? about Select Dining

[Az's Cruising Nana]

On our upcoming cruise we are traveling with our friends. We have decided to try select dining. I am a little unclear as to how we will get seated together with our friends. Do we just both sign up for the same times and then show up to be seated and ask for a table for four??? Is it possible to link our reservations like we do when using conventional dining????

Thanks,

Sue

[fleckle]

It works just like going to dinner with friends at a restaurant on land. You can make a reservation for four in advance. Or you can just show up and request a table for four without a reservation.

 

You may be seated right away, even without a reservation, or you may need to wait a while, depending on how busy they happen to be at the time you arrive.

[getoffutt]

We are scheduled on the 1/15 Eclipse. I have select dining right now but have read on other threads that the service is not as good in the MDR for this. We are thinking about changing to the 6 p.m. in order to have better service. Any thoughts?

[backyardponder]

We are scheduled on the 1/15 Eclipse. I have select dining right now but have read on other threads that the service is not as good in the MDR for this. We are thinking about changing to the 6 p.m. in order to have better service. Any thoughts?

 

We prefer assigned dining time for a number of reasons...

 

The waiter gets to know you and your preferences. For example, on a past cruise a friend of ours drinks a lot of diet coke and was on the soft drink plan. He drank a glass as soon as he sat down and immediately wanted a second glass. After the waiter realized this there was always a glass of diet coke at our friend's seat plus another sitting on the waiter's serving area for when it was needed. There's lots of other little things which the waiter learns too.

 

By always sitting with the same folks at our prefered table of 8, you make new friends, some which can be lasting friendships. This past summer we traveled to England and stayed with a couple we had met a few years before. That same couple had come to visit us as well.

 

Also, you don't have to wait in line for your table. After the first night you know exactly where to go.

 

Of course, there are disadvantages of assigned tables. You loose the flexibility of deciding when you want to eat on different nights. You might be stuck with folks you don't like at your table (you can request a change). Some folks feel it is appropriate to give an extra end of trip tip to the waiter (which I do) if the service exceeds expectations.

 

Good luck with your decision.

 

John

[Az's Cruising Nana]

We have decided on select due to our cruise being port intensive. We sail most days at 6:00. We want the luxury of not having to rush right to the dining room and not eating late and going right to bed.

 

I am hoping if we make reservations we will not be waiting for a table. Hopefully our reservations will be at the same time each night. Thanks Fleckle!

 

Sue

[cruiserjt]

We just returned yesterday - had a family of four for Select Dining. After the second night we had the same table each time. Merwyn and Fabian were AWESOME. It was as though we had assigned seating. They knew our likes and dislikes and made recommendations based on what we had previously. The only difference - be it good or bad - they seemed to not include the Select section with the Baked Alaska parade - we felt somewhat left out. Also - photographers only came through twice. Like I said these could be considered a good thing. My greatest recommendation is to request a square table for a party of four. They have some small round tables that are very crowded when you are seated (especially if you double up on an entree!) Once that request was made - it was met every night. By the second week - we didn't even have to tell them our room number - ALSO - no need for reservations - over Christmas week with a crowded ship - we never had to wait for our table. We dined between 6:30 and 7:15 every night.

[radsailor]

We did select for the first time last August and loved it. We have booked it again for our May TA cruise. We never made a reservation and never had to wait for a table. We generally sat in the same area of the MDR so we did get to know several of the waiters which was nice. It was also nice to get to meet a variety of people. Sometimes we sat alone with just the 2 of us which was also nice on some nights.

[Fishndawg]

What ship were you on? Seems you had a better experience than many reported.

[radsailor]

We were on the Constellation.

[FloatSomeMore]

We also had great experiences with Select Dining. We sailed the Solstice in July and loved the flexibility of choosing our dining time versus a specific time. We have tried early and late dining times and neither time works well for us. With Select, we never waited, and our service was good and sometimes was great. We ate at different tables every night. Almost always with other couples who had just been seated also but also by ourselves. We chose Select for our upcoming 01/17 cruise.:)