New to RCCL and am completely confused, what are all these different dining plans?

[dsnygirl2006]

I have been on 3 disney cruises and think we are gonna give Royal a try, this all seems so different from disney, there are all these different kinds of dining times and packages available, with Disney its just early or late seating? can anyone explain this to me?
Thanks

 

[KerryMihalik]

Royal has 3 dining times you can choose on most of their ships, Main, Late and My Time. The new ships coming out, Anthem and Quantum have what's called Dynamic Dining, which will be rolled out eventually to all of their ships.

Main and Late dining are the same that you have on Disney, except that you don't change dining rooms. My Time dining you get to choose what time you wish to dine each night in the dining room. This can be set up online with the Cruise Planner, or you can make reservations once onboard.

With Dynamic Dining, there are no set dining times. You get to choose from many onboard dining options, some are included and some are an extra charge. You make reservations prior to the cruise for whichever dining venue you would like for that night.

 

[ronandannette]

Many of the ships also have one or more "specialty" restaurants that are exactly like going to a restaurant on land. You make a reservation and pay for the meal either al a carte or with a flat fee. On those nights you would simply not go to your assigned dining time in the MDR. This is totally optional though - you don't have to every pay extra for any meal if you don't want to. Some of the "casual dining" (think counter-service) also will have fees for certain items.

If you're unclear on how it works I'd recommend sticking to traditional dining at a set time in the MDR and going to the buffet for breakfast and lunch. Easy-peasy.

 

[bumbershoot]

There's also My Family Time dining, which is the early seating. If you have kids and you want to eat early AND you want them to be taken to the kid's clubs once they are done (if the kids eat fast and then want to leave the table), sign up for that.

With MyTime you have to prepay gratuities, but with MyFamilyTime you don't.

 

[vacation_junkie]

I have been on 3 disney cruises and think we are gonna give Royal a try, this all seems so different from disney, there are all these different kinds of dining times and packages available, with Disney its just early or late seating? can anyone explain this to me?
Thanks

A proper answer will depend on what ship you are on. Dining varies from Ship to Ship.

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

Royal is also in the process of abandoning the MDR on some ships. This morning I booked Allure for May 2016, and they told me that she will not have the MDR when we sail her. It will be replaced by at least 3 no-fee restaurants and the entire ship will be Dynamic Dining like Quantum is rolling out with.

 

[JohnCruiser]

I hear Quantum of the seas has new dining options, not traditional dining. This will make it even better (or worse, depending on how you view it).

 

[erogers]

I'm in the same position as the OP...been on a couple Disney cruises and I'm so confused by RC!
A family member is taking the entire extended family on a RC cruise over Christmas (Allure of the Seas). We booked kind of late and have late dining. What are the chances of getting main seating? I'm thinking for a large group our chances are slim, but I really have no idea. Anybody have any advice? With a group this large, dinner is really the only thing we'll all be doing together, but late dining is not going to work out the best for our 2 y.o. and is not the first choice for some older members of the group.

 

[vacation_junkie]

I'm in the same position as the OP...been on a couple Disney cruises and I'm so confused by RC!
A family member is taking the entire extended family on a RC cruise over Christmas (Allure of the Seas). We booked kind of late and have late dining. What are the chances of getting main seating? I'm thinking for a large group our chances are slim, but I really have no idea. Anybody have any advice? With a group this large, dinner is really the only thing we'll all be doing together, but late dining is not going to work out the best for our 2 y.o. and is not the first choice for some older members of the group.

Call and asked to be switched to My Time Dining or Family Time Dining. Preferably My Family Time dining.

When you book generally late dining is the only traditional option that comes up.

Let them know that there is a young child in your party and you would prefer the My Family time dining. Which is the early sitting time.

 

[Chris and Pooh]

My wife and i have always used MTD and found it much more flexible and have never had a problem with seating, plus you get to meet more people as there are generally different passengers at you table each night, conversely you will not be lumbered with passengers who you may not get on with

 

[gigi1313]

Do all MDR tables have to share with strangers? We are a party of four or five (still undecided) and prefer to sit by ourselves.

 

[sam_gordon]

Do all MDR tables have to share with strangers? We are a party of four or five (still undecided) and prefer to sit by ourselves.

We've used MTD on our last two cruises (first one DW & I, the second one with the entire family). We were asked if we wanted to sit with others. I'm not sure how it works if you're doing the early/late seating. Maybe stop by the dining room once on board and make your request known.

 

[Frozen2014]

Royal is also in the process of abandoning the MDR on some ships. This morning I booked Allure for May 2016, and they told me that she will not have the MDR when we sail her. It will be replaced by at least 3 no-fee restaurants and the entire ship will be Dynamic Dining like Quantum is rolling out with.

This is the plan, but with all the complaints, it may not be 100%. The transfer over to DD on Oasis was "postponed". We are booked April 2016 so similar to you and wonder if we'll actually end up with Dynamic Dining or My Time / Traditional. Guess we'll have to see which. Currently my reservation shows My Time.

PS - To clarify, for Dynamic Dining, the menu doesn't change. It's like booking the same restaurant - Allure/Oasis will have 3 complimentary restaurants to choose from if they go ahead and Quantam has 4 or 5 (not sure offhand but know its more than 3)

 

[DannyDisneyFreak]

There's also My Family Time dining, which is the early seating. If you have kids and you want to eat early AND you want them to be taken to the kid's clubs once they are done (if the kids eat fast and then want to leave the table), sign up for that. With MyTime you have to prepay gratuities, but with MyFamilyTime you don't.

How do you pay gratuities on RC in general? Is it like Disney at all or totally different?

 

[DannyDisneyFreak]

So with MyTime can you make your reservations on that day or does it have to be in advance? And if you have a set early or late time and you miss it or want to eat early on that day can you change?

 

[holula]

How do you pay gratuities on RC in general? Is it like Disney at all or totally different?

If you have My Time Dining they are paid before the cruise. If you have traditional dining they are added to your account each day. So it's very similar with traditional dining.

 

[mikethedigiartist]

So with MyTime can you make your reservations on that day or does it have to be in advance? And if you have a set early or late time and you miss it or want to eat early on that day can you change?

You can make a reservation in advance (up to 45 days before the sail date if I'm not mistaken). But you don't have to make a reservation in advance. They also allow you to walk up and get a table whenever you are ready without a reservation during dinner hours. The only catch with that is you might have to wait for a table if none are available.

Personally we really like My Time dining for our family. Here is our strategy: pick a time we like to eat and make a reservation in advance for the same time each night. This makes it easy for us to remember. If we want to change the time later we can, but at least we know there will be no wait if we arrive for our reservation. Also, we have been late to our reservation by half and hour and had no trouble being seated. The staff has usually been accommodating and formal nights seem to be the times when lines form to be seated, otherwise everything is quite speedy.

 

[Frozen2014]

You can make a reservation in advance (up to 45 days before the sail date if I'm not mistaken). But you don't have to make a reservation in advance. They also allow you to walk up and get a table whenever you are ready without a reservation during dinner hours. The only catch with that is you might have to wait for a table if none are available.

Personally we really like My Time dining for our family. Here is our strategy: pick a time we like to eat and make a reservation in advance for the same time each night. This makes it easy for us to remember. If we want to change the time later we can, but at least we know there will be no wait if we arrive for our reservation. Also, we have been late to our reservation by half and hour and had no trouble being seated. The staff has usually been accommodating and formal nights seem to be the times when lines form to be seated, otherwise everything is quite speedy.

I've heard that's a good strategy if you want to try and still get the same waiter with MTD (but no guarantee).
We'll be using MTD too, but that's more because we need to book shows on Allure cruise. The show times are all over the place (as opposed to always being at 8pm at night) and with our kids, we can't be booking later shows every night (maybe once we can get away with a 9pm show).

 

[sam_gordon]

I've heard that's a good strategy if you want to try and still get the same waiter with MTD (but no guarantee).
We'll be using MTD too, but that's more because we need to book shows on Allure cruise. The show times are all over the place (as opposed to always being at 8pm at night) and with our kids, we can't be booking later shows every night (maybe once we can get away with a 9pm show).

There should be two show times for the 'main' shows. However, we did MTD on Freedom and had times that varied from 5:30-7p and had the same table and waiter every night.

 

[Asc341]

RC newbie here sailing on the Navigator in November. With MTD, are you seated with other people? If we want to avoid that, what's the best eating strategy? We're only a party of two.