Main Dining Room anytime seating

[Banana15]

My husband and I are sailing on the Equinox in May. We have anytime dining in the main dining room. Are they going to seat us at a large table with other people or do they have two person tables available?

[NantahalaCruiser]

My husband and I are sailing on the Equinox in May. We have anytime dining in the main dining room. Are they going to seat us at a large table with other people or do they have two person tables available?

They have many 2-tops in the area near the stern.

[Banana15]

They have many 2-tops in the area near the stern.

 

So they won't force us to sit with other people every night?

I don't want to sound anti-social, but this is the first time my husband and I have been kid free in 10 years, so I want to enjoy as much alone time as we can.

[Bo1953]

So they won't force us to sit with other people every night?

I don't want to sound anti-social, but this is the first time my husband and I have been kid free in 10 years, so I want to enjoy as much alone time as we can.

 

No, they do not force you do sit with anyone any night. You may be asked if you would like to, a polite no thank you, will suffice.

 

 

Be prepared as there may be a wait, pending on the time you arrive, yet you will receive your preference for a two (2) top.

 

bon voyage

[Banana15]

No, they do not force you do sit with anyone any night. You may be asked if you would like to, a polite no thank you, will suffice.

 

 

Be prepared as there may be a wait, pending on the time you arrive, yet you will receive your preference for a two (2) top.

 

bon voyage

 

Thank you! Any suggestion for "safe times" to go where the wait won't be as bad?

[santa24]

Just got off the Equinox. Only safe time to go where you won’t have to wait is before 6:30 or after 7:45. Didn’t matter whether you wanted a small or large table, only a select few were seated without being sent away with a pager if you showed up between 6:30 and 7:30. First time we have ever encountered this on Celebrity.

 

 

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[helen haywood]

We had this happen to us in January on Silhouette. Party of two; multiple Celebrity cruises and never had this issue trying to eat between 6:45 to 7. I would recommend making reservations. As I say, didn’t use to have this problem, but we want to watch sunset or sail away from the Sky Lounge and then go to dinner...not wait in an inside bar with a pager. So it was worth it to make reservations for me. Better safe than sorry. Just my experience.

 

 

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[davekathy]

My husband and I are sailing on the Equinox in May. We have anytime dining in the main dining room. Are they going to seat us at a large table with other people or do they have two person tables available?

Plenty of two tops and some in good locations. As soon as you board (earlier the better) the ship go to the MDR for Select Dining (I believe deck 4) and look for a table for two in a location you like. Ask the maître d or the hostess/host that will be at the podium for SD and request that table. We request the same table for the entire cruise. I always make reservations in our Cruise Planner before leaving for the cruise. I also let whoever the staff member is at the podium know we have reservations which they always lookup and verify. We always eat early (5:30 or 6:00 seating) and never had to wait. Last cruise early SD started at 5:30. The start time can very from ship to ship.

Edited March 8, 2018 by davekathy

[kevinyork]

We always use Select Dining and a few years ago it worked great, turn up anytime and be seated and never given a pager. However it has got increasingly worse as our cruises have gone on such that we now feel the need to reserve our times as soon as we book the cruise. We really wish we didn’t have to as we would prefer the flexibility that Select should offer and reservations effectively reduce the flexibility for everyone else. That flexibility is also limited where a party request the exact table to be kept for them. IMO they should stop the reservation system so everyone is on a first come first served basis. It doesn’t look like this will ever happen as the new multiple dining rooms on Edge will make people pre-reserve even more.

 

Final note, some of those at the podiums in Select are much better at organising things and pushing staff using their headsets for tables to be cleared for reuse.

 

 

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[Bo1953]

Thank you! Any suggestion for "safe times" to go where the wait won't be as bad?

 

Usually, just usually before 6.30p or after 7.30p, then again it will vary by ship and day as well...

 

My recommendation is to play it by ear, if you have a 'set in stone' time you want to eat by, try to get to the DR about 15 minutes earlier this way if there is a table readily available you win, if not, you still win (unless the wait is over 30 minutes).

 

Just remember that often times the staff cannot control those who really eat leisurely and they want you to have a great dining experience, which you would want to experience for yourself also.

 

If there are times or a situation in which you cannot be flexible about dining times, I recommend that you grab a small snack before going to the DR so you are covered. On our last sailing we had a friend who for medical reasons had to have something in their system by a certain time, so instead of chancing a long wait for our table, they would grab something quick in the OVC to tie them over until we were seated.

 

Enjoy, bon appetite and bon voyage!

[Flafun888]

I never mind the wait...love grabbing a cocktail and just people-watching. Another chance to get my money's worth from the the drink package :)

[Banana15]

I did NOT know I could make reservations. That's awesome! I just found where to do it. Thanks everyone!

[Banana15]

Ok, now let me ask this:

If I make reservations, will it be on OUR time or Caribbean time? You know once your body gets used to eating at a certain time, you can't stray from that. LOL!

[FLOURTOWN]

The best thing is to book 6:00 or 8:30 dinner, no wait & they have your table ready. We did not like waiting with a pager in a crowd & then they rush you to eat to place more people. We eat early at home, but we like to take our time & watch the sunset with a drink. We always book 8:30 dining & then walk around the deck, shows no big deal!

[Driveshaft]

On the Celebrity website you can reserve a time for each night of your cruise for select dining. Go to Manage your cruise and in the Dining section of Cruise Planner for the extra cost restaurants down at the bottom is Select Dining option. pick that and fill it out with night and a time, save and it will look like a bill but no charge and no credit card needed. Do this for all of your nights and you will have a booked time. If you need to change one or more see the Maitre De and schedule a change the night before once on-board.

[micheleata]

We were on the Equinox a few weeks ago and had select dining. We got a table for 2 for lunch twice with no problem. Three times the two of us ate alone for dinner at a two top. Once at 5:30, once at 7:00 and once around 6:30. We didn't have to wait any of those times and there were plenty of open tables available. We were seated by the windows twice for dinner and once in the middle of the room.

 

The tables in this dining room are so close together. We had great conversations with everyone we sat by, you almost had to they were so close!

 

Also 3 nights we were a table of 10, and one night a table of 8, and only waited once for 5 minutes. The times varied, anywhere between 5:30 and 7:30.

 

The Silhouette dining room was so well organized!

[Bo1953]

Ok, now let me ask this:

If I make reservations, will it be on OUR time or Caribbean time? You know once your body gets used to eating at a certain time, you can't stray from that. LOL!

 

Ship time.

 

bon voyage

[Chardonnay Char]

The above poster is right. Many of the tables for two are very close -- within inches -- to similar tables. That can be good or bad, but it is definitely not always private.