Celebrity Beyond Main Dining

[Bamlin]

I have cruised celebrity several times but never on the edge class. Generally choose early dining. Since the Beyond has 4 main dining rooms, if I choose early seating am I locked into the one dining room or can I switch to the other ones on different nights. Would it be better to go with anytime dining? Any help would be appreciated.

[Susanb10567]

I  have not sailed the Beyond yet but many have reported there is no early and late seatings in the MDR, it is all anytime.

[terrydtx]

17 minutes ago, Susanb10567 said:

I  have not sailed the Beyond yet but many have reported there is no early and late seatings in the MDR, it is all anytime.

That is also my understanding, along with many other changes this year, the Edge class ships no longer have traditional early and late dining, it is now all anytime or select. The confusion is from people who booked before the changes and elected to book traditional early or late dining, but now when boarding they find out all is now select.

[jwlane]

Go to the one you want.  They'll feed you.

[kands6191]

You can make a reservation for the 4 MDR's pre-cruise. That should help you get the dining time you prefer.

[momofmab]

There was no set early or late dining times when we were on in early January (despite having to choose one or the other when we originally booked).  Unless you like dining after 8pm, I would advise making reservations before you board.  Otherwise, there may be a wait if you go during the popular dinner hours.  And yes, you can pick whatever one you want for dinner.  

[jelayne]

If you go to make a reservation and the only available time is 8:30 don’t worry.  They only take reservations for less than half the tables leaving tables for those without reservations. 
 

We were on the Beyond just before that change to all anytime dining and there were waits of up to 1 hr.  The change seems to have fixed that and most are reporting 0- less than 10 min wait to be seated.

[Spif Barwunkel]

We booked a cruise on the Ascent 4 days ago for December 2023. We had the choice of select, early or late dining. We chose early, 6:00pm, and that shows on our invoice. I am going to assume that will be our assigned time in whatever dining venue we are given. The only time that would not apply would be when we want to eat at one of the three other MDR's. Our 6:00pm assigned dining time would not necessarily be available for other venues.

[RichYak]

7 minutes ago, Spif Barwunkel said:

We booked a cruise on the Ascent 4 days ago for December 2023. We had the choice of select, early or late dining. We chose early, 6:00pm, and that shows on our invoice. I am going to assume that will be our assigned time in whatever dining venue we are given. The only time that would not apply would be when we want to eat at one of the three other MDR's. Our 6:00pm assigned dining time would not necessarily be available for other venues.

Assuming Ascent works the same as the other E-class ships, you have anytime dining. The 6pm that you chose and shows on your invoice is meaningless. Everyone gets anytime dining regardless of their booking.

[Spif Barwunkel]

12 minutes ago, RichYak said:

Assuming Ascent works the same as the other E-class ships, you have anytime dining. The 6pm that you chose and shows on your invoice is meaningless. Everyone gets anytime dining regardless of their booking.

Thank you. I saw that mentioned in post #6. If that indeed remains the case, how far in advance can you make the reservations?  

[RichYak]

1 hour ago, Spif Barwunkel said:

Thank you. I saw that mentioned in post #6. If that indeed remains the case, how far in advance can you make the reservations?  

I would think you can make reservations as soon as you are booked.

[Bamlin]

21 hours ago, kands6191 said:

You can make a reservation for the 4 MDR's pre-cruise. That should help you get the dining time you prefer.

Thanks, do you make reservations pre cruise through the celebrity app on phone?

[Bamlin]

21 hours ago, momofmab said:

There was no set early or late dining times when we were on in early January (despite having to choose one or the other when we originally booked).  Unless you like dining after 8pm, I would advise making reservations before you board.  Otherwise, there may be a wait if you go during the popular dinner hours.  And yes, you can pick whatever one you want for dinner.  

Do you make precruise reservations through the app and how long before pre cruise can you make reservations?

[Bamlin]

21 hours ago, kands6191 said:

You can make a reservation for the 4 MDR's pre-cruise. That should help you get the dining time you prefer.

Are reservations made through Celebrity App pre cruise and do you know how ling prior to cruise to make reservations? Thanks

[terrydtx]

7 minutes ago, Bamlin said:

Are reservations made through Celebrity App pre cruise and do you know how ling prior to cruise to make reservations? Thanks

Yes they are made through the app, at least that is how it is supposed to work, but with the app who knows. 

[momofmab]

58 minutes ago, Bamlin said:

Do you make precruise reservations through the app and how long before pre cruise can you make reservations?

 

I made them via my account on the X website.  When you click on the "Dining" options, you should be able to access the main dining rooms.  I want to say it was 2-3 months before?  I only knew about it because someone on CC mentioned that they were no longer doing the early/late dinner seatings.  

[kands6191]

1 hour ago, Bamlin said:

Are reservations made through Celebrity App pre cruise and do you know how ling prior to cruise to make reservations? Thanks

For the 1/15/23 Beyond cruise I just took, we made our reservations on Sept 12 through the X website.  It shows a $0 charge.

[cocobakerchica]

On 1/29/2023 at 8:05 AM, Bamlin said:

I have cruised celebrity several times but never on the edge class. Generally choose early dining. Since the Beyond has 4 main dining rooms, if I choose early seating am I locked into the one dining room or can I switch to the other ones on different nights. Would it be better to go with anytime dining? Any help would be appreciated.

I was on the Beyond back in October/November(first time sailing Edge class), and there's only Anytime dining onboard. You'll book your times for any of the four dining rooms of choice for each evening, you're not locked into any specific one venue.

[StellaTN]

A lot of people here and on FB seem to be very worried about reserving a time for dinner on Beyond. I did some research and math to help illustrate the actual situation with the 4 dining rooms:

 

So the Beyond holds 3,260 passengers at full capacity.

The four MDRs hold a total of 1,378 people (I added these up based on Celebrity's info they provide).

With 2 seatings, that's 2,756 people who could eat dinner in the MDRs in a night. 

 

3260 pax at full capacity - 2,756 max in MDRs = 504 left who would have to be eating in Luminae, Blu, OVC or a specialty restaurant. I think the reality is way more than 504 choose those options in a night. And, on top of that, most ships have not been sailing at max capacity unless it is a holiday or special sailing.

 

So all that to say, scarcity of seats should NEVER be a problem in the MDRs, unless everyone chooses to eat at 6p, which is just not the case. People's preference for dinner times are staggered enough that this is a non-issue, which is I'm sure what the data has shown for X and why they are making changes - to allow people to have one less thing to worry about (i.e. dinner reservations) - and to just enjoy the beautiful ship 🙂

 

Its really ok to not have a reservation 🙂

Edited January 30, 2023 by StellaTN

[RichYak]

10 minutes ago, StellaTN said:

So all that to say, scarcity of seats should NEVER be a problem in the MDRs

I appreciate all the math, but IMO seats aren't really the problem--it's staffing. On ships/sailings where there is sufficient (and sufficiently trained) staff, there are probably no issues. Itinerary could be another problem. A 6:30 sail away from wherever is going to create a backlog at 7pm. It's unavoidable.

[TripLLLe]

Just off the Beyond yesterday. We experienced a line of no more than 2 minutes each night at Blu between 5:30-7, and no line at all when trying out Cyprus around 7 one night. We were assigned to a 6:00 dinner in Blu, but received a card on Day 1 asking us to come between 5-5:30 on just that one night to ensure smooth service. There was never a problem showing up at any time to dinner.

[Spif Barwunkel]

This per Celebrity, right now. E-class ships are currently using early, late and select dining policy. On my Ascent cruise in 12/2023 I will dine at 6:00pm as booked in an MDR yet to be determined. A long time until then, means I do not have a warm tummy feeling about no further changes.

Edited January 30, 2023 by Spif Barwunkel

[pyurxdc]

I originally made my mdr reservations at each of the four to try them out, but not all had my chosen time of 6pm, but later ones so I selected them.

I checked availability a week later and found that the 6pm’s were now available and switched them. You must first cancel your first one and then you can reserve the new time.

You, of course, can stop in anytime at your discretion and most likely can be seated within minutes.

[kwokpot]

9 hours ago, TripLLLe said:

Just off the Beyond yesterday. We experienced a line of no more than 2 minutes each night at Blu between 5:30-7, and no line at all when trying out Cyprus around 7 one night. We were assigned to a 6:00 dinner in Blu, but received a card on Day 1 asking us to come between 5-5:30 on just that one night to ensure smooth service. There was never a problem showing up at any time to dinner.

I'm unclear by your statement of being assigned a 6pm dinner at Blu. There's no assigned dining times at Blu. And for the record, I was in Aquaclass on the Beyond in the October 26th sailing. So I'm not quite sure what you're referring to in your post can you elaborate? 

[kwokpot]

8 hours ago, Spif Barwunkel said:

This per Celebrity, right now. E-class ships are currently using early, late and select dining policy. On my Ascent cruise in 12/2023 I will dine at 6:00pm as booked in an MDR yet to be determined. A long time until then, means I do not have a warm tummy feeling about no further changes.

Incorrect, it's already been established with many posts that the E-Class ships are all anytime dining.