How Does Select Dining Seating Work?

[barneyboy]

When we did Select Dining on the Constellation we always shared a table. They waited until the entire table was seated before starting service, although we could order drinks.

The table always seemed to fill up quickly so there wasn't much of a delay.

 

 

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Edited January 22, 2017 by barneyboy

[Escriteur]

I've done extensive searches to find this answer without luck, so hopefully someone can help answer this question about Select Dining...

 

My husband and I are on the Equinox March 3, 2017 and will be using Select Dining. We don't want to do reservations in advance and plan to show up for dinner whenever we are ready. We don't need a table for two and are ok at a shared group table. My question is regarding timing of service for the whole table. Will we be seated at a table where some people are already eating, they are at various stages of the meal? Or will they seat the entire table prior to any dinner service starting, like traditional dining?

 

I don't want to get into a situation where we are seated for quite a while before service begins because they are waiting to fill the table. This info will help me plan our dining appropriately. Thank you!

 

barneyboy's answer reflects our experience. I don't think we ever had a wait for Select Dining (or not much of a wait, at any rate) because we were always flexible about where and with whom we were seated. They will always try to fill open tables as new guests arrive, so you shouldn't have to wait long until the table is full and everyone can place their orders. They're very methodical about filling tables by section; it's not like there's a bunch of scattered tables to keep track of.

 

The only issue we ever had was the last night of our Solstice Alaska cruise when the ship had a 6pm arrival in Victoria...so instead of having traditional and Select Dining, it was pretty much a free for all and they told us to seat ourselves wherever we could find space. It was chaotic, poorly handled, and took us ages to get served. But all of the other nights, the Select Dining system worked perfectly for us. Enjoy your cruise!

[RumRunner01]

Thank you barneyboy and Escriteur.

 

 

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[bobndee]

We just got back from the Eclipse on Monday. It was our first experience with Select Dining.

 

We never had to wait for a table nor were we ever given the buzzer. We always said we were willing to share a table - I think that makes all the difference.

 

We did have a glitch one night. We were seated at a table for six. After a while the waiter came and told us we had been seated at the wrong table :confused: and escorted us to a table on the other side of the ship. The people there had already been served their first courses before we arrived. The waiters rushed us through our first course and delayed the others' second courses to get things back together.

 

We also learned that we could request a preferred waiter and be seated in his area if space was available. My wife has a food allergy and the waiter told her to always request one of his tables so he could keep an eye on things.

[carlyshenk]

We're cruising next month on Summit and doing select dining for the first time. I thought I read somewhere that if you do select dining, you must prepay the gratuities. Is that true?

 

Carol

[helen haywood]

That used to be the case but no longer. Celebrity no longer requires Select Dining people to pre-pay grats.