select dining option

[beebee]

We have been Celebrity cruisers for years and have always been fortunate to have wonderful table mates for the traditional dining. We are going to try the select dining option for our February cruise on the Equinox and also for our June cruise on the Summit. I am not hearing too much feedback about this option and it actually seems like some people have never even heard of it. Someone said that they wished Celebrity had something like the "Anytime Dining" on another line but my understanding is that that is what the select dining option is similar to. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. I am hoping we did not make a mistake in changing our dining arrangements.

 

Thanks for any thoughts!

[dkjretired]

We have been Celebrity cruisers for years and have always been fortunate to have wonderful table mates for the traditional dining. We are going to try the select dining option for our February cruise on the Equinox and also for our June cruise on the Summit. I am not hearing too much feedback about this option and it actually seems like some people have never even heard of it. Someone said that they wished Celebrity had something like the "Anytime Dining" on another line but my understanding is that that is what the select dining option is similar to. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. I am hoping we did not make a mistake in changing our dining arrangements.

 

Thanks for any thoughts!

 

There have been a series of threads on the Select Dining. It is being slowly put onto the ships during the first part of this year. Some ships don't have it yet.

[KT4209]

My husband and I were on the Equinox in December and loved the Select Dining option. Our party of 4 was seated instantly most nights and had a short wait on 2 occasions. I have read on the boards that some larger parties have had a wait; however, I am sure Celebrity has been working out the kinks during the roll-out.

 

You can make a reservation for a specific time or simply show up for dinner when the mood strikes (I believe the hours are 6:30 - 9:00). We had reservations some nights; other nights we just arrived at our whim. I was thrilled with the system as many times we are not ready for early dining and late is always too late. If you have specific questions, feel free to ask.

[late seating]

My husband and I were on the Equinox in December and loved the Select Dining option. Our party of 4 was seated instantly most nights and had a short wait on 2 occasions. I have read on the boards that some larger parties have had a wait; however, I am sure Celebrity has been working out the kinks during the roll-out.

 

You can make a reservation for a specific time or simply show up for dinner when the mood strikes (I believe the hours are 6:30 - 9:00). We had reservations some nights; other nights we just arrived at our whim. I was thrilled with the system as many times we are not ready for early dining and late is always too late. If you have specific questions, feel free to ask.

 

Hello KT409,

How did select seating work with going to the shows? We are sailing on the Connie next week and chose select seating. We have not read anything on the boards about making

the shows. Are not the shows pretty much scheduled around traditional seating?

[eandj]

The show times are still based on the traditional dining times.

[hannibal54]

I like the way that NCL does their dinning, freestyle. Hopefully this will be how the Century does it on our March cruise.

[SandyR5]

We did My Time Dining on Equinox in December and will be doing it next week on Connie. It was wonderful. We always had late seating before this. We NEVER had a wait and were always sat at a table for 6...which we requested. (It was just my husband and myself but we wanted a "large" table.) I had originally made reservations, online, for 7:00 and 7:30 some nights, but decided to change that because of the shows. We generally showed up about 6:45 and were always finished in time for the 9:00 show. It was a great experience and as I said, we're doing it again. ;)

[KT4209]

Hello KT409,

How did select seating work with going to the shows? We are sailing on the Connie next week and chose select seating. We have not read anything on the boards about making

the shows. Are not the shows pretty much scheduled around traditional seating?

 

The shows remain scheduled around the traditional dining times. Upon receiving the next day's schedule each evening, you can look at the entertainment options and determine if your dining time should be adjusted accordingly.

[RichS10]

I've read these threads and the Celebrity website several times, but am still a bit confused about an upcoming cruise on the Equinox.

 

Is there a difference between "Select Dining" and "My Time Dining" or is it the same thing? I see that you can make dinner reservations online before your cruise, but I would rather "do it on the fly" and have some flexibility to come to the MDR when we are ready each night. (I do realize we should probably make advance reservations for the specialty restaurants) We usually do late seating, but some nights, I wish I could eat an hour earlier!

[K9pal]

We're thinking of switching from late seating to Select for our August cruise, but I'm undecided and a bit confused. Since it's just the two of us, a big part of the enjoyment of the cruise is meeting other folks. Do I understand correctly that if we do Select Dining, we can still sit at a table with other passengers? Or will it just be a table for two?

[dkjretired]

I've read these threads and the Celebrity website several times, but am still a bit confused about an upcoming cruise on the Equinox.

 

Is there a difference between "Select Dining" and "My Time Dining" or is it the same thing? I see that you can make dinner reservations online before your cruise, but I would rather "do it on the fly" and have some flexibility to come to the MDR when we are ready each night. (I do realize we should probably make advance reservations for the specialty restaurants) We usually do late seating, but some nights, I wish I could eat an hour earlier!

 

Select Dining is Celebrity's version of my time dining or anytime dining. Originally, they were going to require that you make reservations for each night however apparently that is out the window and you can just walk in and eat. Below is a press release with all the dates, etc

 

http://www.celebritycruises.com/aboutceleb/pressDetails.do;jsessionid=0000Hmrb7agEPiAmGApy6HO6aet:12hdebebp?pagename=press_room_details&event_date=2009-08-31&event_type=press_release&sequence_code=A

[dkjretired]

We're thinking of switching from late seating to Select for our August cruise, but I'm undecided and a bit confused. Since it's just the two of us, a big part of the enjoyment of the cruise is meeting other folks. Do I understand correctly that if we do Select Dining, we can still sit at a table with other passengers? Or will it just be a table for two?

 

Yes you can...

[Amagamma]

I also was very interested in Select dining and contacted Captains Club.

They told me you could make reservations for every night, a couple nights or none at all

and just show up every night. She said you could be seated with other guests or dine alone, but there might be a wait for a table if requesting a certain sized table.

She told me the only thing was that gratuities HAD to be prepaid and would be put on

your seapass account.

Oh, she also told me you could pre-book or just book your nights when you got onboard.

[beebee]

Since I was the one who started this thread, I have been very interested in what people have had to say about the select dining. My husband and I will be on the Feb. 5th sailing of the Equinox and I will be sure to post our impressions and experiences with the select dining option when we return. Right now, it sounds like it is the only way to go for people who don't want to be tied to a specific time each night but still might want the opportunity and fun of meeting new people. FYI, we are not planning on making reservations ahead of time, but, just showing up.

 

BeeBee