Anytime dining on Solstice...sure looks like it

[Schplinky]

As an aside...

Your cruise history and future bookings show a strong slant towards RCI. How do you compare the food/dining arrangements between RCL and X?

 

Let me preface by saying that we think we were on a really "off" week for Constellation. All the reviews the weeks before us were stunning, there are three reviews posted for our week and they were all poor, and then the reviews got better again.

 

We had the sense that the ship was under-staffed and didn't feel it was at all a cut above (which was the consistent review we had received prior to the cruise), especially in the dining room. Our waiter was rushing from table to table and he seemed to have as many or more tables as an RCL waiter. We rarely saw his assistant and while we liked our sommelier and liked having one, we twice had to grab our own wine and refill our glasses (something the assistant waiter would do on RCL).

 

I say all the previous because it likely shadowed our appreciation for the food, which we found to be good to very good but never excellent. The salads were the clear weak point but the soups were good. I like appetizers a lot and liked those on Celebrity, although the one time I made a special request (as I had read on this board one could and had done successfully on RCL), I was bluntly told by the waiter that I should order from the menu. They serve a more European salad and found them to be absurdly plain at times. The entrees were the high point of the meal and we liked almost all the choices. They were not adventurous by any means but the quality was consistent. Desserts were also good. As I said, the service lacked the polish I expected and it may have shaded our dining experience. nothing was so wrong that we could have ever complained but it was also not so right that we included any extra tip, which we almost always do on RCL. There was a silly baked Alaska parade the last night with folks twirling their napkins in the air but I guess this a tradition. I think I would describe the difference in food as RCL being rather standard banquet food at a Marriott or Hilton while Celebrity's food was like a rather old-fashioned restaurant you might take your grandmother to as a "safe" choice. Both have their strengths and weaknesses.

 

The buffet food on Celebrity was tastier than on RCL, in my opinion. There was a better variety and the choices were more adventurous. We disliked that you had to line up for cutlery and a tray even if you only wanted one thing further down the line but folks seemed to like to line up.

 

There seemed to be a general bias toward late diners, which we're not. The high tea was served late in the afternoon (as it should be, I suppose) but that was just two hours before formal night's dinner. I would hold it on another day so that those early diners who wanted to try tea would not feel stuffed for one of the more important dinners. Also, the sushi bar in the buffet opened only just as we were going in for dinner in the dining room each night. The late diners had the advantage of being able to treat the sushi bar as a snack while we were always full whenever it was open.

 

One area where Celebrity is head, shoulders and the whole rest of the body above RCL is the specialty room. I like Chops and Portofino on RCL as they are nice meals in pleasant surroundings. Chops could easily be mistaken for the Pinnacle Grill on HAL, if you've experienced that. In the specialty room on Celebrity, you will experience one of the best meals you eat that year, in all likelihood. The service is quite good but the real focus is the food. We also chose to pay for a pairing of wines with each course, which was a real eye opener. I knew that the right wine with the right food was a good idea but this meal really showed how good an idea that is! I think the pairing was in the $25 range, each.

 

Another area where I think X excels is the Aqua Spa cafe. This is in the Solarium pool area and serves a good counterbalance to the rich food consumed elsewhere. The food is healthier but the real attraction for me was its tastiness. I had a salmon tartar that I still remember. They were open for breakfast and lunch and we found ourselves there repeatedly. Even the desserts seemed more inventive there.

 

In sum, we liked the food on Celebrity and hope for a better dining room experience the next time.

[pema]

Hi Everyone !

 

While I will always favor Traditional Dining, I fully understand the need for choice. I am fine with that. As long as Celebrity comes up with a system that will allow Traditional Dining, along with Open Seating Dining choices, I feel it will be a win-win for everyone. Let's hope Celebrity will come up with a plan that will work for everyone !

In June went on Crown Princess and had traditional and anytime dining choices

We chose traditional

we did notice LONG lines on anytime

 

Pema

[Penney80]

I for one like traditional dining. we like to sit at the little tables by the stairs and watch all the beautiful people on formal night. If only 1/4th of the people are dressed up it won't be the same. We are on the Solstice 12/14 and hope it is not then. Penney80

[greydog]

Open dining? Well then they'd better learn to do it correctly.

 

It was not particularly conducive to a pleasant dining experience on the Azamara Journey.

 

We found 'open seating' on Azamara unpleasant (and spent majority of nights in specialty restaurants to get guieter surroundings). People coming/going, waiters maneuvering through congestion, scrambling to deal with different tables at different stages of their dinner. Different waiters each night, little chance for them to establish rapport, to enhance their service by learning your preferences, etc.

 

I think offering choice would be fine (and many waiters will want the 'traditional' assignment where their extra service efforts will be reflected in extra tips).

[caviargal]

IMO, Celebrity cannot afford NOT to offer a version of Anytime Dining and I agree with the poster who stated that in a few years Traditional Dining will be a thing of the past. The continuing need to manage costs means less staff for more people and this will impact the overall dining experience as well as the open dining being adopted by most lines.

 

My personal experience with open dining (Regent, Star Clippers, HAL) has been just fine. I like the flexibility of dining when I want and with whom I wish to dine on that particular evening. Service did not suffer, I never waited for a table and it was overall very enjoyable.

 

I hope their implementation is more successful than Princess (according to the boards, not personal experience) and NCL (personal experience).

[Albert Ross]

Having cruised several times with NCL I must admit that my personal experience has been wonderful each time - I have never had to wait for a table for 2 whenever I walked into the main dining room - I have been seated immediately, and I also love the wide variety of restaurants to go to. I am afraid that I do not like sitting with other people - my cruise is time away for my partner and I...

I like the way NCL has all menus for the week on display and then you can make your choice about what nights to skip the main dining room and book your alternative venue.. huuuum - do I feel like French, Italian, Teppanyaki, Mexican etc etc tonight......and I welcome attempts by RCI/X to introduce this [if it is true of course!]

I know that RCI Freedom is trialing Open Dining on just one floor of her 3-tier dining room but the problem with this is there is just not the alternative choices of dining venues to make this a 'true' freestyle dining experience.

 

Perhaps Solstice will introduce something different.

Just MHO.

[caviargal]

Having cruised several times with NCL I must admit that my personal experience has been wonderful each time - I have never had to wait for a table for 2 whenever I walked into the main dining room - I have been seated immediately, and I also love the wide variety of restaurants to go to. I am afraid that I do not like sitting with other people - my cruise is time away for my partner and I...

I like the way NCL has all menus for the week on display and then you can make your choice about what nights to skip the main dining room and book your alternative venue.. huuuum - do I feel like French, Italian, Teppanyaki, Mexican etc etc tonight......and I welcome attempts by RCI/X to introduce this [if it is true of course!]

I know that RCI Freedom is trialing Open Dining on just one floor of her 3-tier dining room but the problem with this is there is just not the alternative choices of dining venues to make this a 'true' freestyle dining experience.

 

Perhaps Solstice will introduce something different.

Just MHO.

 

My personal experience with NCL is that I found it necessary to book surcharge restaurants every night in order to get the type of food and service that is enjoyable to me. The free restaurants were not very good.

 

I understand food is subjective but I would hope that X/RCI does not adopt even more pay extra venues than they already have.

 

My personal version of Freestyle would not include paying extra for meals. As for offering different types of cuisine, I personally could care less. Make it good quality and with good service and that is enough.

 

JMO.

[TWELVEOHONE]

My TA told me yesterday that her Key Account Rep for Celebrity told her that Celebrity was definitely going to be offering a version of anytime dining on the Solstice class ships. Their internal research shows a large percentage of their client base wants choices for their dining experience and anytime dining was definitely one of them.

 

I say good for them giving their clients what they want and still offering the traditional set dining times for those who wish it. It is good to have choices when you cruise.

 

All the luxury cruise lines line have anytime dining

What I don't like is the different resturant for those in a suite.

The BLU dining room is only for passengers in a suite. If you are going with friends or relatives and you want to eat with them you wil have to eat in their dining room as they will not be allowed in the BLU dining room

 

This sounds very much like classes the same as on the Queen Mary

[raudacruise]

All the luxury cruise lines line have anytime dining

What I don't like is the different resturant for those in a suite.

The BLU dining room is only for passengers in a suite. If you are going with friends or relatives and you want to eat with them you wil have to eat in their dining room as they will not be allowed in the BLU dining room

 

This sounds very much like classes the same as on the Queen Mary

 

Actually, the website indicates BLU is only for those in the Aqua Class rooms (which are not suites - no butler). Doesn't say anything about suites. It looks like these Aqua Class rooms are targeted at the "resort spa" passenger. BLU I would guess would be trendy but low on calories vs. the rich sauces in the dining room.

 

 

Just a guess, X has been very tight with info on Solstice.

[C 2 C]

BLU I would guess would be trendy but low on calories vs. the rich sauces in the dining room.

 

 

Just a guess, X has been very tight

 

Which passengers will be suffering from this tightness, the pax subjecting themselves to rich sauces or the ones that go on a luxury cruise but need to eat healthy...:eek:

[caviargal]

The appealing thing about Aqua Class are that all the cabins are double occupancy, which should eliminate families on that floor and also in Blu making it a quiet, spa like experience overall. That would definitely be worth a premium price IMO.

[cruisinelsewhere]

Having cruised several times with NCL I must admit that my personal experience has been wonderful each time - I have never had to wait for a table for 2 whenever I walked into the main dining room - I have been seated immediately, and I also love the wide variety of restaurants to go to. I am afraid that I do not like sitting with other people - my cruise is time away for my partner and I...

I like the way NCL has all menus for the week on display and then you can make your choice about what nights to skip the main dining room and book your alternative venue.. huuuum - do I feel like French, Italian, Teppanyaki, Mexican etc etc tonight......and I welcome attempts by RCI/X to introduce this [if it is true of course!]

I know that RCI Freedom is trialing Open Dining on just one floor of her 3-tier dining room but the problem with this is there is just not the alternative choices of dining venues to make this a 'true' freestyle dining experience.

 

Perhaps Solstice will introduce something different.

Just MHO.

 

After having sailed Pearl 12/06 (no you won't see it in my signature because I do no want to be reminded) this concept would make me cancel my Solstice inaugural. I expect real food and service from X, not something worse than a pre-fab frozen-to micro type meal that was the best I found in any venue on that ship. My hopes for Solstice would be a continuing dedication to service, same quality or upgrade of quality of food, and not "dumbing down" to the idea that 8 sub-par restaurants with surcharges will make it ok. Flame away.

[cruisinelsewhere]

Oh, back to subject, I have no problem with anytime seating in a designated area of the main dining room....so long as I can still get my traditional dining. It is quite simple, if I went to book a cruise and they wanted to waitlist me for traditional I simply would not book that date. To each his own but I know what I prefer....offer it all, but if it doesn't suit me (just like dress codes, smoking or anything else) I will book what I am happy with.

[Penney80]

That is good if you don't mind dining alone. We love sitting at a large table and conversing with others - one of the reasons we cruise. We probably will enjoy it even more after both of us are retired later this year. I mean when you are together 24/7, dinners tend to be just meals - eat and move on to other things. We enjoy meeting our new dining companions on the first night and then having delightful conversations with them for the rest of the cruise.

We enjoy our tablemates too. Have met some wonderful people and it will certainly be different if they don't have traditional dining too.

[Ask4Jay]

Gotta chime in here. We have cruised NCL and Oceania so far, both with open dining. At home we don’t go to a restaurant to sit with 6 or 8 other folks, no matter how nice they may be. We do not cruise to make friends for life. We insist (if we have to) on a table for two. On both NCL and Oceania we have always gotten a table for two (a four-seater), usually without waiting more than 10 minutes. We tend to eat early (pre-prime time), which makes it a bit easier. Maybe our taste buds have died off totally, but we did not find it necessary to eat in the premium restaurants onboard. On NCL the hostess always asked us (and all other couples) if we wanted to share a table with others. So there always was that option for the ‘traditional’ diners.

[hajekfam]

On NCL the hostess always asked us (and all other couples) if we wanted to share a table with others. So there always was that option for the ‘traditional’ diners.

Sharing a table with others is not an option for 'traditional' diners. Traditional dining experience is sitting with the same people each night at the same table at the same dinner time with the same waitstaff who after the first two nights know your preferences (extra basket of breadsticks on the table without having to ask, iced coffe with the meal and hot coffee with dessert, etc.).

Just sitting with others does not make it a traditional dining.

[hugsthecat]

Yes ,HCL will be offering both..but I was told that you have to make the choice at the time of booking and that you can't change once you are on..

With Solstice..the ship is so large that there will have to special changes made..With a ship that size there will have to be a number of dining rooms.

 

Michael

[Schplinky]

Sharing a table with others is not an option for 'traditional' diners. Traditional dining experience is sitting with the same people each night at the same table at the same dinner time with the same waitstaff who after the first two nights know your preferences (extra basket of breadsticks on the table without having to ask, iced coffe with the meal and hot coffee with dessert, etc.).

Just sitting with others does not make it a traditional dining.

 

Well said.