Select Dining

[HappyTvlr]

I would love to hear opinions on select dining vs set time dining. My husband and I are booked into late dining as we are used to eating late and love to have long dinners with several glasses of wine. Yes, we have already prepaid for the premium alcohol package. I want to know if there is a difference in availability of menu selections, the pace of the meal, and just comparisons based on individual experiences. We don't mind waiting if a table is not available at the exact moment we go to dinner, but we would hate to feel rushed. We are always respectful to the staff and don't keep them too long, but it's is not unusual for us to be the last ones in the restaurant. We cruised Celebrity on the Expedition and it was amazing, but the experience was unique as it was a small ship and most people went to dinner at the same time after the evening presentation. We would hang out in the bar for a while and find friends to join us after the rush. The only problem was that sometimes the best selections on the menu were taken. This was never a big deal because there were plenty of wonderful options, and this may be more an issue on a smaller ship. I'm guessing select will suit us, and I understand the issue with gratuities. I just recall reading some negatives here and there, but I haven't found a thread with many specifics. Thanks in advance.....

[cruisestitch]

You'll have the same menu selections. It is a rarity for anything to be "sold out" so that should not be an issue.

[rwr235]

We have done Select on our last 2 cruises...and have gone to dinner anywhere from 6:45-9:15 pm...and never had to wait more than a few minutes for a table. The one time the Maitre d' informed us that there might be a substantial wait (because we had requested to be seated with the same Wait Team we had on previous evenings), we were escorted to Cellar Masters and offered a glass of wine...No sooner had we ordered and the Maitre d' was back and escorted us to our table (yes, the wine was delivered to the table a few minutes later as well !!).

 

We have never felt rushed, and like you, on our late dinner evenings, we were often one of the last tables still in the dining room. A good wait team will be able to pick-up on your pace of enjoyment, and will accommodate you graciously ! We had some great conversations with our wait staff, and other Dining Room staff on the "late" evenings, when they had time to relax and talk without rushing. Have never encountered a situation when I was informed my meal of choice was not available.

[sandancer]

Select is the way to go for us now. We love the flexability of being able to dine when we want to and not be tied into a set time. We usually go between 7.15 and 8pm and don't book in advance. The only time we have had to wait for a table was when we wanted a table for 8. Have never been told an item on the menu was no longer available. Paying the tips pre-cruise is not a problem. We have been doing that long before open dining became popular.

[Tipsy252]

Am I reading this correctly? With the select dining you don't have to pre-book the time that you want to eat in the MDR, but you can turn up any time between the core dining times. I only ask because I noticed on the Celebrity website that there was an option to pre-book your dining times in the MDR and this confused me.

 

First time on Celebrity so hence the questions.

[rwr235]

Am I reading this correctly? With the select dining you don't have to pre-book the time that you want to eat in the MDR, but you can turn up any time between the core dining times. I only ask because I noticed on the Celebrity website that there was an option to pre-book your dining times in the MDR and this confused me.

 

First time on Celebrity so hence the questions.

 

Correct...you may either pre-reserve your dining times in advance (all or just some of them)...or show up at the MDR between the hours of 6-9:30pm.

 

Happy Cruising

 

Woody

[iSailor]

I would love to hear opinions on select dining vs set time dining. My husband and I are booked into late dining as we are used to eating late and love to have long dinners with several glasses of wine. Yes, we have already prepaid for the premium alcohol package. I want to know if there is a difference in availability of menu selections, the pace of the meal, and just comparisons based on individual experiences. We don't mind waiting if a table is not available at the exact moment we go to dinner, but we would hate to feel rushed. We are always respectful to the staff and don't keep them too long, but it's is not unusual for us to be the last ones in the restaurant. We cruised Celebrity on the Expedition and it was amazing, but the experience was unique as it was a small ship and most people went to dinner at the same time after the evening presentation. We would hang out in the bar for a while and find friends to join us after the rush. The only problem was that sometimes the best selections on the menu were taken. This was never a big deal because there were plenty of wonderful options, and this may be more an issue on a smaller ship. I'm guessing select will suit us, and I understand the issue with gratuities. I just recall reading some negatives here and there, but I haven't found a thread with many specifics. Thanks in advance.....

 

Just got off Celebrity Eclipse yesterday,we have select dinning,the wait time was about an hour for the first two day for dinning around 7:15.

I wont pick select dinning if my dinning time is from 7:00-8:00

The dinning room seem quiet down after 8:30.

Its not worth the wait as we don't spend so much time on dinner.

[dongordon]

Just got off Celebrity Eclipse yesterday,we have select dinning,the wait time was about an hour for the first two day for dinning around 7:15.

I wont pick select dinning if my dinning time is from 7:00-8:00

The dinning room seem quiet down after 8:30.

Its not worth the wait as we don't spend so much time on dinner.

 

WOW....1 hour waiting time, that is terrible. We were stuck with Select for our upcoming cruise in January since both the Early and Late Seatings were unavailable and we booked 6 months before the cruise date.

 

I can't understand how that wait time is so long...they should send some of their dining staff to NCL. I never waited more than 10 minutes with Freestyle Dining. I would rather have a certain time than wait.

 

I will just go late like you suggested. Kind of defeats the idea of "Select Dining!"

[Lsimon]

We've done select three times. On one cruise the wait times were very long. But that cruise was on the Equinox's first TA in 2009 and was very shortly after Select was first introduced. We also were dining with a large group most nights which might have contributed to the wait.

 

Our second experience was on the Century in the Mediterranean a little over a year ago and we were part of a group of 7 and wanted a dining time in between the 2 traditional seating. We had a fantastic experience and were seated immediately, or after a very short wait, all evenings. The first three nights were at different tables, all with great service, but after that when it became apparent to both us and the Asst. Maitre d' that we'd be dining at the same time each night we settled into the same table each night with the same waiter. I understand that while this sometimes can be arraigned that it is not always possible depending on your preference of dining times and table location and size - so if the same table and staff is important to you then you really ought to consider traditional dining more.

 

Our third experience was on the Eclipse 7 day Caribbean cruise last winter. It was a last minute cruise for just my wife and I (we usually sail with many cruise friends but didn't on that cruise). We chose select for this cruise as we indented to eat about half time time in the specialty restaurants so we didn't feel it appropriate to take space at a traditional dining table. In the end we ended up eating in the MDR just twice. We were seated promptly and had enjoyable dinners.

 

Personally, on a longer cruise where we'd plan on eating in the main dining room the majority of the nights and don't have a strong problem with the traditional schedules I think I'd prefer the traditional dining. There is something special about the service level when you're sitting at the same table each night. Yes, there are exceptions as some staff is better, and some worse, than others, but overall we prefer that experience. I think that overall the traditional experience is worth adjusting one's schedule to the traditional dining times. A side benefit is that the ship's entertainment and the opportunity to socialize with other cruisers in the lounges before and after dinner tends to favor the traditional dining times.

 

But on those cruises where the traditional dining times doesn't work well for one reason or another, or when we'd plan to dine at venues other than the MDR, select dining is a great alternative.

[iSailor]

WOW....1 hour waiting time, that is terrible. We were stuck with Select for our upcoming cruise in January since both the Early and Late Seatings were unavailable and we booked 6 months before the cruise date.

 

I can't understand how that wait time is so long...they should send some of their dining staff to NCL. I never waited more than 10 minutes with Freestyle Dining. I would rather have a certain time than wait.

 

I will just go late like you suggested. Kind of defeats the idea of "Select Dining!"

 

This is the 4th. time I cruised on Eclipse this year.It seems more and more people prefer Select Dinning and everybody jams at the same time from 6-7.

By the time they reach there at 7:00+ the restaurant is full.

The management does need to do something.Its a terrible wait times.I don't know how soon they will correct this problem.

[caribsun]

We did Select on The Summit sailing to Bermuda. If we cruise on the Summit we will not choose Select again. On the plus side we never had more then a 5 minute wait and most times walked right in at around 7pm.

When we had a table for two we felt we were rushed right through dinner and there was very little conversation with the servers.

The 1st night we were seated at a table of eight and the fellow diners were very nice. Everyone was served their main entree but they forgot me and waiting a good 10-12 minutes more for my steak.

[Lois R]

WOW....1 hour waiting time, that is terrible. We were stuck with Select for our upcoming cruise in January since both the Early and Late Seatings were unavailable and we booked 6 months before the cruise date.

 

I can't understand how that wait time is so long...they should send some of their dining staff to NCL. I never waited more than 10 minutes with Freestyle Dining. I would rather have a certain time than wait.

 

I will just go late like you suggested. Kind of defeats the idea of "Select Dining!"

 

Hi Don, that was not my experience the week before. I sailed Eclipse

Nov 11th and went to dinner in the 7:30 range. I never waited longer

than 5 minutes. So it worked fine for me and never felt rushed.

Now, I only ate there 4 times out of 7 as I went Specialty 3 nights.

[sandancer]

We have taken Select Dining on the Constellation, Equinox and Eclipse. Very happy with it every time. Perhaps we are a little laid back about waiting for a table, we like to be near a window and don't mind if there is not one available right away. I disagree about NCL. We were on the Sky last year and the Epic this year. On both cruises we had to wait for a table longer than we ever have with Select on Celebrity.