interesting rumor - X going to all select?

[CruisingChick]

I realize I'm in a different demographic than most, but here's why I like Traditional Dining:

 

I travel by myself. The allure of traditional dining for me is not only the same wait staff every night (big draw), but also finding a new group of people to get to know over the course of a week. Yes, I could always be seated with other people in Select dining, but it is different people every night, and the conversation tends to be so focused on "what's your name, where are you from, what do you do...." introductions. With traditional, the conversations evolve and the table almost always becomes a group of friends by the end of the cruise.

 

It obviously wouldn't be the end of the world to move to all Select, but having done that a few times on Celebrity as a solo traveler when traditional was unavailable, it definitely wouldn't be a selling point for me.

 

While I travel with my husband, what you have stated also applies to us. It's usually just the 2 of us travelling together and we love traditional dining for the reasons you have stated.

[chamima]

And we also travel as a couple and prefer traditional dining (we dine alone) because the waiters and sommeliers get to know your likes and dislikes (and in our case all of the things we can't/don't eat).

Even in Blu we try to find a waiter and an area and remain with him for the entire cruise.

To me that's one of the things that makes cruising special and unlike (and better than) a land vacation.

Edited June 21, 2015 by chamima

[Texed]

Thanks Ed! She said for Fathers Day I get waffles in the morning! :D

 

What a great wife she is. ;)

[cle-guy]

I have never been in the main dining room. We had select on the Summit. Is the Traditional dining room still larger than select even after the addition of Luminea?

 

Luminae's placement on M class ships basically only removed about 150 seats, and was replaced with about 75 seats, for a net loss of only 75 seats.

 

Pre-Luminae (and post installation of BLU which has 101 seats), Summit had 680 seats in Fixed, and 431 seats in Select dining. So now MDR Fixed has 605 seats or so left, though 75 of those that would normally be there are now in the 75 seats in Luminae.

 

MDR and BLU pre luminae weae able to accommodate every single passenger on the ship for dining, meaning any who chose to use specialty, room service, or buffet, were empty usable and open seats in MDR on q nightly basis.

Edited June 21, 2015 by cle-guy

[anniebea]

I have just returned from a week on Equinox, this was my second celebrity cruise (first one was in 2013). Except for formal evenings, there were many empty tables in the MDR, compared with the 2013 cruise and there was little or no atmosphere, it felt like being in a restaurant with few customer and lots of empty tables.

 

Maybe the change would improve this

[Texed]

Oh...Hi TEXED! Julie

 

Hello Julie. Glad y'all are enjoying the different dining options. :)

[ECCruise]

I have just returned from a week on Equinox, this was my second celebrity cruise (first one was in 2013). Except for formal evenings, there were many empty tables in the MDR, compared with the 2013 cruise and there was little or no atmosphere, it felt like being in a restaurant with few customer and lots of empty tables.

 

Maybe the change would improve this

 

Was this in Select or Traditional?

[dkjretired]

What a great wife she is. ;)

 

Ed

 

Love the picture

[jtravel777]

You can do that. You just make a reservation at the time you desire, tell the hostess which table you want and meet your friends and enjoy. I have done this on numerous cruises and never had an issue.

 

Not necessarily. We have had Select Dining in the past where it worked beautifully but I'm guessing the addition of Luminae has impacted their ability to accommodate fixed reservations via Select Dining.

 

We were on a 12 night cruise in May and made Select Dining reservations with our (new) friends every night. We usually had to wait between 15-30 minutes and never got the same table twice. Quite often we were seated in the MDR. They advised we make reservations for 8:45 pm in order to keep the same table for the 6 of us but that never lessened the wait time nor allowed us to keep the same table/waiter.

[Andy]

Hi Everyone,

 

FWIW, I'd be surprised if Celebrity went to all Select, but I suppose nothing should surprise me anymore. It seems whenever there's a senior management change at any company, there's big ideas on the table. We're not huge fans of Select, and much prefer Early seating. With that said, I'm sure we'll be fine with adapting to this change, IF it becomes reality.

 

BTW, I checked a few of my 2016 and 2017 bookings today, and all continue to show Early seating. At this point, all we can do, is wait and see. Hopefully, Celebrity will comment on this thread.

Edited June 21, 2015 by Host Andy

[Peteymil]

I've not found Blu to be either cramped or noisy. It was an oasis of calm compared to the MDR. And the service was wonderful.

 

Linda

 

 

Completely agree with you Linda. That is what I like about it, it is neither cramped nor noisy. I would also say that I didn't find it a staid atmosphere. Although we sit at a table for two we always enjoy talking to the people around us, and always have a good time. What I never liked about the main dining room is that I felt cramped, rushed, and thought it was noisy. I guess there really is something for everyone

[Texed]

Ed

Love the picture

 

Off Topic!

 

Thanks Don. If the folks here will bear with me being off topic, I want to share about the picture of the waffles.

 

A wonderful man (I met here on CC) and his sister that lives in Geiranger, Norway were kind enough to pick us up and show us around their countryside. They also took us to their home place that had been in the family since the 1700"s. Well, to make a long story short, I guess they knew I loved waffles. That is where the picture came from.

 

One of the wonderful things about Cruise Critic is being able to converse and/or meet some wonderful folks. :)

[anniebea]

Was this in Select or Traditional?

 

This was in the traditional dining.

[ECCruise]

This was in the traditional dining.

 

I suspected that but wanted to be sure.

We are seeing the same as we look down from our crowded Select seating and note the number of empty tables and empty chairs at other tables in Traditional. And, reports of dining post Luminae on M-class ships are not the best either, with some reporting having to wait even with Select confirmed reservations.

 

What I think you have in the last few years is more passengers (extra cabins added on both M-Class and introduced on Reflection), many more passengers opting for Select than have in the past, carving 2 restaurants (Blu and Luminae) from MDR on M-class and 1 (Luminae) on S-class and we are approaching the tipping point.

 

I think Celebrity can easily handle this but it would require fine-tuning their reservation system so that current Traditional diners can re-create the current situation (same time/table/dining companions) but just will not be able to do it in their own "private" dining area.

 

Pretty simple fix, IMHO.

[sloopsailor]

.....we booked a cruise in Sept of 2016 and we have early dining. We booked this cruise 6 months ago. Our friends who jumped on board (no pun intended) are Select...and they could not even get wait-listed (according to Celebrity) for the early dining.

 

.... Except for formal evenings, there were many empty tables in the MDR, compared with the 2013 cruise and there was little or no atmosphere, it felt like being in a restaurant with few customer and lots of empty tables.

 

How to explain this contradiction from two posters? One poster says people can no longer even get wait-listed for traditional dining, while the other says there were "few customers and lots of empty tables". One seems to indicate that it is fully reserved, while the other seems to indicate that not very many people choose traditional any more. This discrepancy doesn't make sense.

Edited June 21, 2015 by sloopsailor

[anniebea]

How to explain this contradiction from two posters? One poster says people can no longer even get wait-listed for traditional dining, while the other says there were "few customers and lots of empty tables". One seems to indicate that it is fully reserved, while the other seems to indicate that not very many people choose traditional any more. This discrepancy doesn't make sense.

 

I think that people chose a traditional dining option, but then opt for an alternate option on non formal nights. On formal nights in the MDR there were few empty tables, on other nights it was quite empty as people who had allocated tables didn't turn up, or chose to eat elsewhere.

[mrsgoggins]

Another interesting note on this subject which causes me to agree that there is a change a-comin'...we booked a cruise in Sept of 2016 and we have early dining. We booked this cruise 6 months ago. Our friends who jumped on board (no pun intended) are Select...and they could not even get wait-listed (according to Celebrity) for the early dining. I have been trying to get Select but my TA is dragging her feet. Hmmmmmm...summpin's up!

 

I agree that something's happening. I posted previously that on a dummy booking for Panama canal cruise April 2017, there was no traditional dining on offer. I find it hard to believe that all the traditional spots have been taken almost 2 years out!

 

I travel by myself. The allure of traditional dining for me is not only the same wait staff every night (big draw), but also finding a new group of people to get to know over the course of a week. Yes, I could always be seated with other people in Select dining, but it is different people every night, and the conversation tends to be so focused on "what's your name, where are you from, what do you do...." introductions. With traditional, the conversations evolve and the table almost always becomes a group of friends by the end of the cruise.

 

I really identify with this and think you are so right. On our past Viking River cruise, where you dine with different people all the time, it was a constant round of introductions until, by mid week, we had met a like-minded group and before you knew it, we had our own dining group, but I wonder if we were just lucky that time. In fact, I found it difficult to concentrate on the food with so many new people's details to absorb - a plateful of food could have disappeared without my even knowing about it ;)

[cle-guy]

I agree that something's happening. I posted previously that on a dummy booking for Panama canal cruise April 2017, there was no traditional dining on offer. I find it hard to believe that all the traditional spots have been taken almost 2 years out!

 

I just checked a website that tracks historical pricing and shows available cabins. Both the East and Westbound Infinity Panama Canal trips in April 2017 are down to only 14% available cabins. So it is quite possible all times are reserved already.

 

I have a Crusie booked in Feb 2017 on Equinox, it's down to 7% open cabins. Only 9/10/11 Inside, 2C Veranda, and RS left. All others sold.

 

I really think the all-in 123 helped book lots of cabins very early that we aren't used to seeing.

[ECCruise]

I just checked a website that tracks historical pricing and shows available cabins. Both the East and Westbound Infinity Panama Canal trips in April 2017 are down to only 14% available cabins. So it is quite possible all times are reserved already.

 

I have a Crusie booked in Feb 2017 on Equinox, it's down to 7% open cabins. Only 9/10/11 Inside, 2C Veranda, and RS left. All others sold.

 

I really think the all-in 123 helped book lots of cabins very early that we aren't used to seeing.

 

I would be very suspicious of those numbers, Curt. After almost 15 years on Cruise Critic, a good barometer of cruise interest is roll calls on here--and those Canal cruises are very quiet. If 86% of those sailings were truly booked, the roll calls would be extremely active. I think those "booked" rooms have likely been block held by some agency(ies) rather than alot of individual (and genuine) bookings.

[cle-guy]

I would be very suspicious of those numbers, Curt. After almost 15 years on Cruise Critic, a good barometer of cruise interest is roll calls on here--and those Canal cruises are very quiet. If 86% of those sailings were truly booked, the roll calls would be extremely active. I think those "booked" rooms have likely been block held by some agency(ies) rather than alot of individual (and genuine) bookings.

 

I know for sure on my sailing, they have already pulled back all agencies cabins that were not booked, my TA is a mid sized one, and had to give upper unsold inventory a few months ago.

 

Doing dummy booking for the Panama Canals on X website (eastbound as example), all suites are gone, and X rarely if ever lets agencies hold onto suites. All A1's gone. All C1's gone, down to last 3 C2's. Good selection of insides OV and verandas though, just not sure of full availability.

[New Hampshire]

We have been sailing Celebrity since 1994 and in our early years loved traditional late seating dining. As we got older we preferred eating a bit earlier and switched to Select Dining when it was first offered.

 

We have been extremely pleased with Select on every ship we've sailed both M and S class. We have sometimes made some reservations pre- cruise and some while onboard. Sometimes we have just shown up when we felt like it. Whether we had reservations or not, the longest we ever had to wait was 10 minutes.

 

That is until our just completed cruise on Summit to Bermuda, June 7-14. The Select Dining experience was awful. I tried to make reservations on the website for the first night's dining about two months pre-cruise. There was no ability to make a reservation between 5:30 and 8 PM. Once onboard, we attempted to make reservations for each night of the cruise and again no reservations could be made between 5:30 and 8 PM. We waited every night, buzzer in hand, anywhere from 20 minutes to the longest wait of 45 minutes.

 

The Select Dining space was packed every night. It's popularity has grown and the carving out of the existing space for Blu and now Luminae has made the situation impossible. I sailed on Summit in March 2014 when the Blu space was already in existence. All worked beautifully. The carve out for Luminae seems to have been the tipping point for that particular ship.

 

Personally, I hope the rumor is true and Dining becomes all Select.

[cle-guy]

The Select Dining space was packed every night. It's popularity has grown and the carving out of the existing space for Blu and now Luminae has made the situation impossible. I sailed on Summit in March 2014 when the Blu space was already in existence. All worked beautifully. The carve out for Luminae seems to have been the tipping point for that particular ship.

 

Personally, I hope the rumor is true and Dining becomes all Select.

 

Luminae wasn't installed in the Select dining area, it took over a wing of the MDR Fixed Dining seating area.....Luminae is on Deck 4 where fixed dining is, and BLU is right above it on Deck 5 where Select dining is. Luminae can't be blamed for congestion in select dining, since seating hasn't changed up there. It's the DEMAND for select dining versus Fixed Dining times over time that's making the waits there longer - and why we'll likely see will see something change sometime, I think soon - as I noted earlier, perhaps moving fixed to the select area on upper deck and make the main floor all select as the bridge to the issue.

 

I've done an Atlantis Charter, and on those, they don't do Fixed Dining at all -- it's full select dining, show up either entrance and get to a table. It worked beautifully being full select - you know, much like any ordinary land-based restaurant works.

[SantaFeFan]

I've done an Atlantis Charter, and on those, they don't do Fixed Dining at all -- it's full select dining, show up either entrance and get to a table. It worked beautifully being full select - you know, much like any ordinary land-based restaurant works.

 

If that is what a person prefers, it might work "beautifully". But for those of us who enjoy the traditional style of dining, with its feeling of going to an event rather than to just "any ordinary land-based restaurant", it wouldn't be as enjoyable. The Select dining style is nothing special, as you admit with that "ordinary restaurant" comment, and many of us want something more unique. For us, traditional dining is one of the attractions of cruising and we would be disappointed if Celebrity eliminated it to satisfy the passengers who want to downgrade the dining experience for their own convenience.

 

Personally, I hope the rumor is true and Dining becomes all Select.

 

I don't get why some people here hope that the rumor is true. Why do you want to take Traditional away from those of us who enjoy it? What purpose does it serve to hope for that? :confused::confused::confused:

Edited June 22, 2015 by SantaFeFan

[Cruise Raider]

Get a grip. NCL has been "all select" -- Freestyle -- dining for a zillion years. No need to bring the ADA into this.

 

Exactly! I have never been at a loss of finding food on a cruise. I don't think the ADA can specify exactly where the food has to be provided.

[uktog]

When we first cruised, we thought traditional dining was the best thing ever.

 

We had one very bad table experience and another where it was only good after the stress on day 2 of getting a change and hoping not to bump into the dominatrix for the remaining days

 

Then we had three good traditional experiences.

 

We therefore were very reluctant to try another cruiseline (Azamara) which is effectively select.

 

After our first trip we were hooked on the turn up and dine when we want concept. Sometimes, we go the same time every night, many times we ask for the same server if possible, but we find having two we can alternate with works better. But I love the flexibility of not having to be ready for a set narrow time window each night. I like being able to vary the time at the last minute based on what I ate or did not eat during the day.

 

In no way is the elegance of our dining experience diminished, in fact quite the opposite.

 

We are now Luminae/Blu/Azamara cruisers so totally converted to the select concept.

 

I have looked at some of the valid concerns and can say

*solo travellers - I would hope if X goes over to select only they adopt the approach used by Azamara re solos and those who want to make up a group. Firstly Azamara publish a time for a hosted solos table (usually a junior officer) on several nights. You often see that group becoming a dining group after those early introductions.

Secondly the maitre d always asks dine together or with others and makes up groups of 4,6,8 whatever as others arrive the wait is only up to five minutes

People tend to accumulate in the small anteroom bar ahead of dining and very often we ask a solo we strike up a conversation with to join us for dinner.

 

*Medical requirements to dine at a set time. There is no legal requirement for the cruiseline to make a nominated dining room available to a cruiser at a set time, only they must have access to food. However without a doubt the cruise line would do all they could to accommodate eating at a given time. After all many in that situation cruise with lines like Azamara without issue.

 

Personally I hope Celebrity moves over to select only and introduces dining room management software to allow them to manage walk ups and prior reservations just as large land based establishments are. If they do that some of the recurring posts on these boards will go.

 

A final comment, I was once told by a hotel chef he can deliver a far higher quality dining experience when he is serving 2000 meals continuously over a three hour period than if he is doing 2x 1500 meals at set times.

 

So maybe we will reflect in a few years if this change is being implemented, what a positive difference it made

Edited June 21, 2015 by uktog