Jewel of the Seas - My Time Dining Reservations

[orville99]

8 minutes ago, shirazcruiser said:

Well...that's sounds quite yummy and something to look forward to! I wish MTD was like the Club Class on Princess where you are escorted in immediately to a table in a reserved section. It's a shame that RCCL has not carved out a portion of the MDR for suite guests on ships that don't have Coastal Kitchen. 

What we have found is that the MDR dinners that are delivered to our suite are much better than the same dinner served in the MTD cycle. Since we always sail in GS or above and always do B2B or longer cruises, we have eaten the same menu items in suite on one leg and in the MTD on the other, and the ones delivered to the suite are always much better. Also, when we dine later in MTD (closer to the start of the  second fixed seating) we find the prep in the MDR to be much better than if we hit MTD at its start time.

 

Wasn't that way before the shutdown, when MTD was a separate area and the seating times started much earlier in the evening.

[shirazcruiser]

10 minutes ago, orville99 said:

Wasn't that way before the shutdown, when MTD was a separate area and the seating times started much earlier in the evening.

Thanks for the info! I can't convince DH to dine in the cabin for dinner..he prefers to get out.  We do enjoy the specialty restaurants so either we'll dine half the nights there or the Unlimited Dining Package.  Since we're D+ we get the BOGO discount and we really enjoy Chops and Giovanni's. I've also checked the Izumi menu which looks good.

[pcur]

I gave up on MTD last year on the Grandeur.  I sailed as a "bridge" cruise between cruising with friends before and after the Grandeur.  I went to the MTD entrance early, saw about 250 people waiting in line, and said, "Nope, not for me" in my head.  Immediately went to fixed dining, asked to be switched, and have stayed with fixed dining, the WJ, or CK, ever since.

 

This is after some very difficult experiences since 2019 getting tables, overcrowding, and SUPER noisy dining rooms. About 10 different ships, with and without family and friends, over 4 years now.  

 

I watch the UDP prices carefully if I'm cruising by myself.

Edited July 3, 2023 by pcur

[orville99]

1 minute ago, shirazcruiser said:

Thanks for the info! I can't convince DH to dine in the cabin for dinner..he prefers to get out.  We do enjoy the specialty restaurants so either we'll dine half the nights there or the Unlimited Dining Package.  Since we're D+ we get the BOGO discount and we really enjoy Chops and Giovanni's. I've also checked the Izumi menu which looks good.

Have done all three of those on Jewel, and you can't go wrong with any of them.

[orville99]

2 minutes ago, pcur said:

I watch the UDP prices carefully if I'm cruising by myself.

We used to enjoy MTD before the shutdown, but after the restart we have started going more and more to the specialty dining packages on ships without a CK instead. 

[pcur]

19 minutes ago, orville99 said:

We used to enjoy MTD before the shutdown, but after the restart we have started going more and more to the specialty dining packages on ships without a CK instead. 

It's worth the extra expense, IMO. Depends on the ship and whether I'm with others.

[pcur]

38 minutes ago, pcur said:

It's worth the extra expense, IMO. Depends on the ship and whether I'm with others.

Speaking of which, I just reserved the UDP on the Grandeur for this September.  On sale right now.  

[Ashland]

5 hours ago, orville99 said:

One of the nicest benefits of sailing in an OS is that there is a dining table (seats 4) in your suite, and you can have your Main Dining room meals delivered to your suite any time the dining rooms are open (no charge), so if you enjoy the dining room menu but don't like the hassle, just order in.

Jewel & Serenade have a much smaller dining table and only two chairs in the OS.

[orville99]

12 minutes ago, Ashland said:

Jewel & Serenade have a much smaller dining table and only two chairs in the OS.

Thanks. We were on her last December and I confused that OS with the OS on newer ships. Plenty large enough however for DW and I to have our dinners there

[orville99]

1 hour ago, pcur said:

Speaking of which, I just reserved the UDP on the Grandeur for this September.  On sale right now.  

We booked the 3-night package for our September Grandeur cruise because they only have three specialty restaurants. We will dine in suite the other four nights.

[shirazcruiser]

5 hours ago, pcur said:

Speaking of which, I just reserved the UDP on the Grandeur for this September.  On sale right now.  

Unfortunately, dining hasn't opened up yet for our May sailing. Hoping there will be some good Black Friday sales. One time we were on the Allure in the Izumi Hibachi restaurant and another couple mentioned they had purchased the UDP for our sailing during the Black Friday for less than 1/2 price.  Fingers crossed.

[island lady]

20 hours ago, pcur said:

I gave up on MTD last year on the Grandeur.  I sailed as a "bridge" cruise between cruising with friends before and after the Grandeur.  I went to the MTD entrance early, saw about 250 people waiting in line, and said, "Nope, not for me" in my head.  Immediately went to fixed dining, asked to be switched, and have stayed with fixed dining, the WJ, or CK, ever since.

 

This is after some very difficult experiences since 2019 getting tables, overcrowding, and SUPER noisy dining rooms. About 10 different ships, with and without family and friends, over 4 years now.  

 

I watch the UDP prices carefully if I'm cruising by myself.

 

Totally agree there...same for us.