Anytime Dining

[WanderingTheWorld]

The last time my husband and I cruised with Celebrity was 8 years ago, and we had a set dining time. Since then, we have taken many other cruises together, and we either had freestyle dining or selected anytime. Some cruise lines have done it well (NCL and HAL), and others were rather chaotic (RCCL).

 

We are going on a Celebrity cruise later this year and have selected Anytime Dining. What is this like on Celebrity? When we were on 2 different RCCL cruises, they kept seating us in the same section with the same waiter. This is not something we wanted because we like to sit in different areas and interact with different people each evening. How does this compare with Celebrity?

 

Thanks! 🙂

Edited January 6, 2023 by WanderingTheWorld

[jelayne]

Celebrity tends to sit people in the same area with tge same staff also as many like having waiters who get to know there likes and dislikes.  
 

If you wish to be seated in different areas just tell the host or hostess.

[the penguins]

6 hours ago, WanderingTheWorld said:

The last time my husband and I cruised with Celebrity was 8 years ago, and we had a set dining time. Since then, we have taken many other cruises together, and we either had freestyle dining or selected anytime. Some cruise lines have done it well (NCL and HAL), and others were rather chaotic (RCCL).

 

We are going on a Celebrity cruise later this year and have selected Anytime Dining. What is this like on Celebrity? When we were on 2 different RCCL cruises, they kept seating us in the same section with the same waiter. This is not something we wanted because we like to sit in different areas and interact with different people each evening. How does this compare with Celebrity?

 

Thanks! 🙂

The Hosts are amazingly flexible. Just tell them when you check in that you would like to try different areas each night and ask if they can they help. Being polite and friendly works wonders. 

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

Also, if you're making reservations, don't do them for the same time. Because many people DO want to sit with the same servers one table that doesn't at the same time every night could throw everyone off. If you alter your timing the odds of them holding a table open are smaller so you'd likely get moved around.

 

I do think it's a lot harder to get seated with others on Select dining since many people opt for Select simply because it's the best way to get your own table and not have to do the small talk thing - so that makes "meeting a variety of people" a challenge.

[dacsmom]

7 hours ago, WanderingTheWorld said:

The last time my husband and I cruised with Celebrity was 8 years ago, and we had a set dining time. Since then, we have taken many other cruises together, and we either had freestyle dining or selected anytime. Some cruise lines have done it well (NCL and HAL), and others were rather chaotic (RCCL).

 

We are going on a Celebrity cruise later this year and have selected Anytime Dining. What is this like on Celebrity? When we were on 2 different RCCL cruises, they kept seating us in the same section with the same waiter. This is not something we wanted because we like to sit in different areas and interact with different people each evening. How does this compare with Celebrity?

 

Thanks! 🙂

Just ask on Royal to be seated in different sections for the reason you mentioned. If you do it on the first night, they will remember your preference. Same with Celebrity.

[bikerunner]

7 hours ago, jelayne said:

Celebrity tends to sit people in the same area with tge same staff also as many like having waiters who get to know there likes and dislikes.  
 

If you wish to be seated in different areas just tell the host or hostess.

How does that work on the E class ( finally found a good cruise we liked with an E class)

, tho I'm thinking we will probably pick one restaurant for the bulk of the nights.  Main reason my travel mate is a Vegetarian and it has worked out great on S Class and M class ships, but of course those are more traditional in that it's one dining room.  

[WanderingTheWorld]

Thanks to @jelayne, @the penguins, @WrittenOnYourHeart, and @dacsmom for your advice!!

 

On the first night, I will be sure to mention that we like to sit in different sections each night. I prefer to not make reservations because I don't like to be tied down to a specific time. Also, this cruise has only one sea day, so that makes things even more unpredictable.