MTD, time to just kill it off?

[irun5k]

2 hours ago, c-leg5 said:

I have no idea why Royal have messed up so badly a system that used to work fine. I have no idea why they can’t have an allocated area for MTD with dedicated staff. I think the idea of doubling up MDR and MTD is disruptive to both types of diners and the waitstaff and leads to problems like you encountered.

I asked the Maître d' why MTD started so late now, and he told me that they doubled up the 3rd floor dining room in this manner because there wasn't enough MTD demand.  I am not sure if that is accurate or not... it seems hard to believe that there wasn't sufficient demand for a complete floor.

However, it seems pretty clear there is strong demand for something in the middle, e.g. 6:30-6:45.  That is why I'm wondering if they won't just kill MTD completely when they move to three dining times. 

 

I did notice that our waitlist for early dining on Quantum this summer was just honored and now we're at 5:00 PM.  Was Quantum always at 5 or was it 5:15 before?  I'm wondering if they're getting ready to support 5 PM, 6:45 PM and 8:30 PM dining times.

[Tree_skier]

I go back and forth on this issue. Last month on Adventure we had MTD at 6:45 each night.  On the first night, since I felt like we had a good servers, I asked for the same servers and table each night.  The head waiter set us up and told us to arrive at 6:35 and bypass the the podium and head strait to our table.  That was a first for us. It felt like TD but at a little better time for us.  

[c-leg5]

4 minutes ago, irun5k said:

I asked the Maître d' why MTD started so late now, and he told me that they doubled up the 3rd floor dining room in this manner because there wasn't enough MTD demand.  I am not sure if that is accurate or not... it seems hard to believe that there wasn't sufficient demand for a complete floor.

However, it seems pretty clear there is strong demand for something in the middle, e.g. 6:30-6:45.  That is why I'm wondering if they won't just kill MTD completely when they move to three dining times. 

 

I did notice that our waitlist for early dining on Quantum this summer was just honored and now we're at 5:00 PM.  Was Quantum always at 5 or was it 5:15 before?  I'm wondering if they're getting ready to support 5 PM, 6:45 PM and 8:30 PM dining times.

I think the lack of demand has been self created. 
 

When cruising resumed there were a lot of things that “weren’t the same” for various reasons but they have had time to adjust and move on IMO. They had a perfectly good system pre-Covid that had evolved and they had a model that worked. 
 

Moving to three dining times addresses some of the problems but not the issue of flexibility. In this day and age doing away with that option is a retrograde step IMO.

[PhillyFan33579]

16 hours ago, Tz2989 said:

Funny, I am just off the Allure and had no issues with MTD. I booked reservations 45 days out and I was promptly seated within 10 mins of showing up for my designated time.

My guess is the OP (irun5k) is not that familiar with MTD and the reservation process. Like a lot of things in life, they will probably have a more favorable view of MTD if/when they are more familiar with the process. 

[irun5k]

5 hours ago, shof515 said:

i would love if royal can do something like what carnival does where you make the reservation on the app and then app notifies you when the table is ready

 

royal mtd is too slow with very long lines on the ships i sailed on

Yes, we were on Celebration last year and overall this worked smoothly.  There was one little nuance that was slightly annoying...  we had early dining but there was some rule where we had to wait until after a certain time before we could go in the app to request a table at a spot like Chi Bang.  But, the virtual queue made that less of an issue.

 

Overall though we loved being able to try different restaurants for dinner w/o an upcharge.  We did the MDR a few nights and the other nights did the BBQ place, Chibang, and Emril's (rather small up charge) a couple of times.  Carnival got a lot of things right (albeit with one or two weird issues) on their Excel class ships.

[irun5k]

Just now, PhillyFan33579 said:

My guess is the OP (irun5k) is not that familiar with MTD and the reservation process. Like a lot of things in life, they will probably have a more favorable view of MTD if/when they are more familiar with the process. 

I'm pretty familiar- or used to be.  I've been sailing since before it was even an option.  However, I was not familiar with the fact that they split a dining room for double duty.  I booked MTD based on memories of smoother days.  In my mind if you're exiting early dining and having to cut through lines wrapping around the floor of people trying to get in to MTD, it feels like there is room for improvement.  (this is where I think the 3rd dining time might be that improvement.)

[mets07]

We still prefer the flexibility of MTD and hope they continue to offer it on Royal. We don't make reservations. 

 

However, the process could be vastly improved. At minimum, the ability to do what is done on Carnival, as others mentioned, would be great....  you see the current wait time in the app and simply click to check in. It alerts you when your table is ready and indicates the table number. 

[c-leg5]

1 minute ago, irun5k said:

I'm pretty familiar- or used to be.  I've been sailing since before it was even an option.  However, I was not familiar with the fact that they split a dining room for double duty.  I booked MTD based on memories of smoother days.  In my mind if you're exiting early dining and having to cut through lines wrapping around the floor of people trying to get in to MTD, it feels like there is room for improvement.  (this is where I think the 3rd dining time might be that improvement.)

I agree.
 

I also think if I desired set dining, having random people entering and exiting around me and disrupting the sequence that my waiter was supposed to be following would be detrimental to my experience. It us different when everyone is in a different schedule and that is what you have chosen. I think when 1 or 2 tables out of 8 are different it disrupts the flow.

[fpcruiser]

16 hours ago, Tz2989 said:

Funny, I am just off the Allure and had no issues with MTD. I booked reservations 45 days out and I was promptly seated within 10 mins of showing up for my designated time.

Ten minutes would have been too long for me if I had a reservation.

 

[Harrisonkid]

Ever so often things need to be tweeked and maybe MTD is ready. I think it's a great offering and it supports many folks needs..on winter cruises (dark early) it's about right a bit tougher on a summer cruise but that's the beauty of cruising.. more control of your evening! 

[QTBabyNurse]

On all of our sailings except for one (when we mistakenly tried MTD), we have always chosen early dining in the main dining room. We absolutely love sitting at the same table, getting the same wait staff who get to know your likes/dislikes, dining with the same dinner mates throughout our entire trip. We have met great people and have made some wonderful friends along the way! Hubby and I dine by ourselves every single night at home. Why would we want to do the very same thing on a cruise?? Cruises are for getting outside our comfort zone and meet new people! 

 

[jean87510]

12 hours ago, Ashland said:

I have no idea why they call but they do. I have never made a reservation. Perhaps it's because we only stay in the OS that their concerned enough to call. We always assure them it's just our preference. Long time cruisers and we're done with the MDR/MTD. I wish there was an option to opt out.

We get called as well.  We are WJ dinner eaters or less and less now Specialty dining.  We are tired and sometimes just don't feel like sitting making small talk or being friends with our waiter.  Plus the specialty dining just drags at times and can be longer than land restaurants.  I did not like when WJ was closed for dinner during covid and we had to either pay for specialty or stand with masks on in line waiting to be seated in MDR.  Which was slow.

[jean87510]

1 hour ago, mets07 said:

We still prefer the flexibility of MTD and hope they continue to offer it on Royal. We don't make reservations. 

 

However, the process could be vastly improved. At minimum, the ability to do what is done on Carnival, as others mentioned, would be great....  you see the current wait time in the app and simply click to check in. It alerts you when your table is ready and indicates the table number. 

This works very well and we enjoyed it on the Magic with our kids.  But remember you have the diehards on here that lock their phones if they have them in their safes or they leave their phones at home purposely.  They refuse to use bar codes to check in.  Can you imagine them checking in to eat?  The comments would be worse than shorts in the dining room or chair hogs.

[Ashland]

5 hours ago, c-leg5 said:

I would have thought a word with your concierge/ genie prior to, or at the beginning of, sailing could have easily taken care of this. I presume they only call you once? Is this one particular ship that you sail regularly or does it happen on different ships?
 

It really doesn’t make sense and something I would communicate early on if it happens regularly. In a suite I would have thought you would have had plenty of lines of communication open to avoid this if you find it happens regularly. 

Why would I tell the SL concierge about "one" phone call. We're pretty low key cruisers and don't feel the need to make a point about much of anything. My point was they always call regardless of the ship we're on and we've been on several as recently as this month on Explorer.

[Ashland]

6 hours ago, Mum2Mercury said:

That makes no sense.  I thought lack of a reservation was their clue that you planned to eat in the Windjammer or elsewhere.

False.  I've never had a moment's trouble with My Time Dining.  We are just a couple /not a group -- perhaps that makes a difference? 

I'd assume they don't understand their options.  

 

 

 

"False"? I didn't say there was anything wrong with MTD or that we've ever had "trouble". We just now prefer the WJ. We're also just a couple.

[c-leg5]

31 minutes ago, Ashland said:

Why would I tell the SL concierge about "one" phone call. We're pretty low key cruisers and don't feel the need to make a point about much of anything. My point was they always call regardless of the ship we're on and we've been on several as recently as this month on Explorer.

That’s fine.

 

I prefer to preempt situations that have the potential to annoy. If you good with taking a phone call each time that’s your choice. You sounded like you would like to take care of it in advance. Since you are contacted in advance in a suite that sounds like the way to do just that. 

Edited March 19 by c-leg5

[c-leg5]

38 minutes ago, jean87510 said:

This works very well and we enjoyed it on the Magic with our kids.  But remember you have the diehards on here that lock their phones if they have them in their safes or they leave their phones at home purposely.  They refuse to use bar codes to check in.  Can you imagine them checking in to eat?  The comments would be worse than shorts in the dining room or chair hogs.

Surely that would be their choice? I can’t imagine that is the only way to secure a reservation or arrange a time to eat.

[Tlbecker1]

19 hours ago, Ashland said:

We only eat in the WJ and wish RCI would have the option to opt out of MTD. We always get a call asking us where we are. 

Oh no, this is why we have officially started booking MTD, because we hate the phone calls.  I was hoping that would stop the calls.

[jean87510]

1 hour ago, c-leg5 said:

Surely that would be their choice? I can’t imagine that is the only way to secure a reservation or arrange a time to eat.

unfortunately the one night, none of us had our phones handy as we wanted a phone free dinner.  My husband had to run back to the cabin for his.  So yes, on that ship, we needed it.

[ngrund]

4 hours ago, irun5k said:

Yes, we were on Celebration last year and overall this worked smoothly.  There was one little nuance that was slightly annoying...  we had early dining but there was some rule where we had to wait until after a certain time before we could go in the app to request a table at a spot like Chi Bang.  But, the virtual queue made that less of an issue.

 

Overall though we loved being able to try different restaurants for dinner w/o an upcharge.  We did the MDR a few nights and the other nights did the BBQ place, Chibang, and Emril's (rather small up charge) a couple of times.  Carnival got a lot of things right (albeit with one or two weird issues) on their Excel class ships.

Chi bang, et al are used as additional my time dining venues, so those with either early or late "traditional" dining are blocked on the app until a certain time.

 

I believe you could have inquired in person and if a table is available, you would be seated.

[c-leg5]

33 minutes ago, jean87510 said:

unfortunately the one night, none of us had our phones handy as we wanted a phone free dinner.  My husband had to run back to the cabin for his.  So yes, on that ship, we needed it.

That would be annoying.

[Tz2989]

23 hours ago, irun5k said:

Did you have a later time?  I wondered if there was just excessive demand for the 6:45 slot since that slot would capture everyone that would have taken an earlier time if they were still offered.

I had 7:15p all 3 nights.

 

It may have just been a rush of everyone when MTD first opened

[Starry Eyes]

7 hours ago, mets07 said:

We still prefer the flexibility of MTD and hope they continue to offer it on Royal. We don't make reservations. 

 

However, the process could be vastly improved. At minimum, the ability to do what is done on Carnival, as others mentioned, would be great....  you see the current wait time in the app and simply click to check in. It alerts you when your table is ready and indicates the table number. 

Yes, it would be a big improvement if we could see the wait times and request a table via the app.   Waiting for our table would be pleasant if we are sitting in a bar or one of the lounges enjoying a drink before dinner.  

[mets07]

43 minutes ago, Starry Eyes said:

Yes, it would be a big improvement if we could see the wait times and request a table via the app.   Waiting for our table would be pleasant if we are sitting in a bar or one of the lounges enjoying a drink before dinner.  

I added italics to your comment. That is exactly what we did recently on the Carnival Venezia. 

[PhillyFan33579]

On 3/18/2024 at 9:07 PM, Ashland said:

We only eat in the WJ and wish RCI would have the option to opt out of MTD. We always get a call asking us where we are. 

Who calls you? I have been on 75 cruises and on dozens of them have never stepped foot in the MDR. Frequently it’s because we bought the UDP and other times it is due to a combination of eating in a few speciality restaurants and the WJ. I have never been called asking why aren’t we in the MDR. We have never stayed in anything above a JS and I am only a D+. Maybe you are called because you stay in suites or you are a Pinnacle?