evergreen01 Posted November 6, 2015 #1 Share Posted November 6, 2015 Hello, We are going to Eastern Caribbean with Celebrity for the holiday. This is the first time that we are on Celebrity. We have Concierge class room and are told the dinning time is open, and we can just go to MDR any time when it's open. I have a picky stomach that if I don't eat when I am hungry. I will get sick. Without a reserved dinning time, is the wait time reasonable at MDR? Thanks!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitty9 Posted November 6, 2015 #2 Share Posted November 6, 2015 Not sure where you got your information, but Concierge Class doesn't have special dining times. When you booked, you should have been given the choice of Traditional Dining, where you're assigned the same time and table every evening, or Select Dining where you dine anytime you want during normal open hours. With Select, you can make reservations to dine at the same time every evening. Just see the maitre'd to make your reservations if you're in Select. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dkjretired Posted November 6, 2015 #3 Share Posted November 6, 2015 Not sure where you got your information, but Concierge Class doesn't have special dining times. When you booked, you should have been given the choice of Traditional Dining, where you're assigned the same time and table every evening, or Select Dining where you dine anytime you want during normal open hours. With Select, you can make reservations to dine at the same time every evening. Just see the maitre'd to make your reservations if you're in Select. You do not need a reservation, you can just go to the dining room. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Hlitner Posted November 6, 2015 #4 Share Posted November 6, 2015 (edited) To reiterate, there is no difference between Concierge and other regular cabins when it comes to dining. As to Open Dining, although you do not need a reservation you are free to make a daily reservation as long as your Dining Room Manager has no issue with the time of your reservation. We have been on some Celebrity cruises where they would not accept a reservation between 6 and 7:45...but this seems to vary. You can still try to get on Early Sitting if there is any room. Otherwise, go the MDR once you get onboard the ship and ask for Early Sitting. If full, you will get waitlisted and might get lucky. Hank Edited November 6, 2015 by Hlitner Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atwell Posted November 6, 2015 #5 Share Posted November 6, 2015 Hello, We are going to Eastern Caribbean with Celebrity for the holiday. This is the first time that we are on Celebrity. We have Concierge class room and are told the dinning time is open, and we can just go to MDR any time when it's open. I have a picky stomach that if I don't eat when I am hungry. I will get sick. Without a reserved dinning time, is the wait time reasonable at MDR? Thanks!!! Let me add to what has been already said and try to clarify a few things. 1. Concierge class does not (nor does any other class) have a specific dining time. The dining time depends on the type of dining you chose before the cruise (or your travel agent chose for you). 2. When you booked, you should have been given the choice of Traditional Dining or Select Dining. If Traditional, you could request the early or the late seating and would have been assigned to a table where you would be seated with the same table-mates for the entire cruise and have the same wait staff. If you chose Select, you can go to the dining room at any time or you can also make a reservation (once you are on the ship). If you just show up for Select Dining, the wait time is usually only 5-10 minutes. 3. If you have requested and been accepted into Select Dining, you would have been charged your total gratuities for the entire cruise in advance. Don't ask me why, it's just Celebrity policy. 4. You sometimes can get the same table and wait staff in Select Dining if that is what you want, talk to the hostess who assigns the seating on the first night. 5. You cannot go back and forth between Traditional and Select Dining on a day to day basis. You are either in one or the other for the entire cruise. Occasionally, passengers belatedly decide that they would have preferred Select instead of Traditional Dining but were told prior to the cruise that they could not be moved because the number of Select Dining passengers had reached the maximum. In this case, when you board the ship, go to the area outside the main dining room and see if the Maitre'd can switch you to Select Dining. I suppose the reverse can work also but switching either way is not automatic. However, sometimes they are able to make the switch. If you have to eat when your stomach tells you, then maybe the buffet is for you. They are open during the entire dinner time and have a nice selection of items. You don't need a reservation, you just show up. Hope you have a great cruise! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schlimazel_traveler Posted November 6, 2015 #6 Share Posted November 6, 2015 If you have to eat when your stomach tells you, then maybe the buffet is for you. They are open during the entire dinner time and have a nice selection of items. You don't need a reservation, you just show up. You can also get a nibble in the buffet and then go to dinner in the MDR if you like the seated dinner experience. (We call it "pre-dinner"!) We like the MDR, but even with a set dining time or a set reservation, it can seem like a loooong time before your dinner actually is served. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitty9 Posted November 6, 2015 #7 Share Posted November 6, 2015 You do not need a reservation, you can just go to the dining room. True, but if the OP needs to dine at a particular time due to physical reasons, it might be best to make a reservation to make things easier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dkjretired Posted November 6, 2015 #8 Share Posted November 6, 2015 True, but if the OP needs to dine at a particular time due to physical reasons, it might be best to make a reservation to make things easier. True but I took it the other way, that he had to eat when he got hungry and not a specific time. I guess I was thinking of my own needs since becoming diabetic. At least he got all the options. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenevenpar Posted November 6, 2015 #9 Share Posted November 6, 2015 And remember that a reservation does not guarantee a certain time, only that you are on a list for that time and will be seated when a table is available. Having said that, we had no wait longer than 5 minutes last December. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cynbar Posted November 6, 2015 #10 Share Posted November 6, 2015 Is the OP's question how long are the wait times for Select Dining? If so, I think the fair answer would be usually not long at all, but it can happen that you'll be given a beeper, especially at a peak time like 7:00 pm. A few people have reported long waits of 20 minutes or more, but I get the sense that this is rare. We usually eat on the late side, after 8 pm, and have only occasionally encountered a wait of a few minutes, but that can't be guaranteed. Making a reservation helps, but I thought the OP wanted the freedom to arrive at the DR when hungry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Celebrity Cruises Posted November 6, 2015 #11 Share Posted November 6, 2015 Hello, We are going to Eastern Caribbean with Celebrity for the holiday. This is the first time that we are on Celebrity. We have Concierge class room and are told the dinning time is open, and we can just go to MDR any time when it's open. I have a picky stomach that if I don't eat when I am hungry. I will get sick. Without a reserved dinning time, is the wait time reasonable at MDR? Thanks!!! Celebrity Select is the Celebrity Cruises flexible dining option. With Celebrity Select Dining, guests can arrive to be seated for dinner in the main dining room at any time between 6:00 pm - 9:30 pm, or can make reservations to dine at any time that they choose within that timeframe. We strongly encourage reservations to ensure the best service and to avoid any potential wait times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gold1953 Posted November 6, 2015 #12 Share Posted November 6, 2015 We were select on our last cruise and wanted to dine early each evening. We were told several times that no spots were open until at least 7:30. Not acceptable for us so we had to dine at the buffet. You can call before your cruise and book your times for select. I guess we should have done that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
helen haywood Posted November 6, 2015 #13 Share Posted November 6, 2015 Do you mean you were told there were no spots open when you tried to make a reservation? They will tell you that; just show up at the Hostess stand at whatever time you want without a reservation and you will be seated....possibly a wait of a few minutes. Unless you were a very large party? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbenboys Posted November 6, 2015 #14 Share Posted November 6, 2015 When we are not in Aqua we always make our select dining reservations well before our cruise for the same time each night. We cruise with between 4 to 12 people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Team Posted November 6, 2015 #15 Share Posted November 6, 2015 Best Table MDR ?? (Silhouette) Late dinner seating Asked for a large table 10 People ,,did I make a mistake ? bringing on 2 bottles of wine 1.74 L any problem with the size of the bottles ? Our cabin is 1411 Aft concierge class ..Any info on this cabin good or bad ? Thanks for viewing See YA Dec 6 :) Bar Crawl on St Maarten suggestions ?? Ship Wreck bar anybody ever been ?? :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evergreen01 Posted November 6, 2015 Author #16 Share Posted November 6, 2015 Thank you all for the information! I truly appreciate. We booked this holiday cruise back in March. I think the travel agent that I used did not do a job job explaining all these options to me although that I expressed that I prefer early dining. All the gratuities were paid in full for three of us. Just talked to my travel agent again. He said that we can just go to the MDR anytime we want, so I guess we we are on Select Dinning. I will still try to make early dinning reservation before cruise. Thanks again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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