Formal nights.......help!!!

Not sure WHAT Celebrity ship you were on, but it does NOT reflect on the Eclipse.

keithm I am speaking personally and I appreciate it is 'horses for courses' but this is my opinion, the flourescent lighting, sparsely populated huge dining room with formica tables is not an attractive place to have a relaxing dinner, particularly one that I have given my valuable hard earned cash to enjoy, I would not choose to dine in such a place back home for dinner so that is where I am coming from.

On my cruising history with Celebrity, I have 18 cruises over 214 days on 6 ships and I am Elite Plus. I have sailed on Eclipse and Equinox on numerous occasions as well others in the fleet.

keithm I am speaking personally and I appreciate it is 'horses for courses' but this is my opinion, the flourescent lighting, sparsely populated huge dining room with formica tables is not an attractive place to have a relaxing dinner, particularly one that I have given my valuable hard earned cash to enjoy, I would not choose to dine in such a place back home for dinner so that is where I am coming from.

 

On my cruising history with Celebrity, I have 18 cruises over 214 days on 6 ships and I am Elite Plus. I have sailed on Eclipse and Equinox on numerous occasions as well others in the fleet.

I really wouldn't call it Formica. It is some kind of "simulated" surface, more like Melamine. Unfortunately this is pretty much what you'll find on most "major" lines. I still never noticed the dim glow as you mentioned. Likely because we always ate in the MDR for dinner.We'll see how it looks on the Riviera, when we cruise in Jan.

I really wouldn't call it Formica. It is some kind of "simulated" surface, more like Melamine. Unfortunately this is pretty much what you'll find on most "major" lines. I still never noticed the dim glow as you mentioned. Likely because we always ate in the MDR for dinner.We'll see how it looks on the Riviera, when we cruise in Jan.

Formica is the registered trademark of the Formica Corporation's laminated melamine product. It has become a generic name for all products of this type, just as Kleenex has for facial tissue. And yes, almost all cruise lines use it for dining tables, but the tables in O's Terrace (even outdoors) have placemats during daytime meals and are covered with cloths in the evening. With the stark lighting and bare tables, the buffets on Celebrity's Solstice class ships remind me of college dorm dining halls. The food in the Terrace is much better also. As always, YMMV.