Question on fixed dining

[sepalma23]

Hi everyone!  My daughter and I are cruising May 11th on Rhapsody out of Barcelona. I booked our cruise on cruise.com because they had balcony rooms available and RC did not. Anyway when I booked the only option for dinner was 5:30, which is just too early. I just called RC and the rep told me that the My Time dining is closed and that my choices were 6:00 or 8:30. 6:00 is better, but still early and 8:30 is late!!  He said I would have to call ***** to change it. My question is, if we have the 6:00 dining, do we have to be at the MDR at 6:00 sharp or is 6:30 ok??  TIA!

[taglovestocruise]

7 minutes ago, sepalma23 said:

Hi everyone!  My daughter and I are cruising May 11th on Rhapsody out of Barcelona. I booked our cruise on cruise.com because they had balcony rooms available and RC did not. Anyway when I booked the only option for dinner was 5:30, which is just too early. I just called RC and the rep told me that the My Time dining is closed and that my choices were 6:00 or 8:30. 6:00 is better, but still early and 8:30 is late!!  He said I would have to call ***** to change it. My question is, if we have the 6:00 dining, do we have to be at the MDR at 6:00 sharp or is 6:30 ok??  TIA!

If you are at a table with others they will usually make everyone at the table wait until you show up., maybe not the full 30 minutes but 10 - 15 for sure.   You would totally mess up the flow of the table by being 30 minutes late.  Once onboard you will probably have good luck switching to MTD,  just make the dining room your first stop after boarding to make changes. 

[1025cruise]

If you have dining at 6:00, that is when dinner is, not 6:30. While it probably won't happen, by 6:30 you should walk into a closed door and not be allowed. 

[sepalma23]

Great thanks so much for the info. I’m actually on hold right now with ***** to ask them about the MTD. If we have to keep the 6:00 time, we definitely wouldn’t be much past 6 or if we can’t make it by that time, we’ll just eat somewhere else. I don’t want to hold people up!  

[sepalma23]

I should have also said that what happens if we are at our own table for 2 and we get there by 6:30 or so?  Does it matter then?  

[taglovestocruise]

12 minutes ago, sepalma23 said:

I should have also said that what happens if we are at our own table for 2 and we get there by 6:30 or so?  Does it matter then?  

Yes, a waiter may have 3 -5 tables.  Apps come out at the same time, entrees are served to all tables within a few minutes, desert comes out at the same time. The same assistant waiter serves bread from a basket to 20 - 30 people and goes from table to table, hard for them to stop what they are doing to go get you a appetizer as they are serving dinner plates.  And as the other poster has said, the main doors are closed 30 minutes after seating time.  Once onboard go straight to the dining room to change to MTD, should be no problem. 

[sepalma23]

Gotcha!!  Thanks!

[SRF]

13 hours ago, sepalma23 said:

Hi everyone!  My daughter and I are cruising May 11th on Rhapsody out of Barcelona. I booked our cruise on XXXXXX.com because they had balcony rooms available and RC did not. Anyway when I booked the only option for dinner was 5:30, which is just too early. I just called RC and the rep told me that the My Time dining is closed and that my choices were 6:00 or 8:30. 6:00 is better, but still early and 8:30 is late!!  He said I would have to call ***** to change it. My question is, if we have the 6:00 dining, do we have to be at the MDR at 6:00 sharp or is 6:30 ok??  TIA!

 

BTW, the forum rules state that you should NOT mention an TAs or booking sites.

[sepalma23]

1 hour ago, SRF said:

 

BTW, the forum rules state that you should NOT mention an TAs or booking sites.

Ooops sorry about that. Thanks for letting me know

[spookwife]

15 hours ago, sepalma23 said:

 My question is, if we have the 6:00 dining, do we have to be at the MDR at 6:00 sharp or is 6:30 ok??  TIA!

no.   ten minutes is about the only polite window.   all the tables  in the area are served at the same time course by course and by being more than a few minutes late disrupts that, resulting in delays for everyone else.  

 

it is also polite to  let them know ahead of time if you won't be dining

 

you can try and switch to MTD once on board.