Another select anytime dining question

[Married90]

I just want to make sure with "anytime dining" it really means anytime during dinner hours and does NOT need to be the same time each night or making prior reservations.  I keep seeing threads on making reservations for a specific time every night.   I am used to NCL and just show up and ask for a nice table for 2 and typically get it with sometimes a short wait but often not.   Am I missing something?  Also We will be on the Eclipse Sunday.   ON the app it lists regular dining sessions on floor 3 of the MDR and select on Floor 4.   Is that correct?   Again I am used to NCL with multiple main dining rooms and having a selection....   

[jelayne]

No reservations are required and you can show up any time during the dining hours.

 

If you go right after a show gets out or other peak times you may have a wait, so some make reservations to shorten the wait. 

 

The Eclipse MDR has 2 floors and  normally traditional is on Deck 3 and Select on Deck 4 but sometimes that has changed.  The daily will have the information on dining hours and location. 

 

The E Class ships have 4 MDRs all the other ships  have 1 MDR.

[helen haywood]

You may have a wait depending on how many others want to eat at a peak time or how long people linger.  If possibly getting a pager and needing to wait 5-20 minutes is a problem for you, then it might be a good idea to make some reservations.  Or you can ask the hostess what would be a good time to come for no wait.

 

Which ship are you sailing?

[Married90]

10 minutes ago, helen haywood said:

You may have a wait depending on how many others want to eat at a peak time or how long people linger.  If possibly getting a pager and needing to wait 5-20 minutes is a problem for you, then it might be a good idea to make some reservations.  Or you can ask the hostess what would be a good time to come for no wait.

 

Which ship are you sailing?

Thanks Eclipse.   This is all common sense but with all the threads I was seeing about making specific reservations I was doubting myself ....

[RTShaker]

3 minutes ago, Married90 said:

Thanks Eclipse.   This is all common sense but with all the threads I was seeing about making specific reservations I was doubting myself ....

I also am confounded by all the people that want to make reservations. If you want a set time, then there are already two options for you. I have always felt that anytime means show up and get seated when you want to eat, but apparently I must be wrong.😁

[cangelmd]

If you are part of a larger group, 6 and up, certainly 8 and up, it is helpful to your group and to the staff to give them some heads up of when you are coming.

They are going to try to seat you in the same general area every night, so you wait sometimes when it looks like there are plenty of tables. The relatively low staffing accentuates this. I think on CC people emphasize the reservation thing because they have read posts by outraged folk that had to wait 5 minutes. A bit of a wait, especially now, is pretty common, even in Luminae. But, if you r ok with a little wait, you can show up for select whenever you wish.

Edited August 26, 2022 by cangelmd

[Dancing Shoes]

We had anytime on the Millennium.  We would show up early and not have to wait.  I did make 2 reservations prior to boarding.  You can't make them afterwards. They sat us with the same wait staff each time, except one night I asked for a window seat. I did see some man get really upset one night when asked to wait and was complaining about some people having them.

[the penguins]

9 hours ago, RTShaker said:

I also am confounded by all the people that want to make reservations. If you want a set time, then there are already two options for you. I have always felt that anytime means show up and get seated when you want to eat, but apparently I must be wrong.😁

Yes and no. Select is like any restaurant if you turn up and it's full you will have to wait. Many passengers tend to base their dining around the times of the main shows in the theatre 7.0 and 9.0 pm. We like to eat pre show and prebook our Select dining for 6.30 every night. There are lots of 2 tops but most are very close together. We always ask to share a table of 6 - one of the joys of cruising is sharing dinner with different people but that's our personal choice.

[upwarduk]

13 hours ago, RTShaker said:

also am confounded by all the people that want to make reservations. If you want a set time, then there are already two options for you.

At one time Early sitting was at 5.30pm, which is too early if you have had a long excursion day and get back late. Late sitting is too late for me, I cannot sleep on a full stomach, so Select dining suits me fine. 
I also book my time, as 6.30-7 pm is the most popular time. 
We were recently seated in the same area, as I also order the previous night due to being Lactose Intolerant. I can’t see that working if I am on a table that they want to clear, ready for 2nd sitting guests.😱

[grandgeezer]

9 hours ago, the penguins said:

Yes and no. Select is like any restaurant if you turn up and it's full you will have to wait. Many passengers tend to base their dining around the times of the main shows in the theatre 7.0 and 9.0 pm. We like to eat pre show and prebook our Select dining for 6.30 every night. There are lots of 2 tops but most are very close together. We always ask to share a table of 6 - one of the joys of cruising is sharing dinner with different people but that's our personal choice.

You book dining at 6:30, eat and make it to the theater by 7:00? All this, sitting at a table for six, are you the Captain? We sit at a table for two and think, if we leave the dining room in 45 minutes, we think we’ve accomplished a miracle. 

[mitz18]

19 hours ago, RTShaker said:

I also am confounded by all the people that want to make reservations. If you want a set time, then there are already two options for you. I have always felt that anytime means show up and get seated when you want to eat, but apparently I must be wrong.😁

 

It's not about having a set time every night, it's about pre-selecting your choice.  We have some reservations at 6:30, some at 7:00, some nights no reservation.   We like the flexibility of picking our own time each night where we want.  The two "fixed" options are indeed "fixed" and may be either too early or too late. 

 

[davekathy]

19 hours ago, RTShaker said:

I also am confounded by all the people that want to make reservations. If you want a set time, then there are already two options for you. I have always felt that anytime means show up and get seated when you want to eat, but apparently I must be wrong.😁

I'm confounded by your concern what others do.😂 

[Purplsmurf]

20 hours ago, RTShaker said:

I also am confounded by all the people that want to make reservations. If you want a set time, then there are already two options for you. I have always felt that anytime means show up and get seated when you want to eat, but apparently I must be wrong.😁

Well…those times are 6:00 (too early) and 8:30 (too late). We like to eat around 7:00 ish so we make a reservation since that is a very popular time. Since it’s a popular time having a reservation gets you seated quicker. 🤷🏻‍♀️

[the penguins]

5 hours ago, grandgeezer said:

You book dining at 6:30, eat and make it to the theater by 7:00? All this, sitting at a table for six, are you the Captain? We sit at a table for two and think, if we leave the dining room in 45 minutes, we think we’ve accomplished a miracle. 

Sorry I missed a bit. Dinner at 6.30 show at 9.0pm. Every dinner in select comes with a 2 hour "allowance" at least that's how it shows when you prebook. We aim to be out by 8.15 to 8.30 which leaves ample time for a bathroom break, trip back to the cabin, or whatever, and to get to the theatre. 

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

On 8/26/2022 at 5:32 PM, RTShaker said:

I also am confounded by all the people that want to make reservations. If you want a set time, then there are already two options for you. I have always felt that anytime means show up and get seated when you want to eat, but apparently I must be wrong.😁

 

Maybe some of us want to eat at a certain time but the early is too early and the late is too late. Ergo we can book select and set a reservation for the in-between time we prefer.

 

Now, if everyone was making their reservation for the fixed times, that's another thing. But I suspect most who pick select and make reservations do so at an in-between time.

 

And also, at least in the past, select gets your own table by default but fixed you may be put at a table with strangers.

Edited August 27, 2022 by WrittenOnYourHeart

[RTShaker]

8 hours ago, davekathy said:

I'm confounded by your concern what others do.😂 

It matters not what others do, but my point was that in my opinion there should be no reservations for any time dining. That's just how I roll.

[RichYak]

On 8/26/2022 at 5:32 PM, RTShaker said:

I also am confounded by all the people that want to make reservations. If you want a set time, then there are already two options for you. I have always felt that anytime means show up and get seated when you want to eat, but apparently I must be wrong.😁

I'm not sure why you are confounded by those who might not want to dine at 5:30 or 8pm, but at some other predetermined time instead.

[RTShaker]

Just now, RichYak said:

I'm not sure why you are confounded by those who might not want to dine at 5:30 or 8pm, but at some other predetermined time instead.

As I posted in a previously, it's not the fact that people want to eat at different times, I do as well ( the reason for select), but the need for reservations.

[RichYak]

4 minutes ago, RTShaker said:

in my opinion there should be no reservations for any time dining.

Any particular reason? What's the harm?

[davekathy]

26 minutes ago, RTShaker said:

It matters not what others do, but my point was that in my opinion there should be no reservations for any time dining. That's just how I roll.

Glad your opinion doesn't count. Glad Celebrity gives us the option to make reservations. That's all that matters/counts. We have SD reservations for our next two cruises.  Personal preference. 

Edited August 28, 2022 by davekathy

[RTShaker]

23 minutes ago, RichYak said:

Any particular reason? What's the harm?

The original premise for anytime was that you didn't need to schedule every aspect of every day months in advance. You would enjoy your day and dine as you wished on that particular day. This takes away much of that spontenaety with so many spots reserved, but if one feels compelled to have a regimented day, so be it.

[RichYak]

12 minutes ago, RTShaker said:

The original premise for anytime was that you didn't need to schedule every aspect of every day months in advance. You would enjoy your day and dine as you wished on that particular day. This takes away much of that spontenaety with so many spots reserved, but if one feels compelled to have a regimented day, so be it.

On the contrary, the original premise for anytime dining was the dawn of tips being charged to one's account instead of cash tipping. That allowed cruise lines to move away from the set table/same waitstaff old school method of dining to anytime and specialty restaurant dining.

 

If you think being able to reserve any dining time on any night is too regimented, I would say that perhaps it is your own opinion that might be too rigid. It is a service available to those that would prefer it and causes no harm to those that don't.

[Maysea]

We were just on the Eclipse a few weeks ago and had anytime dining.  To answer OP’s questions, anytime dining is on deck 4.  Port side is for reservations and starboard is for walk ups.  We noticed that they would occasionally bring people down to deck 3 MDR to fill in empty tables.

[upwarduk]

2 hours ago, Maysea said:

 We noticed that they would occasionally bring people down to deck 3 MDR to fill in empty tables.

Particularly if there were large groups. There were 3 very large tables on deck 3 vacant most evenings. One evening one of them was occupied.

[the penguins]

3 hours ago, Maysea said:

We were just on the Eclipse a few weeks ago and had anytime dining.  To answer OP’s questions, anytime dining is on deck 4.  Port side is for reservations and starboard is for walk ups.  We noticed that they would occasionally bring people down to deck 3 MDR to fill in empty tables.

Have never seen them operate that system on an S class ship. You can enter on either the port and starboard sides. On either side you can go direct to the deck - if it's not busy/no line you are allocated a table immediately. If it is busy and you don't have a reservation you will be asked to wait either by moving to the "wait" line or by taking a pager.