How does MDR early and late seating work on Edge class?

[2chiefs]

We are booked on Celebrity Beyond for December. We have always had traditional dining so we booked late seating (8:30 pm). This was before we found out there were four different dining rooms on Edge class. I assume that we will not be dining at one table for the cruise so I'm wondering if we have to make reservations daily? Does this mean everyone has My Time Dining? ... Confused.

[Bo1953]

8 minutes ago, 2chiefs said:

We are booked on Celebrity Beyond for December. We have always had traditional dining so we booked late seating (8:30 pm). This was before we found out there were four different dining rooms on Edge class. I assume that we will not be dining at one table for the cruise so I'm wondering if we have to make reservations daily? Does this mean everyone has My Time Dining? ... Confused.

2c - I Am sure if you want an 8.30p seating for dinner, there should be no issues with just walking up and request seating...

 

Do not be confused, with Anytime Dining you can eat in any of the four (4) each night... then you can decide which you like the most, in terms of mood, decor or even staff.

 

I trust you will find that having four (4) dining venues to choose from, to be more relaxed, intimate and enjoyable.

 

bon appetit and bon voyage

[helen haywood]

Beyond has only Anytime Dining.  Their website hasn’t been updated to reflect this change.  As such you can go to any of the 4 MDRs at any time.  

[The Traveling Man]

15 minutes ago, 2chiefs said:

We are booked on Celebrity Beyond for December. We have always had traditional dining so we booked late seating (8:30 pm). This was before we found out there were four different dining rooms on Edge class. I assume that we will not be dining at one table for the cruise so I'm wondering if we have to make reservations daily? Does this mean everyone has My Time Dining? ... Confused.

We have sailed on three of the Edge class ships and have a reservation for the fourth one for a February cruise.  Except for the specialty restaurants (which do require reservations) we always have just picked one of the MDRs for which that day's menu appealed to us.  If we got there at a busy time, we either would wait a few minutes for an opening or walk next door (or take the stairs) and find another venue that was to our liking.  We have never made a reservation for any meal at a MDR on any Edge class ship, nor has there been a need to do so.

[Dreamer68]

I was on the Apex in January. I liked the traditional MDR broken into 4 different ones. I downloaded my Celebrity App late, only a couple of weeks before departure so by the time I picked an Anytime dining time for DH and me, the app only showed me late dining times (between 8 pm and 9:30 pm) every night at each of the 4 MDRs. Either I was literally among the last to make reservations and eat or somehow my app defaulted to LATE dining each time as I found that we could have walked in 30 minutes earlier at any of the 4 and gotten a seat easily. Perhaps this was because my cruise was only about 2/3 capacity. 

I picked the restaurant based on the menu I liked. There seemed to be 3 parts to their menus:
1) Classics (available all the time at all 4),
2) Each restaurant's Exclusive items(I can ask for this any night at that specific restaurant) eg. see the Cyprus menu below, and
3) each one also has Celebrity Signature items that rotate daily and are available at all 4 restaurants.

You can get the menus on your Celebrity app as well, of the 4 MDRs and other F& B options onboard.

I liked the idea of visiting 4 different restaurants to try their Exclusive items, each one looked spectacularly different...the thing is I never got to get to know my serving team well enough, and vice versa. We always got someone different instead of the team that got to know our tastes and preferences well, like way back cruising in the 90s. On a 7-nt cruise where there are other options for dinner, this 4-option MDR was a hit for simulating exciting options but a miss for connections(with the crew), I feel. Just my 2 cents.

Here's a sample of the menu from Cyprus so you can see what I meant by Classics, Exclusive, and Signature. Cyprus Menu - Celebrity Edge Class Ships

[jelayne]

@Dreamer68 has a good description of the menu.  

Ill add a few points about dining and reservations on the E class ships.  Making reservations pre cruse is possible but not necessary.   As@ Dreamer68 found  sometimes the only reservation times available pre cruise are late.  The dining rooms only release about 50% of the reservation times for pre booking the remaining are for those who want the flexibility to decide each evening when and where they want to dine.

 

The 4 restaurants all have their Exclusive items but it is not necessary to dine in Cyprus to order on their Exclusive items,  Any of the Exclusive item can be ordered in any of the 4 MDRs.  

[lostchild]

13 minutes ago, jelayne said:

The 4 restaurants all have their Exclusive items but it is not necessary to dine in Cyprus to order on their Exclusive items,  Any of the Exclusive item can be ordered in any of the 4 MDRs.  

 

It is true, but I sense some resistance from the wait staff whenever we did that.   I am not sure if it is just because not too many people asked for it or there is some extra work that they have to do.    It's that little bit of hesitation that gives away their thought process.   Maybe just because they didn't study the exclusive items from the other restaurants, they are not familiar with the ingredients to deal with food allergies and stuff.  

[RichYak]

No one seems to be addressing the main point--that OP has booked the cruise with traditional late seating dining. As best I can recall, OP will not be able to make any MDR reservations in the cruise planner or app due to this.

 

Up until a few months ago, those with traditional (early/late) dining would be assigned to a single table in a single dining room for the duration of the cruise. Then, albeit unannounced, that was completely done away with on E-class and everyone had anytime dining once they boarded regardless of their booking. In a recent post, @kwokpot mentioned that Celebrity may have reverted back to traditional dining on E-class, though I don't think it was confirmed.

 

Bottom line, it's OP's best guess as to what their dining situation is and they likely won't find out until after they board.

[helen haywood]

14 minutes ago, lostchild said:

 

It is true, but I sense some resistance from the wait staff whenever we did that.   I am not sure if it is just because not too many people asked for it or there is some extra work that they have to do.    It's that little bit of hesitation that gives away their thought process.   Maybe just because they didn't study the exclusive items from the other restaurants, they are not familiar with the ingredients to deal with food allergies and stuff.  

To a certain extent, a lot of the staff are new and unfortunately not as well trained as they should be.  Often I’ve had a server tell me one thing, overheard by a head waiter who swoops in to correct the server.  You certainly can order any of the 4 MDRs specialty dishes at any of them.  They all share the same kitchen.  

[keesar]

35 minutes ago, RichYak said:

. In a recent post, @kwokpot mentioned that Celebrity may have reverted back to traditional dining on E-class, though I don't think it was confirmed.

 

 

 

Traditional dining is not taking place on the Edge Class.  You just show up when you want to dine at any of the 4 dining rooms.  However, if you have found a wait staff to your liking, you can request to be seated in their section.

[2chiefs]

3 hours ago, Bo1953 said:

2c - I Am sure if you want an 8.30p seating for dinner, there should be no issues with just walking up and request seating...

 

Do not be confused, with Anytime Dining you can eat in any of the four (4) each night... then you can decide which you like the most, in terms of mood, decor or even staff.

 

I trust you will find that having four (4) dining venues to choose from, to be more relaxed, intimate and enjoyable.

 

bon appetit and bon voyage

My confusion was with my booking. It said I have 8:30 dining which apparently is not the case. According to all responses, I just go to the dining room and wait for a seat. Not having the same waiters or the same dinner mates which we traditionally liked. Oh well, that's the future of cruising, I guess.

[2chiefs]

1 hour ago, RichYak said:

No one seems to be addressing the main point--that OP has booked the cruise with traditional late seating dining. As best I can recall, OP will not be able to make any MDR reservations in the cruise planner or app due to this.

 

Up until a few months ago, those with traditional (early/late) dining would be assigned to a single table in a single dining room for the duration of the cruise. Then, albeit unannounced, that was completely done away with on E-class and everyone had anytime dining once they boarded regardless of their booking. In a recent post, @kwokpot mentioned that Celebrity may have reverted back to traditional dining on E-class, though I don't think it was confirmed.

 

Bottom line, it's OP's best guess as to what their dining situation is and they likely won't find out until after they board.

That's correct. Thanks for the clarification Rich Yak! 🙂 

[2chiefs]

55 minutes ago, keesar said:

 

Traditional dining is not taking place on the Edge Class.  You just show up when you want to dine at any of the 4 dining rooms.  However, if you have found a wait staff to your liking, you can request to be seated in their section.

Like I do when I get a haircut. I have to wait longer to get the same stylist. LOL 

We will miss traditional dining!!

Edited July 19, 2023 by 2chiefs

[Bo1953]

11 minutes ago, 2chiefs said:

My confusion was with my booking. It said I have 8:30 dining which apparently is not the case. According to all responses, I just go to the dining room and wait for a seat. Not having the same waiters or the same dinner mates which we traditionally liked. Oh well, that's the future of cruising, I guess.

2c - Okay, I understand better.

 

Once you get on-board go to the Maitre d' and request anytime dining and not fixed.

 

That will be far better for you, in the long run, IMO.

 

bon appetit and bon voyage

[helen haywood]

Bo is correct.  Since the website and probably phone reps may not understand that you don’t actually have Anytime Dining, go to one of the MDRs on embarkation and see about making reservations then, if you so desire.  

[perfect match]

5 hours ago, 2chiefs said:

Like I do when I get a haircut. I have to wait longer to get the same stylist. LOL 

We will miss traditional dining!!

We will miss traditional dining too. We’ve tried anytime dining on a couple of other cruise lines and have found that we greatly prefer traditional. I’m disappointed that it won’t be available on Beyond. 

[SbbquilterUT]

We found lines to be seated if you want to eat when the restaurant first opens so we would wait until about 6:45 to go as early diners were leaving for the show,  we were easily seated with time to finish before the later show.

[Bo1953]

14 hours ago, 2chiefs said:

Like I do when I get a haircut. I have to wait longer to get the same stylist. LOL 

We will miss traditional dining!!

2c no need to miss "traditional dining'.... just go at the time TD is usual for you... 

 

Same table and same MDR staff waiting for you...

 

There will be others, most likely, dining at the same time as you...

 

Keep the regimen and keep the time you desire to have...

 

bon appetit and bon voyage

[2chiefs]

14 hours ago, Bo1953 said:

2c - Okay, I understand better.

 

Once you get on-board go to the Maitre d' and request anytime dining and not fixed.

 

That will be far better for you, in the long run, IMO.

 

bon appetit and bon voyage

Thanks

 

[2chiefs]

1 minute ago, Bo1953 said:

2c no need to miss "traditional dining'.... just go at the time TD is usual for you... 

 

Same table and same MDR staff waiting for you...

 

There will be others, most likely, dining at the same time as you...

 

Keep the regimen and keep the time you desire to have...

 

bon appetit and bon voyage

That's what we planned on doing. 

Thanks

 

[Boatharbour]

We’re on Apex at the moment and your wait for a seat could be a long one. 
Tonight we witnessed long lines at Cyprus

(with some poor behaviour directed at the maître’d)  and Cosmopolitan from 7.45 onwards. We had pre-booked all our dining times before the cruise so our table was waiting for us.
As an aside, we walked though the buffet later and found plenty of options and a much calmer atmosphere than we saw in the restaurants below. 

 

[lostchild]

6 minutes ago, Boatharbour said:

We’re on Apex at the moment and your wait for a seat could be a long one. 
Tonight we witnessed long lines at Cyprus

(with some poor behaviour directed at the maître’d)  and Cosmopolitan from 7.45 onwards. We had pre-booked all our dining times before the cruise so our table was waiting for us.
As an aside, we walked though the buffet later and found plenty of options and a much calmer atmosphere than we saw in the restaurants below. 

 

We preferred the buffet than any of the 4 restaurants with our last Apex cruise.   The restaurants feel very enclosed, and the tables are packed closed to each other's.   Unless there is no one sitting at the table next to you, it is impossible to have any kind of private conversation.

 

The buffet is just more relaxing and if you want to finish eating in 20 minutes, you could.   Where in any of the main dining rooms, you probably won't finish your first course in 20 minutes.

[Mauidiver]

We always select anytime dining and immediately make our reservations using the app.  This way we can take into account port times, excursions, etc and vary our time slightly depending on the day. We also check the menus a couple of weeks before the cruise, and if we don’t really like any of the choices, we’ll cancel our reservation and go to the buffet that night.  This gives us a lot more flexibility and assurance we’ll enjoy our dinner each night.

Edited July 20, 2023 by Mauidiver

[georgiaguy]

So is it all just two tops unless you have your own group? I know it was that way on our last cruise but that was also at the tail end of covid protocols. Not upset either way but we are weird and like the opportunity to meet others at dinner. 

Edited July 25, 2023 by georgiaguy

[Richmond]

This is a very interesting read.  We booked on Beyond last night for March and the app says "Celebrity Select Dining Early 6:00PM" - please refer to the dining reservation card found in your stateroom for location and time.