Last Minute Cruise - Only Late Dining Available

[icefresh]

We are contemplating a "last minute" booking on the Grandeur of the Seas in September. Only late dining is available, early dining + MTD is waitlisted. We are travelling with a baby, so late dining would not be an option for us. Does anyone have any experience if the waitlist or Maitre d' will come through in such a situation? I have seen other posts that people had luck with the waitlists when their booking was months out, but we are cutting it pretty close.

[ShillyShally]

There is no way to tell how lucky you may be with waitlisting since it is so dependent on each sailing, but get on the waitlist and keep checking.  If that doesn't work, head to the MDR upon boarding and see if they can get you into early or MTD.  If not, just plan on doing the WJ for nights when you need to eat earlier. The WJ is often a great ambience at night - lights not as bright, quiet, may work out better than expected with a baby!

[alfaeric]

Another option is to show up for MTD without reservations. They are not required. And the earlier you eat, the shorter the line will be. We like to eat pretty early, and the line is quite short within the first 30 min or so of opening. 
 

edit- just remembered that it’s possible that IF you eat early when the crowd is smaller, you may be able to secure a reservation for the cruise that way. 

Edited July 19, 2023 by alfaeric

[icefresh]

1 minute ago, alfaeric said:

Another option is to show up for MTD without reservations. They are not required. And the earlier you eat, the shorter the line will be. We like to eat pretty early, and the line is quite short within the first 30 min or so of opening. 

 

Does that mean you can show up to MTD even if your Seapass says late seating?

[MommaBear55]

12 minutes ago, icefresh said:

 

Does that mean you can show up to MTD even if your Seapass says late seating?

No, you cannot. On day one you may be able to switch to MTD, which is what I did with my 7 year old granddaughter. Go directly to the dining room when you board to speak to the maitre d. SeeAlthough MTD seating didn't start until 6:45 on the ship I was on, they had us come down at 6 to back fill the tables that weren't occupied for the 5:30 seating, we generally got sat by 6:15

I also recommend  the WJ at night, much quieter than at other times, they also have cook to order food and a nightly theme. 

[Tlbecker1]

We were on the Grandeur 3 times last year and the MTD line was always long. I hope that you are able to switch to early dining, but if you can’t the Windjammer is an option.

[kitkat343]

3 hours ago, icefresh said:

We are contemplating a "last minute" booking on the Grandeur of the Seas in September. Only late dining is available, early dining + MTD is waitlisted. We are travelling with a baby, so late dining would not be an option for us. Does anyone have any experience if the waitlist or Maitre d' will come through in such a situation? I have seen other posts that people had luck with the waitlists when their booking was months out, but we are cutting it pretty close.

On the first day, you can try to go to the main dining room when they aren't busy and politely request that your family be allowed to switch to early dining because otherwise the baby will create problems for everyone around you since they will be tired.  It's not guaranteed, but we were able to switch from late to early dining on Cunard with a. 2 and 6 year old in tow (granted there were very few children sailing on Cunard so they were very helpful and understanding).  Or the buffet would be an option.  If they haven't fixed the mess of MTD (I sailed a year ago and it was a mess then) I would not recommend that at all unless they let you go get a beeper and come back when your table is ready because people were on very long lines last year.  

[LobsterStalker]

8 hours ago, kitkat343 said:

On the first day, you can try to go to the main dining room when they aren't busy and politely request that your family be allowed to switch to early dining because otherwise the baby will create problems for everyone around you since they will be tired.  It's not guaranteed, but we were able to switch from late to early dining on Cunard with a. 2 and 6 year old in tow (granted there were very few children sailing on Cunard so they were very helpful and understanding).  Or the buffet would be an option.  If they haven't fixed the mess of MTD (I sailed a year ago and it was a mess then) I would not recommend that at all unless they let you go get a beeper and come back when your table is ready because people were on very long lines last year.  

Sorry , but the first bold made me actually laugh out loud a little . Mdr ... not busy on Embarkation day ? Not unless they happened to be first to be boarded on the ship !

As for the second Bold , I completely concur , as my last 3 sailings since restart ( In my experience ) MDR in general has been been dreadful !

Hoping for improvement this fall

 

Cheers

[luckyinpa]

on another ship i the people in front of me tried to enter MTD and they were told you cannot just switch because your spot is there and not here with your set dining time, seat etc. then a long explanation ensued. not fun for them or the people waiting in back of them

[TxShipShape]

Your LUCK with changing your dinning time will depend a lot on your C&A level.  I am diamond and did a Solo cruise a while back where I had Early dinning on my booking but when I got on board it had change to MTD.  Went to the Maitre d' right after boarding told him that I wanted either a single table or one with some other solos.  He found me a nice table by myself on the upper floor right by rail.  They are used to changes and will help you as much as they can.  Helps to be very nice.

[yancycruiser]

I did not take time to read every response.   On at least three of our cruises, we went to the main dining room right after boarding and had no problem switching to early seating.  Good luck.

 

[icefresh]

Thanks everyone! We took a leap of faith and had our agent put us on the waitlist. She followed up with RCL and they got us into early dining within 24 hours after we made the booking.

[ShillyShally]

3 hours ago, icefresh said:

Thanks everyone! We took a leap of faith and had our agent put us on the waitlist. She followed up with RCL and they got us into early dining within 24 hours after we made the booking.

Great news! Hope you have a wonderful cruise!

[kitkat343]

On 7/20/2023 at 12:17 PM, luckyinpa said:

on another ship i the people in front of me tried to enter MTD and they were told you cannot just switch because your spot is there and not here with your set dining time, seat etc. then a long explanation ensued. not fun for them or the people waiting in back of them

On NCL, there were 3 people working at the check in desk for a specialty restaurant and they all thought it was a good idea to help a group of six adults who showed up at the restaurant at 6:30 pm with no reservation discuss the remaining reservation options for future nights on the cruise because they were completely full that night instead of directing them to the app, phone or separate specialty dining desk next to the front desk to help them make reservations.  I had three kids waiting to check in and was not amused.

 

I'm really glad the OP was able to clear the wait list, and hope you have a wonderful cruise.

 

 

Edited July 22, 2023 by kitkat343

[SPacificbound]

Our choice is always the Windjammer!

[LobsterStalker]

On 7/22/2023 at 8:03 AM, icefresh said:

Thanks everyone! We took a leap of faith and had our agent put us on the waitlist. She followed up with RCL and they got us into early dining within 24 hours after we made the booking.

I'd still double check when you board , They have a habit of overbooking Early seating

 

Cheers

[Leo-the-fox]

May I ask what is MTD? Thanks!

[molly361]

3 minutes ago, Leo-the-fox said:

May I ask what is MTD? Thanks!

My Time dining