'Freestyle dining'..is RCCL going to follow..other though-provoking ?s..

[xpcdoojk]

relegate:

1.to exile; banish (to)

2. to consign or assign to an inferior position

3. to assign to a class, sphere, realm, etc.

 

Kindly keep your corrections to yourself, junior. I knew which word I wanted to use there.

 

If the menu and food quality is indeed exactly the same (or better) in the Windjammer as in the main dining room, then I certainly have no problem whatsoever never setting foot in the dining room. Since there seems to be a difference of opinion on these boards whether or not this is actually the case, I will defer my opinon on this until I find out for myself in a few short days.

 

And as far as your ill-mannered room service comment goes, you need to stick with cutting and pasting the RCI dress code and leave the intelligent, deferential argumentation to those of us who are mature enough to handle it.

 

Congratulations, you have just made the most condescending post of the day. :D

[TexasMom2]

Let's please keep this civil - it's been the most civilized discussion on dining issues in a long time. I am enjoying reading about both sides and it doesn't hurt to discuss things as long as we are polite.

 

A future effort by RCI to offer both traditional and freestyle would be fine with me, but I would rather they come up with the perfect way to offer both without lowering service levels and avoiding wait times. Princess has quite a ways to go and they have been doing it for awhile.

[johnny cruise]

 

 

 

 

both without lowering service levels and avoiding wait times. Princess has quite a ways to go and they have been doing it for awhile.

 

 

Here, Here.

 

JC:D

[abridalmaven]

Here's what I think, if freestyle is SO important to anyone, go on NCL. Why should all cruiselines be exactly alike? if they were there would be no reason to try any of them. Each line has it's own thing. For me the style of RCI ships is the best anywhere, their service so far for me has been wonderful, plus lots of activities, and the food better than NCL so far for me, so that is what makes me happy, so it keeps me coming back. If Haute cuisine is what I craved, then I might try Seabourne et al. But I love the activities so I do not think I would bother with those lines yet. However I will have to be in a wheelchair to try HAL, not ready for laid back or wheelchair races yet.:eek: So stop trying to make them all the same.

[elhenry]

I first cruised with RCCL (anyone remember Song of America?) and cruised four times with them. Obviously we liked them fine.

 

Then we tried NCL. Then we tried Princess. (and Celebrity before those two). And we will not return to RCCL as long as they offer only traditional seating in the dress-up dining room. I don't need a waiter to remember that I like Earl Grey tea and ice cream with my cake to make my vacation complete. Sunset on the balcony without having to wait until 8:30 to eat dinner: that makes my vacation complete. It has nothing to do with dressing up and feeling ritzy: that will happen on almost any cruise if *you* want it to. Even NCL. And it happens all the time on Princess. In fact, the only time I have seen waiters turn folks away for being underdressed is with personal choice dining on Princess.

 

I understand why posters in the RCCL forum would love "their" line. RCCL has many virtues to recommend it. But I don't want misconceptions that everyone on NCL and Princess is waltzing into the dining room in a bathing suit and flip flops to color the view of personal choice. 'Tain't so...

 

I wish RCCL would offer anytime dining, so I could cruise them again!

 

el henry

[kybill]

Seems to this old cruiser RCCL already offers ulternative dinners opportunities. The Windjammer, room service, Johnny Rockets, speciality dinning resturants and usually a grill or two on the larger/newer ships.

Bill

[negc]

 

I wish RCCL would offer anytime dining, so I could cruise them again!

 

el henry

 

There are a lot more factors that go into our decision as to which lines and which ships to sail on than what style of dining they offer. We do have our preference as far as dining style but will and have sailed on other lines because of things far more important to us than whether they offer traditional, anytime, or freestyle dining.

 

I guess that from your comments, dining style is uppermost in your criteria for choosing a line or ship. That is certainly your right, although it somewhat limits your choices.

 

I don't think any line that tries to be all things to all people is likely to be as successful as one which concentrates on doing things well that are appreciated by their target audience. For the time being, at least, and for the foreseeable future, Royal Caribbean has chosen its course. It apparently means you will not be sailing with them again, but it may also mean that many other folks will be onboard to take your place.

[xpcdoojk]

I first cruised with RCCL (anyone remember Song of America?) and cruised four times with them. Obviously we liked them fine.

 

Then we tried NCL. Then we tried Princess. (and Celebrity before those two). And we will not return to RCCL as long as they offer only traditional seating in the dress-up dining room. I don't need a waiter to remember that I like Earl Grey tea and ice cream with my cake to make my vacation complete. Sunset on the balcony without having to wait until 8:30 to eat dinner: that makes my vacation complete. It has nothing to do with dressing up and feeling ritzy: that will happen on almost any cruise if *you* want it to. Even NCL. And it happens all the time on Princess. In fact, the only time I have seen waiters turn folks away for being underdressed is with personal choice dining on Princess.

 

I understand why posters in the RCCL forum would love "their" line. RCCL has many virtues to recommend it. But I don't want misconceptions that everyone on NCL and Princess is waltzing into the dining room in a bathing suit and flip flops to color the view of personal choice. 'Tain't so...

 

I wish RCCL would offer anytime dining, so I could cruise them again!

 

el henry

 

So why post in this forum? Seriously, you have voted with your feet and I respect that. So move on. On my last cruise I wondered why the crew were crying because you weren't there. :rolleyes:

 

jc

[wrp96]

Here's what I think, if freestyle is SO important to anyone, go on NCL. Why should all cruiselines be exactly alike? if they were there would be no reason to try any of them. Each line has it's own thing. For me the style of RCI ships is the best anywhere, their service so far for me has been wonderful, plus lots of activities, and the food better than NCL so far for me, so that is what makes me happy, so it keeps me coming back. If Haute cuisine is what I craved, then I might try Seabourne et al. But I love the activities so I do not think I would bother with those lines yet. However I will have to be in a wheelchair to try HAL, not ready for laid back or wheelchair races yet.:eek: So stop trying to make them all the same.

 

Amen!!

[big al]

You would never know we are living in the U.S.A. by reading these boards.....have some of you EVER heard of choices? What's wrong with having options? I hate traditional dining,BUT that doesn't stop me(us) from going on RCL,or Carnival,etc,....In fact,the 2 most annoying cruises we took were on the so-called "upscale" lines-Celebrity & HAL..Celebrity had very good food and good service,and HAL's Westerdam this past November had very mediocre food and decent service (except in the Pinnacle Grill,where we waited 45 minutes for our salads!!Then another 20 minutes for our entrees!)...

When we tried the NCL Sun in '01 with their Freestyle dining concept,I was apprehensive at best..read a fair amount of negative posts about Freestyle...We LOVED it! Le Bistro,their French venue was so good,we ate their twice..service was impeccable..Il Adaggio,the Italian place was also fabulous..Teppanyaki,the Japanese Steakhouse was great,too...what was all the fuss? O.K.,the food in the dining room was fair,not great,but no service problems...

I am told when to eat at work,and of course,I have a dress code.Do I have to do that on my vacation as well??? Freestyle is wonderful if:

1) You DO NOT like being told what time to eat

2) You do NOT like being told what to wear

3) You do NOT like being told where to sit

4) You do Not like dining options like NCL or Princess have

5) You do NOT like running back to the ship while in port so you can take your shower,change so you can make your early dining seating......

 

As a diabetic,I need to eat smaller meals frequently,and big meals less often (also for my Reflux now) Traditional dining makes that very tough..I had a helluva time on Celebrity and HAL,who open their buffets/venues from a certain time to another certain time......

Another final point...we don't cruise to meet other people and "get to know my waiters and tablemates"...I deal with 200-300 people every day in my job....we both have plenty of friends/relatives to keep us busy..we cruise to relax,enjoy the sea,be entertained and pampered,hang out at some Caribbean beaches,enjoy our verandah and look out on to the sea,etc.That being said,I'm always at the CC meetings on every cruise,say hello to all I've met and try to engage in friendly conversations while on board...

So,if you want traditional dining and want to be told when to eat,where to sit,what to where and have ONE limited menu-fine,that's really O.K. with me (really-like I said once,"different strokes for different folks")...just don't tell me I HAVE to do the same...on another viewpoint,I see NCL & Princess being much more "American" by offering options and more freedoms-isn't that what we are all about?

 

Big Al

Still Cruising After All These Years

[brn2crz]

(hope you don't mind Tami ) From this thread..http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=310722

.

 

We got back yesterday. First, I will say that I am glad that we went but I know I will not do NCL again.

 

Freestyle was more like "Free for All." They aren't kidding when they say you have to book the alternative restaurants as soon as you board. We followed the advice on the NCL CC board and booked Cagney's (20.00 each) and LeBistro (15.00 each) at 2:00 PM on the first day (actually about an hour after we got on the ship.) We didn't get the times we requested but it was within a half hour so that was OK...

 

We had decided that we would try a different place every night so went to the Garden Room (Main dining) and were told that there was a 40 minute wait and they suggested we try Windows (Main dining also). That was a 20 minute wait and we were both tired from a long day and went to Raffles instead (buffet, like Windjammer). It was pretty empty. I must have been tired because I cannot recall what I ate that night.

 

Monday...Cagney's (6:00) It was very good and worth the extra $$. Since there is no age restriction we sat close to a couple with toddlers. They were fine but there was a crying baby who wasn't..I'll say no more. We saw a range of well dressed to jeans and t-shirts there. So much for "no jeans" in the dining rooms.

 

Tuesday..Garden dining room. Selections were salmon, pork chops and spaghetti as the main entrees.(???) A weird combo, I thought. Presentation was nice but the food left a lot to be desired.

 

Wednesday..La Trattoria..We wanted to try Windows but again, there was a wait. No charge for this place and the food was good. (Italian) You are supposed to make a reservation and we called several times..no answer. They had free tables so we were seated around 7:30.

 

Thursday...LeBistro (7:00)...again, the food (French) was very good. Another mix of dress and crying babies.

 

Friday...Windows...finally. We decided to go early 5:45 and had no problem getting a table for 2 by a window. I ordered escargot, which I had the night before at Le Bistro and it was identical (and excellent) so I couldn't figure out why you have to pay extra at Le Bistro but not in main dining. It was very confusing. I had the lobster tails. Twin tails and a nice presentation but they were served covered with an Asian sauce that I can only compare to "Chinese take-out"...pretty gross. They really should have left them plain. We tried to wipe the sauce off and short of dipping the tail in the water glass, ate them anyway. They were served with a quiche. Again, another weird combo.

 

Saturday...Buffet again... (8:00) We didn't want to try any of the Asian restaurants so opted to do the buffet again. We had salads and made to order pasta which was quite good.

 

I will say there was food no matter when you wanted it. The casino had trays of sandwiches throughout the day when at sea and there was a 24 hour place...Blue Lagoon..not sure what they served but every time we passed through there, people were eating bowls of noodles. Can't comment on that since we didn't eat there and can't comment on the desserts since I never had any, other than a cookie one afternoon.

 

Overall, we didn't care for NCL. We thought that the crew was as nice as "they had to be." We did miss the experience of the personal service when you have the same waiter every night even though we'll sometimes groan about going to the dining room at a set time.

 

We tipped our cabin steward (nice lady) prior to sailing and requested that we have "plenty of ice". Since there were no refrigerators (which I missed terribly) we thought that wouldn't be a problem. We never saw a bucket of ice unless we went to get it ourselves at one of the bars or by chance ran into our assistant steward and he got it for us. Service was adequate for the week. We thought the cabins were very tiny compared to RCL. We had a balcony on deck 11 and felt cramped. The closet size was OK for 2 but there weren't enough drawers and "space for stuff." We're not overpackers but had to keep some things in the suitcase under the bed since there just wasn't any room.

 

We also tipped the bartenders at the Bier Garten (the next best thing to having a real pool bar!!) at the beginning of the cruise and never once got a comp drink. We bought plenty too. Again, servers were polite, but not friendly like RCL. I found it really "cheap" that they actually measured out in a shot glass, the amount of liquor they put in a drink. My sister and I pretty much drank Coor's Light and wine with dinner. Coor's Light was $4.54 each w/gratuity. Absolut w/cranberry was $6.33. A glass of Pinot Grigio was $10.00, Drink of the day was $9.00. Two glasses of champagne at Champagne Charlie's was $32.60 w/gratuity. We thought the drink prices were ridiculous. We didn't even mind the price for the champagne since we don't do it every day but we wanted to sit and relax and enjoy and there were 3 or 4 toddlers running around our table. Not fun.

 

There were babies with diapers in the hot tubs and pools..not often, but seeing it once was enough.

 

There were too many negatives that would make me want to sail NCL again. We're cancelling our NCL Hawaii cruise for January and waiting till RCL comes out with their '07 itinerary.

 

On the bright side, my sister and I had a lot of laughs and the weather was perfect for the entire time we were away. That was enough for us.

[brn2crz]

You would never know we are living in the U.S.A. by reading these boards.....have some of you EVER heard of choices? What's wrong with having options? I hate traditional dining,BUT that doesn't stop me(us) from going on RCL,or Carnival,etc,....In fact,the 2 most annoying cruises we took were on the so-called "upscale" lines-Celebrity & HAL..Celebrity had very good food and good service,and HAL's Westerdam this past November had very mediocre food and decent service (except in the Pinnacle Grill,where we waited 45 minutes for our salads!!Then another 20 minutes for our entrees!)...

When we tried the NCL Sun in '01 with their Freestyle dining concept,I was apprehensive at best..read a fair amount of negative posts about Freestyle...We LOVED it! Le Bistro,their French venue was so good,we ate their twice..service was impeccable..Il Adaggio,the Italian place was also fabulous..Teppanyaki,the Japanese Steakhouse was great,too...what was all the fuss? O.K.,the food in the dining room was fair,not great,but no service problems...

I am told when to eat at work,and of course,I have a dress code.Do I have to do that on my vacation as well??? Freestyle is wonderful if:

1) You DO NOT like being told what time to eat

2) You do NOT like being told what to wear

3) You do NOT like being told where to sit

4) You do Not like dining options like NCL or Princess have

5) You do NOT like running back to the ship while in port so you can take your shower,change so you can make your early dining seating......

 

As a diabetic,I need to eat smaller meals frequently,and big meals less often (also for my Reflux now) Traditional dining makes that very tough..I had a helluva time on Celebrity and HAL,who open their buffets/venues from a certain time to another certain time......

Another final point...we don't cruise to meet other people and "get to know my waiters and tablemates"...I deal with 200-300 people every day in my job....we both have plenty of friends/relatives to keep us busy..we cruise to relax,enjoy the sea,be entertained and pampered,hang out at some Caribbean beaches,enjoy our verandah and look out on to the sea,etc.That being said,I'm always at the CC meetings on every cruise,say hello to all I've met and try to engage in friendly conversations while on board...

So,if you want traditional dining and want to be told when to eat,where to sit,what to where and have ONE limited menu-fine,that's really O.K. with me (really-like I said once,"different strokes for different folks")...just don't tell me I HAVE to do the same...on another viewpoint,I see NCL & Princess being much more "American" by offering options and more freedoms-isn't that what we are all about?

 

You can have all the choice you want...

And we choose traditional...No one is telling you anything...

 

But get this...RCI is traditonal,thats what we like,thats what we choose.

If you don't want this,please....feel free to choose what you want...That is your choice.

Geez...Its like me going to (insert your own nice restaurant) and demanding they install a Luby's style buffet system...

[SherriZ366]

This subject comes up often. This particular thread has been sparked by posters expressing their preferences with one poster reporting that his waiter on Explorer heard a rumor about RCCL trying a form of free-style on the Genesis class or the last Freedom.

 

About a year to 18 or 24 months ago, there was a thread sparked by a head waiter telling posters that RCCL was moving to a form of free-style, possibly dividing up the dining room into traditional and free style. This sparked a lively thread. I had my travel agent check it out and she brought it up in a meeting with Adam Goldstein, RCCL's President. I think other agents also brought it up with him at the meeting. Goldstein said that one of the things passengers liked about RCCL was the traditional dining and that was important to RCCL in keeping it. Therefore, I suggest that those like me who love Traditional dining note it on their comment cards and strongly support it on these boards (which I think RCCL reads).

 

I will see if my agent has heard anything new on the issue and post her reply.

[RBOUR]

Just returned from 7 day mex riv and had a wonderful time took 28 people all ages. We were dissapointed that only one meal evening was traditional.All the others breakfast and lunch were first come and you never new what table or who you were sitting by.We really enjoyed our head waiter and our wait staff and would have liked to have been at our reg table.We had friends a little late for breakfast and there chairs were already filled.We asked for a table for our group and were told only at the dinner were they reserved.Going to Alaska with a group next year hope we find a traditional dinning ship any suggestions?:)

[xpcdoojk]

Just returned from 7 day mex riv and had a wonderful time took 28 people all ages. We were dissapointed that only one meal evening was traditional.All the others breakfast and lunch were first come and you never new what table or who you were sitting by.We really enjoyed our head waiter and our wait staff and would have liked to have been at our reg table.We had friends a little late for breakfast and there chairs were already filled.We asked for a table for our group and were told only at the dinner were they reserved.Going to Alaska with a group next year hope we find a traditional dinning ship any suggestions?:)

 

None of the lines I have cruised on are doing traditional for any meals other than dinner.

 

jc

[Disneycruisers]

Geez...Its like me going to (insert your own nice restaurant) and demanding they install a Luby's style buffet system...

 

brn2crz, when I read that, my first thought was 'must be a Texan!' Yup, I was right. Now, I WOULD do a freestyle dining cruise if a Luby's was onboard! LOL! (I still have to drive too far to Denton to get to one.)

[mommabean]

I don't think I'd like freestyle dining. I like having the same wait staff. I even like having the same table mates each night if they show up. I'm not outgoing but it's fun to get to know some other people on the ship just a little by being placed into that situation.

[phantom728]

I much prefer the traditional dining room. It gives me and DH a chance to get a little bit dressy for dinner, which we don't normally do at home. We also like the theme nights, such as caribbean. My DH has a crazy caribbean shirt for those nights and we have such fun:D

 

If I wanted to go casual, then I would just go to the Windjammer. I've talked with others who have done Freestyling and they agreed that they prefer the traditional as you know what the dress is for the night.

[sandiegojoe]

My last cruise was on NCL. They have the "Freestyle" dinning. Some of the passengers were jokingly calling it Freestyle "Lining", because of the long waits to be seated. I was lucky enough to get free comps' to the specialty resturants, so I wasn't affected too much. But having to listen to most of the people complain did take something away from the cruise.

Almost everyone hates it. I have booked two more cruises this year, and each time I have made it clear that I want the traditional dinning. I also called Norweign each time and let them know that I did not book with them because of the whole Freestyle dinning thing. NCL continues to hold the hard line that everyone loves it, but threads like this suggest otherwise.

SanDiegoJoe