Dynamic Dining Classic on Anthem

[dmlee1990]

Hello,

 

I posted this on the RCL Anthem Board, but did not get a response. So I am re-posting here. This is our first Royal Caribbean cruise and we have selected the early seating for Dynamic Dining Classic on Anthem. When will we receive the schedule of the restaurants that we will rotate each night? Will it be in our cabin when we board? And is it correct that the restaurants will be American Icon Grill, Chic, Silk & the Grande?

 

Also, I've read that classic dining sometimes runs over 2 hours for dinner and many passengers miss the shows. Has it improved? What time do the evening shows begin? Thanks for your help!

__________________

[Ourusualbeach]

Hello,

 

I posted this on the RCL Anthem Board, but did not get a response. So I am re-posting here. This is our first Royal Caribbean cruise and we have selected the early seating for Dynamic Dining Classic on Anthem. When will we receive the schedule of the restaurants that we will rotate each night? Will it be in our cabin when we board? And is it correct that the restaurants will be American Icon Grill, Chic, Silk & the Grande?

 

Also, I've read that classic dining sometimes runs over 2 hours for dinner and many passengers miss the shows. Has it improved? What time do the evening shows begin? Thanks for your help!

__________________

 

 

I read that you are informed of your dining rotation a week to two in advance. The restaurants that you listed are the 4 restaurants that you rotate through.

[dmlee1990]

Thank you, Ken!

[Biker19]

The duration of the dinner depends on your staff and tablemates. I'm not sure if it's possible in Classic but with a table for 2 you could be done in about an hour each night if you wanted to - with a bigger table and slow staff, you could be at 2+ hrs, though even in that case you can mention to the staff you have to be somewhere and request speedier service.

[DaisyL]

Thanks for asking OP. We too booked for DD Classic but our cruise is May 2016, for our group of 9, but there's lots of time for the process to change... hopefully for the better.

 

We really enjoy the shows on a cruise and especially on the Anthem I'm sure they are must-see.

 

I too will be following this thread since I haven't read much about DD Classic yet.

[dmlee1990]

Thanks for the information, Biker19!.....very good to know. I requested a table for 4, so hopefully we can complete dinner in less than 2 hours.

 

DaisyL.....we won't be sailing until Sept 2016. Perhaps RCL will work out the kinks by the time we sail. We also enjoy the evening shows. This will be our first cruise on RCL, so hopefully, there will be more discussions on this topic along with the new concept of Dynamic Dining Choice.

[DaisyL]

I agree dmlee.

RCI is my favorite right now. I think their organization and customer service is better than the other lines that we have cruised. They also try to fix problems instead of getting the feeling -that's too bad, deal with it- from other cruises mostly NCL. I like The NCL product but not their customer service.

 

The cruise on Anthem will certainly be different but we won't be disappointed, I'm sure.

[INGODWETRUST]

From previous sailings. I always had classic seating but if there something we wanted to see or do, we just skip the classic dinner set up and book somewhere. Also when booking our shows we schedule around our dinner time.

[SausPud]

Shows are mainly 7pm (or 7ish times like 7:45, 7:30 etc) or 9pm with the odd show later around 10pm.

Dinner takes around 1.5 to 2 hours but always ask for express service if needed for a show. Or you could always miss a course out of dinner?!

[dmlee1990]

Shows are mainly 7pm (or 7ish times like 7:45, 7:30 etc) or 9pm with the odd show later around 10pm.

Dinner takes around 1.5 to 2 hours but always ask for express service if needed for a show. Or you could always miss a course out of dinner?!

 

Thanks for the info, SausPud! We have Dynamic Dining Classic at 6:00 pm. Hopefully, we can finish dinner in time for the 9 pm shows. I would hate to miss a course out of dinner (definitely can't miss dessert!). I plan to reserve the shows as soon as they allow me to, so we won't have to wait in the standby line.

[SausPud]

Thanks for the info, SausPud! We have Dynamic Dining Classic at 6:00 pm. Hopefully, we can finish dinner in time for the 9 pm shows. I would hate to miss a course out of dinner (definitely can't miss dessert!). I plan to reserve the shows as soon as they allow me to, so we won't have to wait in the standby line.

 

You will have no trouble with 9pm shows. Even the slowest service only lasts 2 hours. I booked everything in advance for the times and days that suited me but the guest entertainers you can't book and they only do 2 shows. One around 7pm and one 9pm or later.

[dmlee1990]

You will have no trouble with 9pm shows. Even the slowest service only lasts 2 hours. I booked everything in advance for the times and days that suited me but the guest entertainers you can't book and they only do 2 shows. One around 7pm and one 9pm or later.

 

Really? So it looks like we will have to wait in line for the guest entertainers. I wonder why you can't book these shows in advance.

:(

Edited August 2, 2015 by dmlee1990

[SausPud]

Because they are not alist shows that are a must to see. Always just turned up and got a seat. The comedians were telling alot of old jokes. Not that funny to me but some people loved them. I walked out of one half way through and so fid alot of others as he was telling the same 1970s jokes that the other comic told two days earlier.

The magician was really good and so was the ventriloquist.

[Biker19]

Really? So it looks like we will have to wait in line for the guest entertainers. I wonder why you can't book these shows in advance.

:(

 

Usually you can book all entertainment, but, there's no description when you book - it just says "Guest entertainer" so you have no idea what/who it is.

[SausPud]

Usually you can book all entertainment, but, there's no description when you book - it just says "Guest entertainer" so you have no idea what/who it is.

 

You can't book guest entertainers on Anthem. Or I could before I sailed on 18th July.

On the first day you can get a sheet with all the show times and it says what the entertainer does. So when you only see their name in the cruise planner you will know what they do.

[deffenm]

Is Grande the "formal" restaurant (basically replaces the traditional elegant night)? If so is it appropriate for gentleman to wear dress pants and a nice shirt or do they have to wear a suit? My husband hates dressing up. If they need to wear a suit we will just eat at Windjammer that night.

[SausPud]

Is Grande the "formal" restaurant (basically replaces the traditional elegant night)? If so is it appropriate for gentleman to wear dress pants and a nice shirt or do they have to wear a suit? My husband hates dressing up. If they need to wear a suit we will just eat at Windjammer that night.

 

Men MUST wear a jacket. If not, one will be provided.

[gizfish]

Grande is formal every night. But, book it the first night of your cruise and they don't require formal dress.

[Pooler Girl]

We ate in the Grande twice on our recent cruise. My hubby wouldn't take a jacket on holiday but did wear smart trousers, shirt (with cuff links) & a tie. The first time nothing was mentioned and we were directed straight to our table. The second time he was asked to carry a jacket (which they gave him) to the table, which he handed back to them on our way out. So I wouldn't worry about taking a jacket as long as you are wearing a smart shirt, tie & trousers.

[kevinyork]

We ate in the Grande twice on our recent cruise. My hubby wouldn't take a jacket on holiday but did wear smart trousers, shirt (with cuff links) & a tie. The first time nothing was mentioned and we were directed straight to our table. The second time he was asked to carry a jacket (which they gave him) to the table, which he handed back to them on our way out. So I wouldn't worry about taking a jacket as long as you are wearing a smart shirt, tie & trousers.

 

 

I have a slight niggle with this though. Grande is advertised as formal and the jacket and tie requirements are advertised up front. What if every man eating there didnt want to take a jacket on holiday and relied on RCI handing out jackets to every diner? They would need to buy a lot of jackets to meet that demand. Also simply carrying a jacket to the table but not wearing it is hardly dressing formal for dinner.

 

 

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[Pooler Girl]

If we were the exception, fair point, but the first time we went there was a woman in there with ripped jeans - hardly formal! Another evening when we were waiting to go into Chic opposite, there was a man waiting in the queue wearing shorts & a short sleeve shirt!

Before we went, I had seen various forum threads indicating that jackets were provided for those men who didn't have them hence he didn't take one. If RCI were strict, didn't supply jackets, & turned away everyone who didn't comply with the formal rules of attire I wouldn't have a problem with this, but as it was my husband looked more formal without a jacket than many people in there.

[kevinyork]

If we were the exception, fair point, but the first time we went there was a woman in there with ripped jeans - hardly formal! Another evening when we were waiting to go into Chic opposite, there was a man waiting in the queue wearing shorts & a short sleeve shirt!

 

Before we went, I had seen various forum threads indicating that jackets were provided for those men who didn't have them hence he didn't take one. If RCI were strict, didn't supply jackets, & turned away everyone who didn't comply with the formal rules of attire I wouldn't have a problem with this, but as it was my husband looked more formal without a jacket than many people in there.

 

 

But....if Royal turned away those that didnt comply then there would be outrage. I agree its Royal's problem. If you introduce policies then ENFORCE them and dont water them down to make the experience less for those that do stick to the rules and more importantly want to stick to the rules.

 

 

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[deffenm]

Men MUST wear a jacket. If not, one will be provided.

 

Thank you so much for the response. We will just plan to eat somewhere else on our Grande night rotation (we are doing Dynamic Classic early seating). I am assuming Khaki pants and polo shirts are appropriate attire for the other restaurants? That is about as dressed up as he gets and that only lasts through dinner.

[motif]

We're just off Anthem and we did DD Classic on an early (6pm) sitting. We started our rotation with The Grande on the first night and the dress code was relaxed, presumably as some people may not have had their luggage delivered or hadn't had chance to unpack. The rotation, for us at least, was

 

Night 1. The Grande

Night 2. Silk

Night 3. American Icon

Night 4. Chic

etc.

 

and we just rotated through them. This meant that on our 14 night cruise we had The Grande and Silk 4 times, and American Icon and Chic 3 times.

 

We had a table for 4 and were always out well within 2 hours, normally within 90 minutes. We always had the same table in each restaurant and we were able to walk straight in. There was never any problems with the shows. They can either be booked (We Will Rock You, The Gift, Spectra's Cabaret) or are first come, first served. For the booked ones, they will open the doors to people without tickets 10 minutes before the show starts in order to fill up empty spaces.

 

As for dress code, I saw men being handed jackets in The Grande, and there is a sign outside stating that jackets must be worn. I never wore a tux, but me and my 13 y.o. son always wore suits, shirts with ties. Boys and younger teens (male) were able to 'get away' without jackets. Dress code in the other DD restaurants is smart casual, and people's interpretation of what that meant varied wildly. I never saw anyone being challenged over what they wore in those restaurants. Khaki pants and a polo shirt will be fine.

 

:)

[motif]

Almost forgot, the menus in the restaurants change slightly every so often so that it's not *exactly* the same each time. Maybe one or two dishes change. And, there's always a group of 'core' options that are the same across all the main restaurants. Things like: grilled chicken breast, baked salmon, Manhattan strip steak...The same went for the starters / appetisers, too.

 

:)