Starry Eyes

Here’s my guess…they were considering that one bid, but ran out of rooms in that category before your bid made made it to the top of winning list…thus that upgrade was unavailable. The rest of your bids are pending again…should a cabin come available (a cancellation, for example) your bid could be considered along with all those other bids from other passengers. Sorry that upgrade did not come through.

I understand your issue, though we have had the same problem with only traditional diners. We show up on time (or close) so while another table or two might saunter in much later (sometimes a portion of the family show up to hold the table but the rest come later). A large selfish table coming late (thus needing to order and be caught up) can monopolize your waiter and assistant waiter when the rest of the section is perhaps ready for entrees. Worse, one tends to have to put up with the selfish tardy people the whole cruise as they do the same thing night after night. I’d rather have MTD tables added in here and there, as those are usually small parties.

Well, I suppose it is a coupon offer (albeit a long standing one), not a promised part of the loyalty program, so there is not much one can say. Hope you had a great time.

Expectations are indeed at the core. The reason people post these threads is, perhaps, to help others set their expectations. Years ago, MTD was quite flexible; it opened 30 minutes before early traditional dining. If one avoided the busiest times, lines were not an issue even without reservations. I believe many people who sign up for MTD now still have this expectation. If they do not carefully check the app or read a board like this, they may not learn that MTD now starts much later on their ship. Their expectation does not match the ship’s plan. On sailings with low passenger counts, there is also far less issue with MTD lines…fewer people vying for the same number of seats means short lines. Many of us have enjoyed that all over the ships but it is coming to an end. The closer ships come to 100-110% capacity, the longer lines one is apt to encounter. Also, if service for early diners is slow for any reason, those diners exit later, delaying the entry of MTD diners, so lines are longer if the kitchen is slow or staffing is suboptimal. To set expectations, it would help people were told the MTD times as they selected their dining option for their sailing. I do not think that info is given at the time reservation is made. If a MTD passenger expected to dine at 5-5:30-6-6:30 some or all nights, clearly the passenger’s expectations will not be met if MDT did not open until 7:00. On the other hand, if the passenger expected to dine at 7:30-8-8:30, the passenger’s expectations may be perfectly met. The change has not been communicated well to passengers, so expectations are not appropriately set; that’s on Royal Caribbean.

Try this link to see if there are offers despite the non delivery of an invitation. https://www.royalcaribbean.com/booked/cruise-room-upgrade I also use that like to check the status of my bids. You can bookmark or find it via google if you need it.

I think the hosts often try to keep people at the same table or with the same waitstaff even if guests do not make the request. That may contribute to delays. You can specify your table size request when you book. More importantly though, email the request about 3 weeks prior to the cruise to rcldining@rccl.com Doing that seems to give a very high rate of success. Also, if you have early dining on a ship using the new MTD system, there are lots of tables for two for early diners, as early diners use the small table that will later be used for MTD. The Carnival app sounds great. If only…

Some ships were using the new model before covid; that is when we first encountered it. Other ships likely changed to the new model after the restart.

What time did you generally eat?

That’s what we did when we had a 1/2 hour mismatch. Worked fine for us.

I hear you; I feel the similarly about the 5 pm time. Still, the lines for MTD when Harmony was at full capacity were just too off putting for us. Different ship, different itinerary, etc, so your experience may be different; maybe you will soon gain insight from reviews). As DH likes to eat early, we generally settle for early dining despite the early time, though next cruise we are trying UDP, so we might not use the MDR much. That is another option to consider if you’d like the specialty restaurants. I’d postulate that with the new system they have moved early up early dining (in the US market…I am not not sufficiently in touch with other markets to comment) for two reasons: 1. With MTD starting after early dining, the sooner they start early dining, the sooner the can post MTD start time. 2. Similarly late dining does not have to be scheduled as late, so perhaps it can attract more people. What time is late dining for your cruise? Is that a viable option for you or is it too late? Or perhaps pack your patience and stick with MTD; hopefully you won’t encounter bad lines but you will be psychologically prepared if you do. I really don’t mean to bum you out, I just want people to know about the new system so they can think through their options before their cruise and make the happiest choice at their leisure.

Well, the app shows that Anthem is following the pattern I outlined above. Early traditional dining is scheduled on decks 3 and 4. MTD on deck 4 starts after the early diners begin to dribble out (6:45). Late traditional dining on deck 3. I cannot pull up the maid dining room schedule for Ovation right now. Still, as the passenger count rises, odds that they will utilize the above plan also rise. If you like to eat early, perhaps just sign up for early traditional dining; you may find it less frustrating. If you tend to eat substantially than the MTD opening time, then MTD might still work out fine for you.

Here’s my explanation of the new, not-improved MTD system, so that you will understand why MTD is now scheduled to start later. I copied this from another thread as the topic seems to come up regularly. Traditional early dining uses decks 3, 4, and 5 at about 5 pm. So all the tables are quickly and efficiently filled with assigned guests right away (except those tables that happen to be empty because guests elect to eat elsewhere that night). MTD is not scheduled to start until about 6:30-7:00 or so (about when some early traditional diners finished with meals). As the early traditional diners on deck 3 vacate their tables, the tables are cleaned and MTD guests are then seated. Meanwhile, there is pent up demand for tables as many MTD guests expected to be able to get a table as early as 5pm (they did not read threads like this or did not believe them). So the MTD line at opening is long. Knowing the line is long, others with later reservations line up, hoping to reach the front of the line by the time if their reservation. Also remember:if service for early dining guests happens to be slow for any reason, the early diners will of course exit later, making the MTD guests wait longer on nights when service is apt to be slow once they are finally seated; a recipe for frustration. Pre shutdown lines for MTD on deck 3 were so bad as we exited early traditional dining, we had difficulty getting past the waiting people to reach the elevators or the stairs to leave the area. The people waiting in the (disorganized looking) end of the MTD line were cranky, some acting as though everyone going to the elevator or stair lobby was trying to cut into their line. It made quite an impression on us. We won’t do MTD, and I no longer recommend it to anyone who likes to eat relatively early. Late Traditional dining is on deck 4 and 5.

Do you have the app? Check the app to see what time MTD is scheduled to start for your cruise. I suspect you will find it does not even start until about 7:15 on the app. That leaves you with a choice: either try to switch to early traditional dining (call your TA today if you used one, or Royal if you booked direct)…. Or line up with a bunch of other people waiting for MTD to open (some of them will be grumpy because they did not know MTD would start later than it used to and it is messing up other plans)

Thanks for the info. Personally were it my reservation, I still rather the cruiseline process the charge so I’d know the correct amount of money was applied on the correct date. I’d want to know my vacation payment was properly processed and my vacation slot secured, not just that my money was generally safeguarded. A TA in the US tried this years ago; I insisted they re-do the charge. I did not use the TA again. A different TA declared bankruptcy before our scheduled land tour; our credit card refunded.

Yes, they do. They should ask for a conference call with the TA and RCI to get this sorted out urgently. I’m already a bit suspicious of he TA’s story about airline/airport changes. If the TA won’t cooperate with a conference call, I would be even more suspicious of TA. If the credit card charges were made by the travel agency rather than by Royal Caribbean, I’d be deeply concerned.

Remember you are allowed to carry two (your gf’s favorites?) bottles of wine aboard with you. Doing so might also diminish your desire your a drink package.

Were the charges on your credit card for your cruise and flight package made by Royal Caribbean or by your Travel Agency or by an airline etc?

Yes, and I think issues with new MTD system become more obvious as the passenger census increases. Also, people with MTD who like to dine later will likely be be fine with the new system; it is the MTD folks who tend to dine early that get pinched (especially if they need to eat on a schedule and a long or variable line messes with the schedule)

To check the status of bids try this link: https://www.royalcaribbean.com/booked/cruise-room-upgrade Maybe you will be get a hint of your cabin assignment from your set sail bar code after you check in for your cruise (45 days out)🤞 if your assignment does not show up in “my cruises” by then. If so, that is a reasonable time to re-evaluate whether to bid on those options.

While I do not know why, I can take a guess. Please keep in mind that, like you, I liked the old MTD system, so do not take my guess as an endorsement of the new system. I suspect the cruiseline feels they get more efficient use of the tables/seats in the dining room by using this new system. Using Harmony as an example, by assigning the tables on deck 3 to early traditional dining, the seats are promptly filled between with very little staff time needed. Seats are utilized efficiently, as seating for early traditional is pre-planned, so there are not a lot of empty seats (unless guests elect another venue that night…as tables on deck 3 tend to be small, those vacant tables can be used for the earliest MTD guests). In contrast, the old MTD system tended to get off to a slower start and required substantial hostess time per guest. If guests asked to share and other parties not join, there were vacant seats for the duration of the meal.

Before Royal Caribbean changed the MTD system, we happily took either MTD or early traditional dining, depending on dining availability and our shore schedule. Now we stick we early traditional dining (there are more early traditional slots with the new system, so we have always gotten it).

I really liked MTD in it’s early form years ago. Not any more, as it has changed on most ships. Every time it comes up on cruise critic, I try to warn people about the new, unimproved MTD regime. It started before the shutdown and made quite an impression on me on Harmony. Now that passenger counts are are approaching full capacity, the really long lines when MTD finally opens are recurring. It is not just a staffing shortage; it is the new system. That is not entirely correct. Here us how it works on Harmony. Traditional early dining uses decks 3, 4, and 5 at about 5 pm. So all the tables are quickly and efficiently filled with assigned guests right away (except those tables that happen to be empty because guests elect to eat elsewhere that night). MTD is not scheduled to start until about 6:30-7:00 or so (about when some early traditional diners finished with meals). As the early traditional diners on deck 3 vacate their tables, the tables are cleaned and MTD guests are then seated. Meanwhile, there is pent up demand for tables as many MTD guests expected to be able to get a table as early as 5pm (they did not read threads like this or did not believe them). So the MTD line at opening is long. Knowing the line is long, others with later reservations line up, hoping to reach the front of the line by the time if their reservation. Also remember:if service for early dining guests happens to be slow for any reason, the early diners will of course exit later, making the MTD guests wait longer on nights when service is apt to be slow once they are finally seated; a recipe for frustration. Pre shutdown lines for MTD on deck 3 were so bad as we exited early traditional dining, we had difficulty getting past the waiting people to reach the elevators or the stairs to leave the area. The people waiting in the (disorganized looking) end of the MTD line were cranky, some acting as though everyone going to the elevator or stair lobby was trying to cut into their line. It made quite an impression on us. We won’t do MTD, and I mo longer recommend it to anyone who likes to eat relatively early. Late Traditional dining is on deck 4 and 5.