New Conflict with Dynamic Dining and Entertainment

[rakes5]

I am booked on the Dec 1st 2014 sailing.

 

Our Cruse documents are now available to print.

 

All of the entertainment times are listed as starting 15 sooner than the planner.

 

They end at the same time, so it looks like they have changed the time to take into account when they open up the entertainment to those without reservations.

 

This wouldn't be a big deal, except...

 

Today they opened up some additional dining times.

 

One day I currently have Sonic Odyesey scheduled for what I though was an 8:30 show, and dining at 6:45, as that was the earliest dining time previously available.

Now there is a 6:30 dining time open, so I tried to change it. The system said I had two conflicts with the 6:30-8:30 dining time. The old dining time from 6:45-8:45, which I was OK to cancel, and Sonic Odyssey from 8:15-9:15.

 

The note was -

"You may continue with your original time; however, adding xxx to the shopping cart will result in cancellation of the above items."

 

So it is not letting me change my dining time, because the 2 hours they are allotting to dinner, now overlaps with a new earlier time for the show.

 

However, if I look at the entertainment schedule, the time for Sonic Odyssey is still listed at 45 minutes long, starting at 8:30, not 8:15. And... when I look at my cruise documents, ALL of the entertainment times are listed 15 minutes sooner, and ending at the old time.

 

I'm guessing, from my experience on the Oasis class ships, we need to be at the entertainment at least 15 minutes before the scheduled showtime, when they open it up to everyone. But now they have built that into the reservation application.

 

I was hoping that dinner wouldn't be taking the full 2 hours, and that would be the extra time needed to get to the entertainment early. But because I wasn't sure how the Dynamic Dining was going to work out, and I don't have a reason to need to eat earlier, I tried to book all of my entertainment before dinner, when possible.

 

I wonder if their IT Department stays up at night trying to think up new ways to "enhance" Dynamic Dining. :rolleyes:

[dirtworker]

I too am on the 12/1 sailing....Im scheduled for most things now after many failed attempts... but I have to say that all of this scheduling has not made me a happy cruiser.....when I go on vacation I just want to go and escape the rat race we all live in day in day out.....this pre-work for dining and entertainment is frankly a pita....yes I know its supposed to make things logistically more efficient on board......we shall see

[steamboats]

Yes, those 15 min is the time you have to be there or your reservation will be cancelled and all remaining seats will be first come first serve.

 

steamboats

[nelblu]

We also had conflicts with one of the show vis-à-vis dining times and had to settle for a 10:30 pm show, if we're still awake. I'm annoyed that on the Dec. 1 cruise which is also an 11 niter, Mamma Mia is scheduled for a 2:30PM performance on the 2nd nite which would have provided entertainment on a sea day. It scheduled for 4:30PM on the 2nd nite for the Feb'2, therefore, interfering with our dining time.

[Katiesue04]

I'm annoyed that on my vacation summary page it shows I only have 6 dinner reservations and 12 entertainment reservations but then when I go to my calendar page it shows everything correctly-8 dinners and 6 shows. I don't know which one to trust! I hope that everything is booked!

[nelblu]

I'm annoyed that on my vacation summary page it shows I only have 6 dinner reservations and 12 entertainment reservations but then when I go to my calendar page it shows everything correctly-8 dinners and 6 shows. I don't know which one to trust! I hope that everything is booked!

 

Print the dining calendar and bring it with you, as proof. This is what I've done.

[Katiesue04]

Print the dining calendar and bring it with you, as proof. This is what I've done.

 

Good idea! I will definitely do that!

[akcruz]

Print the dining calendar and bring it with you, as proof. This is what I've done.

 

Good idea! I will definitely do that!

 

I second that. Print and bring everything with you!!!

[ChristieNJ]

I too am on the 12/1 sailing....Im scheduled for most things now after many failed attempts... but I have to say that all of this scheduling has not made me a happy cruiser.....when I go on vacation I just want to go and escape the rat race we all live in day in day out.....this pre-work for dining and entertainment is frankly a pita....yes I know its supposed to make things logistically more efficient on board......we shall see

 

Seriously!!! I was so excited to sit and do all this planning and I've been here at my laptop for almost an hour and a half now, with NOTHING accomplished! Every time I try to add dining or entertainment, I get an error! I'm about to scream! :mad: I wish that there was just a main dining room and shows after dinner that you don't have to even think about :( I have a feeling I am going to miss typical cruising. :eek: I want my Explorer of the Seas back!!

[gaylemh]

I want my Explorer of the Seas back!!

 

Me Too!!!

 

I'm thinking there is something going on again with the website. I've been trying to add friends to my dining and entertainment, and it keeps coming back I need to add two people. My friend was also trying to set up an online RCI account and it kept coming back you need to add a user name, which she did 6 times.

 

Not only that, but now I need to call Royal again, for the third time, because my price doubled from going into my reservation.

[ChristieNJ]

Me Too!!!

 

I'm thinking there is something going on again with the website. I've been trying to add friends to my dining and entertainment, and it keeps coming back I need to add two people. My friend was also trying to set up an online RCI account and it kept coming back you need to add a user name, which she did 6 times.

 

Not only that, but now I need to call Royal again, for the third time, because my price doubled from going into my reservation.

 

The same thing was happening to me with the adding friends!!! Ugh. Well the next time I have time to call will be tomorrow evening....I hope I can get things squared away with one phone call or else I may flush my head at this rate! :confused:

[loupana]

Well I have a good one to share regarding my dinning reservations. I'm on the December 1st sailing. I got everything booked, dinning and entertainment. Not a fun experience. I print off My Calendar and notice on night 4 I'm the only one listed for dinner, DW is missing. I think, I must have messed up by not selecting her when I booked, I try to make the change no luck, it will only let me reschedule for later than 9PM and not let me add my wife to the reservation. I call RCCL, they say the same. The only way to add my wife is to reschedule for after 9PM. Then they tell me, oh wait...on the 7th we see you are listed twice for dinner that night and not you and your wife. So they make that change so now on the 7th we are now listed as having dinner together. No luck changing the 4 but now I figure I'll just see them when I board and try and straighten it out. I look at My Calendar this week, now on the 7th I'm not listed on the reservation, but my wife is listed twice. So I know you cannot select the same person twice when you book...so I know I didn't mess that one up...

[ChristieNJ]

Holy moly, what a disaster!!!!! When I was able to book a reservation (BEFORE I got an error message), I chose all 5 of us, but it only had my daughter listed on the reservation! I tried redoing it, and then lost our dining time! UGH

[Yorkvillain]

I can't believe so many people are having problems. I called up and in about 10 minutes I made dinner reservations for all 9 nights for us and another couple. And of course I printed out the reservation email so I have proof.

 

I would stay away from trying to reserve anything online until the kinks in this new system are worked out.

[nelblu]

Well I have a good one to share regarding my dinning reservations. I'm on the December 1st sailing. I got everything booked, dinning and entertainment. Not a fun experience. I print off My Calendar and notice on night 4 I'm the only one listed for dinner, DW is missing. I think, I must have messed up by not selecting her when I booked, I try to make the change no luck, it will only let me reschedule for later than 9PM and not let me add my wife to the reservation. I call RCCL, they say the same. The only way to add my wife is to reschedule for after 9PM. Then they tell me, oh wait...on the 7th we see you are listed twice for dinner that night and not you and your wife. So they make that change so now on the 7th we are now listed as having dinner together. No luck changing the 4 but now I figure I'll just see them when I board and try and straighten it out. I look at My Calendar this week, now on the 7th I'm not listed on the reservation, but my wife is listed twice. So I know you cannot select the same person twice when you book...so I know I didn't mess that one up...

 

I don't understand as to why there's no box that covers all Pax. When I make reservations on United, there's a box that allows all passenger under the same reference #.

[loupana]

Well I have a good one to share regarding my dinning reservations. I'm on the December 1st sailing. I got everything booked, dinning and entertainment. Not a fun experience. I print off My Calendar and notice on night 4 I'm the only one listed for dinner, DW is missing. I think, I must have messed up by not selecting her when I booked, I try to make the change no luck, it will only let me reschedule for later than 9PM and not let me add my wife to the reservation. I call RCCL, they say the same. The only way to add my wife is to reschedule for after 9PM. Then they tell me, oh wait...on the 7th we see you are listed twice for dinner that night and not you and your wife. So they make that change so now on the 7th we are now listed as having dinner together. No luck changing the 4 but now I figure I'll just see them when I board and try and straighten it out. I look at My Calendar this week, now on the 7th I'm not listed on the reservation, but my wife is listed twice. So I know you cannot select the same person twice when you book...so I know I didn't mess that one up...

 

 

Well, a whole new adventure this morning. I am now removed from a dinner reservation on day 10 and it only lists my wife now.

 

NEWS FLASH...THIS JUST IN...Another call to RCCL and I'm told they are having issues with the new booking system. No Kidding...

 

They cannot make a change or help me with any of my problems. I'm just told to go to Guest Services when I board or call the restaurant when i board. I have a feeling people will have to camp overnight in front of Guest Services during the first few sailings to try and resolve conflicts.

[Yorkvillain]

 

NEWS FLASH...THIS JUST IN...Another call to RCCL and I'm told they are having issues with the new booking system. No Kidding...

 

Lol

[Polarbear Pa]

We always request a table for 2. Do you think we will be able to request one?

I usually request a table for 2 when booking the cruise and then send a reminder to the head of the dining room. We are not antisocial but just like to have nice meal by ourselves. Thanks

[ChristieNJ]

Ok I have already HAD IT with this dynamic dining and booking reservations for shows garbage. ALL of our dining has COMPLETELY disappeared and now when I try to rebook they only have late times and it also conflicts with our shows, and even if I DID book a restaurant, it's telling me my parents reservation number is "not available at this time". What????! And last time I called RCI, I was in the middle of booking stuff and we got disconnected. Shoot me. I have a psycho enough life without having to add this aggravation on for a vacation. I have a feeling this is gonna be a one-and-done deal for me, and my butt is going to stick to Freedom and Voyager class of ships. I don't have time for this stuff. #completelyfrustrated

 

 

***Christie***

[Treacher1]

Dynamic dining might be wonderful - but making reservations is crazy. I booked first day it opened and I could not get ONE reservation for 6:00. However, the c/s rep said all the specialy restaurants have openings at 6:00. I did make one - but did the rest in the "free" restaurants for different times. Is this a ploy to gently persuade us to make more reservations in specialty to make more money.. Could they ALL be filled for 6 the first day opened - really??

[Biker19]

At this point you might as well forget trying to do anything ahead of time - online or on the phone. On the first day, after you board, make a couple of reservations for the first two nights - or just show up (just not right after the early show gets out). After that, you'll get the feel for it, get some feedback and reserve the other nights. No need to stress.:cool:

[ChristieNJ]

Believe me, I was the biggest fan of dynamic dining for the most part. I wasn't a fan of eating so early at 6:00 or as late as 8:30. However, this is BEYOND frustrating. I am frustrated every day at work, the last thing I need is to have to, FOUR times now, take major time out to deal with all of this. If the booking were easy, it'd be a totally different story. But I feel like I'm already exhausted before I even get on the ship!! I quit booking reservations. We are just going to wing it. I'll eat every night in the Windjammer if I have to. I'm usually a huge RCI cheerleader and still am, but this is way more work than I ever want to put into any vacation.

 

 

***Christie***

[ChristieNJ]

At this point you might as well forget trying to do anything ahead of time - online or on the phone. On the first day, after you board, make a couple of reservations for the first two nights - or just show up (just not right after the early show gets out). After that, you'll get the feel for it, get some feedback and reserve the other nights. No need to stress.:cool:

 

 

This is exactly what I'm gonna do. I quit lol. My brain is fried and this is not helping lol.

 

 

***Christie***

[tarajean1962]

Believe me, I was the biggest fan of dynamic dining for the most part. I wasn't a fan of eating so early at 6:00 or as late as 8:30. However, this is BEYOND frustrating. I am frustrated every day at work, the last thing I need is to have to, FOUR times now, take major time out to deal with all of this. If the booking were easy, it'd be a totally different story. But I feel like I'm already exhausted before I even get on the ship!! I quit booking reservations. We are just going to wing it. I'll eat every night in the Windjammer if I have to. I'm usually a huge RCI cheerleader and still am, but this is way more work than I ever want to put into any vacation.

 

 

***Christie***

 

Hi Christie,

 

I am also a huge Royal fan and had many problems booking dining. I wrote not one, but two letters about it directly to Adam Goldstein and received an immediate response and was also able to straighten everything out. One thing that may help you out with dinner reservations is that you must cancel completely before booking another reservation. Once I figured this out, I had no problems at all changing things around.

 

I hope this helps you,

.

Tara

[ChristieNJ]

Hi Christie,

 

 

 

I am also a huge Royal fan and had many problems booking dining. I wrote not one, but two letters about it directly to Adam Goldstein and received an immediate response and was also able to straighten everything out. One thing that may help you out with dinner reservations is that you must cancel completely before booking another reservation. Once I figured this out, I had no problems at all changing things around.

 

 

 

I hope this helps you,

 

.

 

Tara

 

 

Thanks, Tara!! As far as I can tell, all our dinner reservations ARE cancelled. There is no record of them whatsoever anywhere. I have no clue what's going on. I can't deal with it anymore, I am out of energy. I'll take the Windjammer, Sorrento's, and Cafe Promenade over all this aggravation. Thanks for your suggestions!! :)

 

 

***Christie***