"Segregated" dining

[MicCanberra]

And she is ALL class.

She certainly has a wealth of class.

[MicCanberra]

I'm talking about truly small ships -- 350 passengers. NCL Epic is more than 10 times the tonnage of Aegean Odyssey. ;)

 

One MDR, one seating. No specialty restaurants. No room service. Lovely buffet area with indoor and outdoor seating, open to all.

Not enough luxury or variety for me,:D

[sjde]

Ok , let's call it separate dining then. Or separate classes of dining.

And I can certainly understand the advantage of a quieter space.

[bob brown]

There is a very big difference from the days of the ocean liners having as many as four different classes, from First, all the way down to "steerage", to the "ship-within-a-ship model that is trending today....

 

In the old days, the "classes" were indeed "segregated", with separate dining rooms, lounges, sun decks, but also theaters, swimming pools, gyms, libraries, etc....

There were barrier's all over the ship, to insure everyone "kept where they belonged"...

 

Nowadays, there are separate venues for those in suites, but they can still share in all of the recreational and entertainment venues of the rest of the ship, if they so desire.

 

So this way they can attract the upscale market from the small "all-inclusive" ships to large megaships, where there are shows and amusements that smaller ships could not possibly offer.

[Shmoo here]

There is a very big difference from the days of the ocean liners having as many as four different classes, from First, all the way down to "steerage", to the "ship-within-a-ship model that is trending today....

 

In the old days, the "classes" were indeed "segregated", with separate dining rooms, lounges, sun decks, but also theaters, swimming pools, gyms, libraries, etc....

There were barrier's all over the ship, to insure everyone "kept where they belonged"...

 

Nowadays, there are separate venues for those in suites, but they can still share in all of the recreational and entertainment venues of the rest of the ship, if they so desire.

 

So this way they can attract the upscale market from the small "all-inclusive" ships to large megaships, where there are shows and amusements that smaller ships could not possibly offer.

Yes, those in suites are more equal than others. They can go anywhere and participate in anything onboard. Those not in suites - not so much.

[sverigecruiser]

Do people generally like this? I suppose they like the "perk". Is the food any different or just your fellow diners?

 

On NCL the food is better, I think.

 

On MSC the food in the Yacht Club was great but since I haven't tried the food in the MDR I can't say if it's better.

[ROXIETHEHORSE]

f someone wants "suite benefits", then they should ante up for the suite. Don't get an inside cabin and complain you didn't get to eat in Sabatini's for breakfast. Higher cost equals more benefits.

 

There are different ships and cabin choices and itineraries...and this give more people the opportunity to participate. Choose your level of service and enjoy yourself and your vacation.

[CHEZMARYLOU]

Yes, those in suites are more equal than others. They can go anywhere and participate in anything onboard. Those not in suites - not so much.

 

We are neither more nor less equal than other passengers. We just chose to use our money to take less cruises and cruise in a suite. On Celebrity there are venues even suite passengers can not access such as the Captains Club happy hour or the Persian Gardens. Even dining in Blu (the restaurant for Aqua class passengers) is limited to a space availability for suite guests.

[BlueRiband]

I know Cunard has a separate dining room for people who pay a higher cost for their staterooms.

And NCL now does it for their suite passengers.

Does anyone else do this?

Kind of seems like it's back to the Titanic days. :-)

 

Since you are bringing up Titanic, Molly Brown came from a humble background and wasn't accepted by Denver "society". Yet her money was just as good to White Star as that of New York's social elite and she was in First Class. Then as now those that paid more got more.

 

If segregation according to the fare paid bothers you then it will be difficult to find a hotel or airline that doesn't do the same. You'll be limited to budget hotels that don't have suites of concierge floors. You'll have to limit any flying to one-class regional flights.