Problem with Dynamic Dining

[Spurschick]

When we did this on FR last January, we had a party of 7 who wanted to dine at 7 PM -- same table, same staff. We had our Concierge involved for two weeks and he finally got it resolved (7:30 PM for a great table). He -- Rahul -- was the hero but it still took a lot of work. I think the size of our party and a restaurant manager, who was a big sticky, made it a harder task.

 

If DD is implemented on FR, I will contact Rahul or Bertie and make sure that our wishes are carried out -- one restaurant, same time, same wait staff (have to accommodate 2 husbands that like the "Always Available" menu and the other wife who has a special diet (we will need to go to Special Needs for this). Instructions to the other couple's TA etc. I have a strategy worked out now.

 

Glad you got a system worked out. We always try to book further out online a time and then request the same table/staff closer in. We were always told restaurant manager won't review request from concierge until the middle of the sailing before. That may be why yours seemed like it took longer. If we need to contact concierge we generally do so three weeks out and leave it with them and touch base two or three days prior to sailing to confirm what has been sorted.

 

Enjoy your cruises

[SherriZ366]

According to the future deck plans for Oasis, there will only be 3 complementary full service restaurants (plus Coastal Kitchen). Chic will not be present. I would presume Allure will be the same way.

 

And The Grande is formal. I can see this being an issue and The Grande being the lesser used of the three full service restaurants. You can barely get people to dress for formal night now, let alone require it on all nights of the cruise. Perhaps there could be a compromise and make it formal for only two of the seven nights like formal nights on a typical 7 night cruise.

 

If people show up in less than full formal wear, will The Grande turn them away? Clearly the definition of "formal" has changed over the years.

I think that Grande will be underbooked and they will have to alter the dress to Smart Casual or Country Club Casual. I am reading that extra dining times as early as 4:30 PM and as late as 9:30 PM have been added for QU. Don't know if this for all the restaurants or all the restaurants except The Grande. We will have to see if The Grande is under-booked and throwing bookings off for the other restaurants.

[SherriZ366]

When we did this on FR last January, we had a party of 7 who wanted to dine at 7 PM -- same table, same staff. We had our Concierge involved for two weeks and he finally got it resolved (7:30 PM for a great table). He -- Rahul -- was the hero but it still took a lot of work. I think the size of our party and a restaurant manager, who was a big sticky, made it a harder task.

 

If DD is implemented on FR, I will contact Rahul or Bertie and make sure that our wishes are carried out -- one restaurant, same time, same wait staff (have to accommodate 2 husbands that like the "Always Available" menu and the other wife who has a special diet (we will need to go to Special Needs for this). Instructions to the other couple's TA etc. I have a strategy worked out now.

One thing I really like about Traditional is that you book it when you book the cruise and then link reservations. Very simple.

[RocketMan275]

I think that Grande will be underbooked and they will have to alter the dress to Smart Casual or Country Club Casual. I am reading that extra dining times as early as 4:30 PM and as late as 9:30 PM have been added for QU. Don't know if this for all the restaurants or all the restaurants except The Grande. We will have to see if The Grande is under-booked and throwing bookings off for the other restaurants.

 

Which will establish once and for all that formal nights should be abolished.

[Ourusualbeach]

Which will establish once and for all that formal nights should be abolished.

 

Only time will tell.

 

One other option that they could do would be to have half of the Grande for formal and the other half not. This would actually be very easy to do as the dining room is pretty much divided in half now anyway.

[RocketMan275]

Only time will tell.

 

One other option that they could do would be to have half of the Grande for formal and the other half not. This would actually be very easy to do as the dining room is pretty much divided in half now anyway.

 

Many times, I've been told by the formal night traditionalists that dividing dining rooms for formal night simply cannot be done. It's just too complicated, etc, ... pretty much the same arguments given against Dynamic Dining.

[cruisingram1]

I'm not thrilled with DD, but I think if there were enough free full service venues I could be happy enough. I don't want to eat at the Buffet each night. I don't want to serve myself dinner any night. And I don't want to pay for dinner when I've already paid for my cruise. But having only 3 options on Oasis, one of them requiring formal attire, is really limiting. It is beginning to sound like RCCL is hoping people will forgo the free venues because of how limited the choices are and opt for specialty restaurants which means more $$$ is their pocket. The Grande menu looks great, but I can't imagine a full house each night if they stick to formal attire 7 nights a week. Why would RCCL think this would work when they can barely get people to dress up now twice a week? Will give RCCL the benefit of the doubt and hope they will refine the process as they go along and get feedback from cruisers. Maybe Disney gets it right when they have people and waitstaff move each night. Best of both worlds. More options for food, plus the comfort of having the same staff each night.

 

Fortunately, my Oasis cruise is pre-March 2015 so I won't have to deal with DD. At first I was sad that I was going to miss out on this new feature, but the more I read about DD, the happier I am that it won't be in effect. By the time we cruise again, the kinks will, hopefully, be worked out.

[Maraprince]

In your original post you stated you booked using a TA. A good TA would have been the person responsible to tell you that info. RC would assume the TAs has made sure the cruise you book meets your needs. Any research on the quantum would have shown they were building it without a MDR.

 

Sorry this wasn't conveyed to you.

 

 

Not entirely true. Even the TA's were not aware of this change and it was not shown on RCCL website either. We were considering the 12/2 sailing and the lack of information was pitiful. They kept talking about the bumper cars. The lack of info, the secretness, etc. didn't inspire much confidence that the ship would even be ready for the dates they were showing. That was part of the reason we didn't want to be on the first or second sailing -- give the crew time to get the kinks out and learn their way around the ship. All this gave us a very bad feeling and with me being a Diamond member I was not privy to any more information than anyone else. I kept asking my TA and he wasn't getting anything either. He wasn't even sure he would be invited to see the ship. Plus, getting a brochure was almost impossible.

 

We decided to go elsewhere for our sailing. In hindsight with all the reserving of dining and entertainment and DD, glad we switched.

 

But the sadest part is the Q being here for only 6 months, changing some of the dining venues and shops and the crew and sending the ship to Asia.

Just send the ship straight to Asia, keep Explorer here until the "permanent" ship is ready for Bayonne. The craziness going on to build a new terminal in Bayonne in time for Q's arrival -- should have been done after the first year.

 

MARAPRINCE

[Able Seaman H]

I must be honest and say that all this booking dining and entertaining months in advance doesn't make me want to rush out and hand over my hard earned. The whole idea with a cruise is that you can leave your brain behind for the trip and relax.

 

It all seems very complicated. I dread to think what non cruise critic passengers will make of it all.

 

Henry.

[Oxo]

This is another change that will receive mixed emotions just like Any Time Dining (ATD) did years ago. People were saying on the various Cruise Line CC boards that if the Cruise Line did this they would cruise another line. However, they are all doing ATD. This is something else we will learn to live with or not cruise. How bad can it get? LOL

[cruiserhal]

Sorry Hal but we aren't on the same cruise. We're cancelling our cruise due to all the misinformation by Royal Caribbean. And by the way, we never received any emails about booking entertainment. I guess with 18 restaurants they can't have just two show in the theater anymore. Another post said that he/she thinks that DD is going to spread to other RC ships. If that's the case, it's time for us to cruise with another cruise line.

 

Good luck. We switched to Celebrity a number of years ago and enjoy it very much. We book Aqua class so we can eat at Blu which was originally just for Aqua class but now they fill it with suite passengers so it is crowded for dinner - at lease it was on the Eclipse the last time we were on earlier this year.

 

We only booked the Q because it is a new ship and we don't have to fly to get on. When we take any cruise that involves flying we always find that Celebrity has a ship in the same area.

 

Anyway, good luck with your new line.

 

Hal

[SherriZ366]

Which will establish once and for all that formal nights should be abolished.

DH will be happy.

[SherriZ366]

Good luck. We switched to Celebrity a number of years ago and enjoy it very much. We book Aqua class so we can eat at Blu which was originally just for Aqua class but now they fill it with suite passengers so it is crowded for dinner - at lease it was on the Eclipse the last time we were on earlier this year.

 

We only booked the Q because it is a new ship and we don't have to fly to get on. When we take any cruise that involves flying we always find that Celebrity has a ship in the same area.

 

Anyway, good luck with your new line.

 

Hal

Do Sky Suites count as a suite for Blu? We are looking at booking a Solstice Class ship and would probably book a Sky Suite. What is the dress for Blu?

[Spurschick]

Not entirely true. Even the TA's were not aware of this change and it was not shown on RCCL website either. We were considering the 12/2 sailing and the lack of information was pitiful. They kept talking about the bumper cars. The lack of info, the secretness, etc. didn't inspire much confidence that the ship would even be ready for the dates they were showing. That was part of the reason we didn't want to be on the first or second sailing -- give the crew time to get the kinks out and learn their way around the ship. All this gave us a very bad feeling and with me being a Diamond member I was not privy to any more information than anyone else. I kept asking my TA and he wasn't getting anything either. He wasn't even sure he would be invited to see the ship. Plus, getting a brochure was almost impossible.

 

We decided to go elsewhere for our sailing. In hindsight with all the reserving of dining and entertainment and DD, glad we switched.

 

But the sadest part is the Q being here for only 6 months, changing some of the dining venues and shops and the crew and sending the ship to Asia.

Just send the ship straight to Asia, keep Explorer here until the "permanent" ship is ready for Bayonne. The craziness going on to build a new terminal in Bayonne in time for Q's arrival -- should have been done after the first year.

 

MARAPRINCE

 

Given the dynamic dining was formally announced in March, a good TA should have been able to inform them of what was happening before now.

 

Given the OP states they have been requesting traditional dining the TA should have known the info that was released in March as I am sure with all the publicity surrounding the ship TAs would have been sent info to promote. As such a good TA, knowing their clients specific requests for TD should have presented this to the OP earlier.

[Clarea]

Do Sky Suites count as a suite for Blu? We are looking at booking a Solstice Class ship and would probably book a Sky Suite. What is the dress for Blu?

I believe only Aqua Class has access to Blu.

[RocketMan275]

DH will be happy.

 

So will DW of mine. She dislikes formal nights as much as I.

[travelberlin]

If there was ever a definition of 'First World Problem', this is it in a nutshell.

 

And to answer your question, very likely, but if you're well off enough to book a 30 night cruise, I'm guessing your TA would be more than happy to help with this.

 

And I wish I was you! ;)

 

KC

 

This does not have anything to do with being well off. It is the return of hard work in younger ages and years of savings.:)

Even if my travel agent could reserve for us the restaurants, how is she supossed to know which type of food do we want to eat on which night? Assuming she does not find our preferred time in some evenings, is she supposed to take the decisions for us and book the times she finds available? Or are we supossed to go back and forth in consultation processes? I am afraid there is no one who can do this for us.

What I do not like, is that I have to decide months in advance where do I want to eat and at what time because otherwise I would not find a place! We use to always have "my time dining". Under this modality things were not so complicated.

Cruise rates on the Quantum of the Seas are high. We are certainly allocating lots of our savings to Royal when we book a cruise of this lenght. One more reason to expect having easier, stressless vacation and not planning months before just in order to have a place for dinner.

Dynamic dinner sounds interesting for us "if and only if" this is a flexible option. This means if we could ask ourselves during the cruises on the same day or a couple of days before where do we want to eat and make a reservation. This is the way it works every where around the world in restaurants, which are not considered exactly "gourmet " restaurants. The restaurants in Royal, which we are talking about might be good but hardly "gourmet". Its demand is more a product of the number of people on board than of the food experience.

I guess my question is if this flexibility of just walking in, will exist as it use to be with "my time dining". Will Royal ensure that there are places available for spontaneous people even at the so called "preferred" times like 19.00?

[travelberlin]

I would love to know how RCCL made their decision concerning Dynamic Dining.

 

Research of what sort?

From what type of group?

 

I could imagine a mixed group made up of experienced cruisers along with folks who have never stepped foot on a ship being asked to complete a survey.

 

Questions on survey dealing with dining preferences:

 

1. Do you want to have to choose only one of two dining times for your entire cruise?

2. Do you want to eat in the same restaurant every night during your entire cruise?

3. Do you want to have the choice of eating at any one of (10-12-13-14...18) different restaurants during your cruise?

4. Do you want to have the choice of dining at different times each night during your cruise?

4. Do you want to eat at restaurants with menus designed by highly rated popular chefs?

 

There are many, many things that the above questions do not address or explain fully.

 

Surveys, focus groups and think tanks can and are often wrong depending on many things and can easily be steered in almost any direction.

 

The decision to market the New Coke (some groups got samples containing as little as two ounces)was well researched and yet failed.

 

I think many major corporate decisions are made well before the research is done based on many things other than true umbiased research.

 

After 30 plus years of working for large corporations I have seen this over and over again.

 

As to any decision about DD versus Traditional, the choice is up to the individual and since RCCL has decided to go with it it's not worth arguing over.

 

This thread and all the others dealing with the topic are great for opinions both pro and con as well as being very informative for those who may need help choosing one over the other.

 

Only time will tell.

 

 

Whatever your choice I hope all goes well and you enjoy every aspect of your cruise no matter how you choose.

 

OMO

 

bosco

You are right! I think there should have been done a survey to their customs about his change.

 

A very important question on the survey should have been:

 

"Do you mind making individual reservations in advance for each night of your cruises in the restaurants on board?"

[cruisenfever]

This does not have anything to do with being well off. It is the return of hard work in younger ages and years of savings.:)

Even if my travel agent could reserve for us the restaurants, how is she supossed to know which type of food do we want to eat on which night? Assuming she does not find our preferred time in some evenings, is she supposed to take the decisions for us and book the times she finds available? Or are we supossed to go back and forth in consultation processes? I am afraid there is no one who can do this for us.

What I do not like, is that I have to decide months in advance where do I want to eat and at what time because otherwise I would not find a place! We use to always have "my time dining". Under this modality things were not so complicated.

Cruise rates on the Quantum of the Seas are high. We are certainly allocating lots of our savings to Royal when we book a cruise of this lenght. One more reason to expect having easier, stressless vacation and not planning months before just in order to have a place for dinner.

Dynamic dinner sounds interesting for us "if and only if" this is a flexible option. This means if we could ask ourselves during the cruises on the same day or a couple of days before where do we want to eat and make a reservation. This is the way it works every where around the world in restaurants, which are not considered exactly "gourmet " restaurants. The restaurants in Royal, which we are talking about might be good but hardly "gourmet". Its demand is more a product of the number of people on board than of the food experience.

I guess my question is if this flexibility of just walking in, will exist as it use to be with "my time dining". Will Royal ensure that there are places available for spontaneous people even at the so called "preferred" times like 19.00?

You are in complete control of DD and can make reservations yourself. You do not have to involve your TA.

 

Yes, there is flexibility if you do not mind waiting for a table to become available at the specific time you want to eat. It should work exactly like MTD does now, only there will be different venues involved.

 

Since DD is new to RCI, prejudging how successful it will or will not be is not fair at this point. I would give it a try and then form an opinion.

[OTownNick]

There are a lot of concerns and I think there are probably more people who LIKE the DD idea than not, but the ones who DONT like the idea are the ones we seem to all hear about from the most. Yes-there's a lot of confusion around the reservation system and timing of the entertainment. However, this DD hasn't even started yet! Why waste time debating all these things that may never be an issue. Let's wait and see how it works. Trust the concept and many will be pleasantly surprised,I'm sure. Many of the fears are unfounded IMO.

 

I for one am excited about the concept. Now maybe after my cruise on the AN I may have a different opinion, but all those new menus I saw look awesome!

 

I believe the Grande will not "require" formal wear. It will probably be the same dress code as the MDR always was. So having 3 restaurants in 7 nights is plenty cause I'm sure there are at LEAST 2-3 things on each menu that most people would want, so if you do the math....

Edited October 11, 2014 by OTownNick

[setsail]

What I do not like, is that I have to decide months in advance where do I want to eat and at what time because otherwise I would not find a place

Cruise rates on the Quantum of the Seas are high.

 

Really, who is forcing you to do this???:rolleyes:

[printingchick]

When Royal introduced MTD, which I love, people had a choice. If you wanted to continue to participate in traditional dining, eating at one of the pre-determined times and typically being seated with others, you could. If you wanted to choose your own time and dining companions by opting for MTD, you could. You could make reservations for your dining time, or not.

 

With DD, the change is sudden and without any alternative to participate in familiar options most passengers are comfortable with.

 

Personally, I LIKE eating in the same place every night. I LIKE having the same waitstaff every night. That's why I typically opt for MTD, but with reservations. If I understand DD, it's no longer as easy as indicating I want to eat at 6:30 each night, now I have to choose a venue. That's a lot to ask months in advance and it removes the option to choose the MDR providing a broad menu.

 

I have never utilized specialty dining on board. Partly, I admit, for the cost. But partly because I really do ENJOY the MDR experience. I look forward to it. I don't want to go to a different restaurant every night. I enjoy the familiarity. I'm sure some others feel differently, however I suspect I am not alone in my preferences. If DD goes fleet wide, these preferences will have no accommodation. To some of us, that's a loss.

[boscobeans]

There are a lot of concerns and I think there are probably more people who LIKE the DD idea than not, but the ones who DONT like the idea are the ones we seem to all hear about from the most.

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------

 

?? Although the two forum polls dealing with this issue are from only a small sample of cruisers they seem to be from past and future Royal Caribbean cruisers who have expressed their individual preferences.

 

So far there have been 507 responses and the numbers speak for themselves:

 

207 In favor of the DD dining experience

200 In favor of a more traditional dining experience

160 Undecided.

 

Yes, there are more in favor's, but to do away with what has been essentially the standard of cruise ship dining for many years and replace it with a totally new system would need more than a 36% slice of the cruising pie before I made such a drastic change.

 

Even if the Undecided 160 eventually decide to go with Dynamic Dining RCCL will still letting 35% of their current and future cruisers fall to the wayside.

 

Only having 16 cruises under my belt as of his year, I in no way intend to convince or force anyone to agree with my opinion, especially dealing with something that is yet to come.

 

I have in the "PAST" always enjoyed all the pro's associated with the MDR or Anytime dining and have enjoyed equally my freedom to go to specialty venues or to the Windjammer according to my desires on any particular day according to what type of cuisine strikes my fancy on that particular day. I have NEVER had that much difficulty in doing so on all my cruises.

 

I guess the above use of the word "PAST" says it all.

 

I do hope it works out as well as people expect it to and all their expectations are met.

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So having 3 restaurants in 7 nights is plenty cause I'm sure there are at LEAST 2-3 things on each menu that most people would want, so if you do the math

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

I hope they do come up with something a little different for those cruisers' like my wife and I, who tend to look for cruises in the 10-12-14 day range.

....

 

Happy sailing to all.

 

OMO

bosco

[Paulxyz2004]

When Royal introduced MTD, which I love, people had a choice. If you wanted to continue to participate in traditional dining, eating at one of the pre-determined times and typically being seated with others, you could. If you wanted to choose your own time and dining companions by opting for MTD, you could. You could make reservations for your dining time, or not.

 

With DD, the change is sudden and without any alternative to participate in familiar options most passengers are comfortable with.

 

Personally, I LIKE eating in the same place every night. I LIKE having the same waitstaff every night. That's why I typically opt for MTD, but with reservations. If I understand DD, it's no longer as easy as indicating I want to eat at 6:30 each night, now I have to choose a venue. That's a lot to ask months in advance and it removes the option to choose the MDR providing a broad menu.

 

I have never utilized specialty dining on board. Partly, I admit, for the cost. But partly because I really do ENJOY the MDR experience. I look forward to it. I don't want to go to a different restaurant every night. I enjoy the familiarity. I'm sure some others feel differently, however I suspect I am not alone in my preferences. If DD goes fleet wide, these preferences will have no accommodation. To some of us, that's a loss.

 

Exactly!!!!

 

The biggest Problem for those loving the traditional experience is the complete elemination of this Option. :(

[KKMurphy2]

This is another change that will receive mixed emotions just like Any Time Dining (ATD) did years ago. People were saying on the various Cruise Line CC boards that if the Cruise Line did this they would cruise another line. However, they are all doing ATD. This is something else we will learn to live with or not cruise. How bad can it get? LOL

 

 

I am sorry for the correction, but I am NOT doing Any Time Dining at this time. I make reservations in the dining room on both RCCL and Celebrity. I am not stubborn enough to say I won't try DD. But I have 4 cruises booked, 3 RCCL with 6 pm seating and 1 Celebrity with 6 pm seating. I am not sure if I will get on a ship with DD for quite awhile. They can work out the bugs before then. Quantum is so cost prohibitive for me, I do not see my self booking unless I can get some great deals. Oasis and Allure were just not than enjoyable to my husband and I. We felt crowded and now they are adding MORE cabins and less public space during Dry Dock. We love the Freedom class, but even if they convert Freedom, we still have Liberty and Independence.

 

I will continue to book for the experience I want, coupled with the itinerary. We should make Diamond plus in 2 years. But Elite on Celebrity is awesome! :)