Select Dining Chaotic Reflection

[sandancer]

I am in her shoes to a certain extent except I work in a hospital. That’s why we won’t be making her life more difficult by demanding that we are seated exactly at the time we have reserved. I’m sure there are many more guests who feel the same.

[jmdlv1]

On 1/21/2020 at 8:21 AM, Luvcrusn said:

Did you try making reservations either before or during the cruise or did you prefer just going and taking your chances? I'm curious whether that would have made a difference. I know most of the S-class ships have a separate entrance for those with and without reservations. Does Reflection have the same? The only times we've sailed on Reflection we've been in Aqua where no reservations are taken and we never had to wait except once (and that was under 5 minutes). That, of course is a much smaller venue.

Sailing on Edge in March.

How does one reserve times prior to cruise when you are select?

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

Just now, jmdlv1 said:

Sailing on Edge in March.

How does one reserve times prior to cruise when you are select?

In your planner under dining.

[Redtravel]

On 1/22/2020 at 6:41 PM, phoenix_dream said:

IMHO Reflection is my least favorite ship due to the extra cabins, which they really are not good at accommodating.  We had a similar experience in Blu on Reflection.  The room was jammed, lines at the door were continually 10-12 couples, the room was crowded, loud, and uncomfortable and on and on.  We made the most of it and of course had a great cruise overall, but ended up going to eat at 8:30 each night just so we could enjoy some peace and quiet.

My last Celebrity cruise was on Reflection, Jan 2019. Adding an extra deck of cabins and not increasing public spaces makes for crowding. Searching for seats in the buffet, at the pool, and in the lounges became a real turnoff.  Too many people!  After that cruise, we decided to move on.  Happy on other cruise lines with no crowds.

[CulverCityCruisers]

6 hours ago, Pinboy said:

 

In a previous post ------ " Dh says I must look mean! "

Trust me----I worked in the Service Industry for over 30 yr--- 

Looking " mean " only helps the other guests that are polite, as in  "please and thank you " . 

In the situation that the Hostess is in with Select dining, we have to put ourselves in her shoes, and ,understand that there are some people you just can't satisfy.  So be it.

Agree with you 100% and as posted we just got off Reflection.  The people who are "jerks" to the hostess don't get priority.  Show respect, get respect back.

 

Again, if you show up when the theater as let out YES, there is and will be a crowd, and even with reservations you may have to wait.  You can't take people by their collars and throw them out because they are eating slowly.

[hcat]

8 hours ago, Pinboy said:

 

In a previous post ------ " Dh says I must look mean! "

Trust me----I worked in the Service Industry for over 30 yr--- 

Looking " mean " only helps the other guests that are polite, as in  "please and thank you " . 

In the situation that the Hostess is in with Select dining, we have to put ourselves in her shoes, and ,understand that there are some people you just can't satisfy.  So be it.

 Dh was kidding me,... but we have not had any issues in BLU on any ship or EDGE 4 mdrs.

 

After the first night at a table for two in a long row of twos, in Cosmopolitan,  we politely asked for a quiet table away from the long line of twos  and if possible a sunset view, and  were never  turned down on EDGE.  Helps that we  eat dinner early...many more options at that time! Some people do not specify  a preference and then are disappointed....

Edited January 28, 2020 by hcat

[abbydancer2003]

On 1/21/2020 at 7:40 PM, youwash said:

When we sailed on Reflection, which is a couple of years ago, I had talked my sisters into booking Sky Suites instead of the Aqua class that we usually do. I had read so many wonderful things about Luminae that I thought we should splurge. And a splurge it was as it will be the only suite we will probably ever book because we are just run of the mill working stiffs. ( my husband and I are truck drivers). So, we are a group of 8, 4 sisters with our husbands and this size group seemed to be a huge problem for Luminae, although it never is for Blu. 

 

We worked with the staff trying to make arrangements around what would work. We offered to break the group up which we did some nights and staggered the timing. BUT ONE EVENING THEY TOLD US THERE IS NO ROOM FOR YOUR GROUP TOMORROW NIGHT at any time and any group size, they would be happy to make reservations for any of us in select dining. We double checked with all dining staff, our butler and anyone else that would listen but everyone said nothing could be done. 

The only thing that we thought it could be was that there was another group ( of 12) dining every night and they must have been more important because they weren't treated like we were. 

And yes I am still upset about the way we were treated. 

 

We've sailed in Aqua class since after our first Celebrity cruise on Solstice in select dining when we vowed not to do that again. 

OMG - that should absolutely not have happened.  You paid for Luminae, so they shouldn't turn you away.  (And I agree that the Michael's club concierge maybe could have helped).  

 

The Reflection was our first suite experience.  We had a generally good experience in Luminae.  I think only once did we need to wait for a table, and that was because the ship was in port until 7, so all the people that usually were out by the time we got there were still there.  We got sent to Michael's club and the hostess (Katya - outstanding) called up when they were ready for us.  I think that it wasn't that there were no tables - there were not tables we wanted.   That said, we were completely unable to get into Blu - friends there said that even going at 8 had a wait.

 

Reflection was the only ship that in addition to an amuse bouche, offered a palette cleanser.  When on the Eclipse in a suite last year, we asked about it, and were given them for the rest of the cruise.

 

[MR_T]

Day 9 and all I can say is it’s not got any better.... 

 

regarding a previous posters post about going between 6.30-7pm that’s exactly what we’ve tried to do most nights and it’s not made any difference at all, requested a 2 top and every time we were given a buzzer, this resulted in anything from 35 to 70 min waiting times, 

 

last night after getting the dreaded buzzer I decided to have a quick look in the left hand side of the restaurant (no reservations side) and saw 12 x 2 tops set & 5 others ready to be set, I know how restaurants work etc and the flow management etc and obviously we were aware that people were ahead of us waiting but we watched for 10 mins and not 1 buzzer was called in!

 

then to make matters worse when taken to a table stuck between a 4 & a 2 and in a busy area I asked if we could sit at a quieter table by the window which was in a quieter  area and was available but only to be told it’s been reserved.... we were in the half of the restaurant without reservations... 🙄, you really can’t make this ***** up.... but yes you guessed it that very table of 2 was left empty the whole time during our meal... 

 

At least with 3 night left we have other dining plans so don’t need to worry about the dining lottery again, 

 

fingers crossed it gets better for others and hopefully worse case scenario it’s a ship dependant issue as we are on the silhouette later in the year for 30 nights so heres hopping that’s working better 🤞🏻