Anytime Dining

[jonkel3]

We are an elderly couple who have just booked our 1st cruise with Celebrity cruises on Celebrity Constellation. As the two main dinner sittings were booked out we have been given "Anytime Dining". Does this mean that we will not have access to either of the main dining rooms(except for breakfast) for the duration of the cruise and must all our dinner meals be in the buffet(except of course for the speciality restaurants which we have to pay extra for)? Any help in this matter would be much appreciated. 

[Host Kat]

8 minutes ago, jonkel3 said:

We are an elderly couple who have just booked our 1st cruise with Celebrity cruises on Celebrity Constellation. As the two main dinner sittings were booked out we have been given "Anytime Dining". Does this mean that we will not have access to either of the main dining rooms(except for breakfast) for the duration of the cruise and must all our dinner meals be in the buffet(except of course for the speciality restaurants which we have to pay extra for)? Any help in this matter would be much appreciated. 

 

Hello @jonkel3 and welcome to the Cruise Critic message boards!

 

Thank you for your new topic on the Ask a Cruise Question forum! However, it is the forum for general questions regarding cruising. Your inquiry concerns a specific cruise line and is off topic there.

 

To help you out I have moved your new topic to the Celebrity Cruises forum where it will be on topic. The majority of your fellow Cruise Critic members that have sailed Celebrity frequent this forum and provide feedback here. Browse through the thread titles on this forum looking for threads of interest. You will probably find your fellow Cruise Critic members have already posted questions and received answers that may be of interest to you.

 

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Host Kat

[cruisestitch]

2 hours ago, jonkel3 said:

We are an elderly couple who have just booked our 1st cruise with Celebrity cruises on Celebrity Constellation. As the two main dinner sittings were booked out we have been given "Anytime Dining". Does this mean that we will not have access to either of the main dining rooms(except for breakfast) for the duration of the cruise and must all our dinner meals be in the buffet(except of course for the speciality restaurants which we have to pay extra for)? Any help in this matter would be much appreciated. 

No it does not mean that you will only have the buffet or specialties.  One or more of the Main Dining rooms is set aside for the anytime dining option.

[jonkel3]

Very many thanks. Has put my mind at ease.

[Ex-Airbalancer]

Anytime or Select dinning is you can eat dinner in the main dining room anytime you want 

Usually you do not have wait unless you do at the busiest time just like any restaurant 

 

[lydnsyd]

If you prefer Early /Late Fixed seating in MDR - you can ask to change once you are onboard. If there is space they will arrange that for you.

We opted for the anytime dining on our last 2 cruises - both were a full capacity cruise & 9 out of 10 times when we went for dinner we were given a pager which alerts you when there is a table available. In the end we got fed up of the pager system and asked to be moved to a Table for 2 on Fixed seating. You are allocated the same table each night which suited us.

I know some people like Anytime but it's just not for us.

[horseymike]

53 minutes ago, jonkel3 said:

We are an elderly couple who have just booked our 1st cruise with Celebrity cruises on Celebrity Constellation. As the two main dinner sittings were booked out we have been given "Anytime Dining". Does this mean that we will not have access to either of the main dining rooms(except for breakfast) for the duration of the cruise and must all our dinner meals be in the buffet(except of course for the speciality restaurants which we have to pay extra for)? Any help in this matter would be much appreciated. 

Go to the either of the main dining rooms once you are onboard and speak to the Maitre D.

Hopefully they will be able to accommodate your request.

I hope you have a great cruise 🚢.

[Random Cruizer]

Breakfast is free for all in the MDR, and it's the only place with the strawberries and blueberries--almost all melon for fruit at the buffet.

[prmssk]

If you like to eat at the same time every day, you can make reservations in the main dining room for each night at that time using either the app or the website.  It's not required but it can be helpful at certain times of the evening when it gets busy.  

 

(And even if you set up nightly reservations before your cruise, you can still go to the main dining room on day one and see if there is room in early or late dining.)

[Barsnikel]

Jonekl3... just to add what others have already said....

 

Dinner service in the Main Dining Room has 3 types of seating : Early (ie: 6PM), Late (ie: 8PM) and Anytime Dining. You select which you want at the time you book your cruise. There are advantages and disadvantages to all three, depending upon your needs.   You need not worry about missing shows, as most show times are staggered and repeated so that all passengers have an opportunity to see them, regardless of dinner service. For families with kids, Early Seating is often the right choice, as kids tend to want to eat early. However, on port days, this may mean you have to rush back to the ship in order to change and get to the MDR on time. Late seating is often the choice of those without kids, and means you are not rushing back to the ship – but you eat late. And Anytime Dining is just that – you are seated anytime you wish while the MDR is open for service. Early and Late seating are assigned seating and assigned tables. This means you will eat with other passengers (and the same passengers) each night. It is a great way to meet others on the cruise, and life-long friendships have been made this way.

 

 

Conversely, you may also be seated the entire cruise with people you don’t particularly like or enjoy. Anytime Dining is somewhat “open seating” – meaning they may seat you at a table by yourself, or it may be with others… but it differs each night, depending upon what table is available at the time you arrive. With Anytime Dining, if you request, you can often be seated by yourself if a table is available). Anytime Dining offers great flexibility, but you may also have to wait several minutes for a table.

 

 

If you select Early or Late seating, you need to arrive in the MDR on time. Being 10 minutes late is acceptable, but late more than 10 minutes is not, and some people have been refused seating for being late. The dinner staff have this down to a science, and a late arrival can throw off service for the whole table. Be on time. If you are running late, it is probably best to just have dinner in the buffet.

Edited October 26, 2023 by Barsnikel

[NutsAboutGolf]

FYI, it appears X replaced "select" dining with "anytime" dining which does better define what it actually is.  RCI uses the term "My time dining" so it wasn't a standardization

[Torfamm]

You can always eat in the Main Dining Room. Anytime dining works like eating at a land-based restaurant. You can make reservations for whatever time suits you for a particular day or just turn up and wait for an available table when the mood strikes you.

[jonkel3]

Very many thanks to everyone who posted. We're a lot more informed now.

[cruiselvr04]

I’m looking at a couple of summer sailings. I’m hesitant to book because for all of them both the MTD and early is booked.  The only option is late.  We can not eat at 8:30 p.m. I’d never be able to sleep.  Are we just out of luck? I don’t want to eat in the buffet every night.

[SFCAcruiser]

9 minutes ago, cruiselvr04 said:

I’m looking at a couple of summer sailings. I’m hesitant to book because for all of them both the MTD and early is booked.  The only option is late.  We can not eat at 8:30 p.m. I’d never be able to sleep.  Are we just out of luck? I don’t want to eat in the buffet every night.

 

Several people have taken the time and trouble to answer this VERY question. It might be helpful for you to read the responses to this post.

[RedIguana]

23 hours ago, Barsnikel said:

Conversely, you may also be seated the entire cruise with people you don’t particularly like or enjoy. Anytime Dining is somewhat “open seating” – meaning they may seat you at a table by yourself, or it may be with others… but it differs each night, depending upon what table is available at the time you arrive

Just to add to the excellent post by @Barsnikel, with anytime dining you can make reservations pre-cruise for every night, either for the same time or can vary if port or sea day. I often make reservations for 7-7:30 pm , and can usually end up with the same waitstaff every night if desired. 

 

19 hours ago, cruiselvr04 said:

I’m looking at a couple of summer sailings. I’m hesitant to book because for all of them both the MTD and early is booked.  The only option is late.  We can not eat at 8:30 p.m. I’d never be able to sleep.  Are we just out of luck? I don’t want to eat in the buffet every night

If your preferred time is not available, you can be waitlisted for Early or MTD. Cabin type might affect your waitlist priority. I just booked a short cruise for 2 months out where I needed 2 cabins. Ended up booking them a day apart (life happened between bookings), the first one had MTD available, the second did not and had to choose late. Waitlisted the second room, was changed within about a week to MTD. CC class. Your mileage may vary.

[cruisestitch]

23 hours ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

FYI, it appears X replaced "select" dining with "anytime" dining which does better define what it actually is.  RCI uses the term "My time dining" so it wasn't a standardization

Unfortunately, it’s worse than that. Here on reflection right now, there are three choices of dining—- 

 

celebrity select dining anytime

celebrity select early dining

celebrity select late dining 

 

could they have made it more difficult to understand?  Arggghhhh

Edited October 27, 2023 by cruisestitch

[Oceangoer2]

41 minutes ago, cruisestitch said:

Unfortunately, it’s worse than that. Here on reflection right now, there are three choices of dining—- 

 

celebrity select dining anytime

celebrity select early dining

celebrity select late dining 

 

could they have made it more difficult to understand?  Arggghhhh

If they just deleted the word 'select', then nothing has changed....Anytime, Early, Late.

[helen haywood]

20 hours ago, cruiselvr04 said:

I’m looking at a couple of summer sailings. I’m hesitant to book because for all of them both the MTD and early is booked.  The only option is late.  We can not eat at 8:30 p.m. I’d never be able to sleep.  Are we just out of luck? I don’t want to eat in the buffet every night.

What ships?  All Edge Class are all Anytime Dining but the website doesn’t reflect that…

[NutsAboutGolf]

1 hour ago, cruisestitch said:

Unfortunately, it’s worse than that. Here on reflection right now, there are three choices of dining—- 

 

celebrity select dining anytime

celebrity select early dining

celebrity select late dining 

 

could they have made it more difficult to understand?  Arggghhhh

 

I just made two new bookings with the BCC/Casino this week and the first booking rep said asked if I wanted early, late or anytime.  I said "select" and she said something like "Yes, what is selection?" which made me chuckle.  The second booking/rep said the same choices of early, late or anytime so I just answered anytime.  lol

[Oceangoer2]

16 hours ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

I just made two new bookings with the BCC/Casino this week and the first booking rep said asked if I wanted early, late or anytime.  I said "select" and she said something like "Yes, what is selection?" which made me chuckle.  The second booking/rep said the same choices of early, late or anytime so I just answered anytime.  lol

I think someone putting these options in print slipped up and inserted the word 'select' after early and late dining.  My booking confirmation says 'Select' dining because I chose 'anytime dining'.

[NutsAboutGolf]

1 hour ago, Oceangoer2 said:

I think someone putting these options in print slipped up and inserted the word 'select' after early and late dining.  My booking confirmation says 'Select' dining because I chose 'anytime dining'.

 

After looking at the invoice/confirmation, it does say "DINING SLCT"

[marycruz]

On 10/26/2023 at 6:51 AM, cruisestitch said:

No it does not mean that you will only have the buffet or specialties.  One or more of the Main Dining rooms is set aside for the anytime dining option.

I don't know if anyone responded to this yet regarding the main dining rooms.  On the Constellation there is only one main dining room.  We were on the ship in March and the anytime dining always had a long line when they opened.  If they want to go early they would probably wait awhile. 

 

If I were this couple I would definitely go on the first day and see if I could change to fixed dining (either early or late seating).  When we were on the ship early was 5:30 and late ws 8:30.

[fshagan]

On 10/27/2023 at 12:10 PM, helen haywood said:

What ships?  All Edge Class are all Anytime Dining but the website doesn’t reflect that…

 

This is what we had heard. We love true any time dining. Do you still have to make reservations on the Edge class ships for any time dining?

[helen haywood]

You truly do not have to make reservations.  In fact, there have been reports that people who made them were told onboard that they would not be honored…that it is truly first come first serve.  I so wish Celebrity would clear this up on their website because not only does it cause distress for the customers…but it puts the shipboard staff in an untenable position.