Making the DR more contemporary??

[jimbo5544]

By contemporary, I thought it would mean the elimination of set dining times and the elimination of a dress code. In other words, a less formal dinner.

 

I still think they will keep their fun characteristic, with Fun times and waiters dancing etc.

I hope your wrong on the first part and right on the second part.:)

[jimbo5544]

Most NCL ships are built for freestyle dining. Not exactly sure what that means but it seems to work.

You are correct (NCL, most recently demonstrated with the Breakaway), I am not sure how Carnival would move to this as their fleet is not built for it (layout wise).

[dougandmo]

Maybe on the ships with two MDRs they should just make one casual and one the way it is now. You'd have two choices, early or late and casual or non casual.

 

I've thought the same thing for a while. You have two dining rooms, you have two widely different opinions on what people want to wear for dinner. Have one with a dress code, the other one can be anything goes. I'm sure there's some logistics issues with trying to balance who wants casual vs. formal dining, but I would imagine you could mostly make it work.

[jimbo5544]

I'm curious and excited to see what he has in mind and hope that he has more ideas for interesting changes.

I think it would be great for CCL to take things up a notch...or am I naive in thinking that their new ideas could actually be good ones????

 

 

 

It does...because NCL is set up for Freestyle, with many many different dining venues. On CCL this set-up might not work as well. Plus, I cannot imagine the Traditional Dining die-hards on these boards if that were to actually happen.

:eek:

 

I am glad CCL has a fresh mind looking at things *fingers crossed*.

I think it would be great to step on a CCL ship and feel like the experience is something newer and better than before.

Lots of good thoughts, we will see what happens. There are obstacles as you discuss above (logistics for one), but I would be most impressed with them thinking outside the box and finding something "new" that did not have cost savings written all over it. When we were on the Breeze in April, a person in our group was asked to be part of a focus group (90 minutes for $100 OBC...not that that is pertinent) and they really dug into the MDR (experience). Asking her afterwards, I could not get a read on what they were trying to figure out. While you may be an optimist in your thoughts, I hope you are right on.:)

[RuthlessBoss]

You are correct (NCL, most recently demonstrated with the Breakaway), I am not sure how Carnival would move to this as their fleet is not built for it (layout wise).

It sounds good to have 2 dining rooms, one dressy and one freestyle. But, it sure would be inconvenient if your freestyle dining is way forward, but your cabin is way aft, especially on a a huge ship. I'd rather eat on lido if I have to travel that far just to eat.

[Guest fyree39]

Dump elegant night and dress codes.

 

Basically same menus but newer names.

I'm picturing the type of Walmart wear I'd see in the dining rooms. Princess, here I come!

[jimbo5544]

It sounds good to have 2 dining rooms, one dressy and one freestyle. But, it sure would be inconvenient if your freestyle dining is way forward, but your cabin is way aft, especially on a a huge ship. I'd rather eat on lido if I have to travel that far just to eat.

Wow, we frequently are forward cabin wise and much prefer the aft dining room. I do hear you that logisitics play a part. If this did occur, my guess is that the "freestyle" DR would be the forward one.

[Tithonus]

It sounds good to have 2 dining rooms, one dressy and one freestyle. But, it sure would be inconvenient if your freestyle dining is way forward, but your cabin is way aft, especially on a a huge ship. I'd rather eat on lido if I have to travel that far just to eat.

 

They already have that. Perhaps they could start having service and the same fair served in the Lido as they do downstairs.

[Warm Breezes]

I've thought the same thing for a while. You have two dining rooms, you have two widely different opinions on what people want to wear for dinner. Have one with a dress code, the other one can be anything goes. I'm sure there's some logistics issues with trying to balance who wants casual vs. formal dining, but I would imagine you could mostly make it work.

 

Not only would they have to balance who wants casual vs formal dining but you have the issue of traditional vs anytime. The other issue would be if your chose formal dining would that be every night or a couple of Elegant nights as it is now? I think NCL was on the right track with this by eliminating traditional and having one MDR with a more formal dress code and the other with a more relaxed dress code....but with Carnival that would upset those who prefer the traditional dining experience and choose Carnival over NCL for that reason. Here is my suggestion on how to handle this the best:

 

Aft MDR: Stricter Dress Code with Traditional Dining on one level and Anytime on the other.

 

Mid MDR: Casual Dress Code with Traditional Dining on one level and Anytime on the other.

 

When booking you choose Anytime or Traditional Early or Late and if you pick Traditional Early or Late you also choose if you want the Aft (Stricter Dress Code) or Mid (Casual Dress Code) dining room. Anytime can then go formal or not depending on the dining room they choose to eat at that night and traditional can still have the choice to be in a more formal or casual dining room during the course of their cruise (which may still be an issue if they don't want to be formal or casual for the whole cruise but you can't please everyone;).) They can still have set days where the more "Elegant" back drops are out so they can make their money on the pictures.

[MissKIA]

Everything they change, they change to save money. Dumping Elegant Night and the dancing waiters doesn't save them any money. That just doesn't make sense.

[Tithonus]

Everything they change, they change to save money. Dumping Elegant Night and the dancing waiters doesn't save them any money. That just doesn't make sense.

 

Exactly. Not sure why they think they need to change anything, other than further reducing service to save a buck.

[lhanson38]

We've always had adjacent tables (three 10-tops usually sometimes four 8-tops) and then we confuse the servers completely by sitting in different seats every night so we can chat with different folks. But we tip them accordingly.

 

 

That's what the group I travel with does. We have a ball.:) And we take very good care of the server for dealing with us.

[ronandannette]

My whole family enjoys getting to dress up for elegant night. PLEASE don't take that away. Check out my reviews because I always include pics of us all gussied up.

How about dress up if you want to and not if you want to? Remembering our last cruise there were plenty of people of all ages dressed to the nines.

 

Just my 2 cents...

 

Obviously they couldn't (or wouldn't) stop you or anybody else from dressing any way you want if they eliminate the dress code. Why would it affect you at all? Dress Up or Not Night is exactly how it's done on NCL (in addition to no set dining times) as has been mentioned already.

[adaptabl]

Hopefully, they are talking the environment, dishes, uniforms will take on a more contemporary still elegant flair.

And yes, KEEP formal dinners!

Why it is a big deal to dress nicely for a night or 2?

I do not get it.....it is a cruise not a week at a beach shack :cool:

 

Most CC members want them to dump the formal dinners. It's time they go for good.

 

Nothing is stopping you from playing dress up every night if you want.

[Tithonus]

Most CC members want them to dump the formal dinners. It's time they go for good.

 

Nothing is stopping you from playing dress up every night if you want.

 

Actually, the polls show the complete opposite.

[adaptabl]

[quote name='Tithonus']Actually, the polls show the complete opposite.[/quote]

No they don't.

[stewpapa]

Just thinking about dressing for dinner. 13 years ago when we first started cruising and for several years after, I wore a tux ...then just a suit with tie...now a shirt with vest and no tie. My wife went from evening gowns to cocktail dresses. We still dress up and enjoy it...even better now that we dont have to pack the tux and evening gowns. Still elegant. She looks even better in a cocktail dress! We will still do that by choice even if elegant night disappears. I dont care what others wear on their vacation. Its their choice too.


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[stewpapa]

[quote name='MissKIA']Everything they change, they change to save money. Dumping Elegant Night and the dancing waiters doesn't save them any money. That just doesn't make sense.[/QUOTE]

Absolutely true. Why bother with a change that doesn't save a dime?


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[halos]

[quote name='fyree39']I'm picturing the type of Walmart wear I'd see in the dining rooms. Princess, here I come![/quote]
It works well if you split the dining rooms. On NCL there is one dining room where you will absolutely NOT be admitted with shorts...if you want to wear shorts you are not sent packing to the buffet, you just have to go to the second dining room.
Everyone is happy.

As far as Wal-mart wear, the type of passengers that would wear clothes that are sloppy looking is going to do that no matter what the 'suggested attire' is. Don't you already see that?? Some Maitre'd's handle it...others do not.

[near the beach]

[SIZE=3][FONT=Arial]There were three families at our table on our last cruise. On cruise elegant night one family did not show up because they did not bring the correct clothes for the night. One member of the other family was refused entrance to the dining room because he was wearing shorts. [/FONT][/SIZE]
[FONT=Arial][SIZE=3][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial][SIZE=3]I don’t mind dressing up sometime on the cruise. [/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial][SIZE=3][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial][SIZE=3]I would mind if they did away with set time dining. If everything else on the ship stayed on the same schedule each night then people would still eat at 6 and 8 to see shows. I would miss the waiter show each night. [/SIZE][/FONT]

[Ship's Wake]

Maybe the dj will replace the dancing waiters for entertainment? :rolleyes:

[adaptabl]

[quote name='stewpapa']Absolutely true. Why bother with a change that doesn't save a dime?


Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app[/quote]

Because it will get more people to book if they know they do not have to play dress up if they don't want to.

[skittl1321]

[quote name='momonthego17']My whole family enjoys getting to dress up for elegant night. PLEASE don't take that away. Check out my reviews because I always include pics of us all gussied up.
How about dress up if you want to and not if you want to? Remembering our last cruise there were plenty of people of all ages dressed to the nines.

Just my 2 cents...[/quote]

If they took away elegant night, what is preventing you from dressing up? You can wear a tux every night if you want to.

[jimbo5544]

[quote name='MissKIA']Everything they change, they change to save money. Dumping Elegant Night and the dancing waiters doesn't save them any money. That just doesn't make sense.[/quote]
Ummmm, where did it say they were dumping elegant night?:confused:

[cjknox]

I think everyone's getting a little too jumpy here. Making the MDR contemporary doesn't mean elegant nights will stop and ATD will be implemented.