Celebrity reflection - Anytime dining, are reservations still required?

[cocosmum]

Sailing in April from FLL and have booked 'anytime dining' as we enjoy the flexibility of just showing up when we're ready to eat.

I'm seeing on the app that 'bookings' are open for specific dining times although they are mostly at 6pm, 6.15pm or after 8pm - nothing much in the middle.

My question is - is there much of a wait if we just turn up??  I can't see the point in booking 'anytime' dining if I also need to lock in a time for each night???

We certainly don't mind a short wait or to be given a buzzer so we know when our table's ready but don't want to have very long waits each night. Thanks in advance!!

 

[gold1953]

it is optional and some want the same time and table nightly so they book. Depending on when you show up there may or may not be a wait 

[ggo85]

Definitely reserve!  We walked into the Porch for lunch.  No one was eating.  They told us we needed reservations.   Checked back an hour later.  Maybe 1/3 of tables full.  Ditto with Sushi on 5.  We asked at 1230 if you needed reservations for lunch and they said yes.  Turned us away.  There was literally no one in the restaurant.  At dinner last night at Sushi (we had reservations), a couple came by and tried to eat.  Turned away.  Restaurant was 90% empty.  
 

Only thing I can think of is that they need a number so they defrost sufficient, but not too much food, especially with Sushi.  But they are losing out on a lot of walk-up business.  
 

As an aside, Murano was very full on the third night of cruise.  We found meal so-so. Ok but not memorable.  Lobster was tasty but portion very, very small.  Goat cheese tart wasn’t to my liking.  I would not book it if it weren’t included for us.  YMMV. 

[dazey]

We had a similar situation happen to us on Summit a year or so ago. We stopped by for lunch at Sushi on 5 and they said they had nothing available.  We went back an hour later and they were not full at all.  I made a reservation for the next day at that point and it was obvious I was not happy and it was quite obvious that the person taking the reservation had an attitude.  This never happens at the MDR hostess/host - always pleasant. We did have lunch there the following day and they were so short on staff(not totally full) that we had a rather long wait.  The waiter commented "why does everyone have to eat at once" so one could tell he was not a happy employee.  We dine there at night now and make a reservation for sure.  They are never that busy. 

 

Sushi on Five is a nice change.  In the past when we would return for a second visit during the cruise they will offer a 20 or 30% discount if we ask.  That was a year ago so may not be so now.

 

 

[Itchy&Scratchy]

4 hours ago, cocosmum said:

I can't see the point in booking 'anytime' dining if I also need to lock in a time for each night???

you don't need to. We enjoy ATD because we don't want to have dinner at either 5:30 pm or 8:30 pm. Our ideal time is around 6:20 which is what I made the reservation for, but I am told it doesn't matter and everyone waits in the same line and gets the same buzzer if it's a very busy time.

[Itchy&Scratchy]

32 minutes ago, ggo85 said:

Definitely reserve!  We walked into the Porch for lunch.   They told us we needed reservations.  Ditto with Sushi on 5. As an aside, Murano was very full on the third night of cruise.  

OP is asking about Any time dining in MDR, not about specialty dining.

[jelayne]

1 hour ago, ggo85 said:

Definitely reserve!  We walked into the Porch for lunch.  No one was eating.  They told us we needed reservations.   Checked back an hour later.  Maybe 1/3 of tables full.  Ditto with Sushi on 5.  We asked at 1230 if you needed reservations for lunch and they said yes.  Turned us away.  There was literally no one in the restaurant.  At dinner last night at Sushi (we had reservations), a couple came by and tried to eat.  Turned away.  Restaurant was 90% empty.  
 

Only thing I can think of is that they need a number so they defrost sufficient, but not too much food, especially with Sushi.  But they are losing out on a lot of walk-up business.  
 

As an aside, Murano was very full on the third night of cruise.  We found meal so-so. Ok but not memorable.  Lobster was tasty but portion very, very small.  Goat cheese tart wasn’t to my liking.  I would not book it if it weren’t included for us.  YMMV. 

Another reason is staffing.  We have been in 1/2 empty restaurants when walk ups are turned away.  In questioning some MaitreDs we were told that when the ship is short of staff the specialty restaurants are staffed to the level of bookings, freeing up staff to working in other food prep/dining areas. 

[dogsdogs]

We were on the Reflection over Christmas and NYE 2023.  We had anytime dining--we follow the music, so we don't want to make reservations.  Every single night for 14 nights there were long lines in both the reservation line and the non-reservation line.  We went to dinner at all different times too.

[Saturngrl]

I highly recommend you make reservations for anytime dining in advance via Cruise Planner.  On our February 2023 Reflection cruise, there were a LOT of passengers who were provided pagers who waited until after 9:00 p.m. to be paged and seated.  We had reservations for all our MDR nights and waited less than 5 minutes to be seated.  

[highway180]

We were on the Ascent, and prefer early dining. On the second night we found out if you had a reservation for 5:30this was in Tuscan) they preferred you to just bypass the line ( there was always a line) and go directly to your assigned table.  Many people had issues with this, but the Maitre de would insist and wave people around the line, which I thought worked well. This was the first cruise we had ever made appointments for dining, except for the specialties

[cocosmum]

Thanks. As @Itchy&Scratchy mentioned I am only referring to the MDR.  We have made reservations at the Tuscan Grille on the first night at 8pm but wanted to take a more relaxed approach to the MDR and just go when we were ready to eat - usually between 7-8pm for us.  These times do not appear available thru the app on most nights although I managed to book a 7.45pm on day 2. Will just have to be patient if there are long waits I guess. (Worse places to wait!)

[the penguins]

6 hours ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

you don't need to. We enjoy ATD because we don't want to have dinner at either 5:30 pm or 8:30 pm. Our ideal time is around 6:20 which is what I made the reservation for, but I am told it doesn't matter and everyone waits in the same line and gets the same buzzer if it's a very busy time.

not true on Reflection. We always pre book a time. On arrival every one signs in a the desk. Any one with a reservation is escorted to their table everyone else is held in a separate line (or released with a buzzer if there will be a longer wait) until a table is ready

[AnnieHawk]

23 hours ago, Saturngrl said:

I highly recommend you make reservations for anytime dining in advance via Cruise Planner.  On our February 2023 Reflection cruise, there were a LOT of passengers who were provided pagers who waited until after 9:00 p.m. to be paged and seated.  We had reservations for all our MDR nights and waited less than 5 minutes to be seated.  

We reserved all our Anyttime dining times and venues (there are 4 MDR’s on Edge) back in October when we booked our Alaska cruise on EDGE this coming june.  Planning with a pen and paper, we chose dinner times based on ports, sailaway times or sea days. We even booked EDEN for my bday dinner night, and sushi on 5. All times and venues are listed as reserved on our calendar in the app or on the  website. I have no worries about dining. I guess I don’t understand why people have an issue with this. You have the power to book ahead, like you do when planning excursions.

[dazey]

When we were on Apex and Edge recently we were anytime dining and decided to reserve a time in the restaurant of choice(not specialty) each night.  Once on each cruise we had a change of plans so that the scheduled reservation was inconvenient so I called to cancel the reservation and change the time.  I was told each time that it was not necessary to cancel and just go when we wanted.  I thought it was odd but never had a problem doing so.   

[the penguins]

31 minutes ago, AnnieHawk said:

We reserved all our Anyttime dining times and venues (there are 4 MDR’s on Edge) back in October when we booked our Alaska cruise on EDGE this coming june.  Planning with a pen and paper, we chose dinner times based on ports, sailaway times or sea days. We even booked EDEN for my bday dinner night, and sushi on 5. All times and venues are listed as reserved on our calendar in the app or on the  website. I have no worries about dining. I guess I don’t understand why people have an issue with this. You have the power to book ahead, like you do when planning excursions.

Edge class operates differently to S class  - the OP was asking specifically about Reflection.

[janetz]

Our recent cruise on the Reflection, we never reserved ahead

Only a couple of times we had to wait, took the beeper, less the 10 minutes

 

[cocosmum]

2 hours ago, janetz said:

Our recent cruise on the Reflection, we never reserved ahead

Only a couple of times we had to wait, took the beeper, less the 10 minutes

 

Thanks @janetz, that's reassuring. Not really worried about it but good to have an idea of what to expect.  

[janetz]

The Martini Bar is 45 feet away 😊

[Dawnya00]

6 hours ago, janetz said:

The Martini Bar is 45 feet away 😊

...have buzzer, will gladly wait! 

[janetz]

😂

[Dawnya00]

OP- I might be one of the people in that elusive 7:30p MDR reservation slot every night. 🤪

Everyone- I have been debating this selection though as I have no idea when entertainment/shows occur? On NCL, we had to reserve seats for shows so I knew when to get dinner in. 

What time will Reflection have a comedy show or magic show or game show entertainment? I don't see a lot of recent reviews that shares the daily schedule so I am clueless. Help! I would like to be able to switch my reservation while I have 75 days or so. 

[booklady26]

On 2/9/2024 at 10:34 AM, Dawnya00 said:

OP- I might be one of the people in that elusive 7:30p MDR reservation slot every night. 🤪

Everyone- I have been debating this selection though as I have no idea when entertainment/shows occur? On NCL, we had to reserve seats for shows so I knew when to get dinner in. 

What time will Reflection have a comedy show or magic show or game show entertainment? I don't see a lot of recent reviews that shares the daily schedule so I am clueless. Help! I would like to be able to switch my reservation while I have 75 days or so. 

Generally, shows are 7 & 9 PM. We always make our dinner reservations for 7 or 7:15 and never have a problem getting a decent seat at the 9PM show. No show reservations are taken, but I don't recall the last time a show was SRO.

[the penguins]

On 2/9/2024 at 3:34 PM, Dawnya00 said:

OP- I might be one of the people in that elusive 7:30p MDR reservation slot every night. 🤪

Everyone- I have been debating this selection though as I have no idea when entertainment/shows occur? On NCL, we had to reserve seats for shows so I knew when to get dinner in. 

What time will Reflection have a comedy show or magic show or game show entertainment? I don't see a lot of recent reviews that shares the daily schedule so I am clueless. Help! I would like to be able to switch my reservation while I have 75 days or so. 

theatre shows are 7.00 and 9.0pm.

we like the later time and prebook dinner for 6.30 to ensure a relaxed dinner with time for a rest room visit before the show.  No need to reserve seats in the the theatre. If there is an extra show in the theatre or in Celebrity Central it will always start around 10 to 10.15 pm.  If there is a special performance in the Grand Foyer it will start between 10.00 to 10.15pm.

[Maxcov]

Possibly going solo on Celebrity Reflection for a 4-night out of Ft. Lauderdale on 5/20. I’ve only cruised with others in the past and have only done my time dining. Just looking for a short getaway. I definitely want to have dinner with others. Does anyone have any recommendations or thoughts on which would be better, a fixed nightly seating or my time at around 7:00? If I do a fixed time which would mean the same people each night, is it possible that they may put other solos at the same table if they are doing the same seating as me being that they would have this information in advance, or would I be better off doing my time and sit with different people each night?

[Miss SeaBee]

On 2/8/2024 at 3:15 PM, janetz said:

The Martini Bar is 45 feet away 😊

Exactly! I’m not making reservations, because who knows when I will want to eat each day. I plan to go with the flow, and I’ll be irritated if I don’t have time to sit and enjoy a martini if my beeper goes off too soon 😂

Edited February 26 by Miss SeaBee
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