MTD seating

[earn]

We have never used MTD and always choose late seating. However, on recent cruises the shows for late seating are often pre dinner. We like to have a drink pre dinner, have dinner and then see the show. So, considering MTD for a bit more flexibility but we enjoy the company of others at dinner. Do they fill tables like they do at lunch or would we be sat by ourselves? I have tried to search the forum for this but can't find the answer.

[Cookiecookie]

My hubby and I only do MTD we only ever ask for a table for 2. The option is there to join a larger table though.

[anandaindonesia]

While on other cruise lines MTD means flexibility, our recent MTD experience on Vision OTS is different. They want us to reaerve a fixed time everytime. In our case it was 5.30pm everyday.

 

They also put us at the same table (so same waiter) everyday.

Good for us because we prefer to dine just the two of us.

 

If you want company, just say so when you book your reservation. There are others who prefer to share table.

 

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[SRF]

It seems to depend on the ship.

 

I sail on Grandeur, and there you just show up, and they will normally seat you at a table for 2. If there will be a wait, they will ask if you want to wait for a table for 2, or will you accept a larger table with others.

 

They did recommend reservations for lobster night. And suggested a mid time between the early diners getting their entrees, and the late diners arriving. Makes sense for them also, to even out the flow.

[BettyPC]

I agree - on Royal you need to have a reservation for dinner (MTD) or they have a hard time seating you when you arrive. No problem with a reservation - Carnival on the other hand can seat you when you arrive for their MTD. Not sure why the difference. But love them both!

[Clarea]

... Do they fill tables like they do at lunch or would we be sat by ourselves? .

Your choice, you tell them when you arrive for dinner. If you want to sit with others, you may have to wait a bit longer.

[tortoisegirl]

We recently did MTD on Explorer. I made reservations for each night online, as we wanted later than early seating but earlier than late seating (6/6:30pm). There were two lines to get in to the dining room each night, but there was no distinction between who had a reservation and who didn't. The first night was a longer wait (20 min?), but it went quicker on the other nights.

 

A handful of times after checking in with the hostess they had people take a seat on a bench to wait to be seated, which I'm guessing was those without reservations. We didn't end up making it to any of the shows. On a handful of the nights (like embarkation night, when we were on an overnight in San Fran, and maybe the last night), they had a single show at 7:15pm ish, which we would have been late for. The other times it just didn't sound interesting.

 

If shows are a priority for you, I'd either choose regular dining, or do MTD with a reservation time near either the early or late regular dining times (approx. 5:30pm and 8:00pm, but can vary slightly by ship), although that kinda defeats the purpose of MTD. We got a table for 2 every time for dinner with MTD without asking, although often it was only 1 or 2 feet away from another table. They also try to seat you in the same section each night. I think we got much faster service as we were near the kitchen access in the back. I think most of our dinners were around an hour.

[earn]

Thanks everyone. Looks like it can be as flexible as we need but we would need to wait perhaps. I think we will stick with late seatingnthis time round. We often don't go to the shows either but our experience has been that the guest acts are much better on transatlantic cruises, at least east. Next week will be our first west bound. Thanks again

[grapau27]

We have never used MTD and always choose late seating. However, on recent cruises the shows for late seating are often pre dinner. We like to have a drink pre dinner, have dinner and then see the show. So, considering MTD for a bit more flexibility but we enjoy the company of others at dinner. Do they fill tables like they do at lunch or would we be sat by ourselves? I have tried to search the forum for this but can't find the answer.

We always do MTD and also a table for 2.

Usually the tables are only 1-2 feet apart and often we end up speaking to people on tables either side of us.

If you book the same time every night and ask they will sit you at the same table.