My Time Dining Questions

[sandaneli]

We are considering My Time Dining on our cruise next week and have questions for people who have done it. We will be on Jewel but I assume most ships will be the same.

 

Please feel free to share any experiences good or bad to help us decide.

 

1. Is it difficult to get reservations between 6:30 and 7 pm?

 

2. Are you seated by yourselves or with other groups?

 

3. If you meet others on the cruise with My Time Dining can you go to dinner with them?

 

4. Do you have to make all of your reservations on day 1 or can you call each day and make reservations?

 

5. Is it customary to leave tips at the table for each dinner? I know you prepay gratuities but this would be for great service.

 

6. How are the table locations?

 

7. Can you switch back to regular seating if you don't like MTD?

 

I'm looking forward to this information so we can make a more educated decision.

 

Thanks

Sandra

[NautiqueBelle]

We are considering My Time Dining on our cruise next week and have questions for people who have done it. We will be on Jewel but I assume most ships will be the same.

 

Please feel free to share any experiences good or bad to help us decide.

 

1. Is it difficult to get reservations between 6:30 and 7 pm? It wasn't difficult for us.

 

2. Are you seated by yourselves or with other groups? Whatever you request.

 

3. If you meet others on the cruise with My Time Dining can you go to dinner with them? yes.

 

4. Do you have to make all of your reservations on day 1 or can you call each day and make reservations? You can call each day.

 

5. Is it customary to leave tips at the table for each dinner? I know you prepay gratuities but this would be for great service. No, that is not customary. Your prepaid tips will be shared by all of the MTD waiters.

 

6. How are the table locations? It depends on the ship. All of the MTD will be in one area. On the Brilliance, the upper dining room was 1/2 MTD. They might expand that as it becomes more popular.

 

7. Can you switch back to regular seating if you don't like MTD? No.

 

I'm looking forward to this information so we can make a more educated decision.

 

Thanks

Sandra

 

Enjoy your cruise.

[suzyluvs2cruise]

We chose My Time dining for our recent b2b cruises on the Jewel and loved it!! It was the best dining experience we've ever had. The Head Waiter and wait staff we had are the best we've had on all our RCI cruises.

 

A part of the dining room on deck 5 is set aside for My Time. We made a reservation for 7:45 each night but if we needed to come earlier or later........it wasn't a problem. I can't say enough about our dining experience and we'll definitely do My Time again.

 

Please say hello to Mr. G (the Head Waiter), Adrienne (the hostess) and Nigel and Steven (our wait staff) from Sue and Jim.

 

I hope you enjoy your cruise as much as we did!!!

[JsMom2]

We also loved the My Time Dining in Independence in August. DD (10) and I don't like to spend hours in the dining room, as there's so much going on onboard. By booking a table for 2, we could dine at our own pace and then get out of there.

 

We usually dined at 6pm so she could get to the kids club when they opened at 7. I made our reservtions day by day, as we didn't dine in the main dining room every night. And we were seated as soon as we checked in at the desk.

 

One night the Headwaiter came around and asked if he could make any reservations for us for the rest of the cruise, which I thought was also a nice touch.

 

I was a bit leery about the level of service we'd receive since our gratuities were prepaid. But it was absolutely excellent every night!

 

We will always go this route when it's available!

[mj]

We just received an email from RCCL saying we could book MTD for Oct 09 cruise. If you choose the option, do you prepay your gratuities when you make your final payment on your cruise? How about giving extra to a particular waiter?

[suzyluvs2cruise]

We just received an email from RCCL saying we could book MTD for Oct 09 cruise. If you choose the option, do you prepay your gratuities when you make your final payment on your cruise? How about giving extra to a particular waiter?

 

It's my understanding that RCI will bill you for your gratuities at that time you choose My Time dining. Because of this we waited until day 1 of the cruise. When we boarded we went to the My Time dining area and signed up. At that time we also signed up for pre-paid gratuities. We didn't want to have our gratuities put on our credit card several months pre-cruise so we opted to wait until we got on the ship.

 

Extra tipping for great service is always an option. You can get envelopes from the Pursers Desk or just hand the tip to the person whenever you choose.

[Jenner9]

Is My Time Dining available on all of the ships?

[sandaneli]

Thank you for the information. We are leaning toward MTD now. Everyone we've heard from has been positive, especially on the Jewel.

 

If you wait until you are onboard to sign up can you use OBC to pay the gratuities? We have lots of OBC available because of various incentives and planned on using it for the gratuities. Does anyone know if we could prepay prior to the cruise using the OBC we have on record?

 

Thanks again for your help.

 

Sandra

[Merion_Mom]

Is My Time Dining available on all of the ships?

 

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/contentWithHero.do?pagename=open_seating&topic=email&subTopic=openseat&requestor=arn

 

 

Now that you've reserved your cruise, how about enjoying some freedom of choice in your dinner options. On select ships and sailings+, we're featuring My Time DiningSM** in our Main Dining Room.

 

This great new option allows you more flexibility to plan your daily activities. Want to linger awhile at the pool and catch the day's last rays? No problem. Worked up an appetite on a shore excursion and want to dine early? Done. Our My Time DiningSM option is all about convenience and flexibility. You can choose to dine between 6:00 and 9:30 pm each evening. In addition, we will accept reservations once onboard the ship.

 

Ready to reserve? If you've reserved through a Certified Vacation Planner or on the web simply call (800) 590-6218 or email openseating@rccl.com (please include your reservation number and the number of guests in your party.)** If you've reserved through a travel agent please contact them directly.

 

 

 

Here's some additional information to keep in mind:

Dinner is served in the Main Dining Room

Same menu as traditional seating

Same impeccable service as traditional seating

Must pre-pay gratuities to participate - this includes tips for your waiter, assistant waiter, head waiter and stateroom attendant

Guests will not receive a table assignment or permanent table mates

You will have the ability to request a certain waiter (subject to availability)

My Time Dining waiters share their gratuities amongst the other My Time Dining waiters; feel free to reward your waiter with an extra tip for providing excellent service

You will be seated with the party you arrive with; you can request to be seated with other guests or alone

To provide you with a smooth, non-disruptive meal, once dinner service begins for your table, no additional guests will be seated

Reservations are recommended in order to avoid a delay in seating (reservations will be taken once onboard)

When reserving your cruise, you will need to provide your reservation number and the number of guests participating in the My Time DiningSM option

Offer is subject to availability

 

 

+Available on the following ships and dates:

 

Oasis of the Seas

December 12, 2009 - November 27, 2010

Brilliance of the Seas

now - December 23, 2009

Freedom of the Seas

now - December 27, 2009

Serenade of the Seas

now - December 26, 2009

Jewel of the Seas

now - December 21, 2009

Radiance of the Seas

now - December 20, 2009

Independence of the Seas

now - December 26, 2009

 

** My Time DiningSM is subject to availability, you must prepay your gratuities to participate, and for group reservations My Time DiningSM is only available for groups of 20 or less.