Suite guests bump Select Dining

[Gracie115]

Aren't all suite guests (those in levels above sky) supposed to get a phone call from the Concierge prior to their cruise?

Shouldn't maybe the concierge explain Luminae (and who is and isn't included and extra charges, etc.) all of this to them prior to boarding?

 

Well....maybe they are supposed to but we certainly did not. I think this service is for Royal and Penthouse suite guests....we were in a CS. I also think it's kind of "hit or miss" depending on the ship and the concierge.....

 

AND there are a whole lot more Sky Suite guests than CS, RS & PH suites.......so the problem definitely needs to be addressed to that level also..

[chemmo]

PH, RSand sometimes CS get the phone call.

 

The people we met who had been misinformed were in Sky Suites. i guess it will be a time factor before things become the norm and everyone understands the 'rules' of Luminae.

 

What also will not help is if different ships do have different rules. For example we were told we had unlimited speciality dining but that we could not dine in the specialities on sea day lunchtimes when one or the other was open. I posted this in answer to a question and someone came back saying they had been allowed the lunchtime specialities!

 

So if on one ship, a little discretion is allowed and the non suite room just adult aged children are allowed to dine in Luminae as long as they come at a quiet time.....or the elderly single mother of a suite couple.....what will become the expected norm?

[Christine Frances]

If Suite guests are lining up for Blu then that doesn't mean they haven't bumped an Aqua guest if there are any left in the queue behind them. There should be 2 queues, one for Aqua and one for Suite. Only when the Aqua is empty should Suite guests be served. That is true "only if available".

 

Also, what about the AQ guests who are assigned to Blu that go to Select in the MDR to eat with friends or for the menu? They are also taking up seats that should be available to Select diners.

[Iamcruzin]

Why do DH and I have to change the way we like to cruise? To please rude people like you? You change and get over yourself.

 

You posted on your Summit review that you were very disapointed with traditional dining. You commented on how your table mates never showed up and you even made a comment about subpar service. Evidently traditional isn't working you. Like it of not traditional dining on Celebrity is going the way of the dinosaur. I predict in 10yrs it will be gone on Celebrity or maybe it will be extinct on the new builds. Read the writing on the wall. More venues are being dedicated to anytime dining, first Blu and now Luninae and issues of not having enough room to seat those who are booked in select dining with or without reservations. It will be interesting to see how they handle the dining experience on the new builds.

[HouseRulz]

Guests in certain staterooms having access to special dining, and whether or not those folks choose to use MDR.

 

Guests who insist on traditional fixed dining, but only sometimes use their tables.

 

Guests who want to show up at MDR at a peak time and be seated quickly, and do not care to sit with others.

 

All of these are strains on the dining room staff. The entire way in which dinner is done needs to be revisited.

 

Seems the solution is to remove the divisions which has the effect of expanding the pot.

 

 

MDR

You can reserve a table (for one or all days) and have your meals consistently in the same zone OR same table if your seating time is the first seating. Any guest who does not arrive within 15 (or 20 or 30 not sure exact number) minutes of their seating time will have their table released.

 

While this would likely provide the necessary space, timing is an issue. The peak dining time is between 7 and 8. If you start using vacant tables from the 6:00 seating at 7, then at 8:30 the table is still occupied.

 

One thing that I think you see more of on the newer ships, that I think would help, if to get rid of round tables. If larger tables are nothing more than a collection of 2 tops, and your normal group of 10 is only 6 on a given night, the staff can pull two tables away, seat your group of 6, and use the other tables to accommodate a group of 4.

 

Lots of possible suggestions, but clearly the status quo is not working. Also, while I certainly respect the tradition of fixed dining, and understand that it means a lot to many folks, I would suggest that this would be the largest source of empty seats. If the cruise lines decide to make a drastic change, they will likely realize this. They would be far less likely to attach restrictions on there suite quests, who are paying the most, and only represent about 5% of the total number of passengers.

Edited June 10, 2015 by HouseRulz

[HouseRulz]

 

I'm struggling to see how those in favour of traditional dining are suffering from entitlitis anymore than those in Select dining.

 

If a group is seated for fixed dining at a table for 10 on a 10 day cruise, and all 10 people dine in MDR for all 10 days, then there is no problem. But too often, after the first formal night, one or two couples decide to dine in port, at a specialty restaurant, in their cabin, or at the buffet. The expectation is that those seats will be held until the next night, when one couple returns while another is exploring other opportunities. I think many would argue that expecting the dining room staff to provide this table of ten for ten nights to a group of 10 people (100 total individual dines) when only 60 or 70 entrees are ordered by the end of the cruise represents a sense of entitlement.

 

I'm not suggesting that you skip nights in MDR, or have a problem with folks being seated at your table when your normal dining companions are elsewhere (although given your handle, I would expect a certain sense of entitlement!!), but I would certainly take issue with anyone who suggests that suite guests should be turned away from MDR while guests on traditional dining can feel free to leave there seats vacant 2, 3, or more times on a cruise.

Edited June 10, 2015 by HouseRulz

[sunshine nana]

I was waiting in a TA for my agent to get me some foreign money from the back room when I overheard another TA telling a group of 4 women that" they WOULD be able to smoke on their balcony but the cruise line doesn't like it." I had a hard time not jumping in to correct her! What happened when they got on board and smoked??

[CruisingChick]

You posted on your Summit review that you were very disapointed with traditional dining. You commented on how your table mates never showed up and you even made a comment about subpar service. Evidently traditional isn't working you. Like it of not traditional dining on Celebrity is going the way of the dinosaur. I predict in 10yrs it will be gone on Celebrity or maybe it will be extinct on the new builds. Read the writing on the wall. More venues are being dedicated to anytime dining, first Blu and now Luninae and issues of not having enough room to seat those who are booked in select dining with or without reservations. It will be interesting to see how they handle the dining experience on the new builds.

 

I am not disappointed with traditional dining we love it. What we are disappointed with is the way Celebrity handles this on their ships. Not sure if others handle it any better as we have only been sailing on Celebrity

 

They need to start asking when people when they book if they intend on eating in the MDR. Like I stated in my review there were 7 people scheduled for traditional late dining that never showed up and that's just from the 2 tables we had contact with. Who knows what the total number was. If you are not in a Suite or in Blu you have to pick Early, Late or Select when you book. There needs to be "other" option for those who are buying specialty dining packages and/or intend on eating at the buffet and/or room service, and have no intentions of showing up at late seating dinner.

 

This way it would also free up seats in the MDR and they could use those seats for the overflow of Select dining.

[Ma Bell]

If a group is seated for fixed dining at a table for 10 on a 10 day cruise, and all 10 people dine in MDR for all 10 days, then there is no problem. But too often, after the first formal night, one or two couples decide to dine in port, at a specialty restaurant, in their cabin, or at the buffet. The expectation is that those seats will be held until the next night, when one couple returns while another is exploring other opportunities. I think many would argue that expecting the dining room staff to provide this table of ten for ten nights to a group of 10 people (100 total individual dines) when only 60 or 70 entrees are ordered by the end of the cruise represents a sense of entitlement.

 

I'm not suggesting that you skip nights in MDR, or have a problem with folks being seated at your table when your normal dining companions are elsewhere (although given your handle, I would expect a certain sense of entitlement!!), but I would certainly take issue with anyone who suggests that suite guests should be turned away from MDR while guests on traditional dining can feel free to leave there seats vacant 2, 3, or more times on a cruise.

 

The problem is easy to solve. You just let your servers know when you aren't going to be there and they can seat others at the table.

[Iamcruzin]

In reading this LONG discussion has it occurred to anyone else that if suite passengers are choosing NOT to eat in Luminae that maybe the solution to the problem is that the menu needs readjusting?

 

If Luminae was everything it was purported to be I can't imagine anyone wanting to dine anywhere else.

 

 

:confused: ... :confused: ... :confused:

 

I can't comment on the food in Luninae but like most food reviews here they are mixed. I think the real problem stems from the fact that this is a brand new program for suite guests and needs a full year to iron out any problems. I am sure that many who booked their suite before they knew anything about the new perks booked the room for space or location. Being able to dine with the passengers in their party who booked lower categories was never an issue because they were always assigned to the MDR since there was never a special dining room for suite guests. These people either just handed the reservation over to a TA or Celebrity and never looked back. Now they boarded the ship and have no idea about the dining room and really don't care because in their mind they were eating meals in the MDR with their family and friends. Some people book so far in advance that they have no idea of any change and they don't follow Cruise Critic. I think once all of the old pre Luminea reservations have cleared new booking passengers will be more informed and will plan accordingly.

[CruisingChick]

The problem is easy to solve. You just let your servers know when you aren't going to be there and they can seat others at the table.

 

What about the people assigned to traditional dining that never show up and don't feel the need to notify anyone?

[Ma Bell]

Guests in certain staterooms having access to special dining, and whether or not those folks choose to use MDR.

 

Guests who insist on traditional fixed dining, but only sometimes use their tables.

 

Guests who want to show up at MDR at a peak time and be seated quickly, and do not care to sit with others.

 

All of these are strains on the dining room staff. The entire way in which dinner is done needs to be revisited.

 

 

 

While this would likely provide the necessary space, timing is an issue. The peak dining time is between 7 and 8. If you start using vacant tables from the 6:00 seating at 7, then at 8:30 the table is still occupied.

 

One thing that I think you see more of on the newer ships, that I think would help, if to get rid of round tables. If larger tables are nothing more than a collection of 2 tops, and your normal group of 10 is only 6 on a given night, the staff can pull two tables away, seat your group of 6, and use the other tables to accommodate a group of 4.

 

Lots of possible suggestions, but clearly the status quo is not working. Also, while I certainly respect the tradition of fixed dining, and understand that it means a lot to many folks, I would suggest that this would be the largest source of empty seats. If the cruise lines decide to make a drastic change, they will likely realize this. They would be far less likely to attach restrictions on there suite quests, who are paying the most, and only represent about 5% of the total number of passengers.

 

I would really hate to see the MDR turned into a school cafeteria with rows of tables. Round tables provide a much nicer conversational experience with your tablemates. Maybe that's becoming a thing of the past too since many young people spend most of their time looking at their cell phones. On a cruise you might have to look up and speak to someone. :eek:

[DYKWIA]

....

 

I'm not suggesting that you skip nights in MDR, or have a problem with folks being seated at your table when your normal dining companions are elsewhere (although given your handle, I would expect a certain sense of entitlement!!), but I would certainly take issue with anyone who suggests that suite guests should be turned away from MDR while guests on traditional dining can feel free to leave there seats vacant 2, 3, or more times on a cruise.

 

Exactly, if there is a problem, Celebrity need to manage the situation better. When we chose to dine elsewhere we made sure we told our table mates and the Service staff. Our table mates did the same and they knew our table of 6 would be empty. It's courtesy.

 

I suspect a lot of people sitting on a larger table where there is space because table mates are dining elsewhere would welcome new table mates for the night - as long as they join at roughly the same time. It might be a bit strange having new people join you as you were being served after dinner coffee.

 

My handle was mainly to do with anonymity but probably also refers to my years on Flyertalk (particularly the Luxury Hotel Forum) where some people's sense of entitlement reaches new levels of absurdity - (the guy, who amongst many other crazy reviews, demanded a heavy discount at The Peninsula in Hong Kong because his Rolls Royce transfer was in a Rolls Royce without curtains is legendary). Does your handle mean I can expect someone who can't spell? ;)

Edited June 10, 2015 by DYKWIA

[Ma Bell]

What about the people assigned to traditional dining that never show up and don't feel the need to notify anyone?

 

If they don't show up without notifying twice, it should be fair game.

[HouseRulz]

My handle was mainly to do with anonymity but probably also refers to my years on Flyertalk (particularly the Luxury Hotel Forum) where some people's sense of entitlement reaches new levels of absurdity - (the guy, who amongst many other crazy reviews, demanded a heavy discount at The Peninsula in Hong Kong because his Rolls Royce transfer was in a Rolls Royce without curtains is legendary). Does your handle mean I can expect someone who can't spell? ;)

 

I knew exactly which board was the genesis for DYKWIA.

As for my handle, it has nothing to do with spelling, but your assumption is appropriate none the less. :D

[elena7seas]

Agree with you. I would feel uncomfortable doing it, especially with a designated dining area. We ate in Blu on our last cruise. As long as we were there when it opened, there was no problem. However, the one time we came later, there was a wait with a beeper. I did not realize suite guests were alternating between Luminae and Blu which might explain the backups in Blu.

 

Celebrity has a great computer system for dining and I think they need to put it to better use.

 

One thing they could do quickly and easily is open up spaces in Luminae every time a suite guest arrives to eat in Blu. They could then allow someone from Blu to eat in Luminae, which would ease the pressure in Blu. As an AquaClass passenger, I would be happy to put my name on a waiting list to get into Luminae, and I wouldn't mind waiting in a bar with a beeper until my room number was called. They already probably have a good idea of how many suite guests eat in Blu on an average evening, so would know approximately how many names to accept on a waiting list. It's a small fix, granted, but I think it would be a win-win situation, and would be another incentive to book Aquaclass.

[Gordoncruickshank]

You posted on your Summit review that you were very disapointed with traditional dining. You commented on how your table mates never showed up and you even made a comment about subpar service. Evidently traditional isn't working you. Like it of not traditional dining on Celebrity is going the way of the dinosaur. I predict in 10yrs it will be gone on Celebrity or maybe it will be extinct on the new builds. Read the writing on the wall. More venues are being dedicated to anytime dining, first Blu and now Luninae and issues of not having enough room to seat those who are booked in select dining with or without reservations. It will be interesting to see how they handle the dining experience on the new builds.

We are now up to almost 20 cruises and have only done traditional dining once, on Royal Caribbean, when that was all they offered. On day one, there were 8 of us at the table and all was well. One couple did not return (apparently the husband didn't get enough to eat so they went to the buffet after that). Another couple left on the first night to sit at the same table as friends which left 4 of us at a table of 8. We actually went to a specialty restaurant on night 2 (it was my 50th birthday that day and we had always planned to do that) so that meant on night 2 that only 2 people turned up.

 

After that when we met the other couple, we arranged that there would either be 4 of us or none of us as the table.

 

This is an example of how seats get left unused and while we had a great time we decided that any time or select dining was what we wanted.

[Gordoncruickshank]

Celebrity has a great computer system for dining and I think they need to put it to better use.

 

One thing they could do quickly and easily is open up spaces in Luminae every time a suite guest arrives to eat in Blu. They could then allow someone from Blu to eat in Luminae, which would ease the pressure in Blu. As an AquaClass passenger, I would be happy to put my name on a waiting list to get into Luminae, and I wouldn't mind waiting in a bar with a beeper until my room number was called. They already probably have a good idea of how many suite guests eat in Blu on an average evening, so would know approximately how many names to accept on a waiting list. It's a small fix, granted, but I think it would be a win-win situation, and would be another incentive to book Aquaclass.

 

We have done 9 Celebrity cruises most in AQ and we have only seen issues with seating in Blu on the Reflection which was caused by all of the former AS rooms added to that ship. On the Eclipse and the Silhouette we never had much of an issue getting a table in Blu. I am not saying that we didn't have to wait but five to ten minutes was the worst we had. If you are trying to get a table for four or more you can have quite a long wait at most times as they need to wait for 2 adjoining tables to become empty.

 

I can only see the situation in Blu getting better rather than worse with Luminae. When we have traveled in a suite we used Blu for most of our meals and always transferred the dinning part of our gratuities there. We will be spending the bulk of our time in future cruises in the suite restaurant but will visit Blu or the MDR on odd occasions but with the specialities free as many times as we want and Luminae open, we may find that we run out of days.

Edited June 10, 2015 by Gordoncruickshank

[villauk]

.that should work itself out as time goes by and people reserve the appropriate stateroom for their needs.....

 

How will this change? Do people not reserve the appropriate stateroom for their needs presently :confused:? You will always have a mixture of stateroom types in large family/friend groups as not everyone has the same needs, or indeed, the same funds ;).

[Lastdance]

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...

 

That is exactly our plan...stay in Luminae and if that particular night's menu doesn't suit our fancy, order from the MDR. There is no reason to change dining rooms. Since Luminae is fairly new, i believe they just need to work out some of these posted issues. I hope to try Blu one night, but we eat very early and hopefully won't intrude on others. :cool:

Edited June 10, 2015 by Lastdance

[Iamcruzin]

I am not disappointed with traditional dining we love it. What we are disappointed with is the way Celebrity handles this on their ships. Not sure if others handle it any better as we have only been sailing on Celebrity

 

They need to start asking when people when they book if they intend on eating in the MDR. Like I stated in my review there were 7 people scheduled for traditional late dining that never showed up and that's just from the 2 tables we had contact with. Who knows what the total number was. If you are not in a Suite or in Blu you have to pick Early, Late or Select when you book. There needs to be "other" option for those who are buying specialty dining packages and/or intend on eating at the buffet and/or room service, and have no intentions of showing up at late seating dinner.

 

This way it would also free up seats in the MDR and they could use those seats for the overflow of Select dining.

 

The first thing that Celebrity has to do is either make everyone prepay gratuities or no body prepays. I know that people book traditional to avoid prepaying and have no intention of ever eating in traditional. I understand that they want to use any OBC towards the payment but it's causing a problem in both types of dining. Second Select dining seems to fill up and passengers are forced to choose either early or late seating. Once they board they seem to make their way to select. Suite passengers eating in select shouldn't have an effect since they always ate there before Luminea. Now if they didn't have their own dining room I wouldn't mind if they jumped the line as a perk for booking a suite. However it's unfair to the rest of us now as it stands. Celebrity is juggling too many balls with dining options trying to please everybody and it seems that they are not pleasing anybody no matter what your dining choice is.

[Iamcruzin]

We are now up to almost 20 cruises and have only done traditional dining once, on Royal Caribbean, when that was all they offered. On day one, there were 8 of us at the table and all was well. One couple did not return (apparently the husband didn't get enough to eat so they went to the buffet after that). Another couple left on the first night to sit at the same table as friends which left 4 of us at a table of 8. We actually went to a specialty restaurant on night 2 (it was my 50th birthday that day and we had always planned to do that) so that meant on night 2 that only 2 people turned up.

 

After that when we met the other couple, we arranged that there would either be 4 of us or none of us as the table.

 

This is an example of how seats get left unused and while we had a great time we decided that any time or select dining was what we wanted.

 

I stopped selecting traditional dining after my Princess cruise in 2006. The dining room was empty most nights and as a result the moral of the servers was just going through the motions. The service wasn't bad but they were not very lively. The were probably depressed over the tips they were going to lose with an empty dining room. Princess just compounds the problem by allowing traditional diners to jump back and forth between traditional and anything goes dining.

[Iamcruzin]

Celebrity has a great computer system for dining and I think they need to put it to better use.

 

One thing they could do quickly and easily is open up spaces in Luminae every time a suite guest arrives to eat in Blu. They could then allow someone from Blu to eat in Luminae, which would ease the pressure in Blu. As an AquaClass passenger, I would be happy to put my name on a waiting list to get into Luminae, and I wouldn't mind waiting in a bar with a beeper until my room number was called. They already probably have a good idea of how many suite guests eat in Blu on an average evening, so would know approximately how many names to accept on a waiting list. It's a small fix, granted, but I think it would be a win-win situation, and would be another incentive to book Aquaclass.

 

I can't believe you used Celebrity, great and computer system in the same sentence. That's the first time I read that on this board.

[Winnigirl]

The solutions are fairly simple:

 

1. There should be no reservations for Select; holding tables for people who may not even show up is ridiculous and adds to the chaos.

 

2. Suite passengers should be free to use the MDR during Select, but on the same terms as everyone else. No jumping the line, no reservations, no special treatment. This is more than fair, as they have another option for sit-down dining that Select guests do not.

[Gracie115]

How will this change? Do people not reserve the appropriate stateroom for their needs presently :confused:? You will always have a mixture of stateroom types in large family/friend groups as not everyone has the same needs, or indeed, the same funds ;).

 

well I guess one would hope that if they KNEW they couldn't dine together because of stateroom location and THAT was important to them that they would book accordingly....if they don't then you're right it will never get fixed.... My statement was based on those that booked PRIOR to the announcement of the new suite dining room and the rules it imposed....perhaps at least SOME of them might have booked differently....either all SUITES or all NON-Suites...