Waiting Lines on Oasis

Hi everyone,

This will be our first time on an Oasis class ship. We did Freedom last year and loved it and figured we'd give a mega-ship a shot. Not being overly picky about food and never really having a *bad* experiences in the MDR, we selected to stick with My Time Dining.

But last night in watching a YouTube video of the ship the person mentioned waiting as much as 45 minutes to get into the MDR and having to get to all of the shows she wanted to attend about 45 minutes before the start.

We've already made My Time Dining reservations and show reservations as well. Will that alleviate that wait time, or do I need to show up well before my reservation time to get seated properly?

Not being a patient guy, waiting in line is NOT something I do well. I get angry and snippy - which usually ends up with me taking it out on my wife and getting her in a bad mood, too. Worried that might hamper our vacation a little bit so want to know what to expect.

I would assume there's little/no wait with a reservation at the specialty restaurants, right? We've never been willing to pay for a specialty restaurant because we'd rather spend that money on excursions and whatnot. And like I said, we're not huge foodies so the MDR is fine. But if paying for a specialty restaurant keeps me out of lines it'd be considered more.

Thanks!

Todd

With regard to the shows, there are no lines if you have reservations. With a party of two, I would get to the show venue at least 20 minutes before the show to have some decent choices left. At around 10 minutes before the show, they let in people without reservations.

We've never had to wait more than a minute or two to get seated at a specialty restaurant.

Waiting in line for the MDR might be a problem. I've read accounts of people waiting a minute or two, to being told to come back in 45 minutes. I don't think this can be predicted, it depends on so many factors.

I never do MTD, other than that, I don't have a problem with line on the OASIS class. The Windjammer buffet is too small for the number of people on board IMO. (especially when compared to Freedom) If you go to the Park Cafe on boarding day you may find a line if you aren't Diamond or in a suite.

If you have reservations for MTD, you shouldn't have to wait more than a couple minutes....It's really like any land-restaurant..if those at your table prior to you are taking their time, it can mess up everything! There are always other options on the big ships, if you find you have to wait too long.

Traditional seating will give you NO waits at all! YOUR table waits for YOU!

My fiancé and I don't have the patients for lines either. We have never found a problem on Oasis class ships. Obviously we avoid windjammer during the lunch rush and just go an hour later. We typically arrive at shows 20 mins early just because they give your reservation away if you aren't there (I think it's 10 mins before). When we had my time dining, we made reservations for earlier seatings around 530/6pm just as personal preference and we never had to wait and had the same table each night. I wouldn't worry too much. We had lines, crowds, and stress but have always really enjoyed the Oasis class ships. Happy cruising [emoji4]

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If you have reservations for MTD, you shouldn't have to wait more than a couple minutes....It's really like any land-restaurant..if those at your table prior to you are taking their time, it can mess up everything! There are always other options on the big ships, if you find you have to wait too long.

Traditional seating will give you NO waits at all! YOUR table waits for YOU!

Hi. I have MTD for our family of 11. Early was way too early and late wasn't good for my sister's family since she has three boys under 12 (my kids are 20 and 24). So, even though I have MTD, I can still make a ressie and this would serve us better when we go to the dining room? If so, I'll make a reservation for 7 pm for each night in MTD. How would I do this, in my cruise planner? I don't sail until August 2018 so I cannot yet purchase drink package and do not see cabanas available yet so thinking I will need to wait for all reservations.

Thank you SO much!

There were two lines at the MDR on Oasis and the long line was for people without reservations. The line to the left is for those with reservations, they just pull up your room # and your reservation and seat you. We never waited more than 5 minutes to be seated.

We are just off Allure and found lines at the Windjammer for breakfast and lunch, Central Park Café for Lunch, Johnny Rockets for lunch and the MDR for breakfast (never did bet my Eggs Benedict) Unfortunately, food quality was pretty average at all venues.

Thanks for the responses so far. Sounds like we should avoid some of the line chaos since we've made reservations.

I've read plenty here that the Windjammer gets overly crowded at times. But we're used to eating at off-hour times anyway, so I don't think that'll be a big deal for us. But I'm pretty picky about my dinner times because it enables us to schedule out the day around that. Having to wait for that would be a big nuisance.

:( We have not sailed RCI for over 10 years. I am not familiar with YTD and I was forced to take that to get a booking on the Oasis for this Sept. I understand that I can reserve the same time dinning for each night but do not know how to do it. I would be thankful for any input from experienced RCI cruises. Thank you in advance.

:( We have not sailed RCI for over 10 years. I am not familiar with YTD and I was forced to take that to get a booking on the Oasis for this Sept. I understand that I can reserve the same time dinning for each night but do not know how to do it. I would be thankful for any input from experienced RCI cruises. Thank you in advance.

Look at your Cruise Planner on Royal's website. Under Dining, see if My Time is available. If you see it there, you should be able to click on it and make reservations. If it's not there, then it's too early, and you need to check periodically.

You can also wait until you get on board to make reservations.

Look at your Cruise Planner on Royal's website. Under Dining, see if My Time is available. If you see it there, you should be able to click on it and make reservations. If it's not there, then it's too early, and you need to check periodically.

 

 

 

You can also wait until you get on board to make reservations.

Thank you for this information. I have my four cabins booking numbers so I should be set, correct? Thanks again so much!

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Thank you for this information. I have my four cabins booking numbers so I should be set, correct? Thanks again so much!

Yes, with booking numbers and last names, you can get into the Cruise Planner for all reservations.

:cool: Clarea thanks for the reply good information.

I think I know what video you are referring to, and the problem was definitely that she didn't make reservations in advance expecting it to be just like any other ship. That is definitely a way to set yourself up for disappointment with Oasis class. Preparation is key.

Sounds like you are well set up to have a great time. I was personally shocked at how easy and fast everything was on the ship. I was prepared for long lines everywhere and I didn't experience that at all. So long as you stick to your reservations and are flexible enough to adjust your day when necessary to avoid peak times at the Windjammer, you'll be golden.

Enjoy your trip!

We had reservations for MTD and the only waits we had were the first night, when everyone wanted to come at 8, and one additional night when the table we had reserved (after Night 2 we found our waiter and reserved our table for each night) was still full with people lingering over coffee - after 10 minutes they gave us a table in the same section so we could still have Nomer and Selbi. :-)

Hi. I have MTD for our family of 11. Early was way too early and late wasn't good for my sister's family since she has three boys under 12 (my kids are 20 and 24). So, even though I have MTD, I can still make a ressie and this would serve us better when we go to the dining room? If so, I'll make a reservation for 7 pm for each night in MTD. How would I do this, in my cruise planner? I don't sail until August 2018 so I cannot yet purchase drink package and do not see cabanas available yet so thinking I will need to wait for all reservations.

Thank you SO much!

I have a group and we were assigned MTD. I went into each reservation for each day on the cruise planner and made a reservation for 6PM for the week. I also spoke to an agent and put us on wiatlist for traditional dinning. With MTD they only seat a table of up to 10 and the next part of my group will not be guaranteed a table nearby. So I was looking for seating for total of 21 seats so I hope we get traditional dinning.

I have a group and we were assigned MTD. I went into each reservation for each day on the cruise planner and made a reservation for 6PM for the week. I also spoke to an agent and put us on wiatlist for traditional dinning. With MTD they only seat a table of up to 10 and the next part of my group will not be guaranteed a table nearby. So I was looking for seating for total of 21 seats so I hope we get traditional dinning.

The table setups are all the same no matter Td or mtd. Seating a large party of 21 in the same section will be a chore. Maybe better to take what you are offered and then switch the people around each night to sit with others in your party.

We were there in April when we were told the ship was at its "fullest" and we never had to wait more than 5 minutes in MDR WITH reservations.

The table setups are all the same no matter Td or mtd. Seating a large party of 21 in the same section will be a chore. Maybe better to take what you are offered and then switch the people around each night to sit with others in your party.

Thanx for the suggestion I am the TA for this group and I am hoping the rep. from RCCL can help get us to traditional. This group sails every other year and we have always had traditional dinning.

Thanks for the responses so far. Sounds like we should avoid some of the line chaos since we've made reservations.

Even with your reservations, I still recommend going to the Aqua Theater show early, especially if you want to sit in the more comfortable canvas chairs. Those chairs fill up quick.

We recently returned from our first Oasis cruise. I too had heard the horror stories of waiting in line for everything. I made the MTD reservations for the nights we wanted to eat in the MDR, and on all nights we were seated quickly. One night, however, our reservation did not show up on their screen, so they sent us upstairs to dine which was fine, but we missed the waiter we were assigned to in the American Icon. Even then, we didn't wait more than a few minutes. No lines for shows with reservations. One very pleasant surprise was the absence of lines to disembark at each port. I've been on much smaller ships that have longer lines for port disembarkation. We loved our Oasis cruise and would do another in a heartbeat. Our next cruise, however, will apparently be on the Empress. Way different.

Hi. I have MTD for our family of 11. Early was way too early and late wasn't good for my sister's family since she has three boys under 12 (my kids are 20 and 24). So, even though I have MTD, I can still make a ressie and this would serve us better when we go to the dining room? If so, I'll make a reservation for 7 pm for each night in MTD. How would I do this, in my cruise planner? I don't sail until August 2018 so I cannot yet purchase drink package and do not see cabanas available yet so thinking I will need to wait for all reservations.

Thank you SO much!

Even if you make reservations with MTD it think a group of 11 is going to be tough. I would go to the dining room and speak with them as soon as you board. Having reservations in MTD does not guarantee you will be seated immediately. The smaller the group usually the sooner you will be seated in my experience.