Dynamic Dining Issues

[Travel_Lusting]

Hi All,

 

Preparing for our first ever cruise on Quantum of the Seas. I was excited to log onto the cruise planner to start booking activities/entertainment but have been unable to do same since it is still a very long time until our cruise (May 29th).

 

I have been able to book restaurant reservations from the start but I did not do so at first because I thought "how will I know what we are going to want to eat before the time comes." After reading a bit here on the forums, I have discovered it is a good idea to book early, so I went online to book at the formal restaurant . . . nothing available for the entire 14 day cruise :(. I know this dynamic dining is new to you all, even the RC loyalist, but does anyone know if there is anything we can do? I would like to have at least one formal evening.

 

Thanks so much.

[RocketMan275]

Some people have reported good luck in calling Royal. I'm surprised that the formal venue would be that popular.

[SuiteTraveler]

Travel Lusting, Fear not, the formal restaurant WILL have additional reservations available on the day you board. You CAN get a reservation, just go to the restaurant when you board and make the reservation or if you are in a suite, have the concierge do it for you. We were able to go twice on Oasis when it looked that 120 Park was completely booked out. It wasn't. Another tip, call RCCL and make a reservation for the Chef's table - it's great and well worth the extra expense if you are a foody!

[Travel_Lusting]

Hi RocketMan275,

 

Thanks for the response. There must have been a glitch in the system the first few times I attempted. Gave it one more attempt before calling and an assortment of dining times were given. I'm a little impatient I guess. Thanks.

[KKMurphy2]

Some people have reported good luck in calling Royal. I'm surprised that the formal venue would be that popular.

 

Is the entertainment available for booking? How do you know when you want to eat without knowing times of the shows? I love attending the shows so would not want to miss anything. I have not booked Quantum, and do not intend to do so until prices drop a bit. But I am learning all I can about it.

[Clarea]

Is the entertainment available for booking? How do you know when you want to eat without knowing times of the shows? I love attending the shows so would not want to miss anything. I have not booked Quantum, and do not intend to do so until prices drop a bit. But I am learning all I can about it.

That is a great question. It used to be that you could pick a time close to traditional dining times and have a good expectation of being able to make the shows. With no traditional dining, one would think Royal would publish show times so people could choose appropriate dining times.

[B-52]

My fear is that with the venues being broken down into multiple smaller venues, places and times will sell out early....unless you want to eat very early or very late...the unpopular times.

We spent 7 nights in Disney, had to pre-book all our dinner reservations in advance....the places with the best reviews filled up fast...unless you want to eat at 4pm or 9:30pm....

On a ship with 3000 passengers, everyone cannot eat at the same place at the same time....

Sure, they will have spots open for walk-ins...but is that how you want to spend your cruise? Not knowing where to eat and walking from venue to venue looking for a table? Only to wind up in the WJ? Or finding the only available times are during shows?

 

I know it's early, and no one has actually had any first hand knowledge yet...so we will see how it plays out....

 

I can only compare it with our past summer's Disney experience...and I did not care for it....we got what we wanted with some compromising, but it was a real headache pre-planning months before our stay.

And while we were there, all I kept saying was I wish we were on a cruise where we did not have to bother with all this....

[gerif]

My fear is that with the venues being broken down into multiple smaller venues, places and times will sell out early....unless you want to eat very early or very late...the unpopular times.

We spent 7 nights in Disney, had to pre-book all our dinner reservations in advance....the places with the best reviews filled up fast...unless you want to eat at 4pm or 9:30pm....

On a ship with 3000 passengers, everyone cannot eat at the same place at the same time....

Sure, they will have spots open for walk-ins...but is that how you want to spend your cruise? Not knowing where to eat and walking from venue to venue looking for a table? Only to wind up in the WJ? Or finding the only available times are during shows?

 

I know it's early, and no one has actually had any first hand knowledge yet...so we will see how it plays out....

 

I can only compare it with our past summer's Disney experience...and I did not care for it....we got what we wanted with some compromising, but it was a real headache pre-planning months before our stay.

And while we were there, all I kept saying was I wish we were on a cruise where we did not have to bother with all this....

 

This is one of my biggest concerns about DD. well, this coupled with the fact that we really enjoy having the same group of tablemates each night. Also, suppose we really enjoy a certain restaurant early in the cruise and want to go back but by then it's impossible to book another night. Guess we'll wait for the reviews but one thing I like about cruising is not having to make so many decisions - need to do that enough at home.

[smoosh21]

This is one of my biggest concerns about DD. well, this coupled with the fact that we really enjoy having the same group of tablemates each night. Also, suppose we really enjoy a certain restaurant early in the cruise and want to go back but by then it's impossible to book another night. Guess we'll wait for the reviews but one thing I like about cruising is not having to make so many decisions - need to do that enough at home.

 

I don't think that this will be as big of an issue here as it is on something like Norwegian Free Style. The 4 main free restaurants are all the same size. Unless one is immensely more popular than the others, normal distribution should keep crowds from overwhelming one over the other three.

The only one I wonder about is Grande (the formal one) and I wonder if that one will always be the least use as more people decide not to dress up.

[Maraprince]

This is one of my biggest concerns about DD. well, this coupled with the fact that we really enjoy having the same group of tablemates each night. Also, suppose we really enjoy a certain restaurant early in the cruise and want to go back but by then it's impossible to book another night. Guess we'll wait for the reviews but one thing I like about cruising is not having to make so many decisions - need to do that enough at home.

 

 

You stated my concerns exactly! I do not wish to eat at 5:30 or earlier nor do I wish to eat at 9 or later. I travel with 2 cabin mates who are diabetics and jumping around to eat at different times each night just will not work for them. I can see many a meal in the WJ for dinner...not what I go on a cruise ship for. Breakfast and lunch we eat in the WJ but not dinner as well. Nor do I see us grabbing a hot dog from the cart or having to eat at only pay extra venues to get the dining times I want.

 

The Grand will have the least amount of reservations because many do not want to change for dinner.

 

We like to go to the shows and we would also have to book for these as well. No go for me.

 

This was never announced over a year ago when many passengers booked in advance. Now, RCCL pulls this big switch and manages to have problems galore with it's execution and expects their loyal passengers to be happy with the changes? Prices for the sailings are high, expectations are high and RCCL is so secretive with releasing info on the Q. Makes many wonder what else are they not telling us about?:(

 

MARAPRINCE

[Nhsaltshaker]

I plan on seeing all the shows and I plan on eating everything I want, where I want, when I want.

 

Guess my glass is half full. Although, there is a possibility I'll empty it later...:D

[m*u*g*]

Some people have reported good luck in calling Royal. I'm surprised that the formal venue would be that popular.

 

Believe it or not, a lot of people still like the formal evenings.

But they probably block some of the times so you can book onboard.

Edited October 15, 2014 by m*u*g*

[DEIx15x8]

Believe it or not, a lot of people still like the formal evenings.

But they probably block some of the times so you can book onboard.

I know on my sailings the Grande is sold out on sea days and American Icon is sold out on port days. That's one of the problems they will have to figure out, all are popular, but the itinerary dictates which are more popular on any given day.

[nelblu]

Just got an e-mail stating that dining reservations is available. Could you imagine if I waited this long! Hoping to get entertainment reserve soon.