Why do you choose the dining option you do?

[Diplomacy]

Rude behavior has never been the case in the vast majority of our cruise experiences and we have never been treated differently by the staff if we arrived at MTD with OR without reservations. Perhaps the way some people arrive and treat the staff influences the way they are treated and gratuities are distributed to the wait staff in a manner which seems to satisfy, even please, them in our experience. Prepaid gratuities are no longer a requirement of MTD but when they were, we never noted a diminution in the quality of the service we received. In fact it has been our impression that the best servers were assigned to MTD. Should we encounter "undesirable behavior" a quick word to a supervisor seems to do the trick.

 

I didn't say they weren't "pleased" with the pooled/prepaid gratuity system, I said it doesn't offer any incentives for them. As long as they make their bosses happy, then there is no incentive to go further... to try to make ME happy.

 

And if the "manner in which I arrive" influences their behavior ... (I assume you mean not dressing up in a tuxedo every night?) then that is still a problem.

Edited October 14, 2015 by Diplomacy

[bluebeard39]

My wife and I love MTD because we can go as we please. We do make a couple reservations but those would only be on sea days and we like to go to some of the Specialty Restaurants in between. The service in the MDR has not changed much from our first Allure cruise but IMO the food has gone down a bit. I would rather dine at a 2 top together with my wife so we can discuss our day and plan our next day over dinner and you really can't do that with at 10 top table.

[John&LaLa]

Early seating. Easier to get a seat in the casino after dinner

[island lady]

Early seating. Easier to get a seat in the casino after dinner

 

And we thank you for your generous donations! ;) :p

 

"Sea" you in December! :)

[John&LaLa]

And we thank you for your generous donations! ;) :p

 

"Sea" you in December! :)

 

Laura is currently up $100, which in reality equals up $400 because she budgets to lose $100 per night

[Fouremco]

I choose MTD because I think the idea of keeping to an assigned schedule while on vacation is ridiculous.

So you must be one of those passengers we see running along the pier as the ship pulls away! :) "To hell with a schedule, I'll reboard when I want!"

[printingchick]

When traditional dining goes right, it can be great. You sit with the same people each night and, assuming you get along, you make great new friends. Dinner becomes something you look forward to - a party with friends and great food, every night. You have the same staff. You get to know them and they get to know you and your preferences. What could be better?

 

The problem is that it often doesn't go well. You end up seated with a group of people who show up to dinner maybe once, choosing to dine at the buffet or specialty restaurants the other nights. So there you are, the two of you at a table set for eight or ten. You feel like outcasts and feel slightly offended as the staff steals serving utensils from your table to give the the people at the next table who dropped theirs.

 

Or you get seated with someone you don't get along with or can't understand because you speak different languages. If you're traveling as a family, you could be seated with people who loathe children. If you scraped and saved to afford this expensive vacation, you could be seated with someone who rubs your nose in the fact that they cruise monthly and they're slumming it this time by not going with one of the luxury lines.

 

Or you just can't stand to eat as EARLY or as LATE as needed to tag into one of the preset traditional dining times.

 

I've done MTD for the past several cruises. I've used the system both ways - first as a show-up-at-any-time-and-be-seated arrangement and the other times making reservations.

 

I choose MTD with reservations. I know who I will be sitting with and can choose to eat at a time I prefer. If I make friends aboard, I can (and HAVE) changed my reservation so we can sit together each night. I can (and HAVE) made good friends with people at the adjoining tables. By making a reservation, I am typically assigned to a table and have the same staff each night - one of the things I like about traditional dining. To me, it's the best of both worlds.

 

ENJOY!

Edited October 14, 2015 by printingchick

[janrey1234]

First time we chose early seating. This was ok because we left ports at 6 or earlier. This time we had no options as the dining issue was in question so had MTD. Made reservations depending on port time most days for 6:45 but one day for 5:45 to make a show and another day for 7:30 because of a late shore excursion. Had same staff every night and ended up not going to the 7:30 time because we were just too tired and ended up at the buffet. I would choose my time dining in the future but I would reserve times. The 6:45 time was good but if you showed up later the wait was long as we saw when exiting. Europeans eat late plus a couple of ports were late departures. MTD afords flexibility for shore excursions.

[cynt]

I used to always select Traditional early because I don't like eating late. I booked a last minute cruise a couple of years ago and all they had available was Traditional late. I said fine, whatever. Just put me on the ship!!! I LOVED IT! I no longer felt rushed to get to dinner. I could take a nice siesta about 4PM and get a good nap in before dinner and I didn't feel rushed getting ready for dinner. It was great taking my time coming back from excursions and not have to go to the buffet because I didn't have time to shower and get ready for dinner. I didn't feel rushed did I say that already? LOL! I've been booking late dining every since.

 

I tried the MTD one time. I didn't care for it. I'm an accountant so I need order, stability and consistency. I'm just hard wired like that. So same tablemates, table, staff and time work great for me.

Edited October 14, 2015 by cynt

[Cruise a holic]

We like to dine early. We prefer fixed 6:00 PM. Since we are creatures of habit- we like to know which table we are assigned to (table for two only) and who or waiter is. We enjoy have him/her have our beverage of choice available and the fact that he/she is familiar with our likes and dislikes. We also like to see the shows after dinner

 

If we go to a speciality restaurant, we also dine 6-6:30. In addition, we are in our cabin typically by 11:00 PM so eating late doesn't work for us.

[akcruz]

When traditional dining goes right, it can be great. You sit with the same people each night and, assuming you get along, you make great new friends. Dinner becomes something you look forward to - a party with friends and great food, every night. You have the same staff. You get to know them and they get to know you and your preferences. What could be better?

 

The problem is that it often doesn't go well. You end up seated with a group of people who show up to dinner maybe once, choosing to dine at the buffet or specialty restaurants the other nights. So there you are, the two of you at a table set for eight or ten. You feel like outcasts and feel slightly offended as the staff steals serving utensils from your table to give the the people at the next table who dropped theirs.

 

Or you get seated with someone you don't get along with or can't understand because you speak different languages. If you're traveling as a family, you could be seated with people who loathe children. If you scraped and saved to afford this expensive vacation, you could be seated with someone who rubs your nose in the fact that they cruise monthly and they're slumming it this time by not going with one of the luxury lines.

 

Or you just can't stand to eat as EARLY or as LATE as needed to tag into one of the preset traditional dining times.

 

I've done MTD for the past several cruises. I've used the system both ways - first as a show-up-at-any-time-and-be-seated arrangement and the other times making reservations.

 

I choose MTD with reservations. I know who I will be sitting with and can choose to eat at a time I prefer. If I make friends aboard, I can (and HAVE) changed my reservation so we can sit together each night. I can (and HAVE) made good friends with people at the adjoining tables. By making a reservation, I am typically assigned to a table and have the same staff each night - one of the things I like about traditional dining. To me, it's the best of both worlds.

 

ENJOY!

 

This is how I feel. We have had great table mates in the past as well as a few questionable ones and non existent ones.

 

After trying MTD we realized this is the best of both worlds for us. We make reservations and if the time doesn't fit once on the ship due to shows, later than expected return from port, etc we either change the time or just go to the windjammer. We have found that if you are a family (more than 2) you will get a table on your own spaced fairly decently. If you are a couple (or 2 of you) you will also get a table of your own, but will seated pretty close to others. If you desire to talk to people they are right there. If not, keep to yourselves. Again, you choice which may differ from day to day.

 

On our last cruise made reservations for most nights around 6:45 and never had a wait of more than a minute or two and that was only on the first formal night. We checked out the traditional dining while there and noticed most tables only had a few people at them even though they were mostly 8 - 10 tops.

 

Bottom line our preference is MTD (starting with reservations that may change).

[Diplomacy]

So you must be one of those passengers we see running along the pier as the ship pulls away! :) "To hell with a schedule, I'll reboard when I want!"

 

You apparently don't know what the word assigned means. It's a relatively key word in that sentence. In this scenario, it would be the equivalent of the cruise ship telling you that you could either board the ship at noon, OR at 5pm... at every port, rather than allowing one to board at any time before the boat leaves/MDR closes.

 

Which, I maintain would be equally idiotic, and yes ridiculous.

Edited October 14, 2015 by Diplomacy

[cruizers]

My DH and I have selected Traditional Dining for our upcoming Jewel cruise, early seating. Now we are second guessing that decision.

 

Understanding that each option is subjective and has a pro and con (or perhaps not) that fits your needs. Why do you choose the dining option (Traditional, early or late seating and My Time Dining) that you do?

 

Thanks.

 

Traditional Dining. We enjoy the time this gives us to attend the 9:00(ish) shows, and we like eating earlier rather than later. No waiting.

 

Whichever you choose, enjoy!

[cb at sea]

WE LOVE having tablemates at dinner....we have the rest of the day to "be alone"...so having others to converse with is fun! That's why we enjoy traditional seating at a larger (6-8) table!

So far, we've NEVER had tablemates we didn't get along with.

[N41EF]

Thank you for all the replies. It has given us much to consider how we cruise and what we want for this vacation.

 

 

 

This is one of our concerns. We will most likely not eat in the Traditional Dining room at least two times, maybe three.

 

 

 

What? How do you do this? This sounds perfect!

 

All of the RCL cruise we've done lately had the "Chops Steak" on the MDR menu, bottom right corner. It's usually $20 surcharge, but cheaper than going to Chops. Our last trip on Liberty they had a special and it was $10. We've had good experiences with the MDR wait staff making it happen, cooked perfectly, served with the sauces from chops.

[island lady]

Laura is currently up $100, which in reality equals up $400 because she budgets to lose $100 per night

 

Wow!! Please ask her to sprinkle some of that lucky fairy dust my way!! :D

[Fouremco]

You apparently don't know what the word assigned means. It's a relatively key word in that sentence. In this scenario, it would be the equivalent of the cruise ship telling you that you could either board the ship at noon, OR at 5pm... at every port, rather than allowing one to board at any time before the boat leaves/MDR closes.

 

Which, I maintain would be equally idiotic, and yes ridiculous.

Au contraire, mon ami, I fully understand the meaning of the word "assigned". Even when written in normal font and colour. :rolleyes:

[negc]

Traditional Dining. We enjoy the time this gives us to attend the 9:00(ish) shows, and we like eating earlier rather than later. No waiting....

 

Nothing about My Time Dining prevents you from doing the same and actually it gives you the ability to adjust the time slightly if that works better for you.

[steveru621]

You apparently don't know what the word assigned means. It's a relatively key word in that sentence. In this scenario, it would be the equivalent of the cruise ship telling you that you could either board the ship at noon, OR at 5pm... at every port, rather than allowing one to board at any time before the boat leaves/MDR closes.

 

Which, I maintain would be equally idiotic, and yes ridiculous.

 

Your dining time is not assigned, it is chosen by passengers from one of 3 possibilities. You may like MTD, but I hate it.

 

The derogatory tone is insulting to those that choose one of the traditional dining options.

[impatientlywaiting]

Our last cruise a few weeks ago we tried MTD for the first time. We chose 6:45 and it was great. There were 5 of us so we had the table to ourselves and had the same waiter/assistant waiter every night. We had the best time and will stick with this arrangement for our b2b next year.

[kandj05]

There were four of us who did my time dining on our last cruise. It worked great for us because we really like being up in the diamond lounge until 7 p.m. before heading downstairs to eat. On the days we wanted to go see a show, we then just change our meeting time until 5:30. So in my opinion, we love MTD

[gypsy mom]

We like the MTD better than the regular seatings as we can get a table just for us. We don't have pre-dinner cocktails, order wine, liqours or coffee after dinner. With a group, it seemed like we spent a lot of time waiting for everyone else to do those things, and we would rather just eat and leave to do something else. I don't need to be buddies with the wait staff either, so it doesn't matter to me if I have someone different. Although in the past, we have been seated in the same area and mostly the same waiters have served us. Most of the MTD dining tables seem to be fairly close together, so you can chat a little with the people near you if you feel so inclined, but you don't have to.

[Esmerelda]

We are really liking MTD. We have done this on our last few cruises and its worked great. We do not make a 'reservation'. We just go down around 6:30pm and usually we were seated within about 10-15 minutes. It worked out wonderfully for our group.

Edited October 16, 2015 by Esmerelda

[ali_mcd]

Traditional. Zero wait time to get seated and automatic convenience for the show schedule.

 

Sorry, new to cruising - first time in two weeks and can't wait. What do you mean by automatic convenience for the show schedule? I have booked a couple of entertainment which will mean we can't make our 20.30 Trad dining option those nights as the start time for the show is around the same time. We thought we will just have to eat elsewhere on the ship those nights... or can you change those nights to earlier MDR timing?

[Clarea]

Sorry, new to cruising - first time in two weeks and can't wait. What do you mean by automatic convenience for the show schedule? I have booked a couple of entertainment which will mean we can't make our 20.30 Trad dining option those nights as the start time for the show is around the same time. We thought we will just have to eat elsewhere on the ship those nights... or can you change those nights to earlier MDR timing?

My comment about convenience for the show schedule applies to the majority of ships, which don't have pre-cruise reservations for entertainment. For these ships, the main theater can normally hold about half the total guests on the ship, so they can show two performances per evening, each timed to be convenient for one of the traditional dining times.

 

For ships like Oasis class, where there are so many guests that they have to have 3 or 4 performances in the main theater to accomodate everyone, reservations become a necessity.