Explain Anytime Dining to me ...

[Bluegirl]

About to cruise out on the Liberty (yay!!). We are currently down for the early seating, 6pm, which can be a difficult time to make with two small children (esp. on port days - coming back, getting cleaned up and changed, arriving at dinner right on time). I'm wondering how Anytime Dining works on RCCL and whether this might be a better option for us. On the Liberty, do Anytime diners sit in the same dining room (Botticelli, etc.) as the regular seating diners? (I ask this because I really, really like the 3-story dining rooms and would prefer to sit there.)

 

The other reason I ask is that we just did a Princess (Crown Princess) cruise with Personal Choice dining or whatever it's called - first time with that flexibility - and it was awful. Long waits, indifferent-at-best servers, etc. (Overall the service was disastrous on the Princess, but it showed up most in the dining rooms.) There was no convenience and we never got to develop that personal friendly relationship over a week with the same waitstaff. I realized what a cruise highlight this had been for me before Princess.

 

So does RCCL Anytime Dining work any better? Or are we best advised to stick with our early seating and just hurry ourselves along a little more?

 

TIA for responses - we sail on Sunday!!

[rubrrick]

About to cruise out on the Liberty (yay!!). We are currently down for the early seating, 6pm, which can be a difficult time to make with two small children (esp. on port days - coming back, getting cleaned up and changed, arriving at dinner right on time). I'm wondering how Anytime Dining works on RCCL and whether this might be a better option for us. On the Liberty, do Anytime diners sit in the same dining room (Botticelli, etc.) as the regular seating diners? (I ask this because I really, really like the 3-story dining rooms and would prefer to sit there.)

 

The other reason I ask is that we just did a Princess (Crown Princess) cruise with Personal Choice dining or whatever it's called - first time with that flexibility - and it was awful. Long waits, indifferent-at-best servers, etc. (Overall the service was disastrous on the Princess, but it showed up most in the dining rooms.) There was no convenience and we never got to develop that personal friendly relationship over a week with the same waitstaff. I realized what a cruise highlight this had been for me before Princess.

 

So does RCCL Anytime Dining work any better? Or are we best advised to stick with our early seating and just hurry ourselves along a little more?

 

TIA for responses - we sail on Sunday!!

 

We LOVE.........LOVE..........LOVE My Time Dining!! Just make your reservation, either the night before or early the next morning, and your table will be waiting for you.

 

Use the search tool on the Royal Caribbean site (this one) and you can dig up all kinds of information on MTD.:)

 

Rick

[mamasue]

We've done MTD for our last 2 RCCL cruises.

yes.... you eat in the same dining rooms.... just a section is saved for MTD.

All you need to do is reserve in advance (just a phone call or visit to the MTD desk) and you probably won't have to wait for a table..... it's easy!

On our last cruise, which was a 13 day transatlantic on the indy in November, we asked for the same wait-staff every day... it was never a problem!

I'd go for MTD any day!!!

[publicpersona]

The service with MTD can be variable. We've had service that matched that which we remember from fixed time dining, but we've more often than not had service that was not as good - especially on the Navigator just recently, where it was very bad.

 

Still, we do MTD every time because we want to eat around 7-7:30 PM. It should also be noted that since we've been doing MTD since they started experimenting with it a couple years ago, the quality of service with fixed time dining may have also declined and we just wouldn't know that.

[mgg42]

I did MTD on Freedom last February. Now, it was still in it's infancy then, so others may have more current information.

 

We loved it! The flexibility was great. We never made a reservation, we just walked up. On our seven night cruise, our party of three had the same table 5 of the nights, and the same section (same service staff) 6 of the nights. The one night we didn't was our own fault. We could have waited ten minutes, but we didn't bother.

 

Our waitstaff was fantastic. Of course, having done this only once, I can't speak for all the experiences. After all, I've had great waitstaffs in the main dining room (i.e. regular dining), and mediocre ones. The attention to detail was great though. I ordered a very specific drink the first night, and the second night, as soon as I sat down, the drink waiter asked if I would like it again. On every subsequent night, I didn't even have to ask!

 

While it was in the main dining room, it was on the third (top) level, in the side, by the windows. So, if you're looking for the "grand vista" of the central part of the room, you don't have it. But there's no saying you're going to get that anyway.

[Bluegirl]

Thanks so much for the quick replies. No wonder my searches here weren't bringing anything up - I was calling it Anytime instead of My Time. I guess we may go for it. Even 6:30 is a much better dining time for our family.

 

Our experience on Princess was really terrible and hopefully confined to that cruise line. We DID make reservations nearly every night and ended up having to wait despite that. Of course it was much, much worse (45 mins. wait on average) the few times we forgot to make reservations.

 

THANKS!

[Jasperdo]

We used My Time dining on the Mariner of the Seas last month. The first night we liked our waiter, assistant waiter and table location so much that we made a standing reservation for 6PM every evening. We got to sit at the same table all 7 nights.

[Jsme]

I have done it on 2 cruiselines and we love it!! Not sure if I care to change back to the set time.

[willysgrandma]

So it is not necessary to make reservations and one can walk up when they are ready to dine? Having to make reservations the day before or the day of simply takes the wind out of it being "My Time" dining - kind of makes it assigned dining anyway.

 

We like to eat early, so I assume we won't have a long wait without reservations.

[Jasperdo]

So it is not necessary to make reservations and one can walk up when they are ready to dine? Having to make reservations the day before or the day of simply takes the wind out of it being "My Time" dining - kind of makes it assigned dining anyway.

 

We like to eat early, so I assume we won't have a long wait without reservations.

You don't need to make reservations, but it does help you get seated quicker. We were on the Mariner of the Seas last month, and had a standing reservation for 6PM. A few nights we saw people waiting for a table, while we were seated immediately. It's just like a land restaurant. If the restaurant is full, you need to wait a bit. Plus, at least on the Mariner, RCCL doesn't devote enough space to My Time Dining. Only half of one of the 3 dining rooms was My Time.

[John Henry on CC]

So it is not necessary to make reservations and one can walk up when they are ready to dine? Having to make reservations the day before or the day of simply takes the wind out of it being "My Time" dining - kind of makes it assigned dining anyway.

 

We like to eat early, so I assume we won't have a long wait without reservations.

 

You don't need to make reservations, but it does help you get seated quicker. We were on the Mariner of the Seas last month, and had a standing reservation for 6PM. A few nights we saw people waiting for a table, while we were seated immediately. It's just like a land restaurant. If the restaurant is full, you need to wait a bit. Plus, at least on the Mariner, RCCL doesn't devote enough space to My Time Dining. Only half of one of the 3 dining rooms was My Time.

 

Depends on the ship and the time that you want to eat. At some times, there is no wait at all; at others, there is. Depends on what the rest of the passengers on your particular cruise are doing.

[karensi]

If your signed up for one of the assigned dining times, for instance we're signed up for late seating, can you still do MTD on any particular night if you choose to? Or do you have to sign up for MTD instead of a particular seating time?

 

TIA,

 

Karen

[PrincesScuba]

If your signed up for one of the assigned dining times, for instance we're signed up for late seating, can you still do MTD on any particular night if you choose to? Or do you have to sign up for MTD instead of a particular seating time?

 

TIA,

 

Karen

 

You may not switch back and forth. You may have only one option: traditional or My Time.

[karensi]

You may not switch back and forth. You may have only one option: traditional or My Time.

 

Thanks for clearing that up PrincesScuba.

 

 

Karen

[rummenroman]

If your signed up for one of the assigned dining times, for instance we're signed up for late seating, can you still do MTD on any particular night if you choose to? Or do you have to sign up for MTD instead of a particular seating time?

 

TIA,

 

Karen

 

As a previous poster said you cannot switch back and forth, however you can set your reservation nightly for the next night if you wish, or just show up when you are ready. This give you the option of eating at a traditional time for some nights and eat at a different time if that works better for that particular day.

[billie111]

We just signed up for "My Time Dining" for our upcoming Panamam Canal Cruise on the Jewel.

 

I was not aware that you could request the same wait staff. That would be ideal.

I was thinking that it would be a shame to miss out on that particular experience of getting to know your wait staff and them getting to know your dining preferences.

 

Do you make this request when you set up the reservation?

[rummenroman]

Do you make this request when you set up the reservation?

 

Yes

[Jasperdo]

We just signed up for "My Time Dining" for our upcoming Panamam Canal Cruise on the Jewel.

 

I was not aware that you could request the same wait staff. That would be ideal.

I was thinking that it would be a shame to miss out on that particular experience of getting to know your wait staff and them getting to know your dining preferences.

 

Do you make this request when you set up the reservation?

On our recent Mariner of the Seas cruise, we liked our wait staff and table location so much the first night that we went to the Head Waiter when we left the dining room and requested the same table every night. We got it.

[Budget Queen]

I just late booked the Independence, for 2/6. I was told by the booking agent that to go with My time dining, gratuties had to be prepaid, so I ended up with late seating. On my past RCI cruises, I just skipped the dining room, as I don't really care for the fixed dining with others.

 

I'm assuming this can be changed for me, upon embarkment? And you can get private tables?

[Jasperdo]

I just late booked the Independence, for 2/6. I was told by the booking agent that to go with My time dining, gratuties had to be prepaid, so I ended up with late seating. On my past RCI cruises, I just skipped the dining room, as I don't really care for the fixed dining with others.

 

I'm assuming this can be changed for me, upon embarkment? And you can get private tables?

At least on the Mariner of the Seas, the My Time desk was open during embarcation. You can go there when you first get on the ship, and see if you can change to My Time. You do have to pre-pay gratuities. And, yes, you can get a private table just for your party every night. I would suggest making a reservation each night, but you can just walk up.

[Able Seaman H]

We`ve just got off Voyager of the seas and had My Time dining booked. Actually getting a table was no problem at all. We prefer larger tables and are happy to share our meal with others.

 

You don`t have to pre book. Ask the people running MTD when the busy periods are and go outside them. We were brushed aside when queuing one night when the girl thought we were waiting for the main restaurant, (even though we were waiting in the cordoned off area). When I saw someone else being ushered into the dining room I had a word and was told she didn`t realise we were waiting for MTD. Sign, cordoned off area, queue !!

 

Gave it two or three nights and on the last occasion we were waiting for 30 mins without even a drink. Getting both wine and food was like drawing teeth. At the end of the meal we lost what remained of the wine on our table because the servers vanished never to be seen again !

 

Sought sanctuary in Portofinos which was excellent as usual. Ended up transferring to a fixed second seating reservation where we finally found Oliver and Luany who looked after us splendidly.

 

So a bit hit and miss. The actual sitting down at the table bit was fine, just getting something to eat or drink that was the problem for us.

 

H.

[buchie614]

when and how do you tip on mtd?

[Jasperdo]

when and how do you tip on mtd?

Tips are pre-paid when you do MTD. You will get vouchers in your cabin to put in the tip envelopes.

[esmo]

I am thinking of trying this for our June Mariner cruise. When it is just my husband and I - we like late traditional but I am thinking that might be a bit late for our two teens. So, if I understand correctly I can make a standing reservation for 7:00 p.m. (say) at a table for 4? We would have the same table and servers? That sounds, on the surface like a win-win for us. Same "perks" as traditional but get to eat a little earlier. The pre-paid tips don't bother me - we do that on Princess and I quite like it.

 

And on another thread someone mentioned they have risotto??? I hope so...

 

Thanks

 

Kathy

[megr1125]

I am thinking of trying this for our June Mariner cruise. When it is just my husband and I - we like late traditional but I am thinking that might be a bit late for our two teens. So, if I understand correctly I can make a standing reservation for 7:00 p.m. (say) at a table for 4? yes!

 

We would have the same table and servers? if you request it...they will try their best to do so!

 

That sounds, on the surface like a win-win for us. Same "perks" as traditional but get to eat a little earlier. The pre-paid tips don't bother me - we do that on Princess and I quite like it.

 

And on another thread someone mentioned they have risotto??? I hope so...

 

Thanks

 

Kathy

 

no risotto, only in portofino the specialty restaurant

see above too!