Opinion of Select Anytime Dining

[Bruin Steve]

When Select dining first started, we used to just show up  whenever we wanted...but as the system caught on, we found it important to make advance reservations--because we typically want to go to the dining room about 7:00-7:15...When you get to the dining room, there are two lines:  "With Reservations" and "Without reservations"...The "With" line moves faster...

 

So, now, we make advance reservations, as soon as possible, for 7:00 every night...but adjust that time depending on the itinerary.  If there's a late port where we expect to be in port until later than usual, we'll move that reservation back accordingly...

 

The people at the desk seem to try to seat us in the same area with the same waiter every night...so it often seems a little like traditional dining in a way...our waiters do get to know us...but we get to eat at 7 rather than 6 or 8:30...

 

Tables for two are pretty common--at least that's where they most often seem to seat us--unless we specifically request to share a table with others...

 

It is great, not only to be able to eat at a better starting time, but also to adjust for different port hours...

[D C]

Agreed, Steve.  Nice evening? Watch the sunset and then have dinner.  Perfect, since we find the late seating too late for our tastes.  

 

We've never made reservations though.  We typically check in, get a buzzer if it's busy, and then head to Cellar Masters for a pre-dinner drink.  I don't think we've waited more than about 15 min or so. 

Edited January 23, 2019 by D C

[helenb]

How does making reservations before the cruise work? We just booked an Edge cruise, and our preferred traditional (early) dining is all booked. I gather this is because only part of 1 of the 4 restaurants is dedicated to traditional. So we are stuck with Select. We have never done any kind of Anytime dining before, so our plan was just to show up at the dining room when it opens and ask for our table for 2. Will this not work without reservations? How do I make advance reservations in the cruise planner?

[davekathy]

5 minutes ago, helenb said:

How does making reservations before the cruise work? We just booked an Edge cruise, and our preferred traditional (early) dining is all booked. I gather this is because only part of 1 of the 4 restaurants is dedicated to traditional. So we are stuck with Select. We have never done any kind of Anytime dining before, so our plan was just to show up at the dining room when it opens and ask for our table for 2. Will this not work without reservations? How do I make advance reservations in the cruise planner?

Yes you can just up for SD without reservations. You can also make reservations in your CP. Under dining and beverage click on Select Dining and then add to cart. The process is straight forward from there. You will need to repeat the process for each evening you want reservations even if you want the same time each evening. 

[helenb]

Thank you, I will go check it out!

[Luvcrusn]

I have another take on Select with making reservations pre-cruise.  If we book Select and make reservations pre-cruise we look at as being locked into a dining time just like traditional dining. I realize that you can change your mind last minute, but then there's the wait time possibility. As for the hectic first and second nights of  a cruise, we usually solve that by doing specialty dining. It's usually quiet then and there's the added bonus of the extra discounts offered those nights.

[davekathy]

7 minutes ago, helenb said:

Thank you, I will go check it out!

As an FYI, if you decide to make reservations in your CP don't wait to long especially if you want an early time. Those times book up fast.

Edited January 23, 2019 by davekathy

[Diamond lover]

2 hours ago, D C said:

Interesting. I don't recall servers ever asking for good survey reviews in any restaurant.  Not saying they didn't make some mention, but certainly nothing that was memorable. 

 

I've also never felt compelled to extra-tip, but there have been occasions on which I certainly have done so for someone who went out of their way to make my experience more enjoyable.  I've also singled out individuals on the survey for a job well done.  I hope in those instances, that it comes back to them favorably. 

Wow. Have you been dining in the main dining room? Because as God is my witness I have never been so inundated with requests from everyone (head waiter, waiter, Sommalier) begging me pleading with us to please give them a 10.  On my last celebrity cruise my waiter actually said he was very disappointed because he thought he got along really well with another group on the ship but in the end he got nothing from them   He also got nothing from us 

[Bruin Steve]

2 minutes ago, Diamond lover said:

Wow. Have you been dining in the main dining room? Because as God is my witness I have never been so inundated with requests from everyone (head waiter, waiter, Sommalier) begging me pleading with us to please give them a 10... 

Seriously?  Maybe it’s just you...for some reason...

17 cruises with Celebrity, I’ve NEVER experienced that...not once...EVER...

[Diamond lover]

Pretty sure its not just me LOL.  I’ve never had anything like it on Radisson/Regent, Princess, Cunard, Royal Caribbean, or NCL. This was in a class of its own. Maybe it’s just the Reflection. A lot of people were commenting on it.  They also asked us to give them tens every single time we went into a specialty restaurant we were completely flabbergasted by this  

[ipeeinthepool]

4 minutes ago, Bruin Steve said:

Seriously?  Maybe it’s just you...for some reason...

17 cruises with Celebrity, I’ve NEVER experienced that...not once...EVER...

 

It's everywhere on Celebrity and Royal.  Every ship every time

[davekathy]

1 minute ago, Diamond lover said:

Pretty sure its not just me LOL.  I’ve never had anything like it on Radisson/Regent, Princess, Cunard, Royal Caribbean, or NCL. This was in a class of its own. Maybe it’s just the Reflection. A lot of people were commenting on it.  They also asked us to give them tens every single time we went into a specialty restaurant we were completely flabbergasted by this  

So how many Celebrity cruise have you experienced this on? 

[hcat]

We have  been repeatedly reminded about the survey on most of them towards the end of the cruise, , by cabin attendants and  waiters in mdr.  We dine in BLU now,   it's a bit more subtle but we are still reminded to rate restaurant high.

[Diamond lover]

The last two (I had veered away from Celebrity for a while strictly due to itineraries)

[Diamond lover]

1 minute ago, hcat said:

We have  been repeatedly reminded about the survey on most of them towards the end of the cruise, , by cabin attendants and  waiters in mdr.  We dine in BLU now,   it's a bit more subtle but we are still reminded to rate restaurant high.

 

Whew!  Not “just me” as suggested!

[Diamond lover]

17 minutes ago, ipeeinthepool said:

 

It's everywhere on Celebrity and Royal.  Every ship every time

 

Again, thank you. Sorry you experienced it, glad you validated my concerns.

 

Now, hoping that sitting in different areas of MDR (when there) will do the trick.  I never complain, I never send food back, I am personable and  cheerful at dinners....just serve me and dont beg for 10s and tips. Period. 

[davekathy]

20 minutes ago, hcat said:

We have  been repeatedly reminded about the survey on most of them towards the end of the cruise, , by cabin attendants and  waiters in mdr.  We dine in BLU now,   it's a bit more subtle but we are still reminded to rate restaurant high.

But were they begging and pleading with you to give them 10s and tips? We've also experienced the same end of cruise last day reminder to fill out the post cruise survey when we get home. No pleading or begging for a score rating or additional tips.  We haven't heard that spiel (score rating) for a few years now. Even on RC.  There is even one question in the PCS that asks you to identify anyone that has asked for a rating of a 10. Now frowned on. 

Edited January 23, 2019 by davekathy

[Diamond lover]

8 minutes ago, davekathy said:

But we they begging and pleading with you to give them 10s? We've also experienced the same end of cruise last day reminder to fill out the post cruise survey when we get home. No pleading or begging for a score rating.  We haven't heard that spiel for a few years now. Even on RC.  There is even one question in the PCS that asks you to identify anyone that has asked for a rating of a 10. 

In my book if they mention the rating with pretty well every course they serve AND at the end of the meal on your last two dinners (and one lunch) I consider that overkill, I call that pleading. Its just a shame they feel they HAVE to do this. Also on day of departure when we went for breakfast we were absolutely snubbed by our waiter. Felt as though it was because we didnt add additional gratuities at last dinner. Maybe not, but we all felt that way. 

[davekathy]

6 minutes ago, Diamond lover said:

In my book if they mention the rating with pretty well every course they serve AND at the end of the meal on your last two dinners (and one lunch) I consider that overkill, I call that pleading. Its just a shame they feel they HAVE to do this. Also on day of departure when we went for breakfast we were absolutely snubbed by our waiter. Felt as though it was because we didnt add additional gratuities at last dinner. Maybe not, but we all felt that way. 

Bummer for your experiences. I can say on all of our Celebrity cruises we have never ever experienced anything you are describing. And if we did it would have been addressed to the Maitre D and Hotel Manager after the first occurrence. 

Edited January 23, 2019 by davekathy

[Bruin Steve]

I am a pretty perceptive guy...and can be quite critical at times.  I have an extremely detailed memory.  If anything of this sort would have occurred on ANY cruise I’ve been on, trust me, I would have noticed it...

 

Between two cruises on Celebrity in the past seven months, I’ve cruised a total of 21 nights in that time...Of those 21 nights, I ate dinner in the main dining room 19 times (plus once in Tuscan Grille, once in Qsine).  I ate lunch in the MDR every sea day...and breakfast in the MDR every day except for four days when we had early shore excursions.  Several different waiters, assistant alters, maitre d’s, bar waiters and sommeliers. That’s well over 40 chances (times the number of servers at each meal) for some waiter or another to have the opportunity to lobby me for a “10”.  NEVER happened.  Not once.  None “pleaded” for it. None even mentioned it casually.

 

i guess I can’t say it’s never happened to anyone.  I assume it is clearly possible.  Maybe on some ship they had a restaurant manager who has pushed the idea of 10s on the survey to his staff.  Maybe you got that manager and that ship. Maybe, in 17 Celebrity Cruises (and another 15 on RCCL) I’ve managed to avoid that guy.

 

But, based on my rather extensive (and very recent) personal experience, I’d have to believe this was an exception rather than the rule.

[ipeeinthepool]

22 minutes ago, Bruin Steve said:

I am a pretty perceptive guy...and can be quite critical at times.  I have an extremely detailed memory.  If anything of this sort would have occurred on ANY cruise I’ve been on, trust me, I would have noticed it...

 

Between two cruises on Celebrity in the past seven months, I’ve cruised a total of 21 nights in that time...Of those 21 nights, I ate dinner in the main dining room 19 times (plus once in Tuscan Grille, once in Qsine).  I ate lunch in the MDR every sea day...and breakfast in the MDR every day except for four days when we had early shore excursions.  Several different waiters, assistant alters, maitre d’s, bar waiters and sommeliers. That’s well over 40 chances (times the number of servers at each meal) for some waiter or another to have the opportunity to lobby me for a “10”.  NEVER happened.  Not once.  None “pleaded” for it. None even mentioned it casually.

 

i guess I can’t say it’s never happened to anyone.  I assume it is clearly possible.  Maybe on some ship they had a restaurant manager who has pushed the idea of 10s on the survey to his staff.  Maybe you got that manager and that ship. Maybe, in 17 Celebrity Cruises (and another 15 on RCCL) I’ve managed to avoid that guy.

 

But, based on my rather extensive (and very recent) personal experience, I’d have to believe this was an exception rather than the rule.

 

I would suggest that you were never asked could be due to one of the these two reasons.

1)  Did you dine with the same waiter each night?  If you always change waiters perhaps no one felt comfortable discussing it with you.

2) You say you can be critical at times.  Perhaps all of the servers sensed you weren't happy and didn't want your reviews.

[Bruin Steve]

8 minutes ago, ipeeinthepool said:

 

I would suggest that you were never asked could be due to one of the these two reasons.

1)  Did you dine with the same waiter each night?  If you always change waiters perhaps no one felt comfortable discussing it with you.

2) You say you can be critical at times.  Perhaps all of the servers sensed you weren't happy and didn't want your reviews.

 

1)  We've been in Select Dining...but as I reported in my original answer to the actual subject of this thread, they try to sit you with the same waiters every night...On our 14 night Millennium cruise, for example, we had the same waiter 8 of the 10 nights we were seated in the MDR and another on the other two.  On our Alaska cruise, we had the same waiter every night...and he remembered us when he saw us back on the SE Asia cruise.  At lunch and dinner, of course, we had a variety of waiters.

 

2)  When I say I "can be critical", I meant in terms of later reviewing the cruise here on cruise critic or when writing back to the cruise lines.  And I have VERY RARELY found anything to be critical about in regard to the dining room service.  If the waiters sense anything from me, it's that I am happy...Probably why our Alaska cruise waiter was so happy to see us again.

 

Funny, one of my thoughts on you was perhaps YOUR waiters perceived YOU as someone who might short them in the reviews, so they felt that need to lobby you...

[D C]

On a 7n cruise, I think we had the same wait staff 2x.  We moved to nearby tables, and even one on the opposite side of the restaurant. 

[kathynorth]

We think select dining is the only way to go. On our last cruise in Dec 2018 we were able to reserve our preferred time via the cruise planner prior to our trip. Each night we only needed to provide our cabin # and we were escorted to our dining area. We were seated in the same section with same waiters, who were terrific, each night. We saw tables for 2, 4 and 6 in our section. 

[Trainer]

In addition to giving good ratings on the survey, here's what I do for a great server.  On my way out of the dining room, I seek out the maitre de or other manager.  I name the server and say what a good job they did.  Something like "Jose is a great waiter, he should be promoted."  The response is always  ,"Thank you, we'll reward him.  Maybe a day off or a premium restaurant." This is more personal than the survey and a notation is made in their notebooks.  I know this gets attention!