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Traditional Dining - Select vs Late Seating


shainky84
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With thanks to everyone who offered their input on my recent specialty dining questions, I have a traditional dining question...

 

My travel agent booked us as Select Dining for our June 2016 Reflection cruise to Italy & the Greek Isles, but she put us on the waitlist for the late seating. (We both agreed that the early seating would be too rushed if coming back from late shore excursions.) This far out, she told me, we should have no issues getting off the waitlist. Assuming that we do get a late seating, she mentioned that we can switch back to Select.

 

My questions are as follows:

 

1. What time (or approx what time) will the late seating be on our cruise? What time(s) is the nightly entertainment? Can we do both?

 

2. How do table assignments work? We are a couple in our early 30s who will be on our honeymoon, so we'd like to sit with people in a similar age range. Is a table for 2 or 4 or 6 (with other young couples) an option? Can we request this?

 

3. Is the buffet an option for dinner if we decide we want something more casual or low-key? What happens to our reservation in the MDR?

 

4. How we coordinate our MDR reservation with any nights we want to dine in a specialty restaurant?

 

5. If we go late seating, can move our seating time to early to select for only one night - perhaps a sea day when we want to eat earlier?

 

6. I realize this is subjective, but what's better - Select or late seating?

 

Thanks.

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1) I believe it is 8:30

2) The table size is optional but the sitting with certain age groups is iffy. That is more "just luck". But, I will say we have really enjoyed dining companions of all age groups (AND sometimes not :-(

3)buffet or specialty restaurants are always an option. If you know ahead of time let your fellow table mates know/waiter just so they dont wait for you

4)when you board the ship you can book any of the restaurants, anytime they have openings

5)No, you cannot just move to different seatings. But you can eat at the buffet or order room service

6)it is very selective. Since we travel as a couple and not as a group we like assigned (late seating). As the days go by, you really get to know your dining mates. You get passed, Hi, Hello, we are from...... AND what do you do?

Some groupings are excellent and we have made many friends over the years. If you get at a table you really dont like, bring your concerns to the desk and change tables. Dining should be a fun experience.

Best of luck with your choices

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1. What time (or approx what time) will the late seating be on our cruise? What time(s) is the nightly entertainment? Can we do both?

 

Entertainment is timed to the fixed dining schedules.

 

Early diners go to the late show, and late diners go to the 1st show.

 

Some Itineraries on some formal nights, the show FOLLOWS dinner for all, that is early diners see the show after their dinner, and late diners see the show even later than the normal late show - NOT before dinner.

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motherchic,

 

Thanks so much for offering your input. Very helpful.

 

I like the idea of getting to know tablemates and developing relationships with them over dinner. And I find that I can really get along with almost anyone. But I worry that we may end up sitting with people who are not gay-friendly. And this is not something I want to deal with on my honeymoon!....Am I worrying for nothing?

 

On the other hand, my grandmother recently told me a story of a cruise that she and my grandfather took where they (in their 50s or early 60s) were seated with a bunch of young couples who made them feel young again!

 

Barry

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motherchic,

 

Thanks so much for offering your input. Very helpful.

 

I like the idea of getting to know tablemates and developing relationships with them over dinner. And I find that I can really get along with almost anyone. But I worry that we may end up sitting with people who are not gay-friendly. And this is not something I want to deal with on my honeymoon!....Am I worrying for nothing?

 

On the other hand, my grandmother recently told me a story of a cruise that she and my grandfather took where they (in their 50s or early 60s) were seated with a bunch of young couples who made them feel young again!

 

Barry

 

Barry,

 

Not to worry, we have found it to be quite a rare occasion where ones orientation was an issue.

 

Like mentioned before, if you have any issues bring it to the M'd and it will be handled without any problems. X really wants to insure that all guests have a wonderful experience. If that means changing tables in the MDR, then that is what it is...

 

Congrats, enjoy your cruise, and bon voyage..

 

bo1953

Edited by Bo1953
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Just a few more "hints." If you do get the late sitting and do not enjoy your tablemates, do not hesitate to stop at the Maitre'd s desk (after dinner) and ask for a different table. There will be others doing the same thing.

 

As to dining earlier on one or more nights, you do have a few options. You could make a reservation for one of the alternative restaurants or just have an early dinner in the Lido (buffet) area where the food offerings are similar to what is served in the MDR.

 

Hank

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motherchic,

 

Thanks so much for offering your input. Very helpful.

 

I like the idea of getting to know tablemates and developing relationships with them over dinner. And I find that I can really get along with almost anyone. But I worry that we may end up sitting with people who are not gay-friendly. And this is not something I want to deal with on my honeymoon!....Am I worrying for nothing?

 

On the other hand, my grandmother recently told me a story of a cruise that she and my grandfather took where they (in their 50s or early 60s) were seated with a bunch of young couples who made them feel young again!

 

Barry

Hi guys,

You will I think not have any problems whatever you decide, I will say though that you will meet many people and really enjoy yourselves,

the Martini Bar Is a great place to meet and enjoy

the wonderful atmosphere on the S class Ships.

Personally we prefer select, you can eat as a couple,

choose to dine on a table For 4,6 or 8, as well as meet new found friends for Dinner.

Have a great cruise and just enjoy

Edited by swigso
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With thanks to everyone who offered their input on my recent specialty dining questions, I have a traditional dining question...

 

My travel agent booked us as Select Dining for our June 2016 Reflection cruise to Italy & the Greek Isles, but she put us on the waitlist for the late seating. (We both agreed that the early seating would be too rushed if coming back from late shore excursions.) This far out, she told me, we should have no issues getting off the waitlist. Assuming that we do get a late seating, she mentioned that we can switch back to Select.

 

My questions are as follows:

 

1. What time (or approx what time) will the late seating be on our cruise? What time(s) is the nightly entertainment? Can we do both?

 

2. How do table assignments work? We are a couple in our early 30s who will be on our honeymoon, so we'd like to sit with people in a similar age range. Is a table for 2 or 4 or 6 (with other young couples) an option? Can we request this?

 

3. Is the buffet an option for dinner if we decide we want something more casual or low-key? What happens to our reservation in the MDR?

 

4. How we coordinate our MDR reservation with any nights we want to dine in a specialty restaurant?

 

5. If we go late seating, can move our seating time to early to select for only one night - perhaps a sea day when we want to eat earlier?

 

6. I realize this is subjective, but what's better - Select or late seating?

 

Thanks.

1)Normally about 8:30 for late seating. Second shows are at about 10PM. You should be fine.

2)Yes. See the Maitre D once you are aboard(about 3PM)We like tables for 2 & always manage to get what we want.

3)You'll find the food for dinner in the buffet to be pretty good.Plenty of choices.Do however call the MDR to let them know you'll be dining elsewhere(just the polite thing to do!)

4)Make your reservation with the Maitre D of the specialty rest. Ask them to notify the MDR of your plans(should be no problem)

5)Select should be no problem. Early seating..not sure. The tables are usually booked for early set dining, but again ask the Maitre D the day you plan to do it.

6)For us we usually like early seating. As we book late, we usually get select & then go & see the Maitre D once we get aboard. I gather that second seating is less rushed, they still have to prep the tables for next day's breakfast. We find we're never rushed at first seating. Good luck & have fun!

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1)Normally about 8:30 for late seating. Second shows are at about 10PM. You should be fine.

 

Is this unique to Med sailings?

 

I haven't done any Med sailings, but my Caribbean, Bermuda nod TA's if there was a show at 10pm, it was on formal night and not every night.

 

Typically show was at 7pm for late diners (8:30pm seating) and 9pm for early (6:00 seating) diners

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Is this unique to Med sailings?

 

I haven't done any Med sailings, but my Caribbean, Bermuda nod TA's if there was a show at 10pm, it was on formal night and not every night.

 

Typically show was at 7pm for late diners (8:30pm seating) and 9pm for early (6:00 seating) diners

 

On our Reflection Med cruise a few years ago the show in the main theater was onstage the same time as the other group of people were having dinner. Early show for late diners, late show for early diners. Like others have said, only on formal nights was the show for late diners presented AFTER dinner instead of before.

Edited by SantaFeFan
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It sounds as though select dining might be a better fit for you. After you have looked at the dailies, you can call and make a reservation for any time you wish. Then, upon arrival, you can request to be seated at a table for 2, 4, 6, 8. If you enjoy your companions, then you can always make arrangements to eat together again. If not, then there are no awkward moments after the meal. Also, this way if you meet some companions elsewhere on the ship, you have the flexibility to eat with them.

 

Short story. My mother, daughter (she was 9), and I took a celebrity cruise to Alaska. Many years ago, and there was no select dining option. We opted for the earlier seeting because my daughter was young. We were seeted with another couple and their three children (one same age as my daughter), When the son asked for the bread, the father threw him a roll across the table and "said nice catch". Then, they proceeded to order between the two of them, every single appetizer, soup, entre, and desert on the menu. Which I guess would be ok, except they left 2/3 of everything uneaten and they doused everything with ketchup. Then, as the younger ones were finished (or bored) they proceeded to crawl under the tables and wander around the dining room. They were a nightmare! Needless to say, we requested our table be changed...but I kid you not, with a few thousand people on board..we ran into these people wherever we went (even on excursions!)

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Is this unique to Med sailings?

 

I haven't done any Med sailings, but my Caribbean, Bermuda nod TA's if there was a show at 10pm, it was on formal night and not every night.

 

Typically show was at 7pm for late diners (8:30pm seating) and 9pm for early (6:00 seating) diners

Yes,sorry, you're right. The shows are usually around 9PM & closer to 10 for the formal nights.

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Barry, congrats on your upcoming marriage. One half of a married lesbian couple here. We haven't had any "orientation" issues on our three Celebrity cruises, but we did traditional dining on the first two, as well as some private shore excursions organized on our Roll Call, and, as with any group of strangers, there are some people you may not like and/or who may not like you, for whatever reason. You will not want to be eating dinner with them. (I'm trying to be kind here.)

 

We choose select dining for our third cruise, and it was wonderful. We ate whenever we wanted (typically on the later end), and either never had to wait, or only waited a few minutes (and that was because we had asked to be seated in a specific server's section).

 

Given your port-intensive cruise, I would think seriously about staying in select dining. You will have much more flexibility (and no risk of a bad dinner companion :). )

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Hi Turtles,

 

Thanks for your warm regards and wishes.

 

You raise a good point about Select. We will certainly consider staying with it, but I like that we now have the option.

 

Thanks for sharing your past experiences. I realize there are no guarantees on this sort of thing, and I know the Celebrity is very welcoming. (They advertise that they've replaced "Friends of Dorothy" with "LGBT" for that very reason.) But on my honeymoon we want to celebrate, not fight, so I'm trying to take every reasonable step to that end.

 

Thanks again.

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We did the 10 night Med cruise on Reflection last year ---- congratulations on your wedding and your choice of honeymoon, we thought it was a terrific itinerary. Although we used to be enthusiastic Traditional diners, we did Select for our Med cruise and loved it for the flexibility it gave us to vary dinner based on our daytime activities. Particularly on the Athens night, and Kusadasi if you do a full day tour, you'll likely need a rest before dinner no matter how fit you are! We like the chance to eat alone some nights, ask to share a table some nights, or arrange to eat with new friends we meet on board. Also, the unintended consequence of so many dining choices is that Traditional tables can sometimes be close to empty at least some of the time--- nothing puts a damper on dinner quite as fast as a twosome eating alone at a table for 8. Anyway, we met a number of gay couples around the ship or on tours, and all seemed to be having a great time with no issues. They did mention that the Martini Bar was a de facto meeting place for gay cruisers in the evenings (well, for most types of cruisers, for that matter) so you may want to check that out. Enjoy your cruise!!

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So, once upon a time many moons ago, DW and I were on a 7 day RCI Caribbean cruise for which we had booked the traditional late seating and requested a large table. And yes, we got a beautiful table with 8 seats, but we were the only 2 to ever show-up at that table. The Maitre d found out that 4 of the other 6 were traveling together and preferred to eat all their meals in the Lido. And the other couple divided their meals between the Lido and alternative restaurants. The Maitre d was unable to assign any other folks to those seats since they must be held for those passengers (even if they never come to dinner). This was the last cruise that we ever booked traditional dining (unless it was the only option such as on HAL Grand Cruises). If we want to meet others we simply go the Select Dining and ask to share a large table (which will always be full). If we make some friends at that table we might arrange to dine with them on some other nights. On long cruises (over a few weeks long) we often will end up forming our own table after a few days...full of folks we have met on the cruise.

 

Hank

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Agree with those suggesting you stick with select dining. Highly recommend trying Bistro on 5 one evening for an inexpensive ($10/person) option .

 

Bistro on 5 is an excellent choice for embarkation day to avoid the chaos in the buffet on that first day. We also dine there several times per cruise, both for breakfast and lunch. Try it - you may like it as much as we do.

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I was on a Mediterranean Cruise with Celebrity some years ago where late seating dinner was either 8:45 or 9, cannot recall. But reason given was large number of Europeans who prefer to eat later. Not my biggest thrill but we survived.

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I was on a Mediterranean Cruise with Celebrity some years ago where late seating dinner was either 8:45 or 9, cannot recall. But reason given was large number of Europeans who prefer to eat later. Not my biggest thrill but we survived.

 

Imagine traveling around Spain where many restaurants do not even open until around 9:30 pm for dinner :). For many Europeans 8:45 would be an early dinner! DW and I once spent a month driving in Southern Spain and our digestive systems iare still trying to recover.

 

Hank

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We have done this itinerary also. We started with second seating but we switched to My Time Dining. That way we had dinner aboiut 7PM. Since we were busy every day with independent tours which left the ship before 9AM we found that we left the dining room really late and then went to bed because we had to be up early. When we do the Caribbean we do Late Seating because we just wake up when we want to.

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Here is my take on select dining and traditional dining. While you will have the same table mates each night you may not have the opportunity to meet other people who you may have more in common with, by having different table mates each night. Some of the arguments that I have read in favor of traditional are, same table, same wait staff, same time, same table mates, dietary issues, my drink is always there when I arrive, the waiter learns what I want and my lemons are always there. To me this translates to people who are not flexible and maybe set in their ways or are resistant to change or are ruled by a clock. They have a routine and color within the lines. I find the only thing that I have in common with these people is that we are on the same cruise. Of course not everybody falls into this category. Some people are in traditional dining because when they booked the cruise Select dining was full. I'm not trying to be negative about traditional dining or to those who prefer it. If you are happy with the arrangement then there is nothing wrong with it.

 

When I suggest a cruise vacation to someone who has never been on a cruise the first thing they say is, "I don't want to be told when I have to eat." Then I have to explain the it isn't like that anymore.

I don't know what I want to drink until I get to the table and I don't want the waiter to assume or think for me. We really aren't committed to any dining staff and have received good service from all of them. I'm on vacation. We are not Brad and Angelina looking to adopt someone from a third world country so getting to know the personal lives of the dining staff isn't of interest to us. We go with the flow color outside of the lines and don't like to be tied down to any one time, one wait staff or one table of people. On vacation we are fly by nights, not set on times and could linger at the pool until 6:00 if we are enjoying the company of others. Sometimes we are tired and don't want to be social so select offers us the opportunity to dine as a couple. I find that birds of a feather flock together and we tend to meet people who share the same interests or points of view as we do on excursions, public areas around the ship or through the roll call. I have friends that I met by the pool, and at the Cruise Critic meet and greet who we keep up with and socialize with at home.We even plan cruises together. The nice thing about select is that if you meet others that have select then you can have diner with them without issue.

Edited by Iamcruzin
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