Time.

 

The first formal night will likely be night 2, and that is not usually the formal night with "free" lobster in the MDR. The "free" lobster usually is offered on the second formal night, which will likely be night 5 or 6. Not really possible to know which, as Oasis has not yet completed an itinerary out of Port Canaveral.

[Biker19]

You can switch to MTD now, link your bookings and reserve dining (though it will be tough to get a table for 8 with MTD). Or you can wait till you board and try to get the other family changed to traditional early to be with you. Either way the issue will be trying to get a table for 8. One other middle option you can try is to e-mail rcldining@rccl.com about 2-3 weeks before the cruise (don't try it earlier), explain the situation and see if they can help.

[catlover2027]

many cruises, first on this floating city. Eating here is a NIGHTMARE. We are full (6000 passengers they tell us). DO NOT PICK MY TIME DINING. Reservations or not, expect at least a half hour wait in line before you are seated. The larger your party, apparently the faster you are seated. Parties of 2 - longer wait. Asking to share a table doesn't get you there any faster. Presumably the fixed dining fares better, but now YOU CAN"T SWITCH. Buffet just as bad. Other complimentary fares no better, unless you eat very late. Maybe they're trying to steer you to specialty restaurants? Beautiful ship, very nice crew, but we'll never sail this one again!

[gqboy1]

many cruises, first on this floating city. Eating here is a NIGHTMARE. We are full (6000 passengers they tell us). DO NOT PICK MY TIME DINING. Reservations or not, expect at least a half hour wait in line before you are seated. The larger your party, apparently the faster you are seated. Parties of 2 - longer wait. Asking to share a table doesn't get you there any faster. Presumably the fixed dining fares better, but now YOU CAN"T SWITCH. Buffet just as bad. Other complimentary fares no better, unless you eat very late. Maybe they're trying to steer you to specialty restaurants? Beautiful ship, very nice crew, but we'll never sail this one again!

 

That's scary to hear. We sail in January and signed up for MTD. It'll be our first cruise experience and hope it doesn't get ruined by this!

[catlover2027]

That's scary to hear. We sail in January and signed up for MTD. It'll be our first cruise experience and hope it doesn't get ruined by this!

 

If you haven't seen better, it might not be aware how smooth it CAN be. That said if you eat early at the buffet, it's not as bad. Probably OK later too. Plus port days are less crowded if you opt to stay aboard. Last night I finally went to guest services after dinner (they called and were told I can't switch). They gave me the name of the manager there and we're to ask for her tonight and see what they can do............. maybe I'll have good news to share later.

[Queen of Oakville]

Is this the first cruise out of PC? I wonder if that is why.

 

Last time I sailed Oasis (2013?) everything went smoothly but we had traditional dining.

 

Do may a favour please, and ask them to get this all figured out by Sunday, okay? Tell them Queen of Oakville boards Sunday and dining is the highlight of the cruise for her :D

 

What menus are you seeing? The old new menus or the new new menus? Is there a "local influence" section on the dinner menu?

[catlover2027]

It's gotten a little better in MTD. The first couple night, they stuck to the 5:15 opening and the crowd must have started gathering by 5. By 5:30 it was awful. Day 4 they must have opened early because when we showed up at the "problem solver's" desk about 5:10, they seated us right away at a "sharing" table and 2 other couples joined us by 5:15. Hence the wait is better. The concept of "2 for sharing" seemed foreign to them the first 2 nights. Yes this is their first trip out of Canaveral, but I think maybe they were trying something new or had new management in dining reservations. I'll let you to judge.

 

Queen of Oakville- this was my first time on Oasis class so I can't say about the old menu. But tonight was the second formal dinner and they predictably had prime rib or lobster tail.

 

gqboy1 - I don't know if you know (I didn't) that unlike other cruises where have 2 "shows" each night, YOU HAVE TO RESERVE the entertainment venues in advance, ideally before saiiing. I did it about 3 weeks out and had only 1 choice for each venue and was shut out of the comedy shows. You can come 10 minutes before the show as standby but so far no luck at the 9PM shows and I can't stay awake for the 10:30. Did have luck for the Headliner show and Cats also from what people tell me. Good luck

[cb at sea]

I don't see why the port you sail out of should have ANYTHING to do with how the ship operates it's food service....but, with MTD, you will need a reservation for an 8-top. I don't think a 30 min. wait is so bad, but I do like to have a drink with me, so I have something to do while waiting.....

[Biker19]

It's gotten a little better in MTD. The first couple night, they stuck to the 5:15 opening and the crowd must have started gathering by 5.

 

So, now we have MTD starting before 5? :eek:

[oceanseagle12]

I don't see why the port you sail out of should have ANYTHING to do with how the ship operates it's food service....but, with MTD, you will need a reservation for an 8-top. I don't think a 30 min. wait is so bad, but I do like to have a drink with me, so I have something to do while waiting.....

 

Is this a consensus? I will be sailing with a group of 7 in a couple weeks and we have MTD. This is our first Royal cruise, and obviously our first Oasis class. Is a reservation each day a must? What should we expect if we do not make a reservation?

[Clarea]

Is this a consensus? I will be sailing with a group of 7 in a couple weeks and we have MTD. This is our first Royal cruise, and obviously our first Oasis class. Is a reservation each day a must? What should we expect if we do not make a reservation?

A reservation is not mandatory. Theoretically, a reservation should mean less wait time for a table, but that can vary sailing to sailing.

[nancronin]

We got off Oasis on Oct. 29th - we had MTD and I had reserved a time for each night - because we were part of a casino group, the host had arranged for us all to eat at early dining - which canceled out our MTD reservations.

We went to MTD 4 nights - walked up to the desk for "NO Reservations" and were seated immediately all 4 nights at a table for 2 (1 night there was a couple in front of us.) This was around 6 PM each night.

The line for people with reservations was very long on all 4 nights.

We also ate in the Windjammer (buffet) twice and there was loads of room.

[kalliekae]

Wow! Things have changed in the last year. We did not have the same experience that catlover described. We requested a table for 2 during MTD and never had to wait more than 10 minutes and most of the time we were seated immediately. We also did not have reservations and chose to eat around 6-6:30pm. We just walked up and got into the line that is marked "no reservations" and it was actually shorter than the line for those who had reservations.

 

Personally, we prefer to eat in the specialty dining restaurants so we only ate in the MDR 3 times on each of our 4 Oasis and Allure cruises. Maybe we just got lucky and didn't have the long wait for a table in the MDR.

[catlover2027]

Once they started opening early, day 4, the wait was considerably shorter. But for people like us who are used to MTD and sharing on Celebrity, we never made reservations and just walked up and said 2 for sharing and were seated immediately. Can't say what went wrong here, but they do want everybody to have a reservation every day. But last night there was no line for "no reservations" and one of the couples they seated with usat a sharing table tried to make a reservation and they said 8:30 so she just walked up...... It is getting better....

[MrsTiffanyH]

Thanks, everyone. I've been traveling for work without a lot of free time, so sorry for the late reply. Appreciate the tips. Still weighing our options. We are doing a few specialty restaurants so between that and at least one night at CK we may just have to figure out the other nights once we get there (or try the emailing option suggested). For now, I at least know I'm not going to change to MTD. :)