Options for not ideal dinner arrangements with kids

[Chicky2181]

I changed my cruise today from a 11/3/19 on Allure to a 11/3/19 on Harmony.  I was excited to save $212 and get a $50 obc.  I wasn’t expecting that and it was a pleasant surprise. We only changed because we’ve been on Allure before and wanted different ports. 

Here’s my little dilemma:

We have 2 young kids (9 & 3) and typically take the early dinning.  However it was completely full and the only MTD slots open are at 7:30 or later.  This was surprising to me since the sailing appears to have a lot of open rooms and it’s like 272 days out. 

 

Has anyone one ever seen more MTD slots open up or even the early seating?

 

and what has been your experience with booking MTD on board or just showing up? 

 

on the original cruise we had planned to use the family traditional dining....basically kids served immediately and 45 min later the adventure ocean staff picks them all up and takes them to club.  I’m wondering if that’s even an option with MTD. 

 

TIA for any advice. 

Lisa

[Clarea]

Try to get on the wait list for early (traditional) dinner.

 

If you cannot get traditional dinner, then go to the MDR as soon as you board and try to make changes there.

[Ashland]

MTD on Harmony opens for service at 5:30pm...Any reason you feel the need for a standing reservation time? It's easy to walk up and get a table without a wait between 5:30-6:00pm.

 

Also the Adventure Ocean staff will have an "Adventure Dining" (not to be confused with Family Dining) option in which they take the kids (depending on the club they are in) to dinner at the Windjammer and then then back to the club for the evening activities. We used this option on our last HOTS cruise and it worked out well for our little one in Aquanauts. 

[jaygee77]

As a backup plan, you can also make reservations in Cruise Planner for the earliest available My Time dining. This is available months in advance, but one of the more experienced members of this board can probably narrow down that timeframe better than I can. This needs to be done for each night of your cruise, but I've found that nearly every time outside of 6-7pm has been available for my upcoming cruise. 

Edited February 4, 2019 by jaygee77

[cb at sea]

Once onboard, head to the dining room, tell them your problem, and they will fit you in.  They WANT you to be happy.  No worries!  Enjoy your vacation!

 

[Russ Lomas]

4 hours ago, Chicky2181 said:

I changed my cruise today from a 11/3/19 on Allure to a 11/3/19 on Harmony.  I was excited to save $212 and get a $50 obc.  I wasn’t expecting that and it was a pleasant surprise. We only changed because we’ve been on Allure before and wanted different ports. 

Here’s my little dilemma:

We have 2 young kids (9 & 3) and typically take the early dinning.  However it was completely full and the only MTD slots open are at 7:30 or later.  This was surprising to me since the sailing appears to have a lot of open rooms and it’s like 272 days out. 

 

Has anyone one ever seen more MTD slots open up or even the early seating?

 

and what has been your experience with booking MTD on board or just showing up? 

 

on the original cruise we had planned to use the family traditional dining....basically kids served immediately and 45 min later the adventure ocean staff picks them all up and takes them to club.  I’m wondering if that’s even an option with MTD. 

 

TIA for any advice. 

Lisa

Do not worry about it.  Everything will likely work out fine.  We actually like MTD better than traditional for our families.  I am shocked that there are not 5:30 or 5:45 slots available for a cruise that is not until November.  You can book online, but sometimes it is easier to just call RCCL and they can set it up for you.

 

If not, like Bob said, just go straight to the dining room when you arrive on the ship and tell them the circumstances.  It happens all the time and they want to accommodate you.  Get an early set time for each day and ask for the same servers each night if possible.  Also, as somebody else posted here, the MTD room is basically empty from 5-7 on some sailings.  You can simply walk up and will almost certainly be seated immediately if you just show up in the first 30 minutes the dining room opens for dinner, even if you have a reservation for later that night (just tell them when you arrive early that you will not be (obviously) coming later that evening).

 

Don't fret, everything will be fine.

[GBM]

Once we were assigned late dining, even though we booked a number of months in advance, and wanted early.  When we boarded the ship, we stopped by the MDR, and they were happy to find a spot for us in early time.  It probably didn't hurt that there are just 2 of us, and we like to be at larger tables (rather than wanting a table for 2.)  But, I would expect that if at all possible, they would make the adjustment.  I'm also sure there are people that get early dining that want something different, so tables would open up during this rescheduling that happens upon boarding.    

[brillohead]

Any time I've been wait-listed for a dining slot way in advance, I've always gotten my desired time.  

Definitely ask to be wait-listed for Early Dining -- there will be lots of people dropping and changing between now and Final Payment.  

[Chicky2181]

19 hours ago, Ashland said:

MTD on Harmony opens for service at 5:30pm...Any reason you feel the need for a standing reservation time? It's easy to walk up and get a table without a wait between 5:30-6:00pm.

 

Also the Adventure Ocean staff will have an "Adventure Dining" (not to be confused with Family Dining) option in which they take the kids (depending on the club they are in) to dinner at the Windjammer and then then back to the club for the evening activities. We used this option on our last HOTS cruise and it worked out well for our little one in Aquanauts. 

We’ve used the adventure dining the past but wanted to do family dining this time around. 

[Chicky2181]

19 hours ago, jaygee77 said:

As a backup plan, you can also make reservations in Cruise Planner for the earliest available My Time dining. This is available months in advance, but one of the more experienced members of this board can probably narrow down that timeframe better than I can. This needs to be done for each night of your cruise, but I've found that nearly every time outside of 6-7pm has been available for my upcoming cruise. 

Yeah. I already took the 7:30 time for each day.  Was really just wondering how bad it is to show up at 5:30-6 without a reservation...wait wise. 

[Chicky2181]

17 hours ago, brillohead said:

Any time I've been wait-listed for a dining slot way in advance, I've always gotten my desired time.  

Definitely ask to be wait-listed for Early Dining -- there will be lots of people dropping and changing between now and Final Payment.  

Thanks!  I’m going to call today and ask to be waitlisted. 

This will be my 10th cruise and I’ve never had this issue.  It’s still crazy to me that most things were full this early in advance. 

[Chicky2181]

18 hours ago, Russ Lomas said:

Do not worry about it.  Everything will likely work out fine.  We actually like MTD better than traditional for our families.  I am shocked that there are not 5:30 or 5:45 slots available for a cruise that is not until November.  You can book online, but sometimes it is easier to just call RCCL and they can set it up for you.

 

If not, like Bob said, just go straight to the dining room when you arrive on the ship and tell them the circumstances.  It happens all the time and they want to accommodate you.  Get an early set time for each day and ask for the same servers each night if possible.  Also, as somebody else posted here, the MTD room is basically empty from 5-7 on some sailings.  You can simply walk up and will almost certainly be seated immediately if you just show up in the first 30 minutes the dining room opens for dinner, even if you have a reservation for later that night (just tell them when you arrive early that you will not be (obviously) coming later that evening).

 

Don't fret, everything will be fine.

Thanks Russ! That’s good to know. 

[etoilefj]

We were on Harmony last May and had My Time dining. We tend to eat early so had made the reservations for 5:30 or 6:00 most days ahead of time in the cruise planner. It always worked out just fine for us (party of 3). They actually made a significant effort to seat us at the same table every night to have the same waitstaff. I'm sure they will accommodate you.