Suite guests bump Select Dining

[Redtravel]

Just off the Summit. Cruise was very nice most of the time. Select dining was a mess. Ideally all guests in suites should dine in the new suite dining room. That doesn't happen. We are elite+ and usually do select dining with a reservation that is booked at the time we book the cruise. Our previous experiences were excellent. We would show up at our reservation time and be seated. WE never waited. Unfortunately, select dining on Summit didn't work well. We always arrived on time. We were always hassled by the hostess. We had to wait with beepers in a very crowded lounge area. When we did finally get called to be seated, the arrangement was usually awful. The excuse was that people in suites bump everyone and the floor space for traditional dining has been reduced (space is used for Luminae). That has put more people in Select Dining without any increase in floor space. If people in suites want to dine in the MDR, they bump guests with reservations. It is a major problem. It got so bad that I went to guest relations. Guest relations promised us a table the next night at our reservation time. Hostess again gave us a beeper. By carving up the dining space to allow room for the new suite dining space, the rest of the MDR is crowded.

[insidecabin]

Simples,

 

if a suite guest is not using their space in their room and they bump a select diner the select diner get the option to eat in the suite dining room.

[renaroo]

I've read similar threads, mostly by people worrying that this exact thing may happen. I'll be in Blu for the first time in June and it appears that suite guests are also choosing Blu and in some cases, aqua guests are waiting.

 

I wonder if they could come up with a system where for every suite guest who showed up at MDR (or Blu) to eat, a MDR (or Blu) customer could have the option of going to Luminae to eat.

[Redtravel]

A trade would be nice. However, the space for the suite guest in Luminae is vacant when the suite guest is seated in the MDR. Is it okay for a suite guest to have 2 seats at dinner? No. It has created a mess. I am sure that Celebrity thought that carving up the existing space would work. They probably never realized that suite people would prefer the MDR.

[Gordoncruickshank]

We have stayed in suites over the years and if we want to go to Blu we just join on the end of the line in Blu. We don't try and jump ahead of anyone and when we went to the Mdr we did exactly the same, joined the queue in select and waited like all others. This was pre Luminae but we don't believe that being in a suite should allow line jumping.

[Iamcruzin]

What time was your reservation?

After reading some of the reviews about the new suite dining room I'm not surprised. That and the fact that if you are traveling with someone not booked in a suite you may want to eat in the MDR with them.

 

So lets recap. We have a traditional dining room that goes 1/2 full because passengers are eating at other venues and a suite dining room that isn't being used to capacity because suite guests are either eating in Blu, a specialty restaurant, on their balcony or in the select MDR.

 

I think it's time for Celebrity to either follow through with honoring reservations in the MDR by making suite guests wait in line like the rest or tell them that they can order from the MDR menu in Laminae. If they can't accommodate select diners then they need to fill seats in the traditional dining room or get rid of traditional dining and open it up for the very popular select dining.

If select dining is going to be a free for all like it is on Princess I will go back to booking on Princess.

[Iamcruzin]

We have stayed in suites over the years and if we want to go to Blu we just join on the end of the line in Blu. We don't try and jump ahead of anyone and when we went to the Mdr we did exactly the same, joined the queue in select and waited like all others. This was pre Luminae but we don't believe that being in a suite should allow line jumping.

 

Maybe it's not the passenger. Maybe Celebrity is just doing it automatically without a request from the passenger. This practice may even vary from ship to ship

[Redtravel]

Overall, there are the same number of seats as there were before the MDR got carved up to make space for Blu and Luminae. If all aqua class and suites ate in their dining room, there wouldn't be any problem. The problem happens when they opt to sit in the Select Dining section. Sign at the entrance to Select Dining says Suite Guests do not have to wait. That bumps the select guests out of a table. It has created a big problem.

[hcat]

Correct...BLU has always admitted suite guests for dinner...based upon availability. On the main board of CC, there were reports that on one of the ships,prior to opening Luminae,(had to be Ref or Connie) the Michael's Club concierge was lining up suite guests and walking them down to BLU for immediate seating..caused a rucus for awhile but on our sailings this Nov and Jan, it was already resolved and did not occur...

 

Hoping Luminae continues to improve so BLU stays uncrowded....maybe they should borrow some ideas from BLU for Luminae as BLU has worked well...at least for us!

[hcat]

Overall, there are the same number of seats as there were before the MDR got carved up to make space for Blu and Luminae. If all aqua class and suites ate in their dining room, there wouldn't be any problem. The problem happens when they opt to sit in the Select Dining section. Sign at the entrance to Select Dining says Suite Guests do not have to wait. That bumps the select guests out of a table. It has created a big problem.

 

Just a note,

On S class, BLU was not an MDR carve out...only Luminae...

 

BLU area on Connie (M class) was a carve out, fairly large space...very nice, not sure what MDR side looks like?????

 

sounds like Luminae is not yet a huge success!

[Fredric22]

Having just dined in Luminae for 7 days, I cannot understand why anyone would want to go to the MDR unless they were vacationing with guests who were not in suites. The food and service are much better than the MDR and you can also order from the MDR menu. It makes no sense to me...

[CruisingChick]

We sailed Summit on May 24th. The MDR has become a fiasco. We had traditional late dining and because now there is only one entrance for each venue the line to get in the MDR stretched all the way back through the Rendezvous Lounge. Not to mention the service was not great either and there were problems in the kitchen.

 

They have really ruined the M Class ships. I guess it's good thing they are building Project Edge ships so they can get rid of the M Class starting in 2018.

[Redtravel]

On the Summit M class, the space for Blu and Luminae were taken from the MDR. Upper level is Blu. Lower level is Luminae. On S class ships, Blu was an original and has its own space. Not sure where they put Luminae.

[ClaudiaB]

Haven't experienced Luminae yet but we have been suite guests and have always waited at the end of the line when dining in other venues. If we were offered to "bump" the line we would refuse and would instead wait at the end of the line. It's hard for me to imagine someone would do that--just walk in and get in first. In Blu we never went ahead of an Aqua guest. Never did, never would. We have stood there in line and let the rest of the people in line who are Aqua Class go first.

We also do the same thing in the theatre - if people are pushing and shoving to get in and grab a seat we just hang back and let them go. So please don't put everyone in a box if they happen to pay more for their bed.

I read a lot of things here that assume suite guests feel entitled. I don't get that at all. Is that a reality or is it an assumption? When we're on a ship we are all going to the same place, we all to go the shows and lectures, hang out at the pool and are all on vacation enjoying a beautiful ship. Some of us pay more for our beds, some pay less, but that shouldn't make anyone superior. I certainly hope that if there ARE some passengers who want preferential treatment they would step back and defer.

[Cindy]

Having just dined in Luminae for 7 days, I cannot understand why anyone would want to go to the MDR unless they were vacationing with guests who were not in suites. The food and service are much better than the MDR and you can also order from the MDR menu. It makes no sense to me...

 

It sounds like Celebrity needs a better plan for the suite guests who, for whatever reason, choose to eat in the MDR or BLU. I understand what Celebrity is trying to do with Suite Class, but I don't think it's right that a suite guest should be seated in the MDR or BLU ahead of someone who chose that as their dining option for the cruise. I imagine it would be very frustrating to have a reservation yet be forced to wait with a beeper because you were displaced by a suite guest, while seats in Luminae are empty.

[C-Dragons]

haven't experienced luminae yet but we have been suite guests and have always waited at the end of the line when dining in other venues. If we were offered to "bump" the line we would refuse and would instead wait at the end of the line. It's hard for me to imagine someone would do that--just walk in and get in first. In blu we never went ahead of an aqua guest. Never did, never would. We have stood there in line and let the rest of the people in line who are aqua class go first.

We also do the same thing in the theatre - if people are pushing and shoving to get in and grab a seat we just hang back and let them go. So please don't put everyone in a box if they happen to pay more for their bed.

I read a lot of things here that assume suite guests feel entitled. I don't get that at all. Is that a reality or is it an assumption? When we're on a ship we are all going to the same place, we all to go the shows and lectures, hang out at the pool and are all on vacation enjoying a beautiful ship. Some of us pay more for our beds, some pay less, but that shouldn't make anyone superior. I certainly hope that if there are some passengers who want preferential treatment they would step back and defer.

+ 1.

Edited June 9, 2015 by C-Dragons

[C-Dragons]

It sounds like Celebrity needs a better plan for the suite guests who, for whatever reason, choose to eat in the MDR or BLU. I understand what Celebrity is trying to do with Suite Class, but I don't think it's right that a suite guest should be seated in the MDR or BLU ahead of someone who chose that as their dining option for the cruise. I imagine it would be very frustrating to have a reservation yet be forced to wait with a beeper because you were displaced by a suite guest, while seats in Luminae are empty.

Why is there an assumption that there are seats going empty in Luminae? It is a much smaller dining venue and from our experience at dinner, it was full every evening.

[Gracie115]

Having just dined in Luminae for 7 days, I cannot understand why anyone would want to go to the MDR unless they were vacationing with guests who were not in suites. The food and service are much better than the MDR and you can also order from the MDR menu. It makes no sense to me...

 

Precisely my thought.......I haven't read bad reviews on Luminae .... we ABSOLUTLEY loved it. Over 16 nights we ate at BLU one time and it was mostly out of nostalgia because we like Blu so much. Luminae was wonderful and service was far superior to MDR. We sure didn't see Suite guests opting for MDR, Luminae was busy nearly every night. Sorry that Select Dining has suffered but I don't think it's due to suite guests using MDR....at least NOT on as large a scale as this thread indicates....at least not on Eclipse....

[Cindy]

Why is there an assumption that there are seats going empty in Luminae? It is a much smaller dining venue and from our experience at dinner, it was full every evening.

 

Perhaps I should have said while their designated dining arrangement in Luminae is unused for that evening. The point I was trying to make is there is a limited amount of Select Dining space, and when Suite guests choose to eat in the MDR they are effectively taking two "slots" for that meal. I don't think Select diners who have chosen that as their dining arrangement for the cruise should be inconvenienced because their reservation was trumped by a Suite guest.

[jcpc]

We have Cruising Chick complaining that there were empty seats at tables in traditional dining on Summit.

 

We have Redtravel complaining that Select dining was a mess due to Suite people wanting to eat at Select dining.

 

Seems like a good solution would be to take part of the main dining room and turn it into "select" seating since demand for traditional dining seems to be decreasing and demand for select dining seems to be increasing.

 

FWIW - I was on Summit in April and ate in Luminae every night and the service, quality of food, etc. was much better than anything I ever received in either the MDR or Select dining in recent years.

[TeaBag]

We are currently on Eclipse. We eat fairly early and have had no problem with crowding. By the time we leave (7:30 ish) the room is fairly full.

[biker1972]

Select dining, no matter in what area allows guest to select a time to arrive for dinner while the MDR has 2 set times. The number of tables for the ship remains about the same so if guests were on the old system of only 2 traditional seatings there there would be enough seats for all. The problem arises because so many people want the same time and are unwilling to adjust their reservation time. Go to a land restaurant and show up at a prime time and you might have to wait for quite some time. By taking reservations and having walk-ups as well as allowing some guests the right to cut line, X creates a problem for themselves. Suite guests wanting to leave their private dining room and use select dining should be required to have a reservation and the number of these should be highly limited. Otherwise suite guests should go to the end of the line.

 

Honoring reservations for select dining is a related issue. How X handles reservations and the number allowed for each time slot has to be part of the problem. Do they overbook? Also how long should a table be held for guest who is late for the reservation time slot? Walk-ups exacerbate the issue because they are the unknown quantity. Best advice is make a reservation, be on time and be ready to wait.

[Can'tstopcruising]

My experience is that no reservations are taken for prime time. It is first come first served only.

 

Can we reserve prime time before the cruise? Has anyone done this?

[CruisingChick]

We have Cruising Chick complaining that there were empty seats at tables in traditional dining on Summit.

 

Correct. My feelings are Celebrity has really messed up the MDR, at least on Summit. I suspect some of those empty seats people either ate at a specialty restaurant, the expanded buffet or changed to (or just showed up at) Select dining.

 

Until the new ships come out I think Celebrity needs to find a better way, at least on the M class ships to handle the dining room reservations. Which should have been thought about before they took away so much of the MDR to create specialty dining.

[insidecabin]

On any ship with select/anytime/freestyle/..., eat late if you encounter problems eating early/peak. never seen a line at 9pm unless there is a lot of people on very late excurtions.

 

If people are booking and X is not setting aside unough tables by defering walk ups and giving priority to suites then they are creating the problem.

 

One partial solution for the passenger is start turning up a bit early for your booking and plan to either get sat and take your time or go for the predinner and come back on time.

 

IF the hostess is giving grief get someone higher up the chain at the dining room at the time,

 

Going to guest services is going to the bottom of the chain to get problems solved.