A question about MDR Dining

[AnnaNicole]

My husband and I were defaulted to the 8:30pm dining time on our upcoming cruise.    Late seating is too late for us to eat dinner.  

 

We plan to have dinner two or three nights at specialty restaurants.   On the remaining nights, can we just show up at the MDR for anytime dining?  

 

 

[stevea36]

6 minutes ago, AnnaNicole said:

My husband and I were defaulted to the 8:30pm dining time on our upcoming cruise.    Late seating is too late for us to eat dinner.  

 

We plan to have dinner two or three nights at specialty restaurants.   On the remaining nights, can we just show up at the MDR for anytime dining?  

 

 

No, you must be registered for Select (anytime) dining to do so.   I would call X or your TA to see if they can get you either early or select (if they say it is not available, ask them to waitlist you).   Also, go see the Maitre'd at the MDR whey you board and ask if they can move your time for you.

 

[AnnaNicole]

Thanks.   My TA suggested going to the MaitreD and requesting a time change.  I will call X and ask them to waitlist us.

[stevea36]

Just now, AnnaNicole said:

Thanks.   My TA suggested going to the MaitreD and requesting a time change.  I will call X and ask them to waitlist us.

if you have a TA, they should do it for you.  X may not even talk to you about it.

 

[AnnaNicole]

13 minutes ago, stevea36 said:

if you have a TA, they should do it for you.  X may not even talk to you about it.

 

 

You're right.  X would not discuss it with me.  My TA is out of the office, but I sent him an email.

[Luvcrusn]

Friends we sailed with in December had MDR early seating, but went to the maître d on embarkation day and were able to get their assignment changed to Select. It would probably be better to do it ahead of time however.

[gold1953]

1. happened to me twice. I called Celebrity ( booked direct) and said not possible. Either I am forced to dine at the buffet or they give me early dining. Took a couple of days each time but I got switched. 

[CRUZBUDS]

When we booked our upcoming Eclipse Hawaii cruise the late seating was listed as 8:45.  We are Elite+ on Celebrity and we've never had late seating that late.  We decided it may be time to try anytime dinning.  

 

We just returned from the Ruby Princess Hawaii cruise, due to traveling with friends we changed to anytime.  We did not like it at all.  It is not for us. The service level was nowhere near as good as a regular team of servers at traditional dinning..   

 

Now our only choice is to be wait listed for early.  6:15 is a bit too early for us, but it beats 8:45 - that is ridiculous.  

[Turtles06]

49 minutes ago, CRUZBUDS said:

8:45 - that is ridiculous.  

 

I agree with you, that's crazy.   (At least for us Americans. )

[awhfy]

AnnaNicole & cruzbuds.  Contact Celebrity on your dining issue by email. CelebrityDining@Celebrity.com. Give them your sailing information, & what dining you wish (include size of table). I have several serious food allergies so Select dining isn’t our first choice & medications require us to eat prior to 7pm. I’ve never had a problem getting early seating using this method. You can also request a specific time for select dining.   I normally wait to 3-4 weeks prior to sailing. They will contact you via email. 

Edited April 27, 2019 by awhfy

[quack1]

I changed my dining time from 8:30 (or whatever) to Anytime on the Celebrity website .  It took some hunting but it is possible.

 

I think the process was as follows:

 

1.  Sign in.

2.  Click on Manage Reservations

3.  Then click on Reservation Details.

 

There you can find the place to change your dining time.

Note that I booked directly with Celebrity and my cruise is in mid-June, if that matters.

[CRUZBUDS]

Thanks for the suggestions.  I had our T/A contact Celebrity and we have been put on the wait list for early.  I'm hoping that once the folks who cancel prior to final payment, it will open up a spot for us at early.  We are Elite+, so that may help

[AnnaNicole]

Celebrity would not discuss my reservation.   I had to go through TA.   I finally got the TA to call Celebrity and we are waitlisted. 

 

I hope it works out because on a RCI cruise, the MaitreD  refused to change the dining time.    At the time, I had chronic severe anemia and when I politely asked to switch to early seating - he started yelling at me.  I was surprised by his reaction.   In retrospect, I should have complained to Guest Services that his attitude was out of line.  At the very minimum, I should have removed his tip.   We ate in the buffet and specialty restaurant.

[Airrace]

I would suggest when you get on the ship, go to the MDR and see if they can make a change. It will most likely take some time to make the change but I am sure they will be able to do it. 

 

Have a nice cruise

[Cat4158]

Had a similar problem on RCI last year. The Maitre D refused to help us and was quite rude to us. Fortunately Guest Relations were quick to step in to resolve our concerns. It was the one and only time in 20 years of cruising that we encountered negativity from a member of staff. Wonder if it was the same guy! 

 

I hope you get sorted out. 

[AnnaNicole]

21 minutes ago, Cat4158 said:

Had a similar problem on RCI last year. The Maitre D refused to help us and was quite rude to us. Fortunately Guest Relations were quick to step in to resolve our concerns. It was the one and only time in 20 years of cruising that we encountered negativity from a member of staff. Wonder if it was the same guy! 

 

I hope you get sorted out. 

It certainly sounds like the same guy.   We have never had such a negative experience with a crew member.  Every other crew member we have encountered has always been professional, at the very minimum.  

 

Thanks for the advice, everyone.  Getting waitlisted worked.  I noticed today that our reservation is no longer waitlisted.   We have early dining.   🙂

 

 

[hcat]

Glad it worked out.  I could never eat that late...type 2 diabetic...We tried fixed  late dining once,  and we'd end  up eating 2 dinners.  We  would cancel  the cruise if we could not adjust in advance. Would not want to stress over dining. 

 

That's why we usually book  AQ class with BLU....no set times. Now we will have the 4 mdr plan on EDGE  and have early res which we hope are honored.

[Essiesmom]

The Maitre'd is salaried, and though people may give him tips, he is not included in the tip pool.  therefore, you couldn't remove his tips.  EM

[hcat]

1 hour ago, Essiesmom said:

The Maitre'd is salaried, and though people may give him tips, he is not included in the tip pool.  therefore, you couldn't remove his tips.  EM

But you could note a neg comment after the cruise...

[AnnaNicole]

1 hour ago, Essiesmom said:

The Maitre'd is salaried, and though people may give him tips, he is not included in the tip pool.  therefore, you couldn't remove his tips.  EM

 

Are you sure that is true for all cruiselines?  We have been on all of the cruiselines (oddly, except Princess).   I seem to recall giving the MaitreD a tip at dinner on the last night of our cruise, way back in the day when you tipped in person.   

 

We have always opted for auto-gratuities when they became available, so I haven't paid attention to tipping in years.

Edited April 29, 2019 by AnnaNicole

[Essiesmom]

I remember when you tipped in person, and we were only expected to tip our waiter and asst., and cabin steward and cabin boy.  I have only ever tipped a Maitre'd twice, same person on two different cruises.  EM