Is this true?

Kids ages 6-12 will dine for lunch & dinner at our specialty restaurants at a discounted rate of $10 from the standard dinner menu.

• Ages 5 and under will dine for free.

• Children will be able to dine from the standard dinner menu in each restaurant. In Tuscan Grille, there’s also a separate “Italian Favorites” menu that children can choose from if they’d prefer for the same price.

• Children’s pricing not available for premium experiences including Chef’s Table, Connoisseur dinners, Food and Wine pairing dinners, Top Chef Dinner, etc.

• For pre-cruise purchases guests need to book at full price and once onboard we will apply an onboard credit accordingly (5 years and under full cover charge credit; 6 years to 12 years at discounted rate).

• Note that the cover charge for Bistro on Five is $10 for all guests, so the only children’s pricing will be for children age 5 and under (free).

Interesting to see that Celebrity is impressedly acknowledging that Murano's (with a cover charge of $50 in addition to the cruise fare payment to eat in the MDR) is not a premium experience. Since Murano's is not premium, I'm wondering how they would identify MDR food:confused:

This reminds me of the MDR experience we had where a few very young kids were running around the tables, etc. We stopped going to the MDR after it happened a second night. I was surprised the crew didn't say something to them.

Flame me if you will, but I don't think Murano is appropriate for children. We pay a very premium price to dine there, in a quiet, elegant atmosphere, but when you start adding young kids, many of whom will not tolerate this kind of experience, and parents who seem to think that everything their little precious does is wonderful, including banging flatware, crawling under tables and running around tables, well, there goes the lovely dinner.

No flaming, here, Darcie. One of the "last straws" for me on RC was when we booked a later-evening reservation in their steak-house, Chops. In those days, Chops and Portafino were the only specialty restaurants in the fleet. RC's policy was to limit kids (under 12) to the earlier seating times -- I think 7pm was the cutoff. Well, it was 8:30, and we had just received our salads -- when we looked up and saw a family of four adults and one very tired little girl (5-ish) being seated next to us. For the next hour of hour meal, we (and everyone else in Chops) were treated to the child's whining/crying, and the adults in her party ignoring her. Thank goodness for the attentive staff, who got them all fed and out the door, in record time. When they left, the maitre'd came around and apologized to all of the other diners. When my DH pointed out the restaurant's policy regarding kids, the maitre'd just shrugged and said that, if they didn't catch the error at the time the reservation was made -- they could not deny the patrons admittance, due to the rule. :rolleyes:

My concern about X changing this policy is more worrisome. With very little warning, X has decided to completely do away with all of the "Murano-Class" restaurants on the M-class ships -- replacing them with Tuscan Grille (with higher up-charges). I see nothing to deter X from removing Murano from all of the Solstice-Class ships -- and replacing it with something not as good, but just as (or more) expensive. I fear that the days of being able to enjoy a truly elegant meal anywhere -- at any price -- on an X ship, may be numbered. :(

This reminds me of the MDR experience we had where a few very young kids were running around the tables, etc. We stopped going to the MDR after it happened a second night. I was surprised the crew didn't say something to them.

It's not surprising to me. I think crew members are so afraid of offending someone and getting their tips pulled or having a complaint filed they overlook things that really need to be addressed. That's not limited to children misbehaving in the MDR or a restaurant, but passengers of all ages throughout the ship.

On our Princess cruise earlier this month, there was a large group travelling with a hostess -- it looked like a Travel Agency group. They completely disrupted an entire section of the dining room by screaming, yelling, and conducting business by having the "hostess" stand on the furniture to make announcements throughout dinner. No one from the staff said a word. Finally a couple passengers intervened with the hostess and spoke directly to the most disruptive people. They were thanked by the wait staff, who felt powerless to do anything about the situation. That's an extreme example, but I think it goes on to some degree on every mainstream cruise line.

According to the post above it does include the Specialty restaurant menu....

 

Children will be able to dine from the standard dinner menu in each restaurant.

 

Key word there is Each

I misunderstood what they were saying. I thought they meant the standard MDR menu. But it really does not say MDR.

I think you might be correct.

I agree with Keith - there will be complaints because there will be children who behave inappropriately who won't be managed by their parents and the staff will try to ignore it. Not all children and parents, of course, so no flames, but I think this is a mistake. Even Disney has adults-only dining and bar areas.

We have 3 cruises booked on X next year, but this latest is one more reason we also are trying out Oceania next December.

Disappointing.

It's nice to see this be made official, but in my experience this isn't anything new (at least the under 6 being free part).

We've taken our young kids to Tuscan and QSine many times on several different ships and have never been charged for them. We're always prepared to - just haven't needed to. So it seems as this has been unofficial policy for some time.

Of course I'm biased, but I believe our kids behave appropriately for these restaurants - and when they don't we remove them immediately until they settle down. Despite this, we would never take them to Murano - would not be fun for them or us.

Funnily, the last time we were in Tuscan - a couple was seated next to us but they asked to be reseated (presumably not wanting to sit next to a table with two young kids - only assuming). A rather large and loud party came in and was seated next to where the couple had moved. They were somewhat roudy and could be heard throughout the restauant. We had a pleasant evening chatting with our new table neighbors who commented on how well behaved our kids are - the couple who moved had a much less enjoyable experience.

As people have said many times before - there are ill behaved kids (and parents) and ill behaved adults. It comes down to personal responsibility and being sensitive to others.

Mike

The new pricing for kids 6-12 is $10.00

That isn't bad, do they have chicken nuggets though.

Kids ages 6-12 will dine for lunch & dinner at our specialty restaurants at a discounted rate of $10 from the standard dinner menu.

• Ages 5 and under will dine for free.

• Children will be able to dine from the standard dinner menu in each restaurant. In Tuscan Grille, there’s also a separate “Italian Favorites” menu that children can choose from if they’d prefer for the same price.

• Children’s pricing not available for premium experiences including Chef’s Table, Connoisseur dinners, Food and Wine pairing dinners, Top Chef Dinner, etc.

• For pre-cruise purchases guests need to book at full price and once onboard we will apply an onboard credit accordingly (5 years and under full cover charge credit; 6 years to 12 years at discounted rate).

• Note that the cover charge for Bistro on Five is $10 for all guests, so the only children’s pricing will be for children age 5 and under (free).

 

Interesting to see that Celebrity is impressedly acknowledging that Murano's (with a cover charge of $50 in addition to the cruise fare payment to eat in the MDR) is not a premium experience. Since Murano's is not premium, I'm wondering how they would identify MDR food:confused:

Thanks for the info.

Flame me if you will, but I don't think Murano is appropriate for children. We pay a very premium price to dine there, in a quiet, elegant atmosphere, but when you start adding young kids, many of whom will not tolerate this kind of experience, and parents who seem to think that everything their little precious does is wonderful, including banging flatware, crawling under tables and running around tables, well, there goes the lovely dinner.

No Flames here... You are 100% correct. I hope Celebrity reconsiders this decision. I think this is probably a concession to the Suite Class. Celebrity does not want to say no to anything requested from the Suite Class

BTW Not sure if you are a life long resident of Moon Twp but I'm a 1971 graduate from Moon HS

Enjoy Your Holiday

I have no doubt that Celebrity hopes to increase sales of cruises and/or specialty dinners with the children-eat-free policy. My modest proposal would be for Celebrity to instead offer free babysitting to people using specialty dining. I know that other dinners would appreciate a quiet dinner. I think most parents, no matter how much they adore their kids, would appreciate some couple only time. I think that sales at specialty dining would increase even more as parents might dine there just to get the free babysitting.

Thom

This reminds me of the MDR experience we had where a few very young kids were running around the tables, etc. We stopped going to the MDR after it happened a second night. I was surprised the crew didn't say something to them.

First it starts with the parents.

Personally, I would never take our young grandchildren to any upscale restaurant on a cruise or elsewhere until they are old enough, or mature enough to appreciate the experience and not disrupt anyone else's.

We took our children on their first cruise at ages 8 and 15 and our 8 year old tried everything from escargot to the fine cheeses and loved making his own choices. Whereas our 15 year old would not try anything new and ate pizza and chicken tenders the entire cruise.

I think age 5 for any child is a little young for Specialty restaurants, but really it is the parents that need to make that decision and use good judgement.

:-)

No Flames here... You are 100% correct. I hope Celebrity reconsiders this decision. I think this is probably a concession to the Suite Class. Celebrity does not want to say no to anything requested from the Suite Class

y

Probably just the opposite. Anyone staying in a Suite (classy or not) already has a speciality restaurant, Luminae. Where all children in a suite are welcome at no charge. From my one experience the Luminae is closer to,a speciality restaurant than the MDR.

IMO it is more about increase the revenue in an area that is not fully utilized.

Probably just the opposite. Anyone staying in a Suite (classy or not) already has a speciality restaurant, Luminae. Where all children in a suite are welcome at no charge. From my one experience the Luminae is closer to,a speciality restaurant than the MDR.

 

IMO it is more about increase the revenue in an area that is not fully utilized.

I totally agree: it is ALWAYS about the money! I like it when families with children are seated in an area together, away from those of us who are all adults. This is difficult to do, in some instances, but when it works it is great. No one wants to spend extra money for a nice dinner with a child who is yelling and screaming. Parents should know their child's behavior well enough to be able to address this concern. It is part of manners 101. Crew members have enough to do without controlling children too...be respectful and do the right thing....

I have no doubt that Celebrity hopes to increase sales of cruises and/or specialty dinners with the children-eat-free policy. My modest proposal would be for Celebrity to instead offer free babysitting to people using specialty dining. I know that other dinners would appreciate a quiet dinner. I think most parents, no matter how much they adore their kids, would appreciate some couple only time. I think that sales at specialty dining would increase even more as parents might dine there just to get the free babysitting.

 

Thom

Now this is a perk that could catch on like wild fire. Would need a time limit tho, to prevent dumping. Great idea!!

Don't they already have free babysitting with kids club?

I have two kids that we've always taken to nice restaurants and who we always make sure aren't acting like fools and bothering others. With that being said, I wouldn't bring them to the specialty restaurants. Heck, when we cruise, most of the time they don't even make it to the MDR. It's their vacation too and they don't want to spend it sitting for 2 hours at a restaurant when they can be playing with other kids at kids club (that we have to drag them out of to see the ports and go to bed)

My kids didn't like kids club. But to be supervised in cabin or out n about would be a perk, or suite perk.

Flame me if you will, but I don't think Murano is appropriate for children. We pay a very premium price to dine there, in a quiet, elegant atmosphere, but when you start adding young kids, many of whom will not tolerate this kind of experience, and parents who seem to think that everything their little precious does is wonderful, including banging flatware, crawling under tables and running around tables, well, there goes the lovely dinner.

WC Fields said it best when he said he liked his children done medium-rare.

PS - I took my children and 5 grandkids on a recent cruise. All went well. No dramas.

I can't see how this can be an issue. There is so much room between tables at Murano and Tuscan Grill that I honestly can't tell who is sitting near me.

Many parents don't control their children at other locations around the ship, I don't think these restaurants will be the exception. There will always be parents that don't believe their child is bothering anyone. They can ignore their children and they don't understand the problem.

I can't see how this can be an issue. There is so much room between tables at Murano and Tuscan Grill that I honestly can't tell who is sitting near me.

I left RCI due to too many families on board. Looks like X is now going after the same customer. X is making too many changes and not in a good way.