Celebrity Select Dining is Here

[Bobocasey]

We had open dining on Azamara and found that we could request the same wait staff. Sometime we had to wait a little bit but it is worth it.

At least you could eat around the time you wanted too.

[uktog]

I am not very keen on this change however we will see how it is managed. I am assuming there will be a separate section of the dining room that has the anytime tables and the other section for those of us who wish to retain our traditional bookings.

I will be interested to see how the standard of food is impacted - will meals come out hot or might some be delayed - the current system is well tried and tested

Having also cruised on Azamara our experience was that the anytime dining did not work, the wait staff were rushed between tables at different stages of their meals and it wasnot possible to get the same team each night. As DH has a food allergy (and the MD and AMD were aware and did try and brief staff) we had several problems when others chipped in to help their colleagues leaving us having to re - explain everyhting again and again. We have never had that problem on X

Hope we do not find this change has a negative impact on our future cruising experiences with Celebrity

[CruisingChick]

I really don't see why all the cruise lines have to be alike. There are clearly enough of us who prefer traditional dining; there must be room for one cruise line in the market to offer this type of experience.

 

We will not be happy if on our next cruise we are unable to get our preferred dining choice of traditional main and are instead pushed to "Select" dining.

 

 

Exactly!!!

 

Anne Maria

[Bridge Maven]

Our only experience with anytime dining was on Royal Caribbean and, based on that experience, these are just a few of the many reason why we love it.

 

Early dining is too early for most port intensive itineraries in Europe and late dining is too late for us. It also gives us an opportunity to eat between 7:00 and 7:30 PM most nights which is not an option with traditional dining.

 

As we left the dining room each night we would make a reservation for the following night, based on that day's schedule, and never had to wait for a table.

 

We can meet other passengers by asking to be seated at large table. Then we have the option of trying another group the following day or requesting to be seated with the same people.

 

If we like our waiter we can request to have the same wait team every night.

 

We can also create our own table as the cruise progresses with people that we enjoyed being with during the cruise.

 

The passenger has control of whether they want a long leisurely dining experience or a shorter one with less courses. That can even vary from night to night to fit in with other plans for the evening. With traditional dining even if I choose to have less courses, I still have to dedicate two hours for dinner and just sit there during the courses where I didn't order anything.

[cruzholic]

I have enjoyed both traditional and anytime dining on three different cruise lines as my signature will show. I like both, have had wonderful service both ways and would like to see the concept of Your Own Choice be offered on ALL Cruise Lines. Each gives a cruiser an extra opportunity to enhance their cruise experience and develop memories. And in the end both fill the cruiser's empty stomach.

At home a family can have a set time or flexable time, a time to eat with the same people or in the case of a "Pot Luck" meal, a time to enjoy those not known as well. So why not on a cruise when our daily schedules are usually full of new and varied activities?

[jackdiamond]

We are Elite on Celebrity; and, all of our cruises, except the first, have been CC on the Millennium class. We have always utilized second seating for dinner; and, we have always been pleased. After a busy beach day, the wife relaxes etc., while I repair to the Sushi Cafe for awhile. However, we just concluded a ten nighter on the Emerald Princess, in a min suite, and we chose the anytime dining; and, again we were pleased. We will sail on the Equinox in AQ in a few months; and, we would be delighted if anytime dining was established in Blu. It would appear that this would be the perfect venue for the aforesaid procedure, since it is alread offered for breakfast.

Lastly, this procedure will probably eliminate most of the endeavors of the minority of folks who do not believe in a proper gratuity system.

[junglejane]

I really don't see why all the cruise lines have to be alike. There are clearly enough of us who prefer traditional dining; there must be room for one cruise line in the market to offer this type of experience.

 

You say "there are clearly enough of us who prefer traditional dining." Unfortunately, I doubt that is true even though you may wish it were so. I remember the exact same arguments being made on the HAL board when HAL implemented its As You Wish dining program. (Many variations of: Please tell us why can't HAL be the cruise line for those who like the traditional experience?) Given the billions of dollars at stake in this industry, I'm pretty sure these decisions are being made after lots of market research. If Celebrity felt confident it could fill up its ship with those who love traditional dining, it would. But I'm afraid the wave of the future is an inexorable demand for flexible dining.

 

Where are you going to go when Celebrity eventually implements this? Cunard? They only have two ships right now, and will have 3 in the Fall of 2010. How many times do you want to do the crossing on the QM2?

 

BTW, we have done Anytime Dining on Princess several times with no problem, but have booked Traditional Dining for our next few cruises because we enjoyed it so much on Celebrity. It's also much better if you have food allergy issues, which our kids have. But I just think it's inevitable that flexible dining is coming to Celebrity in the not too distant future. I also think it's inevitable that there will be problems initially before the system can operate smoothly. Brace yourselves.

[melissa@cruisecritic]

Hi everyone,

Just in case you haven't seen our news item from yesterday (click here for it), here's what Celebrity spokeswoman Elizabeth Jakeway has to share regarding Celebrity Select Dining:

 

"Unfortunately, the information regarding Celebrity Select Dining was posted prematurely, and was copy in development regarding the subject. 'Celebrity Select Dining,' a new type of flexible dining offering, is currently in development, and we do not yet have a firm implementation date scheduled. As part of our development of Celebrity Select Dining, and prior to full implementation and communication of the final program, we will do soft launches on select sailings to ensure that we meet and deliver the desired experience for our guests before rolling it out across the fleet. Meanwhile, we're continuing to develop the program based on guest research and feedback."

 

Hope this helps clear up any confusion.

[Maraprince]

I for one would NOT like to Celebrity follow the "herd". Up to now, Celebrity has managed quite well without it. Why cheapen the dining experience? All that will be left for a true dining experience will be Cunard. If you want everything to be "just like home or a land resort", why take a cruise in the first place!

 

Along with casual dining/anytime dining or whatever you choose to call it, the uniqueness of ocean dining starts to detoriate to the point you could be in any land based restaurant anywhere. If you want a table for 2, by all means request it. If you don't want a full meal, you have the option of going to the buffet or eating in your cabin. But why take away the specialiness of having a set dining time with the same people where you know you can just sit at your table and your wait staff has your choice of beverages, etc. almost down pat after the first meal for the passengers who want it? Go to a cruise line that offers this option if you do not want to dress up for dinner and don't want to socialize.

 

I like the idea of developing a temporary relationship with my tablemates and getting advice on ports, tours, activities, the ship, etc. For the length of the sailing I have a temporary "family" of sorts who welcome me each night at dinner.

 

Also, I don't want to try and shuffle my dinner time around being able to watch the shows. If I am going to ask for the same table and wait staff every night for the same time, I might as well take fixed dining!

 

There are enough cruise lines offering this option that if Celebrity wants to set itself apart from them, they will NOT offer this option. Just because everyone else is doing it, doesn't mean everyone has to follow along.

 

MARAPRINCE

[junglejane]

Go to a cruise line that offers this option if you do not want to dress up for dinner and don't want to socialize.

***

There are enough cruise lines offering this option that if Celebrity wants to set itself apart from them, they will NOT offer this option. Just because everyone else is doing it, doesn't mean everyone has to follow along.

 

MARAPRINCE

 

The trouble is that you are looking at this from your point of view instead of Celebrity's. Let me try an analogy (which I'm sure will be imperfect). My DD loves cargo pants. She really liked the ones sold by the Gap especially. They fit better and looked nicer than any others. But one day we went to Gap and there were no more cargo pants. Cargo pants were "out" and capri pants were "in." It doesn't do any good for us to complain to Gap and say you should be the store that still sells cargo pants. Imagine what they would say if we said: "Tell everyone else who wants capris go shop somewhere else." Shop somewhere else? That's the last thing they want. It's not realistic to ask Celebrity to tell everyone else to essentially "shop somewhere else" so they can continue to provide a few people with their preferred experience. Sad but true. You can call Celebrity a premium cruise line, but it is still a mass market cruise line with a whole lot of cabins to sell or it goes out of business.

[Oville]

Hi everyone,

Just in case you haven't seen our news item from yesterday (click here for it), here's what Celebrity spokeswoman Elizabeth Jakeway has to share regarding Celebrity Select Dining:

 

"Unfortunately, the information regarding Celebrity Select Dining was posted prematurely, and was copy in development regarding the subject. 'Celebrity Select Dining,' a new type of flexible dining offering, is currently in development, and we do not yet have a firm implementation date scheduled. As part of our development of Celebrity Select Dining, and prior to full implementation and communication of the final program, we will do soft launches on select sailings to ensure that we meet and deliver the desired experience for our guests before rolling it out across the fleet. Meanwhile, we're continuing to develop the program based on guest research and feedback."

 

Hope this helps clear up any confusion.

 

Thanks Melissa, looks like Celebrity is going to implement this option in the same manner as Royal Caribbean did.

[Bridge Maven]

The trouble is that you are looking at this from your point of view instead of Celebrity's. Let me try an analogy (which I'm sure will be imperfect). My DD loves cargo pants. She really liked the ones sold by the Gap especially. They fit better and looked nicer than any others. But one day we went to Gap and there were no more cargo pants. Cargo pants were "out" and capri pants were "in." It doesn't do any good for us to complain to Gap and say you should be the store that still sells cargo pants. Imagine what they would say if we said: "Tell everyone else who wants capris go shop somewhere else." Shop somewhere else? That's the last thing they want. It's not realistic to ask Celebrity to tell everyone else to essentially "shop somewhere else" so they can continue to provide a few people with their preferred experience. Sad but true. You can call Celebrity a premium cruise line, but it is still a mass market cruise line with a whole lot of cabins to sell or it goes out of business.

 

Jane, I think it is a very good analogy. With Celebrity's newest mega ships they have too many berths to fill to cater just to the very small segment of the cruising market who still want a ship that only offers traditional dining.

[Hornet84]

This makes perfect sense. Celebrity's parent company Royal Caribbean has rolled out "My Time Dining" very successfully and now it is Celebrity's turn. If it is done as well as RCI's, then it will be very successful. I like the combination of traditional seatings and flexible seatings. It caters to everyone. NCL pioneered the idea, but I think they are now being left behind by the other lines as they only offer "Freestyle Dining" and they have problems with waiting lines for dinner as the main dining rooms on their ships do not accommodate all guests.

[DoniaG]

Sadly, assigned seating is going the way of the dodo bird. I'll miss it, but it's simply inevitable. And the wait staff don't like it any better than we do. They have to add more tables to accommodate all those folks who arrive promptly at 7:00 and expect to be seated immediately. They have to add more 2 and 4-top tables because a lot of folks object to being seated with a new set of strangers for every meal. This makes the wait staff's job much more difficult - not only do they have to squeeze through spaces that don't allow them to serve gracefully - but they have to keep track of who ordered what at which tables. This is exactly what the dining room captain on Azamara Quest told me. So, I guess we're trading the convenience of choosing a meal time for the kind of service you can only get in assigned seating.

 

I really wish they wouldn't make this change, but I guess it's no different than all the folks in Washington I wish weren't there.:D The people have spoken and we've just got to live with majority rule. We solved the problem on Quest be eating several times in one or the other of the specialty restaurants. An expensive alternative, but the wait staff did get to know us and the service was impeccable.

[Denny01]

The trouble is that you are looking at this from your point of view instead of Celebrity's. Let me try an analogy (which I'm sure will be imperfect). My DD loves cargo pants. She really liked the ones sold by the Gap especially. They fit better and looked nicer than any others. But one day we went to Gap and there were no more cargo pants. Cargo pants were "out" and capri pants were "in." It doesn't do any good for us to complain to Gap and say you should be the store that still sells cargo pants. Imagine what they would say if we said: "Tell everyone else who wants capris go shop somewhere else." Shop somewhere else? That's the last thing they want. It's not realistic to ask Celebrity to tell everyone else to essentially "shop somewhere else" so they can continue to provide a few people with their preferred experience. Sad but true. You can call Celebrity a premium cruise line, but it is still a mass market cruise line with a whole lot of cabins to sell or it goes out of business.

 

I agree (nicely) that your example is imperfect. You and many other posters are assuming the Select Dining will replace Traditional Dining. The way it was added to the Celebrity Site, prematurely, was as another option. Just as it is on other lines. Your example is replacing one with the other. Many of us have used both, and prefer one or the other. As one who prefers Traditional, I have no problem with Select Dining being added just so it does not adversely impact Traditional.

 

I understand this is a business decision to potentially expand Celebrity customer base. Good idea. I want them to succeed. I've used the various Grills that are currently available when we wished to dine at another time then our set dining, and hope whatever Celebrity's Select Dining is, it will be some variation of this option.

 

But let's not turn this into a either/or when it isn't. All that does is get people's knickers into a knot - since you used clothes as an example, I thought I'd work it into my response!

 

Denny

[arkcruiser]

I was waiting for this to happen since the design of the Solstice class ships mandates flex dining. The main dining room of the Solstice class ships is simply not large enough to accommodate all guests, particularly if there are significant numbers of third and fourth passengers on board. Given the plethora of alternative dining possibilities, Celebrity clearly does not intend for each guest to dine in the main room each evening, yet under traditional dining it has to hold a place for each one. Personally, I prefer the flexible approach and am delighted that Celebrity is seeking to accommodate both those who favor traditional dining and those who prefer something more flexible.

[terrierjohn]

Sadly, assigned seating is going the way of the dodo bird. I'll miss it, but it's simply inevitable.

Did I miss something, I thought CSD was in addition to traditional dining not instead of.

And the wait staff don't like it any better than we do.

Is this your own view or have you researched it thoroughly, with pre-paid non deductable gratuities I suspect they will be all in favour, rather than relying on the dubious generosity of traditional diners.

They have to add more tables to accommodate all those folks who arrive promptly at 7:00 and expect to be seated immediately. They have to add more 2 and 4-top tables because a lot of folks object to being seated with a new set of strangers for every meal.

If you read this thread thoroughly you will find a large number of pro flexible diners who are very happy to share a different large table every night.

This makes the wait staff's job much more difficult - not only do they have to squeeze through spaces that don't allow them to serve gracefully - but they have to keep track of who ordered what at which tables. This is exactly what the dining room captain on Azamara Quest told me.

Possibly because he thought that was what you wanted to hear. Any waiter worth the name should be able to keep a correct record of orders, and surely the job of the dining room captain (Maitre D on Princess?) is to ensure that tables are not placed too close together.

So, I guess we're trading the convenience of choosing a meal time for the kind of service you can only get in assigned seating.

 

I really wish they wouldn't make this change, but I guess it's no different than all the folks in Washington I wish weren't there.:D The people have spoken and we've just got to live with majority rule. We solved the problem on Quest be eating several times in one or the other of the specialty restaurants. An expensive alternative, but the wait staff did get to know us and the service was impeccable.

I am at a loss to know how to satisfy these sort of comments. TD will still be maintained and it appears that the RCI group are trying to avoid the mistakes that Princess have made, where the TD waitlist often appears extensive.

I really do want traditionists to continue to enjoy a top quality dining service, but personally I want more flexible dining arrangements to enable me to vary the time I dine, but then still able to have a main dining room experience.

Doniag, I am sorry for using you're post, I could have chosen any of the dozens of others who hold similar views to you for my reply. I just hope that it might make some of the anti flexible dining brigade re-think their position.

[junglejane]

I agree (nicely) that your example is imperfect. You and many other posters are assuming the Select Dining will replace Traditional Dining. The way it was added to the Celebrity Site, prematurely, was as another option. Just as it is on other lines. Your example is replacing one with the other. Many of us have used both, and prefer one or the other. As one who prefers Traditional, I have no problem with Select Dining being added just so it does not adversely impact Traditional.

 

I understand this is a business decision to potentially expand Celebrity customer base. Good idea. I want them to succeed. I've used the various Grills that are currently available when we wished to dine at another time then our set dining, and hope whatever Celebrity's Select Dining is, it will be some variation of this option.

 

But let's not turn this into a either/or when it isn't. All that does is get people's knickers into a knot - since you used clothes as an example, I thought I'd work it into my response!

 

Denny

 

I certainly didn't mean to pose this as an either or situation. Gee, I'd be thrilled if Gap still offered those dratted cargo pants in some corner of the store, LOL. Seriously, the only point I was trying to make with my clothing analogy is just that it's pointless to expect Celebrity to "not follow the herd" if their market research tells them they need to offer flex dining. Making both options available is the ideal goal. The trick is making that work smoothly. I too wish Celebrity nothing but success in doing that.:)

 

--Junglejane

[Jeka]

Sadly, assigned seating is going the way of the dodo bird. I'll miss it, but it's simply inevitable. And the wait staff don't like it any better than we do. They have to add more tables to accommodate all those folks who arrive promptly at 7:00 and expect to be seated immediately. They have to add more 2 and 4-top tables because a lot of folks object to being seated with a new set of strangers for every meal. This makes the wait staff's job much more difficult - not only do they have to squeeze through spaces that don't allow them to serve gracefully - but they have to keep track of who ordered what at which tables. This is exactly what the dining room captain on Azamara Quest told me. So, I guess we're trading the convenience of choosing a meal time for the kind of service you can only get in assigned seating.

 

I really wish they wouldn't make this change, but I guess it's no different than all the folks in Washington I wish weren't there.:D The people have spoken and we've just got to live with majority rule. We solved the problem on Quest be eating several times in one or the other of the specialty restaurants. An expensive alternative, but the wait staff did get to know us and the service was impeccable.

 

You can't compare open seating on Azamara to Celebrity Select Dining(CSD). CSD is an option, not mandatory. A small section of the dining will be set aside for CSD and the rest will be for traditional if they are implementing Royal Caribbean's model. Also, we haven't had one unhappy waiter(why would they be, their tips are all pre-paid) in Royal's version of this nor has table placement ever been an issue. We've never waited for a table even when we didn't have reservations and the service was been far better than traditional.

 

Before reviewing something like this, we all would be better served if you've actually tried it.

[curtdesilets]

Our favorite cruise line has been Celebrity since we first sailed Infinity in May, 2000 (inaugural year). The dining experience then and since was superb!

 

We had our first go at flexible dining on the Princess Sapphire in January. It was an absolute disaster. Calling for reservations every morning promptly @ 9am only to be told that the earliest seating is 815pm. We are early diners and were traveling with our elderly parents who eat @ 5pm every night. Only by the end of the cruise did we realize that you could book SMTW if you call on sunday and TFS if you call on Wednesday, or some crazy thing. Or you could wait a half hour everynight and hope to be seated. Whatever, it sucked! I was also told that most people overbooked several dining rooms and never showed up. It was a mess.

 

We are sailing Infinity this Sept to Alaska and are looking forward to fixed early dining. Celebrity would be making a huge mistake if they followed this stupid trend of calling and waiting and pissing off older travellers intensely.

 

Any comments?

[Jeka]

Our favorite cruise line has been Celebrity since we first sailed Infinity in 2001 (inaugural year). The dining experience then and since was superb!

 

We had our first go at flexible dining on the Princess Sapphire in January. It was an absolute disaster. Calling for reservations every morning promptly @ 9am only to be told that the earliest seating is 815pm. We are early diners and were traveling with our elderly parents who eat @ 5pm every night. Only by the end of the cruise did we realize that you could book SMTW if you call on sunday and TFS if you call on Wednesday, or some crazy thing. Or you could wait a half hour everynight and hope to be seated. Whatever, it sucked! I was also told that most people overbooked several dining rooms and never showed up. It was a mess.

 

We are sailing Infinity this Sept to Alaska and are looking forward to fixed early dining. Celebrity would be making a huge mistake if they followed this stupid trend of calling and waiting and pissing off older travellers intensely.

 

Any comments?

 

What does Princess have to do with Celebrity? Do you honestly believe X is going to introduce the not so successful Princess plan and ignore it's sister companies' extremely successfull option. Sorry but you are comparing apples to oranges.

 

Regarding you older travellers comment, what's the marketing message you want X to be delivering?

[curtdesilets]

Sorry, but my only experience with "flexible dining" was our recent experience on Princess, so I only know that experience.

 

My wife and I (in our forties) and we always eat early.

 

Celebrity typically caters to an older crowd, might I say, more intellectual crowd. Their dining has always been rated #1 in the large ship categories.

 

It is not the "Fun Ship" experience; it is an elegant experience, and that is what endures us to Celebrity.

 

When I booked Alaska this winter, I was expecting Celebrity to have already changed to some sort of flexible dining.

 

I was pleasantly surprised when it was still traditional.

 

Maybe flexible will work...but I doubt it will be what we are accustomed to and I doubt that we will enjoy it as much.:confused:

[DoniaG]

Before reviewing something like this, we all would be better served if you've actually tried it.

 

No need to jump my case quite so quickly. I didn't review anything except my own experience on Azamara - which is also a sister line. And I've most definitely tried that one and am only reporting exactly what I experienced. As X still appears to be developing their plan, we have no way of knowing which "sister" they will copy. Or maybe they'll create something new that everyone will be happy with. (Read my signature line:D)

Donia

[Jeka]

I hope this helps, I've opted for MTD on Royal on 5 occasions. It in no way interfers or lessens the tradional dining experience. If you always eat early you probably won't even walk by anyone in the CSD section. MTD on Royal as not had one negative impact on those eating at main or late seatings. You are probably skepical, but what I am saying is fact. Go over to the RC boards, the topic never comes up with the excption of how MTD works. Unless Celebrity really screws this up, the program should be a win win for all.

 

Ha ha, your not old!!!!!

[Jeka]

No need to jump my case quite so quickly. I didn't review anything except my own experience on Azamara - which is also a sister line. And I've most definitely tried that one and am only reporting exactly what I experienced. As X still appears to be developing their plan, we have no way of knowing which "sister" they will copy. Or maybe they'll create something new that everyone will be happy with. (Read my signature line:D)

Donia

 

The description that was on there website yesterday was very similar to RCs program, not open seating.