Dining tips and tricks on the Gem?

We are looking to cruise the Gem next year but have hesitations because of the freestyle dining. We cruised the Breakaway a couple years ago and found the dining areas to be really overwhelmed at dinner time.We had the worst service and waited far too long for food which was really hard since we had a little one with us. We’ve sailed a lot in the past mostly on RC and appreciated having an assigned dining time. We really want to do the Gem so I’m looking for any tips or tricks people have for dealing with the busy dining times? Is it possible to make reservations for the main dining rooms?

You can make reservations for the either of the main dining rooms. We've sailed on the Gem 4 or 5 times and haven't found service issues overcrowding in the MDR, but we tend to go to dinner early, usually around 6. So many people get a dining package when they book now, that it probably takes some of the load off the main dining rooms as well. My suggestion would be to make reservations for a time a bit earlier than most people might go to dinner.

We just got off the Gem yesterday and ate at the main dining rooms every night. We got there between 5-5:30 each night. Had to wait in line for about 5-10 minutes to get seated, which wasn't bad. I thought dinner service was pretty fast...better than the Epic & Getaway. Grand Pacific had better service than Magenta...same dress code for both. They have a new dinner menu they just rolled out last week. It was pretty good.

Just returned from a cruise on the Gem. We had only sailed on RC before and DH and I were both disappointed by the complimentary (non-premium) dining options on the ship. Perhaps the issue was that we were part of a larger group (8 total) but had to wait as long as 45 minutes to get a table in the Magenta and the service was slow at most sit down restaurants. Personally I thought food was a weak point along with the ship's confusing layout. On the other hand I thought the ship's entertainment was great! Also the cabin was fine and and our steward excellent. Highly recommend the Premium Drink Plan - they always let us order two drinks at a time and thus we could share with our friends w/o a plan. Overall we had a great time aboard the Gem!!!

(Oh, and I highly recommend the spa!!)

Anyone take pictures of the new menus.?

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Just returned from a cruise on the Gem. We had only sailed on RC before and DH and I were both disappointed by the complimentary (non-premium) dining options on the ship. Perhaps the issue was that we were part of a larger group (8 total) but had to wait as long as 45 minutes to get a table in the Magenta and the service was slow at most sit down restaurants. Personally I thought food was a weak point along with the ship's confusing layout. On the other hand I thought the ship's entertainment was great! Also the cabin was fine and and our steward excellent. Highly recommend the Premium Drink Plan - they always let us order two drinks at a time and thus we could share with our friends w/o a plan. Overall we had a great time aboard the Gem!!!

 

(Oh, and I highly recommend the spa!!)

The Grand Pacifica has a lot more big tables, got an 8 top every night without a wait.

We didnt experience any wait times to be seated last Fall (2 people) for the MDRs at around 6pm and the service was great. We preferred the Grand Pacific over Magenta (though both were very good). We booked Specialty Restaurants prior to boarding though it looked like the had availability before 7pm for those who had not booked in advance. The only restaurant where we experienced a short wait (5-10 mins) to be seated was Orchid Garden but it was worth the wait.