Possible new dining option for suite guests

[MizDemeanor]

A Sky Suite is a nice sized piece of real estate on a Celebrity Ship, but like a Junior Class on RCCL seems to now come without perks.

 

The perks would not keep me from selecting a SS however, as the cabins really allow for some nice space with a fair price point.

[sperkins921]

I guess it would all depend on what mattered to one on vacation. For myself, in my career field where all day long I must put everyone else's needs and wants ahead of my own (and then come home and wash rinse repeat), it is nice to be able to go on vacation and for once be the one being catered to. We will see how this transition goes and I will keep an open mind, but I will say that a bigger room alone is not enough to make me spend my hard earned money.

[Chunky2219]

''''''''''''''

It appears that Celebrity has awoken to the "80/20 Rule" (80% of your business comes from the top 20% of your clients)... .............

Why waste half a page of carefully thought out repetition of the previous 14 pages? You got the only thing that matters in your first paragraph.

 

Calm down dear. This thread is so polarised that no-one is going to change anyone's opinion and I doubt Michael Bayley is overly concerened about your vie. either.

 

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[wolfatlga]

We just got back from the Summit and I asked the Bistro manager and he thinks on the Summit it was going to be in the Michel's Club area.

We booked another cruise on the Summit for 2015 and was hoping they would have replaced the carpet thru out the ship, along with a new eating area.

[DancerOT]

I like Micheal's Lounge and certainly enjoy the vast beer selection they have in there. It was a consistently busy venue on my last cruise on Summit and definitely hate to see it no longer accessible for most of us. However, even within this caste system, I will continue to book my oceanviews and inside cabins as on my salary, that is what I can afford to do. I could choose to book one or two cruises a year this way or I could one cruise every 5-6 years in a suite. Since I need more relaxation than that allows, I will stick to my current plan.

[Cruising89143]

Well it looks like one common guess was right- the sky suite people are the new red headed stepchildren of the suite class. Notice that they only mention all suite guests having access to the new dining room. When it comes to the lounge and other things, those in the 'cheap' seats appear to get left out.

 

Normally, I would not care as I generally don't book a suite. Not because I can't, but because I prefer to be able to travel more and as long as I have a balcony, a good book, and a drink (be it tea coffee stronger) I can have a good relaxing time. However, X recently made a snafu on a reservation of mine- the future cruise sales agent completely canceled one of our ressies about 3 weeks after we booked it with NO authority from us or our TA to do so. Ironically enough, an X CSR confirmed that the room was re-booked literally less than 5 minutes later by the same agent and PIF by another couple. A little money changing hands perhaps? We had booked an aft facing A1 on the Summit, and as part of the apology process, we were bumped up to a S1 cabin.

 

I was looking forward to Blu again as I do prefer it for dinner and it is the reason we booked an A1 cabin in the first place. But I was just getting excited about enjoying an S1 and still getting Blu for dinner when I stumbled upon this thread. Even were I not an S1 guest, I would not care if they got their own dining room. Why not, AQ has theirs, and far fewer people are in an uproar over it.

 

But it's odd to me, that X would exempt SS's from the VIP lounge. Why? Certainly there are more SS's than the remaining suites combined? Or at least as many SS's as the remaining suites combined? A SS certainly is not cheap either. So why exclude them? It's like saying "well, we know you booked a suite to get the benefits, but you didn't book *enough* of a suite for us to think you're worthy of receiving said benefits".........

 

I'm not so sure that I would willingly pay the differential from A1 to S2/S1 given that attitude.

 

Celebrity is following sister line RCI in this regard. Junior suite guests do not get access to the Concierge lounge. Right or wrong this is the route they have chosen to go.

[zelker]

Looks like the decision has been made and here are the details, according to a Cruise Critic article posted this morning. Personally, I like that they are leaving Bistro on Five intact (the nutella and banana crepes shall live on :p) and just taking a part of the MDR to do this instead. Will look forward to reading feedback once this starts to be implemented.

 

http://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/news/news.cfm?ID=5785

[Cote d'or]

From the article on Cruise Critic : "The changes will be gradually implemented across the fleet between now and April 2015."

Does anyone has an insight in which ships will be the first ones to get these changes implemented ?

[dbcrac]

Perks for suite guests are nice and I must say I enjoy Blu (when I've had the opportunity) and Bistro on 5. That said, I'd hate to see X move to a class sytem like Cunard.

 

 

I won't go on Cunard for that reason. Getting very disappointed with Celebrity and we are close to Elite Plus. They will send best waiters to the suite dining area and who will train the new staff. I enjoy getting a waiter who has been doing it for awhile they remember what us long time cruisers expect.

[sperkins921]

Celebrity is following sister line RCI in this regard. Junior suite guests do not get access to the Concierge lounge. Right or wrong this is the route they have chosen to go.

 

My thought was not about right or wrong in that sense, just it seems like a lot of waste (space, labor, etc) to serve about 25 cabins. *shrugs* oh well...

[jaybird from SC]

Will suite and aqua class now have priority boarding for lifeboats? Are we going to now be segregated like in the days of the Titanic? I have a problem when some are treated better than others which is what appears to be happening. All of a sudden I don't feel like cruising anymore...

[Bababooey Land]

From the article on Cruise Critic : "The changes will be gradually implemented across the fleet between now and April 2015."

Does anyone has an insight in which ships will be the first ones to get these changes implemented ?

 

there was a rumor a few weeks back on here that the Equinox would be the first ship the new restaurant would roll out on, kinda like a beta test. The Equinox is due for a dry dock end of April/Beginning of May 2014 for about 10 days...

[sperkins921]

Looks like the decision has been made and here are the details, according to a Cruise Critic article posted this morning. Personally, I like that they are leaving Bistro on Five intact (the nutella and banana crepes shall live on :p) and just taking a part of the MDR to do this instead. Will look forward to reading feedback once this starts to be implemented.

 

http://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/news/news.cfm?ID=5785

 

Yeah, I got an email from X a while back stating that they had decided to make the changes. They made a post on their web page's blog about it too.

[MTemple212]

I think what most people are not seeing is that Bistro on 5 isn't being used enough to warrant what it is right now. For as little traffic as it gets they aren't making the $$ to sustain it. I think the change will be a good thing and it will free up the other venues to a small extent. Although I have only eaten in BO5 once and it was very good.

[sperkins921]

If the responses from X are to be believed, Bistro on 5 is not on the chopping block. They are carving another section from the MDR for the suite DR.

 

There also seems to be some disagreement about the whole 'correct-ness' of the suites getting their own dining room and more 'perks'. Many seem to feel it's class-ist. I'm not sure why no one thinks the same of the concierge or AC perks? Myself, I see it as a pay more get more type thing.

[ghstudio]

I think what most people are not seeing is that Bistro on 5 isn't being used enough to warrant what it is right now. For as little traffic as it gets they aren't making the $$ to sustain it. I think the change will be a good thing and it will free up the other venues to a small extent. Although I have only eaten in BO5 once and it was very good.

 

With all the changes, I'm very surprised that the bistro on 5 has survived....it is very lightly used. I support an alternative dining room, but by this point, you would think Celebrity would rethink that space....and maybe turn it into an all day sushi bar (hopefully with better sushi than they serve in the buffet area) or some creative lunch/dinner alternative..perhaps a NY deli.

 

There is revenue to be had from that space....and a change would be welcome. We eat at the bistro once every cruise...on the day we board to avoid the madhouse in the buffet area. Were it a different food space, we might eat there more often.

Edited March 19, 2014 by ghstudio

[sperkins921]

I agree. When we were on the Connie, it seemed on embarkation day people ate there, but afterwards, I never saw many people there or at Cellar Masters. I find that the CM idea seemed poorly implemented; at least to me. What I was envisioning based on the description was something very different from what I found.

[Algebralovr]

My gut feeling is that the new concept will be on the Summit in late July. A couple of the people we know are going to Summit then, and are part of a 'New Project' that they had to keep a secret when we sailed on Equinox in February.

 

I'm looking forward to seeing if Equinox gets it after her dry-dock. June should be an interesting time to sail!

[Bababooey Land]

With all the changes, I'm very surprised that the bistro on 5 has survived....it is very lightly used. I support an alternative dining room, but by this point, you would think Celebrity would rethink that space....and maybe turn it into an all day sushi bar (hopefully with better sushi than they serve in the buffet area) or some creative lunch/dinner alternative..perhaps a NY deli.

 

There is revenue to be had from that space....and a change would be welcome. We eat at the bistro once every cruise...on the day we board to avoid the madhouse in the buffet area. Were it a different food space, we might eat there more often.

 

There are rumors flying around that Bistro on Five will undergo changes, possibly a new concept/ menu. From the cruises I have been on, the space is extremely underutilized.

[Cote d'or]

there was a rumor a few weeks back on here that the Equinox would be the first ship the new restaurant would roll out on, kinda like a beta test. The Equinox is due for a dry dock end of April/Beginning of May 2014 for about 10 days...

 

Thanks for the information.

[QuietTraveller]

Suites will have their own dining room. Aqua has its dining room the rest have their dining room. Cruising became popular when it became classless. We seem to be going back to the olden days. Is this good?

[sperkins921]

I don't know that it's good or bad persay, just that it seems we have come full circle. I would think that these changes are from some sort of guest feedback, but then maybe not.

 

I guess I don't particularly care about who's eating where, but then, generally, I'd be in Blu. One could argue that that clouds my judgement. Yes, I would miss the ability to eat in Blu (and maybe this new dining room once I've eaten there?) if I traveled and couldn't book an A2/A1 cabin- but I wouldn't begrudge anyone else who could either.

[piduff]

Suites will have their own dining room. Aqua has its dining room the rest have their dining room. Cruising became popular when it became classless. We seem to be going back to the olden days. Is this good?

 

i like the MDR, hate to see the class distinction. we who cruise a lot will do less cruising if we have to pay more for AQUA or a SUITE just to get BETTER food??

i do not think that will happen.

[sperkins921]

i like the MDR, hate to see the class distinction. we who cruise a lot will do less cruising if we have to pay more for AQUA or a SUITE just to get BETTER food??

i do not think that will happen.

 

I've been told that the food in the MDR on X is quite tasty. Certainly, my draw to Blu is not persay for better food- I like the quieter more intimate atmosphere. That, and I can have escargot (love escargot) nightly....but then someone told me that if you are in the MDR you can ask for it nightly and get it nightly as well?

[usualone]

I do hope Celebrity will not go forth with this idea. The nice thing about the USA has been that we really haven't had class distinctions. Some may want a less expensive room so that they can do more excursions than they would if they had a more expensive room. There are enough people trying to divide our country now we don't need this kind of division. People are interesting from all walks of life, with their varying experiences. So I hope Celebrity puts this option in the back burner or simply bury it.