Please post your select dining experience now that Luminae has been built

[ghstudio]

I'm sorry, but you have misunderstood. We are on Reflection now as suite passengers and there is no such thing as assigned dining for suites. All options for dining are available to suite passengers. We have been told this by all, including Captains Club, if you don't think this is true call Captains Club to confirm. Please don't let this become a class battle.

 

Suite passengers are not assigned to early, late or select seating in the MDR, even though when booking, you must pick one of those options due to Celebrity's antiquated billing system. You are welcome to dine in a specialty restaurant with a reservation.

 

It's not at all clear if a suite passenger can now eat in Blu at any time or if it's still on a space available basis...I don't think we've even discussed that on CC. As a frequent aqua class passenger, I don't really want to wait (longer) for a table because suite passengers now just walk up and get seated in blu, perhaps with friends travelling in aqua class, before me. Will that actually happen....who knows?

Edited April 16, 2015 by ghstudio

[Iamthesea]

I'm sorry, but you have misunderstood. We are on Reflection now as suite passengers and there is no such thing as assigned dining for suites. All options for dining are available to suite passengers. We have been told this by all, including Captains Club, if you don't think this is true call Captains Club to confirm. Please don't let this become a class battle.

 

This was my understanding 2 weeks ago while staying in a SS. We just had to ask.;)

 

Suite passengers are not assigned to early, late or select seating in the MDR, even though when booking, you must pick one of those options due to Celebrity's antiquated billing system. You are welcome to dine in a specialty restaurant with a reservation.

 

It's not at all clear if a suite passenger can now eat in Blu at any time or if it's still on a space available basis...I don't think we've even discussed that on CC. As a frequent aqua class passenger, I don't really want to wait (longer) for a table because suite passengers now just walk up and get seated in blu, perhaps with friends travelling in aqua class, before me. Will that actually happen....who knows?

 

Yes, a Suite passenger can show up at Blu at anytime, and if there was space available for dining, they are seated. Although we did not dine in Blu for dinner during our trip, we were constantly asked during breakfast where we had been for dinner the night before. They wanted us to eat in Blu. We got the same questions from Luminae staff when we ate breakfast with them on 2 mornings.

[Project_gal]

I am just glad that there is finally some where for us upper suite class to eat away from the lower class rif raf:eek: Hopefully some day we can have are own pool Maybe we could just have the ship to are selfs and make the low life stay down in steerage or something;) Why does their have to be all of this separation? You pay more to stay in a suite but you are getting the nicer room why do you need your private little spots on the ship:rolleyes:

 

It is not that we are looking for separation but prior to the announcement of a new suite restaurant we were considering the end of cruising for us.

 

Having loved the MDR on our early cruises, we gave up on it in 2009. There are a number of reasons [such as the noise now being an issue now for my husband] but, primarily , we were spoilt on our first two cruises with both great table mates and great wait staff. Our luck could not continue and in 2009we got terrible wait staff, indifferent table mates and awful table location. After four days we moved to the specialty restaurants.

 

After 5 years of barely changing menus, staff reductions and increasing overcrowding, it got that we were dreading dinner. Hopefully, the new suite restaurant will extend our cruising career. Specialty restaurants with changing menus would have been as acceptable a solution. Luminae will, hopefully offer us the opportunity on occasions to share a table with new people like Select Dining].

 

We also love the ambiance in Michael's Club and the chance to make and meet with new friends and hold a conversation. Elsewhere on the ship, bars are either dead or far too crowded meaning you cannot get a seat or hold a conversation. Travelling as a couple, without Michael's Club we would be more segregated, not less. We can make new friends in Michael's Club - something that is much more difficult at other bars.

 

We are prepared to pay more to get these things and be less nor more segregated. Suite prices have definitely risen to pay for the new perks. We choose to pay them to get the experience that we want although we probably have less disposable income than the majority of cruisers [from what we are told by the people we meet on board - or, of course, are just more honest about it] especially since I had to suddenly stop working on health grounds. We just choose to spend it the way we do. Anyone else can make the same choice.

[C-Dragons]

I'm sorry, but you have misunderstood. We are on Reflection now as suite passengers and there is no such thing as assigned dining for suites. All options for dining are available to suite passengers. We have been told this by all, including Captains Club, if you don't think this is true call Captains Club to confirm. Please don't let this become a class battle.

I don't have a clue why you think my remarks have anything to do with a "class battle". Of course all dining options are available for suite guests, I said nothing to imply otherwise. ;) I don't need to call anyone for verification, my TA confirmed with the Captain's Club months ago about our dining arrangements in Luminae, which I am very much looking forward to. I hope you are happy wherever you choose to dine.

[ghstudio]

Yes, a Suite passenger can show up at Blu at anytime, and if there was space available for dining, they are seated. Although we did not dine in Blu for dinner during our trip, we were constantly asked during breakfast where we had been for dinner the night before. They wanted us to eat in Blu. We got the same questions from Luminae staff when we ate breakfast with them on 2 mornings.

 

I suspect this is an unannounced change. In the past, if suite passengers wanted to dine in Blu and there were aqua guests waiting, the aqua guestss would be seated first and suite guests would be asked to return later or be seated after all the aqua guests had been seated. Iamthesea's comment suggests that now suite guests just show up at blu and will just wait in their place in line and everyone will be seated in the order in which they arrive.

 

I'm sensitive to this because on our last cruise, there were up to 30 minute waits for Blu...and the maitre d' insisted that there were no suite passengers dining. I'm not looking forward longer lines....

[hcat]

Wonder why they wanted pax to eat in BLU if you were suite guests assigned to Luminae? Esp for breakfast

 

I am not good at math but if they subtracted a set number of seats for suite guests in Luminae, did that leave enough seats, space and staff to have Select and traditional dining? (Esp on M class where a carve out was already made for BLU.....)

 

They now have many restaurants all going at once....

 

Hope more consistency develops so we know what to expect wherever we dine and hope BLU stays with its original concept...my understanding was that suite guests were given BLU as an option after AQ became very popular b/c of BLU....and suite guests were still assigned to MDR...they are now have Luminae and space available access to BLU for dinner....seems also for breakfast????

Edited April 16, 2015 by hcat

[Iamthesea]

I suspect this is an unannounced change. In the past, if suite passengers wanted to dine in Blu and there were aqua guests waiting, the aqua guestss would be seated first and suite guests would be asked to return later or be seated after all the aqua guests had been seated. Iamthesea's comment suggests that now suite guests just show up at blu and will just wait in their place in line and everyone will be seated in the order in which they arrive.

 

I'm sensitive to this because on our last cruise, there were up to 30 minute waits for Blu...and the maitre d' insisted that there were no suite passengers dining. I'm not looking forward longer lines....

 

 

Nothing has changed. This is our personal experience with Blu.

 

As I mentioned...

if there was space available for dining, they are seated.

We show up (whether in a Suite or AQ) and are seated as soon as a table becomes available. However, in our 4 cruises with Blu being an option, we have never waited more than 2 minutes for a table. We usually arrive between 8:00-8:30. And the wait was not because of other passengers being in a line. (We have never seen a line more than a couple of people at Blu.) It was a wait for a table to be cleared. ;) Things may be different if you are trying to eat at an earlier or even later time.

 

Last Spring, we were in a Suite and ate in Blu every single morning...no problem. I left a $5 gratuity on the table each morning. A couple of weeks ago (still in a Suite), we ate in Blu for 2 mornings and Luminae 2 mornings. Never a problem, and as I said, each wanted to know why we were not trying dinner in their restaurants.

Edited April 16, 2015 by Iamthesea

[ghstudio]

Wonder why they wanted pax to eat in BLU if you were suite guests assigned to Luminae? Esp for breakfast

 

I am not good at math but if they subtracted a set number of seats for suite guests in Luminae, did that leave enough seats, space and staff to have Select and traditional dining? (Esp on M class where a carve out was already made for BLU.....)

 

They now have many restaurants all going at once....

 

Hope more consistency develops so we know what to expect wherever we dine and hope BLU stays with its original concept...my understanding was that suite guests were given BLU as an option after AQ became very popular b/c of BLU....and suite guests were still assigned to MDR...they are now have Luminae and space available access to BLU for dinner....seems also for breakfast????

 

suite guests were always invited to use Blu for breakfast...no change there. As far as taking out about 400 seats and replacing it with 60 seats (rough numbers), one would logically believe that there will be longer waits for select dining...and tables will be (even) closer together.

 

It really is strange that waiters in Luminae would encourage suite passengers to eat in Blu. I can see encouraging them to eat in the specialty restaurants....but why blu? Very weird...perhaps a one-off on that cruise.....or perhaps it's a way to make suite guests feel they have the run of the ship and can dine anywhere. Unclear and confusing.

[opa&oma]

suite guests were always invited to use Blu for breakfast...no change there. As far as taking out about 400 seats and replacing it with 60 seats (rough numbers), one would logically believe that there will be longer waits for select dining...and tables will be (even) closer together.

 

It really is strange that waiters in Luminae would encourage suite passengers to eat in Blu. I can see encouraging them to eat in the specialty restaurants....but why blu? Very weird...perhaps a one-off on that cruise.....or perhaps it's a way to make suite guests feel they have the run of the ship and can dine anywhere. Unclear and confusing.

 

Yes, it's true we, (suite guests) now "have run of the ship"

[ghstudio]

A couple of weeks ago (still in a Suite), we ate in Blu for 2 mornings and Luminae 2 mornings. Never a problem, and as I said, each wanted to know why we were not trying dinner in their restaurants.

 

did you notice any difference between breakfast in Luminae and breakfast in Blu.

 

Why would a suite passenger choose Blu other than "just for a change" or because they were meeting an aqua class guest for breakfast?

[peanut1957]

I am pleased to read that suite guests will be able to have select dining in the MDR. We will be travelling with another family on Equinox in August. There will be 7 of us all together - two couples each in RSs and three young adults not in suites. While we may well treat ourselves to Luminae once or twice, and a couple of the speciality restaurants, 150 dollars extra every night for dinner in Luminae would soon mount up. The MDR will therefore be our main eating place. With kids this age having dinner together is an important part of the evening before they go off to socialise with new friends. I'm sure we won't be the only people in this situation in the main holiday periods. This is less likely to be an issue out of that time.

[Iamthesea]

Just be sure to link your booking reservations. Our reservation was not linked with our non-suite, cruisin cousins and as mentioned, we had a heck of a time getting our table situated.

 

did you notice any difference between breakfast in Luminae and breakfast in Blu.

 

Why would a suite passenger choose Blu other than "just for a change" or because they were meeting an aqua class guest for breakfast?

 

We were not meeting anyone. When we found that our cousins were booking the cruise to go along with us, and they were not booking a suite, we made a deal that my 3 would eat breakfast in a suite class environment and then we would join up with them for lunch and dinner in a non-suite restaurant.

 

We have always loved Blu for breakfast because the atmosphere and service was better than the MDF and especially better than fighting the crowds at the buffet. The food is excellent and there are items (like tableside Muesilix and yogurt smoothies and parfaits) that you cannot get in the dining room.

 

Our Luminae breakfast was the week before the new menu's came out. I am not sure if the breakfast menu is any different now, but we found it to be a standard MDR menu. Also, we just prefer the atmosphere of Blu over Luminae.

Edited April 17, 2015 by Iamthesea

[Wine-O]

Yes, it's true we, (suite guests) now "have run of the ship"

 

Why not, they paid for it. I'm not a class envy person.

[peanut1957]

Thanks for the advice about linking bookings. This raises another issue related to the dreaded Celebrity website. For some reason it links three of the bookings but refuses to link the fourth. A very nice guy in the Celebrity UK IT department assures me all will be well but couldn't fix it or even explain what is causing the problem. I'm sure we will all have a great time once on board but Celebrity don't always help you to relax beforehand!

[Adidas4fun]

Yes, it's true we, (suite guests) now "have run of the ship"

 

Groan, what a wind up. I am not going to run, that's what I have a butler for.

[Iamthesea]

I probably mentioned this before, but our Butler was a huge help in getting our seating assignment straightened out. We have stayed in a few Suites, but this was the first time that we asked a Butler to help us with anything. Shout out, again, to Nelson! :)

[ghstudio]

Why not, they paid for it. I'm not a class envy person.

 

I don't have a problem with this other than in Blu for dinner. Blu was designed to handle the number of guests in aqua cabins...that's one of the reasons they only allow 2 people in an aqua class cabin. When you add suite passengers to the mix, some of the tables that should have aqua passengers dining are taken up by suite passengers...thus the aqua class passengers who have paid for "exclusive dining room" (I quote celebrity's web site) don't get that...and they have to wait. The old system....suite customers can eat in Blu if there is space, seemed to work. The Blu Maitre d' was able to hold empty tables for aqua passengers during prime dining times (which changed based on the cruise)...suite customers were asked to return later. As I understand the new system...they can just wander up and dine in Blu at any time, even if aqua passengers arrive while the suite folks are waiting for a table in Blu.

 

That's a potential problem....

[koolforkatz]

Groan, what a wind up. I am not going to run, that's what I have a butler for.

 

 

Now that is funny. ;)

 

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[Iamthesea]

As I understand the new system...they can just wander up and dine in Blu at any time, even if aqua passengers arrive while the suite folks are waiting for a table in Blu.

 

That's a potential problem....

 

ghstudio - You keep saying something about "the new system" but as far as I know, nothing has changed. :confused:

[Wine-O]

I think Suite folks ate in Blu as the alternative to their assigned dining in the MDR. Now with their own dining venue, I guess it will depend on the menu of the day whether or not they will come to Blu.

[GazW]

...Blu was designed to handle the number of guests in aqua cabins...

 

Was Luminae not designed to handle the number of guests in suites?

 

When the prospect of potential issues was originally brought up on these forums, it was stated by numerous people (probably by suite passengers) that there would not be a space problem for passengers 'resigned" to the MDR, as there would be an almost straight swap of "seats" for "seats"

 

Notwithstanding the fact that it has been reported here that the MDR space has been compromised by the introduction of the suite dining room, now it appears that it could become even more of an issue, as those people having the benefit of Luminae at their disposal can choose to dine in the MDR whenever they feel like it, potentially affecting the dining pleasure of those who have the MDR assigned as their only "free served dining option".

 

Is this right?

[CHEZMARYLOU]

Luminae is the assigned suites dining room and we will be dining there just about every night, especially since we can order Caesar salad and escargot from the MDR menu. If not Luminae it will be a specialty restaurant or dinner in our suite. I do think that if suite guests dine often in Blu or the MDR it will impact other cruisers.

[Iamcruzin]

Luminae is the assigned suites dining room and we will be dining there just about every night, especially since we can order Caesar salad and escargot from the MDR menu. If not Luminae it will be a specialty restaurant or dinner in our suite. I do think that if suite guests dine often in Blu or the MDR it will impact other cruisers.

Enjoy the new dining room. For the life of me I can't figure out why anyone would want to eat in the MDR when they could have the pleasure of dining in Luminae.

[ghstudio]

ghstudio - You keep saying something about "the new system" but as far as I know, nothing has changed. :confused:

 

That's what I'm trying to find out.

 

"old system" - suite passenger walks up to Blu at 7:00 when maitre d' knows aqua customers will be coming very soon...maitre d' asks suite customer to come back at 8:15

 

"new system" (run of the ship) - suite passenger walks up to blu and is the next seated, even if aqua passengers arrive, as expected just after them.

 

It's a question of what happens when suite passengers walk up to blu for dinner....are they asked to wait, if it's a busy time for Blu, or are they now just admitted when they arrive?

[hulamoon]

That's what I'm trying to find out.

 

"old system" - suite passenger walks up to Blu at 7:00 when maitre d' knows aqua customers will be coming very soon...maitre d' asks suite customer to come back at 8:15

 

"new system" (run of the ship) - suite passenger walks up to blu and is the next seated, even if aqua passengers arrive, as expected just after them.

 

It's a question of what happens when suite passengers walk up to blu for dinner....are they asked to wait, if it's a busy time for Blu, or are they now just admitted when they arrive?

 

We tend to eat early however have never been asked to wait to eat in Blu. Turned down a couple of times, but not in years.