Currently on Silhouette -- anytime dining is a problem

[boblin]

just off Eclipse yesterday and ate with a group in select every evening about 6pm.Never a problem and never a very long line, even around 7pm. Noticed they only had 1 line too, not a separate one for walk ups and those with reservations. It was a 2 wk cruise. Not sure if that makes a difference or not.

[obnurse]

What are the fixed seating times?

[jcbnuge]

We just got of the Silhouette yesterday and had the same problem. Different table every night even though we requested the same one and saw it was open. We were on the Equinox last year and never had a problem. Same table and same wait staff every night. That being said, the wait staff was fabulous.

[gentlemancruiser]

My colleague just returned from this cruise and had Select and also had the exact experience described. I'm very disappointed with Celebrity because it was my recommendation they try Celebrity. They've never cruised before.

The first night they showed up at 6:15pm waited 1.5 hours to get into the MDR. The second night they made a 5:45 reservation and showed up at 5:40 and then waited 25 minutes in the "reservation line" only to be told when they actually reached the hostess stand that "THEY were 20 minutes late!!!" and their table had been given away. When the asked wait time do we need to be lined up in order to make a 5:45 reservation the hostess replied not later then 5:15.

The next night the spoke to their Concierge about the way they were treated and from that night on wards they were given the same table at the same night each night. They also received a call from the Concierge every afternoon confirming their table would be ready for them.

 

That is just terrible service. l cannot believe this is acceptable to ANYONE at Celebrity. We are Elite CC members and I'd be very upset if I had to deal with this.

[Baron Barracuda]

You are right, but its not just Select Dining...but many things on Celebrity. When we go to the MDR (Select) we will often see queues outside the MDR, but once inside we notice many empty tables (and seats). At times it almost seems like there are not enough waiters to handle all the tables. When we were recently on the Reflection we showed-up at the MDR for breakfast (about 1/2 hour after opening) only to discover a long queue of passengers waiting to be seated in a near empty MDR. We finally were seated at a large table (our preferrence) and then waited for over 30 minutes to get our breakfast. Our waiter (who we didn't even see for the first 10 minutes) apologized and explained that they were somewhat overwhelmed. But yet, the MDR was pretty empty (they did not even fill 1/4 of the lower level tables. There simply was not enough staff to serve the tables and (according to our waiter) the galley was not able to keep up with the orders.

 

This makes me wonder about Celebrity cut-backs and staffing. Getting back to Celebrity dinner....we have learned to not even order dinner until after we have been served our wine. Otherwise, one runs the risk of getting wine for dessert. Another staffing problem.

 

Hank

 

Hank,

 

Are slow breakfast and lunch service in mdr an indication of staffing shortage or scheduling issue? Not every waiter works breakfast and lunch. Maybe more need to.

 

Tom T

[Alsmez]

In our experience, service is always slow in the MDR at breakfast and lunch, so much so that we have stopped dining there entirely outside of the occasional dinner. We had good experiences with Select Dining at dinner in the past, though, so I was very surprised that it was such a mess on this Silhouette cruise.

[nngardener]

We also were on the Silhouette 1/14-1/26 sailing. We’ve done select dining dozens of times on the Eclipse and Equinox. This was our first time on Silhouette. In fact we sailed on Equinox in mid-October 2017. We never made reservations on any of those cruises and usually dined early. Our experience was that it worked wonderfully. Not so on the Silhouette. It was a cluster f.... every evening. I spoke with the Maitre D on the third night and was told it was because of people asking questions and holding up the line but it would get better. It never did. By this time we had found the wait staff we wanted to eat with and the waiter said to just bypass the line and he would check us in. Told us that it was the Maitre D’s suggestion. I know that wasn’t true but we took them up on it. My husband was having difficulties standing for any length of time and this solved the problem. BTW we bypassed the line at 5:30 and went straight to the table. Fortunately for all concerned it was only a few steps passed the entrance.

 

Our waiter said to thank the Maitre D and I gave him the thumbs up sign one of the nights. Got to play politics I guess.

 

We are scheduled to be on Silhouette next January on a b2b2b and I’m not looking forward to a tussle over dining for 33 days. Hope they get their act together before then.

 

 

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[MadManOfBethesda]

Our waiter said to thank the Maitre D and I gave him the thumbs up sign one of the nights. Got to play politics I guess.

 

I doubt very seriously that that is what he meant when he suggested that you "thank" the maitre d'.

[2206]

We are also just off the Silhouette - yesterday. We had Select Dining with a 6:45 reservation for each night made months in advance. There were 6 of us. Never again! They squeezed us in wherever they could, and we wasted a lot of time watching the already overworked staff scramble to take care of the tables around us that had been there for the 6 o’clock seating. We had good servers and bad servers, who didn’t have time to set the table correctly or explain the menu. We felt like a bother some of the time. Next time we will have an assigned table at the regular time. We have done this kind of flexible seating on two other cruise lines and found it successful. Not on the Silhouette!

[nngardener]

I doubt very seriously that that is what he meant when he suggested that you "thank" the maitre d'.

 

 

 

Oh I think he did because the Maitre was the one to give me the thumbs up first as he walked past our table.

 

 

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[Silkroad]

I agree that "anytime" dining should be just that ... walk up between 6 & 9 and get seated or wait for a table if you choose a prime time. We experience Anytime Dining for the first time on Princess 5 years ago, and it worked great. Never waited very long if at all, and pretty much always got same wait staff as requested. X complicates things with their Select Dining reservation system, and it seems that they just don't manage it very well on some ships. Example: not utilizing empty tables in the Traditional Dining section.

 

(Disclaimer ... my statements re: X are gleaned from CC observations, not experience).

 

BZ

 

Hmmmm if the Princess system works so brilliantly, why have so many recent Princess reviewers complained bitterly about horrible waits and service in the MDRs?

[Silkroad]

When we were recently on the Reflection we showed-up at the MDR for breakfast (about 1/2 hour after opening) only to discover a long queue of passengers waiting to be seated in a near empty MDR. We finally were seated at a large table (our preferrence) and then waited for over 30 minutes to get our breakfast. Our waiter (who we didn't even see for the first 10 minutes) apologized and explained that they were somewhat overwhelmed. But yet, the MDR was pretty empty (they did not even fill 1/4 of the lower level tables. There simply was not enough staff to serve the tables and (according to our waiter) the galley was not able to keep up with the orders.

 

From our first cruise on Millennium in 2006 to the present, we have never had a good experience in MDR for breakfast or lunch. Regardless of staffing or ship, service has been indifferent and the pace glacial. We try once per cruise, just in case they’ve improved, then head straight for the nice omelette man in OVC.

[snow bunny]

Sure hope they figure this out by next February! Cruising with some first timers and hope this doesn't tick them off of Celebrity!

 

snow bunny

[Cruise a holic]

We also were on the Silhouette 1/14-1/26 sailing. We’ve done select dining dozens of times on the Eclipse and Equinox. This was our first time on Silhouette. In fact we sailed on Equinox in mid-October 2017. We never made reservations on any of those cruises and usually dined early. Our experience was that it worked wonderfully. Not so on the Silhouette. It was a cluster f.... every evening. I spoke with the Maitre D on the third night and was told it was because of people asking questions and holding up the line but it would get better. It never did. By this time we had found the wait staff we wanted to eat with and the waiter said to just bypass the line and he would check us in. Told us that it was the Maitre D’s suggestion. I know that wasn’t true but we took them up on it. My husband was having difficulties standing for any length of time and this solved the problem. BTW we bypassed the line at 5:30 and went straight to the table. Fortunately for all concerned it was only a few steps passed the entrance.

 

Our waiter said to thank the Maitre D and I gave him the thumbs up sign one of the nights. Got to play politics I guess.

 

We are scheduled to be on Silhouette next January on a b2b2b and I’m not looking forward to a tussle over dining for 33 days. Hope they get their act together before then.

 

 

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Since you dine early, why not just opt for fixed dining? So much easier and the waiters really get to know you. If we want a special time to dine- we book a specialty restaurant for those days- never experienced a problem. We will be on the Silhouette in a few weeks- and have a suite- but also booked a night at each speciality restaurant- got a great package and used onboard credit to pay for it. No stress dining-

[gw2fll]

Someone may have responded - and if so, apologies - seem to recall an inquiry regarding Select Dining on Equinox.

 

We have sailed Equinox several times and never had an issue. We book our reservations prior to boarding - usually at 6:30 (coincides with dining time at home). On our first night, as a we leave (or at check-in) we let the Check-In team know we want the same table each night for the duration of the cruise. Also, if we make a Specialty Dining Reservation we let the team know so that they are aware and know not to expect us.

 

Hope this helps - enjoy your cruise.

[ICUQT]

Sure hope they figure this out by next February! Cruising with some first timers and hope this doesn't tick them off of Celebrity!

 

snow bunny

 

Long time cruiser first time Celebrity next month onboard the Silhouette. Lot of negative posts about the MDR I have booked

Silhouette for the same time period next year. I don't mind making a reservation and even waiting for a brief time to be seated but this is not sounding good. Anyway, not going to get discouraged right now. Going to board her with a positive attitude and see how things shake out. Bad experience and Celebrity may lose me for the Silhouette next year.

bob

[PRH]

Since you dine early, why not just opt for fixed dining? So much easier and the waiters really get to know you. If we want a special time to dine- we book a specialty restaurant for those days- never experienced a problem. We will be on the Silhouette in a few weeks- and have a suite- but also booked a night at each speciality restaurant- got a great package and used onboard credit to pay for it. No stress dining-

 

 

Problem is limited seating for fixed dining in the mdr. Since you book suites, you have Lumanae, which btw, reduced the mdr fixed seating by at least a third.

 

 

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[dandee2]

Sure hope they figure this out by next February! Cruising with some first timers and hope this doesn't tick them off of Celebrity!

 

snow bunny

 

Same here with first timers on the 11th. They better improve.

[KurtMo]

I was on the 1/26 sailing and agree the Celebrity version of "anytime" dining isn't working efficiently on this ship. We tried to get a seating for two a few times around 7pm (yes, a popular time I am sure) thinking that the early eaters might be starting to leave / turn over, but usually got a pager and waited 30-45 minutes. We went to Cellar Masters with our pager and they automatically would give us free sparkling wine (free of charge) - so this must be a known issue. On the plus side, service once seated was good and efficient, and Tuscan Grill, Lawn Club Grill, and Murano were all very good.

[Cruise a holic]

Problem is limited seating for fixed dining in the mdr. Since you book suites, you have Lumanae, which btw, reduced the mdr fixed seating by at least a third.

 

 

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It really isn't a 1/3rd. On the Silhouette, it is slightly larger then Blu. However all of the tables are full during peak hours also and at times people wait a little- We mostly dine in specialty restaurants and have reservations which are always honored in a timely fashion. We really enjoy the lawn grill as well as the others and dine in each at least once.

[nngardener]

Well after having experienced this personally just recently and have no desire to do that again, I got my TA to change our cruises to the early seating. She was able to do that for the 1/20/19 and 2/1/19 cruises. We are waitlisted for the 2/10/19 one and it should clear. 33 days going through that mess of select dining was not going to happen.

 

 

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[lisiamc]

When Select dining first began, I was assured that we would love it once we tried it. So we tried it. The best I can say after several tries is that it was ok sometimes. And it worked best for us when we shared a large table and met some nice people that we ended up eating with most nights, at the same time, just like fixed seating! But we found that we were still being rushed through the meal at lightening speed, not getting our wine in a timely fashion and generally not having a relaxed or enjoyable experience. So a couple of years ago, we gave up on Select and went back to fixed seating. We are lucky that we prefer late seating, which is hardly ever too full to get us in. Much better for us.

[rollie]

We had select dining on the Silhouette on the Jan 7th sailing. We were able to make 5:45pm reservations for each night. We were able to request the same waiter and table for each night.

 

We were also on the Jan 26th sailing of the Silhouette, but this time we had traditional early dining. One of the things we noticed was the main dining room was never full, with some empty tables. After a while you could see people being escorted down the stairs to fill these tables. It seems to me that select dining has gotten so popular that Celebrity is having trouble managing. Just my take.

 

Rollie

[Cruise a holic]

We had select dining on the Silhouette on the Jan 7th sailing. We were able to make 5:45pm reservations for each night. We were able to request the same waiter and table for each night.

 

We were also on the Jan 26th sailing of the Silhouette, but this time we had traditional early dining. One of the things we noticed was the main dining room was never full, with some empty tables. After a while you could see people being escorted down the stairs to fill these tables. It seems to me that select dining has gotten so popular that Celebrity is having trouble managing. Just my take.

 

Rollie

 

You also have to remember that many people go to specialty restaurants, leaving tables empty. So while select might be popular, so is dining in a specialty restaurant.

[srdancer]

We have always had select dining (and the equivalent on other lines). Summit, Infinity, Equiniox - no problem. Reservations were for 7 or 7:15 and were made before the cruise. Hope problems on Silhouette are resolved before our cruise in Aug., 2018!!