Select Dining Reservations--When Can You Make Them?

[cluso]

Tried the search function and nothing was easily found...(at least by me :rolleyes:)

 

If you have Select Dining, how soon can you make reservations online on the Celebrity site? I am assuming you must have made final payment so the dining room doesn't get a lot of false reservations.

[Sillyjilly]

Tried the search function and nothing was easily found...(at least by me :rolleyes:)

 

If you have Select Dining, how soon can you make reservations online on the Celebrity site? I am assuming you must have made final payment so the dining room doesn't get a lot of false reservations.

 

I'm pretty sure you can't make them until you board. I believe only the specialty dining can be made in advance.

[cluso]

I was able to make Select dining reservations online last year--however, we were way past final payment when we booked the cruise. With our present booking, I don't have online access to Select reservations (it appears), but we are 6 weeks before final payment. Just wondering if I need to chill out until final payment before I try to do that.

[chester32]

Tried the search function and nothing was easily found...(at least by me :rolleyes:)

 

If you have Select Dining, how soon can you make reservations online on the Celebrity site? I am assuming you must have made final payment so the dining room doesn't get a lot of false reservations.

Try this

Go to My Celebrity sign in enter username /password

Click on Manage my Reservation

Click View Reservation

Click View on Dining Preference's

Check the Select Dining then click reserve now

A box will come up Click Reserve now

From there you can reserve your times

[virginialucy]

You can make Select Dining reservations before final payment. If the above instructions don't work, try this:

 

Log in to My Celebrity

Click on Manage Reservation

Click on the Specialty Dining tab near the top of the page

On the upper right there will be a box called Your Dining Reservations. Click on either the x Awaiting Payment or x Purchased link.

You are now on the My Cruise Extras page. On the upper right there is a drop-down menu labeled Add More. Open the menu and select Celebrity Select Dining and click Go. From here you should be able to make reservations.

[catch-a-ray]

In was able to make reservations yesterday. Our cruise is next week. I received an email confirmation already. I only booked the first night, but was impressed to get the confirmation.

[upwarduk]

I made my Select Dining reservations approx 4 weeks before we sailed, for 7.15 pm every night ( early sitting is too early & late is too late)

I also tried to make them for a couple from Canada that we were meeting on the ship.

However I couldn't do theirs ,as 'we were paying in another currency, ' even though we didn't have to pay- it was Select dining, not Speciality.:eek:

I did however have our reservations linked, which meant that we were allocated a table together.

We ended up having the same Maitre'D every night, which was important to me, I pre- order my meals, as I have a Lactose sensitivity.

Edited February 10, 2014 by upwarduk

[cluso]

I was able to make the selections by the second method. In the first method, the Select Dining is already checked and it would not let me go farther.

[cruisegirl1]

Don’t worry about reservations. We pre made a reservation for EVERY night of our cruise and every night we waited in the same line to be seated as those without reservations. Reservations did NOT matter.

 

We had 8:00 reservations. In order to be seated near 8 PM – we had to leave the show at 7:40. If we arrived at 8:00, we were seated closer to 8:20 – 8:30.

 

Enjoy M

[cluso]

Last October we were on the Infinity and they had two separate lines for Select Dining-With and Without Reservations. We never had to wait on the nights that we had reservations. Same with the Connie this past December.

[cruisegirl1]

Last October we were on the Infinity and they had two separate lines for Select Dining-With and Without Reservations. We never had to wait on the nights that we had reservations. Same with the Connie this past December.

 

 

Well - that would have been great and quite frankly, what I expected. There was a signpost for a reservations line , but it was always turned around and facing the wall. So, one line! We were on the Eclipse this past Dec 28-Jan 11.

M

[K.T.B.]

In was able to make reservations yesterday. Our cruise is next week. I received an email confirmation already. I only booked the first night, but was impressed to get the confirmation.

 

For the first night you should have waited. They usually have deals once you get on board. Most of the time it's 20% off.

[cluso]

For the first night you should have waited. They usually have deals once you get on board. Most of the time it's 20% off.

 

Hi Kevin--we are talking about Select Dining--which is FREE :D. You are thinking of Specialty Dining.

[downtowncanada]

Does anyone know if you can switch from traditional dining to select dining once onboard on the first day by visiting the MDR dining manager? We've made a request for a specific table configuration, but if it's not available when we arrive, will they let us just switch to anytime?

[upwarduk]

Does anyone know if you can switch from traditional dining to select dining once onboard on the first day by visiting the MDR dining manager? We've made a request for a specific table configuration, but if it's not available when we arrive, will they let us just switch to anytime?

 

It depends whether Select is fully booked.

On Century 2 years ago there were announcements to say don't ask for Select, it is fully booked.

[junetraveler2014]

Don’t worry about reservations. We pre made a reservation for EVERY night of our cruise and every night we waited in the same line to be seated as those without reservations. Reservations did NOT matter.

 

We had 8:00 reservations. In order to be seated near 8 PM – we had to leave the show at 7:40. If we arrived at 8:00, we were seated closer to 8:20 – 8:30.

 

Enjoy M

Cruisegirl1 is correct. You still have to wait for a table to free up. Sometimes you get there and you are ushered in, sometimes you wait 15 minutes. Enjoy your cruise

[cluso]

Does anyone know if you can switch from traditional dining to select dining once onboard on the first day by visiting the MDR dining manager? We've made a request for a specific table configuration, but if it's not available when we arrive, will they let us just switch to anytime?

 

Also, remember you have to prepay your gratuities in order to get Select Dining.

[Shir Hayam]

How select dining works seems to depend on the individual ship. We were with a group of six on the Summit in December. We made reservations for all of us each morning for the time we wished (not 7-7:30) and after the first night requested the same table with the same staff each night. There were separate lines for those with and without reservations. We never had to wait. "Our" table was always waiting for us.

 

Sheila

[K.T.B.]

Hi Kevin--we are talking about Select Dining--which is FREE :D. You are thinking of Specialty Dining.

 

:o

 

Oops?

 

[Gracie115]

Cruisegirl1 is correct. You still have to wait for a table to free up. Sometimes you get there and you are ushered in, sometimes you wait 15 minutes. Enjoy your cruise

 

That was our experience too on Connie last April....it was SO crowded at the times for our reservation that we watched the line with "no reservations" get seated much faster than ours. We waited over 30 minutes once, and then were seated at a table in the hallway just inside the MDR, a really lousy location. It was the only disappointment about our Connie cruise and when we went back on her this past December we were in AQ and eating in Blu which was wonderful and we never waited for a table.....even though we eat at prime dinner time(6:30-7PM)....can't say I'm a fan of X's handling of Select Dining at all....:rolleyes:

[Swinden]

Cruisegirl1 is correct. You still have to wait for a table to free up. Sometimes you get there and you are ushered in, sometimes you wait 15 minutes. Enjoy your cruise

 

With a cocktail in hand....who cares if you have to wait 15 to 20 minutes.

[Gracie115]

With a cocktail in hand....who cares if you have to wait 15 to 20 minutes.

 

It's not a big deal...EXCEPT that if you make reservations for a specific time the table should be available...other wise, why bother making the reservations? If I were to do Select again I certainly wouldn't bother.....

 

ALSO not everyone DOES have a cocktail in their hands(yeah, I do....but just saying....lol):)

[Fouremco]

It's not a big deal...EXCEPT that if you make reservations for a specific time the table should be available...other wise, why bother making the reservations? If I were to do Select again I certainly wouldn't bother.....

 

ALSO not everyone DOES have a cocktail in their hands(yeah, I do....but just saying....lol):)

The problem is that some passengers will have a long and leisurely meal, ordering every course after deliberating over the menu for a lengthy period, then lingering over dessert before chatting over coffee and a brandy. Or two. Dining room staff can't turf them out, as much as they'd like to at times! :) Reservation times are based on table turnover and some nights are just plain S-L-O-O-O-W-E-R than normal.

[Gracie115]

The problem is that some passengers will have a long and leisurely meal, ordering every course after deliberating over the menu for a lengthy period, then lingering over dessert before chatting over coffee and a brandy. Or two. Dining room staff can't turf them out, as much as they'd like to at times! :) Reservation times are based on table turnover and some nights are just plain S-L-O-O-O-W-E-R than normal.

 

I'm aware of all that since I'm in the business...BUT this happened 4 out of 5 nights(the other night we went to a spec. rest.) so that's more than a few people taking too long....that's just not good planning....

 

Don't misunderstand....while I found it mildly annoying it certainly didn't affect our overall enjoyment.....just funny that Royal seems to handle "My Time Dining" better than X does their "Select Dining" we've used "My Time" on Royal several times and LOVE it, never had waits and always stayed in same section with same servers....that was also not true with X....but we will book AQ when we can in the future so it won't be an issue...

[4cats4me]

Celebrity's handling of Select sounds just like Princess's Anytime dining:rolleyes:

My Time on RCCL worked beautifully. The 8 of us liked our table the first evening and requested it every night thereafter, so it was just like traditional dining.

Edited February 11, 2014 by 4cats4me