It's Official... Celebrity is rolling out Open Seating on all ships

[Boo's Mom]

If they follow IOS arrangements the top tier of the restaurant was used for My Time dining so one way didn't disrupt the other , nothing else changed dress code etc was still adhered to , you just choose when you want to dine :)

 

Excellent!

I hope that is the standard arrangement !

Thanks.

[Bridge Maven]

One problem with traditional dining is that everyone is being served at the same time so the experience can vary significantly within the MDR. Sometimes food is served promptly at the right temperature and at other times service is slow and the food is cold by the time it arrives at your table. Most people who are getting good service aren't even aware of this situation until it is their turn to take a cruise where their wait team doesn't have priority.

 

This problem is much less likely to occur with My Time Dining.

[Boo2]

We have tried both Anytime Dining on Princess and My Time Dining on RC and found them to be two totally different experiences.

 

We find early seating to be too early and late seating too late so we decided to try Anytime dining on our Princess cruise in 2007; we love company for dinner so we asked to be seated at the largest table possible. We were seated at a table for eight each evening and we loved meeting new people every night for dinner and found both the food and service to be good but not great.

 

When we recently cruised RC, we asked for My Time Dining assuming that it would work the same way. When we got to dinner on our first night, they seated us at a table for two. We asked to be seated at a larger table and they didn't seem to understand what it was that we wanted. We explained the way it had worked on Princess and they said, "No problem", they would have no problems finding people for us to eat with.

 

Well, they seated us at an empty table for eight where we sat by ourselves for our entire dinner while they tried to find people to sit with us. lol

 

It seemed to us that on Princess, the people who wanted to eat at tables for 2 or 4 were in the minority. Not on RC. Everyone who chose My Time Dining did it because they wanted to eat alone and not with company. It was a totally different dining experience.

 

After dinner on that first night, we requested a change to early traditional seating and had great dinner partners for the rest of the cruise.

 

I'm wondering how Celebrity's version of Anytime/My time dining will compare with what we've already experienced on Princess and RC.

[Gracie115]

I'm wondering how Celebrity's version of Anytime/My time dining will compare with what we've already experienced on Princess and RC.

 

 

Suspect you will find it more like Royal than Princess since they are owned by same company....and they've been observing the process on Royal for a year and the overall reviews of MTD on Royal have been very good.

[Bridge Maven]

We have tried both Anytime Dining on Princess and My Time Dining on RC and found them to be two totally different experiences.

 

We find early seating to be too early and late seating too late so we decided to try Anytime dining on our Princess cruise in 2007; we love company for dinner so we asked to be seated at the largest table possible. We were seated at a table for eight each evening and we loved meeting new people every night for dinner and found both the food and service to be good but not great.

 

When we recently cruised RC, we asked for My Time Dining assuming that it would work the same way. When we got to dinner on our first night, they seated us at a table for two. We asked to be seated at a larger table and they didn't seem to understand what it was that we wanted. We explained the way it had worked on Princess and they said, "No problem", they would have no problems finding people for us to eat with.

 

Well, they seated us at an empty table for eight where we sat by ourselves for our entire dinner while they tried to find people to sit with us. lol

 

It seemed to us that on Princess, the people who wanted to eat at tables for 2 or 4 were in the minority. Not on RC. Everyone who chose My Time Dining did it because they wanted to eat alone and not with company. It was a totally different dining experience.

 

After dinner on that first night, we requested a change to early traditional seating and had great dinner partners for the rest of the cruise.

 

I'm wondering how Celebrity's version of Anytime/My time dining will compare with what we've already experienced on Princess and RC.

 

I am surprised to hear that you had that experience because on Brilliance of the Seas we were asked if we wanted to dine by ourselves or with other people who arrived at the same time and we never had a problem being seated at a large table with other people.

 

It appears that the my time dining experience might vary from ship to ship, just like every other aspect of a cruise does.

[halby58]

How do they plan the showtimes when the dining times are not set? Usually cruises have two shows per evening coinciding when you aren't eating dinner.

[drakes2]

Are there a lot of ocean view tables in the dining rooms? We love to have dinner while looking out at the ocean. This was not the case on any of our Princess cruises and we've only sailed on RCI once and quite often requested a window table. Just wondering what the set up is like on Celebrity. Apologies if I'm on the wrong thread for this but couldn't find any info elsewhere. Thanks.

Excellent!

I hope that is the standard arrangement !

Thanks.

[Boo's Mom]

Are there a lot of ocean view tables in the dining rooms? We love to have dinner while looking out at the ocean. This was not the case on any of our Princess cruises and we've only sailed on RCI once and quite often requested a window table. Just wondering what the set up is like on Celebrity. Apologies if I'm on the wrong thread for this but couldn't find any info elsewhere. Thanks.

 

Typically the tables seating larger amounts of people will be situated alongside the windows.

And, then there are those blinds that they always end up closing during the dinner meal.

*and you hear the sighs of the people, when you hear/see the blinds closing.* :cool:

 

Cruising in Alaska, along the inside passage (daylight) is when one gets great views of the water while dining!

[Duane T]

Are there a lot of ocean view tables in the dining rooms? We love to have dinner while looking out at the ocean. This was not the case on any of our Princess cruises and we've only sailed on RCI once and quite often requested a window table. Just wondering what the set up is like on Celebrity. Apologies if I'm on the wrong thread for this but couldn't find any info elsewhere. Thanks.

 

Tables were assigned on the Equinox. We had requested a table for 2 by the window and the staff accomodated us (table 155) at the start of our voyage. Likewise, we requested window seats at the specialty restaurants as well and they accomodated our requests (except Murano where the windows have shades/treatments that cover the window...so a window seat really did not matter).

[vivavino]

I just left Radiance OTS, where my travel buddy and I had a My Time dining spot.

 

We ate at Portofino 4 times, and Chops 3 times. We were only in the main DR three times for dinner.

 

On the 2nd night of the cruise, it was jammed, and the wait staff couldn't seem to get us in and out fast enough. Not for me. Future nights were better, but I much prefer the leisurely pace of a planned time slot.

 

To each his/her own, but each little loss of tradition costs us a little something, I think.