They have a "gate" and a seating hostess but the layout of Earth and Ocean on the pool deck with no "barriers" means that everyone seems to turn up and seat themselves, just like they do at lunch. People entering the area from deck 8 cabins, or on the  opposite side of the pool deck to the "gate" take their seats without any apparent intervention by staff. I also really enjoyed Earth and Ocean on my recent Sojourn cruise.  There were a couple of big "misses" like the Peking Duck which was terrib