Can't decide if Anytime dining or Fixed Dining is for us

[tbmrt]

 Does the deck location for Anytime vs. Fixed matter?

 

Plus or minuses for both please.

[cbfb]

I thought it depended on the ship. On the summit anytime dining was great but on the equinox it was on the upper level and it seemed chaotic with all the servers stations in the middle. 

[jelayne]

With anytime you can make reservations for the same time if you want for every night or you can vary the time based on what time you expect to return to the ship from a excursion.  You can dine, just the 2 of you, or if you want company 1 night you can ask to join a shared table. Or you don't have to make reservations at all and just show up when you are ready.  Sometimes a short wait but we have not had a long wait in years.

 

If you know you want to dine at the same time every night and like having the same wait staff and the same table ( and possibly table mates) then fixed time is what you should choose.

 

 

[pete_coach]

Well, you can do anytime and go the same time every night? LOL

[bikerunner]

The last 5 cruises I have had anytime dining, S class and M Class ships.  Even with that and not making reservations, we were sat with the same waitstaff and sommieler every night.  Many times the same table.  Maybe had to wait a cal minutes but never an issue, not like I am going anywhere 

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

2 hours ago, pete_coach said:

Well, you can do anytime and go the same time every night? LOL

Yes, but with reservations there's less of a chance you'll have to wait. Or you may not have to wait as long.

[tbmrt]

13 hours ago, cbfb said:

I thought it depended on the ship. On the summit anytime dining was great but on the equinox it was on the upper level and it seemed chaotic with all the servers stations in the middle. 

This is what I disliked on another of Celebrity's ship that was set up in the same way.  Wondering if it is as chaotic with Fixed Dining on the upper deck of Connie. We might change to Anytime if that is the case.

[broadwaybaby123]

We prefer fixed. There's no waiting, as fixed usually gets seated first. 

 

We had Anytime on NCL and hated it. We had someone who has a physical disability, someone injured (me), and a 7 year old with us. Whenever we didn't have a reservation (which we were told to make daily and not have any changes), we were told to wait in line for up to 20 min. Our other option was to move from one restaurant to another in the hopes that someone could take us. 

 

One night we tried to change our reservation as our tour got back early and we were told no, as the reservations were already closed, and to follow the advice above or wait the 2 hours until our reservation. The kid was hungry, so the 2 hours was not going to cut it. Waiting in line was not going to cut it either for me and our physically disabled companion. Our only option was the buffet.

[PTC DAWG]

I don’t know what time I’m going to eat today,  much less on a cruise booked month- years out..

 

That said, I know folks that do…choices are good.

[the penguins]

52 minutes ago, broadwaybaby123 said:

We prefer fixed. There's no waiting, as fixed usually gets seated first. 

 

We had Anytime on NCL and hated it. We had someone who has a physical disability, someone injured (me), and a 7 year old with us. Whenever we didn't have a reservation (which we were told to make daily and not have any changes), we were told to wait in line for up to 20 min. Our other option was to move from one restaurant to another in the hopes that someone could take us. 

 

One night we tried to change our reservation as our tour got back early and we were told no, as the reservations were already closed, and to follow the advice above or wait the 2 hours until our reservation. The kid was hungry, so the 2 hours was not going to cut it. Waiting in line was not going to cut it either for me and our physically disabled companion. Our only option was the buffet.

Celebrity doesn't work this way.

Fixed and Anytime are separate.

[the penguins]

17 hours ago, tbmrt said:

 Does the deck location for Anytime vs. Fixed matter?

 

Plus or minuses for both please.

We always have Any Time - prebooked for 6.30 (Fixed times are too early or too late).

We always share tables ideally a table of 6 - we eat as a couple at home every day and sharing tables at dinner is one of the reasons we cruise.

the two hours allocated gives us a relaxed meal and plenty of thime to get to the 9.0 pm show in the theatre.

If you don't prebook you may have to wait (just like any restaurant if lots of people arrive at the same time there will be delays) if this happens you may be offered a buzzer so you can wait at a bar, lounge etc.

[Markanddonna]

Our last Celebrity cruise was supposed to be fixed dining. We assumed we would be seated with a group of strangers which usually works out very well. Not this time. We were put at a two top and no one was seated next to us until the very end. 

 

We sought the advice of the staff and they said to just show up at any of the four Apex dining rooms and we would be seated. Most of the time, that worked out quite well, but we found it tiresome to introduce ourselves to new people each night. Each night, for two weeks, it was a new set of people.

 

We enjoy having the same group at the MDR each night. Instead of the trivia of getting the basics on people, you can focus on what exciting things they did in port and their plans for the next day. 

 

One of the nice features of traditional dining has now been replaced with a much inferior experience. 

Edited June 2 by Markanddonna

[KroozNut]

1 hour ago, the penguins said:

We always have Any Time - prebooked for 6.30 (Fixed times are too early or too late).

We always share tables ideally a table of 6 - we eat as a couple at home every day and sharing tables at dinner is one of the reasons we cruise.

If you prefer 6:30, 6pm fixed (early) is too early? We're talking 30 mins here. We have 6pm fixed (early) for our next sailing on Summit, which is perfect. And a table for six has been requested..

[jelayne]

8 minutes ago, KroozNut said:

If you prefer 6:30, 6pm fixed (early) is too early? We're talking 30 mins here. We have 6pm fixed (early) for our next sailing on Summit, which is perfect. And a table for six has been requested..

On some of our recent cruises early fixed seating is at 5:30.  The app for current Summit sailing is showing fixed dining times of 5:30 and 8:30 of course that could change 

[pete_coach]

16 hours ago, WrittenOnYourHeart said:

Yes, but with reservations there's less of a chance you'll have to wait. Or you may not have to wait as long.

In our experience, you will not be the only one to be seated at the selected time and you may have to wait too. 🙂

We have not had a select time, stood in lone with everyone. People in front of us had selected time and they were seated, we got seated right after them and we did not have a selected time.

[clskinsfan]

4 hours ago, broadwaybaby123 said:

We prefer fixed. There's no waiting, as fixed usually gets seated first. 

 

We had Anytime on NCL and hated it. We had someone who has a physical disability, someone injured (me), and a 7 year old with us. Whenever we didn't have a reservation (which we were told to make daily and not have any changes), we were told to wait in line for up to 20 min. Our other option was to move from one restaurant to another in the hopes that someone could take us. 

 

One night we tried to change our reservation as our tour got back early and we were told no, as the reservations were already closed, and to follow the advice above or wait the 2 hours until our reservation. The kid was hungry, so the 2 hours was not going to cut it. Waiting in line was not going to cut it either for me and our physically disabled companion. Our only option was the buffet.

Interesting. I thought NCL handled it well when we cruised with them. We had 10 people eating together most nights. They handed us a pager when we arrived at the restaurant and we would head over to a bar and have a drink before dinner. We were usually paged before finishing that drink. 

 

 

[KroozNut]

1 hour ago, jelayne said:

On some of our recent cruises early fixed seating is at 5:30.  The app for current Summit sailing is showing fixed dining times of 5:30 and 8:30 of course that could change 

When I booked our sailing for next May, we chose early fixed, which was 6pm.

[sofietucker]

9 hours ago, tbmrt said:

This is what I disliked on another of Celebrity's ship that was set up in the same way.  Wondering if it is as chaotic with Fixed Dining on the upper deck of Connie. We might change to Anytime if that is the case.

We've done both over the years on various ships/cruise lines, and far prefer fixed (late). In March on the Connie, our experiences taught us: no more anytime dining. We had fixed late seating (upstairs), except on 2 nights when we went with anytime downstairs. And it was disastrous: hectic, loud, crowded, confusing, rowdy (but no kids, lol). I think once was so we could get to an event and the other time it was too late to be seated with fixed. Aside from the obvious advantage of fixed dining--that the waitstaff know us and our preferences--you know where your table is, and can ask to have it permanently changed the first night if unsuitable.

 

With Anytime, we found ourselves seated both times at different tables but both smack in the middle of entrance/kitchen traffic and next to the server's stations. The first time, we asked to be moved--but we were then still placed at a similarly unfavorable table. I don't care to have trays constantly being carried back & forth behind my chair... Second time, we just stayed put. It seemed they were seating the entire guest roster just inside the restaurant entrance. Whether to make it seem fuller or to keep that section's staff running back and forth (or being short staffed in other sections), I couldn't say.

 

Our courses weren't served at the same time for all the guests, leaving some with cooling food and others with empty places. Plus, the waiter kept bringing extra dishes to the table for us to all try--unasked for! The evening's pasta, for instance. And while our party of four certainly drinks its share, the diners around us seemed much the worse for cocktails... Not a one-off, either. Just all unpleasant. 

Edited June 2 by sofietucker

[horseymike]

If having to wait for your table is not an issue for you anytime is fine.

People who prefer eating at basically the same time every evening at the same table with the same wait staff seem to appreciated the fixed seating times more.

Hope it all works out for you . Have a great cruise .🛳️

[hrhdhd]

53 minutes ago, sofietucker said:

We've done both over the years on various ships/cruise lines, and far prefer fixed (late). In March on the Connie, our experiences taught us: no more anytime dining. We had fixed late seating (upstairs), except on 2 nights when we went with anytime downstairs. And it was disastrous: hectic, loud, crowded, confusing, rowdy (but no kids, lol). I think once was so we could get to an event and the other time it was too late to be seated with fixed. Aside from the obvious advantage of fixed dining--that the waitstaff know us and our preferences--you know where your table is, and can ask to have it permanently changed the first night if unsuitable.

Of course, if the anytime dining room is also dealing with cruisers who have been assigned to fixed, they'll have more chaos. Better to head to the buffet if for your own reasons you miss your fixed slot.

[sofietucker]

1 hour ago, hrhdhd said:

Of course, if the anytime dining room is also dealing with cruisers who have been assigned to fixed, they'll have more chaos. Better to head to the buffet if for your own reasons you miss your fixed slot.

The funny thing is, "anytime' would suggest they need to be prepared for an unexpected ebb and flow of traffic. Especially since the restaurant was mainly empty on both our visits. But yep, fall back option is always the buffet...

[the penguins]

5 hours ago, KroozNut said:

If you prefer 6:30, 6pm fixed (early) is too early? We're talking 30 mins here. We have 6pm fixed (early) for our next sailing on Summit, which is perfect. And a table for six has been requested..

fixed also means you have to share with the same people whereas with Any Time we get to sit with different folk

As my wife has mobility and pain issues X always allows us to have the same table every night - i.e. we stay in the same place with the same wait staff and get 4 new table companions every night. 

Not right or wrong just our personal preference.

[Liao]

On 6/1/2024 at 9:08 PM, tbmrt said:

 Does the deck location for Anytime vs. Fixed matter?

 

Plus or minuses for both please.

I wouldn’t know, when I am on vacation I eat when and where the mood strikes me.

[KroozNut]

20 hours ago, the penguins said:

fixed also means you have to share with the same people whereas with Any Time we get to sit with different folk

As my wife has mobility and pain issues X always allows us to have the same table every night - i.e. we stay in the same place with the same wait staff and get 4 new table companions every night. 

Not right or wrong just our personal preference.

Agree, no right or wrong. But I was just commenting on what I thought was your biggest concern with fixed dining, which seemed to be the timing (too early/too late). And if you prefer 6:30pm, my point was that early fixed at 6pm is only 30 mins different than what you prefer.
Sounds like you simply like Anytime for various reasons, not that fixed times are too early/too late, and that's great!

[sofietucker]

On 6/2/2024 at 5:43 PM, the penguins said:

fixed also means you have to share with the same people whereas with Any Time we get to sit with different folk

As my wife has mobility and pain issues X always allows us to have the same table every night - i.e. we stay in the same place with the same wait staff and get 4 new table companions every night. 

Not right or wrong just our personal preference.

We've never HAD to sit with anyone else in fixed dining. Pre Covid, we requested large tables (8 or so). Sometimes they would put us with 6 or 4. In anytime (over the years), we usually preferred to have a 2-top--it would be a lot of work to get to know a new table each time as someone else noted. We also requested a 2-to in fixed the year we had a family death right before our holiday cruise--not up to needing to be cheerful that time. On our first post-covid cruise Edge's first trip out in June 2021), they wouldn't let folks sit together unless family...

 

I know people who arrange  "fixed seating" in anytime dining--they reserve the same time, same table each night for the duration of the cruise. And heaven knows X pesters us to death to set this up before the cruise! (Along with reserving specialty restaurants, of course.)

 So I think you could ask to be seated with the same folks each night in anytime dining--if everyone else agreed to eat at the same time each night (in which case, why not just switch to fixed --where you can also ask for a specific table).