January cruisers please report on changes - true and false

[Chardonnay Char]

Please let us know if the MDR food is available to order from Blu.  This September will be our first time in Aqua, but I'd also like to have another choice on some nights.  Thanks for offering to get info.  

 

[Cruise Gopher]

We are on the Apex on the 14th of Jan. In the app, it doesn’t list the lobster additional charge amount….yet. 

Edited January 7, 2023 by Cruise Gopher

[TrueCruiseaholic]

8 minutes ago, Cruise Gopher said:

We are on the Apex on the 14th of Jan. In the app, it doesn’t list the lobster additional charge amount….yet. 

A cruiser currently on Apex posted on Facebook that the app does show the extra charge. They also posted that the MDR menu that changes every day is now three appetizers and three entrees. They still have the same every day menu, though.

[BermudaBound2014]

23 minutes ago, mari10 said:

I would be interested to hear what the cutbacks are in the main dining room.  Someone on The Beyond now reported a reduced menu. 
Hope you enjoy your cruise & thank you !  

 

I can post the menus from each evening for you. I will also see if they match the app. 🙂

[BEAV]

5 hours ago, Chardonnay Char said:

Please let us know if the MDR food is available to order from Blu.  This September will be our first time in Aqua, but I'd also like to have another choice on some nights.  Thanks for offering to get info.  

 

 

Post #23 (page 1) of this thread answers your question. 👍

[Salt Lifer]

12 hours ago, kwokpot said:

No more fixed seating dining on ANY edge class ship. It's all anytime dining, just walk up or see if you can get reservations in the cruise planner. 40% of the tables at any given hour are available for prebooking in the cruise planner. The remaining 60% is walk up. This was confirmed by the Restaurant Matre D', Restaurant hosts,  and Guest Services on the Beyond on the 10/26/22 sailing. It is a PERMANENT change. Do let ANYONE tell you otherwise. 

 

Thank you.

 

I find this extremely irritating that Celebrity has not informed booked passengers of this change.  I am assuming most passengers do not read here, and in turn will be blindsided once on board.

[sheeng]

On 12/31/2022 at 4:37 PM, Biker19 said:

You might want to ask that in the Celebrity section.

 

20 hours ago, kwokpot said:

No more fixed seating dining on ANY edge class ship. It's all anytime dining, just walk up or see if you can get reservations in the cruise planner. 40% of the tables at any given hour are available for prebooking in the cruise planner. The remaining 60% is walk up. This was confirmed by the Restaurant Matre D', Restaurant hosts,  and Guest Services on the Beyond on the 10/26/22 sailing. It is a PERMANENT change. Do let ANYONE tell you otherwise. 

On an Apex November 2023 sailing I was disheartened to see Anytime dinning no longer unavailable for booking. Celebrity website shows only 8:30 late seating available which is too late for us. Can I ‘guarantee’ that it no longer matters and that all passengers will be anytime dinning?

 

 

[kwokpot]

2 hours ago, sheeng said:

 

On an Apex November 2023 sailing I was disheartened to see Anytime dinning no longer unavailable for booking. Celebrity website shows only 8:30 late seating available which is too late for us. Can I ‘guarantee’ that it no longer matters and that all passengers will be anytime dinning?

 

 

The way Celebrity is managing anytime dining on E-class ships is 40% of all available tables at any given time is available for pre-boarding reservations via the cruise planner. So for example if there are a total of 1,000 tables available at 6pm 400 will be available to reserve pre-cruise via the cruise planner. Once those 400 tables are all booked up then there's no more ADVANCED reservations BUT there are still 600 tables available for walk-up reservations. In other words just because you can prebook a table at the time you want doesn't necessarily mean you won't be able to walk up around that time and be seated right away. Of course it doesn't mean that you will be either, but the point is just because you can't make an advanced reservations doesn't mean you won't be able to be seated at that time or there about. 

Edited January 8, 2023 by kwokpot

[LB_NJ]

24 minutes ago, kwokpot said:

The way Celebrity is managing anytime dining on E-class ships is 40% of all available tables at any given time is available for pre-boarding reservations via the cruise planner. So for example if there are a total of 1,000 tables available at 6pm 400 will be available to reserve pre-cruise via the cruise planner. Once those 400 tables are all booked up then there's no more ADVANCED reservations BUT there are still 600 tables available for walk-up reservations. In other words just because you can prebook a table at the time you want doesn't necessarily mean you won't be able to walk up around that time and be seated right away. Of course it doesn't mean that you will be either, but the point is just because you can't make an advanced reservations doesn't mean you won't be able to be seated at that time or there about. 

To me that seems like a silly way of doing it. I would think it would be better to let people reserve at least 50% - 80% (release the reservation after 10 minutes if the person does not show) and leave the rest for walk ups.

 

How is it working out in practice?

[Bo1953]

13 hours ago, Salt Lifer said:

 

Thank you.

 

I find this extremely irritating that Celebrity has not informed booked passengers of this change.  I am assuming most passengers do not read here, and in turn will be blindsided once on board.

Well, there can be two (2) reactions:

 

1) Oh My, they made changes we did not know about, okay we are here now, either we will enjoy it or not... soon we will find out; OR

2) Oh NO, how could they do this and not tell me in advance!!! This is wholly unacceptable and I want my money back, after I cruise that is... LOL

 

bon voyage

[LGW59]

13 hours ago, Salt Lifer said:

 

Thank you.

 

I find this extremely irritating that Celebrity has not informed booked passengers of this change.  I am assuming most passengers do not read here, and in turn will be blindsided once on board.

So if you make a reservation at a nice restaurant, say for a month from now, for a special celebration and you really loved the menu you saw on their website.  In the interim, the cost of lobster, filet or a particualr wine is more expensive or perhaps not available when you sit down to dine, should they have notified everybody that made an advance reservation?

[Salt Lifer]

28 minutes ago, Bo1953 said:

Well, there can be two (2) reactions:

 

1) Oh My, they made changes we did not know about, okay we are here now, either we will enjoy it or not... soon we will find out; OR

2) Oh NO, how could they do this and not tell me in advance!!! This is wholly unacceptable and I want my money back, after I cruise that is... LOL

 

bon voyage

 

You are missing the point.  People sign up for a select time to eat for a reason - be it habit or scheduling or health reasons.  If you sign up for a time you expect to get to eat at such a time.  You should not have to run around on Day 1 hoping you can get reservations scheduled for the week for the times you want (my experience is it is not as easy to get reservations at the times you want unless you book in advance) or have to wait in line and wait for a table.  It would be very simple for Celebrity to email a notice in advance to all cruisers letting them know of this chance so they can make reservations if they desire.  Simple courtesy. 

[Salt Lifer]

21 minutes ago, LGW59 said:

So if you make a reservation at a nice restaurant, say for a month from now, for a special celebration and you really loved the menu you saw on their website.  In the interim, the cost of lobster, filet or a particualr wine is more expensive or perhaps not available when you sit down to dine, should they have notified everybody that made an advance reservation?

 

Apples to oranges. I was referring to the elimination of the pre-selected dining times without informing the guests.  So to use your analogy: You make a reservation at a restaurant a month from now at a fancy restaurant for a special occasion. You plan your day around this reservation - scheduling activities and such so you know you will still have time to arrive on time   You show up and find they decided to cancel your reservation without telling you.  The restaurant is full so you either now have to wait in line for 30-60 minutes or go elsewhere.  Wouldn't you find this to be poor customer service and find it irritating?

 

My issue is not that Celebrity choose to eliminate select dining times (if true), my issue is the lack of communication.

[foodsvcmgr]

If the elimination of traditional dining on Edge class is true and permanent, I hope it does not spread to the older ships.

Much as I dislike the idea, I understand the reasoning in that the Edge class has more dining rooms to support any time only.

The rest of the fleet needs to continue offering traditional and open.

Could be a selling point for traditionalists like me.

Look no further than the Princess dining debacle.

[prmssk]

22 minutes ago, Salt Lifer said:

 

You are missing the point.  People sign up for a select time to eat for a reason - be it habit or scheduling or health reasons.  If you sign up for a time you expect to get to eat at such a time.  You should not have to run around on Day 1 hoping you can get reservations scheduled for the week for the times you want (my experience is it is not as easy to get reservations at the times you want unless you book in advance) or have to wait in line and wait for a table.  It would be very simple for Celebrity to email a notice in advance to all cruisers letting them know of this chance so they can make reservations if they desire.  Simple courtesy. 

I agree.

 

And they should open up the cruise planner for those with early or late dining times to make reservations - right now you can't if you are assigned a fixed time.  And they shouldn't continue to allow people to choose early or late at the time of booking - right now you still have all three options when booking an Edge class ship and once they hit the limit for anytime, you are stuck selecting a fixed time knowing, possibly knowing you won't be able to get that time once you board.

[kwokpot]

21 minutes ago, Salt Lifer said:

 

Apples to oranges. I was referring to the elimination of the pre-selected dining times without informing the guests.  So to use your analogy: You make a reservation at a restaurant a month from now at a fancy restaurant for a special occasion. You plan your day around this reservation - scheduling activities and such so you know you will still have time to arrive on time   You show up and find they decided to cancel your reservation without telling you.  The restaurant is full so you either now have to wait in line for 30-60 minutes or go elsewhere.  Wouldn't you find this to be poor customer service and find it irritating?

 

My issue is not that Celebrity choose to eliminate select dining times (if true), my issue is the lack of communication.

I was the first to report this on the 10/26 Beyond sailing. Although we were in Aquaclass I had booked Early Dining for my parents. Normally there's a card in the room indicating which of the four dining rooms you have been assigned to for Early set seating. NOTHING was in my parent's cabin. The most galling aspect was the staff's responses were as if Celebrity NEVER had fixed early & late seating on E-Class ships. All they kept repeating is you can eat whenever and where ever you want, no reservations are needed. There was NEVER an acknowledgement that yes, although you had booked Early fixed seating prior to you boarding the ship we eliminated that type of seating choice and now the ship is all anytime dining.  

Edited January 8, 2023 by kwokpot

[PTC DAWG]

I don’t know what time tonight that I want to eat.  How would know when I want to eat on a cruise 6 months from now?  That’s me. 

[Uwlwsrpm]

RIP MDR Prime Rib 😞

Edited January 8, 2023 by Uwlwsrpm

[Bo1953]

1 hour ago, Salt Lifer said:

 

You are missing the point.  People sign up for a select time to eat for a reason - be it habit or scheduling or health reasons.  If you sign up for a time you expect to get to eat at such a time.  You should not have to run around on Day 1 hoping you can get reservations scheduled for the week for the times you want (my experience is it is not as easy to get reservations at the times you want unless you book in advance) or have to wait in line and wait for a table.  It would be very simple for Celebrity to email a notice in advance to all cruisers letting them know of this chance so they can make reservations if they desire.  Simple courtesy. 

I do get the point, as I do usually travel with 12 - 15 people on any given sailing... each of us have different needs and wants when it comes to dining, especially times.

 

I, usually, make the reservations for everyone for dinner... our tables are always adjacent to each other so we can chat or change tables on any given evening if we choose.

 

I will let my friends know of the anticipated changes and how to deal with them accordingly... as such, they will know and be prepared.

 

This may mean that I will need to be at the MDR 15 - 20 minutes early to let the M'd know the table and people count and that is fine...

 

Yet, we will see how this all plays out, still not an issue as opposed to an 'initial' anxiety on how it will work out given the different personalities to be dealt with in my group about food and dining...  I will make sure that I have enough snicker bars at the ready for them the first few days.... LOL

 

After they brow beat me for something which I have no control over, generally, we will put out heads together to figure out how to best approach the new normal and party on for the rest of the sailing...

 

bon appetit and bon voyage

[Bo1953]

1 hour ago, kwokpot said:

I was the first to report this on the 10/26 Beyond sailing. Although we were in Aquaclass I had booked Early Dining for my parents. Normally there's a card in the room indicating which of the four dining rooms you have been assigned to for Early set seating. NOTHING was in my parent's cabin. The most galling aspect was the staff's responses were as if Celebrity NEVER had fixed early & late seating on E-Class ships. All they kept repeating is you can eat whenever and where ever you want, no reservations are needed. There was NEVER an acknowledgement that yes, although you had booked Early fixed seating prior to you boarding the ship we eliminated that type of seating choice and now the ship is all anytime dining.  

Yes, that points to a communications challenge....

 

Did your parents have any challenges with eating at a time which suited them best?

 

bon appetit and bon voyage

[mtnlvr53]

We are on the Reflection and about to lose internet but I have personally talked to corporate and they are anxious to hear what we have to say about the changes. The charge is on the room service menu. I have not eaten dinner yet.

Janet

[mtnlvr53]

[gordylad]

what was wrong with the way it was? don't change something that isn't broke.

[phoenix_dream]

4 hours ago, LGW59 said:

So if you make a reservation at a nice restaurant, say for a month from now, for a special celebration and you really loved the menu you saw on their website.  In the interim, the cost of lobster, filet or a particualr wine is more expensive or perhaps not available when you sit down to dine, should they have notified everybody that made an advance reservation?

We are not talking about a few people and a few reservations.  We are talking about thousands of people impacted by their changes.  It would be nice to get some kind of notification about them.  They certainly find a way to send out countless emails when they add some kind of benefit or have good news. I still think people wouldn't be happy, and in fact some people may even cancel cruises based on these changes, which I think is one of the reasons they want to slip them in quietly.

[mari10]

On 1/7/2023 at 6:11 PM, BermudaBound2014 said:

I can post the menus from each evening for you. I will also see if they match the app. 🙂

Thank you ! That will be great ( or maybe not😉)

I am curious if the menus will be more extensive on the M &S Class Ships since they don’t have the additional starters and mains that are featured on the E Class ships.