My Time Dining.....help please

[Nujdawg]

Hello experts.

We have 7 in our group and all have chosen My Time Dining.  I was under the impression that you just show up between 645pm and 9pm and get seated.

I happened to be playing around the app just now, and see that I can "reserve"  my-time dining now....however, all that is left is 8:15 or 8:30pm onwards for every night.

Did we "Royally" screw up and miss our opportunity to book at our preferred time which is closer to 7pm?

OR......is there still flexibility and you can show up to the dining room anytime during 645 and 9?

Appreciate any expert thoughts on how this works.

Thanks!

Jay

[davekathy]

5 minutes ago, Nujdawg said:

Hello experts.

We have 7 in our group and all have chosen My Time Dining.  I was under the impression that you just show up between 645pm and 9pm and get seated.

I happened to be playing around the app just now, and see that I can "reserve"  my-time dining now....however, all that is left is 8:15 or 8:30pm onwards for every night.

Did we "Royally" screw up and miss our opportunity to book at our preferred time which is closer to 7pm?

OR......is there still flexibility and you can show up to the dining room anytime during 645 and 9?

Appreciate any expert thoughts on how this works.

Thanks!

Jay

You missed the boat to reserve your preferred time. Two lines. One for reservations and one for no reservations. 

[Corby114]

When you first board the vessel head down to the Main Dining Room. They usually post in the Daily Calendar when someone will be there. If there’s availability they will help to schedule an appropriate reservation time for your party.

[Nujdawg]

18 minutes ago, davekathy said:

You missed the boat to reserve your preferred time. Two lines. One for reservations and one for no reservations. 

Soooooo.....if we just show up around 7pm........is the reality we would likely wait a little bit but they would likely seat us somewhere between 7pm and 730?

[CruisinMama2003]

We always do MTD and never reserve a specific time, we just go down to the non reservation line when we are ready to eat, have never waited more than 10 mins for a table.

Edited July 25, 2022 by CruisinMama2003

[joeyancho]

18 minutes ago, Nujdawg said:

Soooooo.....if we just show up around 7pm........is the reality we would likely wait a little bit but they would likely seat us somewhere between 7pm and 730?

Yup

[elleluv]

It would probably be a lot more likely to get seated quickly at 7:00 PM without a reservation if there were two of you...     it's going to be tough with a bigger group; I suspect you'll be waiting a while if you aren't able to get a reservation once you are onboard.   

 

A lot of the ships aren't even sitting MTD guests until after early seating leaves, so it's usually extremely hectic around 7:00.    

 

 

[Nujdawg]

Hmm....so our best bet would be to go their first day and see if they can make new reservations at our desired time if possible.  Otherwise, just wait and see what happens.  Thank you everyone.

[Corby114]

Definitely stop down there on the first day and speak with one of the supervisors. They will go out of there way to accommodate you if it’s possible. If they can help you most likely you will be seated at the same table and same time for the entire cruise. You will also have the same waiter and assistant waiters too. 

[the penguins]

2 hours ago, Nujdawg said:

Hmm....so our best bet would be to go their first day and see if they can make new reservations at our desired time if possible.  Otherwise, just wait and see what happens.  Thank you everyone.

Go down as soon as you board, be friendly, polite and blame yourself for not pre booking. Ask if there is any possible way they can help especially as you are a group of 7. Remember you catch more with sugar than salt. 

[Corby114]

I remember relatives telling me that you get more when you spread honey than vinegar!

[nferr]

It's been my experience if you go at absolutely peak time (right around 7) you'll probably have to wait a bit. I like to go later (after 8 or 8:30) and usually there's none or very short wait.

[Bound4Bermuda]

You may also want to consider switching to either the early or late set dining time now. That’s what we did after reading about all of the issues people were having with MTD nowadays since they shortened the window of available dining times. It meant that we “missed” two dinners for late excursions and just ate in the Windjammer/Solarium Bistro those nights, but it was worth avoiding the hassle. If MTD doesn’t even open until 6:45, you’re going to have a difficult time seating a party of 7 at 7. I heard of people hoping for the best once they boarded and going to the dining room, but if the app says all they have is 8:30, it wasn’t lying to you. Then they tried to switch to early dining on board, but it was already full. You can hope for the best, but it’s a little overly optimistic for those saying, don’t worry, they’ll accommodate you if you’re nice. You can’t just pull up an extra table for 7 back by the kitchen.

[davekathy]

51 minutes ago, Bound4Bermuda said:

You may also want to consider switching to either the early or late set dining time now.

I agree. Our experience on our Explorer B2B cruise in March MTD didn't start until 7:15. We switched to TD early (6:00 PM) prior to our sail date because of the later adjusted start time for MTD. Glad we did. The lines for MTD were crazy long on both legs when we were leaving the MDR. Nothing like it was pre covid cruises. 

[Nujdawg]

from what I am seeing from recent cruise compasses:  out MDR early seating is 515pm...that just is so early for us.  No one in our group will be hungry for dinner at that time.  I don't see 6pm listed 

[Ret MP]

6 hours ago, Nujdawg said:

Hmm....so our best bet would be to go their first day and see if they can make new reservations at our desired time if possible.  Otherwise, just wait and see what happens.  Thank you everyone.

You'd be surprised at the service you get when you make initial contact with the Maitre d and give him/her a $20.00 +/- bill.  It also doesn't hurt to mention that there is more to come.  Again, initial contact, like before you even ask for something.   

 

It's like when you go into the casino or any other venue that serves food and/or drink and give the server/bartender a very good tip on the first visit, they will seek you out to provide you with extraordinary service (USUALLY) for the remainder of the cruise.

 

JMHO/YMMV

[retired dude]

4 hours ago, Ret MP said:

You'd be surprised at the service you get when you make initial contact with the Maitre d and give him/her a $20.00 +/- bill.  It also doesn't hurt to mention that there is more to come.  Again, initial contact, like before you even ask for something.   

 

It's like when you go into the casino or any other venue that serves food and/or drink and give the server/bartender a very good tip on the first visit, they will seek you out to provide you with extraordinary service (USUALLY) for the remainder of the cruise.

 

JMHO/YMMV

so right!forget the honey and dole out a picture of jackson......works a whole lot better..

[LB_NJ]

23 hours ago, Nujdawg said:

Soooooo.....if we just show up around 7pm........is the reality we would likely wait a little bit but they would likely seat us somewhere between 7pm and 730?

 

Could be 30 minute wait, could be 45 minutes (for parties of 2 to 4).  For 7 it could be a lot more. You never know.  When we do MTD we ALWAYS prebook our favorite time.

 

I agree with everyone else who says run, don't walk to the maitre d' as soon as you can once you board. In the meantime, book what you can in cruise planner, it can be changed once you board.

[neverbeenhere]

No grease needed. Ask nicely, you will receive, if available. 

[shofer]

OK,  there was only the 2 of us for MTD.  The Maitre'd was very visible and made a 6:30 PM reservation for us at the same table.  Sometimes the Early dining people were still occupying "our" table when we arrived.  One time we were seated at a different table.  After that, we just lingered over our pre-dinner cocktail till 7 PM and were always seated immediately.  I'm sure it didn't hurt that the ship was only at half capacity!

[LeeW]

On Symphony there were huge numbers showing up without reservations at 6:45.  Backed up into casino.  Even the reservation line was backed up for a while on first night.  Figures - the dining room is used for first seating and everyone waits until tables are available.

 

After first night the headwaiter assigned to check in folks would come out and offer immediate seating in one of the other dining rooms.  Worked well even for large groups and by 7 there would be no non-reservation line.  Once dining rooms filled you again had to wait until seating was available.

 

If you wanted to sit at same table with same wait staff you just waited until they verified table was clear.

[BirdTravels]

On 7/24/2022 at 10:24 PM, Nujdawg said:

Hello experts.

We have 7 in our group and all have chosen My Time Dining.  I was under the impression that you just show up between 645pm and 9pm and get seated.

I happened to be playing around the app just now, and see that I can "reserve"  my-time dining now....however, all that is left is 8:15 or 8:30pm onwards for every night.

Did we "Royally" screw up and miss our opportunity to book at our preferred time which is closer to 7pm?

OR......is there still flexibility and you can show up to the dining room anytime during 645 and 9?

Appreciate any expert thoughts on how this works.

Thanks!

Jay

Nope. You can just show up at any time MTD is open. With a reservation, it sometimes is faster, often slower to get seated. 

[LMaxwell]

I can't tell you how many times the "no reservations" line was significantly shorter than the "reservations" line.  You did not screw your vacation up.  Yes, you CAN just show up any time.  You may have a short wait, you may get right in.  You WILL get a table.  Don't stress. 

[carbon]

I booked reservation same time 6 out of 7 nights months ago.

[davekathy]

9 minutes ago, carbon said:

I booked reservation same time 6 out of 7 nights months ago.

Agree. Reserve your times as soon as the scheduler is available if you want the early time slot. Same with the app for scheduling your check in time.