Changes in Celebrity's Dining Room in September?

[Hollywood Traveler]

Lionel trains with dishes on flatcars (remember those 'hamburger train restaurants?):D:D:)

 

I used to love those places. Hated it when the last one closed down in Philly in the late 70s. :( But then I even liked automats. Horn & Hardart, etc.

[Iamcruzin]

What's an automat?:)

 

It's kind of a vending machine for food. My parents who are close to 80yrs old would talk about them all the time. They took me to one in Manhattan when I was about 5yrs old. I am 50 now. How it worked was you put a nickel in the coin slot slid open the door and retrieved your sandwich.

 

http://www.theautomat.net/

[DC2OC]

My guess would be that the waiter will electronically send in the order giving him more time to spend with the cruisers. Maybe they will even place electronic photos of the main entrees at the dining room entrance

....................Frank:)

[PS90]

Uh oh....

I've got a bad feeling about that planned change.

I hope it is related to simply using IPAD menu's, but something in my gut tells me it may be more like adding ala carte items to the menu like RCCL has dabbled with. I hope I am totally wrong, and off-base, but I don't like the sound of the whole thing....:(

 

Agreed.

 

Any "trial" of a new technique is fine with me - AS LONG AS it's not a thinly-veiled attempt to make more profit off of us pax, by offering us some fancy new "feature" that costs more.

[2SeaWithMe]

It's kind of a vending machine for food. My parents who are close to 80yrs old would talk about them all the time. They took me to one in Manhattan when I was about 5yrs old. I am 50 now. How it worked was you put a nickel in the coin slot slid open the door and retrieved your sandwich.

 

http://www.theautomat.net/

 

You beat me to it! I was just going to say "It's like a Nickelodeon."

[2SeaWithMe]

I would be thrilled if I could just SEE the MDR menu on the tv.

[Lsimon]

My guess would be that the waiter will electronically send in the order giving him more time to spend with the cruisers. Maybe they will even place electronic photos of the main entrees at the dining room entrance

....................Frank:)

 

I don't' know - seems like when they are serving 1000 people their choice of 5 different entrees at the same time that sending an order in isn't something they need to do. I think the waiters just go pick up the items and the cooks just keep cooking - all in sort of assembly line fashion. Special orders would be such a small percentage that it wouldn't make sense to have a big system just for those.

[PS90]

Pardon my ignorance - but what would be the point of having the menu on an I-Pad? Wouldn't that just cost X more (to buy a bunch of I-Pads), and wouldn't really result in any improvement?

[DC2OC]

Pardon my ignorance - but what would be the point of having the menu on an I-Pad? Wouldn't that just cost X more (to buy a bunch of I-Pads), and wouldn't really result in any improvement?

 

I think it would be asking for trouble.One you would have to train a lot of cruisers how to use them ,plus there would be lots of incorrect orders placed resulting in delays and wasted food

............................Frank

[mferranti]

How many iPads would "walk out" of the MDR on an average cruise?

[PS90]

How many iPads would "walk out" of the MDR on an average cruise?

 

Excellent point.

 

I guess, IMO, even if these I-Pads contained the menu, AND allowed us to order from them - how much time does that save, really? The twenty seconds it takes for the waiter to walk back to the kitchen? Is that worth $300+ per I-Pad (that's assuming that they get a bulk-purchase discount)? And the possibility of them being stolen?

 

In my own feeble brain, the I-Pad thing is looking less and less likely...

[ghstudio]

I think there is little incentive to have one menu for the entire cruise...that means that the kitchen has to prepare more different meals each meal which takes space, chefs, etc. Very low probability on this.

 

There is no value (to passengers) in the waiter sending orders electronically and this wouldn't be a change perceivable to the passengers anyway. probability is that it doesn't effect passengers so who cares.

 

Each person ordering on a tablet....the initial cost/repair cost/replacement costs would negate this really quickly...it's fine in Qsine where it's a gimmick, but not for the main dining room masses. Very low probability on this.

 

Fee items on the menu is more likely although somewhat distasteful to me because of the temptation to provide lower cost "free" options. Hopefully this is not where Celebrity is going....it cheapens their offering. I'd give this better than 50:50 odds though...and then I'd give 70:30 odds that the "free" meals go downhill very quickly (and the reviews go downhill quickly) if this is their plan.

 

Switching to select dining for everyone will make a few happy (those who can't sign up for select dining or those who don't like paying gratuities in advance) but it will lose the passengers who like to sit at the same table with the same people each night. Unlikely change in my opinion. It's more likely that select dining space will increase, if the demand is there.

[boogs]

I don't' know - seems like when they are serving 1000 people their choice of 5 different entrees at the same time that sending an order in isn't something they need to do. I think the waiters just go pick up the items and the cooks just keep cooking - all in sort of assembly line fashion. Special orders would be such a small percentage that it wouldn't make sense to have a big system just for those.

 

On one of those Science/Discovery/Nat Geo channels I saw a show featuring a Royal Caribbean ship and this is exactly how they handled the entrees on that ship. Pickup areas were sectioned off with a specific entree at each. The waiters lined up and picked up the next one on the table without even having to slow down. I would expect that virtually all ships do the same thing for expediency.

[pris993]

We cruised on the Equniox when it was new in the Mediterranean a year or so ago. We found the MDR atmosphere very noisy and crowded and poorly lighted, plus service spotting at best. So they have a lot to improve on in my book.

 

We have booked the Eclipse for next spring, this time we will be in BLU - hope it is much better. If not, may not cruise Celebrity again.

 

We will be elite on the Eclipse cruise, so we have cruised Celebrity for awhile. Have always found food and service in the MDR somewhat hit and miss. I guess we expect more out of Celebrity. We keep hoping they would live up to the hype so far we haven't seen it.

 

By comparison, we cruised on Cunard - Queen Victoria this past March. There we found the food and service far superior to Princess, Celebrity and HAL. Enjoyed it so much we cancel our next HAL cruise and booked again on the Queen Victoria for an Eastern Mediterranean cruise this October.

 

It will be interesting what changes Celebrity is planning, will wait to see.

[CaptData]

You could also order on your TV maybe before you arrive at the restaurant. Then when you sit down the plates start arriving 5 mins later instead of 20 mins or later. This will be great for diabetics who require shots.

[bob brown]

Pardon my ignorance - but what would be the point of having the menu on an I-Pad? Wouldn't that just cost X more (to buy a bunch of I-Pads), and wouldn't really result in any improvement?

Apple may provide the IPAD's free as a marketing tool to give their product more exposure (as if they needed that!). And it could be designed to only serve the menu function to prevent pilferage.

 

As for all anytime dining....well NCL already pioneered that, so it would certainly not be new.

 

Yes, it is sounding more and more that the 'enhancement' may be ala carte pricing. Perhaps a choice when you book your cruise of ala carte pricing in MDR or purchase a 'package' at various levels for all-inclusive dining, similar to the drink or specialty restaurant packages?

[PS90]

You could also order on your TV maybe before you arrive at the restaurant. Then when you sit down the plates start arriving 5 mins later instead of 20 mins or later. This will be great for diabetics who require shots.

 

Yeah, I think that's kinda what JezzaC was referring to as well. I could see that as being nice for efficiency, but it would probably also greatly increase the incidences of screwed-up orders and, to some pax, would take away from the dining experience.

 

It could end up feeling like the pax were being herded in like cattle in a feedlot - having their food ready for them - and then herding them out to make room for the next feedlot group. (A feedlot is the place where cattle are sent to be fattened up before slaughter).

[CathyCruises]

I have always found the waitstaff very helpful in choosing courses--a subtle nod or shake of the head if a particular 'entree' (see another thread on this) isn't being well received. I don't think I will know at 2 PM, say, what I want to eat at 9PM! I hope that pre-order is not the big surprise :o

[arewethereyet]

Hi Everyone !

 

Interesting comments. I have not heard anything concerning updates to the MDR, though it's not surprising. Mr Van Staden is an extremely creative Chef - he is the mastermind of Qsine. I'm eager to hear what he has planned.

 

If it has something to do with Ipad order transmission, I like the idea - especially if it assures a superior Dining experience. I'm fine with Celebrity speeding up the Dinner process a bit... but *only* if the Guest desires it. As long as I'm not rushed, it's all good.

 

I just hope it's not an Automat (just kidding !)... Ok, I'm dating myself here :)

I remember these in Philly, Boston, NY in the 50s and early 60s. And your post beat me to it. I was going to suggest that was what the change was too. :D It puts the "mass" back in mass market.

[ghstudio]

I remember these in Philly, Boston, NY in the 50s and early 60s. And your post beat me to it. I was going to suggest that was what the change was too. :D It puts the "mass" back in mass market.

 

I have fond memories of the spaghetti, creamed spinach and salisbury steaks. That was gourmet food to a teen ager :)

[ghstudio]

I give very low odds to having to order in advance....My first cruise with that requirement would be my last with Celebrity and we're well over the elite requirements.

 

My best bet is "gourmet food options for a fee" available every night (perhaps). I can just see the mayhem in the kitchen and the confusion in the dining room as they try to bring the special meals with the normal ones.

 

To the person who suggested that ipads would be locked to run only the menu program....my guess is that it would be less than 30 days before someone posts a "work around" on the internet. Those ipads would disappear quicker than the lobster tails.....some just as souvenirs.

[Lois R]

My next cruise is Sept 4th. I wonder if these new changes will be

"announced" in Sept or are they going to be "implemented" in Sept.

I guess I will find out soon enough.

[snoozycruisee]

Does anyone have thoughts as to what types of changes to the main dining room experience will be involved when Celebrity announces them in September? The following info from the line is rather cryptic and certainly doesn't provide any clues:

According to Jaques Van Staden -VP culinary ops- Celebrity will be making an announcement in September regarding how it plans to change the main dining room experience on its ships.

"How passengers receive their meals will be completely different from other cruise ships.

Our new main restaurant experience will be a trendsetter in the industry."

 

My initial thought was that all items on the MDR menu might be offered ala Carte (at no additional charge) This way, you would not only choose your main entrée, but you would also now choose your own type of potato, rice, vegetable, sauce, etc. from a preset list to accompany your main entrée.

However, that would have nothing to do with how passengers receive their meals. My revised thought is that you will still order your Main Entrée (Meat, Fish, etc) same as before (but) all other preset list items would be received “Family Style”. That would also include Soups and Salads. Aarrrrrrggghh – Please tell me this will not happen :eek:

[Lois R]

My initial thought was that all items on the MDR menu might be offered ala Carte (at no additional charge) This way, you would not only choose your main entrée, but you would also now choose your own type of potato, rice, vegetable, sauce, etc. from a preset list to accompany your main entrée.

 

However, that would have nothing to do with how passengers receive their meals. My revised thought is that you will still order your Main Entrée (Meat, Fish, etc) same as before (but) all other preset list items would be received “Family Style”. That would also include Soups and Salads. Aarrrrrrggghh – Please tell me this will not happen :eek:

 

Family style? When I think of that term it means (to me) example...

if everyone orders the same salad, it comes in a big bowl with

tongs and everyone serves themselves.......not sure that is going

to work at all....especially if everyone at the table orders a different

salad.

In order to serve family style? It seems to me everyone would

have to share all the food. That might be fun at home with family

(hence the term) but I seriously doubt it will work on a cruise.

[ghstudio]

Family style? When I think of that term it means (to me) example...

if everyone orders the same salad, it comes in a big bowl with

tongs and everyone serves themselves.......not sure that is going

to work at all....especially if everyone at the table orders a different

salad.

In order to serve family style? It seems to me everyone would

have to share all the food. That might be fun at home with family

(hence the term) but I seriously doubt it will work on a cruise.

 

So the person across the table from me coughs into their hands, grasps the tongs and serves themselves salad, then drops the tongs into the bowl and passes the bowl to the next person. Ah...this sounds like a great improvement....