How does select dining work?

[witt]

So is it longer or shorter seating time with Select Dining? We are concerned about being able to make the shows after dinner. We have not tried Select Dining before - we always eat at the 6:00 seating as 8:30 is way too late for us. We are going to Bermuda in september and thought that was the perfect time to try Select. We don't want to feel rushed that we have to make it back to the ship for 6.

 

We were on the Summit Bermuda cruise in late May. Book select dining every night for 7 PM as we did. You will make every 9 PM show whether you sit alone or with others. We missed only one show but that was due to being too engrossed in conversation with table mates.

[New Hampshire]

Hflors, we did not request to be seated at the same table with the same waiter until after we dined the first night. We so enjoyed both the table's location and our waiter, Eladio, that we made that request. the young woman who was wonderful. She promised to do what she could to meet our request, and she did.

[kclvt]

We were on the Summit Bermuda cruise in late May. Book select dining every night for 7 PM as we did. You will make every 9 PM show whether you sit alone or with others. We missed only one show but that was due to being too engrossed in conversation with table mates.

 

Thanks - that's what I was hoping. I think 6 is too early to eat and 8:30 is too late. I was thinking more 6:30 - 7. We really enjoy the shows and didn't want to miss any. :)

[GeorgiaPeach51]

Hflors, we did not request to be seated at the same table with the same waiter until after we dined the first night. We so enjoyed both the table's location and our waiter, Eladio, that we made that request. the young woman who was wonderful. She promised to do what she could to meet our request, and she did.

 

Eladio was our waiter, too! Wasn't he wonderful? He MADE Select Dining for us and really added to our enjoyment of our cruise on the Equinox. Charming and funny and his recommendations were always right on target!

[jg51]

Thanks again, "terrierjohn."

[New Hampshire]

Georgiapeach, I loved when Eladio would point to something on the menu and say, "not so good"!!!! He was delightful. We were a group of five women on our Annual Girlfriends' Vacation and he treated us as if we were royalty!

[jagoffee]

Thanks for your info. I am sailing on Mercury and just tried to do SD. When I called the Guest relations to get a table for four at 7 pm each night I was told that I couldn't do that. they said we could get a "reservation" but they would not give us a "table" for that time. I was so confused that we switched back to traditional dining at 6 just to make sure we get a table without any problems. We just did another cruise on another cruise line and had a standing reservation each night of our cruise for the same table. It worked out very will. We were hoping to do the same on Celebrity. Do you think we could arrange it once we get on board? Or should we just stick with Traditional dining? With traditional at least we have a table.

 

Now I am a little confused about your confusion. Were you expecting to be able to make a reservations for a particular table at 7 PM each night? Were you expecting the exact same table thus the confusion?

[sodapop2]

first post, so hello. question about celebrity mercury. what's the

table for 2 situation? my husband and i are thinking about sailing

on the mercury out of baltimore, just the two of us for a much-needed

respite from family health problems. we usually sail on princess or

royal caribbean, where the buffet is always open. we need time

alone--are we going to get it on the mercury? how's anytime

dining? evening buffet? bistro? dining in cabin?

 

thanks, thanks, thanks for any advice you can offer.

[Hflors]

Now I am a little confused about your confusion. Were you expecting to be able to make a reservations for a particular table at 7 PM each night? Were you expecting the exact same table thus the confusion?

 

Yes I thought I would be able to call and order a table for the four of us at a set time same table each night. ON our last cruise we had the select it yourself time dining ( a different cruise line) The first night we went to dinner and they showed us several possible tables and we picked one out. We decided to have that table the whole cruise. It was great. 7 pm we went to dinner every night at "our" table, usless we decided to eat at a speciality resturaunt. Then we would call down and tell them that we wouldn't be needing our table for that evening. I thought this time since I knew we wanted to eat at our time and the four of us when I called reservations they said to call the guest services (I think that is the name) So I called and told them what I wanted. They said they couldn't give me a table only put in a "reservation" for a time. Sounds iffy to me so I changed back. Does this make sense? It seemed very simple to me, but the cruise line seemed to have a problem with it.

[jagoffee]

Yes I thought I would be able to call and order a table for the four of us at a set time same table each night. ON our last cruise we had the select it yourself time dining ( a different cruise line) The first night we went to dinner and they showed us several possible tables and we picked one out. We decided to have that table the whole cruise. It was great. 7 pm we went to dinner every night at "our" table, usless we decided to eat at a speciality resturaunt. Then we would call down and tell them that we wouldn't be needing our table for that evening. I thought this time since I knew we wanted to eat at our time and the four of us when I called reservations they said to call the guest services (I think that is the name) So I called and told them what I wanted. They said they couldn't give me a table only put in a "reservation" for a time. Sounds iffy to me so I changed back. Does this make sense? It seemed very simple to me, but the cruise line seemed to have a problem with it.

 

Thank you for the clarification. Your explanation makes a lot of sense. I am trying Select on my next cruise, so I was curious. It was my understanding that with Select you are not actually assigned a particular table. I understand the cruise line reluctant to do this. What cruise line did you cruise when they allowed you to do an Anytime option with an exact assigned table? I would guess that it is not their standard practice, but perhaps is something they can do to accommodate you once you are on board. I suspect they would be afraid that they table might go unused sometimes instead of by others in the Select Category.

[Lois R]

first post, so hello. question about celebrity mercury. what's the

table for 2 situation? my husband and i are thinking about sailing

on the mercury out of baltimore, just the two of us for a much-needed

respite from family health problems. we usually sail on princess or

royal caribbean, where the buffet is always open. we need time

alone--are we going to get it on the mercury? how's anytime

dining? evening buffet? bistro? dining in cabin?

 

thanks, thanks, thanks for any advice you can offer.

 

Hi and welcome to Cruise Critic:)

Are you going to get alone time? Sure, if that is what you prefer:)

 

Next, the ship has a main dining room and no, the buffet is not

always open. Breakfast and lunch it is available. For dinner, Mercury

as what is called "Alternative Dining".....it is set up near the buffet

but you are served on linen, by wait staff in training off a menu.

It is a more casual atmosphere than the main dining room.

They also ask you make a reservation but you can do it the same day.

And they ask for a 2.00 gratuity per person as the wait staff is

in training.

 

Yes, you can order room service for dinner as well.

 

Mercury is an older (but wonderful) ship. She does not have the

Specialty restaurants as do the other ships. There is a Cova Cafe

but it is not a "Bistro"...its a lovely area where they serve pastries

in the morning and sweets and savories in the afternoons. They

have coffees/teas and adult beverages there as well.

 

As for Select Dining, maybe someone who has done it can help you

with that answer.

 

She is lovely ship and will be leaving the fleet after her Feb 14th

sailing:(

Hope you enjoy your cruise:)

[fleckle]

They don't like to promise a specific table because they don't want to disappoint you if the table you want is not available when you arrive. I would describe Select dining as Flexible dining.

 

It is entirely possible that you may arrive at 7 and immediately be seated at the table of your choice, but there is no way of predicting in advance for sure from one night to the next.

 

We had a somewhat similar situation where they usually seated us at the same table, but not always. If the people who started eating at 6 p.m. were not finished when we arrived, we hardly expected the dining room staff to kick them out in order to give the table to us. Instead, they would offer us the choice of waiting or being seated at a different (first available) table. It seemed like a very sensible and efficient system to us.

 

I agree with the others that those who want to be assured of always having the same table at the same time every night are better off choosing traditional dining.

[Hflors]

Thank you for the clarification. Your explanation makes a lot of sense. I am trying Select on my next cruise, so I was curious. It was my understanding that with Select you are not actually assigned a particular table. I understand the cruise line reluctant to do this. What cruise line did you cruise when they allowed you to do an Anytime option with an exact assigned table? I would guess that it is not their standard practice, but perhaps is something they can do to accommodate you once you are on board. I suspect they would be afraid that they table might go unused sometimes instead of by others in the Select Category.

 

We cruised on HAL. It wasn't a problem. In fact my bil actually went to the dining room and picked out the specific table. The matr'e D was there and also the section officer. From the first night on that table was ours at 7pm, like I said unless we called down and told them we were going to eat elsewhere. I think if we can't select our table and time we will just stay with the traditional dining.

[jagoffee]

We cruised on HAL. It wasn't a problem. In fact my bil actually went to the dining room and picked out the specific table. The matr'e D was there and also the section officer. From the first night on that table was ours at 7pm, like I said unless we called down and told them we were going to eat elsewhere. I think if we can't select our table and time we will just stay with the traditional dining.

 

Thanks, I have heard of people doing something similiar on Princess. I have also read reports of people being refused. I suspect that you might be able to do it on Celebrity if you waited until you arrived, but it is not worth the risk.

 

Good choice. If one wants the same table and staff traditional is the best way.

[tennisbets]

I suspect select dining is becoming more popular, particularly on the European cruises where the fixed dining is either too early (6:15) or too late (8:45) for many Americans. We tried 3 months prior to our 6/4 sailing on the Equinox to switch to select from late seating (once I realized how "late", late was) and were told both by the TA and Celebrity, when I called directly, that this option was full. Asked about a waiting list and was told there wasn't one. The Celebrity rep suggested I board the ship as early as possible, head directly to the select dining room and request the change, which I did.

 

The woman at the desk took my name and cabin number, and started a list, on which I was the first name. She said I would hear back within 24 hours if I could be switched. We did specialty dining the first night. The next day, I had a message on my room phone that they could not honor my request for select dining. I wasn't happy.

 

I went directly to the dining room (it was around 5 o'clock) and asked to speak with the Maitre D'. Was told he was busy, to come back in 15 minutes, which I did. Then I was made to continue waiting, another 10 minutes, while someone checked to see if he would speak with me. I was trying hard to keep my cool. Finally, he appeared and started addressing the waiters in the room when he noticed I was standing there listening and realized I had been ignored.

 

He was pleasant enough, but reluctant to give me a spot. I couldn't believe this was so difficult. I finally explained that I couldn't possibly wait until 8:45 to eat dinner each night as I have low blood sugar (true) and usually eat at least an hour earlier at home. He tried to get me to take the early seating, and show up half an hour late each night (6:45) but that seemed like we would be inconveniencing anyone else at our table, not to mention the wait staff. I told him we would eat alone, or with others, whatever worked. He said it would work best if we promised to wait until closer to 8 pm to arrive so that's what we did.

 

We were seating within a minute or two almost every night, sometimes alone, sometimes with others, but I always noticed there were tables available. I also noticed the same large groups seated at the same tables around the same time every night so I am guessing they were able to "reserve" their tables. We had different waiters most nights but they were all fine. Most important to us was being able to eat when it suited us, and we were able to do that. Compared to Princess and HAL, which seem to favor this type of dining, I don't think Celebrity wants to expand select dining. It does feel like more of a comprimise, something they know they have to offer but haven't really embraced. I know many long time Celebrity cruisers seem to prefer fixed seating. I enjoy it too, just not at the times it was offered on this cruise. It will be intersting to follow this option as it becomes ever more popular and see if they work out the kinks.

[jg51]

Thank you, "tennisbets," for your warning of potential difficulties that I may face.

[jg51]

I thought it over, "tennisbets," and decided to phone "X" today, as I am less than 3.5 months away from sailing.

 

Rather than risk great disappointment on Embarkation Day, I switched today from the 8:45 seating to "X Select Dining" without any difficulty. (That is, there was no waiting list.) The planner warned me of what I already knew -- that I would have $11.50 daily gratuities added to my balance (for pre-payment in August).

 

Thanks again, for helping me to mull over the possibilities.