Millennium Open Dining

[Amishcountry]

WE just booked a cruise to Alaska May 2017 on the Millennium, and our TA could only get us in the late seating for dinner, as the 1st seating is already full! We are wait listed for Open Dining.

Can anybody explain how Open Dining worked for you, and if you liked it? Can we get a reserved time? This is new to me! Thanks for any input!

[lisalovlee33]

Open dining is wonderful. If you go early, when they open, obviously you're almost garanteed a seat. If you like eating at different hours, which is the whole point of open dining, you'll not have much of a problem either. The longest we wait is about 20 mins, usually 10 or less even when we picked 7 - 730 ish. You'll get a beeper. What we do if 10 mins before we want to eat we go get the beeper and will the table will be ready in no time.

[CruisersTimesThree]

WE just booked a cruise to Alaska May 2017 on the Millennium, and our TA could only get us in the late seating for dinner, as the 1st seating is already full! We are wait listed for Open Dining.

Can anybody explain how Open Dining worked for you, and if you liked it? Can we get a reserved time? This is new to me! Thanks for any input!

 

I was very happy with Select dining on my previous 2 cruises on the Summit.

We typically dined anywhere between 7:30-8:30 and maybe one of two times had a less then 10 min wait.

No problem though, CellarMasters was right outside the dining venue, so it was nice to sit with a glass of wine while waiting.

You can make reservations for a specific time if that's what you prefer, night by night, or the same time the entire cruise.

Sailing again in August on the Summit, but will be dining in Luminae.

Hope it runs as smoothly as the Select dining room!

[dkjretired]

It's also especially good in Alaska because of the late shore hours of some of the excursions and activities.

[Amishcountry]

Thank you for the replies! From the sound of it, Select might be the way to go

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[fleckle]

It's also especially good in Alaska because of the late shore hours of some of the excursions and activities.

..... and also because on Alaska cruises your ship may be sailing through some of the most scenic areas right at your scheduled dinner time.

 

I remember when we cruised through Snow Passage, out on the open deck with the ship's naturalist, watching humpbacks bubble net feeding. Many passengers missed it because they were in the dining room eating as it was their scheduled dinner time.

 

 

If you ask the ship naturalists each day, they will let you know the best places and times to be out on deck for the likelihood of seeing wildlife or the most spectacular scenery.

 

Even on a ship that repeats the same itinerary week after week, it may not always travel the same route each time.

Also the time of day that the ship reaches a particular location can vary from one trip to the next. So it is not something that we can plan for with precision in advance.

 

 

With Select dining, you have the freedom of showing up for dinner earlier or later each day, as you wish without being tied to a reserved time.

 

 

But there are some people who do prefer to eat dinner at the same time every day, or need to do so for health reasons.

 

 

Edited April 23, 2016 by fleckle

[Amishcountry]

Found out today we got Select Dining After reading all the replies, I am very happy ! Thanks again! One more question. I was told by our TA that Select Diners get seated on the second floor of the MDR. Is that true?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[dkjretired]

Found out today we got Select Dining After reading all the replies, I am very happy ! Thanks again! One more question. I was told by our TA that Select Diners get seated on the second floor of the MDR. Is that true?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

 

Yes, separate entry into the Select area, two lines one for those with reservations, one for those without.