I have two cabins on the Celebrity Infinity, one cabin could confirm 6pm dining, the other cabin was number 16 on the wait list for the 6pm dining.
Needless to say, on the two reservations, my name with two kids is on one reservation, while my wife with two kids are on the other reservation. One room is an Aqua room, hence the 6pm dining confirmation, the other room is right next to the Aqua room but is a inboard room, so we could not get 6pm dining confirmed. I find this ridiculous that I could not get both rooms confirmed for 6pm dining, but that is the way it goes on these cruises.
When I found out I could choose the 'Celebrity Select Dining', I went ahead and chose that for the both cabins and confirmed all of our dinners at 6pm together.
The thing that really gets me is that the bottom line as far as expense are concerned are exactly the same. With 'Celebrity Select Dining' you pre-pay your gratuity, with your confirmed 6pm/8:30pm dining time you pay your gratuity at the end of the cruise.
I do not feel good about paying the gratuity before we dine, but the bottom line is that I wanted my family to eat at the exact same time and we all end up paying the exact same amount for gratuity.
Originally Posted by
Out of my Element
Because
1) it's nice to have the same waiter and assistant waiter every night who know your likes and dislikes and will have your favorite beverage ready for you, or will know what "that orangey thing we had two nights ago that I liked so much" is
2) it's fun to eat with the same people (ok, not always) and really get to know your fellow passengers, instead of meeting new folks every night and not getting to know anyone
3) it's no fun to have to wait for a table with Select Seating when everyone shows up at 7PM and they tell you "30 minutes or so" when there's a show you want to see at 9PM.