My time dining

[OBRN1]

Hello. We are going on odyssey end of April. We have early seating at 5pm how late can you be? I always thought early was 6pm. I would also like to know pro and cons of my time dining. My kids hated it on last cruise they went on they said line for the wait to get in was so long. Can you reserve a specific time would you still have to wait thank you all.

[GTO-Girl]

1 hour ago, OBRN1 said:

Hello. We are going on odyssey end of April. We have early seating at 5pm how late can you be? I always thought early was 6pm. I would also like to know pro and cons of my time dining. My kids hated it on last cruise they went on they said line for the wait to get in was so long. Can you reserve a specific time would you still have to wait thank you all.

If your early seating is 5pm then that is the time you are expected to be there.  On our cruise in January when we sailed on the Jewel the dining room opened at 5:15…..dinner started at 5:30…..and the doors were closed at 5:45….

 

On My Time I would definitely reserve my time ahead of time…otherwise you will be standing in a long line every single night…

[firefly333]

If you are not there at 5 pm then you are either holding up a 2 top if you are late or holding up your table from ordering. I hate to be seated with people who arent there on time. 

 

If I cant be there on time I eat in the buffet. 

[icsys]

1 hour ago, OBRN1 said:

Hello. We are going on odyssey end of April. We have early seating at 5pm how late can you be? I always thought early was 6pm. I would also like to know pro and cons of my time dining. My kids hated it on last cruise they went on they said line for the wait to get in was so long. Can you reserve a specific time would you still have to wait thank you all.

 

If you reserve your table for the same time every evening, say 7pm, you give your room number then walk straight in. Generally you get the same table.

If you change your time you may have to wait for the next available table.

We have never had to wait more than five to ten minutes on MTD

[seba1]

We always do My Time Dining because we can book at a non-standard time. We also have family members with dietary restrictions so we try to have the same time every night with the same waitstaff so we can order ahead for the next night. We have been told we have a 15 minute window for arrival. But, it's nice because we don't wait in line. We just walk up, provide our room number and then get seated. 

 

Stephanie

[crazyank]

17 hours ago, firefly333 said:

If you are not there at 5 pm then you are either holding up a 2 top if you are late or holding up your table from ordering. I hate to be seated with people who aren't there on time. 

If we are seated with someone who is late we simply tell the waiter to go ahead with taking our order. We definitely will NOT wait.

[poocher]

23 hours ago, icsys said:

 

If you reserve your table for the same time every evening, say 7pm, you give your room number then walk straight in. Generally you get the same table.

If you change your time you may have to wait for the next available table.

We have never had to wait more than five to ten minutes on MTD

This has also been our experience.  We have never waited in a long line.

[JamesEM]

As a courtesy I tell my table mates if I have other plans for the next night/s. 

[volleyballmom87]

You can make reservations for MTD on the app. However, you need to do it ASAP when they show up. We could not get any dinner reservations before 8:00. That is too late for the littles to eat. So we will have to wait one night for a table for 8. Not looking forward to standing in line with a 4 year old and 8 month old.

 

[Oceansaway17]

10 hours ago, JamesEM said:

As a courtesy I tell my table mates if I have other plans for the next night/s. 

Yes this is appreciated by the waiters too.

A lot of folks miss at least one night due to special dining or quick buffet on port days when tours end

[Oceansaway17]

On 3/9/2023 at 2:35 AM, crazyank said:

If we are seated with someone who is late we simply tell the waiter to go ahead with taking our order. We definitely will NOT wait.

Everyone deserves a 5-7 minute window.

if you are so hungry then ask for some bread and wait a few minutes. After all elevators can be busy or perhaps some other delay.

[bayportkat]

We have always had early dining. Last year, when we left after our dinner, the line outside the dining room was super long. Are those people who don’t have reservations? Or with reservations waiting for tables?  Do you bypass that line if you have reservations?  We have always done earl dining because I want no part of waiting in line for a table. Curious if we are misinterpreting how My Time Dining works 

[davekathy]

5 minutes ago, bayportkat said:

We have always had early dining. Last year, when we left after our dinner, the line outside the dining room was super long. Are those people who don’t have reservations? Or with reservations waiting for tables?  Do you bypass that line if you have reservations?  We have always done earl dining because I want no part of waiting in line for a table. Curious if we are misinterpreting how My Time Dining works 

Two separate lines for MTD. One line for those with reservations and one line for those with no reservations. One line on the port side and the other line on the starboard side of the entrance to the MDR. 

Edited March 10, 2023 by davekathy

[bayportkat]

31 minutes ago, davekathy said:

Two separate lines for MTD. One line for those with reservations and one line for those with no reservations. One line on the port side and the other line on the starboard side of the entrance to the MDR. 

Thank you. Maybe we saw the line for no reservations. Though there was only one line and no signs that we noticed. I guess we will stick with early dining for now!

[davekathy]

5 minutes ago, bayportkat said:

Thank you. Maybe we saw the line for no reservations. Though there was only one line and no signs that we noticed. I guess we will stick with early dining for now!

I'd stick with early TD. Walk right in and to your table. 

[melbur]

or try emailing rcldining@rccl.com with your request. the will forward to the ship

[Livesteamer]

I guess I am a bit confused with the idea of MyTime Dining.  I am traveling with my wife and 5 other friends and we all selected MyTime Dining.  Now, I am just discovering that MyTime Dining seems to require reservations.  The idea of just walking up does not really work.  Is that a correct assumption on my part?

[davekathy]

52 minutes ago, Livesteamer said:

I guess I am a bit confused with the idea of MyTime Dining.  I am traveling with my wife and 5 other friends and we all selected MyTime Dining.  Now, I am just discovering that MyTime Dining seems to require reservations.  The idea of just walking up does not really work.  Is that a correct assumption on my part?

MTD doesn't require a reservation. Optional. When we do MTD we make reservations as we like early (6:00 PM). Two lines for MTD. One for reservations and the other for no reservations. Waits for non reservations can very. 

Edited March 11, 2023 by davekathy

[melbur]

1 hour ago, Livesteamer said:

I guess I am a bit confused with the idea of MyTime Dining.  I am traveling with my wife and 5 other friends and we all selected MyTime Dining.  Now, I am just discovering that MyTime Dining seems to require reservations.  The idea of just walking up does not really work.  Is that a correct assumption on my part?

Although you don't need a reservation, be prepared to wait for a table if you don't reserve ahead of time. The way I see My Time is if you don't want early (5:30 ish) or late (8:00-8:30) dining, you can pick the middle ground that suits you and reserve that time every day.

[mafig]

I almost feel like I'm reading an old thread....like two or three years old.

 

I thought that with the new way My Time was being done, it doesn't even start until 6:45.  The My Time dining room is filled with early dining.  When Early Dining in done, My Time starts.

We have always done My Time in the past.  Based on what I was reading as to the changes, I booked us in Early Traditional (Serenade).  If the above were true, I would have selected My Time,  since my understanding is that Early Traditional is 5 PM on my ship.😲

[poocher]

MTD without a reservation is like going to any popular land based restaurant at meal time.  They put you on the waitlist and you….. wait.  If you can make a reservation, you get in faster.

[poocher]

2 minutes ago, mafig said:

I almost feel like I'm reading an old thread....like two or three years old.

 

I thought that with the new way My Time was being done, it doesn't even start until 6:45.  The My Time dining room is filled with early dining.  When Early Dining in done, My Time starts.

We have always done My Time in the past.  Based on what I was reading as to the changes, I booked us in Early Traditional (Serenade).  If the above were true, I would have selected My Time,  since my understanding is that Early Traditional is 5 PM on my ship.😲

If early is 5 and late is 8, 6:45 is very close to the middle between those times.  

[davekathy]

14 minutes ago, mafig said:

I almost feel like I'm reading an old thread....like two or three years old.

 

I thought that with the new way My Time was being done, it doesn't even start until 6:45.  The My Time dining room is filled with early dining.  When Early Dining in done, My Time starts.

We have always done My Time in the past.  Based on what I was reading as to the changes, I booked us in Early Traditional (Serenade).  If the above were true, I would have selected My Time,  since my understanding is that Early Traditional is 5 PM on my ship.😲

Agree. Was that way in 2022. For our March 2022 cruise we switched pre cruise to early TD (6:00 PM) for both legs of that B2B cruise. Disappointed to hear nothing has changed. We'll stick with TD as MTD starts too late for us. 

Edited March 11, 2023 by davekathy

[LobsterStalker]

On 3/8/2023 at 9:58 AM, icsys said:

 

If you reserve your table for the same time every evening, say 7pm, you give your room number then walk straight in. Generally you get the same table.

If you change your time you may have to wait for the next available table.

We have never had to wait more than five to ten minutes on MTD

How long has it been since you cruised ?

Asking because since the restart there have been a huge number complaining about my time , and stories of wait times of 45 mins. plus.

After looking into this in the fall , I decided to change from my time to early. Origainally had gone with my Time for the same reason OP spoke of... 5 P.M. was too early

[LobsterStalker]

On 3/8/2023 at 9:50 AM, firefly333 said:

If you are not there at 5 pm then you are either holding up a 2 top if you are late or holding up your table from ordering. I hate to be seated with people who arent there on time. 

 

If I cant be there on time I eat in the buffet. 

Agree , if you are joining other guests that not showing up on time is rude.

If you are a 2 top and want to show a little later , then that is perfectly fine.

On our cruise last month we were told that tables are held for 20 minutes , And we also saw a situation where our table neighbors showed up 35 minutes late and table was still held . This was later in the week , and they had been there every night . Head waiter was asking us if we knew if they were coming and it was no problem to hold when we told her we thought they would be there.

In my opinion showing 15-20 minutes after seating begins is not "late", it is within the allowed for time and it is completely acceptable .

Again I would restate this is different if you are holding up other tablemates

 

Cheers