avalon007

Thanks for the review Pearlsz,

I read a few of the other reviews as well, a mixed bunch but the negative ones were either typical of new cruisers or of repo cruises/first cruises in a new country.

I recall Voyagers first cruise or two in Australia after coming from Asia had many of the same staffing issues. Many of the staff have never worked out of Australia before, they need to adapt from the Asian passengers style to the Australian one & there is quite a difference apparantly.

That's why I never book first cruise out of the gates after re positioning! ;)

Thanks for that - I would never have thought of taking shampoo and conditioner to a hotel or a cruise ship. The reviews I have been reading are pretty poor - it's good to hear that you had a great time. I'm taking two grandchildren so do hope the queues are not going to be too horrendous for everything.

No shampoo is the norm on Royal ships unless you book a suite.

However I much prefer to take my own shampoo as I prefer to use shampoo/conditioner that suits my hair type.

You may be right about the staffing and the hours but my understanding is that they are using it as a high rollers gambling room when not being a DL.

I understood it to be a high rollers lounge during it's Asian seasons only & then it converts back to the DL in the Australian season. This is what Royal had in their promotional Ovation advertising material.

That's a bit restricted. Usually it's open close to, if not, 24 hours.

I thought the same, I note the 'happy hour' time ends at 8.30 & that's when the DL closes, seems a bit odd, they should be allowing for people to finish up their drinks & conversations.

But maybe the issue is that it gets too noisy being so close to the music hall that's it's no longer conducive to conversation after that time, so you just take your last drink with you when they close up??

Also, the entry doors look like swing doors, not sea pass activated electronic doors, so maybe they need a staff member there to always check that no non Diamond or above passengers wander in, & hence it's only open when they can actually staff it?

Maybe a Diamond member on board may be able to clarify...

Thanks - checked it out on FB & it looks a good size.

Any Diamond members on board - what's the Diamond Lounge like? :)

Hate to be the bearer of bad news but the "ding" is no longer....., replaced with a " do do da loop" sound :eek::eek: at least on RCCL ships in Australia

I'll take any sound - they could blow a raspberry at me if they wanted as long as they let me on board! :D

Agree regards The Four Seasons. You can usually save $200 or so if you book early online.

What I especially like about it's location is that if it's raining you can walk part of the way to the ship undercover of the Cahill Expressway & it's also downhill. Plus the walk is usually less congested than trying to walk down one of the normal width footpaths with morning shoppers etc.

What is Dynamic Dining - briefly?

This article explains it further http://www.cruisecritic.com.au/articles.cfm?ID=2007

Sorry to cause confusion BUT I just got off the phone to Customer Service and they said the information provided to you was incorrect and that Dynamic Dining would NOT be coming back. I even read them the email you quoted. So I guess it's a wait and see situation. I was also told that in relation to on Board Entertainment & Activities these will NOT be able to be booked before boarding. Your guess is as good as mine on what will actually happen. I would suggest looking everyday to see what becomes available.

Customer Service where? If general customer service contacts I doubt they would know what is happening as they are often the last to know.

I have been dealing with the executive head office in the USA where the decisions are made so at this stage I'm hopeful what they are telling me is correct. This sort of thing will not filter down to the mainstream staff for a few weeks I would expect.

But as soon as I hear from them further regards all the details questions I will post back here. :)

Cheers, I hope you and I are right.:D

It's just not logical to do it on the repo only - what would be the point of that?

This is what I was told in the email prior from the same person in Royal which I think clarifies it further:

We are sorry that the Dynamic Dining modifications remain a concern. However, we have confirmed that when Ovation of the Seas repositions to Australia it will revert back to Dynamic Dining Choice and Dynamic Dining Classic. We believe listening to our guests is the key to continued success. Please accept our apologies for the disappointment our previous response may have caused.

When she repositions to Australia NOT during the repositioning is the vital piece of info in that! :D

I read it as they are using that cruise to introduce it for the Aussie season and to see how it fares over our season.

Exactly - no way they would be telling me they are having it on the repo cruise only & not on the Australia season since that is the very reason I have been emailing back & forth with them for the last few weeks!

Just the repo cruise for DD would not be 'listening to their guests' & would be a waste of time getting staff trained up again.

But, I'll email again asking for them to clarify it covers every cruise in the Australian season!

Who said Royal doesn't listen to it's customers?? Well I must admit I did cast doubt on wether emailing them about Dynamic Dining being cut would make any difference. :o

BUT I am pleased to be proven wrong as I have been emailing with Royal about this for a few weeks & I'm pleased to announce the people have been heard! So everyone who emailed them - congrats - we made a difference & will now be getting what we were promised!

DYNAMIC DINING IS BACK FOR THE AUSTRALIAN SEASON ON OVATION!!!

Here is what Royal just emailed me (yes, before you ask, I have asked for further clarification on the finer points - like if it's DD in the original form or a my time/classic dining rotation through all 4 restaurants, if Grande is the formal restaurant etc).

EMAIL RECEIVED THIS MORNING:

Thank you for your additional email. I am happy to provide further clarification on the Dynamic Dining while the Ovation of the Seas is in Australia.

We have received a lot of feedback about the option being removed and believe that listening to our guests is the key to remaining successful. Therefore, we have opted to remove the Dynamic Dining while the ship is in the China market. However, during the repositioning of the ship to Australia we will be incorporating the Dynamic Dining prior to our arrival. I hope this additional information provides you with a full understanding of our anticipated actions.

We truly look forward to welcoming you onboard. I look forward to hearing from you after the sailing about your impression of the ship and your experience.

Sincerely,

Executive Office

Guest Experience Management

Royal Caribbean International

:D:):D:):D

I'm so happy - wish we had a smiley doing a dance!

So a BIG THANKYOU to Royal Caribbean for actually listening & acting on feedback - an uncommon occurrence in todays world!

Luganville is world renowned for diving, we dive, but you don't need to dive to enjoy million dollar point. I have snorkelled there & it's fantastic!

You can see all the old jeeps & boats, even forklifts dumped there after WW2 that have become part of the reef now, loads of fish & the rare red coral as well.

Easy beach access for snorkelling & you can see loads of great stuff without going under the water. Just get a local at the dock to take you there, entry is about $7 as it's a marine park.

If your wife has a foot ulcer then maybe the sea water would help with the healing & snorkelling puts no weight on your foot so could well be a good option? Although wearing flippers is the best way to have good mobility whilst snorkelling so not sure if the flipper would be an issue?

But if she can't manage it then you should still do it & she can sit on the beach & relax whilst you snorkel - it's really something not to miss. :)

Thanks Verona I had been thinking that. Doing my time we will be in silk or American icon. So lunch or breakfast in grande and chic will have to do.

 

 

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The Australian season may not be comparable dining wise to the May - June sailing Verona did. You may not get to try Grande or Silk.

I suggest if you feel unhappy about DD being scrapped you email Royal as well, so they get the message we Australian cruisers just want what was advertised. or at least options to try the various venues/menus. :)

What email address should we use to write to RCI regarding DD no longer being on offer on Ovation. I'm keen to write to them.

I used one originally provided earlier in this thread, but noticed it has since been deleted so I think the mods don't like us posting them here?

They never replied until I sent a follow up so maybe use this one customerservices.au@rcclapac.com that they advertise for post cruise comments, as at least it's publicly displayed so the mods shouldn't have an issue with it - Royal staff will pass it on to the appropriate section.

The more of us who let them know we aren't happy the better, but I think it's also important to offer constructive solutions.

I asked for the DD to remain for just this inaugural Aussie season since that is what we all thought we were getting, I then suggested if it wasn't possible to keep it intact to allow us to at least have the advertised menus & try the different venues at lunch time instead.

But at least if we try to get what we paid for we know we just didn't whinge about it & do nothing. :)

***** UPDATE FROM ROYAL ******

I finally after a second email received a reply today from Royals Guest experience section in response to the email I sent saying I wasn't happy about not getting DD as promised.

This part of the reply was the most note worthy:

"We understand that you were looking forward to the multiple dining venues with each their own unique menu. We are sorry that we have disappointed you with this change and want to extend our sincere apologies.

Nevertheless, we have provided your suggestion to keep the Dynamic Dining for our Australia season to the appropriate operational team. We listen to our guests and believe their feedback is the key to remaining successful. At this time we cannot confirm which direction this suggestion may go but we can assure you that we are listening."

Soooo, are they really listening to us - we will see. But if more of you who feel ripped off by the decision to gut the whole DD concept then make the effort to also email them - it may make a difference.

I have also suggested to them that if the DD concept cannot be retained as is, then they at least need to open the 4 free venues for lunch (first come first served basis like lunch in MDR on all other ships) preferably with the original menus on offer so those of us that do care about trying each venue can have the opportunity to get the experience that was promised.

I think most Australians would consider this at least a more fair alternative than no chance at all to dine in the different venues?

I also advised that I think the Ovation staff will be getting a ear full once the majority of cruisers who don't frequent CC actually realise what that email about DD changes actually meant - most will be clueless that it's not simply a change in how you are seated that has occurred, but a complete dismantling of the whole immersive dining concept that Royal so loudly touted as one of the main attractions of Ovation class!

I'll post back with any further updates if/ when I receive any.

The new dining system on Ovation is called Dynamc Dining Classic. Set dining times "in a preset lineup of restaurants", 6.00 and 8.30. My time dining option available as well.

But all 3 options are waitlisted on our cruise. Looks like everyone has been given an allocation and that's it. Probably changes can be made when onboard.

Not really bothering us as we're pretty easy going about dining.

Yes, first day on-board you see plenty of people wanting to change their dining arrangements.

They may open up again though once the dust settles form the DD change announcement.

We are very easy going about dining also - but that is why we love My Time, it's not conducive to easy going when you are forced to eat at a set time. Some evenings we get caught up in the Diamond Lounge talking with friends & forget the time so miss dinner altogether & have to grab a snack at the café!! :D

For those of you on a set dining time you don't like have you tried changing to My Time so at least you can eat a time that suits you?

We tried set dining for a cruise or two at the start but once we moved to My Time we could never go back.

Regards booking Ovation for DD - we didn't book her just for the food - it's a combination of things for us, but DD was a big change from the normal option & all the varied decors matched to the different cuisines was an added level of experience that really appealed to me. Since we do try out specialty restaurants we found the option to eat somewhere different each night one of the reasons to book & pay a LOT more for this cruise than normal to experience ALL they advertised.

The dumbed down menu is disappointing but the lack of option to enjoy the different restaurant settings is also a big disappointment for me, as a graphic designer I really notice how things look & if for example I'm eating in Silk that is Asian themed but not eating Asian it will feel out of context for me. I wanted to enjoy the match of menu to décor - it adds depth to the whole dining experience.

I do feel ripped off, I hope Royal finds a way to allow us to at least eat in the 4 different venues.

They should have just left DD intact for this first Australian season since we all booked based on it being that way, then changed it for the following season giving people enough notice to change their bookings if lack of DD was a game changer & new bookings would be made on the understanding DD is now defunct.

Changings things literally a few months out isn't fair. :(

I have also sent them a lengthy email expressing how I feel about the change & suggesting some options like keeping this inaugural Australian Ovation season with DD menus & venues open to all intact.

Or at the very least opening the venues to everyone so we all get to at least dine in the differently styled restaurants.

I seriously doubt it will have any impact on them, but they may prove me wrong.

As said above by clarea, the change hasn't occurred yet.

 

As for the comments, the Grande will not be formal each night, but formal nights across ship will be reinstated, likely like other cruises. The first comment on menus is also incorrect, in that there is a common base across all the 'MDRs' but with each restaurant having additional. The location split of MTD and traditional is correct.

 

Incidentally, haven't received any e-mail here from RCL. Their consistent email distribution again at work perhaps.

Well the email was incorrect anyway - it said since we had booked traditional dining so we would be allocated a time - not so, our booking online & confirmed via phone with RCCL has always been & still is My Time Dining & that is what is on my confirmation email PDF as well.

I will definitely check as soon as on board though just in case as these things can get screwed up. :rolleyes:

I don't care about the introduction of classic dining, but the loss of the varied menus is the most annoying thing for me, along with no chance to dine in certain venues just to enjoy the décor! I wanted to sit in Grande & enjoy the styling - but seems as a My Time diner it's not available - unless I guess they have tables available later in the evening? I will definitely give it a try & see what can happen if I ask.

Oh well, just hope the rest of the ship lives up to the hype now they have gutted Dynamic Dining which was for many of us one of the main attractions.

So disappointing, I was looking forward to trying each of the different restaurants & varied menus to match. :( At least the speciality paid for restaurants I was wanting to also try should be the same as advertised!

The new menus don't seem to offer anything much from the previously advertised menus for the 4 main venues that I was looking forward to trying. They are basically the same old Main Dining room menus as per the rest of the fleet.

Maybe they will each serve lunch which is no set tables/seating times, so a chance to at least enjoy the décor of the different venues even if the menus no longer match up!!

Here in Australia we have just received an email advising that DD is now classic or My Time for the inaugural Quantum class season here later this year - I have no issue with that part.

But we have conflicting info regards the menus in the 4 included restaurants - Chic, Silk, Grande & American Icon.

The RCCL guy I spoke to yesterday advised that each restaurant will retain it's original menu but with expanded options for those who don't like that particular cuisine & that Grande would still be formal each night?

Someone else on our Roll call thread has advised that they heard all 4 have the same menu & that if you are on classic you eat only in Grande or Chic & rotate between them & the My Time Diners use the other 2 restaurants?

Can anyone with recent experience on the quantum class ships advise how things are actually working re menus & venues?

Thanks!

I was thinking about the same thing - although we are planning on catching the train to CQ.

 

Is anyone familiar with the walk from train station to ship terminal?

 

TIA :)

Yes, very easy walk all on one level, about 2 minutes if that.

There is a lift at the station to get down to ground level so no need to use the escalator etc with luggage. :)

If you go to Google maps street view you can get an idea of the route you will need to take from the YHA if you don't want to drag cases down stairs.

Depends on how fit you are as well I guess as to wether it will be a slog for you or not? The back streets of the rocks area where the YHA is located are quite a bit higher than the quay area.