Solstice - Select Dining - Question

[nadalina]

Hello, All. I have chosen Select Dining for my granddaughter and me for our upcoming cruise on the Solstice but I admit to being confused about the intention. I keep reading on this board that Select Dining is not the same as Anytime Dining, like on Princess, which I have experienced. I just re-read the explanation on Celebrity's website and I am still confused. It clearly says that by choosing Select Dining, you "may dine at any time the main dining room is open". It also says you may make reservations for each night of the week, either online or once onboard with the maitre d'.

 

For those of you who have experienced Select Dining, does this mean that we MUST make a reservation for a specific time in advance? If so, can it be a call maybe at the last minute? Can we just show up at the door and take our chances, and if there's a table available, be seated, or if not, wait or go somewhere else?

 

The reason this is so important is that my granddaughter recently had an injury to her right hand and she is in a cast, so getting ready is going to be challenging and time-consuming, and, therefore, we need more flexibility for being somewhere at a specific time.

 

I am open to any suggestions and appreciate your comments and input.

 

Many thanks,

Peggy

[eandj]

You can do either. Just walk up each night. OR reserve a time that you want to eat every night and show up then.

 

Wait time will be determined by time you show up (around the 7:00 hour it starts to get busy) and if you are only looking for a particular table size.

[ellbon]

most nights i went between 730 and 830.. several nights i ate with friends. i walked up or had a planned time depending on the night.

[peanutter]

When onboard in February, we had select dining and never made a reservation. We did specialty two of the nights, but for the other five, we just showed up when we were ready. That being said, there were only two of us. I understand if you have a very large table of folks to seat, it might be that you have to wait from time to time if you don't have a reservation. Enjoy - we really did like the ship and loved select dining!

[tory707]

Don't use it. Pick either early or late seating. I had reservations scheduled for every night in the MDR except for the nights we were going to the spec restaurants. Every time we got there we were wisked off to the wine bar where they gave us a glass of champagne while we wait. (i'm sure your GD can not drink) so this is not an option. They then seat you and the next thing you know the waiter is in your face asking for your order. No signs of wine attendant until after your order is in. then you have to rush through your wine because the next thing you know the dessert menu is in your hand. They need to re-think this service because it does not work. Another thing i forgot to mention in my earlier thread. I am not joking (we saw theis twice). At the server station we saw them take bread off a table that just got up and assembeled a new bread basket for the next table using the same bread! Using their hands with no gloves doing it! I am not kidding. We told the MD and he said he would address it.

[GeorgeL]

Another thing i forgot to mention in my earlier thread. I am not joking (we saw theis twice). At the server station we saw them take bread off a table that just got up and assembeled a new bread basket for the next table using the same bread! Using their hands with no gloves doing it! I am not kidding. We told the MD and he said he would address it.

 

This is very disturbing to read. I always wondered whether such a thing was possible or ever done on Celebrity (or any other cruise line) and this confirms my fears. It's not only very unappetizing but also very unhygenic. And if they do this with bread do they also do it with other leftover food? I shudder at the thought.

[nadalina]

Thank you, All, for your responses. Tory's response, however, has prompted a follow-up question for the rest of you. Did you feel, as Tory did, that service in Select Dining was more rushed than in Traditional Dining seating? My granddaughter is almost 16 years old, so, you're right about her not being able to drink alcoholic beverages but I'm sure she would not mind sitting with me while I enjoy a pre-dinner cocktail should we have to wait for a while. Again, the real reason and point of choosing Select Dining is so we can have greater flexibility time-wise because of her current disability. There will only be the two of us and I think we would be flexible as to table size as well. In other words, if we ended up dining by ourselves, that would be fine, but also if we joined a larger table, that would be fine as well. We are both seasoned cruisers but just haven't experienced the Select Dining option on Celebrity yet, so we would be perfectly comfortable sharing our dining experience with strangers. Thanks again.

[lysolqn]

At the server station we saw them take bread off a table that just got up and assembeled a new bread basket for the next table using the same bread! Using their hands with no gloves doing it! I am not kidding. We told the MD and he said he would address it.

 

I'm neither thrilled nor surprised by the idea of recycled bread baskets but I doubt the practice is unique to Select Dining. For sure, no one wants to know what goes on behind the scenes in any restaurant, let alone see it - but I've no reason to believe cruise ship practices, despite routine CDC inspections, are any more or less appetizing than those of any landside restaurant. Some thoughts are simply better when not dwelt upon!

 

My longstanding pet peeve with respect cruise ship dining, however, is the widespread practice of waitstaff removing what they perceive to be unused silverware and/or dinnerware from the table and using it to complete settings for the next dinner seating or for regular turnover during open seating breakfast in the dining room. With waiters responsible for cleaning and drying their own silverware after each meal, as well as re-setting their tables, I'm not surprised they look to cut corners to save time but I find the practice (have seen it done on just about every cruise line we've sailed) particularly disturbing. What looks like it hasn't been used and what actually hasn't been used, touched or who knows what else, are two totally different things. One would think great pains would be taken to stop recycling of any kind in the dining room, especially when one considers just how quickly illness can spread. Sorry if I've hijacked this thread!

[tory707]

I'm neither thrilled nor surprised by the idea of recycled bread baskets but I doubt the practice is unique to Select Dining. For sure, no one wants to know what goes on behind the scenes in any restaurant, let alone see it - but I've no reason to believe cruise ship practices, despite routine CDC inspections, are any more or less appetizing than those of any landside restaurant. Some thoughts are simply better when not dwelt upon!

 

My longstanding pet peeve with respect cruise ship dining, however, is the widespread practice of waitstaff removing what they perceive to be unused silverware and/or dinnerware from the table and using it to complete settings for the next dinner seating or for regular turnover during open seating breakfast in the dining room. With waiters responsible for cleaning and drying their own silverware after each meal, as well as re-setting their tables, I'm not surprised they look to cut corners to save time but I find the practice (have seen it done on just about every cruise line we've sailed) particularly disturbing. What looks like it hasn't been used and what actually hasn't been used, touched or who knows what else, are two totally different things. One would think great pains would be taken to stop recycling of any kind in the dining room, especially when one considers just how quickly illness can spread. Sorry if I've hijacked this thread!

 

Yea I don't think it had anything to do with select dining but I was shocked to see it. I'm sure it happens everywhere. What i was surprised by was that this guy did it out in the open. He was not even in the server nook. He was actually talking to another server while doing it. I told my wife and she did not believe me. Minutes later he did it again and I told her to turn around.

[CruisinNole]

Thank you, All, for your responses. Tory's response, however, has prompted a follow-up question for the rest of you. Did you feel, as Tory did, that service in Select Dining was more rushed than in Traditional Dining seating? My granddaughter is almost 16 years old, so, you're right about her not being able to drink alcoholic beverages but I'm sure she would not mind sitting with me while I enjoy a pre-dinner cocktail should we have to wait for a while. Again, the real reason and point of choosing Select Dining is so we can have greater flexibility time-wise because of her current disability. There will only be the two of us and I think we would be flexible as to table size as well. In other words, if we ended up dining by ourselves, that would be fine, but also if we joined a larger table, that would be fine as well. We are both seasoned cruisers but just haven't experienced the Select Dining option on Celebrity yet, so we would be perfectly comfortable sharing our dining experience with strangers. Thanks again.

 

We had Select Dining on the Equinox in February and my main complaint was that I felt rushed. Your experience could be very different depending on the time you choose to dine. Since we wanted to make the shows, we ended up eating at a very popular time -- 7:15/7:30. The tables are very close to each other which was not very appealing. Also, we were a party of four who wanted to dine with others but never were placed at a large table and that's something that we missed. The one time my husband and I dined alone we asked to be put at a table with others. We were placed at a table with another couple who had already ordered and who were served before we even placed our order so, the wait staff hurried us through our meal to catch up with the other couple.

[MAD70601]

We had Select Dining on the April TA on the Equinox. We tried to change it to late seating on the first night, but were told if we just showed up after 8 or so, we would have no trouble being seated. They were exactly right - we never waited more than 3 minutes before being led to a table for four.

 

Rushed?? - the service was quick and efficient every time, but we never felt rushed. As a matter of fact, as four guys we felt very attended to, and almost flirted with, by some of waiters/hosts/hostesses, and we almost always lingered for coffee and conversation after each meal.

 

Mark

[princessnana]

We were on the May 2 sailing of the Solstice and also chose the Select Dining. We never made a reservation and usually walked up around 8:00-8:30 every night. The always gave us a table for 2 - even if it would sit 4, it was just the 2 of us. We never sat the same place twice so our waiters changed every time. They were very quick to serve, but we did not feel rushed. They were always very talkative and pleasant.

 

Personally, I thought they laid out too much silverware anyway. We always laughed about it. I mean, how many forks, spoons and knives does one need to eat? That is kind of nasty about the bread basket - but we ate it anyway LOL - probably too much so. All of the bread on the ship was amazing.

 

Have fun on your cruise....I can't wait to go again.

[Nukesailor]

My longstanding pet peeve with respect cruise ship dining, however, is the widespread practice of waitstaff removing what they perceive to be unused silverware and/or dinnerware from the table and using it to complete settings for the next dinner seating or for regular turnover during open seating breakfast in the dining room. With waiters responsible for cleaning and drying their own silverware after each meal, as well as re-setting their tables, I'm not surprised they look to cut corners to save time but I find the practice (have seen it done on just about every cruise line we've sailed) particularly disturbing. What looks like it hasn't been used and what actually hasn't been used, touched or who knows what else, are two totally different things. One would think great pains would be taken to stop recycling of any kind in the dining room, especially when one considers just how quickly illness can spread.

 

In the same vein, on our recent Solstice cruise, they held the muster drill at about 4:30PM. Some of the muster stations are in the Grand Epernay dining room. People were told to sit at the tables. At the time, the tables had already been set for dinner. I didn't think this was too good an idea, sanitation-wise. I'm sure they didn't clear and reset the tables in case some of the tableware was touched.

 

I was wondering how service in the Select Dining was compared to the traditional. We tried the anytime dining a couple of times on Princess and noted that the service was a notch (or more) lower than service in the traditional seating. In fact, on the Diamond Princess, they were overcrowded in the anytime dining room and actually seated us in the traditional seating dining room and the service was noticeably better. Has anyone noticed this about Select Dining?

 

Art

[J18ktleo]

I was wondering how service in the Select Dining was compared to the traditional. We tried the anytime dining a couple of times on Princess and noted that the service was a notch (or more) lower than service in the traditional seating. In fact, on the Diamond Princess, they were overcrowded in the anytime dining room and actually seated us in the traditional seating dining room and the service was noticeably better. Has anyone noticed this about Select Dining?

 

Art

We've used Anytime Dining on Princess for over 8 years and have always enjoyed it immensly! However, we usually make friends with the Head Waiter the first nite and ask for their best server/location (with lots of sugar and smiling!) and have found the best waitstaff! Then, we book that table for the rest of the cruise. This past 12 nites in Australia we had an amazing team and even got the e-mail of the Head Waiter in case we or any friends were to sail on the Diamond again (which, interesting enough, friends are on her right now and we forwarded their info!).

Have had great luck with this type of seating and never felt rushed. The one time we did get servers we didn't like we went back to the Head Waiter and the next night we got a better table with an awesome waiter...fantastic service!!!