jayblue

That's because the vast, vast majority of C&A members never make it out of Gold. They do a handful of 3-5 night cruises and they find some other kind of holiday that interest them more.

I resemble that!!!

After 3 cruises, I went looking for other things. I never forgot my love of cruising over the years. Now, I am back, and ready to take on the challenge of cruising solo on my first modern megaship.

;)

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I am considering it. After my forthcoming cruise, I want one more on one of the Megaships, possibly Oasis or Allure. Then, I want a destination-based, rather than amenity-based cruise, possibly on the northwest coast. I'm keen on stopping in Seattle. I have my eye on a cruise line, but would be willing to consider others.

Well done!! Very nice review.

Probably the same thing I do at home: turn off all small electronics and turn the TV on with the volume set on low.

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They have Peanut Butter & Jelly Trifle for Dessert in the American Icon Grill on Quantum. Peanut Butter Mousse, Fresh Berries and Grape Jelly.

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/quantumoftheseas/dining/restaurants/american-icon-grill/ ;)

LOL!!!

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Hi Jennifer,

 

From your signature, I see your last cruise was on Enchantment back in 1997. While I'm not too familiar with that ship, I am familiar with the Majesty of the Seas as you sailed her in 1993 & 1994. I'm also familiar with the Liberty of the Seas that you are sailing in February (2015).

 

I know in the mid-1990s you only had a choice of a first or second seating, which was for all 3 meals at the same table in the same dining room. Today, breakfast and lunch in the MDR are seated as you arrive, and most people eat in the Windjammer or do room service for breakfast. Only Traditional options for dinner, however, they added a My Time Dining (MTD) option where you make reservations for different times each night at a different table and possibly different waitstaff. MTD was introduced a few years back that has been expanded fleet wide over the past couple of years.

 

The Liberty of the Seas will not have Dynamic Dining when you sail. While the Majesty has two separate dining rooms, Liberty has one grand 3-story dining room (although they refer to each deck level as a different dining room) with a staircase between floors in a nice open space like in the movie Titanic. One level of the dining room will be for My Time Dining reservations. The other two are for traditional dining with a first and second seating with the same table assignments and waitstaff for the duration of the cruise. All 3 dining rooms will have the same menu that changes each night based on a theme (Pomodoro, Jasmine, etc.). There are no longer separate courses for soup, salad, & appetizers as they are all group together as starters. Feel free to order a salad and soup and shrimp cocktail if you like. You may also order two entrees or get seconds on the same one if you like.

 

From your post, "Not one passenger onboard is going to leave the ship without having some sort of satisfying restaurant experience." is not true. There is no guarantee everyone will be satisfied.

What people are upset about is no longer having the choice of traditional dining and being forced into My Time Dining. On top of that, My Time Dining becomes Dynamic Dining where you don't even get the choice of having a different menu each night in one dining room, you have to go to 4 different dining rooms with the same menu each night for a total of 4 different menus (instead of 7 for a 7 night cruise). You would then have to pay extra the other nights to get a different menu in a restaurant with waitstaff. These complimentary restaurants will be separate one story ones like the dining rooms on Majesty and not a grand open one like Liberty. (There's a 5th one for suite guests only).

 

While Royal Caribbean is promoting 18 restaurants on Quantum; many of those may be good for breakfast, lunch, or late night snack, but would not be a satisfying meal for dinner.

 

Anyway, hope you enjoy your Liberty of the Seas cruise, without the Dynamic Dining (yet).

No dynamic dining on Liberty. But, I did choose MTD. As for traditional MDR, out with the old...

I checked out the menus in the new complimentary restaurants on Quantum. Awesome! I doubt I would walk away from any of these venues unsatisfied. They have everything (except PB&J)! It's all about keeping an open mind.

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It will be interesting to see how they deal with groups that want to be seated together. The group I sail with is typically 50-80 people and dinner is our intra-group socializing time. Traditional dining with fixed seating times accommodates this trivially: 4-6 big tables in one hunk of the dining room, and it's done.

Wonder if they'll have semi-private rooms/areas for large groups?

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I was simply stating that I plan my meals for Disney World 6 months ahead of the vacation and I don't see it as a problem at all. I enjoy looking at the restaurants ahead of time and getting excited about our trip. In fact, I've already looked at all of menus for the new restaurants for DD and I'm excited about that too. :D

 

Seriously? There is plenty of food available at Disney World, and on a cruise ship. But, obviously, some restaurants are more popular and harder to get in to. I know that if I want to have the very best experience, I plan ahead. Obviously, that's not for everyone, but it works for me. :)

On point, cant_w8_cruise!

Simply "not starving" is an exceptionally low bar to set, if that's the criteria for success also.

The point is: Not one passenger onboard is going to leave the ship without having some sort of satisfying restaurant experience. If you are stuck on the MDR, maybe the newer ships aren't for you. I'm with the younger generation of cruisers, who don't want to sacrifice a restaurant style meal in favor of more time on the island (I missed dinner in the MDR while in Cozumel in favor of watching the sun set from the island, which was a first for me.).

RCL is trying to attract more families to its ships. How do you put a family with children on an MDR schedule? It isn't fair to ask parents to rush their children to a 5:30 or 6:00 seating. And even less fair to ask them to keep their kids up for an 8:30 seating. I have to say that this is where Disney World rocked! We chose a time when both adults and children would be ready, and simply went. If our time slot wasn't available, we either selected another night, or went with another time or restaurant. With 18 restaurants (each)onboard Quantum and Anthem, there are plenty to choose from.

HAL has several ships under 1500 passengers -Statendam, Maasdam, Ryndam, Volendam, Zaandam, and some others I'm not remembering.

Thank you. They are owned by Carnival, I believe? Well, despite it's recent history, Carnival hasn't suffered any great loss keeping their ships afloat. Possibly because they target a specific cruiser?

Minor point. The 'suite' option includes mini-suites too.

Point taken. I saw the word "suite" and didn't look any further. It will be a while before I can try one of those.

So this is potentially taking the care freeness of cruising. Instead of having your fixed time and table waiting its gonna take some planning ahead... Or possibly having to be prepared to pay$$

 

 

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Or, it is offering more freedom with a little bit of effort. Rather than confining guests to one complimentary dining room with one menu every night, it is offering 4 choices (5 if you are in a suite).

As for planning ahead, what happens when you try to book and main seating isn't available? You wind up with MTD (no complaints with this, I have it now) or second seating.

One of the things I like about one of the restaurants is the formal dress code. While it doesn't require a tuxedo and formal dress, it eliminates the discomfort of being dressed to the nines whilst seated at the table with some one in a t-shirt and khakis. (Not judging. I understand both sides. There are times, when I am on vacation, that I just don't want to be bothered with a dress, heels and flashy jewelry. And still other times, when I want to walk a red carpet. DD will provide the opportunity for both.)

The only thing is the new. 5 complimentary restaurants not 4 are set for three sittings per night in lieu of two

They won't fit everyone at once if no one goes specialty but their numbers have shown a huge drop in main dining and increase in specialty

They know what numbers each night use mdr and have catered accordingly with excess for occasional overflows

 

They don't need and it would be business auicide to cater to have the whole ship be able to use mdr on one night if they wanted as that is not what happens

 

By having the equal if mdr as dynamic they don't have to keep the one specific seat open for a person who may attend once or twice in the cruise

Plus you are forgetting the windjammer

 

It is a good idea if they can get it to work

 

 

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Excellent assessment!

No disagreement necessary.

 

A 1,500 passenger cruise ship cannot possibly make a profit - at any price point.

My question is: Are there any 1,500 passenger cruise ships left?

I will use Majesty of the Seas as an example, as I am familiar with it. When I first started cruising, this was a mega ship! RCI did have smaller ships in its fleet, but those have all since been transferred, sold, or retired. Majesty is now the smallest ship in its fleet.

I'm not into profits or things like that (that's for corporate shareholders to worry about), but how many people are actually seeking a ship that holds this number of people these days? If they are, it is like because they are taking a destination-based cruise, rather than amenity-based.

So does this mean there will be no dress code of any type for the four Dynamic Dinning locations?

 

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No. There is one formal venue. The other four (there is a fifth restaurant for suite people), are all casual dining. Check out the dining section on RCI's website. It gives a detailed description of each of the new restaurants, including a menu for each. After reading the menus, I pulled out the pom-poms and turned into a cheerleader for Dynamic Dining. It may take time for experienced cruisers to warm up to (those that are open-minded enough to take a chance), but it's a great and fun idea.

So having some people not be able to get into the restaurants at all, is a success?

 

I would not have considered it so.

No, offering multiple options is. If you can't get into the restaurant of choice, you won't starve (a word that is NEVER heard on a cruise ship). You simply have to choose one of the other venues onboard. These restaurants are in addition to the others that are already offered, such as the Windjammer, Chops Grille, and Johnny Rockets. It's the same thing that happens when I don't like what's on the menu in the MDR. It also opens doors for well-known chefs, like Jamie Oliver, to showcase their menus.

If the mega ships hadn't brought me back to the cruising world, Dynamic Dining would have! After my last cruise, my attitude was more "been there, done that." This is where the success is: in turning a familiar old product into something new and exciting that will attract, not just one specific group, but many.

A miserable experiment that will try to entice more people to go to Specialty Restaurants. :(:(:(

As of now, 4 of the dining rooms are complimentary, with the final one being complimentary to guests in JSs and up.

I was a little oblivious to the idea until I educated myself on each. Now, I believe this will be a foodie's paradise. It is the answer to a common complaint about dressing formally. For people with simple tastes, it offers an American fare (fried chicken, burgers, etc.). It basically covers more bases than the ordinary MDR.

Exciting times for the cruise world.

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Sounds awful. So, are you proposing that rather negative feature of WDW as something to aspire to? Why would we want cruises to follow a pattern that even you seem to think of as a problem.

I reserved all of my Disney restaurants, including the character dinner at 1900 Park Fare at the Grand Floridian, either a week before leaving or while we were in our car (cell phones did not work in my hotel room).

I think that she is comparing the success of the Disney Dining Plan to what RCCL is doing now.

I have to chuckle at the folks who don't want to plan their dining ahead of time. Apparently, they've never eaten at Disney World, where you have to get dining reservations 6 months ahead of time, or you don't get them at all! :D

Totally forgot that we had to do this, but yes! this is what it's like. And I immensely enjoyed my dining plan with Disney, as did the rest of my family.

I just read the menus from the five new venues that are set to replace the MDR and believe that, if they stick to the format described, they will be awesome! There is even a formal dining restaurant that makes me want to make sure I bring formal clothes just so I can try some of their entrees.

I have no plans on going on either of the new ships, but am excited that they eventually plan to spread Dynamic Dining fleet wide. I will also admit that this type of change isn't for everyone, but for those of us looking for something new and exciting on their cruise.

I am looking into a 2016 cruise on one of the colossal ships (Allure or Oasis), but believe I will wait until they are settled into this change. I cannot wait!

River boats are not cruise ships. They operate under different legal conventions, different safety rules, different unions, and have far lower operating costs than ocean going vessels.

I'm going to interrupt and disagree with you a bit. While the riverboats are different behind the scenes, the customers are seeking a similar experience. Just like people that cruise the Great Lakes.

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Found this YouTube video. Hope it's allowed...

This reminds me of a salad bar I found in a shop not far from Grand Central Station in Manhattan. I trust that RCI does it very well. I may have to go back for seconds.

Congrats!

After my next cruise, I rollover, too.

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Google Tutti salad bar and click on images and you will see what the salad bar looks like. Very tasty, just make sure they chop it at the end, for some reason that makes it taste even better.

Awesome tip!

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It's on my list to pack my own this cruise...I detest washing my hands with bars of soap so I'm packing liquid as well as our own bath products.

Good idea!

Did you know that at one time, Royal Caribbean was targeted to upper middle class cruisers who wanted a quiet relaxing vacation? The line prided itself on its personalized service and excellent food (including being known for the chocolate).

 

It has certainly changed. With the acquisition of Celebrity and the start up of Azamara, the Royal Caribbean corporation made the decision to down class its premier cruise line to compete with Carnival and NCL.

 

They certainly have achieved their goal. Crowded, noisy ships that have mediocre food (and no decent chocolate) with a clientele that want a frantic cruise schedule.

 

Yes, the RCL experience has certainly changed.

I'd rather think of it as RCCL offering something for everyone-the all-inclusive approach (people wise). There is a downside: the price is no longer all-inclusive. I think I can live with that.

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