Was this a fluke or miracle?

60 days out (a few weeks ago) we immediately logged in the MVJ to secure the excursions and specialty restaurants reservations. We did OK snapping up most of the excursions we wanted with a few sold out. However, no luck selecting specialty restaurant reservations for the first 10 days of the cruise since nothing was available so we did the best we could selecting 8pm or later dinner reservations for the rest of the cruise which was way too late for dinner for us. Our plan was to get on board to

Okay, I'm seasoned. Here's what I think -- and it is supposition based on two things. 1. Once upon a time, in the good old days, before the pandemic, all of the seats in the specialty restaurants were available for pre-departure booking. Since the re-start in 2021, for whatever reasons, only a small percentage have been made available -- and we have seen the raft of complaints and angst that scheme generated. 2. Last week folks were complaining about not being able to get