Having Anxiety over Main Dining on Apex

[ritraveler]

This is my first cruise on an E Class ship..usually stay in Aqua Class,  but for this cruise I booked a sunset veranda because I wanted an actual balcony and am finding I’m getting a lot of conflicting information regarding the Main Dining reservation situation.. my cruise is in September and in my reservation it says I have early 6 pm dining but many people on these boards are saying that won’t  really apply on Apex. On the app the reservation button is grayed out and on the website the main dining rooms mostly say sold out .. also if menus for my cruise aren’t showing yet how can you pick a restaurant or can all dishes served at the different main dining venues be ordered wherever you are eating.. sorry for the long winded post but I’m getting a little frustrated 

[PTC DAWG]

You’ll be fine once on board..they’ll feed you, I promise. 

[Arubamoose]

There are four main dining rooms on the Apex.  They each have their own small special menu that is set by venue.  They also have the main menu that each of the four dining rooms share that will rotate daily...much like the normal single main dining room's menu.  Then they also have the everyday menu. 

 

We made reservations ahead of time but decided that we really didn't care for one of them.  We were easily able to show up for an alternate venue and got a table.

[Julma]

Just off the Apex TA with an almost full ship.  We never had an issue walking up to the dining room we wanted to eat at that night and getting seated right away (usually between 630-7).  Each of the 4 main dining rooms will have their speciality items that will be same every night.  The daily Celebrity menu will change nightly and those items will be on each of the 4 menus. We were also told that you could choose from any of the other restaurant's specialty items and they would be brought to you.  It sounds far more complicated than it is.  Most of the food was very good to excellent.  

[hcat]

are the E Class mdrs no longer taking res? 

 

we prefer the two smaller venues , dine early, and have always veen able to pre-book.

 

sounds like there may have been a change???

[hrhdhd]

5 minutes ago, hcat said:

are the E Class mdrs no longer taking res? 

 

we prefer the two smaller venues , dine early, and have always veen able to pre-book.

 

sounds like there may have been a change???

There is no fixed seating (e.g., 6 and 8 p.m.) on the Edge-class ships.

 

The menus on the app will be (more) accurate when you're on the ship. Look at the menus, choose a MDR for the evening, and present yourself to be seated. You'll be seated, although there may be a short wait.

[BEAV]

After sailing E-Class I came to the conclusion stressing about the lack of reservations is a waste of time and undue anxiety. Just my own personal experience... 

 

After trying all four, we gravitated to Tuscan solely because it suited our taste in decor! As mentioned in another post, you can arrange for anything served in any of the four dining rooms. Again, speaking from personal experience.

 

Like the old stage play, “much ado about nothing”! 

[hcat]

6 minutes ago, hrhdhd said:

There is no fixed seating (e.g., 6 and 8 p.m.) on the Edge-class ships.

 

The menus on the app will be (more) accurate when you're on the ship. Look at the menus, choose a MDR for the evening, and present yourself to be seated. You'll be seated, although there may be a short wait.

we do not use the app at all..does not work with our devices..and would be  a distraction...

 

we are aware there seems to be  no   fixed seating times, altho there was such an option previously..Folks had the same time and venue each night.

 

On our  Edge cruises, and  on Beyond more recently,  we  made  pre res online  at our favored venues..  and never had to wait.

 

.  It shoud not operate like a drop-in food court...It is our preference to have certainty and no lines!

[davekathy]

7 minutes ago, hcat said:

we do not use the app at all..does not work with our devices..and would be  a distraction...

 

we are aware there seems to be  no   fixed seating times, altho there was such an option previously..Folks had the same time and venue each night.

 

On our  Edge cruises, and  on Beyond more recently,  we  made  pre res online  at our favored venues..  and never had to wait.

 

.  It shoud not operate like a drop-in food court...It is our preference to have certainty and no lines!

For our March Apex cruise I pre-book our dining. Once onboard we were advised our 6 PM reservations made in the CP weren't being accepted. We were told if we arrived NLT 6 PM we would be seated at our requested table (selected when we first boarded) and time. 

[ritraveler]

Thank you I think I feel better.. just wondering if you feel like you lose the personalized service you get by having the same waiters each night…especially if you have special requests or food intolerances .. 

[jwlane]

Calm down.  Go to the dining room you want when you want and they will feed you.

[BEAV]

1 hour ago, ritraveler said:

Thank you I think I feel better.. just wondering if you feel like you lose the personalized service you get by having the same waiters each night…especially if you have special requests or food intolerances .. 

 

Our personal experience on Edge was that the host(s) would routinely seat us with the same team. It definitely didn’t feel like each night was the “first day of school” repeatedly. 

[Tierun]

1 hour ago, ritraveler said:

Thank you I think I feel better.. just wondering if you feel like you lose the personalized service you get by having the same waiters each night…especially if you have special requests or food intolerances .. 

you could go to the same dining room each night to get the same wait staff 

[CHEZMARYLOU]

Nothing to stress about.  Just go with the flow and enjoy your cruise. Personally, I never saw the point in booking select dining then trying to book reservations each night. The whole point of select dining is to go when you want. If you have to wait 20 minutes go and have a drink and enjoy yourself. Or, go 20 minutes earlier the next day.

[hcat]

we like the same time..good for blood sugar plan.  Prefer Tuscan and Cyprus.. smaller and more cozy. .

 

but without a res  we had a nice corner spot in Cosmopolitan  on last day of cruise..beautiful decor, few other diners and great service and food!

 

always a way to avoid lines and beepers!

[Bo1953]

18 hours ago, ritraveler said:

Thank you I think I feel better.. just wondering if you feel like you lose the personalized service you get by having the same waiters each night…especially if you have special requests or food intolerances .. 

To be sure, we have never found the dining venues to lack 'personalized service' no matter where or with whom we sat each evening. Although, we were sat with the same crew consistently.

 

It may be ones' own comfort level in knowing the staff who will take care of you nightly, but not to worry, if they are near to your table they will pass on the word in addition to your requests...

 

How do I know? On our Alaskan sailing a few years back, one of the servers told me that I was known as the "free style vegan" so every one knew not to ask what I wanted for the next night's dinner... LOL Something different from that and the previous evening, Chef's choice...

 

Once you let the Maître d' know, they will pass on your requirements and needs, BUT it does not hurt to let them know at table side... if a different set of servers in your section.

 

Additionally, you will have the opportunity to see the next evening's menu so you can select your desired meal in advance and customize it, which should follow you to which ever dining venue you happen to be sitting in...

 

bon appetit and bon voyage

[lostchild]

I am actually very excited about this anytime dining.   I really dislike set timing for dining.   6pm is too early and 9pm is too late.   This is great, we eat when we want to eat!   I don't mind if we have to wait a bit as we wait everywhere else including Disneyland dining LOL.    

[GMaCarolK]

We never waited more than about 15 minutes to be seated. You can order from any of the MDR menus, including the one for children. The 4 ounce filet mignon was delicious and a perfect size. Consider skipping desert in the dining room and take advantage of the variety at the buffet. Great bread pudding!

[C4HCG]

On 6/2/2023 at 5:20 PM, lostchild said:

I am actually very excited about this anytime dining.   I really dislike set timing for dining.   6pm is too early and 9pm is too late.   This is great, we eat when we want to eat!   I don't mind if we have to wait a bit as we wait everywhere else including Disneyland dining LOL.    

And have a drink as you wait.  

[montythecat]

Our experience on Apex in January was to turn up any time. A table

for two is generally our preference and there was never a problem

during the whole two weeks and if we had a friend with us some

evenings a table for three was always available. My only advice is

to avoid coinciding with the end of the first performance in the theatre

when there will inevitably be the greatest demand for tables in the

MDRs.