"My Time Dining" Pros and Cons?????

[dixie54]

We are going on The Freedom of the Seas on October 11. We are not cruising with any friends this time.

 

We normally have early sitting and request a Large table, since we like to meet new people!

 

Anyway, I would be very interested in hearing from people that have treid the MTD. We might consider trying it!

 

thanks for your input!!

[Pomperaugrr]

We did the "My Time Dining (MTD)" on the Serenade this past January. The only reason we signed up on board was to see our friend Loyd Fernandez, as he was assigned to MTD. We were very happy we signed up. The flexibility of not having to go to dinner right at 6:00 with two kids was great. We normally ended up going at either 6:30 or 7:00. We had the same service staff every night and they were great! We ended up at the same table next to the window every night and loved the experience.

 

The food was hot, the service was great and we did not miss the set seating times. We will be doing MTD from now on, even if we go at the same time every night. It is awesome having the flexibility, without sacrificing service or quality. The only thing is that you need to do pre-paid gratuities, but we normally do that anyway and add cash based on service. Believe me, we added cash with the MTD. Bijou, Christine, Kenny and Loyd were an amazing team!

 

Listen to the opinions you will get, and there will be opinions. I suggest (my opinion ;) ) giving it a try and then forming your own opinion, rather than missing out on a possible positive experience.

 

Eric

[cb at sea]

You will just have to hope that there will be others in MTD who want to sit with tablemates, if that's your preference. (It's our preference...we enjoy the conversation and look forward to our tablemates every night!)

Most MTDers like to eat alone.

[Newbcruiser1]

We had MTD on the Explorer last month... for us, the pros outweighed the cons, but here they are:

 

Pros

- we could eat at a table for 2 (as was the standard - they didn't mix people at tables larger than their party in the MTD section)

- we could eat when we wanted based on our activities that day and that night's entertainment

- we met a variety of servers

 

Cons

- we had to make reservations, and sometimes it was hard to get it at the time we wanted after looking at the following day's cruise compass

- we often had to wait (up to 15 minutes or so) to be seated - tables were available, however the hostess was busy seating others, setting tables, printing receipts, etc. They need a better system there...

- we were often seated in different sections with different servers who did not know us or our preferences

- service was unpredictable and varied greatly - some nights was great, others we waited for our food for an hour and then had to complain to the head waiter to get it.

- we didn't get a window seat until the last night (which we found out was due to the times we opted to eat at and the fact that our fellow passengers arrived very early prior to their reservation time to get a table by the window!)

 

We are pretty easygoing so we didn't let the cons ruin the experience for us, but we did see others who did not take the service issues nearly as well. Anyway I would definitely opt for MTD again in the future - the flexibility was worth the inconveniences. I just wish they wouldn't require or even encourage reservations. Especially for a table for 2. Sometimes you just want to play it by ear and eat when you feel like it, but the reservation system still held us to a time - just MTD allowed us flexibility to change the time each night.

[LParente]

Now I'm confused. I thought it wasn't necessary to make reservations for a specific time with MTD. I knew you could, but not that it was required. Seems to defeat the purpose.

[golf43]

We did my time dining. We did make a reservation for 6pm every night. However we had to check in before going into the dining room which I thought was strange. The reason we did the my time dining was we have had bad luck with table mates on our past cruises and wanted to get a table just for us.

[BroncosFan2010]

I am considering My Time Dining for our next cruise, mostly because early seating is too early, and late seating is too late. I would LOVE for DH and I to simply have a table for two, and it sounds like it would be possible most nights. Is that everyone's experience? Could we expect to have a table for 2 every night?

[princesslondon]

What is the earliest you can eat with MTD?

[Susie22]

We did MTD on Enchantment in June. For us, it worked just as a land restaurant. Decided when we wanted to eat, arrived at the dining room and asked for a table for two, and were always seated within ten minutes.

Never had a reservation, and ate at a different time, to suit our plans, each night. Loved it!

[nycruiser80]

Now I'm confused. I thought it wasn't necessary to make reservations for a specific time with MTD. I knew you could, but not that it was required. Seems to defeat the purpose.

 

 

With my time dining you can either make a reservation each day or you can show up at the dining rom between the hours of 5:30-9:30pm (I think I maybe wrong on that) and the wait staff will seat you at the next available table that can accomodate your party size. So if you make a reservation each day you won't have to wait that long when you get to the dining room. If you don't then you most likely will have to wait as they look for a table that can accommodate your party size.

 

I am trying it when I am going on the Legend next month. I think it will be a benefit especially when travelling in Europe.

[DEL67]

We did My Time Dining on the Majesty last weekend and really liked it. We made our reservation for 6:45 the first night after we boarded, and then reserved the same time/waiter for the last 2 nights. At no time did we have to wait for our table.

 

Yes, we did not have an opportunity to meet new people, but we received excellent service, our food was hot and we ate in under an hour each night. What more can you ask?

[karena1]

We have done MyTime 3 times now and love it. But on the Serenade was our first experience:

 

We NEVER made reservations (except the first night) - went when we felt like it. Our Head Waiter knew we did not want reservations, so did not ask us. If you have a big table, probably makes sense to let them know when you will be there, but for 2, there is absolutely no need to make them. One night we had to wait about 15 minutes for a table. Big deal - we went and had a drink

 

For some, not sitting with a bunch of others might be a CON, we thought so also. But surprised ourselves. With regular dining we always had sat with a big group. With MyTime, we were at a 2 top every night. Found out we LOVED it. Ended up re-hashing our day, talked about what we were doing the next day, got unbelievable individualized service, etc.

 

Had the same waitstaff, and the same area of table every night.

 

For us absolutely zero cons, everything about MyTime is a pro. Love the flexibility of eating when we want and on our time table. Try it, hope you love it.

[julesbeara]

This is great information. So are the tips distributed to the wait staff that serve you each night??? Are you still assigned to a specific dining room, or can you show up on any floor (depending on the ship)??

[karena1]

This is great information. So are the tips distributed to the wait staff that serve you each night??? Are you still assigned to a specific dining room, or can you show up on any floor (depending on the ship)??

 

Tips for MyTime are "pooled". Not sure who you give the envelope to if you have different waiters every night, we always have the same one. But if you give extra cash in the envelope, the specific waiter gets to keep that.

 

MyTime is in a specific area of the diningroom. You will see where on you SeaPass card. When you get there, they use your cabin # to track where they seat you the first night and unless you tell them differently, will sit you with the same wait staff each night. That way they still get to know you and know what you like, etc.

[akcruz]

Since you said you are sailing on Freedom, I would suggest giving MTD a try. We sailed on Freedom last fall and did MTD and loved it. We had 3 in our party for that sailing, never made a reservation, and waited at most 2 - 3 minutes to be seated.

 

We too like to meet people at dinner, but ended up at a table by ourselves (only potential con in my mind). Most of the people in the MTD section are seated by themselves, BUT the tables are fairly close. We ended up next to the same people almost every night and ended up chatting with them.

 

Our food was delivered hot and quick. We did have 2 different sets of wait staff, but the other did stop by to chat with my son on the nights we weren't seated in their section.

 

Freedom has been doing MTD since the beginning and I believe has it worked out wonderfully. With some of the ships that are just starting to implement it sounds a little rocky, we'll find out how the Mariner works in a few weeks as we signed up for this again.

[unklez]

..........Freedom has been doing MTD since the beginning and I believe has it worked out wonderfully. With some of the ships that are just starting to implement it sounds a little rocky, we'll find out how the Mariner works in a few weeks as we signed up for this again.

 

It looks like Freedom is one of the few that have perfected the MTD formula.

[karena1]

It looks like Freedom is one of the few that have perfected the MTD formula.

 

 

Serenade could not have been more perfect. We were amazed at the exceptional service, the staff went over and beyond to make our dinners wonderful, we never made reservations, never waited (except one evening) and overall could not have done it any better. The staff on that ship have MyTime down to an artform.

[soccermom4]

We're a family of 6 traveling together (4 kids) on Mariner. I'm signed up for early dining but am considering MTD. I like the idea of a shorter dining experience - especially because the kids like doing AO after dinner.

 

Would it be problem to be seated with that size group? We tend to eat early - 6:30 or so. Can you change to MTD once you're on board?

[wii fit mama]

We just came back from a week on FOS with MTD. The service was excellent and we never had to wait more than 5 minutes to be seated. We used different times and as a result had two separate wait staff. We were seated by ourselves each evening which was fine with me but I think my husband missed having someone else to talk to. The head waiter was the best we've ever had and he came to our table every night to spend time with us.

 

Although you are not required to have reservations, the staff encourages you to do so and if we did not make one, they called us in the afternoon to find out what time we were going to be dining.

[Mack2]

I experienced a "My Time" dining program on board a Princess cruise.

I didn't like it.

 

 

I do have a large family. The group is usually me, my wife, mother-in-law, an aunt, and 3 kids.

 

On board the Princess cruise, If we didn't make reservations or get to the dining room early, there was a wait.

One of the reasons why I enjoy cruising so much is that it is so carefree. Why am I making reservations? If I'm showing up early all the time so as not to have to wait for a table... why not get assigned seatings?

 

Additionally, I didn't get the same server each time. I love getting to know my dining staff. I like being "The guy at 6:00 on my 4th table who likes this"... rather than being "Some guy I got tonight on table 144".

If the waiters/busboys do a great job, they fully deserve a generous tip... those guys work HARD.

 

I guess, to each his own. I know many people who hate assigned dining. I have another preference in those regards.

[jallison8378]

Some folks have mentioned how they like MTD because it's not as long of a dining experience as in the MDR. Has anyone doing MTD ever felt "rushed" by the waitstaff? I want to try MTD on the Mariner in November, but since I actually *like* the 1.5-2 hour leisurely dinners, I really don't want to feel pressured to get "in and out."

[akcruz]

I experienced a "My Time" dining program on board a Princess cruise.

I didn't like it.

 

 

I do have a large family. The group is usually me, my wife, mother-in-law, an aunt, and 3 kids.

 

On board the Princess cruise, If we didn't make reservations or get to the dining room early, there was a wait.

One of the reasons why I enjoy cruising so much is that it is so carefree. Why am I making reservations? If I'm showing up early all the time so as not to have to wait for a table... why not get assigned seatings?

 

Additionally, I didn't get the same server each time. I love getting to know my dining staff. I like being "The guy at 6:00 on my 4th table who likes this"... rather than being "Some guy I got tonight on table 144".

If the waiters/busboys do a great job, they fully deserve a generous tip... those guys work HARD.

 

I guess, to each his own. I know many people who hate assigned dining. I have another preference in those regards.

 

I have never sailed princess so can't say for sure how it compares, but our experience on RCI had none of what you have above. We never made a reservation and the waiters remembered us from night to night, some even stopping by to see my son if we were not in their section a certain night. It was wonderful from our perspective and will do this on any RCI ship that offers it.

 

Some folks have mentioned how they like MTD because it's not as long of a dining experience as in the MDR. Has anyone doing MTD ever felt "rushed" by the waitstaff? I want to try MTD on the Mariner in November, but since I actually *like* the 1.5-2 hour leisurely dinners, I really don't want to feel pressured to get "in and out."

 

Just let them know you are not in a rush and I bet they will take their time. We had my 13 year old son with us so appreciated the wquick service. There were days others were seated when we came in and still eating when we left.

[Catperson]

We've done MTD twice - first on the Serenade and then on the Adventure. We did MTD because we prefer to sit at a 2-top and you are guaranteed that. We had the same waitstaff each night and I let them know if we were not dining with them for the next evening so they wouldn't expect us. We did not have the same table each night, only our waitstaffs' section. We were never rushed through our dinner, you set your own pace.

 

The only con is that MTD is located on the top dining deck in one section of that deck. I found, particularly on the Adventure, that the dining experience seemed a little isolated; I would prefer to be on the lowest dining deck where the captain would sit. We were not able to view the Parade of Nations (is that what it is called?) except to walk over and look over the railing and perhaps disturb other eating guests. However, I would still book MTD unless we had a big group travelling with us.

[girlguide]

We did MTD on the Enchantment last March - this was the Spanish immersion cruise - set dining times were later than what we wanted & we were a bit concerned about language barriers.

 

Language was not a problem, but we still really enjoyed the flexibility of MTD. We just arrived when we were ready for dinner & almost no wait. Service was great - same servers, with a variety of tables. Food was really good too!

 

We're booked for MTD on the Mariner next month.

[Mack2]

I have never sailed princess so can't say for sure how it compares, but our experience on RCI had none of what you have above. We never made a reservation and the waiters remembered us from night to night, some even stopping by to see my son if we were not in their section a certain night. It was wonderful from our perspective and will do this on any RCI ship that offers it.

 

You know what it could be... That Princess cruise, we cruised with a group of 7 people.

 

November '08, we were on the LOS with a group of 12.

Our next cruise, we've got a group of 10 going.

 

I guess I need to experience a "freestyle" type dining with a small group...

On Princess with 7, it was a disaster, imo.