How to Guarantee your dinner reservation ?

[horseymike]

Just got off the Equinox of a great cruise with one exception.

We had 6:00 pm dining time reserved for 2 for the entire cruise.

After boarding we headed to the dining room to confirm our reservation with the Maitre D , we were informed we had been assigned to a large table

at the 8:30 seating . Needless to say we asked the Maitre D to please help us resolve this situation, his reply was to come every night at 6:15 and he would see what he could do. After 2 nights we were assigned a table for two for the rest of the cruise.

That all said , does anyone know how you can secure your reservation in advance to avoid all this confusion ?

Just a side note , this booking was completed several months prior to sailing.

[DebInAntigua]

Were you "anytime" dining or fixed seating dining?

 

And interesting that they assigned you to a table with strangers. Post-COVID I thought they were avoiding this unless requested, as many people do not want to share tables with others.

[NMTraveller]

How do you get a table for 2 reserved?  Can you do it in the cruise planner?

[bigbenboys]

In the past with anytime dining. I have had our TA make the reservation for us. We had the same table every evening.

[horseymike]

29 minutes ago, DebInAntigua said:

Were you "anytime" dining or fixed seating dining?

 

And interesting that they assigned you to a table with strangers. Post-COVID I thought they were avoiding this unless requested, as many people do not want to share tables with others.

Celebrity Select

[horseymike]

25 minutes ago, NMTraveller said:

How do you get a table for 2 reserved?  Can you do it in the cruise planner?

We reserve the time in Celebrity Select dining for 6:00 pm. Needless to say our cruise booking is for 2 people.

We then usually see the Maitre D once onboard to confirm our reservation, but the last two cruises there has been a big rigamarole getting it squared away. Trying to avoid that going forward.

[horseymike]

20 minutes ago, bigbenboys said:

In the past with anytime dining. I have had our TA make the reservation for us. We had the same table every evening.

Glad that has gone well for you guys , I usually book Our cruises on the X website myself.

[jelayne]

4 minutes ago, horseymike said:

Celebrity Select

Did you make reservations in the Cruise Planner for each night individually?

[horseymike]

25 minutes ago, jelayne said:

Did you make reservations in the Cruise Planner for each night individually?

Yes

[jelayne]

What did they say when you had confirmations for all nights?

it sounds like somehow you got changed from Select to Traditional- Late dining.  
 

[horseymike]

Not quite sure what exactly happened, I do know it was a fully booked cruise .

Perhaps they started moving people around to accommodate everyone, buy I really don’t know.

The Maitre D did not offer any explanation.

[the penguins]

52 minutes ago, horseymike said:

Not quite sure what exactly happened, I do know it was a fully booked cruise .

Perhaps they started moving people around to accommodate everyone, buy I really don’t know.

The Maitre D did not offer any explanation.

I think the issue is more about how Select Dining actually works rather than how passengers assume it works.

You can prebook for a set dining table for individual nights, every night or for any combination.

What is not an option in the reservation systrm is to book a table size. You might assume that as you are booking for 2 you will automatically be allocated a table for 2 but that is not correct. There are nowhere near enough 2 tops to meet every request. The tables aren't allocated at all until the day the ship sails.

If you specifically want a table for 2 (or any other special request) the best bet is to go to the dining room as soon as the Check in staff start work (round about 2.0pm) and ask for their help. You can only do this if you have already pre-booked the time before boarding. We have always found the Check-in staff very helpful and they go out of their way to help. We are always mindful that we do have a right to a specific table size or position and take the "you get more with sugar than with salt" approach.

Once you have been allocated a table if you stick to the same times you will find that you tend to get the same table or at least a table covered by the same waiter each night.

Personally we always share with a table for six being our preferred size.

 

 

[Dar & Bob]

3 hours ago, horseymike said:

Just got off the Equinox of a great cruise with one exception.

We had 6:00 pm dining time reserved for 2 for the entire cruise.

After boarding we headed to the dining room to confirm our reservation with the Maitre D , we were informed we had been assigned to a large table

at the 8:30 seating . Needless to say we asked the Maitre D to please help us resolve this situation, his reply was to come every night at 6:15 and he would see what he could do. After 2 nights we were assigned a table for two for the rest of the cruise.

That all said , does anyone know how you can secure your reservation in advance to avoid all this confusion ?

Just a side note , this booking was completed several months prior to sailing.

So we had a similar situation on the Equinox.  3 couples with our reservations linked in the X system made reservationa for 7 pm for every evening.  We showed up the first evening and we were told no go - take a pager, which we did but they would see what they could do.  Night 2 was the same so when I was coming back to our table, I saw a person I thought to be the maitre 'd - sure enough.  I asked him to speak to my husband.  Basically we were told the same as you.... show up at 6:15 to see what they could arrange for us.  IMO not a good solution.   I sent off a note to the CEO address (after getting no where with anyone else) and was told we should have went to Guest Relations when we were on the ship.  

If they are going to offer reservations, keep them. When someone such as the OP and us make reservations months in advance why ruin their experience by creating an unpleasant situation.  

I am wondering if this is just the Equinox and maybe their maitre 'd 

[CTSandy]

Had a similar experience in March on Equinox with their maitre’d Webster -had an assigned table for early seating for three, got to table and another party was seated there, got sent upstairs to select dining and told we should report there each night.  Came the next night and the hostess questioned why we were there because we had an assigned time and table for traditional dining, but they did seat us in select and told us to go to traditional following.  Went to traditional on third night and were seated at “our” assigned table, we thought the issue was finally resolved.  Next night we arrive and find people seated at our assigned table.  Lots of confusion with waiters, assistant maitre’d finally found a larger table for us and we dined there for the remainder of the cruise.  We arrived at 5:45 each evening, so we were prompt for our reservation.  Not impressed at all by Webster and was surprised as I have sailed on Equinox several times before and never had this issue.  Our waiter said the problem was that there was a large charter on that sailing and there was some confusion.

[horseymike]

Not quite sure what exactly happened, I do know it was a fully booked cruise .

Perhaps they started moving people around to accommodate everyone, buy I really don’t know.

The Maitre D did not offer any explanation.

[horseymike]

I am sorry to hear of similar issues, at least I know I did not mess up the reservation on my end..

[Pinboy]

We always choose " Anytime Dining " when we make the reservation.

As soon as the reservation is confirmed, activate Cruise Planner , then scroll down to Dining Packages and select Complimentary Dining. We are then able to reserve a time for each night of the cruise in the MDR. There is no option to reserve a table for two, or, whatever.

On the first night we arrive on time and request a table for two ( learned that lesson years ago !! We do enjoy chatting with folks nearby , though ) .

Never had a problem getting a table for two and as we left were asked if we would like the same wait staff in the future ( always did ).

I believe they do it for a few reasons :

1--- The Servers get to know your likes/dislikes and makes it a little more personable during the cruise. ( We also enjoy chatting with any Staff member on board--- always nice to show them that we care and appreciate their service ).

2--- Because you have the same folks serving you every night, they are more likely to receive an extra few $$ at the end of the cruise. It's well deserved and appreciated.

( There are always those that use the old " Don't show up for dinner on the last night trick " to avoid giving a few extra $$ to the people that served them all cruise---- One day I'll express my opinion about them ).

 

 

[horseymike]

41 minutes ago, Pinboy said:

We always choose " Anytime Dining " when we make the reservation.

As soon as the reservation is confirmed, activate Cruise Planner , then scroll down to Dining Packages and select Complimentary Dining. We are then able to reserve a time for each night of the cruise in the MDR. There is no option to reserve a table for two, or, whatever.

On the first night we arrive on time and request a table for two ( learned that lesson years ago !! We do enjoy chatting with folks nearby , though ) .

Never had a problem getting a table for two and as we left were asked if we would like the same wait staff in the future ( always did ).

I believe they do it for a few reasons :

1--- The Servers get to know your likes/dislikes and makes it a little more personable during the cruise. ( We also enjoy chatting with any Staff member on board--- always nice to show them that we care and appreciate their service ).

2--- Because you have the same folks serving you every night, they are more likely to receive an extra few $$ at the end of the cruise. It's well deserved and appreciated.

( There are always those that use the old " Don't show up for dinner on the last night trick " to avoid giving a few extra $$ to the people that served them all cruise---- One day I'll express my opinion about them ).

 

 

 

[horseymike]

I totally agree with everything you said. 
 

Thanks

[PacnGoNow]

Our TA shows Open seating WL early.  Is that anytime or TD?  We really want early seating because we have 3 children with us and same wait staff every night due to dietary restrictions.

 

What would be the best way to accomplish this on Celebrity?  Appreciate your advise.  TIA

[prmssk]

We were on the Eclipse last month. When we booked, we selected anytime which is what our invoice said and the app in all the days leading up to the cruise. We made reservations for each night through the cruise planner. When we arrived in our stateroom, we had a card indicating we had late seating and the table number we had been assigned. 
 

We talked to the hostess handling reservations right away and she was able to fix it for us. We had no further issues the rest of the cruise but it was a pain to stand in line on embarkation day to deal with it. 
 

We had something similar happen on the Freedom of the Seas earlier this month.  I’m not sure what happens when the reservations get transferred to the ship just before a sailing. 

[mahasamatman]

On 6/4/2023 at 2:48 PM, Pinboy said:

Because you have the same folks serving you every night, they are more likely to receive an extra few $$ at the end of the cruise. It's well deserved and appreciated.

 

In Luminae, we tend to tip everyone whether they've served us or not. They work as a team and in our view, just because they don't carry the food to you doesn't mean they deserve it any less.

[prmssk]

9 minutes ago, mahasamatman said:

 

In Luminae, we tend to tip everyone whether they've served us or not. They work as a team and in our view, just because they don't carry the food to you doesn't mean they deserve it any less.

That’s not exactly realistic in the MDR.  

[Mark_K]

21 minutes ago, mahasamatman said:

 

In Luminae, we tend to tip everyone whether they've served us or not. They work as a team and in our view, just because they don't carry the food to you doesn't mean they deserve it any less.

Does Celebrity have a crew welfare fund? That would be ideal, you could tip everyone, everywhere all at the same time.

[horseymike]

1 hour ago, prmssk said:

We were on the Eclipse last month. When we booked, we selected anytime which is what our invoice said and the app in all the days leading up to the cruise. We made reservations for each night through the cruise planner. When we arrived in our stateroom, we had a card indicating we had late seating and the table number we had been assigned. 
 

We talked to the hostess handling reservations right away and she was able to fix it for us. We had no further issues the rest of the cruise but it was a pain to stand in line on embarkation day to deal with it. 
 

We had something similar happen on the Freedom of the Seas earlier this month.  I’m not sure what happens when the reservations get transferred to the ship just before a sailing. 

Same thing happened to us on our last 2 X cruises.