cruss99

We are a married couple in our mid 50's. We have cruised twice on NCL and enjoy the "Free Style" concept of UNassigned dinner times and seating assignments. We are considering a cruise on the Celebrity Galaxy and were wondering if it is possible to eat dinner anywhere on the ship without an assigned time/seating short of doing room service every night. Part of our reluctance to assigned seating is that we would like to avoid packing formal wear. Thanks for any and all input.

Ida101

In the diningroom it is fixed seating (early or 2nd sitting) at a fixed table. You can ask for a certain tablesize. (Only for dinner, breakfast and lunch is free seating)
Apart from this in the Buffet-area at night there is casual dining,but often reservations needed and you pay $ 2.- p.p. extra as tip.
Apart from that there is a sushi bar at 6 pm, pizza's and pasta etc without any reservations.
Of course there is always room-service.
As far as I remember if dress-code is formal, this is for the whole ship and evening.

cruss99

Thanks for the info, Ida.
When you wrote,
"As far as I remember if dress-code is formal, this is for the whole ship and evening."

does this mean if you are anywhere on the ship, except your cabin, on a "formal" evening you must be in formal wear??

Theresa

Yes - pretty much so (dress formal through out the ship even on formal nights). Celebrity is a pretty formal cruise line.

Celebrity IMO - has very limited dining options. They don't have a buffet to go to at night. They have dining in the buffet area but you are expected to make reservations when you go there.

If you like NCL's Freestyle, you may want to look at Princess and Anytime dining. Though with anytime dining, you are still expected to dress formal on formal nights but there are more options for dinner (Buffet, dinner anytime in the dining rooms, etc..)

ParrotMom

NOT SO,. if you wear a blazer you will be accepted...we loved the Century and yes we would of preferred free-style, but people at our table (men) wore sports jackets) Oh yes.. we willbe going on the Galaxy in December and Parrot Pop refuses to take his tux

route6a

My husband and I have sailed numerous times with Celebrity, and there is a simple way to deal with formal nights. He takes a suit rather than a tuxedo, and I take a long, basic black jacket dress, which I dress up with a silk pattern wrap or various silk scarves. It is easy to pack little if you plan well. You will see women in flashy beaded dresses and others in simple black dresses with pearls. Really, you can manage well rather easily and have a lovely time.

I have not been on the Galaxy in a couple of years, but she is a beautiful ship, decorated in light, pleasing colors. I hope you have a wonderful time if you choose to sail on the Galaxy.

peabody9

you may want to try Oceania-slightly more upscale than Celebrity, yet more casual--you can go all out and fit in or dress in what the line calls "country club casual" ie slacks and nice tank or blouse and sandals for ladies, kaiki's and collared shirt for men. Most important you eat when and where you want, plus there are 2 reservation cafes that do not charge extra. This is such a great line but a little more costly. If you can find it discounted, purchase asap!

ParrotMom

We have sailed NCL several times and Celebrity Century last time and this year Galaxy in December.. We love Celebrity, the service, the elegance..the size ships (Galaxy and Century are sister ships) but yes, I do miss the 'free style". there is an alternate restaurant for $2.00 each upstairs that we utilized twice.. On the Century (before it's makeover) we did bring a tux..but after all these years Parrot Pop refuses..absolutely refuses.. Although I'm going to work on his renting one of the ship. On the formal nights we found many men especially just coming in with a sports jacket or blazer. we had two men at our table who never showed up..lol Frankly, I think men look so great, so Cary Grant..lol in their tuxes..Women of course continue to dress..lol As much as I am a big fan of NCL .. I just loved the Century, the staff, the food..the entertainment troupe was not that great, but the people that they brought on were great.. I had never realized how great it was to have a friendly E.D. because on NCL they seem to avoid you.. Alan King on the Century was just delightful. The only reason I'm picking the Galaxy on the trans-atlantic trip over the Century.. one is 17days and the other is 14...I goofed. I should have picked the 17 day one..lol...several of our cruise buddies are going to be on that one.. If you are that age you will fit right in.. If you need more info please write to me.. [email protected]

desertduds

At Christmas time we were on the Celebrity Galaxy and discovered too late that that the buffet area offers eat anytime, sit anywhere, table linens and served meals, not buffet...it was very nice and you could wear anything suitable, as in casual nicer clothes.