ANTHEM - What's going on with DD/Classic Dining?

[beachnative]

You have to remember QUANTUM and DD dining only had a 46% approval rating.Most people did not like DD dining. :)

 

DD was not completely the reason for the poor ratings……

 

There were a lot of issues that people complained about:

boarding process (no set lines and counters),

layout of the ship didn't look "Royal Caribbean" (looked like Celebrity),

interior design too bold,

long lines at Guest Services (as well as no designated lines)

the Windjammer,

in the dining room the waiters used "electronic tablets" to take orders but couldn't work them easily,

not wanting to make dinner reservations in advance,

and whatever else people could come up with.

 

Funny example: we cruised on the Quantum in December and boarded another ship in January. On that ship an acquaintance of ours (who had also been on the Quantum at the same time) approached me and wanted to convince me that I was wrong for liking the Quantum. My first question was "Give me a specific example of why you didn't like the Quantum." The answer "They didn't have bananas…what ship doesn't have bananas!!":eek:

 

People's complaints, when posted on CC, were supported by people who had not been on the Quantum, never planned to go on the Quantum, love "traditional", love the "old style" Royal ships, and MOST OF ALL feared that the Quantum style of cruising would spread to other ships. The complaints often bred complaints and some people boarded with the mindset that they were not going to have a good time.

 

Were there problems on the ship…absolutely. Were many or most complaints due to having a less than enjoyable time…absolutely.

However, none of the problems seemed to bother us…not even when the Bionic Bar computer refused to allow us to order a drink and displayed on the screen this message: "You do not exist". HaHaHa

 

I totally agree with what an earlier poster said about being flamed for liking the Quantum experience. I received some of that flaming because we throughly enjoyed our B2B.

Edited April 9, 2016 by beachnative

[cruisejess]

We loved DD on the Anthem in January. We ate breakfast, lunch and dinner mostly in American Icon. We had not one complaint. Sadly the poor waiter seemed on edge. They asked us repeatedly if everything was okay. We took the Grandeur last month and found the dining room menus much less exciting and bland. We ate most nights in the specialty restaurants or ordered the filet from Chops. We were looking forward to going on Anthem in May and enjoying the offerings again, but are now worried that they will be gone. We prepurchased the 5 night specialty package. Maybe that's what they wanted.

 

As for the moaners and groaners, they are on every cruise. Mostly in the Diamond Lounge, sitting for hours and tipping a dollar a night. If this is the crowd they want to please good luck. They often talk proudly about their "zero balance" on board account. They badger the concierge and give their "very important" opinion to any one in a uniform wearing stripes. On the Grandeur they felt so at home I watched one of them take out a pair of nail clippers and cut his nails.

I wish that their opinions didn't matter so much.

Edited April 9, 2016 by cruisejess

[ocav]

We loved DD on the Anthem in January. We ate breakfast, lunch and dinner mostly in American Icon. We had not one complaint. Sadly the poor waiter seemed on edge. They asked us repeatedly if everything was okay. We took the Grandeur last month and found the dining room menus much less exciting and bland. We ate most nights in the specialty restaurants or ordered the filet from Chops. We were looking forward to going on Anthem in May and enjoying the offerings again, but are now worried that they will be gone. We prepurchased the 5 night specialty package. Maybe that's what they wanted.

 

As for the moaners and groaners, they are on every cruise. Mostly in the Diamond Lounge, sitting for hours and tipping a dollar a night. If this is the crowd they want to please good luck. They often talk proudly about their "zero balance" on board account. They badger the concierge and give their "very important" opinion to any one in a uniform wearing stripes. On the Grandeur they felt so at home I watched one of them take out a pair of nail clippers and cut his nails.

I wish that their opinions didn't matter so much.

 

 

 

The real money making in RCI is the onboard spend, gauge you as much as you can, those who have $0 onboard bills at the end aren't the people they want sailing, they want the people who spend while onboard

[beachbuddy]

My thoughts exactly. I really hope this change doesn't go into effect until after my May 14 sailing, but it's not looking good. Seems possible we'll be the first sailing with the changes.

 

 

 

I know. I have a friend on your sailing. I hope you get to have DD. We don't sail till November.

[beachbuddy]

Yes, there were issues with DD in the beginning. Staff wasn't familiar with taking orders on an iPad, Royal took away assistant waiters so service was slow and like someone else said, some passengers weren't even told to book their dinners ahead of time. Assistant waiters were put back on the ship and things started working fine. By the time we sailed in April things ran smoothly. I just received an email a few days ago about all the different restaurants in this class ship. If Royal is doing away with it, I think it's going to bite them in the $SS!!!

 

 

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[Alter Ego]

Keeping in mind that I never cruised this class of ship and was planning doing mainly specialty restaurants on the one cruise I have planned, I was still looking forward to the selection of free restaurants on the 2 nights I had planned to use them.

 

That being said, one complaint I heard over and over was how cold the food was coming out of the kitchen. Honestly, I don't understand how this could be and, in my uninformed opinion, really seems like a lack of leadership in the management of these restaurants. Just wondering if anyone had an opinion on this issue and how this shouldn't be the case in a more traditional setting. As I said, I don't understand it. But maybe this is a fleet wide problem, and I just see it referenced more with the other Anthem complaints.

[cruisenfever]

Talked again with Maitre'd last night and she had no further update to report. IMO it appears that management on board is a little frustrated because no "final" decision or implementation date has been decided upon yet. She said that "they" are still working on it and when I asked if it was Corporate, she didn't say yes and she didn't say no..........but we all know where "final" decisions come from. :D

 

If I find out any additional information I will post it here.

[cruisenfever]

Keeping in mind that I never cruised this class of ship and was planning doing mainly specialty restaurants on the one cruise I have planned, I was still looking forward to the selection of free restaurants on the 2 nights I had planned to use them.

 

That being said, one complaint I heard over and over was how cold the food was coming out of the kitchen. Honestly, I don't understand how this could be and, in my uninformed opinion, really seems like a lack of leadership in the management of these restaurants. Just wondering if anyone had an opinion on this issue and how this shouldn't be the case in a more traditional setting. As I said, I don't understand it. But maybe this is a fleet wide problem, and I just see it referenced more with the other Anthem complaints.

Have been on board Anthem since March 27th, and have yet to be served a meal that was "cold". Service has been outstanding. From being seated to finishing our dessert is usually 60-70 minutes.

[denatravels]

Have been on board Anthem since March 27th, and have yet to be served a meal that was "cold". Service has been outstanding. From being seated to finishing our dessert is usually 60-70 minutes.

 

 

I had cold food my first night on board at Silk. Manager said it happens often. They quickly took care of it and that same manager checked on me throughout the week. Service wasn't an issue at all. I really liked DD-- this change plus the significant cost savings and extra perks makes NCL more likely next February.

 

 

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[kevinyork]

Every ship takes time to find its market. Anthem on ex US sailings suffers from regular Royal cruisers trying a ship that is quite different to the rest of the fleet. Not just in terms of dining but layout, boarding etc. If they would have given it time it would have found its market and generally on here at least people seemed to have loved dynamic dining if they had experienced it. We did on Anthem in Sep. We were looking at an Anthem cruise next Feb but if DD is no more then we won't be booking.

 

 

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[MisterBill99]

Every ship takes time to find its market. Anthem on ex US sailings suffers from regular Royal cruisers trying a ship that is quite different to the rest of the fleet. Not just in terms of dining but layout, boarding etc. If they would have given it time it would have found its market and generally on here at least people seemed to have loved dynamic dining if they had experienced it.

The problem is that this isn't a ship sailing out of Florida where if you don't like the ship, there's another Royal ship sailing tomorrow so you wouldn't lose their business entirely. This is their only ship out of NJ/NY, and if people decide that they don't like it, NCL offers similar itineraries on a fairly new ship a few miles away. One has to imagine that enough people were not booking that it became a business issue. They wouldn't be making this change if it weren't costing them business.

 

Either that or they finally figured out that there was no way to make it work properly, but that seems unlikely.

 

Personally, I am rather disappointed since a big draw on Anthem (for me) was the different types of food available for free on a daily basis. Yes, they can still list a bunch of restaurants, but you have to take their count with a grain of salt when they include the hot dog place and Johnny Rocket's in that.

Edited April 10, 2016 by MisterBill99

[gaylemh]

The problem is that this isn't a ship sailing out of Florida where if you don't like the ship, there's another Royal ship sailing tomorrow so you wouldn't lose their business entirely. This is their only ship out of NJ/NY, and if people decide that they don't like it, NCL offers similar itineraries on a fairly new ship a few miles away. One has to imagine that enough people were not booking that it became a business issue. They wouldn't be making this change if it weren't costing them business.

 

Either that or they finally figured out that there was no way to make it work properly, but that seems unlikely.

 

Personally, I am rather disappointed since a big draw on Anthem (for me) was the different types of food available for free on a daily basis. Yes, they can still list a bunch of restaurants, but you have to take their count with a grain of salt when they include the hot dog place and Johnny Rocket's in that.

 

NCL in NY has similar dining where you go to different restaurants every night. No MDR. So not much different from Anthem's DD.

[littlekicks]

 

Were there problems on the ship…absolutely. Were many or most complaints due to having a less than enjoyable time…absolutely.

However, none of the problems seemed to bother us…not even when the Bionic Bar computer refused to allow us to order a drink and displayed on the screen this message: "You do not exist". HaHaHa

 

 

Hahaha :p Thanks funny!

 

We are on the June 16th sailing. My first cruise.

[MisterBill99]

NCL in NY has similar dining where you go to different restaurants every night. No MDR. So not much different from Anthem's DD.

Good point. But maybe it wasn't what their customers were expecting. It will be interesting to see how they spin this when the official announcement comes out.

[nycglitter]

Just went to mock book our cruise on June 30 as they are having a BOGO sale to see if I could get our cruise cheaper.

DD is grayed out as a choice and MTD appears as a wait list. Also Classic dining times are 6:00 and 8:00

Edited April 11, 2016 by nycglitter

[Clarea]

Just went to mock book our cruise on June 30 as they are having a BOGO sale to see if I could get our cruise cheaper.

DD is grayed out as a choice and MTD appears as a wait list. Also Classic dining times are 6:00 and 8:00

Interesting, maybe they are getting closer to making a formal announcement.

[DaniDanielle]

When we were on NCL Breakaway. There were three dining rooms but basically the same menu in each so not the same as Anthem.v

[Doc2725]

Hi cruisers,

Keep reading different stories about the Dining on Anthem. Some say it should all go Dynamic, as is, making reservations for restaurant and time of your choice. That would be the gest. Different restaurants, trying different menu's.

 

I personally think DD is the way of the future. Mixing it with Classic, just doesn't seem to work. Classic folks could still choose their 5:30 or whatever time as they do for classic. It would prevent much confusion all around.

 

RCI should take their cue from NCL....especially some of the older ships. Dine when YOU want, not when the cruise line says you should. You can even make dining reservations in advance on line. They were the Innovator of MTD and everyone else started following.

 

People want flexibility of their choosing.

 

I hope Anthem sticks with Dynamic Dining, making ressies in advance as to which restaurant the passengers want to dine in.

 

This is just my opinion. I'm sure I'm not alone. How this plays out might determine whether or not we stick to our 12 night Western Oct. 29, 2016!! Let's hope we won't have to change.

 

Safe travels all.

 

PS I appreciate feedback and opinions, just as long as it's kept civil.

Thanks.

:-)

 

I think you may be in for some disappointment down the road, as most signs point to DD being scrapped. There are no plans to expand its rollout past the Quantum class ships. However, you may have a hope in that I think they MAY keep DD on the Quantum class ships, as that's who it was specifically designed for.

[Baron Barracuda]

Just went to mock book our cruise on June 30 as they are having a BOGO sale to see if I could get our cruise cheaper.

DD is grayed out as a choice and MTD appears as a wait list. Also Classic dining times are 6:00 and 8:00

 

Thought they'd have to go to three seatings to feed everyone. Can they possibly do it with two in traditional and squeeze everyone else through MTD? My dd reservations for 6/16/16 are still there (whatever that means).

[caribbean sailor]

And I'm with Patti, Gayle & Carol....

And Beachnative and others who have voiced their positive experiences with DD in many past threads.

 

But Gayle, word of advice... Give up this honourable fight you're leading. You with 5 cruises, Marion_mom with 10, etc... Just doesn't matter to the so many who worry/are against DD even before they sail or others who have one sailing. It just doesn't matter, and now Royal is giving up too. It's just better to drink the "negativity kool-aid" and join the negative majority. I gave up... My meds are working great!!! ;)

 

Actually, let's all start a thread about how badly MTD will suck when it's ship wide, even though it hasn't been implemented yet. I'm sure that thread will go 30 pages with "expert" and "first hand" opinions :rolleyes::p

 

 

Facts are only 46% of cruisers loved Quantum or the Anthem.

Edited April 11, 2016 by caribbean sailor

[swoopy2110]

Facts are only 46% of cruisers loved Quantum are Anthem.

 

The facts are the only 46% of people who cruise on Quantum and Anthem and then bothered to post a review about it on Cruise Critic love Quantum and Anthem, which is an absolutely minuscule percentage of total cruisers

[Bril]

Most people who do like the ships and DD don't have anything to complain and don't bother to send a review

 

 

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[Biker19]

Facts are only 46% of cruisers loved Quantum or the Anthem.

 

And yet, they sail full on every sailing.

[Biker19]

Thought they'd have to go to three seatings to feed everyone. Can they possibly do it with two in traditional and squeeze everyone else through MTD? My dd reservations for 6/16/16 are still there (whatever that means).

The total seating capacity is around 1700 for the four main venues. It all depends on how many people don't go there (and go to CK, Bistro, WJ, etc). I assume RCI has the numbers to make it work if they plan on this change.

[caribbean sailor]

Most people who do like the ships and DD don't have anything to complain and don't bother to send a review

 

 

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My understanding is Royal is doing away with DD dining,on the Quantum class ships.

Edited April 11, 2016 by caribbean sailor