Has anyone tried the "My Time dining"?

[suresailing]

We are platinum level this cruise and was looking forward to the diamond lounge, I know they have changed the drink selection, but I was thinking it may be nice to eat with different people each night and go when we get ready. I'm thinking we would not have to wait for tardy guests as well. What do you think? Thanks a bunch

[transam84]

Do a search on "my time dining". There have been quite a few discussions. Some people like it, others not. I did it on my Explorer cruise a couple of weeks ago and hated it. I had a bad experience. You can read my review. Read the threads. You don't necessarily sit with different people each night. I found they always wanted to put us by ourselves. IMO My Time is not ready for Prime Time. :( There are lots of kinks to work out. Just my opinion.

[cb at sea]

We, too, like having tablemates to talk to, eat with, share our days and adventures! We look forward to dinner, because of the tablemates.

I know they SAY you can eat with others, but most want to dine alone...so your choices may be limited, depending on the mix of passengers onboard.

[UTCJCB]

We, too, like having tablemates to talk to, eat with, share our days and adventures! We look forward to dinner, because of the tablemates.

I know they SAY you can eat with others, but most want to dine alone...so your choices may be limited, depending on the mix of passengers onboard.

 

It made a mess of things on the Enchantment last week. Our Servers never could get a rhythm and the service suffered because they were constantly having their seating assignments changed...the first night it took over an hour to get just the appetizers. Got out of the MDR at 11....soooooo all in all, i don't give a rip about mytime dining...don't mess with something that's not broken...just my personal view...:D

[copnlpn2]

A couple of weeks ago and for the first time ever, I tried MTD and decided I'll never do it again. I probably didn't read about it closely enough, because I assumed I could show up during serving hours and eat whenever I was ready.

 

discovered that you must make a reservation ahead of time for each time you use MTD, or risk standing in line while others who made reservations go into the dining room ahead of you. There is a desk staffed outside the MTD area for two different times during the day, so reservations could be made ahead of time right there or by calling there from your stateroom.

 

I thought it was more spontaneous than it really is. No waking from an extended nap, showering and going to eat...not unless you want to stand in line for a table, just as you would in any busy restaurant, because you didn't make a reservation.

 

My Dad and I didn't want to hassle of making a reservation every day, and maybe forget entirely to make our rez, so we just made a standing one 6 pm every night of our cruise. Shoulda just asked for early seating when we booked the cruise. To beat it all, we sat each night with the same three couples who I must say were great tablemates.....

[bajathree]

We are platinum level this cruise and was looking forward to the diamond lounge, I know they have changed the drink selection, but I was thinking it may be nice to eat with different people each night and go when we get ready. I'm thinking we would not have to wait for tardy guests as well. What do you think? Thanks a bunch

 

I have bad news for ya.....diamond lounge is ONLY for diamond members and above... platinum does not qualify for that perk.

[caribbean crazy]

Perhaps the experience you have with MTD depends on the ship? We tried it on the Freedom of the Seas and didn't have any problems in June. We were a family of four.

[mjm1204]

I'm debating it too because of my little son.... i'm lucky if he makes it through 30 minutes at a table...also my father has a hard time sticking to an exact schedule due to illness...

 

It seems MTD takes around 45-60 minutes which makes it more feasible for us...

 

jury is still out on this one

[bajathree]

I'm debating it too because of my little son.... i'm lucky if he makes it through 30 minutes at a table...also my father has a hard time sticking to an exact schedule due to illness...

 

It seems MTD takes around 45-60 minutes which makes it more feasible for us...

 

jury is still out on this one

 

Sounds like you may want to look into "MY FAMILY TIME DINING"

 

The main dining room offers My Family Time Dining SM with expedited dining and Adventure Ocean pick-up service (see details below), to keep the whole family happy and satisfied during your meals. With our expedited dining service your kids (ages 3 to 11) will be served their meals within 40 minutes, and their appetizers get served right away.

When they've finished dinner, take your children to meet our Adventure Ocean Youth staff at the dining room entrance doors. Our staff will escort your children directly to the Adventure Ocean facilities for scheduled evening activities. Then you can quickly return to your dining experience and enjoy a relaxing meal.

 

Details:

Must be registered in our complimentary Adventure Ocean Youth program.

 

Must have signed up for My Family Time Dining option in advance through our online booking & reservation service or once onboard, you can sign up for this service in the Adventure Ocean area.

The service starts on the second evening onboard. From then on you can enjoy My Family Time Dining for the remainder of your cruise vacation or choose to use this service whenever you wish.

 

Available for guests who select our Traditional Dining service at our first available seating.

 

More specific details are provided onboard in the Adventure Ocean area.

[lappy22]

Just off the Mariner and had My Time dining and the service was just a little bit better than awful. Very slow each night. We never had to make a reservation and were seated right away. It seemed the busiest times were right around 8pm. One night our order was not taken until after being seated for 20 minutes. Another night our apps and soups came out right away, but the entrees took another 30 mins after the soups were cleared. Really no flow what so ever.

 

We have tried Anytime dining on Carnival and Princess and the service was better than any set time dining that we have ever had. My Time on RCCL needs some serious help.

[alicam]

Well...to give a positive spin on this instead of the negative ones above, we tried MyTime Dining on the Serenade last year and loved it....it worked out really great and we sat with some really nice people, our food was never late and the head waiter would come around to the table and ask what time would work for us the next night...no hassles at all...maybe some people go into it with such a closed mind, that no matter what happens, it is a negative experience for them because that is what they've set themselves up for...IMHO

[SA Traveler]

We did My Time Dining on the FOS in June and loved it. Never made a reservation and had the same wait staff every night. From posts I've read it seems FOS may have it down pat and some of the other ships not as well.

[land lover]

We loved anytime...............at the beginning of teh cruise there were a few bumps, but when all was said and done we decided we would do it again.

[lappy22]

Well...to give a positive spin on this instead of the negative ones above, we tried MyTime Dining on the Serenade last year and loved it....it worked out really great and we sat with some really nice people, our food was never late and the head waiter would come around to the table and ask what time would work for us the next night...no hassles at all...maybe some people go into it with such a closed mind, that no matter what happens, it is a negative experience for them because that is what they've set themselves up for...IMHO

 

We went in with a VERY positive attitude because of our previous experience with it on Carnival and Princess. The Mariner has only had My Time for about 4 months and they need to get the kinks out, but if a land restaurant doesn't get the kinks out after a couple weeks, they will go out of business. I'm a big time fan of this dining option and hope they can get it right.

[mjm1204]

Sounds like you may want to look into "MY FAMILY TIME DINING"

 

 

 

Thanks for the info, but that won't work out... my son will only be 16 months...

 

I brought a babysitter (for my son & dad), but we're trying to make this as family oriented as possible...this is probably the last vacation my parents will be able to take..

 

I booked a suite so we can all eat MDR food in our room if it comes to that... i wonder how the service will be with that

[rubrrick]

We went in with a VERY positive attitude because of our previous experience with it on Carnival and Princess. The Mariner has only had My Time for about 4 months and they need to get the kinks out, but if a land restaurant doesn't get the kinks out after a couple weeks, they will go out of business. I'm a big time fan of this dining option and hope they can get it right.

 

 

Interesting comments. We have been using MTD for over the past year on different RCCL ships........and we have yet to experience anything close to a bad experience!

 

However......if you want a great experience.......book ahead for the time you want, and what type of table that you require. Our experiences have been nothing short of better than the regular dining service that we have recieved over the years.

 

My DW's parents just got off of the Tahitian Princess today........after 36 days.....and they reported that the food onboard was mediocre at best! After 78 cruises from dating back to the 1950's, they have experienced many different venues, and the last cruise that they were on....was on the Mariner of the Seas........around the Horn for 46 nights.....and their take was better food on RCCL.

 

We will be checking it again next Sunday.....with standing reservations at MTD.:);)

 

Rick

[Jeka]

OP, MTD has worked extremely well on 6 different cruises. We thought service was so superior to traditional(after all you don't have to wait for 4 or five tables' orders). We will never cruise Royal again without it. The time at the table is considerably less than traditional. You don't have to wait as a group for appetizers, then soup, then salad and finally your entree to be served as you do in traditional dining. If I were in your spot, I wouldn't hesitate. We've done it on the Jewel, Independence, Navigator and the Liberty.

[lappy22]

Interesting comments. We have been using MTD for over the past year on different RCCL ships........and we have yet to experience anything close to a bad experience!

 

However......if you want a great experience.......book ahead for the time you want, and what type of table that you require. Our experiences have been nothing short of better than the regular dining service that we have recieved over the years.

 

My DW's parents just got off of the Tahitian Princess today........after 36 days.....and they reported that the food onboard was mediocre at best! After 78 cruises from dating back to the 1950's, they have experienced many different venues, and the last cruise that they were on....was on the Mariner of the Seas........around the Horn for 46 nights.....and their take was better food on RCCL.

 

We will be checking it again next Sunday.....with standing reservations at MTD.:);)

 

Rick

 

The whole point of MY Time dining is to eat when you want to. I should not have to make a standing reservation to enjoy the same impeccable Gold Anchor Service. At least that is the way RCCL advertises it.

[lappy22]

OP, MTD has worked extremely well on 6 different cruises. We thought service was so superior to traditional(after all you don't have to wait for 4 or five tables' orders). We will never cruise Royal again without it. The time at the table is considerably less than traditional. You don't have to wait as a group for appetizers, then soup, then salad and finally your entree to be served as you do in traditional dining. If I were in your spot, I wouldn't hesitate. We've done it on the Jewel, Independence, Navigator and the Liberty.

 

The way you received your food on your cruises was exactly the way we got ours on Carnival and Princess. When your food was ready, it was brought to you. This week on the Mariner it seemed that other guests were seated in the same station at the same time. This caused the traditional way of serving our food which took a very long time and was very inconsistent in timing. 3 or 4 tables were served all at once. Just alot of blank stares from the other tables as why the service was taking too long. This happened each time that we visited the dining room whether we ate early or late.

[sandravb79]

We are signed up for MTD on the upcoming cruise.

I hope they will not rush us through dinner, having only 45/60 minutes for dinner would be a real nightmare to us :( We like to enjoy our food, and I am a slow eater.

[t34babe]

We just got off Explorer on Saturday and I agree with a lot of the my time dining comments listed above. It does not play as advertised, but if you know ahead of time what to do, you won't have any problems.

 

You can make reservations for two days at a time, that is it. Also, you are better to schedule close to the main seating times if possible, and not the off times. On the first formal night, we booked 7:20. It took forever to get our meal. They seated us by the prep station for one of the areas, so we had to listen to the clank and din of all of the tables being turned and reset for the 8:30 dining. Plus our waiter was terrible.

However, we booked the other nights at 6:00, 6:20 or 7:50 and once we got a waiter that we liked, we asked for him. We consistently were seated in the same area after the bad night, and had good dining experiences. The staff in this area was very efficient and worked great as a team.

Also, the tipping thing was confusing and not explained very well. Just know that your prepaid gratuities are placed in a waiter/server pool, and divided amongst the whole wait staff in the my time area.

Just be sure to make reservations, show up at least 5 minutes before your appointed time, and I think you'll enjoy it.

[akcruz]

Well...to give a positive spin on this instead of the negative ones above, we tried MyTime Dining on the Serenade last year and loved it....it worked out really great and we sat with some really nice people, our food was never late and the head waiter would come around to the table and ask what time would work for us the next night...no hassles at all...maybe some people go into it with such a closed mind, that no matter what happens, it is a negative experience for them because that is what they've set themselves up for...IMHO

 

I will have to disagree with your comment here on people setting themselves up to being disappointed. I did MTD on Freedom last year and LOVED it so much that requested MTD on Mariner a few weeks ago. We had a much different experience on Mariner than we did on Freedom. Was it bad, no, but it was not up to par with the service we received on Freedom. Will I do it again, not sure at this point. In the future I will post asking how MTD is on a particular ship and then make my decision. It seems all ships are working slightly different.

 

One final comment, which I may get flamed for, but this is my opinion. I have seen a lot of posts lately saying MTD is not My Time it is RCL time dining. I do have to disagree. You are able to eat when you want to, not the set early or late dining times. Can you just show up when you want, maybe - maybe not. Can you make a reservation for YOUR TIME, yes as long as everyone else on the ship is not signed up for that time already. So yes it is MY time dining, but with a little flexibility. Hey your on vacation, relax, chill! And most of all enjoy!!

[lappy22]

I will have to disagree with your comment here on people setting themselves up to being disappointed. I did MTD on Freedom last year and LOVED it so much that requested MTD on Mariner a few weeks ago. We had a much different experience on Mariner than we did on Freedom. Was it bad, no, but it was not up to par with the service we received on Freedom. Will I do it again, not sure at this point. In the future I will post asking how MTD is on a particular ship and then make my decision. It seems all ships are working slightly different.

 

One final comment, which I may get flamed for, but this is my opinion. I have seen a lot of posts lately saying MTD is not My Time it is RCL time dining. I do have to disagree. You are able to eat when you want to, not the set early or late dining times. Can you just show up when you want, maybe - maybe not. Can you make a reservation for YOUR TIME, yes as long as everyone else on the ship is not signed up for that time already. So yes it is MY time dining, but with a little flexibility. Hey your on vacation, relax, chill! And most of all enjoy!!

 

It seems that the Mariner has some kinks to iron out. It seems to be a hit or miss on this ship. It is a shame because the service elsewhere on the Mariner was great.

[SDGuy]

So how exactly is the reservation made? Do you have to wait until you board the ship and then do you call someone or ??????

 

I will be on Mariner next Sunday and have chosen this option so any details would be most appreciated.

 

Thank you :)

JOHN

[akcruz]

So how exactly is the reservation made? Do you have to wait until you board the ship and then do you call someone or ??????

 

I will be on Mariner next Sunday and have chosen this option so any details would be most appreciated.

 

Thank you :)

JOHN

 

Yes, you do need to wait until you are on the ship to make reservations. You can either stop by the MTD desk on deck 5 outside the dining room (they are there certain hours don't remember exact though) or call from your cabin. The number is posted in the compass. I would recommend calling early as the popular times do fill up.

 

Not sure that the wait staff stays in the same areas or not, but once we were seated in Sid's section we had wonderful service. From then on we requested his area each night. If you find a table or wait staff you like make sure to request them again, it will make your cruise better and is also good for them to be requested!