Flexible dining on RCL?

[stsomewhere]

I just booked Explorer for March 2009. The TA said the RCl is trying a flexible dinner seating. You would have a couple hour window for each seating. If you came on time, you would be seated at assigned table. Otherwise you would be seated with others arriving at the same time. This is a terrific. No more rushing on port days to get to dinner. Can anyone confirm?

 

Christi

[Sue L]

Right now the "test" is being run on the Freedom, Brilliance and Serenade on some sailings. I haven't seen anything beyond that.

[negc]

I just booked Explorer for March 2009. The TA said the RCl is trying a flexible dinner seating. You would have a couple hour window for each seating. If you came on time, you would be seated at assigned table. Otherwise you would be seated with others arriving at the same time. This is a terrific. No more rushing on port days to get to dinner. Can anyone confirm?

 

Christi

sorry, double post :(

[negc]

I just booked Explorer for March 2009. The TA said the RCl is trying a flexible dinner seating. You would have a couple hour window for each seating. If you came on time, you would be seated at assigned table. Otherwise you would be seated with others arriving at the same time. This is a terrific. No more rushing on port days to get to dinner. Can anyone confirm?

 

Christi

That isn't quite the explanation we have received. As Sue L has posted, at present the experiment is limited to three of the twenty one ships in the fleet. You must opt for either "traditional" dining or the flexible "my time" dining before you sail. You cannot switch from day to day depending on your mood, or your arrival time back at the ship and if you choose "my time" dining you must pre-pay your gratuities since you will not be getting the same wait staff for every meal. If you choose traditional dining and arrive back on the ship late, your dining options are: the Windjammer or one of the alternative restaurants. You cannot elect to dine in the main dining room in the section reserved for "My Time" diners.

On the Legend of the Seas, they had four seatings (two early seatings: 6:15 and 6:45; and two late seatings 8:30 and 9:00pm). Each seating was assigned to a particular level of the bi-level dining room. We had the earlier of the two late seatings and it seemed to go quite smoothly but I don't know if this is an arrangement that they might extend to other ships or whether or not it is something specific to the Legend.

[BillOh]

I just booked Explorer for March 2009. The TA said the RCl is trying a flexible dinner seating. You would have a couple hour window for each seating. If you came on time, you would be seated at assigned table. Otherwise you would be seated with others arriving at the same time. This is a terrific. No more rushing on port days to get to dinner. Can anyone confirm?

 

Christi

 

 

The way I read it for my upcoming cruise was you had to schedule your time each day ahead of time. We are sticking with our 2nd seating pick. If the table mates are undesirable, or something comes up there are other options.

[cb at sea]

Ok, so basically, even with "flexible dining", you still have to choose a time and stick to it? It's not just showing up whenever and getting seated? While I'd like to choose a time inbetween the main and late seatings, it still doesn't sound very "flexible"! And we LIKE having tablemates--would you still be seated with others, or are they only tables for your "group"?

[Albert Ross]

No, this is the actual text:

"With My Time Dining, you can choose to dine between 6:00 p.m. and

9:30 p.m. each evening with the party of your choice. For your

convenience, we will accept reservations once onboard, you can decide

on a daily basis what dining time works for you"

So, if you want to book a table at 7.45 every night of the cruise - you can; if you want to book a table at 7.45 just for one night - you can; or you just turn up to eat when you are hungry.

The trial will not be continued on Freedom next year - so presume they will try this out on another ship/route.

[negc]

Ok, so basically, even with "flexible dining", you still have to choose a time and stick to it? It's not just showing up whenever and getting seated? While I'd like to choose a time inbetween the main and late seatings, it still doesn't sound very "flexible"! And we LIKE having tablemates--would you still be seated with others, or are they only tables for your "group"?

 

No you are misreading the explanation of "my time dining". :rolleyes: If you sign up for it before you board, you can go to dinner in the assigned section of the dining room at any time during the hours that it is open. You do not have to choose a specific time and stick to it, but you can if you wish. If you have a specific group of tablemates you would like to dine with, you all have to show up at the same time and hope that there is a table of the appropriate size available, otherwise you will be seated with others just as you are at breakfast or lunch in the dining room.

[stsomewhere]

Thanks for the info. My TA wasn't exactly sure about it. My husband emailed me and said it a a trial this year. Maybe fleet wide next year.

[keep on cruisin]

The explanation I got, was you have the option to make a reservation for whatever time you want. You are not required to make the reservation. The advantage to a reservation is no different than any other reservation system, if you have one, your table should be waiting for you, or just about be ready for you. If you don't have one, you may need to wait for a table of your desired amount of people to open up.

 

My TA says he has had several people try it and be happy with it. We will be switching from early to anytime in the near future.

 

You also do not HAVE to sit with others if you don't want to. You can request a table for however many you want, and they will try to accomodate(I don't know what the largest would be.)

 

I assume that it will be like anything else, you will probably have certain rush times, when everyone wanst to be seated, but if you time it right, you can probably not have more than a couple minutes to wait.

 

David

[ssantow]

Every other cruise line is doing something similar to this and the cruising world seems to love it so far. Royal Caribbean needs to kick it up a notch and make it fleet wide now, or at least before my TA cruise on Voyager.

[negc]

Every other cruise line is doing something similar to this and the cruising world seems to love it so far. Royal Caribbean needs to kick it up a notch and make it fleet wide now, or at least before my TA cruise on Voyager.

I'd rather that they took their time and got it right and not repeat the problems that some lines like NCL and Princess have experienced. Why a cruiseline should have to be everything to everybody instead of concentrating on doing well what it does best is beyond me. Not everyone loves freestyle dining, as you can see if you read enough of these boards. Many of us prefer traditional dining and don't want to be denied that experience in a rush to offer the latest fad in cruising. If the two styles can coexist, that is great, but forgive me if I am skeptical that it is possible.:rolleyes: