Clasic Dining need to be Late and Early Seating

[tapemann]

It's great to see that RCCL sees the need to bring in Classic Rotational Dining. But from the video I saw they said it was only at the 5:30 time. It also need to have a Late time as well. For many 5:30 is too early. It shortens the Port days. You have to be back on board too early to get ready for dinner. What is the feeling out there. Should there be a Late Classic Rotation as well?

Edited February 2, 2015 by tapemann

[Biker19]

RCI will probably not use the term Rotational since that's a Disney term. The Classic addition to DD is to appease the masses that complained that they like traditional dining. On the Quantum class they can only do so much due to the seating capacity. To fit everyone in they really need almost 3 seatings so they have to squeeze in Classic into the mix somehow. The number of Classic slots available and their times will have to be limited to allow for the seating limits. If you want Classic you'll have to live with what's offered. On Oasis class ships it will be different since the seating capacity allows for two seatings.

 

Biker, who is not surprised the complaints about Classic dining took less than a day to start.

[floridaglen]

If you have two Classic dining times when are the Dynamic Diners going to be able to eat assuming dining takes about 90 minutes each night? Perhaps they will divide each complimentary restaurant into two sections; one for Classic Dining the other for Dynamic Dining. I can't really see that working. I'll be very interested to see how this eventually pans out.

[tapemann]

RCI will probably not use the term Rotational since that's a Disney term. The Classic addition to DD is to appease the masses that complained that they like traditional dining. On the Quantum class they can only do so much due to the seating capacity. To fit everyone in they really need almost 3 seatings so they have to squeeze in Classic into the mix somehow. The number of Classic slots available and their times will have to be limited to allow for the seating limits. If you want Classic you'll have to live with what's offered. On Oasis class ships it will be different since the seating capacity allows for two seatings.

 

Biker, who is not surprised the complaints about Classic dining took less than a day to start.

 

This is NOT a complaint about Classic Dining. They used the word Rotational in the Video. RCCL has to think about the masses they are trying to come up with a solution. A Late and Early Rotation should not be a problem. They already have the staff in those Dining rooms. They don't want to solve a problem half way. That's not a real solution. Let's hear from others.

[floridaglen]

This is NOT a complaint about Classic Dining. They used the word Rotational in the Video. RCCL has to think about the masses they are trying to come up with a solution. A Late and Early Rotation should not be a problem. They already have the staff in those Dining rooms. They don't want to solve a problem half way. That's not a real solution. Let's hear from others.

 

What time would you prefer for late seating?

[tapemann]

What time would you prefer for late seating?

 

The same times that they have Early & Late seating now on the ships. Not to make any changes in times. For many Just Early kills Time in Port by having to be back on the ship to get ready for Dinner. The two times also works well to make the shows. If 90 min is too long to do a serving, that can be speeded up a bit to make things work.

[floridaglen]

The same times that they have Early & Late seating now on the ships. Not to make any changes in times. For many Just Early kills Time in Port by having to be back on the ship to get ready for Dinner. The two times also works well to make the shows. If 90 min is too long to do a serving, that can be speeded up a bit to make things work.

 

Assuming early and late dining is at 6pm and 8.30pm means Dynamic Diners will not have enought time to eat before the first Classic dining time of 6pm. The early Classic diners should have cleared by 7.30pm at latest. That leaves only 1 hour in which Dynamic Dining can take place. That's not enough time. Late Classic dining is between 8.30 and 10.00 so Dynamic Diners are only able to eat after 10.00pm so it just doesn't work. The only way I can see an early and late sitting work is for Classic and Dynamic diners to eat at the same times by splitting the complimentary dining rooms into two separate areas. I'm sure that RCI have already thought this through, they just need to tell the rest of us how it is going to work (or not work, as the case may be!)

[tapemann]

Assuming early and late dining is at 6pm and 8.30pm means Dynamic Diners will not have enought time to eat before the first Classic dining time of 6pm. The early Classic diners should have cleared by 7.30pm at latest. That leaves only 1 hour in which Dynamic Dining can take place. That's not enough time. Late Classic dining is between 8.30 and 10.00 so Dynamic Diners are only able to eat after 10.00pm so it just doesn't work. The only way I can see an early and late sitting work is for Classic and Dynamic diners to eat at the same times by splitting the complimentary dining rooms into two separate areas. I'm sure that RCI have already thought this through, they just need to tell the rest of us how it is going to work (or not work, as the case may be!)

 

If they have to Split the rooms up fine. I'm sure they monitor this site. They need to try it and see how the numbers fall. They could find that many more prefer the Late seating. That's better than only offering the Early and it fails. (They most likely hopes that happens). They can say they tried. From the notes so far Many want the set times. I know people if they don't get late seating they won't go on that Cruise. They are Diamond +. RCCL will still risk the Base moving to other lines in the hopes of gaining new cruisers. Why not keep ALL Happy!

[OfTheSeasCruiser]

When I watched the video, I didn't take it to mean that there was only going to be one seating for "Classic" dining. First, Bayley said that guests will be able to choose "former traditional dining times", and he then went on to talk about early seating and IMO he simply used early seating as an example of what classic dining would be like. That's just what I thought when watching the video. :)

[Starry Eyes]

I'm not sure it is possible to keep all happy; some people are chronically unhappy. Not meaning the OP, just recognizing that some people always have one issue or another.

 

I truly hope they find they can make it work the way the OP desires, but, if space does not allow late rotational dining, it is really a dramatic problem?

 

If this dining scheme is likely to be tried on only the new ships, then there are still plenty of ships within the line that should please those who strongly desire the traditional early and late dining options. Certainly those cruisers could change to a different corporatation's line, but with so many traditional RCI ships offering traditional dining, nothing compels traditionalists to leave the line. I know long time cruiser who consistently book Radiance class ships, rejecting new classes of ships. Thay love that class of ship and more power to them. On the other hand, some cruiser love Oasis class hsips and would not be at all attracted to radiance class. neither is wrong, just different tastes. Book what you love.

 

Unsuprisingly, newer ships seem to be designed for newer tastes. the idea seems to be to retain those who might otherwise be bored with current offerings and also to attract cruises from other lines and newbies with Nobel features and fresh ideas. Maybe it will work and they will fill ships with ease, maybe it will not, but they seem bound to try. If the the new ships offerings do not work for some of us, why not select a ship that does fit our desires? No ship will please every one.

Edited February 2, 2015 by Starry Eyes

[LMaxwell]

That fact that they only offer one early seating time bolsters my assumption that they are doing this to space out crowds and alleviate long lines / wait times. Unfortunately the new ships don't have the dining capacity for an early / late fixed seatings AND to allow dynamic dining.

 

So a fixed early seating really just takes some of the pressure off of later dynamic dining schedules.

 

Oh, and you can bookmark this and say you heard it here first: They will reintroduce mandatory pre-pay of tips with final payment soon. RCI is losing out on this cash cow of holding gratuities for 3 - 4 months before passing them on. It's all about the cash flow and the float time! You can argue with me all you want, but remember where you heard it first.

[nolesrule]

If you limit the number of guests that can use Classic, they should be able to handle two seatings. With Quantum having 4 dining venues it means you would only need to seat 1/8 of the Classic diners in a given restaurant at any one time. They already stated that the availability of Classic would be limited.

 

With 2 seating times and a set number of guests in each seating, all it does is pre-reserve those particular tables for the entire night. it effectively is no different than having Dynamic Dining reservations for those tables.

 

The issue that they need to figure out is what to do about table availability for someone using Classic who opts for a premium restaurant on a particular night.

Edited February 2, 2015 by nolesrule

[tapemann]

If you limit the number of guests that can use Classic, they should be able to handle two seatings. With Quantum having 4 dining venues it means you would only need to seat 1/8 of the Classic diners in a given restaurant at any one time. They already stated that the availability of Classic would be limited.

 

With 2 seating times and a set number of guests in each seating, all it does is pre-reserve those particular tables for the entire night. it effectively is no different than having Dynamic Dining reservations for those tables.

 

The issue that they need to figure out is what to do about table availability for someone using Classic who opts for a premium restaurant on a particular night.

 

 

Classic Dining is also mixing a couple with others at a 10 top table to meet new folks for the length of the cruise. It would be just as it is now. Plus you don't have to think about Reservations. Keep it simple. You have the same number of people moving through the same Dining rooms anyway.

[tapemann]

If you limit the number of guests that can use Classic, they should be able to handle two seatings. With Quantum having 4 dining venues it means you would only need to seat 1/8 of the Classic diners in a given restaurant at any one time. They already stated that the availability of Classic would be limited.

 

With 2 seating times and a set number of guests in each seating, all it does is pre-reserve those particular tables for the entire night. it effectively is no different than having Dynamic Dining reservations for those tables.

 

The issue that they need to figure out is what to do about table availability for someone using Classic who opts for a premium restaurant on a particular night.

 

Many don't want to pay extra at a Premium restaurant. That is the real problem for RCCL. They would like to pay extra and make more Profit from those Restaurants. The meal doesn't cost them $35/pp more , they just like the extra profit. They are counting on long lines at free restaurants to drive people to the extra profit restaurants.

[Ourusualbeach]

Many don't want to pay extra at a Premium restaurant. That is the real problem for RCCL. They would like to pay extra and make more Profit from those Restaurants. The meal doesn't cost them $35/pp more , they just like the extra profit. They are counting on long lines at free restaurants to drive people to the extra profit restaurants.

 

I don't buy that argument. If that were the case Royal would have been increasing the number of seats available at the specialty restaurants. The seats available on the Quantum are the exact same as a percentage of total guests as they are on the Allure and Oasis at about 11.3%.

 

Yes they would like more to dine at the specialty restaurants because. You said there is a lot more profit in it for them. There are many on a cruise however that do enjoy the specialty restaurants and do not mind paying the extra to have that different dining experience.

 

I think that Royal has been trying to entice more to try their specialty restaurants by offering more choices and changing out one specialty restaurant for another on other ships.

 

Also while many do not like the idea of having dinner at the WJ there are many that quite enjoy that venue for its quiet and relaxed atmosphere in the evening. Plenty of space there at no charge.

 

But back to your original post....I absolutely agree that RCI needs to have, and I believe that they will, an early and late seating for Classic dining. What % of the dining rooms will be set aside for this is debatable but IMO it will be somewhere between 25 and 50%.

[Biker19]

I

But back to your original post....I absolutely agree that RCI needs to have, and I believe that they will, an early and late seating for Classic dining. What % of the dining rooms will be set aside for this is debatable but IMO it will be somewhere between 25 and 50%.

 

I don't think the math works for anything more than about 20% - in the same range as MTD.

[Starry Eyes]

If you limit the number of guests that can use Classic, they should be able to handle two seatings. With Quantum having 4 dining venues it means you would only need to seat 1/8 of the Classic diners in a given restaurant at any one time. They already stated that the availability of Classic would be limited.

 

With 2 seating times and a set number of guests in each seating, all it does is pre-reserve those particular tables for the entire night. it effectively is no different than having Dynamic Dining reservations for those tables.

 

The issue that they need to figure out is what to do about table availability for someone using Classic who opts for a premium restaurant on a particular night.

Many traditional diners do enjoy leisurely dinners, with multiple slow courses and lingering over coffee and desert while chatting. But there are also people who like to spend less time in dining room and more time elsewhere. The latter people can allow the table to be turned substantially more often.

 

If people are seated at 5:30 pm (classi or dynamic), with prompt service, many might leave the table 75 minutes later. Table can then be reset and ready for next guests (dynamic)art say 7 pm. If they are also seated and served promptly, so table may be ready for another set of guests (dynamic) at 8:30 pm. So, in this they can use that table three times in one night. Some diners eat fewer courses or eat more quickly, in which case they might get four seatings at some tables some evenings. If tables turn in this manner, they seat more 50-100% more guests with early classic plus dynamic vs early plus late classic.

[tapemann]

Many traditional diners do enjoy leisurely dinners, with multiple slow courses and lingering over coffee and desert while chatting. But there are also people who like to spend less time in dining room and more time elsewhere. The latter people can allow the table to be turned substantially more often.

 

If people are seated at 5:30 pm (classi or dynamic), with prompt service, many might leave the table 75 minutes later. Table can then be reset and ready for next guests (dynamic)art say 7 pm. If they are also seated and served promptly, so table may be ready for another set of guests (dynamic) at 8:30 pm. So, in this they can use that table three times in one night. Some diners eat fewer courses or eat more quickly, in which case they might get four seatings at some tables some evenings. If tables turn in this manner, they seat more 50-100% more guests with early classic plus dynamic vs early plus late classic.

 

So your saying that RCCL can build Dinging rooms smaller or have more staff if the tables turn more times a night.

 

Every Cruiser is on Vacation and should be allowed to Dine relaxed and at their own pace. If RCCL needs more profit the could raise fares by $1-2/pp/cabin. They measure onboard Rev of each ship. If they are going to rush passengers they might as well take a land vacation.

 

The new Menu items are nice and asked for. But not at the sake of being rushed. Also some like to meet new people from different parts of the country or World.

[SaintL]

Not sure why they would even introduce Classic, its simply not needed. just show up at the time you want to eat.

 

Leave classic to Holland America

[OfTheSeasCruiser]

Not sure why they would even introduce Classic, its simply not needed. just show up at the time you want to eat.

 

Leave classic to Holland America

 

I knew someone would come up with a comment like this... It's because some people still like TRADITIONAL dining!

[tapemann]

Not sure why they would even introduce Classic, its simply not needed. just show up at the time you want to eat.

 

Leave classic to Holland America

 

 

The point is Many people don't want to make Rez but want to sit at a large table with others, Plus not have to wait. If you are ok with MTD or DD you do want you want. Many others are not happy with the changes. RCCL is working to make changes. They just have to go far enough then cut back if the numbers adjust. What they seem to be doing is start short w/o saying they are willing to expand if needed.

 

Maybe people will move to HAL, Princess, CEL or others. I don't think RCCL wants that.

[Starry Eyes]

So your saying that RCCL can build Dinging rooms smaller or have more staff if the tables turn more times a night.

 

Every Cruiser is on Vacation and should be allowed to Dine relaxed and at their own pace. If RCCL needs more profit the could raise fares by $1-2/pp/cabin. They measure onboard Rev of each ship. If they are going to rush passengers they might as well take a land vacation.

 

The new Menu items are nice and asked for. But not at the sake of being rushed. Also some like to meet new people from different parts of the country or World.

 

I understand you feelings and I hope they are able to accommodate them on every ship you ever wish to sail. That is my hope for you, but remember this new class of ships was likey designed and built with dynamic dining and faster table turnover in mind. Thus, the dining room capacity may indeed already be smaller (compared to passenger capacity) on that class of ship. If so, adding only 5:30 classic dining ( where guests quickly seat themselves at a preassigned table right at opening) actually improves the number of times a table can be turned vs all dd. OTOH, late classic dining reduces their ability to turn as many tables as fast as possible. If the dining capacity is not large enought on this class of ship, adding late classic dinig might add a difficult bottleneck, possibly hurting more guests than it helps (they might not get into that dining room at all, though tables sat empty parts of the evening). If you book last minute, you might get dd rather than classic; you'd then be among the guests hurt in this manner. Again, I really hope this is not the case, but the ships were designed for dd, and capacity may not be there. Fortunately, there are many ships with just what you want; so i'd suggest you happily sail those many ships while avoiding the problematic few one if things do not turn your way.

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

If you have two Classic dining times when are the Dynamic Diners going to be able to eat assuming dining takes about 90 minutes each night? Perhaps they will divide each complimentary restaurant into two sections; one for Classic Dining the other for Dynamic Dining. I can't really see that working. I'll be very interested to see how this eventually pans out.

 

While not exactly the same thing, when I cruised on HAL's ms Westerdam to Alaska this past summer, their dining room - which was two levels - was divided into set-time early and late seatings on the second floor of the dining room and non-set-time dining between certain hours on the first floor (you show up and are seated or wait for a table as in a regular land-based restaurant). (We were in a group and our cruise escort had arranged for us to have our tables - which WE rotated between - on the first level, but we were the exceptions to the rule on that floor in that we had set tables and servers among our group.)

[Starry Eyes]

Maybe people will move to HAL, Princess, CEL or others. I don't think RCCL wants that.

 

if by CEL you mean Celebrity, that might please the corporation greatly. It might also please the cruisers who want a traditional cruise and do not so much desire flow riders or rock walls or sky dive simulators and such.

 

If profitable customers chose princess or Hal, the corporation will be sorry to see them go. Some may stay with those other lines, though may come back after trying other lines. Perks may be missed and issues do arise with other lines, too.

[queenschick9b]

I am just guessing, completely based on what others here have reported back, but I wonder if they aren't worried about late seating because the bottleneck seemed to be if you wanted to eat 6:30 - 8:00, and if you were willing to eat at 8, there wasn't a wait.