Lateness of sailors holding banquets (9)
I believe the answer is:
tardiness
'lateness' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'sailors holding banquets' is the wordplay.
'sailors' becomes 'tars' (tar is a kind of sailor).
'holding' is an insertion indicator.
'banquets' becomes 'dines'.
'tars' enclosing 'dines' is 'TARDINESS'.
'of' is the link.
(Other definitions for tardiness that I've seen before include "No quality in fast food" , "Unpunctuality" , "Delay" , "Lateness" , "Becoming late" .)