Should Celebrity Change Their Dining Options ?

[DeepWaterMariner]

There are two things I like about traditional dining. One is that a group of strangers randomly seated together during the first night of a cruise often become life long friends. The other is that passengers don't have to worry about waiting on line for a table or feel pressured to gulp down their meal because other passengers are waiting for their table.

 

On the other hand, if adequate seating was available whenever a passenger wanted to eat dinner, I would prefer open seating because it would be easier to balance a port intensive cruise. With traditional dining, it is not uncommon for people to resort to room service or the casual dining venue for dinner because their scheduled time did not work well with their other plans for that day.

 

While I would miss the comaraderie that exists from traditional dining, that would be offset by the opportunity to meet more people during open seating.

 

In short, I find the idea of open seating very appealing if it can be done without long waits for a table.

 

I appreciate your view and your being open minded on the subject. My experience with Personal Choice dinning on Princess was quite acceptable in regard to your concerns in the first paragraph. Because we generally go to the dinning room at the same time each night we dine with the same people on several evenings just by the luck of the draw. Instead of having one table of friends we have had about three tables worth. On the second issue, about being rushed because people are waiting, our experience has been just the opposite. It has been my experience when using traditional dinning that the first sitting is being rushed out of the dinning room so they set up for second sitting. With personal choice dinning the waiters aren't working to a schedule so they don't seem to care if you linger over a second or third cup of coffee.

[caviargal]

T

 

On the other hand, if adequate seating was available whenever a passenger wanted to eat dinner, I would prefer open seating because it would be easier to balance a port intensive cruise. With traditional dining, it is not uncommon for people to resort to room service or the casual dining venue for dinner because their scheduled time did not work well with their other plans for that day.

While I would miss the comaraderie that exists from traditional dining, that would be offset by the opportunity to meet more people during open seating.

 

In short, I find the idea of open seating very appealing if it can be done without long waits for a table.

 

Sky Sweet, one of the things I really enjoyed about open dining on Regent was the ability to make the choice to dine alone or with others, based on our desire that evening.

 

That and the convenience of adapting to port schedules was quite nice and the best of all worlds, IME and IMO.

 

We never waited for a table.:)

[fti]

I have switched from early to late to casual on Celebrity and would like some more choice. 6:00 pm is too early, 8:30 is too late. Depending on the time of year, I love casual dining timed to evening sunsets.... I for one have no problems at all with changing the present setup BUT I would like to see both choices available.

 

I chose late seating for my AK cruise next month on the Summit - mainly because a couple of days we are in port fairly late and I don't want to rush back for a 6pm seating. Generally I would not dine that late and 6pm is definitely too early on a port-intensive cruise like AK.

 

If I return from port early and want to dine earlier, there are other options on board for me to do that. So is "anytime dining" good or bad? It is a personal decision with no "right" answer.

 

It would be nice to have the option, and personally I think Celebrity will end up going that route at least as an option since, as was posted above, they want to remain competitive, they want to keep current Celebrity cruisers who want more flexibility and they want to attract current non-Celebrity cruisers who shy away from Celebrity because of the inflexibility.

 

John

[shawn&angie]

There are two things I like about traditional dining. One is that a group of strangers randomly seated together during the first night of a cruise often become life long friends. The other is that passengers don't have to worry about waiting on line for a table or feel pressured to gulp down their meal because other passengers are waiting for their table.

 

On the other hand, if adequate seating was available whenever a passenger wanted to eat dinner, I would prefer open seating because it would be easier to balance a port intensive cruise. With traditional dining, it is not uncommon for people to resort to room service or the casual dining venue for dinner because their scheduled time did not work well with their other plans for that day.

 

While I would miss the comaraderie that exists from traditional dining, that would be offset by the opportunity to meet more people during open seating.

 

In short, I find the idea of open seating very appealing if it can be done without long waits for a table.

 

 

All great points. Not sure which direction I think this should really go. We also have been frustrated at times hurrying to keep to a strict dinging schedule after a long port day.

 

We have also enjoyed meeting new people and seeing them each night as with traditional dining. You get to learn more each night about the people around you without having to repeat the same introduction and background every evening as you would with open seating.

 

***There is one point that I don't think has been mentioned yet (if it has I apologize) Both Angie and I have met new friends on a cruise but not at our table but could not have dinner with them due to traditional dinning. This happened on our last cruise when wonderful couple from England early on and wished we could have spent the remaining days dining with them but could not.

[rjg41]

While I was somewhat flamed at the time, I reported some time back, just after Solstice was announced, that the concept for dining on the new ships appeared headed toward multiple dining rooms and some type of "anytime dining" choice. That comment was based on conversations with the restaurant manager in the Normandy, who was then participating in the concept discussions.

 

I think it will be an "I told you so", to those that flammed us at the time.

 

P.S. We prefer traditional dining.

[Horizon Bound]

Having only just started cruising a few years ago, we've not a lot of experience under our belts to be "traditionalists" or radicals:eek: yet. Our first cruise was with Celebrity and our group was large enough to have our own table, which we enjoyed. But our next few cruises were on the then-Radisson, now-Regent, with open dining, and I've enjoyed it, and almost come to expect it. We almost always get a table for two, because we are somewhat reticent to open up to strangers. It takes a bit of time before we feel comfortable talking about ourselves (gay couple). But our last cruise was via Crystal with fixed dining times, so I asked our TA to get us a table for 2. She wouldn't hear of it. She all but told us to try a table for 8 (was she kidding?!). I replied with....."But what if....." and she just patted me on the head and said try it and if you don't like it, you can move back to your comfort zone. The point is, contrary to what I expected, our table mates were wonderful. My deeply rooted fear that we'd not have anything in common with 'strangers' was unfounded, and it was great fun getting to know people from around the world. For a couple that appreciates diversity, I'm not really sure why I couldn't see that. So I now understand what everyone else has been saying about the privilege of dining with a set group of folks. They're strangers at first, but as the journey progresses, it makes the trip even more enjoyable as we experience the trip through their eyes.

 

Next cruise is in February on the Infinity for Carnaval in Rio, and you can believe well be requesting a large table and get to know new people.

[Drew B]

I am all about dining at a larger table vs. a table for 2. However, that isn't a distinction between traditional or anytime. You should be able to do either with either style. The question then becomes would you rather be with the same tablemates and get to know them much deeper (for better or for worse) in a traditional scenario or have the opportunity to meet more tablemates but on a more superficial level with anytime.

 

I'm torn on that question. It would really depend with whom I am seated. Unless I really love my tablemates (which is what I hope each time, but have only achieved once), eating with them every night loses it's appeal after four or five days. We hit a wall, if you will. On a longer cruise, I almost wish we could all shuffle tables at the midway point for variety. On the other hand, if you're getting new tablemates every day, the chances of getting ones you can't stand increases. And if you do find ones you love, you may only have that one meal together. It's a tough call...

[DeepWaterMariner]

Drew B, I understand what you are talking about. We've done a lot of cruises and have experienced both good and bad tables. Our preference is also a large table, figuring the greater variety in conversation will help prevent hitting "the wall" on a longer cruise. Sometimes it doesn't help. An advantage of the open sitting approach is that you don't have to put up with a bad or boring table for the entire cruise. Yes, the same thing can happen in the open sitting approach but you're only stuck for one meal. Our best experience on personal choice dinning with Princess came on a 15 day cruise. As the days passed our circle of dinner friends expanded to about 3 tables full. Interestingly these same people dinned with each other without planning it in different combinations. By the last night of the cruise we had a "reunion" dinner. It was one of our best dinning room experiences on a cruise which is saying a lot. Our other open sitting experiences have been about the same. We'll be doing it again on Princess on a 16 day cruise in a couple of months and we look forward to it.

[negc]

Isn't the real problem the fact that no one seems to be able to come up with a way in which both options can be offered and those who want one option or the other will be accommodated? Princess insists on using a 2/3 anytime (or 3/4 anytime) vs. 1/3-1/4 traditional system regardless of the actual breakdown on any given cruise. The Freedom experiment is based on a 1/3 anytime and 2/3 traditional division and HAL is going to split it fifty-fifty. In the real world, those percentages don't appear to accurately reflect the actual percentages of those who prefer one style over the other. Perhaps some line can come up with a way to offer both options and be flexible enough to satisfy the majority of their passengers, but I have yet to see anyone offering such a solution. In many cases the physical set up of the dining rooms won't even permit the degree of flexibility that would be required.:(

[dbh62ark]

Sky Sweet, one of the things I really enjoyed about open dining on Regent was the ability to make the choice to dine alone or with others, based on our desire that evening.

 

That and the convenience of adapting to port schedules was quite nice and the best of all worlds, IME and IMO.

 

We never waited for a table.:)

This is similar to our experience. In 20+ cruises, we had mostly traditional dining and assigned dinner times. We only had to be moved once (a 75-year-old husband with his 25-year-old bride that didn't speak any English, so that just didn't work out ;)). We are still in touch with many of our former table mates and have even planned subsequent cruises with some. We cruised Oceania last year and found the open seating to be AWESOME. i highly recommend, and the food was much better than our Celebrity cruise in May/June too. We make friends easily (I love meeting new people and rarely run into anyone that I can't stand in person), so we found our own table mates on Oceania and ate with the same passengers many times (14 night cruise). But we also enjoyed a few nights meeting new people too. I don’t need the assigned dinner seating to make new friends and can find my own on board. And like you, we find that it's so much easier with a busy port schedule to have the open and flexible dining.

 

Donna

[Sky Sweet]

Sky Sweet, one of the things I really enjoyed about open dining on Regent was the ability to make the choice to dine alone or with others, based on our desire that evening.

 

That and the convenience of adapting to port schedules was quite nice and the best of all worlds, IME and IMO.

 

We never waited for a table.:)

 

Hi Caviargal :)

 

Thanks for sharing your experience with open dining. It makes me less resistant to try it.

 

Your comment about dining alone or with others, based on your desire that evening reminded me of something else. Sometimes my husband and I take a cruise by ourselves and at other times we cruise with good friends. I have mixed feelings about which I prefer because while it it nice to share a wonderful cruise with good friends, I also enjoy the flexibility we have when we cruise by ourselves.

[sealover155]

A recent Crown Princess review by "Frogger" mentioned 252 people waitlisted for traditional dining. I'm curious to know if this is representative or an anomaly. In considering a switch, hopefully the powers that be will do a careful, analytical study. We prefer traditional dining as waiting with a buzzer is something we reserve for the rare instance we frequent a chain, no reservations restaurant. Not what we like on a cruise. Buzzers or waiting would certainly be required on ships as large as Celebrity's.

[hugsthecat]

ANDY: I have read through all the comments (I will do so later).However my comments are as follows. I would like to see the dining room split in two. This is what HCL is doing.

The poll to date shows that about 51% want to keep it as is ans that about 29% want the split.

I like the traditional. After the first night my waiter knows what I like and don't like..That is important to me.However ,I don't mind having an option.. I understand though that with HCL you must decide which option you want before you sail and that you can't change your mind.

 

Michael

[Host Walt]

The thread is closed. The enunciated vitriol has resulted in an excessive number of posts having to be removed.