Infants in specialty restaurants?

[phoenix_dream]

Do I have a bad memory or did there used to be age requirements for specialty restaurants, in particular Murano?  On my last cruise while sitting at the Ensemble Bar I noticed a couple going into Murano with an infant under a year, and another small child under the age of two I would estimate.  They also ate in Tuscan, and I am not sure about Qsine/Le Petit Chef.   Maybe I'm being an old grump (I've been called worse) but if I am going to pay $50 a person for a nice romantic dinner on a special occasion I would not be happy to have a baby at the next table.  I thought Murano used to have a 12 year minimum age limit.  Has that changed? 

 

Let the flaming begin, but to my way of thinking infants do not belong in specialty restaurants.  Young, well-behaved children are one thing, but infants??  When mine were young I would never have considered doing that.  Have at me folks..................

[Fighterone]

I, for one, agree with you 100%. Let them flame me too. 

I once walked out of Blu because of a screaming child and never went back during the length of the cruise even though this was our assigned MDR. 

Now, I have reservations to Eden, Le Petit Chef and the Steakhouse on Edge in 2 weeks but your post and other critiques are  seriously making me reconsider. Should we cancel? I hate spending money to get aggravated. 

[phoenix_dream]

1 minute ago, Fighterone said:

I, for one, agree with you 100%. Let them flame me too. 

I once walked out of Blu because of a screaming child and never went back during the length of the cruise even though this was our assigned MDR. 

Now, I have reservations to Eden, Le Petit Chef and the Steakhouse on Edge in 2 weeks but your post and other critiques are  seriously making me reconsider. Should we cancel? I hate spending money to get aggravated. 

I can only say that in many, many sailings in Aqua Class, I don't think I have ever seen a young child in Blu, and never an infant.  I think you just got unlucky.  It is not  common to see kids in Blu because AQ cabins are for two people only, although when they allow suite guests to eat there they may include children.  Fortunately have not encountered this to date.

[mfs2k]

7 minutes ago, phoenix_dream said:

Do I have a bad memory or did there used to be age requirements for specialty restaurants, in particular Murano?  On my last cruise while sitting at the Ensemble Bar I noticed a couple going into Murano with an infant under a year, and another small child under the age of two I would estimate.  They also ate in Tuscan, and I am not sure about Qsine/Le Petit Chef.   Maybe I'm being an old grump (I've been called worse) but if I am going to pay $50 a person for a nice romantic dinner on a special occasion I would not be happy to have a baby at the next table.  I thought Murano used to have a 12 year minimum age limit.  Has that changed? 

 

Let the flaming begin, but to my way of thinking infants do not belong in specialty restaurants.  Young, well-behaved children are one thing, but infants??  When mine were young I would never have considered doing that.  Have at me folks..................

 

I’m not thrilled sitting next to infants either but if someone/a couple chooses to take their infant on a cruise they’ve paid for, and they also want to pay to dine in Murano, and they’re not violating any rules, then that’s their right. 

 

I will tell you Id ask for a different table if I were seated near an infant and if an infant was crying through my dinner near me, and I couldn’t move, I’d ask for my $100 refunded and I have no doubt I’d get it. 

[phoenix_dream]

2 minutes ago, mfs2k said:

 

I’m not thrilled sitting next to infants either but if someone/a couple chooses to take their infant on a cruise they’ve paid for, and they also want to pay to dine in Murano, and they’re not violating any rules, then that’s their right. 

 

I will tell you Id ask for a different table if I were seated near an infant and if an infant was crying through my dinner near me, and I couldn’t move, I’d ask for my $100 refunded and I have no doubt I’d get it. 

If the rules have indeed changed, then yes it is their right.  Everyone has a right to be inconsiderate;  heaven knows you see enough of that in other areas of the ship like the chair hogs at the pool deck, and people running you over to push ahead of you on the elevators as two examples.  But I am wondering if the rules have in fact changed or if the Reflection crew was not following them. 

[mfs2k]

I just got off Equinox and nothing bothered me all week except for the tiny tasteless martini olives🍸 😂😂😂

 

i was on vacation and didn’t need to let things irritate me. And I often get irritated easily. 

 

We all cruise differently. 

[phoenix_dream]

Just now, mfs2k said:

I just got off Equinox and nothing bothered me all week except for the tiny tasteless martini olives🍸 😂😂😂

 

i was on vacation and didn’t need to let things irritate me. And I often get irritated easily. 

 

We all cruise differently. 

I agree to make the best of what I have and heaven knows I am grateful to be able to go cruising at all!  But an infant in Murano after paying $50pp perhaps for a special occasion like an anniversary that I've been planning for months??  Not so much.

[Iamthesea]

Passengers that book the higher end suites can do anything they wish.  That includes taking their young children to dine with them.

 

We have had a dinner in Qsine disrupted by a crying infant.

 

On a cruise last May, there was a couple with an infant in Blu.  They were visiting a ship officer.  Only came that one night, so I assume they were in a suite.

[keesar]

There used to be a rule of a minimum age of 12 in those restaurants.  No more.  I cannot figure out why  adults with infants or young children would chose to eat in a restaurant with a 2 hour meal.  

 

We have seen young children in Blu and they have been well behaved.  Never an infant in Blu.  We were in Tuscan and the group with the infant were seated in a distant corner.  We could hear the group (and infant) but did not bother us.

[mfs2k]

20 minutes ago, phoenix_dream said:

I agree to make the best of what I have and heaven knows I am grateful to be able to go cruising at all!  But an infant in Murano after paying $50pp perhaps for a special occasion like an anniversary that I've been planning for months??  Not so much.

 

Apparently it’s allowed. As with any reservation, one reserves a table and not an entire dining room.  Since you said you didn’t dine with the child and only observed them walking in, you don’t know what the experience was.  Maybe it was fine. 

[wwcruisers]

I may be in the minority, but I agree with the OP.  We recently did a 'family cruise' on RC's Independence of the Seas. My DH and I volunteered to babysit our toddler DGD, so that my son and his wife could have a nice romantic dinner at Chops. Of course, on RC there ARE specialty restaurants that appeal to kids/families. On that particular night, we had a great time, taking our DGD to Johnny Rocket's. Not many options like that on X.

[yorky]

I personally don’t have a problem with anyone in the speciality restaurants as long as they are respectful of other diners. End of the day it’s everyones holiday and you can’t put an age on good manners. Our meal in the Tuscan grill was less than wonderful due to the next table to us and they were all drunk adults with one of the females even taking our bottle of wine out of the cooler in order to pour it for themselves before I had a quick word.

[PTC DAWG]

Infants in the specialty restaurants, clueless people comes to mind...honestly, infants on a cruise...I don’t get it.  

Edited March 31, 2019 by PTC DAWG

[tomservo]

X offers in room baby sitting services, no? I have 2 young boys (4/2), and would not hesitate to engage those services in order to have a nice quiet dinner with my SO. Not saying all other parents should, just don’t understand why you would want to bring little kids to a SDR if you don’t have to. 

[chemmo]

We spend most evenings in speciality restaurants and rarely see young children and very rarely babies/toddlers. So generally I would say don’t worry about it too much it is unlikely to happen. 

 

We have experienced a screaming toddler in Luminae once and the M’D left it for a matter of only a minute or two and then with a supportive smile on his face approached the couple and said “So whose dinner are we keeping warm while you take the little one for a walk ?” Polite, pleasant but clearly indicating that the parents did need to respond. I am sure the M’Ds in the speciality restaurants would respond in a similar fashion.

 

On the whole most parents and cruise staff are united in looking for the best scenario for all guests. For example, ordering room service from Luminae or speciality restaurants is generally not allowed but we are aware exceptions can be made. One couple on one of our Eclipse cruises with a lovely 14 month baby looked at the Luminae menu with the M’D each morning and pre ordered their evening meal at a set time. As they sat down their starters were there, the little one remained happy, fussed by the waiters and fellow cruisers like myself playing ‘peak a boo’ through the main meal. As she began to become more restless the couple made their departure and their deserts were delivered to their room. The Michael’s host also arranged for them to have a Murano’s meal delivered in suite and arranged babysitting another evening. 

 

I am not not saying that there will never be an issue with a loud child but we also once had a Chefs Table experience compromised by a middle aged lady who was downing the wine pairings by the bucket and her husband who was constantly contradicting the sommelier.....I know who I would rather dine with!!

 

 

[TeaBag]

tomservo beat me to it.  Why not put the infant to bed and use one of Celebrity's babysitters to watch while he sleeps.  Then everyone is happy.

[mfs2k]

4 minutes ago, TeaBag said:

tomservo beat me to it.  Why not put the infant to bed and use one of Celebrity's babysitters to watch while he sleeps.  Then everyone is happy.

 

Everyone is happy except the nervous moms or dads who don’t want to leave their first and only child with a stranger. 

[NLH Arizona]

8 minutes ago, mfs2k said:

 

Everyone is happy except the nervous moms or dads who don’t want to leave their first and only child with a stranger. 

First or fifth, I wouldn't leave an infant with a stranger.

[cruiseerf]

We were on a July Equinox cruise 1 year + ago.  We were in a skysuite for the 7 night cruise.  We eat usually around 8-8:30PM.  There was a Latin family who arrived every night between 8:15 and 9PM with 2 babies under 3 children between 2-5 and the parents and grandparents, Aunties uncle etc.....14 of them in total.  They were all in larger suites and when the babies screamed and the parents did nothing, when the maitre'D approached, they told him they were Latin and in their country this is what time they eat, if not later....The Babies would fall asleep eventually, they told the Maitre'd.  Needless to say, we never ate in Luminae for dinner again....we utilized the specialty restaurants and used the Michaels Club Concierge to ensure we would not encounter the family again.  Celebrity ended up comping some of the meals off our account at the end.   They paid for Luminae as did we.....we made it work.  Not ideal...but everyone raises kids differently.  

 

Safe Sails! 

[Tapi]

Your beef shouldn’t be with the infant or small child. It should be with the parents who fail to identify an oncoming tantrum and immediately remove their child from the restaurant before it becomes a nuisance.

 

I’m in favor of parents bringing children to nice restaurants as long as they put in the time and effort to eliminate (or at least minimize as much as possible) any  disruptive behavior. 

[rM3panno]

Personally this topic doesn’t really bother me as I have a 3.5 year old who has been on 4 Celebrity cruises and is almost always well behaved. When he isn’t we leave or take a short walk. We have found the staff to be very accommodating in every venue, we typically sail in suites so he has fined in Tuscan, Fine Cut, Luminae, Blu, Sushi on 5, Lawn Club Grille, and Murano and have been treated well by the staff in every venue. There are the occasional glares when people can’t understand why our child is dining with us. We are of the opinion that he is well behaved because we have taken him everywhere since he was born and has a healthy understanding of appropriate behavior in different environments. The staff in Blu was enamored with him because they so rarely see children there. We have a baby due this week as well and plan on taking them wherever we go regardless if other diners approve or not. We will monitor their behavior and if required remove ourselves from the restaurant. I find toddlers and infants less annoying than belligerent adults drinking too much on the drink package.

 

Lastly, we do enjoy a date night in the cruise as well and while we used to have great luck in availability for in room babysitting it has been increasingly difficult to impossible as staff are stretched thinner and X requires 2 staff to be in the room at all times. On our last sailing at New Years on the Edge we had no nights that in room sitters were available but our son was now old enough to go to the Fun Factory and he absolutely loved it.

[Redtravel]

2 hours ago, phoenix_dream said:

Do I have a bad memory or did there used to be age requirements for specialty restaurants, in particular Murano?  On my last cruise while sitting at the Ensemble Bar I noticed a couple going into Murano with an infant under a year, and another small child under the age of two I would estimate.  They also ate in Tuscan, and I am not sure about Qsine/Le Petit Chef.   Maybe I'm being an old grump (I've been called worse) but if I am going to pay $50 a person for a nice romantic dinner on a special occasion I would not be happy to have a baby at the next table.  I thought Murano used to have a 12 year minimum age limit.  Has that changed? 

 

Let the flaming begin, but to my way of thinking infants do not belong in specialty restaurants.  Young, well-behaved children are one thing, but infants??  When mine were young I would never have considered doing that.  Have at me folks..................

You are on the wrong ship. Celebrity welcomes kids of all ages. In fact, kids sail free. There are cruise lines that do not accept kids.  Nobody makes you eat in Murano. Save your $50.

[mek]

I have never taken children younger than 12 on a cruise, but next Feb we are taking a multi generational cruise with 4 adults and a 5 year old.  He is a happy kid, but has a loud voice and is noisy.  I seriously won't take him to the MDR if I think he will be distracting.  Keeping fingers crossed that in 10 months he will tone it down, but I'm prepared to adjust plans if not.  Can I take him to the MDR?  Sure, but what people can do and what they should do are sometimes worlds apart. I would never take an infant to a speciality restaurant, but agree with others, it's probably unlikely you will find one there.

[debandbruce]

56 minutes ago, Redtravel said:

You are on the wrong ship. Celebrity welcomes kids of all ages. In fact, kids sail free. There are cruise lines that do not accept kids.  Nobody makes you eat in Murano. Save your $50.

Have not sailed Celebrity in a couple of years. Is it the norm now that children sail free? I know there are promos but is it all the time?

[justcrusn]

I have a friend that once told me “if theres a baby in the restaurant EVERYBODY knows it” !

We love children but prefer to eat without a temper tantrum at the next table.