New on Select Dining Reservations?

[helen haywood]

I have in the past had no trouble making reservations for us in the website for Select Dining.  However, I just tried to do so for a cruise in July and could only add one day to the cart and when I tried for another it simply replaced the one I had in the cart with this message:  "Only one reservation per guest per sailing can be reserved online."  Is this new?  Does this mean that they want me to call Celebrity to make Select reservations?

[jelayne]

In my experience you can only do 1 day at a time.  Complete that and the the next day, etc.

 

we normally only do the 1st two days and the do the rest onboard.

 

[Tatka]

Yes, just continue shopping after you reserve one day.

[helen haywood]

It wouldn’t let me do that.  Read the error message I got when I tried to do a second night.  It simply replaced the one item in my cart for night 1 with a reservation for night 2.  When I tried to fake it out by adding one night to my cart, completing the transaction and going back to make another (ridiculously tedious and not what I’ve been able to do in the past) then I got the message that only one reservation per guest per sailing could be reserved online.

[gold1953]

They only take a limited number of reservations as they must leave a lot of tables for people to drop in. The system may be at it's max

[hurwitz5]

We just got off the Summit on Sunday, June 16.  We had Select Dining.  During the day you can call an extension number (check with the dining room manager on your ship) and make a reservation for that night’s dinner.  You can also make a dinner reservation for the next night’s dinner as you leave the dining room.  There is someone outside the dining room at a podium who will take down your name, cabin number, the requested time, and the server’s name (if you have a preference).  If you have a reservation and it’s for a popular time, you might still have to wait for 10 - 15 minutes. It wasn’t a problem for us.

[gold1953]

42 minutes ago, hurwitz5 said:

We just got off the Summit on Sunday, June 16.  We had Select Dining.  During the day you can call an extension number (check with the dining room manager on your ship) and make a reservation for that night’s dinner.  You can also make a dinner reservation for the next night’s dinner as you leave the dining room.  There is someone outside the dining room at a podium who will take down your name, cabin number, the requested time, and the server’s name (if you have a preference).  If you have a reservation and it’s for a popular time, you might still have to wait for 10 - 15 minutes. It wasn’t a problem for us.

we were refused reservations onboard as they said all the reserved spots were booked. Were told just to show up for an anytime spot

[vtcruising]

I pre-booked  Select Dining for 6 of 7 nights last week for a January cruise (and one specialty). I did them all at once. Sounds like an inconsistent process.

[davekathy]

6 hours ago, helen haywood said:

I have in the past had no trouble making reservations for us in the website for Select Dining.  However, I just tried to do so for a cruise in July and could only add one day to the cart and when I tried for another it simply replaced the one I had in the cart with this message:  "Only one reservation per guest per sailing can be reserved online."  Is this new?  Does this mean that they want me to call Celebrity to make Select reservations?

Call the Captains Club (1-800-760-0654) and have them make your reservations. I've never experienced a problem booking SD in my CP. 

[DUTRAVEL]

2 hours ago, helen haywood said:

It wouldn’t let me do that.  Read the error message I got when I tried to do a second night.  It simply replaced the one item in my cart for night 1 with a reservation for night 2.  When I tried to fake it out by adding one night to my cart, completing the transaction and going back to make another (ridiculously tedious and not what I’ve been able to do in the past) then I got the message that only one reservation per guest per sailing could be reserved online.

Make sure you have added the selection to your cart and then complete the checkout before trying to add a reservation for another night.

[helen haywood]

Thanks guys.  Guess I’m just lucky.  I’ll call Captains Club in the morning.

[realnice46]

14 hours ago, helen haywood said:

It wouldn’t let me do that.  Read the error message I got when I tried to do a second night.  It simply replaced the one item in my cart for night 1 with a reservation for night 2.  When I tried to fake it out by adding one night to my cart, completing the transaction and going back to make another (ridiculously tedious and not what I’ve been able to do in the past) then I got the message that only one reservation per guest per sailing could be reserved online.

I’ve had that problem too so I just call Celebrity and make the daily reservation with them. Once you’ve done that you can go to manage reservation and make changes if you need too.

If you wait until you board to book reservation you may find times you want unavailable,although just walking in the waits usually are too long.

[hurwitz5]

Anytime and Select dining are the same thing.  We used to request Late Seating when booking the cruise with our travel agent. We have taken 3 cruises this year and on the Reflection and Equinox, Late Seating was 8:30 pm.  On the Summit, Late Seating was 8:15 pm.  If we knew ahead of time that the Summit was 8:15, we would have chosen Late Seating.  We went to the 7:00 pm show every night and then went to Anytime/Select Dining, where we had a 8:00 pm reservation.  Many nights we had to wait until 8:15 pm to be seated - so Late Seating at 8:15 would have worked for us.  We would have just walked in, instead of waiting in line. In either case, it was not a big deal.  We don’t dwell on the small stuff - after all, we are on vacation and relaxed.

[ghstudio]

We always make select dining reservations for every night of the cruise.  Using the web site is and always has been painfully slow and repetitive....so much so that I now just call captain's club and ask them to book me at x:xx every night....and it's done.  I do check a couple of days later to make sure.  Every so often, I suggest that Lisa (or whoever has that job) sit at a computer terminal and book reservations for meals every night on a 14 night cruise.  I've failed, but if I were ever successful, I bet the system would get improved quickly.

 

If we aren't going to use a reservation (specialty dining,...), we let the select maitre d' know so they can free up the reservation slot for someone on-board.    

[helen haywood]

Thanks everyone!  I wasn't having any luck doing it in Chrome so I switched to Firefox and was able to make the reservations.

[hcat]

17 hours ago, hurwitz5 said:

We just got off the Summit on Sunday, June 16.  We had Select Dining.  During the day you can call an extension number (check with the dining room manager on your ship) and make a reservation for that night’s dinner.  You can also make a dinner reservation for the next night’s dinner as you leave the dining room.  There is someone outside the dining room at a podium who will take down your name, cabin number, the requested time, and the server’s name (if you have a preference).  If you have a reservation and it’s for a popular time, you might still have to wait for 10 - 15 minutes. It wasn’t a problem for us.

In my opinion, a  15 min wait with a res means they are not managing the system and or dining rm properly.. we will be disappointed if that happrns on EDGE   or Summit,.our next cruises with mdr res.

 

We have been spoiled by BLU and AQ but even BLU has started to have lines at busy times..

[newtocruisingcdn]

We are used to NCL’s My time dining.  No reservations are necessary. As this is our first Celebrity  cruise, do we need to make reservations for Select dining?  I am confused to say the least.

Edited June 19, 2019 by newtocruisingcdn

[davekathy]

7 minutes ago, newtocruisingcdn said:

We are used to NCL’s My time dining.  No reservations are necessary. As this is our first Celebrity  cruise, do we need to make reservations for Select dining?  I am confused to say the least.

No requirement to make reservations on Celebrity for Select Dining. Personal preference for some of us. 

[newtocruisingcdn]

Thank you. We like the flexibility of eating when we want, usually with new friends we meet. We don’t necessarily know in advance.

[ghstudio]

Select dining wait times increase after a show ends....everyone suddenly wants to eat at once.  Prior to the change in elite cocktails, there was also a peak at just after 7pm when the "free" drinks stopped...but that's no longer an issue.  Generally, it seems to be running much smoother on recent cruises, but of course, every cruise is different.

 

We have been on cruises where there was up to 1/2 hour wait for Blu.  It really can vary.  Generally it's 5 or 10 minutes if there is a wait.