Will HAL follow Celebrity and install separate suite class dining rooms on its ships

[wwinfl91]

We have done several Celebrity cruise recently and really enjoyed the separate suite class dining rooms that Celebrity has installed on their ships. The food and service are much better than in the regular dining rooms on other cruise lines (extreme luxury lines excluded). I would like to see this benefit included on other cruise lines but so far the only one I have seen it on has been Celebrity. Has anyone heard of any rumors of this being talked about on HAL ships?

 

Thanks and have a great next cruise.

[RocketMan275]

Haven't seen/heard anything on Holland.

 

It's not just Celebrity.

 

Princess is in the process of installing Club Class Dining on it's ships beginning in Dec 16. Covers all suites and select mini suites.

 

Royal already has suites only dining on Oasis and Allure. They converted the Viking Crown Lounge to a suites only dining and a suites only lounge.

 

Wouldn't be surprised it they do in order to compete with the other cruise lines.

[kazu]

Not sure where they would even add these restaurants on the smaller ships.

[Florida_gal_50]

Here is a thread you may want to check out that discussed this

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2360454&highlight=separate+dining+room

[Krazy Kruizers]

I would love to see a separate dining room for the Neptune and Pinnacle Suites.

We loved it on Cunard.

[joepeka]

Haven't seen/heard anything on Holland.

 

It's not just Celebrity.

 

Princess is in the process of installing Club Class Dining on it's ships beginning in Dec 16. Covers all suites and select mini suites.

 

Royal already has suites only dining on Oasis and Allure. They converted the Viking Crown Lounge to a suites only dining and a suites only lounge.

 

Wouldn't be surprised it they do in order to compete with the other cruise lines.

I'm not very familiar with NCL but don't they also have a separate dining area for their suite guests? I thought I read that but could have been mistaken. :confused:

[Despegue]

And they would lose a lot of cruisers who want good food and service, be in a "class-less" environment but do not require the space of a suite, including me.

 

When you book a suite, you pay for more space in your accomodation.

Service and food should be the same for every guest.

 

For the price of a X suite cruise, you can easily sail on Oceana, Crystal or even Seabourn in some cases, all of which offer a single class ,far superiour experience.

[HollDoll]

I always book a suite but sure wouldn't care for separate dining. What's the point? And someone mentioned Pinnacle and Neptune only. Aren't Signatures considered suites?

Edited August 6, 2016 by HollDoll

[gigianne]

I can only imagine that the price of the suites would go up!

[sail7seas]

We have done several Celebrity cruise recently and really enjoyed the separate suite class dining rooms that Celebrity has installed on their ships. The food and service are much better than in the regular dining rooms on other cruise lines (extreme luxury lines excluded). I would like to see this benefit included on other cruise lines but so far the only one I have seen it on has been Celebrity. Has anyone heard of any rumors of this being talked about on HAL ships?

 

Thanks and have a great next cruise.

 

 

Only those who sit in at Board Meetings can likely andwwer this.

[joepeka]

Only those who sit in at Board Meetings can likely andwwer this.

 

You are correct Sail and therefore I suppose the answer to the OP's question is a "no." ;)

[florisdekort]

When you book a suite, you pay for more space in your accomodation.

 

Service and food should be the same for every guest.

 

 

Why? Service and food are different in First Class on an airplane as well. Pay more, get more - makes total sense.

[hrhdhd]

Not sure where they would even add these restaurants on the smaller ships.

 

On Celebrity, they didn't add suite dining rooms; they carved them out of existing MDR space.

[kazu]

I always book a suite but sure wouldn't care for separate dining. What's the point? And someone mentioned Pinnacle and Neptune only. Aren't Signatures considered suites?

 

yes, but they don't get the extra "perks" (ie. dining in the PG for breakfast) so most likely this new 'perk' if it were to happen would only apply to the more expensive categories like the other perks. just a best guess on a scenario that no one knows if it will happen ;)

 

On Celebrity, they didn't add suite dining rooms; they carved them out of existing MDR space.

 

Interesting. thanks :)

[frankc98376]

When I book a NS i get about two times the space of a standard cabin so I should be paying two times the fare- SS should be 1.5 times the price using the extra space argument. Many times it is easily 4 or 5 times the fare- therefore am paying for a lot more than the space. I am not an unreasonable person but I do expect to see value for my dollars. Yes I could sail on a premium line for the cost of a suite on HAL or we would be but in a standard cabin with a window.

 

No one seems to take issue with the people in First Class on a plane getting free food or hotel guests on the Concierge floor having a private lounge and/or complimentary breakfast.

[RocketMan275]

I'm all in favor of suites only dining.

[ellieanne]

One of the things I really like about HAL is that once you leave your cabin it doesn't matter anymore. Inside, Ocean-View, and Suits all get the same opportunity for food, service, and public space.

 

Adding a suite-only restaurant, especially at the expense of non-suite passenger space, would really have me re-think where I spend my vacation dollars. I love cruising, and I love doing it on HAL. I don't want the obvious class-system I see discussed on other lines. I like the quiet of HAL. Suite-only spaces would be a detriment to that in my opinion.

 

I don't sail in suites because I don't need to. I PREFER the ocean view rooms, low and forward. I do not spend time in a deck chair, and I want to be able to see the view on all sides of the ship, so I prefer the open Promenade Decks on HAL to the restricted view of a cabin balcony.

 

I could afford to sail in a suite, but I choose not to. Why should I be penalized for that decision? Why should my money, which by the way is just as green, be treated as less than someone else's? Why should my payment for the use of the ship's facilities be restricted? Why should I have to pay for something I do not want and would not use to get the "better" stuff?

 

Any decision to restrict access to ship space would definitely make me change the way I vacation, and cruises, as much as I enjoy them, would have to be off the list.

[3rdGenCunarder]

One of the things I really like about HAL is that once you leave your cabin it doesn't matter anymore. Inside, Ocean-View, and Suits all get the same opportunity for food, service, and public space.

 

Adding a suite-only restaurant, especially at the expense of non-suite passenger space, would really have me re-think where I spend my vacation dollars. I love cruising, and I love doing it on HAL. I don't want the obvious class-system I see discussed on other lines. I like the quiet of HAL. Suite-only spaces would be a detriment to that in my opinion.

 

I don't sail in suites because I don't need to. I PREFER the ocean view rooms, low and forward. I do not spend time in a deck chair, and I want to be able to see the view on all sides of the ship, so I prefer the open Promenade Decks on HAL to the restricted view of a cabin balcony.

 

I could afford to sail in a suite, but I choose not to. Why should I be penalized for that decision? Why should my money, which by the way is just as green, be treated as less than someone else's? Why should my payment for the use of the ship's facilities be restricted? Why should I have to pay for something I do not want and would not use to get the "better" stuff?

 

Any decision to restrict access to ship space would definitely make me change the way I vacation, and cruises, as much as I enjoy them, would have to be off the list.

 

Nobody is going to penalize you for booking an OV. If HAL chooses to give something EXTRA to people who pay a lot more, that doesn't penalize people who choose not to pay the extra. Your argument could be applied to Pinnacle. If someone chooses to pay extra for the better steak and more attentive service, does that penalize the people eating in the MDR or Lido?

 

This discussion is probably irrelevant. I don't think HAL's ships are set up to create a suites-only dining room. I suppose they could do something with part of the MDR, but I'm not sure how. Any new dining area would have to be located in a place where it could be served by either the main kitchen or Pinnacle's kitchen. So if you're imagining the Crow's Nest suddenly being changed into a suites restaurant, that isn't going to happen.

Edited August 7, 2016 by 3rdGenCunarder

[ellieanne]

Nobody is going to penalize you for booking an OV. If HAL chooses to give something EXTRA to people who pay a lot more, that doesn't penalize people who choose not to pay the extra. Your argument could be applied to Pinnacle. If someone chooses to pay extra for the better steak and more attentive service, does that penalize the people eating in the MDR or Lido?

 

This discussion is probably irrelevant. I don't think HAL's ships are set up to create a suites-only dining room. I suppose they could do something with part of the MDR, but I'm not sure how. Any new dining area would have to be located in a place where it could be served by either the main kitchen or Pinnacle's kitchen. So if you're imagining the Crow's Nest suddenly being changed into a suites restaurant, that isn't going to happen.

 

No, but if they carve it out of the Lido or the Main Dining Room, my access to those spaces is limited. Getting the table I prefer, especially if it's in the carved out space is eliminated. The Pinnacle Grill is already dedicated space, as is the Neptune Lounge. If they want to carve the suites only restaurant out of the Neptune Lounge, I'm all for it. But I'm pretty sure that everyone who is in favor of a suites-only restaurant is envisioning it as a large windowed space, not a tiny interior space.

 

Taking public space for the use of a few limits it for the use of everyone else -- that's just a fact. Look at how angry people get when groups on board get access to public space.

[Occy]

I always book a suite but sure wouldn't care for separate dining. What's the point? And someone mentioned Pinnacle and Neptune only. Aren't Signatures considered suites?

 

Sounds like they are taking a step backward. When I use to travel late 50ties, early 60ties, First Class and Tourists always had separate doing rooms.

[QueenGlassHalfFull]

Don't knock it until you have tried it. We were very loyal HAL cruisers until we switched to Celebrity because of the subject that I shall not mention that is discussed in another extremely long thread. The suite dining room (Luminae) is incredible and has turned us into loyal Celebrity cruisers. Even if HAL were to eliminate the subject that we shall not mention, it would be difficult for us to come back to HAL. The suite life on Celebrity is incredible.

[sppunk]

At this time as far as I know it isn't in HAL's plans. They prefer pushing speciality restaurants than set asides for suite guests for dinner.

[hrhdhd]

I agree with QueenGlassHalfFull. We took our first Celebrity cruise last March, in a Sky Suite, and booked two more while onboard. Luminae was wonderful as were the other perks.

 

I would be for suite dining on HAL; the MDR is designed to seat X number of people; if a space is reserved for some of X, there's still space for the remainder.

[iancal]

Our sense is that HAL and others are encouraging customers to avoid the MDR in favour of pay dining venues or upgrades to cats. that include a premium dining experience.

 

They are achieving this by the constant decline in MDR food quality, preparation, and levels of service. We laugh when we read HAL,s description of their MDR gala night dinner...a five course gourmet dinner. This is taking poetic license to the extreme. It was always good, banquet food now it is usually poor banquet food.

Edited August 7, 2016 by iancal

[navybankerteacher]

Sounds like they are taking a step backward. When I use to travel late 50ties, early 60ties, First Class and Tourists always had separate doing rooms.

 

Exactly: the "one class" concept of cruising which has pertained for a few decades seems to be on the way out. It must be that the lines feel that they can maximize earnings by offering comfort and high quality to one class of passenger, and cheap low cost service to another -- and then offer small revenue producing add-ons such as drink packages, early boarding, whatever.

 

Of course the market has evolved so it must be expected that the product will as well. Cruising used to be for the well off, usually more mature demographic more comfortable with the traditional approach - now it is for a much wider and younger passenger mix.