viper17d

If they do away with the traditional dining in the MDR we will be very disappointed but it won't be a deal breaker. Having the same servers is one of the best parts of our dining experience and we enjoy getting to know them. Plus we're a group of 12 and we love to dine together so trying to get everyone on the same page of where to eat and when will be oh so much fun. :mad: I sure hope that the speculation is wrong but I guess we'll all find out tomorrow.

Highly unlikely it's wrong, but I doubt RCCL will leave its loyal cruisers completely out in the cold. I'm sure there will be an option to follow a rotation with your servers.

Just because you're changing "venues" wouldn't make it any different if you keep your group and servers. Like the the MDR changes dishes every night, your food options will change. Similarly, if you want formal every night, you can go to the Grand every night.

I imagine there will be waitstaff tied to each venue (so you can have the same waitstaff if you go one place over and over) and there will be wait staff that rotate for those who like structure.

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You can probably pull them up on the RCCL site.

 

 

 

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/findacruise/ships/ship/decks/deck/home.do?shipCode=QN

 

 

 

There was a link on the EVERYTHING QUANTUM thread that was posted in the UK site that has now been taken down. Glad someone thought to copy and paste the listing. I also read that there was a dining option thread here that was just created that was removed as well.

Yeah I saw them but didn't get a chance to save them down. They are all located where you'd think they'd be.

From memory: The Grand, Chic, Silk and American Icon are in the aft (not all the way - there is still white space - which many believe to be the galley) on decks 3/4. The expectation is that these will replace the MDR. Some think rotational, I think flexible with the choice to rotate if you'd like. The pub is in the "promenade" on deck 4. Sorrento's and Cafe Promenade are next to each other in that promenade. Deck 5 has the specialty restaurants peppered throughout (most likely surcharge). You know where Cafe 270 is.

The Windjammer is in the rear. The Pacific Coast thing is next to the Windjammer. Johnny Rockets is right next to the main outdoor pool. And you know where the Solarium Cafe and food trucks are.

I think that covers it! If anyone has the actual plans saved down and wants to elaborate or correct me, please do!

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Anthem's dining options that were leaked earlier today posted on the Quantum Class Wikipedia page:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum-class_cruise_ship

Yes it looks like RCCL has edited out the dining options in Wikipedia... Smooth move... What bullies! Haha

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I was a moderator here for two years...let me tell you this ...moderators do not get anything for free...they moderate for free !!

It was a joke!! I know they don't really get anything. See my posts - I'm trying to defend them and pointing the finger at Royal Caribbean.

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I saved the PDF file as soon as it was available hours ago, so Royal Caribbean's begging and pleading is of no avail and is rather pathetic IMHO.

The thing Royal Caribbean doesn't understand is that we are all LOYAL cruisers. We want to know so we can get more excited and share the news to convince other people to go on RCCL.

All of this secrecy only HURTS their cause. Whomever Royal Caribbean is consulting regarding their marketing should go back to business school.

BUZZ (community driven) is good - HYPE (company controlled) is very bad.

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Totally agree! I kinda thought it was weird when the moderators reminded the posters not to be negative. I thought these boards were called "Cruise Critic" not "Cruise promotion Board"

 

 

 

I printed off the Deck plans and enlarged them so I have the dining options. So there ;)

Good deal!!!

I better print screen this before it's taken down too!

Again, I doubt it's the negativity - more the confidential information thing that RCCL pleaded CruiseCritic to take down.

(I bet the Moderators got a free cruise for their quick actions!!!)

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I've noticed the same thing. I'm DISGUSTED. Spare me the lecture moderators on "We can do whatever we want and you can't say anything about it." :rolleyes: Reminder to Cruise Critic: we also get to choose whether to post here or not, which your business depends on.

Very disappointing - I agree. I wouldn't blame the moderators - RCCL pulled the plug I'm sure. The link no longer works and probably threatened CC.

If I'm pissed off at anyone, it's RCCL. They better post an announcement prior to the event acknowledging this. Very bad form on their part.

We didn't have "details". The announcement still would've been a surprise. They should've let it go.

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The aft sections on decks 3 and 4 are unlabelled, hoping that will me the MDR....

I know people have said this won't be the case, which I tend to agree with, but what would be here???? Crew spaces are on lower decks - it seems odd for them to have a chunk taken out of decks 3/4....

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Anthem deck plans are showing on RCCL UK ...might help us with Quantum -

 

 

 

http://creative.rccl.com/Sales/Royal/RCI_Deck_Plans/Anthem_1648_Feb-1-2015.pdf

This is awesome! Great find!!

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I am also venturing a guess at the dining rooms not only being rotational, but having a similar feature to the virtual balconies. Perhaps skyline views of the city that matches the decor & flavor? A poster on another thread mentioned that since Disney already does rotational dining, it doesn't seem like that big of a deal to say "And now... our big reveal... dining just like Disney". They already took disney's virtual portholes & expanded it to something much grander... why couldn't they take the interactive virtual dining that Disney has and bring that to a much grander scale as well.

First, thank you for giving credence to the fact that RCCL won't be closely mimicing Disney.

Second, I think you are straight on with the guess of virtual dining. Rationale:

1) Dining space is currently on decks 3/4, no real windows down there consistent with past MDRs - how do you make it not feel like a cave? Virtual Screens

2) This allows RCCL the MOST flexibility: imagine that space is cut up into ~6 smaller dining rooms, each with virtual screens and neutral decor. This allows each room to be dynamic with food/setting determined by what food RCCL has on board AND what people want throughout the cruise. Since each of the rooms could fit any "locale" or type of food, the rooms can be flexible. If more cruisers are in the mood for Asian, American, French, South American, Spanish, Middle Eastern (etc...) food, you can allocate and "transform" more dining rooms into that style.

People are happy since they can have the food they want, RCCL is happy because it doesn't have an over-crowding issue. This way, you can keep My-Time Dining, you can keep specialty restaurants.

This could be way off... but it does make a certain amount of sense. Your thoughts?

Just like Disney? Not likely. They'll put a flare on it just like they did with the virtual balconies. (A disney idea again, just on a bigger scale)

 

Rotational wouldn't affect MTD at all. Even if your on a rotational schedule, you don't need the same wait staff. All MTD does is you choose the time you eat.

 

Instead of having MTD for a MDR, you'll have a MTD time for whatever rotational venue your scheduled for.

You are still limiting options though. And a virtual porthole is not equivalent to a virtual balcony - on scale or purpose.

I agree, rotational is a possibility, but it would be the wrong way for them to go. RCCL has always been - eat anywhere, we don't care, the MDR is always there if you want it.

Switching to something that says, "oh, you enjoyed your first dinner in dining room #1? Well, you can't go back there until night #4" is a step backwards. Most definitely not a step forwards for the industry - And sure as heck not worth a big announcement for.

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My guess is rotational. You won't have a choice. Like Disney does it.

For Disney, rotational makes sense - especially since you'd be staying with your same waitstaff.

But with My Time Dining, something RCCL is invested in, rotational doesn't make the most sense. You'll probably get the choice to do rotational with one wait staff at an early or late seating or do MTD and make reservations.

If it's an "innovative" announcement, I don't think they'll just say "and now, Quantum of the Seas, will offer a first on the high seas for dining, rotational themed main dining venues... You know, just like Disney!"

The whole point would be to add options, not lock everyone into a rotation with no choice.

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My question is - assuming they're going with multiple main dining venues, how are they going to keep people from overcrowding one of the venues?

Let's say one of the (three) is by far the best - by night 4, everyone knows and you can't get a table there. Is there going to be a reservation system?

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That would be a brilliant marketing move, but only if they actually live stream the event.

Which - based on what we've heard - they won't. I'm really excited about seeing updated deck plans with the food venues.

It makes me sick thinking they're going to stretch out this reveal over a few months. It could be a good marketing move, but only if they're upfront about it. I'm one of those people that wants to know everything now - but if that's not the case, I'd like to know when I'll find out about this and that.

Webcam update... No picture as of this post.

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I had growing ship habits; Nordic Empress, Voyager of the Seas, Liberty of the Seas, Oasis of the Seas; and after the Oasis thought no small ship could be good enough. Our next sailing was the Independence and I loved it. We then did Grandeur and it was nice but too small for me (not enough places to walk around and explore). IMO the Freedom class is perfect. Large enough to have plenty to do and tons of places to walk around all day. Yet it is still small and intimate enough that you see the same people repeatedly and start to feel like one large family. Oasis never felt like a family since everyone was so split up. I hope Quantum captures the vibe of the Freedom class with plenty to do but still feeling unified. It's only a tiny bit larger but the family vibe will be determined on the model they choose to go with for running the activities onboard.

I haven't yet been on Oasis/Allure, but I'm booked on Quantum and very excited about it. One of the things I missed on the Voyager/Freedom classes was the lack of a public indoor space with great views.

On Enchantment, there was Cleopatra's needle looking out the back and various lounges on that deck with views - the more recent ships have put most of those venues on the lifeboat decks, eliminating the view.

As you can imagine, I'm super excited about 270.

I've been on that growing trend as well, and have always preferred ships with more to do. Even though there are more people, RCCL always does a good job keeping them dispersed. I imagine this dining announcement, presumably announcing multiple main dining venues, will only improve the dispersement of crowds.

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That is probably the best analogy of the 2 lines that I've read.

 

Carnival being bargain city, no frills and RCCL still offering good prices with better service and better ships.

 

Sure, your paying more on RCCL, but your getting better service/quality.

The better analogy is CCL:Wal-Mart RCCL:Target

A lot of times Amazon is cheaper than Wal-Mart for the things you want. Target (RCCL), is slightly more upscale/expensive - but well worth the money! (for some people).

Even though RCCL's ships are larger with more passengers, there's more to do - therefore better crowd dispersion. I prefer Target to avoid the crowds.

Bumper cars and north star - meh for me personally - but I know some people will enjoy them. And if that gives me more time on the flow rider and the rock wall, I'm all for it!

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I don't know. The Quantum doesn't excite me nearly as much as the Oasis class.

 

The 3 headliner features of the Quantum don't resonate with me all that much. Bumper cars at sea...not very exciting, and I am a HUGE theme park/ride fan. I'll take Carnival's waterslides. The crane thing...probably interesting for a few minutes, but are you really going to see that much more than standing on the top deck of the ship? It's just water. The sky diving...okay that is cool, but I really hope there is a reservation system for it. On sea days the wait times will be horrendous.

 

My main gripe about the ship, however, is that there seems to be very little actual outdoor space on the Quantum's upper deck. Look at a top down view...so much of it is covered in glass. Not a big fan of that. Compare that to the Oasis and Allure which have several outdoor spaces, themed areas, and decks.

 

That said, I'm sure the ship is truly beautiful inside and many of the spaces are probably incredible, like the Two70.

Actually the Quantum has been designed to operate in colder climates. Less deck space, more indoor options and activities, etc...

The covered pools (a minus when sailing out of Florida) are a big plus sailing out of Cape Liberty or Southampton.

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We will be Diamond after our cruise next month. Can you clarify for me - we cruise on Explorer frequently as I hate to fly and we can drive to Bayonne. So there is no diamond lounge on Explorer as stated above? There is nowhere to get complimentary or reduced price cocktails as on other RC ships? Thanks for any info.

Also, remember Explorer is not long for Bayonne!! You'll be upgrading to Quantum baby!!! Haha, I'd think they'll have a nice DL ;)

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I'm not particularly worried about sea sickness - just about the cabin layout being awkward and not at all like a real balcony/ocean view stateroom...

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This whole thing seems fishy... Leaking out bits of information or holding multiple reveal events never works! Who the heck is running their advertising team? It alienates loyal cruisers and doesn't do anything to pull in new cruisers with one big highly advertised reveal.

If there's one thing this march 26th event isn't, it's highly advertised. And based on this thread, it doesn't seem like they're going to hit more than a couple of things (with more reveals to come).

Look at Apple as an example. One reveal for a new product or suite of products. Hugely successful for them.

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They announced all of the details last year with the travel agent event shortly after the big reveal. The North Star rides are roughly 15 minutes in length (I believe it will be 15 minutes including turn around time). They will be first come first serve with no ride limit just like the Rising Tides bar on Oasis. It will be operated daily while in port or at sea reliant on conditions and regulations. There will also be 3 premium packages including solo rides and special sunset and sunrise packages that include champaign and other perks.

 

RipCord on the other hand requires sign up and is limited to one time per cruise just like the Zipline on Oasis originally was. Each sign up session is done in groups and involves a training session where you learn the hand signals and how to do it. You then get 2 one minute rides; the first with assistance and the second on your own.

Super unfortunate they're limiting Ripcord to one session. I would think not everyone would want to do it, allowing time for extra sessions. It's not like everyone does the Flowrider - those kinds of activities just don't appeal to some cruisers (I definitely don't fall into that category!)

Since I'm on the maiden voyage, I won't get to benefit from their learning curve!!

I guess I'll trust they know what they're doing... Haha.

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Surely the TV screens will either be facing to the Port or Starboard and be

hooked up to camera's on the Port or Starboard Sides.

 

Otherwise Sea Sickness is guaranteed.

 

I can't see that they would be facing to the bow (front) or stern (back) as

pitching is far less a problem

 

But who knows (or care's)

Clearly I care because I made the post, haha. Royal Caribbean posted on its official blog that the cameras are at the bow and stern, explicitly excluding port and starboard.

I think it only makes sense for them to change it so it's like a real balcony stateroom, but my guess is that they're too far along in the development process for that. Royal Caribbean has been very deliberate in the information they post, so I doubt that is still up in the air.

Does anyone aside from me have a preference here?

My understanding is they did it the way they did so they could utilize a larger wall for the simulation. Not the same layout as a real balcony, but I'm not sure there was another way they could logically do it.

I just don't understand why all of their marketing materials thus far show the virtual balcony in a setup lengthwise (with the screen on one of the short walls). If Quantum is the example, and 70% of the staterooms are not in that configuration, why market it as such?

Perhaps we'll get more detail on the 26th, but it's just odd and kind of frustrating!

I'm booked on Quantum's maiden voyage in November :) and am excited to try out the interior stateroom with a virtual balcony.

However, from everything I've read, the virtual balcony will only be forward- or aft-"facing". This would be fine and make sense if all of the cabins are set up like on Deck 12 (lengthwise parallel with the ship), but the vast majority of inside cabins are oriented like outside cabins (lengthwise perpendicular with the side of the ship) :confused:.

Common sense and "simulation" would have the screen be at the end of the cabin (port- or starboard-"facing"), but nothing I've seen seems to indicate this is the case. From what I can tell of early pictures on Navigator, the screen is smack dab in the middle of the room - which makes no sense what-so-ever and kills whatever illusion RCI is trying to create.

Am I incorrect here?? Does anyone else share my feelings??

The souvenir glasses, of all types, are specifically excluded from the packages.

So very disappointing! I guess it makes sense, but Royal Caribbean's packages already seem more expensive than others.

Would any of you recommend it? If I don't want coffee/water, etc. should I go ahead and just get the premium package instead of the ultimate package?