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Problem with Dynamic Dining

bh9885

By bh9885,
in Royal Caribbean International

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RocketMan275

RocketMan275

Posted
Posted
I don't for the life of me understand why they don't simply keep one of the multiple dining rooms as traditional at least until they can be sure that no one wants it.

 

It seems to me that there are a lot of people who still want the same table, the same table mates the same waiter and the same time every night.

 

But I can only assume that they know what they are doing.

 

Why not keep one dining room for traditional dining is a good question. I'll take a shot at it.

 

First, do you think one third of the passengers on Oasis/Allure really prefer traditional dining over dynamic dining? Do you think one third of the Oasis/Allure passengers would be happy if you told them they could not do dynamic dining?

 

Second, if you took the formal dining venue, Grande, for traditional dining, then two thirds of the passengers could not do formal night. If you took one of the casual venues, then those doing dynamic dining would have to do formal half the time.

 

Third, if you only took a portion of one of the venues, things would be a bit more complicated.

 

Suppose you took a portion of Grande for those preferring traditional dining. Then those in traditional dining would either have to dress formally every night or 'ruin the ambiance' for those wanting to dress up and enjoy their formal evening.

 

Suppose you took a portion of one of the casual venues for traditional dining. How would you handle formal nights for those in traditional dining portion when everyone else is dress casually? This option would also increase the number of dynamic diners who would have to choose the formal venue. How do you think they would like that?

 

Menus. Suppose you set aside one of the venues for traditional dining. Assuming this is Oasis/Allure where the menus change in the middle of the week, that would limit those in Dynamic Dining to four menus (two venues, two menus). Suppose you only set aside a portion, say half a venue, of one of the complimentary restaurants. Do those in the traditional section have the usual seven rotating menus or do they have to use the same menu as do those in the dynamic dining section? Would you like having only two menus for your whole cruise? Probably not.You would have to provide seven daily menus for those in traditional dining plus the six menus for those in dynamic dining. Probably more costly.

 

I just don't see how you can mix the two concepts on the same ship.

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RocketMan275

RocketMan275

Posted
Posted
150 guests a night when it's limited to suite guests is still going to make it the most under-utilised restaurant on the ship. It would make a little more sense if D & D Plus or even it being a speciality for none suite guests.

 

I believe during the day it's open as the Solarium Bistro, but I just can't see a Suite only restaurant of that size being worth the effort

 

Actually, my guess is that Grande, the formal restaurant, will be the most under utilized.

 

On Oasis, the Viking Crown Lounge is replaced by the suite restaurant. Solarium is on deck fifteen and Coastal Kitchen is on deck sixteen.

 

On Quantum, the solarium is on deck thirteen and fourteen and Coastal Kitchens is on deck fourteen and much further aft than solarium.

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Hoopster95

Hoopster95

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Actually, my guess is that Grande, the formal restaurant, will be the most under utilized.

 

I was very surprised... on my booking calendar for Quantum Dec 1 several months ago The Grande was the first to book. Speaking to many on the roll call, CC'ers had booked multiple times at The Grande as their preferred choice of venue.

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Cruisegirl6 Great Review Rare

Cruisegirl6

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Its possible the Grande is the smallest of all the restaurants, I have to think this is a high probability why.

Is it possible that people who won't dress up for formal reserve this restaurant...are there any specific RC rules as to any mandatory type of formalwear? Perhaps people will go here and not dress formally but dress just like they did on formal evenings at traditional dining...the menu here also is the better one!

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RocketMan275

RocketMan275

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Posted (edited)
I was very surprised... on my booking calendar for Quantum Dec 1 several months ago The Grande was the first to book. Speaking to many on the roll call, CC'ers had booked multiple times at The Grande as their preferred choice of venue.

 

CC'ers are non necessarily representative of the cruising public. If they were, royal would still be doing traditional dining and requiring tuxedos on formal nights.

 

Would expect those who prefer formal nights (a lot of CC'ers) to book multiple times to recreate the traditional dining experience of two formal nights per cruise.

Edited by RocketMan275
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RocketMan275

RocketMan275

Posted
Posted
Its possible the Grande is the smallest of all the restaurants, I have to think this is a high probability why.

Is it possible that people who won't dress up for formal reserve this restaurant...are there any specific RC rules as to any mandatory type of formalwear? Perhaps people will go here and not dress formally but dress just like they did on formal evenings at traditional dining...the menu here also is the better one!

 

 

This information was posted on one of the Quantum threads (No formal night on quantum)

 

From RCL Cruise Planner:

 

Overview

 

The Grande Restaurant is a luxuriant nod to a bygone era. When dining was not a task, but a time-honored ritual. When you dressed for a date with an unforgettable dish. At The Grande, every night is formal night, and every night is a special occasion. From Beef Wellington to Chicken a l'Orange, Roasted Scallops to Sole Almondine, the world's favorite classic dishes come together in pure opulence at this most elegant restaurant.

 

What to Wear

Cocktail dresses, gowns or dressy pantsuits are appropriate for women.

A jacket is required for men, along with pants (with no holes, rips or tears) and a sports shirt (must have sleeves) or sweater.

Swimsuits, robes, bare feet, tank tops, baseball caps and pool wear are not allowed in the main restaurants or specialty restaurants at any time.

 

End.

 

As you can see, the 'formal' requirements are minimal. You probably could qualify wearing blue jeans and a polo and carrying a jacket over your arm. Been a lot of speculation that even these requirements will quickly be relaxed in order to get folks into the restaurant.

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3dog

3dog

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Is it just me or do others see an end game here as well? Royal is going to incrementally make it so for dining you have the Windjammer free and ALL pay venues otherwise.

 

They could not do this with a main dining room. It would have to be done all at once. Am I being too much of a conspiracy theorist?

 

I think the latter (it would be impractical to try and make the space into an extra-fee venue).

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OSUZorba

OSUZorba

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Is it just me or do others see an end game here as well? Royal is going to incrementally make it so for dining you have the Windjammer free and ALL pay venues otherwise.

 

They could not do this with a main dining room. It would have to be done all at once. Am I being too much of a conspiracy theorist?

 

I personally think that is their dream, whether they will ever get there or how long, I don't know. Another step in that direction, it looks like Quantum charges for a lot of the items on their room service menu.

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John&LaLa "Live from...." Rare

John&LaLa

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On the Quantum the Grande and American Icon are about the same size, both have about 440 t0 450 covers.

If they are utilised twice per evening plus a little more that is 2000 meals.

 

The Grande menu is terrific.

 

American Icon is substantially larger than Grande on the Oasis. I'll bet they can turn most tables three times a night with Dynamic Dining

 

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Forums mobile app

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mxylpic

mxylpic

Posted
Posted
Is it just me or do others see an end game here as well? Royal is going to incrementally make it so for dining you have the Windjammer free and ALL pay venues otherwise.

 

They could not do this with a main dining room. It would have to be done all at once. Am I being too much of a conspiracy theorist?

 

My conspiracy theory doesn't quite go that far. I suspect RCI would be happy to have long waits at the free venues to "encourage" us to dine at the paid venues.

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zekekelso

zekekelso

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Is it just me or do others see an end game here as well? Royal is going to incrementally make it so for dining you have the Windjammer free and ALL pay venues otherwise.

 

The freestyle concept has been around almost 15 years. Pretty much all the major cruise lines have been playing around with it. And none have come close to getting rid of free waiter-served dining.

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SuiteTraveler

SuiteTraveler

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Thanks, we DD disappointed passengers like a little sympathy. :D

 

We chose 12/12 because December cruises are starting to become a tradition for us. Cape Liberty was chosen because it's a short drive to the pier, and we don't have to spend hours in an airport or on a plane. Finnally we only needed 8 more nights to make D+, which really was the deciding factor. There are relatively fewer cruises that are over 7 nights. Lastly we had the added benefit of a brand new cruise ship.

 

So we decided to stick with it and give DD a try. The benefits definitely out-weight the one negative. And to be fair, there is usually one negative on every cruise. But, we love RCI.

 

For 2015 we will be on ships that, so far, are traditional dining, so it really won't come to a decision until 2016 selections. We probably will try to avoid DD, but not to the detriment of our overall cruise goals.

 

Lastly since we'll be at the highest level we expect to achieve on RCCL (D+), we will probably try Celebrity.

 

Enjoy your future cruises.

 

I see a future for us where we will probably be doing a lot of holiday cruises or vacations ourselves. Not yet, though.

 

We've been on Celebrity several times. The ships are elegant, but a lot quieter than RCCL and the entertainment is more focused on adult shows, although the comedians they hire (often Brits) are excellent. Still the shows are not the "Wow!" they are on RCCL. The food in the MDR is some of the best i've experienced and the MDR service is a higher level, too!

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cruisingram1

cruisingram1

Posted
Posted
The freestyle concept has been around almost 15 years. Pretty much all the major cruise lines have been playing around with it. And none have come close to getting rid of free waiter-served dining.

 

I can't speak for the timing or validity of this information, but a friend who cruises exclusively on Princess said they tried DD a while back and it failed miserably. I wish she knew more details. Maybe someone on CC knows more about Princess' attempt to move from traditional dining.

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Hoopster95

Hoopster95

Posted
Posted

Originally Posted by Hoopster95 View Post

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showt...116512&page=37

 

Would anyone like to comment on the reviews so far of actual real life cruisers with true experience of DD currently on board the Quantum?

 

Um...no. :confused: Why?

 

With this thread being named "The Problem with Dynamic Dining", I feel it's been dominated by negative posts with zero experience of DD. Now that we have true real life and real time experience on the Quantum thread (especially by a vast number of Pinnacles, D+'s on board with huge experience on many ships), I am hoping all the CC'ers on this thread who have vehemently complained and threatened to leave RCL can see that maybe there are some good things about DD that they have underestimated.

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woodyren

woodyren

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Posted
I was very surprised... on my booking calendar for Quantum Dec 1 several months ago The Grande was the first to book. Speaking to many on the roll call, CC'ers had booked multiple times at The Grande as their preferred choice of venue.

 

Is that because of the menu or the dress code though?

 

For us we booked it more than the others for the menu offered. We will comply with the dress code because it is the right thing to do not because we prefer to dress that way. I think many will book because of this very reason and many will book because they love to dress formally.

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RocketMan275

RocketMan275

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My conspiracy theory doesn't quite go that far. I suspect RCI would be happy to have long waits at the free venues to "encourage" us to dine at the paid venues.

 

If that's the plan, RCI is doing a pitiful job of implementing that strategy.

There are as many seats in the complimentary venues for dynamic dining as they are in traditional dining. If you doubt that, there are deck plans for Oasis with Dynamic Dining and Allure without. The amount of floor space allocated to complimentary dining does not change.

 

There is no need to conjure up conspiracy theories to explain why Royal is implementing Dynamic Dining. Royal is simply trying to improve the cruising experience and attracting new customers.

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John&LaLa "Live from...." Rare

John&LaLa

Posted
Posted
http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2123701

 

"For any of you concerned about DD relax, you will not believe how much DD is an improvement is on MDR. The menus presentation and food quality is a millions miles above anything we have been used to. Royal have taken a Quantum leap forwards."

 

Haven't you been paying attention, folks don't care about the food as much as getting to know their waiters.

 

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Forums mobile app

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ocav

ocav

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Haven't you been paying attention, folks don't care about the food as much as getting to know their waiters.

 

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Forums mobile app

 

 

It would be a shock horror for them to find out that as soon as Disembarkation day comes, the waiters have forgotten all about you!

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