Adventure of the Seas My Time Dining Nightmare.

[yogimax]

Just off Adventure of the Seas today and totally disappointed with the MTD experience.

 

I made reservations months ago.  One the first night, we arrived on deck three to find long lines at both counters for those with and without reservations.  The "with reservations line" snaked around the dining room entrance and into the passenger corridor on Deck Three.  Thirty minutes in line to gain entry despite having made reservations.

 

I talked to the head Waiter and mentioned that we were D+ (which I really don't like to do).  He said he would talk to his manager and have the problem fixed.  Nothing happened.  O.k., on leaving, I stopped by the reservation desk and asked for the same table tomorrow.  "No problem," was told but would still have to wait on line.

 

Night Two - Again long lines snaking into the passenger corridors.  When we reached the check in desk, we asked for the same table or waiter and mentioned I had reserved that.  "Oh, we don't reserve tables, just times," was the response.  Really?  Moved to a new table and noted that our reserved time was 7:30 and we weren't seated until 8PM.  So much for "reserved times."  Also, half the tables in the area were empty.

 

Night Three - Arrived at 7:25 hoping the problem was fixed.  Nope.  Again, long lines into the passenger corridors with people opening cabin doors to find a horde of folks in the hallway.  Again, a thirty minute wait.

 

Night Four - While waiting in the hallway, our waiter from the previous two nights poked his head around the corner and beckoned us to our table.  He was checking to see if any of his guests were waiting.  This waiter should be promoted immediately.

 

I spoke with numerous people regarding this nonsense including the Food and Beverage Manager.  Apparently, the agreed upon excuse was that too many people had signed up for early dining at 5:30.  Not sure what this had to do with 7:30.

 

Bottom line is that something went terribly wrong and no one took responsibility.  Never met or saw the Hotel Director who I would assume had ultimate responsibility.

 

In essence, absolutely nothing was done.   As Mrs. Yogimax said, "If this were my first cruise on Royal, i would never be back."

 

Just writing this as a warning to those who have future reservations on Adventure of the Seas where the adventure will be standing in long lings where pre-made reservations don't mean anything!

[HicksRA]

It seems they’ve consolidated early dining onto deck 3 along with MTD instead of having them on decks 4 or 5 like in the past. 
 

This has totally screwed people who chose MTD. 

[Ferry_Watcher]

I think they are dealing with staff shortages like everyone else.  Just like restaurants at home, no sense in seating diners if they can not be served promptly - so no surprise to see empty table when you were seated.  

Happy to hear that your waiter took care of you, I hope you tipped him well.

As a D+ passenger, you really should be more relaxed and understanding realizing what these crew members are dealing with - especially on your preferred cruise line.  

[GTO-Girl]

My Time Dining became a complete mess well before covid when they decided to use the MTD dining room to seat early Traditional diners from about 5:30-6:45 or so….

 

This meant the earliest you could reserve MTD was usually around 7:00 which means everyone who used to dine early on MTD now want the earliest slots they can get.  So what you have now is all the early diners and all who like to normally eat around 7:00-7:30 all coming at the same time!!

 

I don’t know thought this was a good idea because MTD used to work fine when MTD had its own exclusive dining room.  Because of this mess we switched back to fixed Traditional dining several years ago!!

[yogimax]

8 minutes ago, Ferry_Watcher said:

As a D+ passenger, you really should be more relaxed and understanding realizing what these crew members are dealing with - especially on your preferred cruise line.  

Nope, as usual the crew members were terrific, not blaming them.  We also totally understand how hard working they are and noted that their work level was pretty much the same as it has always been.  This was a systemic problem caused by a failure at the management level.

[cynt]

Yep, one look at that line for MTD and I headed to the specialty restaurant and purchased the specialty dining pkg. I'm not waiting in line to eat dinner. MTD use to be flawless. I don't know what happened. 

 

On My next cruise I made sure to get early dining for peace of mind.

[pcur]

For future reference:  

 

As soon as you get on the ship Day 1, go to MTD and find out what time the head waiter will be there to take requests.  If no one is there, go to the other dining rooms and ask.  It's usually 1-2 pm.

 

Find out which side MTD is located on, and go there to check out the tables.  Pick several you like.  

 

Then, go back and talk to the head waiter about a good time and the tables you would like.  

 

This is the best way to get your table for Day 1, and to get to know the head waiter/manager.  Then, during or after dinner on Day 1, go tell him what you want going forward.

 

DO NOT TRY TO DO THIS AT DINNERTIME WHEN YOU HAVE TO STAND IN LINE.  With your table and time already assigned on Day 1, you just go to the table, or ask a waiter that is standing there waiting to seat people of the table is available for you.  You never have to wait in line at all, ever.

 

MTD is not really "anytime":  it's just a more flexible schedule, but it's not working very well.

Edited June 18, 2022 by pcur

[TexCruise371]

3 of the last 4 of our cruises have been the same way. We were on Adventure in December and it was the same way then too. I have changed all of our future cruises back to traditional.

[fsuwx]

The same thing happened to us on the Allure 3 weeks ago. RCI needs to change their system. MTD used to be on Decks 4/5, so there were hardly any lines.

[Ferry_Watcher]

19 minutes ago, yogimax said:

This was a systemic problem caused by a failure at the management level.

 

I really don't think that it is a management failure.  As a person who has cruised extensively, you most likely didn't experience this prior to the pandemic.  There has been staffing shortages due to crew just not renewing their contract/rejoining their ship due to covid concerns.  Crew concerns include not wanting to sign extended contracts, being asked to extend their contract while being onboard, and having to work in a challenging environment around thousands of unmasked passengers.  It's not surprising that the cruise lines are struggling to staff their ships.

 

It was mentioned that many passengers are showing up early for the early dinner seating.  Well they are also showing up early to check in for their cruises.  So many passengers are arriving early that crazy long lines develop to accommodate these early birds.  Port management would be quite happy if these folks stuck to their assigned arrival time, but they have no control as to when people actually show up.  Just like the ship has no control as to when passengers get in line for dinner. 

 

At the piers,  the need for wellness checks (vaccine cards, negative test results, ArriveCan for Alaska cruisers), just slows down the entire embarkation process.  As the season goes on, staff does get into a good rhythm and flow, but if it is a day where the terminals are short staffed, then the system falters a bit.  Sure, everyone gets onboard, but it takes longer.  Just like the restaurants on the ships, everyone gets fed, it just takes awhile.

[poocher]

We had MTD on Harmony in March, reservations for 6:45 every night.  Never waited more than 10 minutes and after night 2,  staff just smiled & waved us in. Same table/staff each night.  

[LGW59]

1 hour ago, yogimax said:

Just off Adventure of the Seas today and totally disappointed with the MTD experience.

 

I made reservations months ago.  One the first night, we arrived on deck three to find long lines at both counters for those with and without reservations.  The "with reservations line" snaked around the dining room entrance and into the passenger corridor on Deck Three.  Thirty minutes in line to gain entry despite having made reservations.

 

I talked to the head Waiter and mentioned that we were D+ (which I really don't like to do).  He said he would talk to his manager and have the problem fixed.  Nothing happened.  O.k., on leaving, I stopped by the reservation desk and asked for the same table tomorrow.  "No problem," was told but would still have to wait on line.

 

Night Two - Again long lines snaking into the passenger corridors.  When we reached the check in desk, we asked for the same table or waiter and mentioned I had reserved that.  "Oh, we don't reserve tables, just times," was the response.  Really?  Moved to a new table and noted that our reserved time was 7:30 and we weren't seated until 8PM.  So much for "reserved times."  Also, half the tables in the area were empty.

 

Night Three - Arrived at 7:25 hoping the problem was fixed.  Nope.  Again, long lines into the passenger corridors with people opening cabin doors to find a horde of folks in the hallway.  Again, a thirty minute wait.

 

Night Four - While waiting in the hallway, our waiter from the previous two nights poked his head around the corner and beckoned us to our table.  He was checking to see if any of his guests were waiting.  This waiter should be promoted immediately.

 

I spoke with numerous people regarding this nonsense including the Food and Beverage Manager.  Apparently, the agreed upon excuse was that too many people had signed up for early dining at 5:30.  Not sure what this had to do with 7:30.

 

Bottom line is that something went terribly wrong and no one took responsibility.  Never met or saw the Hotel Director who I would assume had ultimate responsibility.

 

In essence, absolutely nothing was done.   As Mrs. Yogimax said, "If this were my first cruise on Royal, i would never be back."

 

Just writing this as a warning to those who have future reservations on Adventure of the Seas where the adventure will be standing in long lings where pre-made reservations don't mean anything!

Ugh and yuck, I’d be very pissed off too!  Sounds like a serious staffing problem to me?!?  Hearing this and so many others make me very happy I collected my refundable deposits for two cruises I had scheduled for October and December.  I’ll be more than happy with land vacations for the foreseeable future.

[ZoeyVictoria]

We had the same experience on a Princess ship - long lines for MTD both with and without reservations, being told that a table was reserved for us at a certain time, then the next night being told rudely that tables are never reserved in MTD.  The fix seemed to be to eat very early, as soon as the dining room opened.  
 

We used to enjoy MTD, but when the earliest time changed to 6:45 p.m., we changed all our cruises to early seating.  I am sure a lot of other people did the same and this is the result.  If they would change MTD back to earlier availability, the problem might ease.

[saridien]

If your preferred time is 7:30, it is probably worth it to do traditional at 8 instead. Guaranteed same table and waiter every night, no wait. Probably worth the half hour delay if my time is so difficult! 

[taglovestocruise]

1 hour ago, poocher said:

We had MTD on Harmony in March, reservations for 6:45 every night.  Never waited more than 10 minutes and after night 2,  staff just smiled & waved us in. Same table/staff each night.  

That was when ships were sailing at 50% or less. Now kids are out of school and cruising is picking up faster than they can hire crew. Add to that the effect of most MTD wanting to eat as early as possible , MTD room is pretty empty at 8:30..

 

[GTO-Girl]

2 hours ago, Ferry_Watcher said:

 

I really don't think that it is a management failure.  As a person who has cruised extensively, you most likely didn't experience this prior to the pandemic.  There has been staffing shortages due to crew just not renewing their contract/rejoining their ship due to covid concerns.  Crew concerns include not wanting to sign extended contracts, being asked to extend their contract while being onboard, and having to work in a challenging environment around thousands of unmasked passengers.  It's not surprising that the cruise lines are struggling to staff their ships.

 

It was mentioned that many passengers are showing up early for the early dinner seating.  Well they are also showing up early to check in for their cruises.  So many passengers are arriving early that crazy long lines develop to accommodate these early birds.  Port management would be quite happy if these folks stuck to their assigned arrival time, but they have no control as to when people actually show up.  Just like the ship has no control as to when passengers get in line for dinner. 

 

At the piers,  the need for wellness checks (vaccine cards, negative test results, ArriveCan for Alaska cruisers), just slows down the entire embarkation process.  As the season goes on, staff does get into a good rhythm and flow, but if it is a day where the terminals are short staffed, then the system falters a bit.  Sure, everyone gets onboard, but it takes longer.  Just like the restaurants on the ships, everyone gets fed, it just takes awhile.

The mess with MTD started well before Covid……see my post above.  This is a management issue they need to correct.

 

we went back to Traditional fixed dining about 3+ yrs ago….

 

 

[BirdTravels]

Since MTD uses the dining room after first seating, it's all those chatty people who are taking more than the planned time to clear their tables. 

[poocher]

59 minutes ago, taglovestocruise said:

That was when ships were sailing at 50% or less. Now kids are out of school and cruising is picking up faster than they can hire crew. Add to that the effect of most MTD wanting to eat as early as possible , MTD room is pretty empty at 8:30..

 

4900+ I believe on our sailing so more like 75%. 

[motheroftwocats814]

Sorry that happened. I have been hearing more and more about the issues with MTD. We were on the Allure in 2019 and MTD was flawless. As well as on some other lines were never an issue.

The problem for us is that 5:30 is too early to eat and 8pm is too late.

So MTD works for us.

 

[davekathy]

We've gone back to early (6:00PM) TD. 

[ARandomTraveler]

Early dining is way too early for West-coast people (that's like eating dinner at 2:30 (pacific time) or 3:30 (mountain time). Late dining is better for us, but seems to conflict with show times, which is why I prefer the buffet so I can be in control of the time I eat, as well as how long it takes for dinner to be done.
 

Unfortunately for me, my daughter has more class than me and prefers more traditional dinners 😂, so I end up in the dining room more often than not.  Next cruise we're doing the unlimited dining package so we'll see how that works out time-wise. Might be worse considering the "good" dining times get booked up quickly. 

Edited June 19, 2022 by ARandomTraveler

[davekathy]

Early (6 PM) TD isn't to early for some of us MST people. We easily adjust to time zones. 

[andreasfcb]

We had MTD on the inaugural season of Harmony (2016?). It was a horrible experience. We waited in line for like 30 minutes even though we had a reservation at a given time. After the second day we managed to get a traditional dining table and said to ourselves: never again. We blamed the size of the ship, to be honest I cannot believe this is still an issue.

[HicksRA]

I just took a look at the app for an upcoming Adventure cruise in October and it only lists main dining on decks 3 and 4. They’ve stopped using deck 5 altogether. 

[yogimax]

4 minutes ago, HicksRA said:

I just took a look at the app for an upcoming Adventure cruise in October and it only lists main dining on decks 3 and 4. They’ve stopped using deck 5 altogether. 

As of yesterday, Deck 5 was still in use.