Anyone with experience with anytime dining?

[cruisebunny32]

I would like to get some info for the any time dining. Please share with me your experiences. We have a very large group. We would all like to eat together or near each other at the same time every night. Is it possible to get the same table every night if you do the same time???? We like having the same waiter every night and don't want to give that up.

 

Also what time is late seating now? Is it still 8:30 or is it changed to 8:45?

 

We are going on the Mercury in March.

 

Thanks for your responses!!!!

Happy Cruising

Cruisebunny

[Lsimon]

We just got off the Equinox. We had a large group (usually 9 and sometimes 11) and had a difficult time getting a large table or two near each other. Despite reservations, the wait was usually very long - sometimes over an hour. There just are not a lot of large tables in select and reservations do not guarantee a table will be ready. The way the system works they are supposed to mean that you'll get priority over those without reservations for a given time, but it doesn't even work that way. If there is a long line to check in you'll have to wait behind those without reservations to be seated, or finish checking in, before you can even check in. We tried to get the same waiter and were only successful a little more than 1/3 of the time.

 

Often we were not seated until later than the late traditional dining time of 8:30 despite attempts to get seated between 7:30 and 8, and checking in around 7PM for those times. Several times were were promised someone would come to the bar to let us know our table was ready but they never did.

 

One issue is they have about 1/2 the seating space as the number of diners. This works for regular dining as half the people start at 6PM or 6:30 so they are done by 8:30. But for select almost everyone wants to sit between those two times so it just doesn't work.

 

And of course you can't establish the rapport with your waiters or asst. maitre 'd so you don't quite get the special treatment and special requests that we usually get in traditional dining.

 

I'm back to traditional dining on my future cruises.

 

Especially for a large group, I'd recommend traditional dining. Only choose select if you're flexible as to dining times, willing to wait, not particular as to where you sit or who your waiter is, and are willing to split into smaller groups (4 to 6) with the groups seated in different areas of the dining room.

[FinelyCruising]

We are just back from the same cruise, which was 14 nights, so a good sample, and we had no issue with smaller tables. Our request for a table for two, and while we pre-booked our times, once on board on various days we found we wanted to adjust some dining times.

 

We asked the hostess if we should then cancel our already made arrangements and she said no, just come and we will seat you as quickly as possible, and it was so. We had no wait times to speak of and it seemed to be fairly well coordinated, just a matter of communication via a microphone and earpiece with the staff inside the dining area for available tables and almost cleared tables so set the queue the hostess was looking at for the area. We often asked for a window and if it meant a few minutes wait that was the worst of it.

 

It seemed if a table to share was requested, a four or a six would have been fairly easily accommodated as well, and we enjoyed friendly conversation with others who were nearby without it being obtrusive as we chose to dine just by ourselves primarily. I could see an 8 group being made, but it might have taken some time, beyond that, it woud be a challenge due to the size and then pushing tables together while the MDR has large tables already as part of their design.

 

There were three sommeliers as far as I could tell for this Select Dining area, once we found one who we clicked with despite our movement in the seating areas it was easy from there on in and that aspect of the service was top notch.

 

I can comment that we did not have the same wait staff each night unless we were in the same concentrated area, it seemed to me that the area was broken up in rows of three, with maybe 6 teams for the area and I can't find fault with any of the staff we had, the service was good and efficient and well coordinated between the teams and the food was just amazing....where is that Jaques van Staten menu topic...I am going there to rave next.;)

 

In the end, I would take this option without hesitation from here on in without a minute of angst.

[floridatravelersforlife]

We were also on the last Holyland cruise of the Equinox before the TA. We had early seating.

 

We had window seating for four, out of four tables for two. Most of the nights the other table of 2 or 4 was empty. when someone showed up they were out of sequence with all the fixed time people so their dinner schedule was disrupted and usually slow. Plus the wait staff were more friendly to the "regulars".

 

On the other hand , one night after a late return to the ship (Ashdod, Israel) everyone returned at once so we didnt get to dinner until 7:15.WE went directly to our table and it was still open, Apparently the fixed seating peoples tables are held or so it seems.

 

From a fixed seating perspective this is the best of both worlds. I assume for the open seating folks it is also a positive although you never kinow who you will set next to. That's fun though. WE meet the most interesting people on these cruises.

[FinelyCruising]

We were also on the last Holyland cruise of the Equinox before the TA. We had early seating.

 

We had window seating for four, out of four tables for two. Most of the nights the other table of 2 or 4 was empty. when someone showed up they were out of sequence with all the fixed time people so their dinner schedule was disrupted and usually slow. Plus the wait staff were more friendly to the "regulars".

 

On the other hand , one night after a late return to the ship (Ashdod, Israel) everyone returned at once so we didnt get to dinner until 7:15.WE went directly to our table and it was still open, Apparently the fixed seating peoples tables are held or so it seems.

 

From a fixed seating perspective this is the best of both worlds. I assume for the open seating folks it is also a positive although you never kinow who you will set next to. That's fun though. WE meet the most interesting people on these cruises.

 

This was about Select Dining...which you indicate you were not participating in....perhaps those nearby your tables were in-cabin or Specialty Dining as in Tuscan, Murano's or the others?

[BrendaJ]

We just got back on Saturday from the Equinox and had Select Dining. We made reservations in advance, on-line, for 4 people. We had no trouble at all. A few days into the cruise, we met an additional couple we wanted to dine with, and each evening, we just showed up at the same time with them and we were always given a table for 6. We never waited more than 5 minutes, and our service, without exception, was very good. Although we had indicated on our reservations that we were willing to share tables with others, we were always given a table for 6, of which there are quite a few.

 

Of course, our lack of waiting and problems probably stems from the fact that we had made reservations for 6:30 or 6:45 each evening; I'm guessing far more people would have showed up between 7 and 8, which would likely result in waiting.

 

In the future, I would have no hesitation in choosing Select Dining and would do so again if the traditional dining times did not mesh with our port schedule. We have been very fortunate with Traditional Dining in that we have always shared tables with fun, interesting people, so we're good with either choice. If I were travelling with a large group, I'd probably book Traditional just to ensure we could all be seated together, since, from other posts, it appears that Select works best for couples or small groups.

[cruisebunny32]

Thanks so much for all of your comments! It is nice to hear the different versions.

 

Thanks for taking time to answer my questions!

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Alisia

[PatC]

Larry - how are you guys doing? Hope the holiday was a good one.

 

Need a real honest answer as we're looking at Select on Mercury.

 

Questions are-do you think we would have problems with 2 tables for 8?

Do you think this was very well organized since they just rolled out this progrmam? How confused were the staff??? We want to try this on Mercury. Cruisebunny in my DIL and has the concerns. Could it also have been because of the size of the ship?

 

Need honest answers and know you'll be very frank in your reply.

 

We'll stick to traditional on Connie for our cruise with you guys if you really feel this doesn't work.

 

Why did Celebrity do this:eek:

 

Talk to you soon

 

Pat

[Lois R]

Hi Pat:)

 

Your question:

"Why did Celebrity do this"?

I guess they must have felt lots of folks wanted it......?:confused:

And seems like it worked for some people, but not for others.

 

I am sailing on SUMMIT in January and will be sticking with

Traditional Dining. I am meeting friends and we linked our bookings and

I am so looking forward to it:D

[PatC]

We're switching back to traditional. Sadly we'll just eat later.

 

Pat

[Lsimon]

Questions are-do you think we would have problems with 2 tables for 8?...

 

Pat - our table was usually 9 - which they generally did by stretching a table for 8, rather than under-setting a larger table. I have no reason to think you'd have better luck other than the fact that the staff on board hadn't been dealing with this for very long.

 

Personally I'd go for either early or late as I believe that you'd be setting yourself up for problems as it sounds like you're looking for an "in-between" dining time which is the highest in demand and because you have a large group at 2 tables of 8.

 

If you want to take a shot at select, then by all means go ahead, but I wouldn't keep my expectations too high as far as having he 2 groups together, having the same waiters or location or easily being able to adjust your times. To be fair our group did change things around a couple times in terms of number of people at the table and desired dining time There is also the possibility it was just "one of those things" for us - we all know that not everyone has everything perfect on every cruise - someone always gets the best waiter and someone the worst. And our experience certainly wasn't a cruise buster for us - we had a wonderful time.

 

Have a great cruise!

[PatC]

Hi Larry,

 

Hope Thanksgiving was great for your family!

 

We decided to switch back to traditional dining. We'll survey what happens this time around then decide about Connie in 2011. Maybe Celebrity should have just left dining times alone and casual dining expanded for those who didn't want to use the main dining room:rolleyes: If I recall on our cruise in March many chose the specialty restaurant on Connie and many nights quite a few tables were empty. I think select might be a problem on Mercury since there is no specialty restaurant.

 

I knew you'd be honest and I could depend on your insight. We'll just stick with traditional and it seems all our group agree.

 

Love to Susie.

 

Pat

[Lsimon]

...If I recall on our cruise in March many chose the specialty restaurant on Connie and many nights quite a few tables were empty. I think select might be a problem on Mercury since there is no specialty restaurant....

 

On the Equinox they had a portion of the dining room used for select only. As far as I could tell they did not comingle the areas. So a traditional table that was vacant for the night if the regulars went to specialty dining was NOT used for select. Basically I believe they had about 300 sign up for select so they took an area sufficient for seating 150 and used that for select. Some nights it was very busy and some nights not.

 

We did eat at the specialty restaurants 5 nights out of 14, but the Equinox/Solstice have some great options. I did notice that they did not have the table service casual dining that has been offered on the other ships - instead they expanded the buffet options some.

[ellbon]

Larry

 

The "S" class ships never had the causal dining that i will try in the future. maybe formal night in Alaska. i am not big on buffet at night but i love the bistro for causal dining.

[griswalds]

Our preference is fixed dining but on our last cruise to the Mediterranean (not on Celebrity), we were thankful for anytime dining. Generally we went around 6:30 PM and never had to wait, but those who came around 7 PM and later often had a very long wait. We noted that people who had early fixed dining and running late tried crashing the anytime dining and were turned away. Up to the casual buffet they went....sad but true.

 

Griswalds

[jackdiamond]

Since we will be on the Equinox in a few days, we would be most interested in the experiences of those who utilized anytime dining in the Blu.

[FinelyCruising]

On the Equinox they had a portion of the dining room used for select only. As far as I could tell they did not comingle the areas. So a traditional table that was vacant for the night if the regulars went to specialty dining was NOT used for select. Basically I believe they had about 300 sign up for select so they took an area sufficient for seating 150 and used that for select. Some nights it was very busy and some nights not.

 

We did eat at the specialty restaurants 5 nights out of 14, but the Equinox/Solstice have some great options. I did notice that they did not have the table service casual dining that has been offered on the other ships - instead they expanded the buffet options some.

 

In a restaurant a seating capacity for 100 guests there would be a 3x turn over, so it can accomodate 300 at the turns. The MDR is simlar but with 2 fixed turns.

 

Select Dining was a wonderful opportunity for us for ourselves, yet if you have a group of 8 or more you should consider tradtionial dining to get your table seating time and group guaranteed at one or the other of the two seating times.

[dkjretired]

Since we will be on the Equinox in a few days, we would be most interested in the experiences of those who utilized anytime dining in the Blu.

 

Anytime dining is the standard in Blu, just walk in and ask for a table.

[jackdiamond]

Thank you dkjretired.

[floridafolks]

This is our first time on Celebrity and we are not familar with its flexible dining option. We usually eat early, but it was not available so we choose fixed late seating. The question is --do we still have the option for anytime dining on some evenings even though we have chosen fixed late seating? How does that work? We are familar with Holland America's flex option and just called in each morning and got a table for 2 at the time we chose( based on our shore excursion for the day.) Cananyone compare the flex option on the two lines? Thanks

[FinelyCruising]

This is our first time on Celebrity and we are not familar with its flexible dining option. We usually eat early, but it was not available so we choose fixed late seating. The question is --do we still have the option for anytime dining on some evenings even though we have chosen fixed late seating? How does that work? We are familar with Holland America's flex option and just called in each morning and got a table for 2 at the time we chose( based on our shore excursion for the day.) Cananyone compare the flex option on the two lines? Thanks

 

There is no ability to alternate between Select and Traditional on Celebrity if you opt for Select.

 

For us, we had pre-selected 6:30 and 7:30 pm dining times depending upon what ports we were in or not it as we prefer to dine early. In our cabin when we boarded was our dining itinerary as we had arranged on line pre-cruise and as I had indicated we had no issue with our selections; at times we chose to dine later and had no issue being accommodated.

 

I am uncertain what options exist for guests who decide along the way they do not care for the Select dining option and wish to dine instead under the traditional dining plan in the MDR. Perhaps over time some will be able to comment with personal experience if they decided to change during the cruise.

[Lois R]

Maybe it was because I am just one person, but I changed from Select

to Traditional on the first night due to unforseen circumstances and maybe 1 person is just not much to deal with?

 

Thinking a friend was going to be sailing we opted for Select for the very first time but then he had to cancel at the very last minute:(

 

I was going to do Select that first night anyway but ended up meeting a very

nice gal who was also going solo (she had traditional late) and the

Maitr'd was nice enough to put us at the same table.

(It was a 6 top)...the next day I got card in my door that they moved me

to another table and when I got to the dining room they had moved her

to the same table. The people the 2nd evening were very nice. They had picked traditional late too.

 

Again, I do not know what happens if a group decides they want to go

from Select to Traditional during the cruise....and this one was only 4

nights so it might have been different than a longer one.

 

Oh, I did notice every night there was a line in the Select Dining

entrance. (Upstairs starboard side of the Dining room). I don't know

how long the folks were waiting but I did see a a line.

[FinelyCruising]

 

Oh, I did notice every night there was a line in the Select Dining

entrance. (Upstairs starboard side of the Dining room). I don't know

how long the folks were waiting but I did see a a line.

 

Yes there is a perception to many of a 'line'. Unlike the MDR, each and every night the guests are escorted to their table. As a result, once you have checked in, the dining staff come to escort you. There can be times when there are a few couples ahead of you waiting for an escort, or a few minutes of wait while a particular table is being cleared and reset as well.

 

At entry, it is very much like Restaurant Dining and less like the two seatings in the MDR. I enjoyed having my chair offered and set under me each evening by the staff.:)

[Ma Bell]

Cheryl,

 

It wasn't a perception. If you went in early there may have been no line but if you try to go at a time that I would consider a "select" choice you will definitely wait. Going at 6:30 or 8:30 serves no purpose and you might as well have traditional dining. Trying to go at a time that most people like between 7:15 to 8 is a problem.

 

Parties of two to four will also be much more successful than larger parties.

[bob278]

On the Equinox TA, it was a gross example of "over-promise and under-deliver".

 

And what really amazed me was the maitre d' telling us that the "reservations" we made were only "suggestions".

 

If Celebrity ever creates an "Elite Plus" Captain's Club category, maybe a great benefit would be to have a table guaranteed at whatever time you reserve.

 

As others mentioned, the problem was setting aside only about half the seats that had been reserved without regard to the obvious (to me) reality that most of the people would want times within a tighter window that the two traditional times. As it worked out, I would guess that 75-80% of the people wanted to eat between 7:00 and 8:00. I felt sorry for the staff having to deal with the problem, but they made commitments they could not/did not keep, such as telling us they would come to the lounge to get us or missing (by at least 30-45 minutes) their estimates of when a table would be ready. While I would not have been happy with the wait times, I would have been satisfied with the performance of the staff if they had simply told us the truth and said "I have no idea when a table will be ready. Please check back with me in 15 minutes." Honesty still works as the best policy in customer service and we just didn't see that.

 

Normally, my experience has been that the on-board staff do all in their power to overcome any situation created by corporate or just unfortunate circumstance. But the maitre d' and hostess were not very good at it. The wait staff in the Select area was, for the most part, excellent. We had one table and one sommelier that were not so good in comparison, but still not too bad.

 

In summary, the concept is good, but the execution is poor. Either make (and honor) reservations, or make it all "walk-up". At least, with walk-up, you don't have any expectation that a table is guaranteed to be available.