Traditional Dining Now on Deck 5 on Summit

[67Miner]

In a major turnabout , select dining has been moved to Deck 4 on the Summit and the traditional dining has been relegated to the much smaller and cramped Deck 4. Seems to me like Celebrity is moving towards the NCL model and doing away with traditional dining. Very disappointing.

[Andy]

In a major turnabout , select dining has been moved to Deck 4 on the Summit and the traditional dining has been relegated to the much smaller and cramped Deck 4. Seems to me like Celebrity is moving towards the NCL model and doing away with traditional dining. Very disappointing.

 

Hi 67Miner,

 

As we enjoy assigned dining very much, I'm also disappointed to hear this. Problem is, Select Dining is very popular, so... Celebrity is in the darned if they do, darned if they dont situation. Interestingly, on our Eclipse sailing last month, I never heard so much griping from onboard Guests about Select Dining, as they could not obtain what they wanted. I also observed many guests waiting, while plenty of tables were empty in Select. Didn't seem like they had their act together.

 

I'm curious if this is a one off situation, or a sign of a major change ? I suppose we'll soon be hearing from other guests, and their onboard experiences.

[snyniew]

I was on the March sailing 2 after the dry dock and that's when they made the change. The Maitre'd in the traditional dining said the change was made to accommodate all the demand for Select dining. It's what the people want so you have to go with that. I was in traditional last year on the Summit as well as this year. I didn't really see much of a difference. In fact I was very happy with where we were sat on Deck 5 and it didn't seem crowded at all.

[bama4cruisin]

Hi 67Miner,

 

As we enjoy assigned dining very much, I'm also disappointed to hear this. Problem is, Select Dining is very popular, so... Celebrity is in the darned if they do, darned if they dont situation. Interestingly, on our Eclipse sailing last month, I never heard so much griping from onboard Guests about Select Dining, as they could not obtain what they wanted. I also observed many guests waiting, while plenty of tables were empty in Select. Didn't seem like they had their act together.

 

I'm curious if this is a one off situation, or a sign of a major change ? I suppose we'll soon be hearing from other guests, and their onboard experiences.

 

Andy, that's interesting as it was not our experience on Eclipse in March. Our select dining experience was one of the best cruise dining experiences we've had (only our 4th experience in select or anytime).

 

We never made reservations, and the only time we waited more than 10 minutes was the one time we arrived at 7:00. If we arrived about 7:15, it was with no wait or 10 minutes max. The hostess greeted us by name after about 3 nights. Some nights there would not have been a wait at all except we requested a table for 2. The wait staff we had our first night (John G, Santiago and Enrickkee) were so wonderful we asked for them each night, as did others. In fact, many nights there would have been no wait except for our request to be seated in their section. A few nights, there was a line -made up exclusively of those of us wishing to be seated in their section. It became like one huge table in traditional dining as the same couples moved around their tables for two. Lots of conversations. It was truly the best of both worlds, same wait staff, same other guests but eating at 7:15 or 7:30😊

[Redtravel]

I usually book select. Last week I was traveling with family and chose to dine at early traditional seating. We had a nice table and a good waiter. Early was posted as 5:30. For me, this is way too early. However, I came as directed. Most of the tables were empty and stayed that way until 6:30-7. That is a waste of space. Give up letting people reserve tables and don't show up on time.

[Cruise_Dancer]

My wife and I prefer traditional dining (due to my work schedule I'm used to having dinner at 10:00 or 11:00 at night, so the "late" seating doesn't really bother me, and she likes the ability to enjoy a snack or afternoon tea and not be too full for dinner) but on the Summit last year we decided to go to Select the next opportunity. Why? Because many evening activities were scheduled in the 7:30 spot that overlapped the two seatings.

 

On RCCL we found all evening activities, including music, dancing, and shows usually had two or more sets so that while you were guaranteed to miss one set you'd always be able to enjoy the full experience. On the Summit we found the shows were organized like this, but that was it. In particular, evening dancing was usually only a one hour set at 7:30, which meant about half an hour of dancing then rushing to make our late seating. The staff was able to move us to early seating but we didn't want to eat at 5:30 each night in the future. Select Dining was a natural decision for our future cruises.

[fninsn]

We also had select dining on our April cruise aboard the Summit and it was wonderful!! There were 4 of us and we made 8pm reservations in advance. We were able to sit with the same wait staff each evening except for one and there was little or no wait to be seated. We didn't find the dining room to be any more crowded than normal.

 

We were able to attend the production shows at 7pm, have dinner at 8 and then enjoy the late night entertainment which usually started between 10 and 10:30. Perfect!!

[Jane2357]

This is a good move for those of us that love Select. We tried it after it first came out and have never gone back to a set dining time - don't think I could. We just love the freedom that is gives our schedule.

 

It was inevitable as Select becomes the larger group - but for those that love set dining - I do hope that won't do away with it altogether.

Edited May 11, 2016 by Jane2357

[pumpkin 11]

In a major turnabout , select dining has been moved to Deck 4 on the Summit and the traditional dining has been relegated to the much smaller and cramped Deck 4. Seems to me like Celebrity is moving towards the NCL model and doing away with traditional dining. Very disappointing.

 

 

Hmm.... Now let's think about this. They moved it to deck 4. Now why would celebrity move select dinning to a smaller floor of the restaurant when it's becoming more popular. Your contradictory statement makes me question your purpose.

[Hydrokitty]

Andy, that's interesting as it was not our experience on Eclipse in March. Our select dining experience was one of the best cruise dining experiences we've had (only our 4th experience in select or anytime).

 

We never made reservations, and the only time we waited more than 10 minutes was the one time we arrived at 7:00. If we arrived about 7:15, it was with no wait or 10 minutes max. The hostess greeted us by name after about 3 nights. Some nights there would not have been a wait at all except we requested a table for 2. The wait staff we had our first night (John G, Santiago and Enrickkee) were so wonderful we asked for them each night, as did others. In fact, many nights there would have been no wait except for our request to be seated in their section. A few nights, there was a line -made up exclusively of those of us wishing to be seated in their section. It became like one huge table in traditional dining as the same couples moved around their tables for two. Lots of conversations. It was truly the best of both worlds, same wait staff, same other guests but eating at 7:15 or 7:30��

 

We were on the Eclipse in March too but we had set dining at 6 p.m. We weren't crowded, the service from Bang Bang and Andre was outstanding and I'm doing the same on the Summit in October. We're in concierge class on Summit... does that still make a difference in where you sit in MDR? I know on Infinity CC we were upstairs and one table away from the window (we did same thing you did moving both tables together, after 2nd night they were set as a 4 top) On Eclipse we were downstairs two tables away from window.

Edited May 11, 2016 by Hydrokitty

[dkjretired]

This is a good move for those of us that love Select. We tried it after it first came out and have never gone back to a set dining time - don't think I could. We just love the freedom that is gives our schedule.

 

It was inevitable as Select becomes the larger group - but for those that love set dining - I do hope that won't do away with it altogether.

 

 

You're absolutely right, this was inevitable, the writing was on the wall, every cliche you want to use. A number of us on this board predicted this long ago, its just about supply and demand.

[Host Jazzbeau]

Hmm.... Now let's think about this. They moved it to deck 4. Now why would celebrity move select dinning to a smaller floor of the restaurant when it's becoming more popular. Your contradictory statement makes me question your purpose.

 

Perhaps your deck plans are upside down. The dining room on deck 4 has always been larger because it includes a complete floor. Then they took out a small chunk for Luminae. Deck 5 was more like a balcony, and they took out a large chunk for Blu. Net result is that deck 4 has considerably more seats than deck 5.

[villauk]

Do we know if they are doing the same with all the M class MDRs, or is this just Summit at present? I know they usually 'test' the waters on Summit first before implementing across the fleet.

Edited May 11, 2016 by villauk

[Wine-O]

Do we know if they are doing the same with all the M class MDRs, or is this just Summit at present? I know they usually 'test' the waters on Summit first before implementing across the fleet.

 

Summit seems to be a test ship - I remember the individual portion baskets a couple years ago (didn't go anywhere), then last year the small trays for the buffet area.

[CruisingChick]

1. 
   

Summit seems to be a test ship - I remember the individual portion baskets a couple years ago (didn't go anywhere), then last year the small trays for the buffet area.

 

I loved those little baskets....oh well.....if they could have found a way for them to work out better it would have been great. Some people complained their food was cold, etc. but I never found that.

[charmed101]

Hi 67Miner,

 

" Interestingly, on our Eclipse sailing last month, I never heard so much griping from onboard Guests about Select Dining, as they could not obtain what they wanted. I also observed many guests waiting, while plenty of tables were empty in Select. Didn't seem like they had their act together."

 

Hi Andy, this would probably be due to people booking dining times even in select dining. We were on the same cruise at you and our table attendant told us that we could have the same time slot if we wanted each evening (7:00pm) and we were happy to take that.

[A Sixth?]

Funny. :D

 

When Select was first introduced the sound of outrage that those diners would be assign to the "upper dining area" was deafening! :eek:

 

How soon things change. :cool:

 

Oh the humanity!!!!!

 

Edited May 11, 2016 by A Sixth?

[richsea]

Funny. :D

 

When Select was first introduced the sound of outrage that those diners would be assign to the "upper dining area" was deafening! :eek:

 

How soon things change. :cool:

 

Oh the humanity!!!!!

 

 

Ooh, I love Led Zep!

[Lastdance]

Going on the Millie the 20th of May; guess I'll find out about all of this soon...

[oroszdb]

In a major turnabout , select dining has been moved to Deck 4 on the Summit and the traditional dining has been relegated to the much smaller and cramped Deck 4. Seems to me like Celebrity is moving towards the NCL model and doing away with traditional dining. Very disappointing.

 

 

Noticed that on our cruise earlier this year....server said rumor was traditional seating would be eliminated by the end of the year (note: just a rumor)

[oroszdb]

Hmm.... Now let's think about this. They moved it to deck 4. Now why would celebrity move select dinning to a smaller floor of the restaurant when it's becoming more popular. Your contradictory statement makes me question your purpose.

 

 

Deck 4 actually has more space, 5 is the smaller floor due to the atrium in the center of the dining room

[pumpkin 11]

Deck 4 actually has more space, 5 is the smaller floor due to the atrium in the center of the dining room

 

 

No exactly that was my point! [emoji23] I was being sarcastic toward the OP who didn't seem to understand that fact.

[chotton]

I like this news. In our last three times on Summit found the deck dinning room to very hot. Hopefully deck four is cooler.

[oroszdb]

I like this news. In our last three times on Summit found the deck dinning room to very hot. Hopefully deck four is cooler.

 

 

I can't remember if it was warm or not on 5 last year but I will say I was very comfortable this past April on the 4th floor with a sports coat on during dinner

[Christine Frances]

You're absolutely right, this was inevitable, the writing was on the wall, every cliche you want to use. A number of us on this board predicted this long ago, its just about supply and demand.

 

As the main floor of the MRD is mainly 4,6 & 8 tops they must be doing a lot of re organizing as it seems that most Select Diners want 2 tops. Hopefully they are not all jammed together like Blu. I can just see rows and rows of 2 tops lol