Restaurant seating

[Dermotsgirl]

1 hour ago, seasickphil said:

There are teams of waiters & sommeliers at different stations in restaurants, therefore you are placed in certain areas so as one team are not overrun and another team are standing around doing nothing, therefore enabling service to be more balanced. Placing people in different areas of the restaurants is common practice during the day and this is not just confined on Saga cruises either.

Saga is the only cruise line I’ve been on where they seat you in the buffet. As I’m serving myself in a buffet, it shouldn’t matter where I sit 

[FannyLiz]

As someone who has not cruised yet I can’t speak from experience but I would feel happier being allocated a table. That way, when I return from the buffet with my food, I can be sure I have a table to come back to and don’t have to leave things on the table to reserve it. By all accounts, on some cruise lines, there are so many people that you and your tray might not find anywhere at all to sit. At least a table is guaranteed the Saga way. I’m sure the waiting staff would change your allocated table if you are not happy.

Edited August 29, 2023 by FannyLiz
To add last sentence

[GerryL13]

10 minutes ago, FannyLiz said:

As someone who has not cruised yet I can’t speak from experience but I would feel happier being allocated a table. That way, when I return from the buffet with my food, I can be sure I have a table to come back to and don’t have to leave things on the table to reserve it. By all accounts, on some cruise lines, there are so many people that you and your tray might not find anywhere at all to sit. At least a table is guaranteed the Saga way. I’m sure the waiting staff would change your allocated table if you are not happy.

My experience on SoA: Before going into the buffet proper, you are guided to a table -- or an area where you can choose a table. You make note of the table number and then unfurl the napkin at your place setting before going to get your food. No need to leave anything on the table or chair to hold your place, unless you want to. The key is remembering your table number -- and also on which side of the ship your table is. Anyone who has had more than a few meals in the Grill has seen the people holding a plate and looking lost as they try to find table that is on the other side of the buffet. And many have been that lost soul.

[seasickphil]

34 minutes ago, Dermotsgirl said:

Saga is the only cruise line I’ve been on where they seat you in the buffet. As I’m serving myself in a buffet, it shouldn’t matter where I sit 

@Dermotsgirl

 You are right, we got off Adventure yesterday but we never ate in the buffet at lunch we only ate in the dining room when we were on board for lunch. I misread your post so please accept my apologies.

[Dermotsgirl]

43 minutes ago, seasickphil said:

@Dermotsgirl

 You are right, we got off Adventure yesterday but we never ate in the buffet at lunch we only ate in the dining room when we were on board for lunch. I misread your post so please accept my apologies.

No problem ! 😀

[david05]

I've always found the staff in the buffet quite happy to let you choose a different table if you don't wish to go to where they direct you. Sometimes they just tell you to sit where you like rather than send you to a specific table.

[Wacktle]

We like to choose our own table in the Grill (buffet restaurant). A staff member shows us to a particular area, but they don't object to us choosing the actual table. When tracing was in place for Covid, people were seated at specific tables; the table number was noted by the restaurant reception staff. We prefer the tables for two with banquette type seats.

[Dermotsgirl]

7 hours ago, Wacktle said:

We like to choose our own table in the Grill (buffet restaurant). A staff member shows us to a particular area, but they don't object to us choosing the actual table. When tracing was in place for Covid, people were seated at specific tables; the table number was noted by the restaurant reception staff. We prefer the tables for two with banquette type seats.

At the end of the cruise we learnt to be more pro-active about being seated in the Grill, basically just pointing to the table we wanted, and saying we'll sit there please. We will continue to do that the next time.

 

The tables with the banquette seating are definitely amongst the better seats in the Grill, and we enjoyed sitting there, when allocated those tables.