New 3rd dining time for traditional dining

[cruiseboy89130]

Hi,

i just read that there is a 3rd new traditional dining time inroduced to all the ships.

Currently the 3rd time is at 6.45 pm to 7.30 pm  depending on ship and itinerary.

It is already available on Wonder and Icon but will be rolled out fleetwide!

Which other ships have it yet?

[cruisegirl1]

It wasn't on the Wonder a few weeks ago, but it would be perfect for us. 

Hope it is implemented fleet wide soon. 

 

I read an article about  the new dinner time it  mentioned a  60-75 minute dinner teem allotment. I thought the new streamlined menu was to speed up dinner to less than an hour.  At least that's what we were all told. 

 

M

Edited February 28 by cruisegirl1

[FionaMG]

5 minutes ago, cruisegirl1 said:

It wasn't on the Wonder a few weeks ago, but it would be perfect for us. 

Hope it is implemented fleet wide soon. 

 

I read an article about  the new dinner time it  mentioned a  60-75 minute dinner teem allotment. I thought the new streamlined menu was to speed up dinner to less than an hour.  At least that's what we were all told. 

 

M

 

We were consistently in and out in that time frame on our cruise on Symphony last week.

[sheezsmith]

Was the early dining at 5:00 or 5:30?

[c-leg5]

18 minutes ago, cruisegirl1 said:

I read an article about  the new dinner time it  mentioned a  60-75 minute dinner teem allotment. I thought the new streamlined menu was to speed up dinner to less than an hour.  At least that's what we were all told

Are you seriously concerned about a discrepancy of 15+ minutes?

 

They have to allow for different size groups. People choosing multiple courses. Groups not arriving together or on time. I am sure if there are two of you eating 3 courses and you say you are in a hurry, they will try and comply with your timeframe. 
 

Personally, I am eating dinner not competing in a race.

[steveru621]

34 minutes ago, cruiseboy89130 said:

Currently the 3rd time is at 6.45 pm to 7.30 pm

 

45 minutes for dinner?  It's possible, but it won't work for large tables.

[cruiseboy89130]

4 minutes ago, steveru621 said:

 

45 minutes for dinner?  It's possible, but it won't work for large tables.

The starting time is at 6.30 pm to 7.45 pm please read the whole sentence!

Could we also please stay on topic this is not about how long it takes but about the new 3rd starting time!

Edited February 28 by cruiseboy89130

[OCSC Mike]

39 minutes ago, cruiseboy89130 said:

It is already available on Wonder

 

It is not currently available on Wonder. I know the article says it was tested on Wonder but it is not an option for any of my 3 Wonder cruises that sail between March and July of this year. I even asked my TA about it in the past 2 hours and he had never heard of it.

[c-leg5]

3 minutes ago, cruiseboy89130 said:

The starting time is at 6.30 pm to 7.45 pm please read the whole sentence!

Could we also please stay on topic this is not about how long it takes but about the new 3rd starting time!

I understood your time frame but is the intention to have three separate sittings or will the start times overlap on different floors?

 
If separate, consecutive sittings a start of 7.45 will make first or last sitting very early or late depending on whether that is the second or final sitting.

[cruiseboy89130]

Just now, c-leg5 said:

I understood your time frame but is the intention to have three separate sittings or will the start times overlap on different floors?

 
If separate, consecutive sittings a start of 7.45 will make first or last sitting very early or late depending on whether that is the second or final sitting.

They will overlap I assume the other 2 times will stay

[edrussell]

Petty squabbles notwithstanding, there was no mention of this on Wonder on our Feb 11-18 sailing and in fact we had some deeper discussions with a more senior member of MDR staff and this topic came up in a round about way.  Personally I think this would do wonders (pardon the pun) of fixing the cluster that is my time on Oasis class.  Is there any reference to this anywhere besides rumor?

 

[QuickGold]

Since context is everything, here's the source of this news: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2024/02/28/royal-caribbean-introduces-third-dining-time-give-cruise-ship-passengers-more-choice

Edited February 28 by QuickGold

[steveru621]

I am curious if this will only work on ships with 3-deck dining?

[doghog]

We'd like to see RC got back to 6:PM and 8:30 PM TD and same times for MTD. We hate the later start time for MTD and not thrilled with the 5:30 start time for early TD. But we've gone back to early TD. We don't cruise on the huge ships. Freedom class is the biggest we've been on. 

Edited February 28 by doghog

[c-leg5]

14 minutes ago, edrussell said:

Personally I think this would do wonders (pardon the pun) of fixing the cluster that is my time on Oasis class. 

It might go some way to helping some people, although I see it being a very popular option (especially if 6.45) and oversubscribed.
 

However it doesn’t address the fundamental attraction of MTD which is flexibility.

[island lady]

I am on Wonder right now.  There is no such thing.  

 

 

[doghog]

1 minute ago, island lady said:

I am on Wonder right now.  There is no such thing.  

 

 

I just asked you on your live Wonder thread if you would comment on this. Thanks. 

[island lady]

4 minutes ago, doghog said:

I just asked you on your live Wonder thread if you would comment on this. Thanks. 

 

I did...our posts came in at the same time.    That info is totally untrue.  💩

[Starry Eyes]

31 minutes ago, doghog said:

We'd like to see RC got back to 6:PM and 8:30 PM TD and same times for MTD. We hate the later start time for MTD and not thrilled with the 5:30 start time for early TD. But we've gone back to early TD. We don't cruise on the huge ships. Freedom class is the biggest we've been on. 

5:30 start time for early dining? Consider yourself lucky.  We’ve had 5:00 early dining start times lately.

51 minutes ago, cruiseboy89130 said:

They will overlap I assume the other 2 times will stay

When I read that blog article, I thought they planned to squeeze in three faster seating (trying to get diners out in 75 minutes, and leaving a bit for leeway and cleaning) and push back late a bit.  For example on ships in earlier dining cultures: early at 5:00, middle at 6:45, and at late at 8:30.  Or on other ships maybe early at 5:30, middle at 7:15, late at 9:00.

Edited February 28 by Starry Eyes

[island lady]

Just now, Starry Eyes said:

5:30 start time for early dining? Consider yourself lucky.  We’ve had 5:00 early dining start times lately.

When I read that blog article, I thought they planned to squeeze in three faster seating (trying to get diners out in 75 minutes, and leaving a bit for leeway and cleaning).  For example on ships in earlier dining cultures: early at 5:00, middle at 6:45, and at late at 8:30.  Or on other ships maybe early at 5:30, middle at 7:15, late at 9:00.

 

 

The more accurate information comes from someone actually on the ship....  😉  That info is false.  

[CT Sean]

Funny - I just came here to ask about a conversation with royal Caribbean customer service that ended up with my party (8 of us) with a 7:45 traditional dining time for a  Bermuda cruise in the summer - Maybe this is the explanation for it?

[island lady]

16 minutes ago, steveru621 said:

 

He's known for snarky comments.  I'm not sad.  

 

Think he'll apologize, or just EDIT his original comments?

 

 

[doghog]

7 minutes ago, Starry Eyes said:

5:30 start time for early dining? Consider yourself lucky.  We’ve had 5:00 early dining start times lately

Yikes. Gad we are lucky.  We booked our B2B RC cruise last March while on the Apex. I made 5:30 TD reservations for both legs as soon as the bookings went thru. 

Edited February 28 by doghog

[island lady]

4 minutes ago, CT Sean said:

Funny - I just came here to ask about a conversation with royal Caribbean customer service that ended up with my party (8 of us) with a 7:45 traditional dining time for a  Bermuda cruise in the summer - Maybe this is the explanation for it?

 

7:45 second seating for traditional dining currently on Wonder is deck 3 and deck 5.  

[Starry Eyes]

1 minute ago, island lady said:

 

 

The more accurate information comes from someone actually on the ship....  😉  That info is false.  

I understand it has not started on Wonder, but they may be planning to roll it out🤷‍♀️.  
A small pilot program could have been done sometime