new to celebrity, need info on how select dining works

[karen327]

We are a couple in our early 50's who have sailed several times with NCL and love the freedom of their freestyle dining. However, we are ready to give another cruise company a try, as we would like to go around the horn of south america on the infinity, an itenery that NCL doesn't offer. Can anyone tell me how celebrities select dining compares to the NCL freestyle? Is there ever much waiting time to get a seat? Can we get a window seat if we arrive early? Are there very many 2 person tables or will we be expected to share? Will our service be second place to those with traditional dining? I just don't want to have to eat late everynight, or have to rush back from excursions to get ready to eat for an early seating. Also, how much will we have to dress up to eat in the dining room on the infinity? And my last question, what is their buffet like? any other free or low surcharge dining options on this ship? Thanks for taking the time to answer all my questions.

[TeaBag]

We found there was no wait at all if we went at 6 - 6:30. 7:30 is a more popular time and therefore does incur some wait. We got a table for two most times.

[tercar]

We are a couple in our early 50's who have sailed several times with NCL and love the freedom of their freestyle dining. However, we are ready to give another cruise company a try, as we would like to go around the horn of south america on the infinity, an itenery that NCL doesn't offer. Can anyone tell me how celebrities select dining compares to the NCL freestyle? Is there ever much waiting time to get a seat? Can we get a window seat if we arrive early? Are there very many 2 person tables or will we be expected to share? Will our service be second place to those with traditional dining? I just don't want to have to eat late everynight, or have to rush back from excursions to get ready to eat for an early seating. Also, how much will we have to dress up to eat in the dining room on the infinity? And my last question, what is their buffet like? any other free or low surcharge dining options on this ship? Thanks for taking the time to answer all my questions.

hi, you can actually pre book a time on line and whenyou get to your cabin there will be a reminder of the times you have booked for. we found itf you go to the dining room around 7.30 there was not much waiting time

[travelberlin]

You have many questions and I will not be able to answer all of them. However I hope my answers are helpful somehow.

I have sailed with the Celebrity Infinity around Cape Horn. It is a lovely ship and a wonderful itinerary. I have never sailed wit Norwegian.

Concerning select dining with Celebrity, we use it all the time. It is a a very convenient way of having your dinner according to your time preferences. You have the option to reserve in advance the times when you prefer to dine and also if you want to be on your own or share with others. You can also come anytime without reservation and you may have to wait a litle. On our last cruise with the Infinity, we had to wait on average about 15 minutes but they offered us complimentary sparkling wine, while waiting.

The ambiance is elegant but the guests are OK with smart casual to elegant, except on formal nights, in which the mayority wear formal dress. You also have an alternative restaurant buffet style were you can have what you want without following a dress code.

The food at the MDR with select dinging is not buffet style and it is the same if you would have chosen the fix seating times.

To my opinion the select dining gives your more freedom than the fix dining in terms not only of times but also in terms of dining on your own or with others if you wish to do so.

[FrankinPA]

You can make reservations for certain times when you are in select dining. You can also request a table for 2 but not everyone gets what they want on table size. Suggest you be flexible and don't get upset if you have to share a table with another lovely couple. As for window tables for 2, those are few and far between in select dining. More likely you will get those in speciality dining.

 

But if you insist on a table for two with a great view, suggest you also consider having dinner in your cabin. The room service is great and the food is the same quality as you get in the MDR in my opinion. And you can dress any way you want.

 

As for dress codes, the Celebrity web site tells you what to wear in the MDR. As you might imagine, there are at least 150 threads on this subject on Cruise Critic so I suggest you search for those using the search function. These are always the most contentious threads so get ready to read a lot of opinions.

[sandancer]

We have sailed with both Celebrity and NCL several times and think that there is quite a difference in the cruise experience. In our opinion, you will find Celebrity more formal. The entertainment is better on NCL (especially on the Epic). There are less dining options on Celebrity but the MDR food is far better than NCL and therefore we did not feel the need to pay extra every night for speciality restaurants as we did on NCL. We always eat a couple of times in the upcharge restaurant with Celebrity as we enjoy it so much. Bar service, spa, photography all pretty much the same on both lines. Cruise Critic parties on NCL are the best in the business, always well attended by ships officers and sometimes the Captain. Remember though this is an opinion, no doubt many people will disagree but I can only go by our experience. Sometimes you have to try something new, especially if the itinerary is important to you.

[sddsddean]

Did 4 weeks on the Infinity last month round the Horn. We started off on second seating, but we were getting out too late (around 1030) so managed to change to Select. This was not easy as so many people had pre booked Select and in fact Fernanda (who was the 'hostess' who sorted out seating for Select) said they were even thinking of using the whole of deck 5 (not including the Blu bit) for Select as opposed to just the starboard side which is currently used. However, we had always been a bit 'iffy' about Select since we had done RCI's version on one cruise and had always only had the choice of a table for 2...and we like to sit with people! 2 ladies we met said this was not a problem. So after much tooing and froing, we got Select. We usually went about 7:00 (though our reservation time was 6:45) and were always seated straight away. If you say you want to sit on a big table, you will normally get seated quicker. Window tables are luck of the draw, just depends whats available...or you can wait! We were normally out about 8:30, so could easily make the show at 9:00. Several times when we came out, there was a big queue waiting to go in, so I would say earlier you can go, the better. We thought service between fixed and Select was comparable. The evening buffet in the Oceanview was a big diappointment (as we had experienced a great evening buffet on the Eclipse). It was basically curry or sushi, the pizza station, or the grill at the back where you could get a steak, chicken breast and pork chop cooked to order. The only other options are Bistro on 5, Qsine and SS United States which all have a cover charge. Also beware the later you leave dinner, the darker the MDR will be! Its not the brightest to start with, but at 8:20 they turn the lights down ready for 2nd sitting, so much so that you have to use the electric 'candles' on the table to read the menu, though several waiters now have penlights in their pockets!!

 

Simon

[TLCOhio]

When we had lunch one day on the Solstice last June, we were seated in the area that they said was used in the evenings for "Select Dining". It seemed a little tight, tables close together, etc. Did I sense things correctly on where you will be seated if you pick this option?

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Did a June 7-19, 2011, Solstice cruise from Barcelona that had stops in Villefranche, ports near Pisa and Rome, Naples, Kotor, Venice and Dubrovnik. Enjoyed great weather and a wonderful trip. Dozens of wonderful visuals with key highlights, tips, comments, etc., on these postings. We are now at 72,977 views for this live/blog re-cap on our first sailing with Celebrity and much on wonderful Barcelona. Check these postings and added info at:

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1426474

[negc]

When we had lunch one day on the Solstice last June, we were seated in the area that they said was used in the evenings for "Select Dining". It seemed a little tight, tables close together, etc. Did I sense things correctly on where you will be seated if you pick this option?

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Did a June 7-19, 2011, Solstice cruise from Barcelona that had stops in Villefranche, ports near Pisa and Rome, Naples, Kotor, Venice and Dubrovnik. Enjoyed great weather and a wonderful trip. Dozens of wonderful visuals with key highlights, tips, comments, etc., on these postings. We are now at 72,977 views for this live/blog re-cap on our first sailing with Celebrity and much on wonderful Barcelona. Check these postings and added info at:

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1426474

 

It isn't only in the Select Dining areas that tables for two can be uncomfortably close. When we were recently on Silhouette we had similar experiences in the section of the main dining room where traditional diners were seated. At breakfast one morning our table for two along with the tables for two on either side of us could easily have been considered a "table for six". Waiters had problems serving the parties at these tables.:rolleyes: Actually, our tables for two on the second level of the dining room, where select diners normally were seated had more space between the tables. Chairs are extremely heavy and very difficult to move in the Silhouette main dining room and they were more of a problem than the arrangement of the tables.

[FrankinPA]

There is definitely no such thing as a private conversation at a table for 2 in the MDR, no matter where you are seated. Tables are really crammed in there.

[seasearider]

We've done select time on several Celebrity cruises. We make a standing reservation for 7:45 or 8:00. Getting a 2 seater has never been an issue. Window seats are few and far between but if you ask for seating by the railing it should be quite private, our preference.

[mrstmaxx]

Just got off the Infinity (my husband and I are 60) Tables in MDR are very close together like others have indicated. As for dress code, we were having a problem figuring out what "smart casual" means but generally I wore a sun dress with sweater or we wore jeans with a collared shirt (husband) and I wore a sweater. Wore nice shoes (never sneakers). Saw others wearing the same thing. We hate to dress up (i do every day for work so definately did not want to do this on vacation). When we booked we asked for a table for 2. A couple of times they wanted to put us with others and we said we would wait for a table for 2. Someone commented on the buffet for dinner and yes, selections are extremely limited and this was a bit frustrating because we didn't do the formal nights. Enjoy your cruise!!!

[karen327]

Thanks for the advice everyone! Sounds like we will go for select if we choose Celebrity, we are debating between the Infinity and the Star Princess for the cruise around the horn. I also posted this question on the Princess site, sounds like Princess has a better buffet and seperate room for anytime dining, but we liked the Infinity schedule better. Anyone else have any advice to add to this?

[ccod]

I've been on both lines and perfer Celebrity's Select Time. We found Anytime on Princess a bit chaotic and often had to eat at a large table or wait. If you go the Star route I highly recommend going with their traditional dining.

 

Not sure why one buffet is better than the other, certainly nothing comes to mind to make P's better than X. However, the Cafe in the atrium on Princess does trump the Cafe on Celebrity.

[fishywood]

Most of the people on here singing the praises of Celebrity Select Dining were on an S-class ship. Select Dining was just added to Infinity in January, and based on my experience on the around the horn cruise in February I would strongly advise against Select Dining on Infinity until hearing reports that all the teething problems have worked out. As others have said, you can get a table for two--on Infinity the waiters and headwaiters were openly complaining that the new setup has way too many tables for two as their excuse for the bottlneck at the door and the very slow service; several nights it was more than three hours from when I joined the queue at the door to when I finally finished eating. If you are used to the way NCL (or even Princess, which can have a bit of a wait for tables for two) does their open seatings you will be very disappointed with Infinity.

 

And for the poster who questioned the conclusion that Princess has a better dinnertime buffet than Celebrity, at least on Princess (and every other line I have sailed) the offerings change every night, unlike the Infinity which offered the same pasta, sushi, curries and stir-fry fourteen straight nights.

[ccod]

Not I, my Select Time experience has only been on non-S class ships.

 

You are right about the dinner buffet, but the other 2 meals are a toss up.

[FrankinPA]

Most of the people on here singing the praises of Celebrity Select Dining were on an S-class ship. Select Dining was just added to Infinity in January, and based on my experience on the around the horn cruise in February I would strongly advise against Select Dining on Infinity until hearing reports that all the teething problems have worked out. As others have said, you can get a table for two--on Infinity the waiters and headwaiters were openly complaining that the new setup has way too many tables for two as their excuse for the bottlneck at the door and the very slow service; several nights it was more than three hours from when I joined the queue at the door to when I finally finished eating. If you are used to the way NCL (or even Princess, which can have a bit of a wait for tables for two) does their open seatings you will be very disappointed with Infinity.

 

And for the poster who questioned the conclusion that Princess has a better dinnertime buffet than Celebrity, at least on Princess (and every other line I have sailed) the offerings change every night, unlike the Infinity which offered the same pasta, sushi, curries and stir-fry fourteen straight nights.

 

We had select dining on the Infinity during our November 2011 Panama Canal cruise. Why do you think they only added it in January?? We loved it.