Capacity and Your Time dining questions.

[jingle5616]

Greetings,  It's been 2007 since I've been on a Royal ship.  With "Your Time Dining" I'm a bit confused as there was no such thing back in 07.  They suggest I make reservations for my eating time.   I'm a late booker and all the available reservation on the app are taken.   What is your experience with walk up service and not having a reservation?   Also will I be able to secure specialty dining reservations on board.  There are none available for many of the restaurants on the app.  Do I have a problem?  I'm also curious if anyone knows at what capacity RCI ships, Ovation OTS, in my case, are sailing at?  Thanks,  Jingle

[Itchy&Scratchy]

I don't think you'll have a problem. We make MTD reservations, and when you show up those with reservations form a different line. The other line has never been atrocious.

I must say - in general, MTD worked better and more efficiently on Allure than it did on Regal Princess.

[Biker19]

25 minutes ago, jingle5616 said:

Do I have a problem? 

Unlikely. Many have reported lack of specialty venue availability online. Late MTD (past 8PM) without reservations should not be an issue - few MTDers eat that late. But, keep checking as slots may open closer to sailing. Capacity is likely to stay low (50% or less) for the rest of the current Ovation season.

Edited August 26, 2021 by Biker19

[cruiseguy1016]

40 minutes ago, jingle5616 said:

Greetings,  It's been 2007 since I've been on a Royal ship.  With "Your Time Dining" I'm a bit confused as there was no such thing back in 07.  They suggest I make reservations for my eating time.   I'm a late booker and all the available reservation on the app are taken.   What is your experience with walk up service and not having a reservation?   Also will I be able to secure specialty dining reservations on board.  There are none available for many of the restaurants on the app.  Do I have a problem?  I'm also curious if anyone knows at what capacity RCI ships, Ovation OTS, in my case, are sailing at?  Thanks,  Jingle

 

I'm not criticizing, I'm trying to help you understand. Technically, there still is no such thing as "Your Time Dining". It's called My Time Dining. As you have seen in the responses, the abbreviated version is MTD.

Edited August 26, 2021 by cruiseguy1016

[mauraoel]

It wasn't something I was worried about so I only skimed topics about this but I believe and can be wrong that you cannot make reservations until onboard for speciality restaurants or entertainment, due to covid.

[jingle5616]

1 minute ago, cruiseguy1016 said:

 

I'm not criticizing, I'm trying to help you understand. Technically, there still is no such thing as "Your Time Dining". It's called My Time Dining. As you have seen in the responses, the abbreviated version is MTD.

Your's, Mine, Our's!  Bless your technical heart!

[SRF]

A lot will depend on the ship and the % of capacity they are at.

 

We have done all our cruises on Grandeur, and even with full capacity (sometimes over 100%), we have never had any trouble walking up and being seated in less than 5 minutes for MTD. 

 

And the same for specialty dining.

 

[ampurp85]

Without knowing what ship you are on, it is hard to determine if the capacity has something to do with it or if it is an IT problem. I am sailing Oct 31st and can make MTD reservations with ease on the website through CP and on the app. But I would imagine it also won't be a problem to walk up and get seating especially if you are a late diner.

[Hogbay]

5 hours ago, jingle5616 said:

Your's, Mine, Our's!  Bless your technical heart!

See you have a problem, silly answers 🙂When you board Ovation, go and see the matre d` and they will sort it out , people do cancle and change there times .same with specialty restaurants. 

[read2learn]

On the Adventure reservations for specialty resturants were not available until on the ship. If you have an early time for arrival just go the restaurant and make your reservations. 

[ksp819]

21 hours ago, jingle5616 said:

Greetings,  It's been 2007 since I've been on a Royal ship.  With "Your Time Dining" I'm a bit confused as there was no such thing back in 07.  They suggest I make reservations for my eating time.   I'm a late booker and all the available reservation on the app are taken.   What is your experience with walk up service and not having a reservation?   Also will I be able to secure specialty dining reservations on board.  There are none available for many of the restaurants on the app.  Do I have a problem?  I'm also curious if anyone knows at what capacity RCI ships, Ovation OTS, in my case, are sailing at?  Thanks,  Jingle

I was on Ovation last week and we had about 1600 on board so I believe that was about 40% capacity.  The line for MTD with no reservations was short.  In fact it seemed like very few people were in the dining room.  The specialty restaurants were available on the planner ahead of the cruise but were difficult to get once on board.  This was due to the fact that they have way too many tables blocked off for social distancing purposes.  We were on the first cruise and I believe they mentioned they would be tweaking this as time went on.  Hopefully they will open up a few more tables and make it a little easier to get a reservation.  Enjoy your trip!