It's Official... Celebrity is rolling out Open Seating on all ships

[usha]

We never would have tried anytime dining if it hadn't been foisted on us.

We were just sure we would hate it.

As it turns out, we liked it a lot.:D

[Bruin Steve]

First off, I am a "traditionalist"...I think the traditional dinner seatings with the leisurely 2-hour dining windows and waiters who get to know you are one of the things that makes cruising special...

 

Obviously, there can be some benefits to "open seating"...especially on itineraries where the hours in port vary greatly and some nights the ship is in port late...Problem is that on those nights EVERYONE wants a later dinner...

 

We usually cope with that by using those nights to experience the specialty restaurants or alternate dining...We have even had the Maitre d' arrange for us to dine at the late seating for an odd night--at a table where he knew some assigned folks would be bypassing the MDR that night...

 

On our upcoming Eclipse cruise, we will have to cope with the possibility of not getting back to the ship for our Main Seating dinner three times in the 14 nights--when the ship is in Warnemunde and in Rotterdam until midnight and when the ship is in St. Petersburg overnight...Even with that, we will likely be back onboard in St. Petersburg in time...so we'll eat in a specialty restaurant twice--assuming we don't stay out until close to midnight...

 

It has never really been a problem for us...

 

That said, on our last two cruises, we have been on ships with some form of open seating...

 

On the Oceania Nautica--a ship with only a little over 600 passengers onboard, open seating worked fairly well...the MDR was ample for the size of the ship and, being concierge class passengers, we were allowed four reservations in the two specialty restaurants...We arrived at the MDR on the other 10 nights whenever we wanted and were always seated immediately...But, we do like to sit with others...and, on nights when we hadn't pre-arranged dining with friends, our requests to sit with others typically resulted in our ending up at a table for two...We would much rather have a leisurely dinner with good conversation, but with just the two of us, dinners usually sped up a bit...The service, despite the overall service on Oceania being quite good, was NOT as good as we've found on Celebrity--largely because the waiters were different every night...they did not understand my desire to get iced tea refilled frequently...I continually had to reeducate waiters about my specific dietary needs (no sugar)...

 

But, overall, the system worked fine...

 

Our cruise on the Sapphire Princess, OTOH, was a dining disaster...

Half the ship had "traditional seating", the other half had "Anytime Seating"...Problem was it was enforced poorly...People with traditional assignments routinely crashed the Anytime rooms--with no check for seating assignments...the traditional rooms usually went half empty while people showing up for "Anytime" were handed buzzers and waited up to an hour for a table...

 

I really don't think you can be "all things to all people"...

 

I think this "anytime" or "open" thing is a gimmick...it appeals to people who haven't cruised much...the idea that no one assigns yu a time, you can eat when you want and with whom you want...But, of course, EVERYBODY can't just decide to eat at 7:30...And, when people are waiting for tables, the waiters have to rush people along...and sometimes you have to wait...

 

The traditional system is based on the knowledge that the dining rooms can only accommodate half the passengers at once...and if you assign the times, you can fit in two complete two hour dining windows...And the other activities onboard...like the show times...are scheduled around those dining windows...

 

I really don't mind having to show up for dinner at 6...Most ports, the ship sails by 5 or 6 and you have to be back onboard before then anyway...On at sea days, the schedule is built around the dining times...and if I'm just out at the pool, for example, I just know to get back to the room and get dressed for my 6:00 pm dinner reservation...

 

Yes, sometimes you don't get the best of tablemates...but, most often, we have been seated with a great table with good people who enjoy the experience...and we look forward to sitting with them each night and discussing the days events or tomorrow's plans...We have ended up taking touras with our tablemates, hanging out around the ship, going to shows, having drinks in the lounges...

 

Cruising is a very social form of vacationing...and traditional dining, with all of its social aspects, is important to the overall experience...

 

JMHO...

[Gracie115]

First off, I am a "traditionalist"...I think the traditional dinner seatings with the leisurely 2-hour dining windows and waiters who get to know you are one of the things that makes cruising special...

 

 

I think this "anytime" or "open" thing is a gimmick...it appeals to people who haven't cruised much... .

 

I don't disagree with much that you've said, but I sure disagree with "it appeals to people who haven't cruised much" We're "elite" on "X" and "Diamond" on Royal...attained the hard way...and we loved the concept on Jewel, as I said.

 

Also, as I said we DID have the same waiters, same table and we had the same leisurely 2 hour dinners as traditional dining...except the one night we ASKED for it to be sped up because of a show we didn't want to miss.

 

This concept is NOT a problem if done right, and I suspect X, being one of the last, if not the last, major cruiseline to implement it have studied the concept well and hopefully will introduce it to no ill effect for those that want to stay with traditional. I have no problem with traditional, I just don't want to eat at 6(5:30 now on some ships) or 8-8:30....this is perfect for us.

 

Royal limited the number of MTD seats to 90 on the Jewel(about 5% of the ship's total passengers), a very small section, so can't imagine X doing it much differently. That would not impact anyone who wanted traditional....I would think...

[FinelyCruising]

I'm going to be back on X for the first time in several years, sailing on teh Equinox "Ancient Empires" on Oct 23. To be honest, the Freestyle of NCL concept is great, but the food was pretty bad.

 

On the other hand, the regimented lifestyle of X scares me. My wife & I dressed for work for 40 years. We're now on vacation. We will not participate in any Formal nights. X has a problem telling us what the options are for those nights. I'm not eager to accept the choices of pizza, pasta, burgers, sushi, or being sent to my room for being a bad boy. We're going on Aqua class and interested in the reaction when I show up in the Blu Restaurant not wearing a tux or suit on formal nights. Perhaps they'll kick me off the ship! QUOTE]

 

From your brief description I do not think Celebrity is going to be right for you...you will have to be properly dreesed for formal night in Blu..(not fair to the other diners if they do let you in) ..

 

It is a paid for privilege to dine in Blu via the cabin classifications, and I too would wonder what the other guests think about a complete and total disregard such as what is being descibed with such passion.

[kelmac]

Lauren and I did not have a great experience with Holland America's open seating plan. Let's just say the system forced us into open seating twice and we did not enjoy the experience (once because we booked the cruise only eight months in advance and the other we had traditional seating, but they didn't give us the table size we requested and forced us out of the fixed seating restuarant). We didn't hate it, but it's not the same and the negatives out number the positives by a large margin.

We stopped cruising NCL, Princess and now HAL because of the problems associated with the new "choice" dining plans.

Not all open seating systems are bad -- we did Azamara and made the system work for us. We will be on an Oceania cruise this year and hope to make their system work as well. An all open seating system on a smaller ship can work.

 

Let's just hope Celebrity's new system will respect the needs of all their customers. I'm not anti-open seating, but some systems work, and some do not. (IMHO)

 

Enjoy!

Kel:)

[dkjretired]

I don't want anyone to jump down my throat but I will put this out as my opinion. The Select Dining in my opinion will be the end to formal dress on Celebrity. It is inevitable that those choosing select will become a more popular dining option and people will complain that they have to dress up to eat anytime them want. Celebrity will see this and go to Azamara's dress code. I give it a year....

[Shaco]

We detest open seating. Although they say there are no lines, everytime we have gone on an open seating ship, there are always lines, even on Azamara. Hate that! Plus, we love sitting with others whom you get to know during the cruise. Nothing like sitting by ourselves at a table for 10 because that was all that was available. Ich.

 

The reason traditional diners are somewhat defensive, IMHO is that "open" seems to be the trend du jour. We don't want to see our traditional dining done away with in favor of "open."

 

We did not go meekly to open seating. We were told no traditional places were left. That is the true danger.

[lifevicarious]

We detest open seating. Although they say there are no lines, everytime we have gone on an open seating ship, there are always lines, even on Azamara. Hate that! Plus, we love sitting with others whom you get to know during the cruise. Nothing like sitting by ourselves at a table for 10 because that was all that was available. Ich.

 

The reason traditional diners are somewhat defensive, IMHO is that "open" seems to be the trend du jour. We don't want to see our traditional dining done away with in favor of "open."

 

We did not go meekly to open seating. We were told no traditional places were left. That is the true danger.

 

But this is NOT all open seating. You can still choose traditional. That's why I don't understand why people are so up in arms.

 

If people want to be as traditional as you can get, why sail on a cruise ship? Go to an ocean liner type ship like Cunard offers. They are about as traditional as you can get.

 

Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine.

[Gracie115]

I don't want anyone to jump down my throat but I will put this out as my opinion. The Select Dining in my opinion will be the end to formal dress on Celebrity. It is inevitable that those choosing select will become a more popular dining option and people will complain that they have to dress up to eat anytime them want. Celebrity will see this and go to Azamara's dress code. I give it a year....

 

 

not jumping down throat at all....frankly the formal dress in MTD section on Jewel was decidedly MORE formal than what we saw in traditional....don't think you're right about this...hope you're not...we LIKE dressing up...just don't like eating at evening cocktail time:D(6PM)!!

[FinelyCruising]

not jumping down throat at all....frankly the formal dress in MTD section on Jewel was decidedly MORE formal than what we saw in traditional....don't think you're right about this...hope you're not...we LIKE dressing up...just don't like eating at evening cocktail time:D(6PM)!!

 

Jewel as in Jewel of the Seas? I have not found once that any of the more dressier evenings on RCCL ships have ever come close to to the evening dress of Celebrity ships on a bad day. I have only found it to be decidely more underdressed.

 

Not sure how this option has affected the dress on RCCL though since that dining option has been in effect already, and they were already less dressed to begin with. I just have not been on in a couple of years so I don't have recent knowledge, but I imagine the trend there might be some sort of indicator on what might happen on Celebrity.

 

I can live with it BTW.:)

[BrendaJ]

Celebrity's website does not show anything about this new dining option - where is this information coming from?

 

Does anyone have any experience with how Royal Caribbean handles their dining? Can someone make a reservation for any time they choose before they sail? Are reservations made while on board? Is it just a matter of showing up when you want to eat?

 

As long as anyone requesting traditional dining can still get it, I think this could be a good thing. We're on the Equinox in November so we may get a chance to try it, if this is in fact more than just a rumour.

[Bridge Maven]

We loved My Time Dining on Brilliance of the Seas and am delighted that Celebrity has made this decision.

[Gracie115]

Jewel as in Jewel of the Seas? I have not found once that any of the more dressier evenings on RCCL ships have ever come close to to the evening dress of Celebrity ships on a bad day. I have only found it to be decidely more underdressed. .:)

 

 

OH, I agree with you about difference in dress on Royal vs X ships...but since X is just starting this program I was using our experience on Jewel as example.. Jewel is NOT one of Royal's mega ships, same hull design as M Class on X and beautiful ships. Also this was 10 night cruise, older crowd and there were lots of tuxedo's on this one, including DH. Have been on Mariner also and that is more reflective of Royal dress trends...

[Herb44]

The question asked by "agabbymama" and "gisnered" are fair and deserve a response. After our horrid experience with the quality of the food and entertainment on NCL, we received notice of the entertainment (Brooks Ahren) on this particular cruise of Celebrity. We've taken two cruises each on Celebrity and HAL, and enjoyed it each time. However, we were traveling with a family member who is no longer with us. You may be right: we might find the cruise terrible, based solely on our choice not to participate in the rituals of formal nights.

 

Your comments are most helpful too us: we are contemplating cancelling another cruise in February on Millenium for those reasons. To be fair to us, our fellow cruisers, and even Celebrity, we wanted to give it a try.

 

I have no problem letting others enjoy the "traditional" cruise style, if that is what they are looking for. I do have a problem with the apparent regimentation that I just rediscovered on Celebrity. I have no problem dining outside the Blu restaurant and the MDR on formal nights, just so long as we have an opportunity to eat something other than pizza, pasta, burgers and sushi. Perhaps the experience will be as bad for us as the "traditionalists" expect, and this will be our last cruise on Celebrity.

 

Our purposes in cruising is not to enjoy the social scene on board; rather, we enjoy taking the "hotel" with us as we get a sample of new places to visit.

 

It's just too bad that others will not be willing to accept our decision on extra baggage, extra clothing, and lifestyle choices. We accept theirs. Perhaps the traditionals can have their own ships?

[LINGBER]

I prefer Traditional. If we weren't able to confirm traditional at time of booking, I would end up making an early dining reservation for each evening and as soon as I found a server we gelled with, I would book their station. Since we wouldn't try to dine at peak time the process would be more transparent to us. As long as we have that option, I don't object to "Select Dining". It is understandable that many find being forced to dine at a set time while on vacation annoying. They prefer having flexibility. For my family the structure of Traditional dining works well. We like to go to the shows after dinner and to have some time to digest after a huge meal. And we usually aren't late night owls, as we are either touring or up at the pool the next morning. If there is an evening I prefer to dine later, we book the specialty restaurant. But I can understand where 6:00 is too early for some and 8:00 too late for others.

[Elenna]

I have never cruised, so I don't have any personal experience, but can see the benefits and drawbacks of both systems, depending on someone's personal preferences.

 

This may be a naieve question, but would it be a compromise to, instead, offer 4 choices of traditional seating, alternating sides of the room, or different dining rooms? Say 6pm - 9pm, with one side or room having 6 and 8pm, and the other having 7 and 9pm?

 

Still running the above "compromise system" like the traditional one, where people choose their seating time - it doesn't have as many options as "freestyle" does, but it has more than typical traditional?

 

If done right, would that be a good compromise? Those that like traditional seating are able to plan around their known seating time, and can sit with the same dinner companions, while those who like the freestyle type have more choices?

[pumpkin 11]

Okay, so if i like triditional, i can keep it?

if so it can't be that bad.

[mjs107]

Oh heck....I know I'm probably repeating what's been said already but here goes.

Two months ago we cruised with HAL and were told that late fixed dining wasn"t available and we would need to take any time dining. We had my dad with us who cannot walk that well and I knew that if we had to queue it would stress him unnecessarily.

I managed to change to the MDR by seeing the maitre d' on the first day and I am SO glad I did. Every night as we went to dinner there was a queue for anytime dining...sometimes really long. I would HATE to queue for dinner on holiday (spoilt wench that I probably am!!)

 

Along with many participants on this thread I have absolutely NO problem with a mix of fixed and as you please dining as long as it is a genuine choice...and not one that becomes forced on you if you book less than a year out!

[hcat]

I don't want anyone to jump down my throat but I will put this out as my opinion. The Select Dining in my opinion will be the end to formal dress on Celebrity. It is inevitable that those choosing select will become a more popular dining option and people will complain that they have to dress up to eat anytime them want. Celebrity will see this and go to Azamara's dress code. I give it a year....

 

Beginning of the end unless done correctly --guess I'll get some fancy flip flops & DH can get a dress up "wife beater" for formal night

 

We will only cruise if we can get main seating, traditional-- if it becomes hard to get them we won't book.

[Bridge Maven]

I don't want anyone to jump down my throat but I will put this out as my opinion. The Select Dining in my opinion will be the end to formal dress on Celebrity. It is inevitable that those choosing select will become a more popular dining option and people will complain that they have to dress up to eat anytime them want. Celebrity will see this and go to Azamara's dress code. I give it a year....

 

That wasn't the case on our Brilliance of the Seas cruise. I didn't see anyone in the My Time Dining section of the main dining room who did not observe formal nights. In fact, I saw some of the most beautiful and stylish cocktail dresses on that cruise that I have ever seen on a cruise.

[lifevicarious]

We will only cruise if we can get main seating, traditional-- if it becomes hard to get them we won't book.

 

Fair enough but given the fact that all of the majors cruise lines offer this in one form or another it looks like you are in the minority as many more won't book because of the specified times and the formal attire.

 

Personally, traditional dining wouldn't preclude me from booking but given a choice between traditional and having an option of when to dine, all else being equal, I would always choose the option as to when I will dine.

[hcat]

We loved My Time Dining on Brilliance of the Seas and am delighted that Celebrity has made this decision.

 

We cruise both lines--but let's be honest--dinner on Royal C is just eating a meal--not dining like it is on Clebrity- Big difference there so why make one line like the other!

 

Hoping X staff are reading this--they are going to make some regulars kind of nervous about future bookings... All our present res are booked for traditional so I hope they don't change that..

 

I agree they can put the My Timers in a sep room or dining level so maybe it will work out but serving all those meals is complicated to begin with...this only makes it more complicated..

 

also what does MTD do to the show schedules and cocktail parties?

[TomTN]

But this is NOT all open seating. You can still choose traditional. That's why I don't understand why people are so up in arms.

 

If people want to be as traditional as you can get, why sail on a cruise ship? Go to an ocean liner type ship like Cunard offers. They are about as traditional as you can get.

 

Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine.

 

No one realy know how this is going to turn out. On both HAL and Princess it seems nearly impossible to get fixed dining. Because you can read post on their boards about the disappointment of being forced to "choose" anytime dining I beleive it isn't as popular as what the cruise lines would want you to believe.

 

Hopefully Celebrity will work it so eveyone can get what they want.:)

[lifevicarious]

No one realy know how this is going to turn out. On both HAL and Princess it seems nearly impossible to get fixed dining. Because you can read post on their boards about the disappointment of being forced to "choose" anytime dining I beleive it isn't as popular as what the cruise lines would want you to believe.

 

Hopefully Celebrity will work it so eveyone can get what they want.:)

 

The VAST majority of cruisers do NOT post here. Above and beyond that, the vast majority of people don't post POSITIVE experiences. But people always complain! :)

[LINGBER]

The VAST majority of cruisers do NOT post here. Above and beyond that, the vast majority of people don't post POSITIVE experiences. But people always complain! :)

 

Wow! I guess it is all about personal interpretation. I find most people on these boards to be helpful and positive. I enjoy reading about all the different experiences and perspectives. Are there a few cranky posts...sure. But IMHO they are the exception, not the norm. (Unless of course, you read the heated thread on Celebrity cruisers trying Carnival. lol)