My Time Dining on Allure with 13 People

[TCBFlash]

Our group of 13 will be on Allure next April. We feel that 5:30 is too early and 8:00 is too late for dinner, so we want to do MTD. Several of us have done it before, but not with such a large group. I have done some research and it seems that if we go to the dining room on the first day, we should be able to make reservations for the whole week. We are OK with sitting at 2 tables, as long as they are together. We are thinking about 6:30 or so. Could anyone with thoughts or experience with this please share? I am asking now because I want to make sure that we can all get signed up for MTD before it fills up. Thanks!

[Clarea]

No guarantees, but your best bet is to do as you suggest, go to the MTD desk right after boarding and try to get standing reservations. They will do their best to accommodate you.

[eobrien01]

We just recently sailed on Allure with 16 people. We called and made reservations for around 630 most nights before the cruise. When we boarded, there was a vm on our phone saying we needed to come to the dining room first thing because they could not accommodate us at the times we requested. Apparently, they only do large parties earlier or later in the evenings (at least that's what they told us). So we ended up having dinner at 6pm every night (not a big deal for us because we had a lot of small children). We had a table of 10 and 6 next to each other, and near the window. We had the same wait staff every night also, which was nice. I would at least call prior and make a reservation for each night, then change the times if needed when you get on board. There might be a bunch of larger parties and you may not be able to get a reservation that easily if you wait till you board. Make sure when you call you have all the reservation numbers.

[TCBFlash]

Thanks for the info. If I call RCI directly, will it matter if a couple of the reservations were booked through a TA?

[Clarea]

Thanks for the info. If I call RCI directly, will it matter if a couple of the reservations were booked through a TA?

Yes, any reservations held by a TA will have to be modified by that TA.

[LMaxwell]

We had standing reservation for 15 people every night on Allure. Always a wait 30-40 minute wait to get in despite arriving for reservations 5 minutes ahead of time. Never had same table or wait staff. Maybe since then they have moved to larger parties being sat early or late; we had reservations for 7:00 and we often had to skip dessert and leave by 10:00PM for other entertainment. I'm sure the large size of the group was an issue, we have had much better experiences with MTD when a much smaller group.

 

With that many people you can't all converse, I like the idea of 2 smaller tables. In your case may be significantly easier to accommodate that over 1 large table.

[CoryT]

We had standing reservation for 15 people every night on Allure. Always a wait 30-40 minute wait to get in despite arriving for reservations 5 minutes ahead of time. Never had same table or wait staff. Maybe since then they have moved to larger parties being sat early or late; we had reservations for 7:00 and we often had to skip dessert and leave by 10:00PM for other entertainment. I'm sure the large size of the group was an issue, we have had much better experiences with MTD when a much smaller group.

 

With that many people you can't all converse, I like the idea of 2 smaller tables. In your case may be significantly easier to accommodate that over 1 large table.

 

Did you have a table for 15? We will be a party of 15 on Allure next March with 5:30 traditional dining. We have requested 2 8 tops close together (we were a party of 16) but would prefer a large table with all of us.

[Russ Lomas]

Go straight to the two individuals working outside the dining room when you board and they will take care of it for you. Take the latest time they offer you around the first seating time (I think they will offer you 5:45 pm, but not likely later than 6pm). We did this the first night and asked for the same tables and servers for the entire cruise. Our waiter told us not to worry if we showed up a bit early since those tables would be held for us. He also said we could arrive a bit late as well even though it was booked for 5:45. He just asked that we please be sure to always arrive before 6:30 pm at the latest since they had to serve us, then turn the tables over for a second seating after we left. We always arrived around 6 pm and never later than 6:15 once because of photos on the formal night. Best service we ever had in the MDR.

[LMaxwell]

Did you have a table for 15? We will be a party of 15 on Allure next March with 5:30 traditional dining. We have requested 2 8 tops close together (we were a party of 16) but would prefer a large table with all of us.

 

Yes, they put a few tables together to make a really loooooooooong table.

 

I think 2 tables of 8 would work better.

[Son of a son of a ...]

When sitting at a rectangular table beyond 5+5+2, you pretty much have lost the benefit of sitting together.

[Havingfun2010]

It's so much easier just to eat at 5:30. First, the shows are easier to plan out. Next, you don't have to wait for your table, or make plans and reservations. You are always assured you will be together. Is 30 minutes really that much time to eat early? Just me, but it seems like too much work to make all these plans.

[eobrien01]

Thanks for the info. If I call RCI directly, will it matter if a couple of the reservations were booked through a TA?

 

We used a travel agent and I had no problems booking the dining reservations myself.

[CoryT]

Yes, they put a few tables together to make a really loooooooooong table.

 

I think 2 tables of 8 would work better.

 

Thank you!

[Doug S]

We just recently sailed on Allure with 16 people. We called and made reservations for around 630 most nights before the cruise. When we boarded, there was a vm on our phone saying we needed to come to the dining room first thing because they could not accommodate us at the times we requested. Apparently, they only do large parties earlier or later in the evenings (at least that's what they told us). So we ended up having dinner at 6pm every night (not a big deal for us because we had a lot of small children)...

 

We had the same experience on Jewel last year with MTD and a 10 top. Only early and late seating was offered for the big tables so they could turn them twice. A mid evening seating would have blocked out the high demand table for the whole evening. And a 10 seat table was the max they had. Having 2 adjacent tables may give you a bit more flexibility.

[melski]

One thing we learned the hard way on Liberty was that with MTD reservations, they may not hold a table for you if someone else shows up first. We had 6:15 reservations for 6 and had to wait 30 minutes to get a table the first night...they told me it was first come, first serve even with a reservation. Very frustrating and seemed pointless to have a reservation then.

 

They strongly suggested a reservation by 6. Basically to get first seating which may be anywhere between 5:30-6:15 and then you have to wait for the table to clear before you will be seated which could be around 7.

 

It was really only crazy the first 2 nights and then it was much smoother.