interesting rumor - X going to all select?

[ECCruise]

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.

 

 

 

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:

 

Honestly, because the tenacious holding on to Traditional by Celebrity is really starting to impact the Select experience. There are many reports on these pages, including one on this thread, where Select has deteriorated because of too much demand, while Traditional seating (with more real estate) has open spaces.

 

Count me as another hoping that Traditional, as currently formatted, goes away. Like I said, it can be done (same table/wait staff/dining companions) without using a huge portion of the MDR while others have to wait in line. But, I am confident that in the next 5 years you will see the end of both traditional dining and formal dress codes (face it, as long as you PAY more for cabin or dining, you no longer have a formal dress code). Both losses would be A-OK with me, and not affect anyone else (dress up if you like, no problem).

[flames9]

Traditional dining on RCCL led us to Celebrity and BLU (Aqua) On our 2009 Alaska cruise on RCCL we made the mistake of ordering in the 1st night! 2nd night we go for supper, at our assigned table and time....Not exactly sure what happened if the Maitre D gave away our seats or those people at the table just invited 2 new people....so no spots for us...ushered off to another table.....Maitre D then assigned us a new table fro 3rd night.....get to that table on the 3rd night....We sit down..get weird looks....guess those people at that table had invited their new friends......they were not pleased at all, made us look like idiots, and maitre D just stood there and did nothing, even though he had been the 1 that assigned us that table! Good times,lol

[sloopsailor]

Honestly, because the tenacious holding on to Traditional by Celebrity is really starting to impact the Select experience. There are many reports on these pages, including one on this thread, where Select has deteriorated because of too much demand, while Traditional seating (with more real estate) has open spaces.

 

Count me as another hoping that Traditional, as currently formatted, goes away. Like I said, it can be done (same table/wait staff/dining companions) without using a huge portion of the MDR while others have to wait in line. But, I am confident that in the next 5 years you will see the end of both traditional dining and formal dress codes (face it, as long as you PAY more for cabin or dining, you no longer have a formal dress code). Both losses would be A-OK with me, and not affect anyone else (dress up if you like, no problem).

 

Sad to see that some people want to take things away from others just because they prefer something else. Seems to be prevalent in certain circles of society and government these days - people telling everyone else how they should live their lives, and doing everything in their power to eliminate anything they don't like, even if others do. What ever happened to the proverb "Live and let live"? I haven't read a single post from any Traditional dining fan espousing the elimination of Select just because they don't prefer it. But I have read many posts from Select fans hoping Traditional is dropped. Talk about being selfish.

 

I guess being tolerant of people's differences is also becoming an obsolete "tradition" for some. :rolleyes:

Edited June 22, 2015 by sloopsailor

[ECCruise]

Sad to see that some people want to take things away from others just because they prefer something else. Seems to be prevalent in certain circles of society and government these days - people telling everyone else how they should live their lives, and doing everything in their power to eliminate anything they don't like, even if others do. What ever happened to the proverb "Live and let live"? I haven't read a single post from any Traditional dining fan espousing the elimination of Select just because they don't prefer it. But I have read many posts from Select fans hoping Traditional is dropped. Talk about being selfish.

 

I guess being tolerant of people's differences is also becoming an obsolete "tradition" for some. :rolleyes:

 

Not quite sure how you are coming to this conclusion. It has absolutely nothing to do with "preferences."

 

First, your current selection of traditional dining DOES affect our Select experience. Your selection gobbles up seats that go unused, while Select diners stand in line. Second, you will never see any Traditional fan hope that Select gets dropped because it does not affect their experience in any way.

 

Funny how it works perfectly on many of the Premium lines but the Celebrity people just wring their hands and fan themselves that it will totally destroy their cruise experience. If you broaden your horizons a touch you may be amazed.

[GottaKnowWhen]

good...until our just completed cruise on Summit to Bermuda, June 7-14. The Select Dining experience was awful.... We waited every night, buzzer in hand, anywhere from 20 minutes to the longest wait of 45 minutes....Personally, I hope the rumor is true and Dining becomes all Select.

 

OK, select is terrible so the solution is to do away with traditional? Really? Do you think the Celebrity reservation system will be able to handle a few thousand additional diners looking for tables every mealtime?

 

I think it is really ironic that many champions of Select give us great detail about all they do to transform Select into Traditional: long time on the computer to make advance reservations with an absolute requirement for same time every night, same table and wait staff every night, seated with the same people every night. Why not just go with traditional Traditional?

[SantaFeFan]

Not quite sure how you are coming to this conclusion. It has absolutely nothing to do with "preferences."

 

First, your current selection of traditional dining DOES affect our Select experience. Your selection gobbles up seats that go unused, while Select diners stand in line. Second, you will never see any Traditional fan hope that Select gets dropped because it does not affect their experience in any way.

 

Funny how it works perfectly on many of the Premium lines but the Celebrity people just wring their hands and fan themselves that it will totally destroy their cruise experience. If you broaden your horizons a touch you may be amazed.

 

Well, there is your solution!!! Cruise on those other lines you so much admire for "getting it right". You do understand the concept of choice, don't you? :rolleyes:

 

To counter your insulting implication that we are too faint of heart to "broaden our horizons", perhaps if you are so riled up about the lack of instant availability in Select you should "broaden your OWN horizons" by choosing Traditional which you claim has so many empty tables, and thus avoid the horror of waiting a few minutes for a table.

 

It is very obvious that in your imaginary world you expect everything to be a one way street in your direction. :( Another poster said it before, and it bears repeating - "Talk about being selfish!", which your position certainly is. You want it your way, so make everyone else give up the way they like it to accommodate you. Sheesh!

Edited June 22, 2015 by SantaFeFan

[Lancer1568]

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

Exactly. Oceania and Azamara don't have any fixed dining times either. To eat at a certain time, all you have to do is make a reservation. Plus you can always eat at a time of your own choosing at the buffet.

[hughdm]

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.

Are you even looking at the math here? Yes. I imagine that 3000 meals is about 50% more work than 2000 meals!

[ECCruise]

Well, there is your solution!!! Cruise on those other lines you so much admire for "getting it right". :rolleyes:

 

To counter your insulting implication that we are too faint of heart to "broaden our horizons", perhaps if you are so riled up about the lack of instant availability in Select you should "broaden your OWN horizons" by choosing Traditional which you claim has so many empty tables, and thus avoid the horror of waiting a few minutes for a table.

 

It is very obvious that in your imaginary world you expect everything to be a one way street in your direction. :( Another poster said it before, and it bears repeating - "Talk about being selfish!", which your position certainly is. You want it your way, so make everyone else give up the way they like it to accommodate you. Sheesh!

 

Not sure where my "imaginary world" exists since I am willing to bet that we have done Traditional Dining a lot more than you might think (around 400 nights). Like millions of other cruisers around the world, though, we have moved into the 21st Century I guess, and found a system that fits all of our needs and wants, which is not living a rigid life of dine at X time with X people. If you want that, fine, no problem. But the minute it starts to affect hundreds of other people because of changes that the cruise line has made, then it becomes a problem.

 

Just don't get why you being able to make a reservation for an entire cruise for the same table, the same table-mates, the same servers in the same dining room would so degrade your experience that you need to take pot shots at me. Color me confused.

 

And no, wouldn't do Traditional again as it currently exists if it came with an instant rebate every night. Been there, done that many times and no thanks.

[Ma Bell]

Not sure where my "imaginary world" exists since I am willing to bet that we have done Traditional Dining a lot more than you might think (around 400 nights). Like millions of other cruisers around the world, though, we have moved into the 21st Century I guess, and found a system that fits all of our needs and wants, which is not living a rigid life of dine at X time with X people. If you want that, fine, no problem. But the minute it starts to affect hundreds of other people because of changes that the cruise line has made, then it becomes a problem.

 

Just don't get why you being able to make a reservation for an entire cruise for the same table, the same table-mates, the same servers in the same dining room would so degrade your experience that you need to take pot shots at me. Color me confused.

 

And no, wouldn't do Traditional again as it currently exists if it came with an instant rebate every night. Been there, done that many times and no thanks.

 

How do you think it will affect the Select experience if all those people who put up with early and late dining times decide that since they don't have Traditional Dining any more they might as well reserve their table every night at the same time everyone else already wants one? It's going to be lots of fun when everyone tries to do that. Anyone who has ever been a server in a restaurant knows that in order to make it best for service issues there needs to be some kind of seating pattern that provides a smooth sequence of service for the waitstaff.

 

At least most of those people are now going at either 6 or 8:30. If you want more competition for your prime time reservation, do away with Traditional and see what happens. Everyone on the ship can't dine at their preferred time, with their preferred waiter. Try looking at the whole picture.

Edited June 22, 2015 by Ma Bell

[Escriteur]

We just returned on Friday from an Alaska cruise aboard the Solstice; it was our first time doing Select Dining on Celebrity, since the early seating traditional dining was fully booked. Traditional dining was on Deck 3 with one entrance; the opposite entrance is now used for Luminae. Select Dining was on Deck 4, and people could use either entrance. We occasionally saw lines to enter the dining room on Deck 3, but the lines for Select Dining on Deck 4 were rarely more than a few people deep, and they moved quickly. We made reservations online for the first couple of nights (embarkation day and our first day at sea) at 6:30pm; both times they seated us at a two-top. But for the rest of the cruise, we showed up whenever we were ready, and never had a wait. Sometimes we asked to be seated at a large table with other diners, while other times we shared a table with new friends from our roll call. By the way, most of the two-seat tables are situated adjacent to other two-seaters, so even when they seated us at our own table, we usually had an opportunity to chat with the folks seated next to us.

 

To be honest, given the flexibility/ease of this experience, I think I'll be booking Select Dining for all of our future cruises! We met so many more people than we ever did through traditional dining, and we didn't have to worry about rushing to dinner after a busy day in port.

 

The only real glitch in the 7-day cruise was our last night...the ship was docked in Victoria, BC, from 6pm-12am, so they had "open seating" dining for everyone starting at 5pm. Unlike Select Dining, where they escort you to tables and fill the tables in an organized fashion, this was a free-for-all -- they told us to seat ourselves at any table with available seats. You've all seen how well that works in the buffet, and it was no different in the MDR. The poor waiters were rushed off their feet, running around trying to take orders from new arrivals while serving meals to those who had already been seated, and the bar staff/sommeliers never even made it to our corner of the dining room. I felt bad for the waiters who had been assigned to traditional dining, as I'm sure most of them never got to see "their" table guests on that last night. I don't know what Celebrity was thinking with that arrangement...they could at least have seated people section-by-section as they do in Select Dining. So, compared to "seat-yourself" open seating, Select Dining was a model of ease and efficiency! ;)

[Iamcruzin]

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.

 

 

 

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:

 

I guess it depends on whether you book early or late traditional seating. It seems that those who book late seating are sitting in an empty dining room. I experienced this on Princess almost 10yrs ago when Anytime was first introduced. Unlike Celebrity Princess only had 2 specialty restaurants and the buffet and still the dining room was empty. On the other hand they had to add a second early seating because early was always waitlisted. So now they close one of the anytime dining rooms to accommodate early early traditional seating and open it to anytime dining later in the evening around 7-7:30. Maybe Celebrity should just have one traditional seating time to accommodate the few who still prefer it. As far as eating with the same table mates each night, I have found that since I have joined Cruise Critic I tend to meet people pre cruise from the roll call and have arranged to have diner with them. I have also made friends on deck around the pool in the lounges and on excursions. I don't need to limit myself to the 8 other people who may or may not show up at my table each night.

[GottaKnowWhen]

... Maybe Celebrity should just have one traditional seating time to accommodate the few who still prefer it...

 

I am curious; are you just making this stuff up? It would not bother me to be one of a few, been there, done that many times in any ways in my life. But what makes you think that only a few prefer Traditional? Do you have actual numbers, or (again) are you just making stuff up to fit your personal preferences? Note that I don't care if you have seen an empty table or a dozen, I don't care if you had to stand in line or carry a beeper, all of that is just a few random anecdotal items. Do you have any real data on a broad spectrum of passengers and their preferences?

[Iamcruzin]

I am curious; are you just making this stuff up? It would not bother me to be one of a few, been there, done that many times in any ways in my life. But what makes you think that only a few prefer Traditional? Do you have actual numbers, or (again) are you just making stuff up to fit your personal preferences? Note that I don't care if you have seen an empty table or a dozen, I don't care if you had to stand in line or carry a beeper, all of that is just a few random anecdotal items. Do you have any real data on a broad spectrum of passengers and their preferences?

 

Because of the continuous reports of empty tables in traditional. Like I said I experienced it myself almost 10 years ago with only 3 other dining choices. Now in addition there are even more choices and separate restaurants for Aqua class and suites which are basically all select dining. How many people are left to eat in traditional? How are you getting to know your table mates if they are never there? I have never had to wait with a beeper we don't eat at prime times.

Edited June 22, 2015 by Iamcruzin

[Ma Bell]

Because of the continuous reports of empty tables in traditional. Like I said I experienced it myself almost 10 years ago with only 3 other dining choices. Now in addition there are even more choices and separate restaurants for Aqua class and suites which are basically all select dining. How many people are left to eat in traditional? How are you getting to know your table mates if they are never there? I have never had to wait with a beeper we don't eat at prime times.

 

Is it possible that on your one Celebrity cruise you were looking at the dining room between seatings? If you happen to come into the Select Dining area between 7:30 and 8:30 the dining room could very well appear to be empty because in Traditional Dining everyone is seated at the same time. People in Traditional Dining are also just as likely to try a specialty restaurant or buffet as anyone else. They are not forbidden to leave the dining room for an evening here and there.

 

We also dine in Select Dining and have done so since it was instituted. We are also very frequent Celebrity cruisers. There has only been one time that I recall having to wait and that was when Select Dining was new. I know each cruise is somewhat flexible as far as how many tables are devoted to Traditional or Select and I've seen them expand the area for Select on a number of occasions. It seems to me that works much better than doing away with Traditional Dining completely.

Edited June 22, 2015 by Ma Bell

[uktog]

Are you even looking at the math here? Yes. I imagine that 3000 meals is about 50% more work than 2000 meals!

 

It is nothing to do with maths the remark was made by the chef in relation to quality management. That is spreading the serving of 3000 meals over a 4 hour period vs doing 2 all at once services. His view which I think is perfectly valid is he can guarantee hot well presented food in the first case but not necessarily in the second.

[AtleeH]

I would be willing to bet that that most of the "select" meals are served with an hour of each other. I'd be willing to bet that all of the "select" meals are NOT spread evenly over the 4 hour period. I greatly suspect that most of the select meals are grouped within an hour, hour and 1/2 max, period. I suspect that's also one reason select diners experience backups. The majority of them want to eat at relatively the same time.

 

But if the majority of folks are "select" dining enthusiasts and "traditionalist" diners are now a minority, seems all Celebrity needs to do is move "select" to the larger lower MDR area, and put the "traditionalist" in the upper MDR ring that over looks the lower level. In other words, flip flop the select and traditional dining areas.

 

That way those of us who still like traditional dining will have an area to do just that, unless the object of some is to just eliminate all traditional dining.

 

It is nothing to do with maths the remark was made by the chef in relation to quality management. That is spreading the serving of 3000 meals over a 4 hour period vs doing 2 all at once services. His view which I think is perfectly valid is he can guarantee hot well presented food in the first case but not necessarily in the second.

[Redtravel]

Before I did select dining, I didn't really understand it. You can make reservations. On most ships, making a reservation is easy. Your table is waiting for you. You have the option of sitting with anyone you want. You can dine as a couple one night and dine with a group the next night. You can be seated at a large table or a small. Unfortunately, select dining on my recent Summit cruise didn't work. We had reservations for all 7 nights. WE had to wait most nights with a beeper. It was not pleasant. Since the traditional dining room seats have been taken away for the new suite dining room, more people have been delegated to select. Also, suite guests can bump reservations in select. I met suite guests who didn't like luminae and chose to eat in MDR. Making the MDR all select may help. Instead of having empty tables in traditional( in port,many traditional tables were empty), select would fill those seats. I agree with the test run on one ship to see how it works. I like select on Azamara. It is rare that I have waited more than a few minutes for a table. Also, if the dinner offerings in the buffet included the MDR menu items, some people would dine there. On HAL, dinner buffet has the same items as the MDR. I have enjoyed eating in HAL buffet for dinner. I have also eaten dinner at the Buffet on Azamara. Celebrity dinner choices in the buffet are not as good as the MDR.

[chamima]

Before I did select dining, I didn't really understand it. You can make reservations. On most ships, making a reservation is easy. Your table is waiting for you. You have the option of sitting with anyone you want. You can dine as a couple one night and dine with a group the next night. You can be seated at a large table or a small. Unfortunately, select dining on my recent Summit cruise didn't work. We had reservations for all 7 nights. WE had to wait most nights with a beeper. It was not pleasant. Since the traditional dining room seats have been taken away for the new suite dining room, more people have been delegated to select. Also, suite guests can bump reservations in select. I met suite guests who didn't like luminae and chose to eat in MDR. Making the MDR all select may help. Instead of having empty tables in traditional( in port,many traditional tables were empty), select would fill those seats. I agree with the test run on one ship to see how it works. I like select on Azamara. It is rare that I have waited more than a few minutes for a table. Also, if the dinner offerings in the buffet included the MDR menu items, some people would dine there. On HAL, dinner buffet has the same items as the MDR. I have enjoyed eating in HAL buffet for dinner. I have also eaten dinner at the Buffet on Azamara. Celebrity dinner choices in the buffet are not as good as the MDR.

 

 

To all of the people who keep saying that select works on Azamara.

Yes, it does.

Azamara ships carry a maximum of 686 passengers.

Comparing this to a ship carrying 3000 passengers is impossible.

 

To the people who like Select I say fine. Glad it's there for you.

We have many food allergies and restrictions.

The reason we like cruising rather than land tours is that we like NOT having to explain everything over and over again at each meal.

Traditional dining with the same waitstaff makes our vacation time a lot more relaxing.

(On Celebrity we sail in Aqua and , even in Blu request the same waitstaff each evening for that reason but it's a LOT easier in a small restaurant.)

 

I don't understand why this has become so contentious.

if you like Select then choose that.

If you like Traditional choose that.

Why do MY preferences have to rule YOUR life?

[4774Papa]

We were on early seating for our March Century cruise, but the people at the table just didn't work out for us, so we moved to select and never had a problem with that choice.

 

We usually had a group of four or six, coming from the elite happy hour around 6:30 or 7pm. I don't think we had to wait for a table on any night.

 

We changed our early seating to select for our next cruise on Millenium in Oct.

[AtleeH]

Do you really believe someone would leave Luminae to eat in Select dining? I don't. Why leave Luminae your own semi private eating area for mass dining on Select. Luminae has it's own menu, as I understand it, and guest in Luminae can also order off the MDR menu.

 

Why do you believe in port only folks who eat in Traditional do not eat there. Do you believe that in port, folks who eat in Select never not show up?

 

Don't compare Azamara with an M class or S class ship. There is a huge difference in size. It's like comparing the mess decks of a destroyer to the mess decks of a carrier.

 

... Also, suite guests can bump reservations in select. I met suite guests who didn't like luminae and chose to eat in MDR. Making the MDR all select may help. Instead of having empty tables in traditional( in port,many traditional tables were empty), select would fill those seats. I agree with the test run on one ship to see how it works. I like select on Azamara. It is rare that I have waited more than a few minutes for a table. Also, if the dinner offerings in the buffet included the MDR menu items, some people would dine there. On HAL, dinner buffet has the same items as the MDR. I have enjoyed eating in HAL buffet for dinner. I have also eaten dinner at the Buffet on Azamara. Celebrity dinner choices in the buffet are not as good as the MDR.

[wallie5446]

 

 

I don't understand why this has become so contentious.

if you like Select then choose that.

If you like Traditional choose that.

Why do MY preferences have to rule YOUR life?

 

Thanks Karen.

[Iamcruzin]

Is it possible that on your one Celebrity cruise you were looking at the dining room between seatings? If you happen to come into the Select Dining area between 7:30 and 8:30 the dining room could very well appear to be empty because in Traditional Dining everyone is seated at the same time. People in Traditional Dining are also just as likely to try a specialty restaurant or buffet as anyone else. They are not forbidden to leave the dining room for an evening here and there.

 

We also dine in Select Dining and have done so since it was instituted. We are also very frequent Celebrity cruisers. There has only been one time that I recall having to wait and that was when Select Dining was new. I know each cruise is somewhat flexible as far as how many tables are devoted to Traditional or Select and I've seen them expand the area for Select on a number of occasions. It seems to me that works much better than doing away with Traditional Dining completely.

 

 

We eat between 8 and 8:30 so the only dining time that I would have noticed is late which is why I'm not sure if the complaints of an empty dining room is just during late seating or is it a problem at both times. My only experience with traditional has been on Princes where I had the same experience as those who have complained about late seating on Celebrity. I don't have a problem with anyone making a choice to dine in other venues I just don't know how those who like to eat with the same people each night are accomplishing this in traditional. I have never had a wait when I arrive at select but now there are reports that there are lines and pagers being given out at 8:00 since they added the new suite dining room. I don't sail until next year so who knows what changes will occur before then.

[gergles]

I was on late seating on my recent cruise on the Silhouette and it was mostly full most nights. There was one notable 12-top that stayed empty the entire cruise, but otherwise, most tables were mostly full throughout.

 

I enjoy traditional dining and hope that if X moves to all select that reservation linking will still be respected and that people will be able to be seated together on a regular basis. I also really liked getting to know the wait staff and would miss that with a constantly rotating parade of people in Select.

[ECCruise]

I was on late seating on my recent cruise on the Silhouette and it was mostly full most nights. There was one notable 12-top that stayed empty the entire cruise, but otherwise, most tables were mostly full throughout.

 

I enjoy traditional dining and hope that if X moves to all select that reservation linking will still be respected and that people will be able to be seated together on a regular basis. I also really liked getting to know the wait staff and would miss that with a constantly rotating parade of people in Select.

 

There really is no logistic reason why this could not be done. The reservation system is already in place (but would need to be fine-tuned) and exactly what you have suggested makes perfect sense.