My Time Dining

[lithlith]

For My Time Dining, do I have to place a reservation for a certain time each night or can we just show up when we are ready to have dinner like we can on Carnival or Princess?

(This is for 2 adults and we typically have dinner as soon as the dining room opens each night, but we like the flexibility of not having a set time we have to be there. We also don't like the set time dining because we don't like the idea of being stuck with the same people every night.)

[Clarea]

For My Time Dining, do I have to place a reservation for a certain time each night or can we just show up when we are ready to have dinner like we can on Carnival or Princess?

(This is for 2 adults and we typically have dinner as soon as the dining room opens each night, but we like the flexibility of not having a set time we have to be there. We also don't like the set time dining because we don't like the idea of being stuck with the same people every night.)

You can show up whenever you like, without reservations.

[dacruiser12]

I highly recommend making reservations. You have a 2 hour window in which to arrive. The wait for people without reservations was over 45 minutes last week. We never had to wait.

[Roce48]

We have found that showing up right after a show usually takes longer to get seated.

 

It also may take longer if you have a large group, or special request like sitting in a favorite spot. Asking for a table for two along the railing overlooking the dining area below may take a few extra minutes.

 

When we are not choosey, we usually get seated within a reasonable amount of time.

 

And if I remember correctly, the MTD window is 6:00 to 9:30pm.

[negc]

When we just showed up (without reservations) we never had a wait of more than five to ten minutes to be seated and that was when there were 2,4 or 8 people in our group. We usually chose to dine sometime between 7:15 and 7:45. Have never experienced a two hour wait.

[joepeka]

I highly recommend making reservations. You have a 2 hour window in which to arrive. The wait for people without reservations was over 45 minutes last week. We never had to wait.

 

As others have said, it's probably a function of when you show up for MTD seating but our experience on Indy (we had 6:30PM reservations every evening) was that the walk-up line was shorter and moved more quickly than the line for those with reservations. Maybe it was just the time we were there every night but once or twice we considered jumping to the walk-up line because it was short and moved fast. But we didn't..... mainly because we had a table and servers that we really liked and wanted to be sure and get seated in their section.

[mskaufman]

We never had a problem when we showed up. Although when we found a server we liked someone called for a reservation at her table. We found that a good time was midway between the MDR seatings.

[JayinAZ]

I highly recommend making reservations. You have a 2 hour window in which to arrive. The wait for people without reservations was over 45 minutes last week. We never had to wait.

 

" You have a 2 hour window in which to arrive. "

What does that mean? Please explain.

I make a reservation for 7p and they save my table from 6p-8p???

[dacruiser12]

We had a 6:30 reservation for example & on the planner it said anytime between 6:30 & 8:30.

[JayinAZ]

We had a 6:30 reservation for example & on the planner it said anytime between 6:30 & 8:30.

 

I see. I had not heard of that. I've never made reservations for MTD so that may be the reason I didn't know. I'll give it a shot in 63 days!!! Yea!

[jules71]

I highly recommend making reservations. You have a 2 hour window in which to arrive. The wait for people without reservations was over 45 minutes last week. We never had to wait.

 

So you can show up anytime during those 2 hours and be seated right away? I wish I had known that before I made my reservations. I may try to change them.

[dacruiser12]

Yes, the most we had to wait was 5 minutes. I believe it also depends on exactly what time you get there. We usually went around 7 & no line. By the time we left around 8 the line was longer, but definitely better than the no res line.

[bythehex]

We like late dining so made our reservation for 8:00 each night. We managed to be seated at the same table with the same wait staff every night. It made things very easy, we were always seated immediately and had a great time!

[kc320]

" You have a 2 hour window in which to arrive. "

What does that mean? Please explain.

I make a reservation for 7p and they save my table from 6p-8p???

 

No, if you make a reservation for 7 that is the time you show up...if you DON'T make a reservation you have a 2-3 hour window the dining room is open and you can show up at any time during that window...

 

I've never made reservations on MTD & have never had to wait more than a few minutes at most to be seated...

[TBone2K]

I think it depends on the ship and the pax. On our last cruise, 6:00 MDR was full, so we opted for MTD instead. Got 5:45 first night, but after that they said they would only take reservations day of, not in advance. Out of four nights, once we arrived to find they had lost our reservations, so we had to share a table, one night I was told when I reserved we were going to have to share a table, but they managed to find us a table to ourselves since someone hadn't shown up.

 

I had a nice conversation with the MTD co-ordinator and he said they had more MTD diners than they could handle. The biggest problem he had was so many people had reserved online ahead of time and then didn't show up... So there's a good reason to cancel your reservations if you aren't coming.

[fergusonvt]

I think it depends on the ship and the pax. On our last cruise, 6:00 MDR was full, so we opted for MTD instead. Got 5:45 first night, but after that they said they would only take reservations day of, not in advance. Out of four nights, once we arrived to find they had lost our reservations, so we had to share a table, one night I was told when I reserved we were going to have to share a table, but they managed to find us a table to ourselves since someone hadn't shown up.

 

I had a nice conversation with the MTD co-ordinator and he said they had more MTD diners than they could handle. The biggest problem he had was so many people had reserved online ahead of time and then didn't show up... So there's a good reason to cancel your reservations if you aren't coming.

 

I agree. I made all of ours online then started looking at things that will happen while we are cruising like the Super bowl (cancelled it for that night) , booked a night at Chops so cancelled it for that night and the day we embark. I could have made that day later than 6pm but figured we would be hanging around watching the sail away for awhile and will just grab something quick after.

[lady_cruiser]

For My Time Dining, do I have to place a reservation for a certain time each night or can we just show up when we are ready to have dinner like we can on Carnival or Princess?

(This is for 2 adults and we typically have dinner as soon as the dining room opens each night, but we like the flexibility of not having a set time we have to be there. We also don't like the set time dining because we don't like the idea of being stuck with the same people every night.)

 

You can do like we do. If, on the first night, we like our table location and wait staff then on our way out we ask the Maitre'D for the same table and staff for the rest of the week. And our request have always been granted.