Select Dining...How does it work?

[Aunty KK]

We are taking our first Celebrity cruise on the Silhouette in Concierge class in January and have the Select dining option. In the online check in section there is a place to make a reservation for Select dining..can you book specific times and table size (table for 2) or is this done once on board the ship?

The online travel agent we dealt with seemed to indicate Concierge class has a concierge who will assist with reservations..is this correct?

 

Any suggestions or explanations would be appreciated.

Thanks.

[nycmode]

If you choose select dining you can go eat whenever you want. I know on the website there are options to make reservations but that's really not important.

 

My wife and I made a few reservations at 6pm just for the heck of it, but on a few occasions we showed up late and it really didn't matter. When you show up to the hostess/host, just tell them your room number. They will see you are on select dining and just seat you then and there. The reservation times really don't apply much to select dining. We always got a seat for 2 whenever we showed up.

[Lsimon]

There is another thread on the subject of the reservations and, at least to me, it is very unclear if an advance reservation does anything for you or not. If you know for certain then when you want to dine on a given night then go ahead and make them. But in most cases my experience is that you can get seated pretty quickly just walking up except for a couple peak times (like around 7PM), and even then the wait isn't long. This is especially true if you are a small group (2 or 4 people). Larger groups could take a while longer as there are fewer large tables (8 to 10 or more) and while you can sit a small group at a large table you obviously can't do the reverse. I don't think any actual table assignments are made until you actually check in with a possible exception being if you request a specific table or waiter - something that can only be requested on board and which they are sometimes able to fulfill and sometimes not.

 

If you want to make reservations on board you can just stop by the select dining check-in a bit in advance and make them.

 

The on board concierge doesn't do things like make reservations for concierge class cabins and even if they did it would be far easier just to make your own. Their primary function is selling added services, like special parties and arraignments on the ship or on shore.

[Aunty KK]

Thanks so much for your help. Although not our first cruise, it is our first with Celebrity and am trying to learn the ropes.:)

Looking forward to our trip.

[ghstudio]

We now book Select dining on all celebrity cruises...it works very well. You can make reservations on Celebrity's web site..the same way you can book excursions. Although there is seldom a line, the question I would ask is why wouldn't you make reservations if you generally eat at the same time each day....which is what we do since we eat at about 7 each day at home. They don't actually hold tables for reservations...but having a reservation allows you to move ahead of any line if there is a group without reservations. Even with a reservation, we usually just wait in line, but on one or two nights there was a longer line so we did excercise our "reservation" and move up in the queue.

[Freecall]

In short it works just like a land based restaurant except that you are guaranteed a seat at some point. In my experience the following is true :

 

Typical wait 30 seconds (just enough to say good evening and give your cabin number)

 

About 30% of the time wait is about 5-10 mins and often you can go and sit down somewhere and they will come and find you.

 

Longest wait ever - about 20 mins with lots of apologies for keeping us waiting.

 

Overall it works pretty well.

 

.

[Joanie510]

Just returned from Silhouette. Hubby and I had select dining which was perfect for us. We had dinner whenever we felt like it; no lines, no wait, etc. The hostess in the dining room always asked us if we wanted to dine alone or with other guests. We did 50/50. You do not have to make reservations with select dining--unncessary. We would definitely go this route again. Plus, your tips are prepaid. We also dined at Murano one night and loved it. We went to a winetasting that afternoon and received a 20% off coupon which we used that night for Murano. You will not be disappointed.