Celebrity Anytime Dining vs. Select

[IDL]

11 hours ago, publicpersona said:

 

Yet they are. The "exclusives" are part of the deceit to make you think each one is a unique galley. Nope, you are still in one huge MDR with four different decors. Pull up all the menus on the app and order whatever you please. They are all coming from the same galley.

Correct but strange that Celebrity doesn’t make that clear anywhere- not on the app, not on the menus, not in your cruise material, etc.  Additionally we went to the host desk as Cosmopolitan on embarkation day and told them we wanted the same table at 6 PM nightly (obviously with the same wait staff) and it was no issue; never waited on a line for dinner (yet another simple option for dinner that Celebrity does not explain is even an option). 

[publicpersona]

2 minutes ago, IDL said:

strange that Celebrity doesn’t make that clear anywhere

 

That's the marketing influence. The marketing people think it is important to create the illusion that they've created four "curated" and unique dining experiences that you should value more than the old MDR concept.

 

Meanwhile the staff on the ship just want to get you fed and out of there. They probably wonder what all the fuss is that 1/4 of the MDR is painted in black and white.

[IDL]

57 minutes ago, publicpersona said:

 

That's the marketing influence. The marketing people think it is important to create the illusion that they've created four "curated" and unique dining experiences that you should value more than the old MDR concept.

 

Meanwhile the staff on the ship just want to get you fed and out of there. They probably wonder what all the fuss is that 1/4 of the MDR is painted in black and white.

Agree that creating four “themed” main restaurants is more “gimmick” than substance but what is somewhat disappointing is the specialties dishes for each of the four are not that great though I did like the sole, hummus plate and lentil soup.  Did not find  the Italian specialty dishes appealing.  Wonder how often they are going to refresh the whole menu. 

[doghog]

1 hour ago, IDL said:

 Additionally we went to the host desk as Cosmopolitan on embarkation day and told them we wanted the same table at 6 PM nightly (obviously with the same wait staff) and it was no issue; never waited on a line for dinner (yet another simple option for dinner that Celebrity does not explain is even an option). 

We've done exactly the same and plan on doing it again when we first board the Edge in September. 

[NCTribeFan]

I'm sure this all makes sense to those of you who sail X often, but for someone who has 1 5-night sailing on Summit (2+ years ago), I'm just lost.  I did try to make reservations on Beyond.  Not a single option before 8:30 in any of the venues on any day.  So, I'll just have to see how it goes. 

 

I imagine that when I disembark Reflection and board Beyond, I'll still be confused.

 

It's all part of Adventures in Travel, though, right? 😁

[doghog]

2 hours ago, NCTribeFan said:

I'm sure this all makes sense to those of you who sail X often, but for someone who has 1 5-night sailing on Summit (2+ years ago), I'm just lost.  I did try to make reservations on Beyond.  Not a single option before 8:30 in any of the venues on any day.  So, I'll just have to see how it goes. 

 

I imagine that when I disembark Reflection and board Beyond, I'll still be confused.

 

It's all part of Adventures in Travel, though, right? 😁

When you first board the ship go to the MDR that is taking requests. Tell that person what your preference is and see if they will accommodate your request. 

[the penguins]

18 hours ago, publicpersona said:

 

That's the marketing influence. The marketing people think it is important to create the illusion that they've created four "curated" and unique dining experiences that you should value more than the old MDR concept.

 

Meanwhile the staff on the ship just want to get you fed and out of there. They probably wonder what all the fuss is that 1/4 of the MDR is painted in black and white.

Probably because Royal was "badly burned" when it introduced Dynamic Dining - 4 restaurants and everyone moved to a different one each night. Such a back lash it was dropped from every ship except one within weeks. 

[hrhdhd]

19 hours ago, NCTribeFan said:

I'm sure this all makes sense to those of you who sail X often, but for someone who has 1 5-night sailing on Summit (2+ years ago), I'm just lost.  I did try to make reservations on Beyond.  Not a single option before 8:30 in any of the venues on any day.  So, I'll just have to see how it goes. 

 

I imagine that when I disembark Reflection and board Beyond, I'll still be confused.

It's not hard. Beyond has 4 MDRs. Hungry for dinner? Head to one; they'll feed you.

[NCTribeFan]

Guess I'm thinking Beyond will work more like dining does on Virgin.  But Virgin has NO set dining times which means everyone is anytime dining.  Problem was (I did 14 night TA followed by 10 nights on a sister ship) people made dining reservations on the app ahead of sailing.  If you didn't lock in something somewhere, it was very difficult to just walk up and be seated without a long wait.  We were a party of 6 and tried to change reservations after boarding and found it was very difficult.  They didn't have the cross-over of menus, either, so no being seated in Razzle Dazzle and ordering from Pink Agave although those two probably share a galley.  Thought the food was very good on Virgin and loved the Galley that they have instead of a typical buffet.

 

Yes, I'll be fine.  I'm looking forward to the two X cruises.  I've sailed enough to know that the mass-market lines are more alike than different, but there's enough of a difference to make it interesting.  Looking forward to comparing/contrasting the two ships, too.