interesting rumor - X going to all select?

OK so on my roll call today - Silhouette Oct. 8 2016 - a poster puts up a rumor that they were told that X is moving to all select. When we booked there was supposedly a wait list for late seating - this far out? another was told - wait list for early seating. Now a poster has conveyed that they were told on ship, that X is moving to all select.

If well managed, IMO great! anyone else heard rumors like this - do you think it would be a good idea? I do think I would not like to be on the first sailing that switched to this!

The cruise line needs to be very careful about a all select dining because any one with ADA medical problems will need to eat at certain times . If the cruise line denies these people ,the Federal government will be involved ;because the cruise line headquarters here in the USA & must live under USA laws when it comes to issues like health:eek:

Personally, I wouldn't be a fan at all. I like the structure of knowing that every evening at 8:30, my table would be ready and my waiter will be waiting for me. Having never tried Select, I can't really comment on it, however traditional dining is perfect for me. I don't need any other option than that. I just booked a group of friends for a 2016 sailing, and Select is the only option as well. I was told that is most likely because there are large groups blocking out seating times, but that will change as the sailing gets closer as people drop out.

Funny - someone on our roll call had it posted that they were waitlisted for EARLY and LATE dining. I commented on that - not sure if he replied or not.

You can have fixed-time dining with Select - just make reservations.

I wonder if we all will have to pre-pay gratuities then?

Personally, I'm a fan of select but I know many are a fan of the traditional dining.

choice is always good.

If they make this change, I hope they try it on one cruise FIRST and not try to implement it across all ships at the same time.

Would NOT like this. We like dining at 8:30PM with the same table, same group of [new] friends, same wait staff.

I wonder if we all will have to pre-pay gratuities then?

 

Yes, you will. It's required with Select reservations. And if you have a 123 Go where you get free gratuities, it doesn't work with that.

The cruise line needs to be very careful about a all select dining because any one with ADA medical problems will need to eat at certain times . If the cruise line denies these people ,the Federal government will be involved ;because the cruise line headquarters here in the USA & must live under USA laws when it comes to issues like health:eek:

Get a grip. NCL has been "all select" -- Freestyle -- dining for a zillion years. No need to bring the ADA into this.

Have no idea if the rumor is true, but if it is, fans of traditional dining can still have what they want. All the 'select' or 'my-time' dining that we've used (and we've done nothing else in the last 9 cruises - Celebrity, Princess & RCI) have allowed reservations. If you want to eat at 5:30 or 8:30 with the same group of people, just reserve that time and request the same waiter once you find one you like. For us, it's the best of both worlds - dine when you want, with people you want to share with, with the wait staff you're happy with - we prefer to eat around 7:30 and that's what we get. This assumes that Celebrity sets it up right, with competent people as scheduling hosts and dining room management.

We like the concept of select dining but not the actual dining. The 1st time we tried it we got a quiet table in the "private dining room" every night after the 1st night debacle. That worked out ok. The 2nd time we went to Blu or specialty dining all but 1 night. That one night made us decide to never choose select again if we were not in Aqua or a suite.

Would NOT like this. We like dining at 8:30PM with the same table, same group of [new] friends, same wait staff.

I agree. DH and I feel the same way.

We just got off the Equinox where we had Select dining. We ate every night at 7:15 in the MDR at the same table with the same waitstaff and we never made one reservation. What's not to like?

On our first seven Celebrity cruises we did early seating on all, except the 2nd one where early seating was booked.

We did fairly well until the seventh cruise where we had to request another table due to the people assigned at the table constantly arriving 30-45 minutes late and other things.

The eight cruise, our table was a disaster. and we asked to move to select dining. Now, we are select diners.

Sometimes you roll the dice and you get a table that just doesn't work. We have found that we like the flexibly of select dining, and we get to stay longer at elite happy hour.

Yes, you will. It's required with Select reservations. And if you have a 123 Go where you get free gratuities, it doesn't work with that.

Not true. We have booked our first Celebrity Cruise and have the 123Go with Select Dining; our initial booking didn't reflect the gratuities but I was told to request a copy of my reservation/confirmation 7 to 10 days after booking and it would then be reflected. On the revised confirmation the amount of the gratuities was credited and the pricing was correct.

RCCL quietly informed travel partners that effective today pre-paid gratuities will no longer be required for MTD. There was no mention of Celebrity and Select Dining changing the policy though.

After my last two cruises on Celebrity, it appears more and more people are choosing Select dining so it would not surprise me if they did. With that being said, be advised that Celebrity's rumor mill has always been horrible and usually inaccurate.

I think just as big a question if they go to Select Dining is if they will also go to Smart Casual dress every night. Seems they might go hand in hand.

Perhaps if they read this, our Celebrity Cruises poster could comment.

OK so on my roll call today - Silhouette Oct. 8 2016 - a poster puts up a rumor that they were told that X is moving to all select. When we booked there was supposedly a wait list for late seating - this far out? another was told - wait list for early seating. Now a poster has conveyed that they were told on ship, that X is moving to all select.

 

If well managed, IMO great! anyone else heard rumors like this - do you think it would be a good idea? I do think I would not like to be on the first sailing that switched to this!

If they do, we will figure out how to make it work for our dinning desires;)

Blu is select, the Suite DR is select, the MDR last Nov on the Equinox for late seating was never half full the 6 out of 11 nights we went. It could help the ebb an flow of service to make the switch.

We just got off the Equinox where we had Select dining. We ate every night at 7:15 in the MDR at the same table with the same waitstaff and we never made one reservation. What's not to like?

What's not to like is how busy it is in Select:( People coming and going, tables being turned all around you etc. They put through approximately 3 seatings in Select as opposed to 2 in Traditional. The feeling is much calmer with just the waiters moving between the tables. Also we have found that the low ceilings really amplify the noise.

If they do, we will figure out how to make it work for our dinning desires;)

Blu is select, the Suite DR is select, the MDR last Nov on the Equinox for late seating was never half full the 6 out of 11 nights we went. It could help the ebb an flow of service to make the switch.

The main theater shows will most likely still be at 7 PM and 9 PM. So most people will either eat after the 7 PM show or before the 9 PM show.

Not sure why they just can't keep both Select and Traditional.

Last cruise we were on Early sitting and there were many empty tables. Many passengers who had chosen 'Select' were taken into the MDR and placed on one of these spare tables.

Since part of the MDR has been carved out for Luminae, passengers have had to wait for tables in Select dining. It seems sensible to make use of the spare tables in MDR.

Maybe preparations have already been made for the transfer to all 'Select' as our next cruise in 5 weeks has Early and Late wait listed. As to stopping people eating when required ( ADA medical requirement- whatever that is) there is more choice, you just go when you need to.

I found Early and late too restricting, Early is too early and Late is far too late for me.

I'm really glad we didn't miss the days of traditional dining. We have made so many wonderful friends who are really part of our lives and it's really too bad that won't be the case for many new cruisers.

I guess it's just part of the way of the world now. When they get the all-inclusive high speed internet available on board people can all sit and look at their phones and won't even have to speak to each other.:(

The cruise line needs to be very careful about a all select dining because any one with ADA medical problems will need to eat at certain times . If the cruise line denies these people ,the Federal government will be involved ;because the cruise line headquarters here in the USA & must live under USA laws when it comes to issues like health:eek:

I can think of other reasons why this could be annoying but there is ALWAYS food available somewhere on the ship, it is just a matter of where you eat it.

Traditional set dining times does not work for us at all.

We are happy for now in Blu so we hope this has no neg spill over effect.if the rumors prove true,

But we are curious about how select works exactly? We see long lines outside MDR quite a bit these days. Not sure if this is for reg MDR trad seatings or Select, . For select, it seems some have res and some just show up.

Seems logical that not everyone can have a tbl for 2 or 4...or the same table and staff every night (altho some post that they do), not everyone can arrive at the same time, not everyone can have a res...

.Do they seat you at a large table til it fills? We used to find that annoying when we did MDR breakfast and lunch....it took forever for the table to be settled and orders taken....and thrown in with a new group each meal..

with set time..early or late..we met wonderful dinner companions over the yrs..We initially switched to BLU b/c folks, including us, started going off to Specialty venues so the table was often half full.

We are happy for now in Blu so we hope this has no neg spill over effect.if the rumors prove true,

 

But we are curious about how select works exactly? We see long lines outside MDR quite a bit these days. Not sure if this is for reg MDR trad seatings or Select, . For select, it seems some have res and some just show up.

 

Seems logical that not everyone can have a tbl for 2 or 4...or the same table and staff every night (altho some post that they do), not everyone can arrive at the same time, not everyone can have a res...

 

.Do they seat you at a large table til it fills? We used to find that annoying when we did MDR breakfast and lunch....it took forever for the table to be settled and orders taken....and thrown in with a new group each meal..

 

with set time..early or late..we met wonderful dinner companions over the yrs..We initially switched to BLU b/c folks, including us, started going off to Specialty venues so the table was often half full.

Try and answer your questions. You can make reservations or just show up. They will sit you at a table with other people if you wish and from my experience the waiters try and follow the traditional model and serve everyone at the table the same course at the same time. You can of course sit by yourself and this seems to be the majority in Select Dining.

The lines can be for a couple of reasons, first is when people show up at the popular times and can't be taken care of right away. Another reason is that the tradional dining now on most ships has only one entrance due to the other side being taken up for Blu or the Suite restaurant. Saw quite a few back ups until everyone got in a couple of weeks ago.

I agree. DH and I feel the same way.

I agree as well!