Dine Anytime vs. Assigned Time dining

[marthatravels]

Wonder if anyone would like to comment on Dine Anytime vs. assigned time dining on Celebrity? We have done a dine anytime on other cruise lines but not on Celebrity yet and are on the Equinox on September 7th.

 

Thanks for the information.

[mom says]

I don't understand the question. What information are you looking for?

 

Traditional dining has two fixed seatings for dinner. Any time dining is up to you. You can either reserve a specific time each night, or simply show up at any time during the dinner period and be given the next available table.

Edited July 29, 2016 by mom says

[neverbeenhere]

Here are my comments. Dine Anytime is called Select Dining. assigned time dining is called Traditional Dining.

[dkjretired]

Wonder if anyone would like to comment on Dine Anytime vs. assigned time dining on Celebrity? We have done a dine anytime on other cruise lines but not on Celebrity yet and are on the Equinox on September 7th.

 

Thanks for the information.

 

Really a personal preference, we have done Select dining the past few times and probably will not do traditional in the future. I like the flexibility of going when we want, to me that's the most important aspect. Many like traditional because they like to sit with other people and have the same wait staff each night. You can with with others in Select but generally only the same people for one night. Any questions please feel free to ask.

 

By the way, Select has become so popular that they recently switched the floors for the two types of dining. Select is now on the bottom of the two floor dining room because there are more tables. Traditional is upstairs.

Edited July 29, 2016 by dkjretired

[marthatravels]

I was wondering if anyone had a comment about using the anytime dining vs. assigned. On one ship we waited a very long time for table space to open up for anytime dining. On another ship we sat down immediately when we arrived....

While anytime dining is an option, some lines rather discourage it so I was looking for anyone's experience with it on Celebrity.

[marthatravels]

Thanks Don....that was what I was looking for. As I said above some lines seem to be discouraging Select Dining. We prefer it...will call Celebrity back and go with Select.

[wallie5446]

Wonder if anyone would like to comment on Dine Anytime vs. assigned time dining on Celebrity? We have done a dine anytime on other cruise lines but not on Celebrity yet and are on the Equinox on September 7th.

 

Thanks for the information.

 

We have done it both ways depending on the port stops on the sailing.

Personal choice, one is no different from the other.

 

FYI: If you book an Aqua cabin, Blu is select anytime as is Luminae if booked into a suite.

Edited July 29, 2016 by wallie5446

[WestCoastFlyer]

I am certain that you will find plenty of differing opinions about traditional vs select. Here are ours.

 

We normally take traditional. Why? We like having the same servers, they get to know what we like and what we don't. We typically travel with a few people we know so we all have a table together. We never wait for a table - we have the same table every night at 6p or 8p.

 

What don't we like - we eat at the same time every night 6p or 8p. It's not an either 6p or 8p - you pick one time for the entire trip. Depending on the itinerary, you might not get back onto the ship until 5:30p or 6:00p and rushing to dinner at 6:00p is an issue and so is waiting until 8:00p. I'll add that we are fixing this by slowing down. Done are the death march 8 or 9 hour long tours that we come back exhausted from. We see a little of the town, take shorter excursions, and relax more on the ship in the afternoons.

 

Our thoughts about select dining - we see lots of people in line waiting for a table. Some with and some without a reservation. We never had any success of being able to pick a time, say 7:00 pm, every night at the start of the cruise. The response was either that it wasn't available or we needed to just show up and wait or if we got it one night they wouldn't take any reservation for anything other than the next night. I have always suspected that we were going about this wrong and there was a better way. I just don't know what that is and I don't like to stand and wait for a table when I'm on vacation - I would like to be able to make a reservation for every night in advance and have my table ready - some will say the definition of that is traditional dining. I say why can't I have 7:00 pm every night - I'm not cruising on Carnival.

 

Just our thoughts

[Kartgv]

On the Solstice in January in Select Dining, the first night at about 7:30pm we were seated at a nice window table for 2 with a great wait staff. After dinner, our waiter came to our table and said that if we were happy with the experience and would like to dine in his section at the same time each night, he would make it happen! We quickly took him up on the offer and it worked beautifully. We had to wait about 15 minutes a couple of nights, but that didn't bother us. The tables for 2 are very close, so we got to know several different couples who were also seated in the same area. A couple of nights when we had other plans, we let our waiter know the night before.

 

No guarantees that it will work the same for all ships/all wait staff, but if you find a good spot, ask your waiter.

[wallie5446]

 

I say why can't I have 7:00 pm every night - I'm not cruising on Carnival.

 

s

 

And if 2000 of your fellow passenger wanted to do the same thing? How is this done with an 800 seat MDR? Math, x number of tables = x number of people that can dine at the same time.

[WestCoastFlyer]

And if 2000 of your fellow passenger wanted to do the same thing? How is this done with an 800 seat MDR? Math, x number of tables = x number of people that can dine at the same time.

 

You are absolutely correct. Celebrity would have to completely revamp the dining options (more of them) and process to get reservations.

 

Yes, I might not get 7:00 pm exactly, but if I could make online reservations as soon as I make my final payment, from a number of different dining locations and times, I would be much happier.

 

Feel free to tell me that there would be a hundred or more people who would be unhappy that they couldn't get a reservation time they wanted. I know it's not perfect and there will always be guests who are unhappy that {insert name of bar, dining location, menu item, lounge here} is gone.

[neverbeenhere]

We "reserved" 7:15 for dinner in advance in Select Dining for years prior to our cruises when we had select dining. One or two hours at the Elite lounge then off to dinner at 7:15.

Edited July 29, 2016 by neverbeenhere

[wallie5446]

You are absolutely correct. Celebrity would have to completely revamp the dining options (more of them) and process to get reservations.

 

Yes, I might not get 7:00 pm exactly, but if I could make online reservations as soon as I make my final payment, from a number of different dining locations and times, I would be much happier.

 

Feel free to tell me that there would be a hundred or more people who would be unhappy that they couldn't get a reservation time they wanted. I know it's not perfect and there will always be guests who are unhappy that {insert name of bar, dining location, menu item, lounge here} is gone.

 

I'm still trying to figure out what this has to do with Carnival? But then we have never sailed with them. Are you saying they do dinner in a better fashion than Celebrity?

[SWFL Cruisers]

On our last three cruises we have chosen select dining and as soon as we board we get make a standing 5:30 reservation for the cruise. by doing this the four of us ( we normally sail with another couple )and we can have the same table and wait staff and still be done in time to catch the 7:00 pm show. It has worked out wonderful so far. I hope we are as fortunate on our 14 night coming up in November. Cheers!

[Von & John]

Martha --

 

Ultimately it depends on what is important to you. We choose Traditional Dining Late Seating. We love to meet other people on our trips & generally enjoy the conversations we have with them! We've kept in touch with a few of them. It's fun to recap the days events & hear what others have done/will be doing. On some occasions we've opted to join together for a day or two in port. In general, we like the 4 person or 6 person tables best - much easier for conversation.

 

We've enjoyed "Free Style" Dining with NCL in the past. Celebrity Select Dining is a little different - this covers dining in the MDR only. You may make reservations in advance - whether you like to eat @ the same time every night or different times - Activity/Port dependent. You can choose to dine w/ others - but unless you make plans to meet up - it will be different people each night. You can also elect to dine alone. If you do not make reservations, there is a possibility of waiting for table availability.

 

Whichever you choose - Enjoy your Cruise!

[marthatravels]

When I originally asked for feedback it was because the Celebrity Customer Service person was extremely discouraging (almost nasty) about choosing Select Dining. I got the feeling that they really did not want travelers to choose this option. Perhaps it has to do with gratuities, etc. After feedback, the four of us will choose Select and take our chances. Much prefer to pick our dinner time around our other plans than eating at the same time every night. Thanks everyone

[wallie5446]

When I originally asked for feedback it was because the Celebrity Customer Service person was extremely discouraging (almost nasty) about choosing Select Dining. I got the feeling that they really did not want travelers to choose this option. Perhaps it has to do with gratuities, etc. After feedback, the four of us will choose Select and take our chances. Much prefer to pick our dinner time around our other plans than eating at the same time every night. Thanks everyone

 

You will be fine Martha! Have a great time on the Equinox.

EW

[Max Bet]

I am certain that you will find plenty of differing opinions about traditional vs select. Here are ours.

 

We normally take traditional. Why? We like having the same servers, they get to know what we like and what we don't. We typically travel with a few people we know so we all have a table together. We never wait for a table - we have the same table every night at 6p or 8p.

 

What don't we like - we eat at the same time every night 6p or 8p. It's not an either 6p or 8p - you pick one time for the entire trip. Depending on the itinerary, you might not get back onto the ship until 5:30p or 6:00p and rushing to dinner at 6:00p is an issue and so is waiting until 8:00p. I'll add that we are fixing this by slowing down. Done are the death march 8 or 9 hour long tours that we come back exhausted from. We see a little of the town, take shorter excursions, and relax more on the ship in the afternoons.

 

Our thoughts about select dining - we see lots of people in line waiting for a table. Some with and some without a reservation. We never had any success of being able to pick a time, say 7:00 pm, every night at the start of the cruise. The response was either that it wasn't available or we needed to just show up and wait or if we got it one night they wouldn't take any reservation for anything other than the next night. I have always suspected that we were going about this wrong and there was a better way. I just don't know what that is and I don't like to stand and wait for a table when I'm on vacation - I would like to be able to make a reservation for every night in advance and have my table ready - some will say the definition of that is traditional dining. I say why can't I have 7:00 pm every night - I'm not cruising on Carnival.

 

Just our thoughts

 

You can reserve a different (or the same) time for each night pre-cruise on the X website. You just have to do one night at a time which is a bit of a pain.

[neverbeenhere]

A bit of a pain? A lot of a pain.

Edited July 29, 2016 by neverbeenhere

[maggie.1008]

I have not dined in the MDR on X for several years. Is select dine. now on deck 3 ?

[neverbeenhere]

Yes, S class. No, M Class. Last I checked.

[cynbar]

When I originally asked for feedback it was because the Celebrity Customer Service person was extremely discouraging (almost nasty) about choosing Select Dining. I got the feeling that they really did not want travelers to choose this option. Perhaps it has to do with gratuities, etc. After feedback, the four of us will choose Select and take our chances. Much prefer to pick our dinner time around our other plans than eating at the same time every night. Thanks everyone

 

It seems to me, from my experience onboard and also what I read on these boards, that Select is getting more and more popular. My guess is that the rep may have been trying to steer you to Traditional because it is harder to fill these days. For what it's worth, we were devoted Traditional fans who now book only Select, we have come to love the chance to eat whenever fits into our schedule of the day. It's more important to us than having a waiter who knows our preferences, and we have never encountered long waits on a Celebrity cruise even without reservations.

[dkjretired]

Thanks Don....that was what I was looking for. As I said above some lines seem to be discouraging Select Dining. We prefer it...will call Celebrity back and go with Select.

 

Don't forget that you can go when you want or make a reservation ahead of time.

[dkjretired]

I have not dined in the MDR on X for several years. Is select dine. now on deck 3 ?

 

On M class ships, the dining room is on decks 4 and 5. Select is now deck 4 and traditional is 5.

[HokiePoq]

A bit of a pain? A lot of a pain.

 

I found it a pain on our cruise last week on the Summit although I imagine this varies ship to ship and week to week. Our cruise was packed and people were informed when the peak times were. I know that from NCL and other lines, so we went early each night, making a reservation when we could. We were concierge class and the line on the right had a header that said "Reservations, Suite, and Concierge". That line was always long and one night it didn't move for 15 minutes while a large party was waiting to be seated and some sort of problem occurred making the whole line wait while no one was in the other line. There were many large groups in select last week. The "No Reservation" line was always short....except for the night we had to get in it. The reservation desk was only open 9 to 5. On each of the three days in Bermuda we left long before nine. The first two days we returned way after five. On the third day we got back at three so I immediately called and was told they were taking no more reservations. So we came when they opened at 5:15, stood in line, and were given a pager and a 45 minute wait time.

It turned out to be 30 minutes but I was not happy about being denied a reservation. The "Concierge" should be removed from the banner as it meant nothing to being seated. We did, however, get a wonderful waiter, Michael V, who seemed to anticipate everything we would want and did finish in time to go to the early show, pack, and make it an early evening in prep for the early disembarkation. In retrospect I might have asked Ann ,our wonderful concierge, to make reservations for us while we were off-ship but that didn't occur to me until we were standing in line.

I am very glad we have fixed dining on our future Celebrity cruise.