Your thoughts about the future of dining on Celebrity?

[fortinweb]

Short wait. Maybe for the less popular restaurants. But, as will happen even on shore, the better ones - the ones that everyone wants to dine at - will become popular and "dropping in" without a reservation will result in hour or longer waits. You are kidding yourself if you don't think that will happen.

 

Of course, a person could chose to dine at the less popular venues and just forget the better ones. Or, now try to get a reservation on board after everyone else has made their reservations months in advance.

 

Your comments reminded me of a Disney World vacation we took a couple of years ago. At the time we booked - 4 months early - there was a promotion going on for a free meal package which included breakfast, lunch, snacks and dinner. When we tried to make dinner reservations we found that many of the more popular restaurants were fully booked from 4:00 in the afternoon to 8:00 or later in the evening. We ended up dining at less popular places on several days after making reservations to them, and on a couple of occasions we took our chances with a "drop in" at a popular one. At one restaurant we were told the wait was almost two hours long, and at another, there were so many people waiting for an opening that they wouldn't even take our names. We never did get to dine at some of the places we wanted to try because the available times were so inconvenient.

 

I can see this exact thing happening with the new format RCI is moving to. Either plan ahead and make reservations, be prepared to deal with long wait times for drop ins, or just give up on dining at the more popular places and settle for less.

Edited October 26, 2014 by fortinweb

[Max Circus]

I like the idea of more choices. So I voted yes. For Celebrity to go this model I think they would need a new ship. Not enough space on current ships to create all the venue beyond the 2 or 3 speciality restaurants they have now.

[3dog]

Short wait. Maybe for the less popular restaurants. But, as will happen even on shore, the better ones - the ones that everyone wants to dine at - will become popular and "dropping in" without a reservation will result in hour or longer waits. You are kidding yourself if you don't think that will happen.

 

Of course, a person could chose to dine at the less popular venues and just forget the better ones. Or, now try to get a reservation on board after everyone else has made their reservations months in advance.

 

Like I said, if there is space available, it will be immediate or a short wait (just like Select). And if a specific time and/or restaurant is desired then it would be suggested to have a reservation, or as you have stated: you might not get in and would need to go at a different time or to a different venue.

 

I too am interested in how the venues fair for popularity and wait time primarily for what you suggest: I think some venues will be real popular and others will not, causing either long wait times at those venues or the distinct possibility of never actually using those venues (unlike Select Dining, they are not the same menus, so having to go to a different venue is a totally different dining experience).

 

There is enough dining space where all guests will be able to get a seat for dining, but for the guests that are not interested in or enthused about some of the venues, it could make for a less-than-desireable experience.

 

FWIW, I am going on one of the refurbished ships next year (booked before the formal announcements) and am watching this closely, as I have enough time to cancel if it looks to be a poor idea or implementation, but worth experiencing personally if it looks to be going smoothly (over on these boards, as I leave on an X cruise in a couple of weeks - traditional dining - and far less apprehensive about it than the one next year).

[swsfrail]

For Celebrity to go this model I think they would need a new ship. Not enough space on current ships to create all the venue beyond the 2 or 3 speciality restaurants they have now.

 

If Celebrity goes this route, they will no longer be my favorite cruise line. I don't care to have my cruise experienced "dumbed down" to the lowest common denominator. If I did, NCL would be my favorite line - which thankfully it has no chance of ever becoming.

 

Why should Celebrity copy how the lowest rated cruise line, NCL, does things? Celebrity is so much better that that.

Edited October 26, 2014 by swsfrail

[ECCruise]

 

Why should Celebrity copy how the lowest rated cruise line, NCL, does things? Celebrity is so much better that that.

 

Well, maybe because they have adopted almost everything else that NCL originated many years ago:

 

Anytime (Select) Dining

Specialty Restaurants

Less rigid disembarkation

More relaxed dress codes (no more semi-formal, no formal in specialties or Blu)

 

And, perhaps you didn't notice that the subject of this thread is "Dynamic Dining" which has nothing to do with NCL but is being implemented by RCCL, Celebrity's parent corporation.

 

Not sure why treating adults like adults (and like they are treated in hundreds of thousands of restaurants world-wide) is "dumbing down" anything. I think the exact opposite is true. I am fully able to make decisions on where and when I want to dine. Don't need my cruise line daddy to decide for me.

 

Will Celebrity ever implement DD? Probably not because of venue/infrastructure. Is it an interesting concept? I think so.

[caladezi]

I didn't like the idea at first, but after reading the threads, looking at the RCCI site, and thinking about it, I have changed my mind and would like to try it. I'm not sure how X could implement this without major changes but it's worth considering.

[need2bespoiled]

 

Not sure why treating adults like adults (and like they are treated in hundreds of thousands of restaurants world-wide) is "dumbing down" anything. I think the exact opposite is true. I am fully able to make decisions on where and when I want to dine. Don't need my cruise line daddy to decide for me.

 

Your point would have been made a lot better without the snarkiness, condensation and bad analogy.

 

Personally I think your comments are wrong as it is nothing like restaurants worldwide, when you're captive on the ship and your choices are limited. In the "real world" supply and demand is balanced due to a number of variables including location, price, size of restaurant, etc. There are also MANY more choices. If one place has a wait longer than you're willing to wait, you're only limitation is how far you want to drive/walk/take a taxi to another restaurant you might prefer. On a ship, you're much more captive.

 

This being said, I could see dynamic dining being our preference if the food quality or service mirrored the types of fine dining restaurants we visit on vacation. Celebrity isn't there.

 

Happy sailing,

Jenna

[GUT2407]

If one place has a wait longer than you're willing to wait, you're only limitation is how far you want to drive/walk/take a taxi to another restaurant you might prefer.

 

Or even go home and make a sandwich.

 

On a ship, you're much more captive.

 

Go home and make a sandwich is a bit hard unless you are a really strong swimmer.

[need2bespoiled]

Or even go home and make a sandwich.

 

 

 

Go home and make a sandwich is a bit hard unless you are a really strong swimmer.

 

I didn't include the go home option, because we're "on vacation" in these scenarios, so dining out is the analogy I wanted to make, but your right too. I'm a good swimmer, though not that good. :D:eek:

 

Happy sailing,

Jenna

Edited October 26, 2014 by need2bespoiled