Late booking on Beyond, Select Dining Advance Reservations all taken?

[kwokpot]

I have recently assisted my parents with booking an Inside cabin on the 10/26 sailing on the Beyond (We're on the cruise in Aquaclass).They were assigned Early dining and waitlisted on Select. A few days later they were granted Select Anytime, so I hurriedly tried to make reservations for them. I guess there was a reason for Select Anytime not being available right away; the earliest advanced reservations in any of the four dining rooms is 9:00pm!!!

Before I speak with my parents about possibly changing back to Fixed Early dining,can anyone currently or recently on the Beyond and had Select anytime without reservations comment on the how difficult it is to get a table for two at a reasonable hour? Any insight would be helpful in deciding what's best for my parents (Ages 93 & 84). Thanks in advance!

[AnnemarieC76]

Following this!  We are anytime dining on the 11/27 and I cant get any reservations before 9pm

[Guppy99]

doesn't anytime dining mean "anytime"? You may have to wait but you can go anytime? I thought that was the case. Is that incorrect?

[Jeremiah1212]

I was last on a European sailing so people tend to eat later, but as long as you didn't show up at 7:30, one of the dining rooms could seat you. The maître d' at one restaurant can check the others to see if there is a wait. If a set time with no wait is really important I would just opt for the early seating. 

[jelayne]

20 minutes ago, Guppy99 said:

doesn't anytime dining mean "anytime"? You may have to wait but you can go anytime? I thought that was the case. Is that incorrect?

Yes you can go anytime.  You may go anytime and get seated quickly or you could go have be given a beeper and have a 30 minute +/- wait.  Making reservations minimizes any wait.

[Guppy99]

16 minutes ago, jelayne said:

Yes you can go anytime.  You may go anytime and get seated quickly or you could go have be given a beeper and have a 30 minute +/- wait.  Making reservations minimizes any wait.

That's what I thought. 

[Homosassa]

Reservations may not be available in Select Dining at what might be determined to be peak times in the MDR.

[LGW59]

18 hours ago, jelayne said:

Yes you can go anytime.  You may go anytime and get seated quickly or you could go have be given a beeper and have a 30 minute +/- wait.  Making reservations minimizes any wait.

Indeed it does, hopefully he can get it accomplished for his parents.  After all they are 93 & 84 YO, so I would expect the OP is trying to minimize and pre-arrange as much convenience as possible for his parents.  If not able to get it resolved pre-cruise, I'd be making a beeline to one of the restaurants once on board, I'd be very surprised if they did not accommodate once they know the situation.

[upwarduk]

58 minutes ago, Homosassa said:

Reservations may not be available in Select Dining at what might be determined to be peak times in the MDR.

I pre booked our seating on Silhouette for 7pm each night , in December for our August cruise. cruise.

When we arrived on embarkation day, there was a card in the room informing us that 7 pm was the most popular time, so to arrive at a different time if possible. 

We therefore went at 6.30 pm and the dining rooom was pretty full, but we were seated in the same area each evening ( same wait staff).

[kwokpot]

OP here. as a thread follow-up we had my parent's put back on Early Set Dining so they wouldn't have to contend with the possibility of getting a buzzer every night and not knowing exactly what time they would be having dinner. 6:00pm isn't too early for them. Based on postings here about current staff shortages on the Beyond and wait times with Select Anytime Dining we definitely made the prudent choice for my parents. Thanks for everyone's input on this. We'll see how it goes in less than two weeks!

[jelayne]

Probably a good decision.  We met a couple in the Martini Bar last night whose wait for a table in Normandy was just about 1 hour.    They arrived just before 7.  The  the crew shortages will improve as they are most noticeable in the dining venues.  

[mauimary]

We were on the Beyond in July. Several nights we had no dining room reservations so we just showed up early by apx 6p and walked right in and we’re seated at a lovely table by the window. Since the Beyond has four dining rooms you can move among them. Each one has their own menu.  Some selections are common to all four. We found ourselves going back and forth between Tuscan Restaurant and Normandie Restaurant. 

[JFontaine]

I live in NYC and would never think of making a reservation for dinner before 8 pm.  Earlier, I thought, was family hour.   A few weeks ago The New York Times had an article which said, basically,  6 pm dining is now the hot time to dine, for a variety of reasons (people realize a heavy meal right before bed is not a good idea, working from home makes them ready to go out earlier), and the hardest reservations to get at the top restaurants!  Please tell your parents that they are "in", and I wish them the best cruise. 

Edited October 16, 2022 by JFontaine

[hcat]

18 hours ago, kwokpot said:

OP here. as a thread follow-up we had my parent's put back on Early Set Dining so they wouldn't have to contend with the possibility of getting a buzzer every night and not knowing exactly what time they would be having dinner. 6:00pm isn't too early for them. Based on postings here about current staff shortages on the Beyond and wait times with Select Anytime Dining we definitely made the prudent choice for my parents. Thanks for everyone's input on this. We'll see how it goes in less than two weeks!

Good choice .Certainty is  good and 6 pm is a decent time, but they will probably be assigned to the same dining rm each night..and probably at a long  table masquerading as twos in a long row....Menus are flexible among the diff dining rms so not that a big issue.

From our EDGE experience , once settled in, their maitre d  can help them try  some of the others,  we prefer the 2 smaller venues Tuscan and the Greek. And they can ask for a diff table if they are confined to the long row of twos in their assigned mdr

[Ggrun5673]

We just signed up to cruise on the Silhouette Nov. 7th and the only dining time left is 8:30, which is too late for us, so we plan to eat meals in the buffet. My question is, can I get salmon, shrimp, and other seafood at the buffet? Also, can my husband get a thick steak at the buffet? We ate many meals in the buffet 3 years ago, but I really can’t remember. (I watched a Utube video that showed seafood in the newer Celebrity ships dinner buffets, but didn’t know if Solstice ships were the same) Thanks!

Edited October 16, 2022 by Ggrun5673

[Dancing Shoes]

Not the Silhouette, but on the Mille I did not see a nice thick steak. They had fish and we did not see shrimp.  Can you select anytime dining and show up around 5:30? 

[neverlaysup]

On 9/17/2022 at 9:22 AM, kwokpot said:

I have recently assisted my parents with booking an Inside cabin on the 10/26 sailing on the Beyond (We're on the cruise in Aquaclass).They were assigned Early dining and waitlisted on Select. A few days later they were granted Select Anytime, so I hurriedly tried to make reservations for them. I guess there was a reason for Select Anytime not being available right away; the earliest advanced reservations in any of the four dining rooms is 9:00pm!!!

Before I speak with my parents about possibly changing back to Fixed Early dining,can anyone currently or recently on the Beyond and had Select anytime without reservations comment on the how difficult it is to get a table for two at a reasonable hour? Any insight would be helpful in deciding what's best for my parents (Ages 93 & 84). Thanks in advance!

If you are trying to dine with them, just link the accounts and they should seat you together. Otherwise, stop by the Dining Room when you board to accomplish this.

[mfs2k]

15 hours ago, Ggrun5673 said:

 

We just signed up to cruise on the Silhouette Nov. 7th and the only dining time left is 8:30, which is too late for us, so we plan to eat meals in the buffet.

 

No interest in changing your dining time when you get onboard ?

[hcat]

15 hours ago, Ggrun5673 said:

We just signed up to cruise on the Silhouette Nov. 7th and the only dining time left is 8:30, which is too late for us, so we plan to eat meals in the buffet. My question is, can I get salmon, shrimp, and other seafood at the buffet? Also, can my husband get a thick steak at the buffet? We ate many meals in the buffet 3 years ago, but I really can’t remember. (I watched a Utube video that showed seafood in the newer Celebrity ships dinner buffets, but didn’t know if Solstice ships were the same) Thanks!

You can probably get res or walk in dining once on board...speak to maitre d as soon as you board