select dining hint (especially for new to celebrity folks)

[ghstudio]

 

When you arrive at select dining the first night, they ask if you would like to dine alone or with others....and they will seat you appropriately.  Now the hint....they keep track and the next night, they will try to seat you in the same area so that you get to know your waiter and vice versa. That's great if you liked the area where you sat the first night, NP....but if you prefer to dine somewhere else...speak up, don't just assume that the only tables available are where you ate the first night.

 

We were seated next to the entrance to the kitchen the first night.....that (obviously) is not the greatest place to be and when they tried to take us to that same area, we politely said no....and it wasn't a problem....they found a great table in a much quieter area and we stayed in that area for the rest of the cruise.

[cruisin lady ca]

2 minutes ago, ghstudio said:

 

When you arrive at select dining the first night, they ask if you would like to dine alone or with others....and they will seat you appropriately.  Now the hint....they keep track and the next night, they will try to seat you in the same area so that you get to know your waiter and vice versa. That's great if you liked the area where you sat the first night, NP....but if you prefer to dine somewhere else...speak up, don't just assume that the only tables available are where you ate the first night.

 

We were seated next to the entrance to the kitchen the first night.....that (obviously) is not the greatest place to be and when they tried to take us to that same area, we politely said no....and it wasn't a problem....they found a great table in a much quieter area and we stayed in that area for the rest of the cruise.

This is a great tip.

 

We had a similar experience with Select Dining on Equinox.  We were seated in an area near the entrance but close to the railing/opening to the lower level of the MDR.  It was too noisy a location for us and the sommelier was not helpful.  We were not offered a wine list when seated, and I was not happy about thaat either.   The next evening we asked to be seated in a different section.  Once again, it was not ideal for us.   

 

The following evening, we entered the MDR on the other side, and asked to be seated in a quieter section. We were taken to a more private section in the rear of the MDR.  It was a lot quieter.  We preferred that location and stayed there for the remainder of our cruise.  An additional bonus for us was being served by a waiter who, on a prior cruise, was our waiter in Blu on Reflection.  He remembered us - and made us feel very well taken care of.  What a difference that made for us!

[ipeeinthepool]

34 minutes ago, ghstudio said:

 

When you arrive at select dining the first night, they ask if you would like to dine alone or with others....and they will seat you appropriately.  Now the hint....they keep track and the next night, they will try to seat you in the same area so that you get to know your waiter and vice versa. That's great if you liked the area where you sat the first night, NP....but if you prefer to dine somewhere else...speak up, don't just assume that the only tables available are where you ate the first night.

 

We were seated next to the entrance to the kitchen the first night.....that (obviously) is not the greatest place to be and when they tried to take us to that same area, we politely said no....and it wasn't a problem....they found a great table in a much quieter area and we stayed in that area for the rest of the cruise.

 

That's a good hint but a better one is that if you don't like the location say no the first night and go back to the entrance and request a different table.

[nursemommy7578]

I assume this is similar practice on other lines....we always ask for specifics on the first night (table size, away from kitchen, etc).  

We are very much looking forward to trying select dining on Celebrity.

[davekathy]

I always make reservation for SD in our CP. When we first get on the ship we go to the SD room and find a table for two in a location we like. We then tell the host what table. So far (🤞) we've been successful at getting that same table we checked out earlier for every evening. 

[bookitdanno]

A little off topic, but can anyone tell me what deck Select dining is on Reflection?

 

Thanks

[Fogfog]

1 hour ago, bookitdanno said:

A little off topic, but can anyone tell me what deck Select dining is on Reflection?

 

Thanks

Don't recall-- however it is always marked with signage and in the Dailies

If you at the wrong door--its only one flight up or down

 

Enjoy your cruise 🙂

[cruisin lady ca]

1 hour ago, bookitdanno said:

A little off topic, but can anyone tell me what deck Select dining is on Reflection?

 

Thanks

It's the upper level of the MDR - on deck 4.

[bookitdanno]

7 minutes ago, cruisin lady ca said:

It's the upper level of the MDR - on deck 4.

Thank you.

[DENIE]

We had select dining on our Silhouette cruise in December 2018.  Found ourselves in the same general area (a couple times the same table even), and two different wait staffs (several times each....loved both of them!).  However, we had the same sommelier each night...he was awesome and got to know our likes very quickly!

[petefoss]

Is it practical to walk up or does it make more sense to make reservations?  We have ALLWAYS eaten first sitting traditional in the past but sometimes are really rushed to make 6PM dinner and 9PM show.  Was looking to be more flexible this time.  Or should I look at our planned activities and make reservations now.?

[davekathy]

4 minutes ago, petefoss said:

Is it practical to walk up or does it make more sense to make reservations?  We have ALLWAYS eaten first sitting traditional in the past but sometimes are really rushed to make 6PM dinner and 9PM show.  Was looking to be more flexible this time.  Or should I look at our planned activities and make reservations now.?

You bet you can walk up for SD when you are ready to be seated without reservations. Reservations are optional.  You may or may not be seated right away. Depends on the time of evening you are going. If you want reservations for SD you should look at what commits (planned activities) you have and book SD accordingly. If you are wanting reservations for SD I would suggest making them in your CP ASAP. A lot of the time slots fill up fast. 

[reallyhooked]

On 2/6/2019 at 2:58 PM, bookitdanno said:

A little off topic, but can anyone tell me what deck Select dining is on Reflection?

 

Thanks

Please advise of Select dining is the same as anytime. We will be on Celebrity Reflection .1st time on Celebrity. Our dining shows anytime. We perfer early sitting, but wasn’t available when we booked . Planning to go to dining room ASAP to make reservations.

thanks 

[HeddaGarbled]

The first two nights tend to be busy and chaotic, especially the first night. If you walk in without a reservation you may get sent away with a buzzer for 20-30 minutes. On the first night, unless you’ve struck lucky with your timing and there’s no queue, I wouldn’t go back to the desk to ask for a different seat, but just go with the flow for the one night. 

 

After the the first two nights, it all settles down and you can usually walk in without reservations and get seated straight away. 

[bookitdanno]

11 hours ago, reallyhooked said:

Please advise of Select dining is the same as anytime. We will be on Celebrity Reflection .1st time on Celebrity. Our dining shows anytime. We perfer early sitting, but wasn’t available when we booked . Planning to go to dining room ASAP to make reservations.

thanks 

Yes, Select dining is the same as anytime.

Good idea to go to the dining room as soon as you are on board to get reservations.

[petefoss]

Thanks I booked the first 2 nights fo 6PM and we'll go from there.

[ipeeinthepool]

I’ve just spent 3 weeks on the Silhouette and I’m not sure reservations matter.  They only have one hostess on the side and there weren’t different lines for with and without reservations.  I never saw anyone asked about reservations or turned away.