Heads Up: the Beyond no longer offers fixed early or late dining

[hcat]

58 minutes ago, NantahalaCruiser said:

Although, it is my understanding that you can order any of the "different items" on all 4 different menus in any of the four restaurants - thus no need to change restaurants other than to see different interior decorations.

Each has a few menu items exclusive to that venue unless that has now changed.   The ambiance, art collections and sizes  vary. Fun to try them all!

[jelayne]

1 hour ago, hcat said:

No res for prefered dining times unless folks were lucky enough to get advance res. I see it as a downgrade . Just Wait on line where you think you can get in..

More Modern Luxury!.  

 

We will be assigned to Luminae but expect it may be crowded as Retreat is sold out for our upcoming sailing.  We may re think Specialty Dining Res for a few nights!

The Retreat was sold out on our recent sailing.  We had a wait with pager on the first night and there was about a 10-15 min wait on the last night.  All the other nights no wait of more than 2-3 minutes.  We went at 8 the  1st  night other nights either 7:45 or after 8:15.

[Mark_T]

34 minutes ago, hcat said:

Each has a few menu items exclusive to that venue unless that has now changed.   The ambiance, art collections and sizes  vary. Fun to try them all!

From the start of the 'E' class it has always been possible to request the speciality items from one of the other dining rooms, so they were never really 'exclusive'...

Edited October 27, 2022 by Mark_T

[hcat]

34 minutes ago, jelayne said:

The Retreat was sold out on our recent sailing.  We had a wait with pager on the first night and there was about a 10-15 min wait on the last night.  All the other nights no wait of more than 2-3 minutes.  We went at 8 the  1st  night other nights either 7:45 or after 8:15.

We  like an earlier time..hope not a long wait and not too crowded..never had a beeper on  a ship!  

 

Tried to make res at the outdoor venue and Bistro Cafe..not able to right now

We did not care for EDEN menu and Fine Cut was a bit too pricey.   I am sure things will work out ok once we are on board 

 

Learning so much from the  live threads..thank you

[dlh015]

NEVER MIND...you made it quite clear in other threads....

 

But again, thanks for the heads-up...

Edited October 27, 2022 by dlh015

[Lena11033]

When I was on in the summer there were two lines at MDR, those who had reservations and those without. The capacity was pretty full and only one night did I have issues with service.

I don't think I ever saw anyone really come for the 'early' seating it seemed everyone selected when they wanted to come, otherwise there would have been a rush of people at a certain time and there really wasn't.

 

Most nights I went to the same restaurant mostly earlier and I was seated pretty much at the same table each night unless I went a little later and someone else had the table but always had the same waiter who remembered me and my food intolerance. 

[Harrisonkid]

I did go to the app to try and secure a reservation ( we do have a Set Early seating) change ..but the App won't allow me in and still shows Early seating ..

[davekathy]

2 hours ago, Harrisonkid said:

I did go to the app to try and secure a reservation ( we do have a Set Early seating) change ..but the App won't allow me in and still shows Early seating ..

You or your TA if booked that way will need to call Celebrity and request your dining preference be changed. You can't change it yourself. 

[Bo1953]

For those of us who have 'severe' allergies or specific dietary 'desires/needs' or just prefer the same wait/serving staff we like, we can always let the hostess/host know the desire to sit at the same 'station' that appeals to us.

 

On our last Summit sailing, even though, once, we were sat in an adjacent section from our original wait/serving group the group who was to serve us allowed the original ones to take care of us, including the beverage person and sommelier.

 

So, essentially, it will not be a problem just let the hostess/host know where and whom you prefer to be with (for whatever reason) and they will make it happen... especially if you eat around the same time each night they will know to expect you and try to save a table for your immediate use.

 

bon appetit and bon voyage

[Harrisonkid]

I just want to say thanks to everyone. We Board in a few weeks (with a set dinning time) and finding out about this change (pre board) will make day one much less confusing . Now we can put a plan in place to take care of our 'duties'..board ...bar...clear up dinner issues ...muster ..back to bar...Thanks Again , this is by far the best (site) group of people going!!!

[rvlandandsea]

14 hours ago, SusieV said:

GIven that my family has life threatening allergies... now I'm wondering if it's safe for us to sail E Class at all. Having the same waitstaff be familiar with allergies makes our life much less stressful and having to explain them to everyone each day would detract significantly from our enjoyment of the cruise.

My suggestion would be to reserve anytime dining at the same restaurant, at the same time every night. Then speak to the maître D and request the same wait staff. That maître D could also make your other arrangements. If anytime isn’t available on line, give Celebrity a call and explain your situation. I believe they have an accommodation representative. 
 

[goofysmom99]

15 hours ago, SusieV said:

GIven that my family has life threatening allergies... now I'm wondering if it's safe for us to sail E Class at all. Having the same waitstaff be familiar with allergies makes our life much less stressful and having to explain them to everyone each day would detract significantly from our enjoyment of the cruise.

I have significant food allergies and the maitre d' personally ensures I have the same wait staff every evening.  They prefer it that way, too.  Fewer chances for errors.  And I agree that having to talk about your allergies only once makes for a much better cruise experience.  

[gerelmx]

My reservation still says traditional dinner at 6 PM

[kwokpot]

1 hour ago, gerelmx said:

My reservation still says traditional dinner at 6 PM

It doesn't matter what your reservation says, it said that for everyone that chose it pre cruise. But at least on the Beyond that option no longer exists. 

Edited October 29, 2022 by kwokpot

[Harrisonkid]

So, I'm guessing you now show up at any restaurant you want to enjoy that evening ....stand in line and plan to wait until they can seat you ?

[dadofjessie]

On 10/27/2022 at 10:37 AM, kwokpot said:

Just a heads up. I'm currently on the Beyond and the latest E-class ship no longer offers fixed early or late dining for dinner. REGARDLESS of what you choose when you book your cruise on the Beyond the four main dining rooms are TOTALLY OPEN SEATING. YOU WILL NOT BE ASSIGNED A WHOLE CRUISE TABLE.

My parents had their TA give them Early Dining. Having previously sailed on the Edge and Apex, we knew that there would be a card in the cabin assigning them to a dining room. There was no card which we thought was an oversight. They went to one of the dining rooms to find out which one they were assigned to. That's when they were told of the change on the Beyond vs Edge and Apex. We just confirmed the change this morning to confirm what my parents were told. 

For anyone sailing on the Beyond REGARDLESS of what you think you chose for dinner it would behoove you to make reservations ahead of your cruise.

 

There was very, very poor communication of this policy change and it will result in many upset customers. 

Interesting about this "change" because they are still offering early or late dining options on the website when booking a cruise. What gives?

[kwokpot]

Just now, dadofjessie said:

Interesting about this "change" because they are still offering early or late dining options on the website when booking a cruise. What gives?

It was explained that currently the website isn't setup for the Beyond's different dining set up from the rest of the fleet. 

[taylortime05]

On 10/27/2022 at 2:59 PM, kwokpot said:

The issue is that they only allocate 40% of capacity to precruise reservations. If the times you want are all booked up then you have no choice but to walk-up. 

I selected fixed early dining time for our Dec 11th Beyond sailing.  I just checked the 4 complimentary restaurants for our cruise and the only time available is 9:00 PM.  We do not eat dinner that late.  It’s frustrating. 

[dadofjessie]

2 hours ago, taylortime05 said:

I selected fixed early dining time for our Dec 11th Beyond sailing.  I just checked the 4 complimentary restaurants for our cruise and the only time available is 9:00 PM.  We do not eat dinner that late.  It’s frustrating. 

Agreed, this is very upsetting to me.  I am currently on hold to speak with Celebrity customer service to find out what is happening.

[kwokpot]

46 minutes ago, dadofjessie said:

Agreed, this is very upsetting to me.  I am currently on hold to speak with Celebrity customer service to find out what is happening.

I've explained what's been happening. You don't believe me? 

[kwokpot]

On 10/30/2022 at 3:17 PM, Harrisonkid said:

So, I'm guessing you now show up at any restaurant you want to enjoy that evening ....stand in line and plan to wait until they can seat you ?

Yes, unless you can get pre-cruise reservations at the time that you want. Otherwise you just go when you want to dine, and find out if they can seat you right away, or else have to wait a bit and receive a buzzer. As I said earlier though pre-cruise reservations are only 40% of the capacity at each reservation timeframe, so just because you can't get pre-cruise reservations at the time you want doesn't necessarily mean you won't be accommodated when you walk up at a given time.  

[RichYak]

57 minutes ago, dadofjessie said:

I am currently on hold to speak with Celebrity customer service to find out what is happening.

This entire thread details what is happening and in all likelihood has more current information than any customer service rep you speak to. Why waste your and their time?

[edgee]

In all the years AQ class and BLU have existed, Celebrity has shown a designated early dining time on my reservation when in AQ class even though BLU has a no reservation first come first served policy.. So folks new to dining in BLU were often confused. If in 10+ years Celebrity has not straightened out this issue for BLU diners on all if their ships, I doubt they will clarify this issue which currently affects just one ship anytime soon.

[bethtex]

my parents were just on Beyond and were telling me about this

we are doing TA on Edge in April and are going to get reservations for each night ahead of time - booking most nights in one restaurant and one night in each of the 3 others.  So most nights we can have our same waitstaff (which we prefer)

Also like to have "shared tables" so we can meet new people.  14 nights of just us is too much togetherness!  We will ask each night for a larger table and ask that anyone who asks for a shared table be seated with us.

I really don't like this open seating concept.

[NutsAboutGolf]

3 hours ago, dadofjessie said:

Agreed, this is very upsetting to me.  I am currently on hold to speak with Celebrity customer service to find out what is happening.

 

I would be surprised if shoreside even knows about this