Dynamic Dining Clarification

[Gayle V]

As a matter of record, fishtaco was quoting from the RC documents from a Quantum cruise in December.

 

Yes, that is what I was referring to also. "Coat and a collared shirt" is Royal's definition of formal. (Even if it's not mine.) If only Royal will insist on that, then formal lovers, like myself, will be happy. Unfortunately, in recent years they have let almost any kind of dress into the dining room on formal nights.

 

Let me be clearer here: While I agree, that this description (coat and a collared shirt), is not classic "black tie", it IS Royal's version of "formal".

 

Unfortunately, there seems to be an effort being made to focus on that. Essentially, and indirectly, insisting that anything that is not a tuxedo, is therefore not formal. Laying that groundwork sets them up for stating: that Royal is not requiring "formal wear" in the Grande. Thus they get to push for the generalization, that you do not have to dress formally there. The goal being to further degrade the level of dress, to the point of convincing other cruisers into showing up at the Grand in khakis and polos, or worse. These posters seem to hope it happens often enough that Royal just gives up on the entire concept of a formal only venue.

 

I'm hoping Royal stands by their rule, and turns all inappropriately dressed people away.

Edited September 10, 2014 by Gayle V

[TPKeller]

I'm hoping Royal stands by their rule, and turns all inappropriately dressed people away.

Not that it's anything new, hardly... but these kinds of threads always amuse me.

 

It's not Royal Caribbean who makes the decision, it's the customers. It's always the customers.

 

The sole factor that drives every decision Royal Caribbean makes is revenue. Sometimes these decisions are directly related, others not so much.

 

In this case, the answer to the enforcement issue will depend on how many passengers choose to come to the dining room in the proper attire. If the room is sufficiently used, and meets the expected revenues, they will keep the rules. If too many passengers choose to dine elsewhere, to the point where the room is no longer justifying the space it takes... they'll change the rules, or change the whole room to another theme.

 

So ultimately, if you want to see these kinds of spaces continue, you should use them as often as possible. Keep up the demand, and they'll stick around.

 

Theron

[jayblue]

Yes, that is what I was referring to also. "Coat and a collared shirt" is Royal's definition of formal. (Even if it's not mine.) If only Royal will insist on that, then formal lovers, like myself, will be happy. Unfortunately, in recent years they have let almost any kind of dress into the dining room on formal nights.

 

Let me be clearer here: While I agree, that this description (coat and a collared shirt), is not classic "black tie", it IS Royal's version of "formal".

 

Unfortunately, there seems to be an effort being made to focus on that. Essentially, and indirectly, insisting that anything that is not a tuxedo, is therefore not formal. Laying that groundwork sets them up for stating: that Royal is not requiring "formal wear" in the Grande. Thus they get to push for the generalization, that you do not have to dress formally there. The goal being to further degrade the level of dress, to the point of convincing other cruisers into showing up at the Grand in khakis and polos, or worse. These posters seem to hope it happens often enough that Royal just gives up on the entire concept of a formal only venue.

 

I'm hoping Royal stands by their rule, and turns all inappropriately dressed people away.

 

I will agree with you Gayle V. My first cruise was on Majesty with my family over 20 years ago. My older brother was well dressed for formal night, but not in formal gear.

 

I also believe that, while not requiring a tux, they should require a nice jacket and tie and enforce it. If a person shows up underdressed, they should send them to one of the other casual venues.

 

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[Gayle V]

If the room is sufficiently used, and meets the expected revenues, they will keep the rules.

Theron

 

Just a simple question, isn't this formal restaurant one of the free ones?

Edited September 11, 2014 by Gayle V

[jayblue]

Just a simple question, isn't this formal restaurant one of the free one?

 

Yes. The website says it is.

 

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[Gayle V]

Yes. The website says it is.

 

Sent from my SGH-T769 using Forums mobile app

 

Then I think that they will have plenty of business from the "Formal means Formal" passengers. Unfortunate, unless Royal sends away the under dressed folk, right from the start, there will be nothing stopping the "Formal means whatever rags I want it to mean" folks from booking and showing up, and thus dumbing down the experience. If all these, "I can wear what I want, where ever I want" folk, book the Formal Venue, and are allowed in, there won't be room for others who want the true formal l experience.

 

I do predict the difficulty with dressing formal on the first and last evenings, being used to manipulate the data. Giving the "I can do whatever I wanna do" folks something to point at, and thus declare that casual is OK in that venue also.

Edited September 11, 2014 by Gayle V

[jayblue]

Then I think that they will have plenty of business from the "Formal means Formal" passengers. Unfortunate, unless Royal sends away the under dressed folk, right from the start, there will be nothing stopping the "Formal means whatever rags I want it to mean" folks from booking and showing up, and thus dumbing down the experience. If all these, "I can wear what I want, where ever I want" folk, book the Formal Venue, and are allowed in, there won't be room for others who want the true formal l experience.

 

I do predict the difficulty with dressing formal on the first and last evenings, being used to manipulate the data. Giving the "I can do whatever I wanna do" folks something to point at, and thus declare that casual is OK in that venue also.

 

Gayle V, I hope so. DD is not a comfortable change for many people. IMO, the formal dress restaurant is one of the highlights for this very reason.

 

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[woodyren]

Can we please be clear what Royal require in The Grande please.

 

For men a jacket, shirt (with sleaves) and pants (no rips). So a tie is not required if you prefer not to wear one. This is from the dress code on Royals website.

 

Of course those who wish to wear Black Tie can do if they please.

 

Reasonable to me as it allows people to wear a range of styles that best suit their personal preference.

[jillmom2]

This is very disappointing news. I am a picky eater, but my husband and son eat just about anything. I looked at all the menus and found very little I would eat. Even things that would normally appeal to me have sides or sauces I won't eat. Surely they will offer plain grilled chicken in most or all the dining rooms, but I didn't see it on their menus.

 

 

I have the same issue except I am the one who loves to try new foods and my sons like most things. My husband is the one who likes things plain...he likes a variety of things..steaks, seafood, pastas, chicken etc. but all plain and simple...even his sides...baked potato ..plain...green salad...just greens and lemon or a vinaigrette....the new menus are very limited and need desperately need always available choices.

 

It is easy for people who eat anything to say they look forward to new choices and theme restaurants..(French, Asian etc.)...so do I. But when you have a wide variety of tastes within the same family or dining party, unless you have a very wide menu of choices, someone will always be disappointed in their options.

 

I looked over all the new menus and they look decent, but I hope that is just a sampling of the choices and not the actual menu because it needs to be at least twice the size of what they are currently showing. At least the MDR had a lot of options to appeal to a broad range of people.

 

I think Dynamic Dining can work but Royal needs a lot more options. I have never been on a NCL cruise..But I am looking at the Getaway because I think their dining options make sense ( there are also a lot of them)..plus they still have MDR for those who like it and they have Ultimate Dining Plan...pay one price I believe it is 119.00 and all specialty dining is included.

 

There dress code is more relaxed, Khakis or dress pants and polos work everywhere..even at their Le Bistro French Restaurant...I hate the thought of packing dress clothes just to get in to one restaurant on one night..but if it is excluded then you have even less options.

 

I haven't made up my mind if I am canceling Oasis or not as we were all looking forward to going...but their version of Dynamic dining isn't impressing me so far.

[jillmom2]

Can we please be clear what Royal require in The Grande please.

 

For men a jacket, shirt (with sleaves) and pants (no rips). So a tie is not required if you prefer not to wear one. This is from the dress code on Royals website.

 

Of course those who wish to wear Black Tie can do if they please.

 

Reasonable to me as it allows people to wear a range of styles that best suit their personal preference.

 

To me I would rather see someone in a dress shirt with a tie than a jacket/sports coat with a casual shirt under it.The shirt and tie look dressier( IMO) I think Royal should allow both..either have a shirt and tie on or if you have a casual shirt..then you need a jacket to dress it up a bit...

 

While my husband is fine either way, My teen boys would always choose the shirt and tie as it is how they would dress for a wedding or their high school homecoming dance etc. They rarely would do a full suit or sports coat. Always have done dressy pants with shirt and tie for formal nights before (and believe me they looked better than most)...do you think they would really have to have jackets for The Grande ?..if so it is probably out for us..even though we would all enjoy it...

[fishtaco]

To me I would rather see someone in a dress shirt with a tie than a jacket/sports coat with a casual shirt under it.The shirt and tie look dressier( IMO) I think Royal should allow both..either have a shirt and tie on or if you have a casual shirt..then you need a jacket to dress it up a bit...

 

While my husband is fine either way, My teen boys would always choose the shirt and tie as it is how they would dress for a wedding or their high school homecoming dance etc. They rarely would do a full suit or sports coat. Always have done dressy pants with shirt and tie for formal nights before (and believe me they looked better than most)...do you think they would really have to have jackets for The Grande ?..if so it is probably out for us..even though we would all enjoy it...

 

Given a Business style shirt and Tie is more dressier than sports shirt and jacket or sweater then they will not refuse those in collar & tie without a jacket because the dress rules do not even state which type of jacket is required.

 

If a suit type jacket was required then it would exclude most teen boys from dinning with their parents in The Grande as most cannot own them due to growth spurts adults do not get:D

 

Collar and tie is more formal than jacket and sports shirt anyway so RCI only mention the minimum dress standard to which Collar and tie or Tux/Black tie are above;)

[fishtaco]

Yes, that is what I was referring to also. "Coat and a collared shirt" is Royal's definition of formal. (Even if it's not mine.) If only Royal will insist on that, then formal lovers, like myself, will be happy. Unfortunately, in recent years they have let almost any kind of dress into the dining room on formal nights.

 

Let me be clearer here: While I agree, that this description (coat and a collared shirt), is not classic "black tie", it IS Royal's version of "formal".

 

Unfortunately, there seems to be an effort being made to focus on that. Essentially, and indirectly, insisting that anything that is not a tuxedo, is therefore not formal. Laying that groundwork sets them up for stating: that Royal is not requiring "formal wear" in the Grande. Thus they get to push for the generalization, that you do not have to dress formally there. The goal being to further degrade the level of dress, to the point of convincing other cruisers into showing up at the Grand in khakis and polos, or worse. These posters seem to hope it happens often enough that Royal just gives up on the entire concept of a formal only venue.

 

I'm hoping Royal stands by their rule, and turns all inappropriately dressed people away.

 

I am not sure what you are getting at:confused:

 

A sports shirt and sweater is far from even dressy, and no mention of collar and tie only in the dress requirements means Khakis and sports jacket is very acceptable which is already very far removed from those who are believing the Grande is a formal dinning venue.

 

If RCI,s definition of formal was never Black Tie for men then why do they hire out Black Tie/Tux for formal evenings? They dont hire out Sports shirts and sweaters? The captain and officers do not wear informal wear on Formal nights! the rules have only been relaxed to please the relaxed dressers to which smartly dressed "business shirt and tie is formal" are just as much a part of as collard shirt and jeans are!

 

A sports jacket or sweater or sports shirt is not and never will be formal dress under "any definition" so therefore the Grande is not a Formal only dinning venue which seems to be some posters ideas of the Grande even though their own interpretation of Formal wear is much lower than what formal really is.

[SherriZ366]

I have the same issue except I am the one who loves to try new foods and my sons like most things. My husband is the one who likes things plain...he likes a variety of things..steaks, seafood, pastas, chicken etc. but all plain and simple...even his sides...baked potato ..plain...green salad...just greens and lemon or a vinaigrette....the new menus are very limited and need desperately need always available choices.

 

It is easy for people who eat anything to say they look forward to new choices and theme restaurants..(French, Asian etc.)...so do I. But when you have a wide variety of tastes within the same family or dining party, unless you have a very wide menu of choices, someone will always be disappointed in their options.

 

I looked over all the new menus and they look decent, but I hope that is just a sampling of the choices and not the actual menu because it needs to be at least twice the size of what they are currently showing. At least the MDR had a lot of options to appeal to a broad range of people.

 

I think Dynamic Dining can work but Royal needs a lot more options. I have never been on a NCL cruise..But I am looking at the Getaway because I think their dining options make sense ( there are also a lot of them)..plus they still have MDR for those who like it and they have Ultimate Dining Plan...pay one price I believe it is 119.00 and all specialty dining is included.

 

There dress code is more relaxed, Khakis or dress pants and polos work everywhere..even at their Le Bistro French Restaurant...I hate the thought of packing dress clothes just to get in to one restaurant on one night..but if it is excluded then you have even less options.

 

I haven't made up my mind if I am canceling Oasis or not as we were all looking forward to going...but their version of Dynamic dining isn't impressing me so far.

Very well put -- your party's preferences sound like mine. I will try new things, DH and the other husband often order from the "Always Available" menu.

 

The choice of venues/menus is too limited. According to rumors, some of the other ships may even have less choices than QU.

[dz9yvr]

Then I think that they will have plenty of business from the "Formal means Formal" passengers. Unfortunate, unless Royal sends away the under dressed folk, right from the start, there will be nothing stopping the "Formal means whatever rags I want it to mean" folks from booking and showing up, and thus dumbing down the experience. If all these, "I can wear what I want, where ever I want" folk, book the Formal Venue, and are allowed in, there won't be room for others who want the true formal l experience.

 

I'm sorry but there isn't a dress code on RCL there are only suggestions for dress. Most people no longer enjoy Formal Nights, it's a tradition that is ready for extinction. That's why RCL and most other cruise lines are moving away from Formal Nights.

[KKMurphy2]

I have the same issue except I am the one who loves to try new foods and my sons like most things. My husband is the one who likes things plain...he likes a variety of things..steaks, seafood, pastas, chicken etc. but all plain and simple...even his sides...baked potato ..plain...green salad...just greens and lemon or a vinaigrette....the new menus are very limited and need desperately need always available choices.

 

It is easy for people who eat anything to say they look forward to new choices and theme restaurants..(French, Asian etc.)...so do I. But when you have a wide variety of tastes within the same family or dining party, unless you have a very wide menu of choices, someone will always be disappointed in their options.

 

I looked over all the new menus and they look decent, but I hope that is just a sampling of the choices and not the actual menu because it needs to be at least twice the size of what they are currently showing. At least the MDR had a lot of options to appeal to a broad range of people.

 

I think Dynamic Dining can work but Royal needs a lot more options. I have never been on a NCL cruise..But I am looking at the Getaway because I think their dining options make sense ( there are also a lot of them)..plus they still have MDR for those who like it and they have Ultimate Dining Plan...pay one price I believe it is 119.00 and all specialty dining is included.

 

There dress code is more relaxed, Khakis or dress pants and polos work everywhere..even at their Le Bistro French Restaurant...I hate the thought of packing dress clothes just to get in to one restaurant on one night..but if it is excluded then you have even less options.

 

I haven't made up my mind if I am canceling Oasis or not as we were all looking forward to going...but their version of Dynamic dining isn't impressing me so far.

 

Very well said. I agree with your husband's tastes. I look at the menu and I like some of the main dishes, but the side dishes and sauces truly turn me off. Can I please have a plain baked potato with butter, maybe a nice green salad, or perhaps some plain vegetables? It amazes me that they are lacking in some type of simple food as a choice. We are diamond members and I love the MDR experience. We have been very happy with Celebrity cruises, so if we do not receive good reports from my fellow cruise critic members, I know we will be very happy to switch lines.

[fishtaco]

I'm sorry but there isn't a dress code on RCL there are only suggestions for dress. Most people no longer enjoy Formal Nights, it's a tradition that is ready for extinction. That's why RCL and most other cruise lines are moving away from Formal Nights.

 

There is indeed a dress code but it is a relaxed dress code, if it was only suggestions for dress then they could not specifically exclude ripped jeans sleeveless t shirts swim wear flipflops baseball caps and the like to which they do enforce to a point.

 

But i agree with you on Formal nights as there future full demise began as soon as MTD was introduced:)

[fishtaco]

Very well said. I agree with your husband's tastes. I look at the menu and I like some of the main dishes, but the side dishes and sauces truly turn me off. Can I please have a plain baked potato with butter, maybe a nice green salad, or perhaps some plain vegetables? It amazes me that they are lacking in some type of simple food as a choice. We are diamond members and I love the MDR experience. We have been very happy with Celebrity cruises, so if we do not receive good reports from my fellow cruise critic members, I know we will be very happy to switch lines.

 

What makes you believe that you cannot request what you want food wise with the DD menus?

 

We have always been allowed to order non specific food that wasnt on the menu and even parts of a dish! along with choices minus the sauce the food comes with or with the sauce on the side.

 

Simple food is always available on request, plain vegetables baked potato or if not mashed potato and gravy,plain green salad with no dressing, french fries, full plate of scallops or shrimp without the trimmings.

 

Perhaps you have never tried to ask for this non menu itemised food in the past:confused:

[SherriZ366]

What makes you believe that you cannot request what you want food wise with the DD menus?

 

We have always been allowed to order non specific food that wasnt on the menu and even parts of a dish! along with choices minus the sauce the food comes with or with the sauce on the side.

 

Simple food is always available on request, plain vegetables baked potato or if not mashed potato and gravy,plain green salad with no dressing, french fries, full plate of scallops or shrimp without the trimmings.

 

Perhaps you have never tried to ask for this non menu itemised food in the past:confused:

Good idea to ask.

[TPKeller]

If the room is sufficiently used, and meets the expected revenues, they will keep the rules.

 

Just a simple question, isn't this formal restaurant one of the free ones?

 

Yes. The website says it is.

Ah, thanks for the correction.

 

I should have more carefully chosen my words. What I should have said was:

 

"If the room is sufficiently used, and meets the expected usage statistics..."

 

Every space on the ship must justify its existence. If there is a room or a restaurant that is under-used, they will change it to offer the passengers something that they will enjoy. Unused space doesn't help the cruise line, even if it is "free", OR the passenger.

 

Theron

[OSUZorba]

What makes you believe that you cannot request what you want food wise with the DD menus?

 

We have always been allowed to order non specific food that wasnt on the menu and even parts of a dish! along with choices minus the sauce the food comes with or with the sauce on the side.

 

Simple food is always available on request, plain vegetables baked potato or if not mashed potato and gravy,plain green salad with no dressing, french fries, full plate of scallops or shrimp without the trimmings.

 

Perhaps you have never tried to ask for this non menu itemised food in the past:confused:

 

I've been told, by waiters, it is very hard for them to get the entrees without the sauce, since a lot of it is already prepared. So I've just decided that a cruise is the one place I will force myself to eat a sauce than isn't BBQ sauce. I may try again on my next cruise.

[ckfred]

I guess the question I have is how many tables will they have with 2, 4, 6, and 8 seats? In my past experience, most tables are 6 or 8 seats (once on the Rhapsody, the squeezed 9 seats at our table).

 

So, will they be reducing the number of 6-seat and 8-seat tables and adding more 2-seat and 4-seat tables?

 

By the same token, if you have an odd-number of people in a party, will they seat a solo-diner at the extra seat?

 

Of course, I still think it's going to cause problems, when you have a large family group all wanting to eat together. I was on the Freedom in July, and there was a family of about 25, with parents, children and spouses, and grandchildren, some with spouses or significant others. I think they were seated at a table for 8, 2 tables for 6, and one or two tables for 4 all grouped together.