Heads Up: the Beyond no longer offers fixed early or late dining

[kwokpot]

Just a heads up. I'm currently on the Beyond and the latest E-class ship no longer offers fixed early or late dining for dinner. REGARDLESS of what you choose when you book your cruise on the Beyond the four main dining rooms are TOTALLY OPEN SEATING. YOU WILL NOT BE ASSIGNED A WHOLE CRUISE TABLE.

My parents had their TA give them Early Dining. Having previously sailed on the Edge and Apex, we knew that there would be a card in the cabin assigning them to a dining room. There was no card which we thought was an oversight. They went to one of the dining rooms to find out which one they were assigned to. That's when they were told of the change on the Beyond vs Edge and Apex. We just confirmed the change this morning to confirm what my parents were told. 

For anyone sailing on the Beyond REGARDLESS of what you think you chose for dinner it would behoove you to make reservations ahead of your cruise.

 

There was very, very poor communication of this policy change and it will result in many upset customers. 

Edited October 27, 2022 by kwokpot

[upwarduk]

I suppose it makes sense, as the 4 dining room have different menus and you can interchange.

[Tony UK]

not surprised....makes sense!

[julia]

50 minutes ago, upwarduk said:

I suppose it makes sense, as the 4 dining room have different menus and you can interchange.

 

Many, many people really like to have a fixed dining time, and perhaps wouldn't care about having different menus. This change (without notice!?) is not good.  It simply adds to the overall congestion of anytime dining.

Edited October 27, 2022 by julia

[kwokpot]

Just now, julia said:

 

Many, many people really like to have a fixed dining time, and perhaps wouldn't care about having different menus. This change (without notice!?) is not good.  It simply adds to the overall congestion of anytime dining.

Exactly. It was explained that 40% of each dining room is allocated to precruise reservations, the remaining 60% for walk-ins.

[HS2BS]

We were looking forward to our fixed dining time, without the hassle of waiting in line! But, another change that Celebrity made that disregardes the dining preferences of many seasoned cruisers without any communication.

 

Hal

[davekathy]

18 minutes ago, kwokpot said:

Exactly. It was explained that 40% of each dining room is allocated to precruise reservations, the remaining 60% for walk-ins.

Another reason we always book our cruises early. Get the dining times we want and the stateroom category and location we want. 

[Scottishclover]

We have booked early dining for our Beyond cruise next summer. So really we would be better changing to anytime and actually making reservations pre -cruise rather than having to queue up?

 This open dining for all actually happened too on our Apex cruise in July but we just assumed it was because the ship was at very low capacity. We were told just to turn up when we wanted and we always got a seat without waiting. We like to have the same serving team due to allergies and we were seated in the same server’s section regardless of when we are. I’m sure this wouldn’t have been the case though on a busier ship.

 

Thanks for letting us know about the change in policy. Appreciate it😀

[CHEZMARYLOU]

It makes sense in a way.  Blu and Luminae are, and have always been, open seating. Since there are 4 MDRs scheduling fixed and open seating must be difficult. If you had fixed dining weren't you assigned to one dining room. Suddenly you decide you want to try another restaurant one night, now your table is vacant and the other restaurant is above capacity.

[PTC DAWG]

I doubt I would cruise at all anymore if I had to sit at the same table at the same time with the same folks every night…

 

I don’t even know what time I will eat tonight…much less on my next cruise. 

[Jeremiah1212]

This makes sense if the ship is truly short staffed right now like some complained about on the TA. It could be temporary.
 

We did the first Edge cruise back into service in June ‘21 and I want to say that one was also handled the same way. 

[hcat]

No res for prefered dining times unless folks were lucky enough to get advance res. I see it as a downgrade . Just Wait on line where you think you can get in..

More Modern Luxury!.  

 

We will be assigned to Luminae but expect it may be crowded as Retreat is sold out for our upcoming sailing.  We may re think Specialty Dining Res for a few nights!

[bebe08]

If you want fixed dining couldn't you just make reservations for the same time every night?  We have an upcoming cruise on the Edge and chose anytime dining as we like to eat at different times depending on whether it is a port or sea day, and what we have planned in port.  I have already made reservations for every night rotating between the 4 MDRs.  Perhaps this won't work though if you want to sit with others.  

[SusieV]

GIven that my family has life threatening allergies... now I'm wondering if it's safe for us to sail E Class at all. Having the same waitstaff be familiar with allergies makes our life much less stressful and having to explain them to everyone each day would detract significantly from our enjoyment of the cruise.

[davekathy]

3 minutes ago, SusieV said:

GIven that my family has life threatening allergies... now I'm wondering if it's safe for us to sail E Class at all. Having the same waitstaff be familiar with allergies makes our life much less stressful and having to explain them to everyone each day would detract significantly from our enjoyment of the cruise.

If you get a different waitstaff each evening you advise them of any food allergies each time. No biggie.  

[SusieV]

Just now, davekathy said:

If you get a different waitstaff each evening you advise them of any food allergies each time. No biggie.  

 

Actually, it really is a biggie with life threatening allergies, I'm sorry. It's stressful and takes mental energy which detracts from having a relaxing dinner.

[davekathy]

1 minute ago, SusieV said:

 

Actually, it really is a biggie with life threatening allergies, I'm sorry. It's stressful and takes mental energy which detracts from having a relaxing dinner.

Being life threating  how do you handle other meals while on the ship?  No biggie only meaning different waitstaffs will ask and if they don't you advise them just as you would the first evening of the cruise when you first meet the waitstaff. 

[SusieV]

2 minutes ago, davekathy said:

Being life threating  how do you handle other meals while on the ship?  No biggie only meaning different waitstaffs will ask and if they don't you advise them just as you would the first evening of the cruise when you first meet the waitstaff. 

Our maitre d' on Solstice handled everything, including the oceanview cafe and breakfast and lunch in the main dining room as well as dinner.

 

I hope you never have to understand how much nicer life is when you can relax a bit and not constantly worry about allergies. This is one reason we cruise Celebrity- Oceania did a much poorer job handing allergy issues because of open seating. We will never sail open seating again.

[kwokpot]

Just now, bebe08 said:

If you want fixed dining couldn't you just make reservations for the same time every night?  We have an upcoming cruise on the Edge and chose anytime dining as we like to eat at different times depending on whether it is a port or sea day, and what we have planned in port.  I have already made reservations for every night rotating between the 4 MDRs.  Perhaps this won't work though if you want to sit with others.  

The issue is that they only allocate 40% of capacity to precruise reservations. If the times you want are all booked up then you have no choice but to walk-up. 

[davekathy]

16 minutes ago, SusieV said:

Our maitre d' on Solstice handled everything, including the oceanview cafe and breakfast and lunch in the main dining room as well as dinner.

 

I hope you never have to understand how much nicer life is when you can relax a bit and not constantly worry about allergies. This is one reason we cruise Celebrity- Oceania did a much poorer job handing allergy issues because of open seating. We will never sail open seating again.

Chill out and no need to be sarcastic. Since you didn't include any of that info in your posts is why I posted what I did. I wasn't being sarcastic or unsympathetic! All the more reason for you to book your cruise early to ensure you get the preferred dining type, restaurant and time. We are on the Apex in March and have early TD, confirmed. 

Edited October 27, 2022 by davekathy

[NantahalaCruiser]

3 hours ago, upwarduk said:

I suppose it makes sense, as the 4 dining room have different menus and you can interchange.

Although, it is my understanding that you can order any of the "different items" on all 4 different menus in any of the four restaurants - thus no need to change restaurants other than to see different interior decorations.

[jwlane]

4 hours ago, kwokpot said:

My parents had their TA give them Early Dining.

....

There was very, very poor communication of this policy change and it will result in many upset customers. 

Let us know if they show up for dinner at 5:30 and have to wait for a table.

[kwokpot]

Just now, davekathy said:

We are on the Apex in March and have early TD, confirmed. 

If I were you I would go into the cruise planner and see if you can actually make reservations for each night in the dining room and time you want. If you can, it means that the same changes are going to be implemented on all E-class ships. This way you'll be protected

[davekathy]

3 minutes ago, kwokpot said:

If I were you I would go into the cruise planner and see if you can actually make reservations for each night in the dining room and time you want. If you can, it means that the same changes are going to be implemented on all E-class ships. This way you'll be protected

My mistake. We have early TD for our October cruise on the Eclipse. On our March Apex cruise we have reserved SD in the Cosmopolitan at 6:00 PM each night.  

[hcat]

1 hour ago, bebe08 said:

If you want fixed dining couldn't you just make reservations for the same time every night?  We have an upcoming cruise on the Edge and chose anytime dining as we like to eat at different times depending on whether it is a port or sea day, and what we have planned in port.  I have already made reservations for every night rotating between the 4 MDRs.  Perhaps this won't work though if you want to sit with others.  

Thats what we did for EDGE..picked earliest time at the diff mdrs... 2x for ones we liked best. Worked well because we pre booked.

 

My understanding is that the Issue NOW for those on board or already booked for early and late dining is the  surprise "switch"...  making res no longer available having been snapped up already.

 

 Although we have Luminae, we tried to get the outdoor grille for one night no res  are available! Same for Bistro Cafe..unless you want ,Petit chef show ( no thanks)

 

Sounds like it could be a big SNAFU ahead??