? About Luminae Construction on Equinox

[villauk]

It's Deck 3 Starboard. Currently onboard. Sorry, I lost a long reply, but I'll just say that the dining room is crowded. I'll post our experience when returning. :)

 

rclibertygirl5,

Above was quote from someone on Equinox at the moment ;).

 

 

Has anyone heard from someone currently on the Equinox to see if there has been any impact on Traditional or Select dining? The construction is going on now so I would think they would be able to enlighten us on whether it is causing any issues in the MDR.

 

I am not sure why it would cause a problem with Select since the construction is taking away from the Traditional seating?? Unless they are making people switch to Select? Anyone heard of this happening?

[blueboro]

Also, someone now on board Equinox posted earlier on this thread or another one that the dining room was very crowded. They have not come back yet to comment further.

[rclibertygirl5]

I think that b/c they took fewer set dining reservations (due to fewer tables available b/c of construction), that put MORE people into Select, hence causing an "overflow."

 

How do we know that they took less people for Traditional dining??

[RealDeal]

How do we know that they took less people for Traditional dining??

 

They either would have had to or else tell people after the fact (after they made reservations) that they would have to be shifted to select dining. They can't accommodate more ppl than they have seats, right? Seats have been taken out of set dining; therefore, those ppl have to go somewhere, somewhere being select dining or specialty restaurants. That's why X is saying Blu and early/late seating won't be affected.

[rclibertygirl5]

We are on Equinox next week and currently have early Traditional dining. I was trying to decide if we should try to switch to Select if Traditional dining is going to be crowded. We have requested a table for four but if they are trying to get as many people as possible into Traditional dining they may go for more large tables and we may not get our table for four. I wish someone currently on the ship would comment....but I know they are busy enjoying their vacation!! :)

[cle-guy]

"Somewhere I've read in a thread that Celebritry had contacted suite guests and offered unlimited specialty dining during the construction presumably to open seats in the MDR to help with the crush. I bet once on board, they begin to offer similar or highly discounted offers to standard cabins."

 

I hope you are right but it seems after numerous calls to X there is no availability in the specialty restaurants...or availability only after 9:30 on very few evenings. I don't see how they could discount the specialties for standard cabins when there is very little if any space available. I am not concerned about the construction...only the trickle down affect on dining and the seemingly short-sided decision to offer free specialty dining to all suite pax for EACH night.

 

It was theorized on the thread I read this about that they have just stopped taking advanced reservations across the board for the affected cruise(es), in order to ensure the suite guests can take them up on the specialty dining offers. I suspect once on board, booking can happen for the masses once those offered the perk have had their butlers arrange their dining times and they know what slots are left to sell.

 

I am not concerned about the construction...only the trickle down affect on dining and the seemingly short-sided decision to offer free specialty dining to all suite pax for EACH night.

 

This shouldn't cause too much concern either.

• Murano has 78 Seats
  
• Slik Harvest has 88 Seats
  
• Tuscan has 128 Seats
  
• Bistro on 5 has 68 Seats
   
  
• Total of 362 specialty dining seats, assume 2 turns = accommodation for 724 diners in a night.
  

 

If all 132 potential suite guess take the option each night, there are still accommodation for 592 or more guests to use the specialty restaurants each evening. Also factor in that the suites all already get 1 night of specialty dining anyway, and that it's possible some of them would pay to dine 2nd or 3rd nights normally even without the special offer, the impact on specialties isn't going to be dramatic.

[Karynanne]

A sit down dinner with wait service in the Oceanview is an excellent idea for a temporary solution to possible over crowding in the MDR. Years ago Celebrity offered this as an alternative to the MDR, & we found it to be a very pleasant experience.

 

I remember this venue. It was a nice alternative to the MDR. If I remember correctly, they would train waitstaff in this venue. And it was complete with table cloths and wine choices. I think they only charged $2-3 per person.

[cle-guy]

My theory on how they will handle displaced select diners is, those that arrive at normal seeing times as MDR will be seated in s section for select diners. Those that arrive after MDR is seated (past 30 minutes when MDR won't continue seating people), will be seated at any random open table that assigned MDR diners aren't using as they are in alternate venues for the night.

 

There are always lots of open seats in MDR, and as one poster in this thread has observed, the MDR seems more full this week, meaning the allocated seats are being actually used for a change instead of sitting empty.

[Kevnzworld]

With select dining now being more crowded, and no specialty restaurant reservations available, I would be pretty upset had I booked these cruises without any " official " notice from Celebrity that these disruptions would affect my cruise.

Every passenger should have received an official letter/ email from Celebrity before final payment. Perhaps offering $300 OBC and an upfront caveat/apology.

But then again, that would have been the proper thing to do....so obviously Celebrity didn't do that.......

[ghstudio]

With select dining now being more crowded, and no specialty restaurant reservations available, I would be pretty upset had I booked these cruises without any " official " notice from Celebrity that these disruptions would affect my cruise.

Every passenger should have received an official letter/ email from Celebrity before final payment. Perhaps offering $300 OBC and an upfront caveat/apology.

But then again, that would have been the proper thing to do....so obviously Celebrity didn't do that.......

 

logical, proper, but clearly Celebrity's intent was to protect the bottom line...at the expense of the passengers effected. They are, I'm sure, expecting the folks on board to mitigate the issues (said another way...don't expect to find any supervisor or officer on board who smiles on the next few cruises).

[Shewie403]

I also am not trying to be critical. We booked our b2b cruises on the Summit while we were on the Eclipse last February, and not one word was said about this. I do NOT follow the message boards, certainly not for another ship, and was VERY surprised to find out that we MAY be waiting longer to be seated and MAY not be able to book a specialty restaurant very easily. We left Princess because they started taking reservations in the Anytime dining venue, causing us to wait over an hour to be seated, and I am surprised that Celebrity has done something that will affect so many passengers without an e-mail or a letter stating this before final payment was made. It would probably not have changed my plans, as I had already booked my airfare from Canada and my hotel in Old San Juan, but it would have been more respectful. Sorry Judy. I am not very diligent and just found out the information today when we sail on the 28th. I'm not impressed at this point but will see how it is handled by Celebrity. And enjoy the rest of my vacation!

 

 

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[cle-guy]

The "issue" is affecting 1 ship at the moment, Equinox, likely for 1 maybe 2 cruises. It will then affect another ship for 1 maybe 2 cruises. So far Summit is not experiencing the issue.

 

To my knowledge no one has mentioned Summit getting the restaurant done at this time, though certainly it's on some schedule someplace, but again, like Equinox, will affect only 1 or 2 sailings.

 

All that's really at issue with the current ship and the issues for the 1 or 2 sailings, is people have to wait till boarding to make specialty reservations. And to those who can't make advanced reservations, why is the logic not more to the tune of "they are already booked, I'll have to see what happens on board" rather than "they should give me $300 OBC for the hassle of waiting to make dining arrangements till I board the ship".

 

Select dining often fills up well in advance of sailing, so that people are having a hard time choosing it isn't really such an odd thing either. No doubt there are fewer slots available for this particular sailing, but noting written anywhere guarantees any number of specific select dining slots.

 

People "having to wait to be seated", there are still the same number of people dining, so not sure how the lines can be so much more difficult to get through. However it seems X is in fact trying to steer people to alternate venues which may actually reduce the lines in MDR, or at minimum, maintain them as always.

 

No one looks at it like, "we got in early because all the seats weren't taken", people only look at it as , "we had to wait because everyone decided to dine tonight as is supposed to happen"

 

There is certainly much adieau about nothing going on, and lots of speculation without analysis to reality.

[elena7seas]

I remember this venue. It was a nice alternative to the MDR. If I remember correctly, they would train waitstaff in this venue. And it was complete with table cloths and wine choices. I think they only charged $2-3 per person.

 

"Casual Dining", in the back corner of the buffet was really enjoyable. In addition to tablecloths, menus and wine choices, there were flowers on the table and very attentive service from the trainee waitstaff. Reservations were suggested, but not necessary, so you could have a nice dinner with table service whenever you got back to the ship...no rushing after a busy day in port. There was no dress code either, which sometimes was appreciated. The food was very good, and as I remember it, always arrived hot to the table.

 

In all the times we went there, there was a service charge of $2.00. The servers were not in the regular waiters tip pool, so we always pleased to leave more, as the service was always great. It seems to me that this was discontinued in 2010, but I could be wrong.

 

I would think this would be a great way to take some of the pressure off the main dining room and specialty restaurants, if they have the staff to cover it. I never felt that it was an inferior experience to the MDR, just more relaxed.

[blueboro]

quoted by cle-guy..."There is certainly much adieau about nothing going on, and lots of speculation without analysis to reality."

 

But, how do you know that? Have you spoken with someone now on board the Equinox? You can't take away a portion of seating area without replacing the load somewhere else and without it affecting passengers. In regards to lots of speculation without analysis, you too have speculated that it will have no affect on the cruise with only speculation on your part. Hope you are correct but please don't try to tell us there is no affect when that remains to be seen.

[maggie.1008]

The last time I saw Casual Dine in the Buffet area was 2008 on the Infinity. I would like to see it brought back. Great training area for new waiters. Maybe X should consider this again.

[Panderie]

With select dining now being more crowded, and no specialty restaurant reservations available, I would be pretty upset had I booked these cruises without any " official " notice from Celebrity that these disruptions would affect my cruise.

...

But then again, that would have been the proper thing to do....so obviously Celebrity didn't do that.......

We are booked to cruise on Equinox on 23rd February, and have just found out about this issue on Cruise Critic from another couple on our cruise. We have had no communication from Celebrity about this issue, and as such are hoping to assume that all will be as booked once we are onboard. However, having tried to book the Speciality Restaurants, and also to reserve our MDR Select dining with no avail, perhaps we are going to be affected. If I book a hotel and work is due to take place during my stay, I would expect to receive a notification regarding this prior to my booking. I do not expect to discover the information via a 3rd party website on which people like us (ie. those who book a veranda stateroom) are deemed to be "the masses". This is our second "try" at Celebrity. Unfortunately we have already booked a further cruise with this line later this year, so we appear to be stuck with what we have got. We will wait and see, and hope that Celebrity does what is right. I just wish that an official voice would override the speculation on this issue. It is not good for the spirit to go on holiday with doubt and negativity as the backdrop.

[Adammara]

On what eventually turned out to be our last cruise, we were on Connie in autumn 2012. Most of the staff had been transferred to Reflection, and it told. We booked select dining, and it was a nightmare, after 4 nights we went to the buffet. A window table for 2, HOT food and friendly staff, far superior to the inexperienced staff and cool food in the MDR. We went there for the rest of the cruise, the ' best buy' were the freshly cooked grills at the station at the rear, cooked in front of your eyes, not sat on a 'pass' or in a heated cupboard for a time.

 

OK, we had to get up and serve ourselves, but it was far preferable to disorganised chaos we experienced the first 4 nights. The MDR staff did not deserve the tips we had pre-paid. By far the worst cruise we have had on 39 cruises with 4 different cruise lines: The best for service, Royal Caribbean IOTS!

[RealDeal]

Obviously, I totally agree with a lot of the sentiment in this thread.

 

And just to throw this in for good measure....Does anyone really think that even if there is availability to reserve in the specialty restaurants, service is going to be as terrific as it normally is?

 

There's no use freaking out about this now, a) because there's nothing we can do about it and b) because it might be handled really well and we'll experience very little, if any, inconvenience.

 

That being said, I'm not thrilled that I'm even in a position to have to ponder this in the week leading up to my cruise.

 

However, looking at this objectively, while we would have loved Celebrity to come out with a major announcement delineating the full impact this construction will have on cruisers, lasting for several sailings, I can't picture them ever doing so.

 

Let's just wait & see what happens...we can always make our voices be heard later on if it's truly a negative experience. That's my plan, anyway.

[RealDeal]

On what eventually turned out to be our last cruise, we were on Connie in autumn 2012. Most of the staff had been transferred to Reflection, and it told. We booked select dining, and it was a nightmare, after 4 nights we went to the buffet. A window table for 2, HOT food and friendly staff, far superior to the inexperienced staff and cool food in the MDR. We went there for the rest of the cruise, the ' best buy' were the freshly cooked grills at the station at the rear, cooked in front of your eyes, not sat on a 'pass' or in a heated cupboard for a time.

 

OK, we had to get up and serve ourselves, but it was far preferable to disorganised chaos we experienced the first 4 nights. The MDR staff did not deserve the tips we had pre-paid. By far the worst cruise we have had on 39 cruises with 4 different cruise lines: The best for service, Royal Caribbean IOTS!

 

Awesome...that's my next cruise in May (IOTS).

[richsea]

The "issue" is affecting 1 ship at the moment, Equinox, likely for 1 maybe 2 cruises. It will then affect another ship for 1 maybe 2 cruises. So far Summit is not experiencing the issue.

Summit is not experiencing an issue because the addition is not scheduled until the 3/7 sailing

 

To my knowledge no one has mentioned Summit getting the restaurant done at this time, though certainly it's on some schedule someplace, but again, like Equinox, will affect only 1 or 2 sailings.

According to Celebrity Cruises, the renovations on Summit are scheduled for the 3/7 sailing

 

All that's really at issue with the current ship and the issues for the 1 or 2 sailings, is people have to wait till boarding to make specialty reservations.

Please tell me how you know this

 

And to those who can't make advanced reservations, why is the logic not more to the tune of "they are already booked, I'll have to see what happens on board"The 2/28 sailing has virtually unlimited availability, the 3/7 sailing has virtually no availability...coincidence?.

 

rather than "they should give me $300 OBC for the hassle of waiting to make dining arrangements till I board the ship".

I haven't heard of anyone asking for $300 OBC for having to wait to make specialty dining arrangements until they are on board

 

Select dining often fills up well in advance of sailing, so that people are having a hard time choosing it isn't really such an odd thing either. No doubt there are fewer slots available for this particular sailing, but noting written anywhere guarantees any number of specific select dining slots.

 

People "having to wait to be seated", there are still the same number of people dining, so not sure how the lines can be so much more difficult to get through. However it seems X is in fact trying to steer people to alternate venues which may actually reduce the lines in MDR, or at minimum, maintain them as always.

 

No one looks at it like, "we got in early because all the seats weren't taken", people only look at it as , "we had to wait because everyone decided to dine tonight as is supposed to happen"NO ONE?.....Really?

 

There is certainly much adieau about nothing going on, and lots of speculation without analysis to reality.

Much adieu about nothing? Thank God there is someone to available to trivialize people's concerns.

Thank you so much. You seem to have an innate ability to trivialize people's concerns with your perceived common sense.

[Gracie115]

CURT (cle-guy) --- Where is the thread that you found that states suites will be given unlimited Spec Dining during this construction period. I don't see it referenced with a link....that would be helpful.....

 

I for one don't care if the suite dining room is open or not when we sail on Eclipse in April, I booked it before they ever announced it but don't want a crowded dining experience....so the spec rest perk might be very helpful but I've not seen the Celebrity rep confirm that anywhere.....

Edited February 6, 2015 by Gracie115

[cle-guy]

quoted by cle-guy..."There is certainly much adieau about nothing going on, and lots of speculation without analysis to reality."

 

But, how do you know that? Have you spoken with someone now on board the Equinox? You can't take away a portion of seating area without replacing the load somewhere else and without it affecting passengers. In regards to lots of speculation without analysis, you too have speculated that it will have no affect on the cruise with only speculation on your part. Hope you are correct but please don't try to tell us there is no affect when that remains to be seen.

 

Refer to my earlier post showing the simple mathematics of the issue at hand. It should clearly show its not a huge deal.

 

• Ship holds 2850 people
  
• MDR can seat 1420 less the 300 current missing seats = 1120 per seating, or 2220 guests.
  
• BLU seats 130 guests x 2 seatings = 260 guests
  
• Specialties seat 362 guests x 2 = 724 guests
  

 

So there is accommodation for 2220+260+724 = 3204 guests, 354 more than capacity of the ship, without regard for those who choose the buffet, room service or to skip dinner altogether.

Edited February 6, 2015 by cle-guy

[RealDeal]

CURT (cle-guy) --- Where is the thread that you found that states suites will be given unlimited Spec Dining during this construction period. I don't see it referenced with a link....that would be helpful.....

 

I for one don't care if the suite dining room is open or not when we sail on Eclipse in April, I booked it before they ever announced it but don't want a crowded dining experience....so the spec rest perk might be very helpful but I've not seen the Celebrity rep confirm that anywhere.....

 

I'm obviously not Curt, but I also saw one post, if not two, from suite passengers who were contacted prior to the cruise (possibly the current Equinox? Can't remember) and offered specialty dining every night. I distinctly remember one person's response being, "Yes, please!"

[ghstudio]

Refer to my earlier post showing the simple mathematics of the issue at hand. It should clearly show its not a huge deal.

 

• Ship holds 2850 people
  
• MDR can seat 1420 less the 300 current missing seats = 1120 per seating, or 2220 guests.
  
• BLU seats 130 guests x 2 seatings = 260 guests
  
• Specialties seat 362 guests x 2 = 724 guests
  

 

So there is accommodation for 2220+260+724 = 3204 guests, 354 more than capacity of the ship, without regard for those who choose the buffet, room service or to skip dinner altogether.

 

Based on Celebrity Cruises (semi) official statement, I think celebrity may hope you are right, but the omission of select dining from that statement indicates that they aren't quite in lock step with you :)

[Gracie115]

I'm obviously not Curt, but I also saw one post, if not two, from suite passengers who were contacted prior to the cruise (possibly the current Equinox? Can't remember) and offered specialty dining every night. I distinctly remember one person's response being, "Yes, please!"

 

Well thanks, for that reaffirming nod!! I think this solves the problem of most overcrowding....guess we'll see....not going to worry about it, looking forward to our April cruise WAY too much to allow this to interfere!!!