Any talk of RCI offering Anytime Dining?

[logan1_2000]

 

Most people do not want to abolish the traditional, just give me the choice of not doing traditional. Most ships in the RCI fleet have 2 floors, why not have one traditiona dn one open seating. Any why should I have to pay a charge for my dinner, or eat a buffet because I want to eat at 7:30. I do not understand why people like to be told when they have to eat, with whom they have to eat, and this is the server you have to eat. Another negative is with all the other options now available on cruise lines for food, you often get half empty tables at dinner time. Why not fill them with new people to meet?

 

If half the tables are empty, that indicates to me that half the people have indeed found an alternative to the traditional set dining time and table assignment.

 

We have cruised on two lines, RCI and Disney, both of which have traditional two-seating dinners at assigned tables with assigned wait staff. This is a feature that makes cruising unique to me, compared to other vacation choices. Both also have casual, flexible options, and both also offer alternative, premium restaurants.

 

The post I have quoted states that the poster does not understand why people like to be told when to eat, with whom, and at what table with which server. So for the heck of it, I'll reply with my own answers. These sentiments may or may not apply to anyone else, and are not presented as any form of universal truth or "correct" answer--they are MY answers--

 

I like not having to make decisions on vacation. I know when I am dining. I know I will not have to wait for a table. I am always assigned a waiter at every restaurant at which I dine, but on a cruise ship I have the chance for my server to get to know my preferences, and the simple gesture of bringing me a diet coke without my having to ask genuninely means a lot to me as a guest. Reminds me of going to the catskills as a boy, also with assigned tables and waiters, and showing up for meals with certain favorites already set out at my seat. I personally prefer tipping based upon my own service received, and with freestyle that concept would be lost--unless there was some reversion to tipping for each individual meal at all times, instead of just with the premium restaurants for single meals. We typically dine at a smaller table as a family--yes, as a result of some awful tablemates on one cruise--but that has only happened once, and we have shared a table with a lovely family on one occasion since then--but this is capacity management and I dont have to necessarily wait for a table of our size as I might at a land-based restaurant. Next cruise for us is intended to be very casual, and we have already decided that we will have dinner in the windjammer on the sovereign, and skip the dining room. There might be additional options for such a casual approach to dinner on some other lines, but we are happy enough with RCI not to pursue another line, and frankly it is such a comparatively infrequently used option on RCI that again, no lines, no waiting. I've just read too many reports of not getting the desired time, or waiting for tables, on the freestyle or personal choice dining lines--including advice and feedback passed along by my TA, a travel specialist. To me, it is easier to know up front that dinner is at 6, or that dinner is at 8:30, and build a schedule around that, then to try to build a schedule and then hope dinner will fit into that schedule.

 

The only times we've ever had dinner in the stateroom were 2 occasions where DS just plain crashed from being tired. On DCL it happened on Lobster night, so DW went to dinner--we had great tablemates that cruise--and the waiters sent a tray of lobster tail & filet back w/ her for our dinner, and on RCI this winter DS crashed and we brought plates down from the windjammer to the suite. Perhaps in the future we'll try out genuine room service to the suite, at a time of our choosing.

[happy cruzer]

thanks, Zackie/Justin. You caught my sentiments perfectly. Well put.

[tugboat]

Someone post a poll and we will see which one get the most votes.

[kkorman]

Obviously, just from reading this thread lots of others have. Have you considered the possibility that it works so well for you because as a person who has sailed with them umpteen times, you get preferential treatment?

 

I do not think that has anything to do with it. They do not know that when I go to be seated.

 

There are very few people commenting on this thread that have actually tried PC dining. And chances are they will not. All they are saying is that they like traditional and RCI should keep it. I agree... just think thay can add PC as well.

[kkorman]

thanks, Zackie/Justin. You caught my sentiments perfectly. Well put.

 

But you will still get that option. You will have your set seating at your time iwth your people... In a completely different part of a dining room, I will have my preference.

[lovemylab]

I would be disappointed if RCI decided to get rid of traditional dining as it was one of the reasons I booked a cruise with them. I also like that the Windjammer allows for some flexibility.

 

As much as I like the intineraries on Princess and NCL I doubt I will book with them because I don't think I would enjoy freestyle. I was told by several people that traditional dining on Princess fills up quickly. I enjoyed having the same servers every night. My assistant waiter knew what type of dinner roll I preferred. She knew that we didn't drink wine so we didn't have a wine menu shoved in our faces every night. She knew that we both enjoyed having a coffee after dinner so there was no need to ask. I know these things sound small - but they are some of the little things that made our cruise a memorable one. Likewise, other people will have their reasons for preferring freestyle and there is nothing wrong with that.

 

If freestyle dining is that important to someone than they should book with the cruiselines that offer that service. We all have different preferences and thankfully not all cruiselines are alike. Choose the cruiseline that caters to your preferences. There is no need to get hostile just because someone else doesn't agree with how you choose to eat while on vacation :)

[johnjen]

It sounds to me that "anytime" dining translates to "reheats," in other words, your food is sitting around in a kitchen, and when something's ordered, they simply heat it up.

 

A friend of mine did an Alaskan cruise with NCL and he said that on a few occasions the gravy had a "skin" on it, indicating that it had been sitting out for awhile.

[jeffw47]

Hey kkorman was that you and your family my wife and I were having dinner with on the Princess? We had dinner one night with four people from Phoenix. They were all related and they were the nicest people.

 

I will say that for PC I did enjoy every person we met at dinner each night. It was really funny to have everyone kind of quiet when you first sit down, then after about 5 minutes and introductions everyone starts talking to each other the whole dinner. I must say I will have to admit, I did like that part. And, after we found the right waiter it was enjoyable. Even with Traditional dining, I have always enjoyed the people we were with. Of course, I guess I am not picky on who I dine with either.

 

isujim, are you ever going to let Carol and I cruise with y'all again? Hope you have been doing good! Glad to see you are still posting. lol. Taking a cruise anytime soon?

[zackiedawg]

But you will still get that option. You will have your set seating at your time iwth your people... In a completely different part of a dining room

 

Actually...that isn't necessarily true. On Princess, traditional dining does suffer somewhat by the offering of personal choice dining. As you yourself mentioned:

 

It is interesting to see how the traditional dining rooms empty out as the trip goes on because people switch over to pc. It happen last year on an AK cruise. I was travelling alone, so set it up to be traditional. I was at a table of ten. On the 3rd night I was the onlu person who showed up. I know some of the people went to other dining options (the premium restauarants that night) but 2 couples never went back.

 

See? An example of a traditional dining experience which was very much compromised because the ship decided to offer two kinds of dining. Someone who truly enjoys and values traditional dining can get no guarantees that they will get the same experience on a Princess ship offering both as they will on an RCL ship which offers only one.

 

You note how many of your tablemates ended up preferring the personal choice, and migrated over to that style. And that's exactly why Princess should continue to offer that style of dining, because many people who choose their line like that. But many people who choose RCL do so because they know the dining is traditional, and want the full traditional experience, uncompromised. I want the same tablemates for the whole cruise. I want a waiter and assistant waiter who know my every preference and have it waiting for me. I want an exact time to arrive for dinner nightly, and an exact table to arrive to. I want to see a full dining room, and participate in and watch the grand entrance of the entire late-seating audience as they stream into the dining room.

 

I will have my preference.

 

But you DO have your preference already. Simply choose a line that already offers your dining preferences. Princess and NCL are at least two - there are likely others with flexible options. Let's think about equality. You've got several cruise lines to choose from, and so do those of us who want traditional dining. And those who want completely freestyle dining have a choice of their own.

 

Traditional dining is a whole-ship experience for those of us who prefer it...there is no way to truly offer BOTH. What Princess offers is a hybrid...it's own system. Traditionalists not only rely on having that scheduled dinner time, common tablemates, and assigned waitstaff...but enjoy the full-ship participation in that dining tradition. We want a full dining room, not a half-empty one. We want to all see the scheduled shows together when the dinner seating lets out. We want the ship's entertainment options to be scheduled specifically around a specific meal time, so we can enjoy the experience of a packed house for the nightly entertainment. We want to see the gathering of the masses on formal night, and the grand entrance parade of penguins and prom queens to the dining room.

 

Simple fact is: BOTH options cannot satisfy both crowds on the same ship, by your own traditional dining experience. Therefore, what is the harm in keeping a few lines with traditional dining only? As long as you still can choose another line with a different dining option...you can still have the cruise you want...and we can have the one we want.

[isujim]

Hey Jeff

 

Anytime..........are we crusing anytime soon...LOL

 

15 day Panama Canal in October

8 day Eastern in March of 07

7 day Canada/New England in October of 07

 

Can't book too early........fire me an email sometime and let's see if we can coordinate another cruise........

 

Sorry for the interruption on dining choices:D

[jeffw47]

Jim,

 

I can't find your email, so when you get time email me your email address.

 

My email is jeffjcw@yahoo.com

 

We have one on the Rhapsody this December and two more on Rhapsody next year. I started to do the 8 day eastern this past April, but decided to go on Princess instead.

 

Shoot me an email. I would like to talk to you about your Hawaii cruise you took.

 

Thanks!

[TexasMom2]

For anyone interested to read about how combination traditional/anytime dining is working on Princess, read this thread.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=351849

[Hobiecat01]

I guess I'm just a show me type of guy. I like RCCL's two sittings but I am very interested in Princesses anytime dining. Guess I need to book another RCCL and a Princess cruise to compare... WOW! two more cruises... Wheeee

[tarheelmjfan]

We're in the Traditional dining camp. We have no interest in sailing on NCL, & would only consider Princess, if we were able to get traditional dining. The last time we checked into Princess there was a long wait list for traditional dining. I don't know if things have changed, but at that time it wasn't working too well for them.

[TexasMom2]

It's a boxing match over there...anytime diners are telling traditional diners to stay in their assigned dining room and don't even think about crashing an anytime dining room because it makes the wait times longer and it's rude.

 

The inherent problem is that there is typically one traditional dining room and 2 or 3 anytime dining rooms. There is always a waitlist for traditional. Traditional diners have the option to switch to anytime after the first night. What would logically happen next is a couple/family would then get bumped from the traditional waitlist to free up the space in anytime. But it doesn't happen.

 

There are only two ways it would work...1) if people weren't allowed to switch, and 2) the staff were actually able to facilitate all that switching around.

 

Thank goodness my next Princess cruise is traditional only - the ship is too small for more than one dining room.

[welove2cruise*]

This topic response always amazes me. I vote for providing a choice. In my cruise planning it is hurting RCCL to stick to the traditional only. I am Diamond with them and I prefer NCL or Princess - just for the fact that I can plan my own day. On our last NCL cruise we were late getting into port and did not return to the ship until late. With traditional dining - we would have missed our dinner all together, but they kept the DR's open late to accomodate all of the people with late returns. I still do not understand why there is such a defensive attitude by those who like traditional - Princess does both and in my experience it worked very well. We never waited more than 10 minutes for a table - beepers were provided just like at land restaurants. There also must be a reason that Princess has two dining rooms open for personal choice and one for traditional. If they felt that the demand was more traditional than personal choice, they could easily change that.

[tarheelmjfan]

We never waited more than 10 minutes for a table - beepers were provided just like at land restaurants.

 

For us, this pretty much sums it up. We like cruising, because it's not like land vacations. If we want to make reservations every night for dinner, or be given a beeper, we'll book a land vacation. We feel the same about a casual dress code. We can get that anywhere. I'm not saying it's that way for everyone, but those things are the reason we cruise.

 

As I mentioned earlier, we considered booking a Princess cruise. At that time, it seemed there were lots of problems with them trying to offer both. There was a long wait list for traditional dining on all ships. Unless things have changed drastically in a few months, the only reason they have more PC dining rooms than Traditional is because they're not listening to their customers. We haven't looked into it in a while though, so things may have changed.

[xpcdoojk]

This topic response always amazes me. I vote for providing a choice. In my cruise planning it is hurting RCCL to stick to the traditional only. I am Diamond with them and I prefer NCL or Princess - just for the fact that I can plan my own day. On our last NCL cruise we were late getting into port and did not return to the ship until late. With traditional dining - we would have missed our dinner all together, but they kept the DR's open late to accomodate all of the people with late returns. I still do not understand why there is such a defensive attitude by those who like traditional - Princess does both and in my experience it worked very well. We never waited more than 10 minutes for a table - beepers were provided just like at land restaurants. There also must be a reason that Princess has two dining rooms open for personal choice and one for traditional. If they felt that the demand was more traditional than personal choice, they could easily change that.

 

Did you read the Princess thread that was linked yesterday?:eek:

 

In other words you vote for your choice not our choice.:p

 

jc

[joelmarj]

I have no interest in Freestyle dining. I know that for a fact and thus is exactly why I will not sail on NCL or Princess. If I can't be guaranteed Traditional seating, I've no interest. In addition, my preference is also the more traditional dress for an evening and when you have people in shorts and t-shirts on formal night, it loses a lot. But I am fine with that, and have no complaints about not sailing with either cruiseline.

 

Bottom line though is that there are choices out there that meet my preferences. Just as those who like Freestyle have choices that meet their preference. Creating some hybrid version on RCL is compromising traditional, thus disrupting the concept of traditional dining. Why should RCL have to compromise? Why does every cruise line for that matter need to be the exact same. Why not have NCL conform back to traditional so I can sail them! Just seems imbalanced and quite one-sided.

[kkorman]

I have no interest in Freestyle dining. I know that for a fact and thus is exactly why I will not sail on NCL or Princess. If I can't be guaranteed Traditional seating, I've no interest. In addition, my preference is also the more traditional dress for an evening and when you have people in shorts and t-shirts on formal night, it loses a lot. But I am fine with that, and have no complaints about not sailing with either cruiseline.

 

Bottom line though is that there are choices out there that meet my preferences. Just as those who like Freestyle have choices that meet their preference. Creating some hybrid version on RCL is compromising traditional, thus disrupting the concept of traditional dining. Why should RCL have to compromise? Why does every cruise line for that matter need to be the exact same. Why not have NCL conform back to traditional so I can sail them! Just seems imbalanced and quite one-sided.

 

 

Why should RCI compromise, I do not think it is a compromise, it is a sound business decision... if you are losing out on a particular group in the cruising market, I would expect you should do something to gain them as customers. Especially those that cruise frequently and are loyal to certain brands. It is never easy as a business to hear that I am choosing company A over you because they offer just one thing that is different, that you can conceivably do yourself. I fit this category. I think RCI has a fantastic product, but I have a problem with have to eat at one of 2 times. So I choose Princess. With the cruising market as competitive as it is, I would think they would reach out for anyone who enjoys cruising, period. Not those that like one particular aspect.

 

I, too, do not understand the defensive track people take on the matter of traditional dining. If it can be offered to you with your choice, I do not see how it would effect you at all.

 

To those that are so defensive, have you ever even tried it? I was skeptical when I tried it, but I did. Now I can offer my opinion on it. I do not understand how people can be so closed minded to something they have not tried. If you have and do not like it, you can stick to traditional. If you have and liked it, you can stick to having all kinds of options. If you heard from so and so or read that in this one particular occasion it did not work or that a thread from 2 years ago said it did not work, then you cannot offer much of an opinion, because you did not have a positive or negative experience... you had none. That is why these boards are so dangerous to new cruisers... no one really knows who is writing these reviews and comments. You do not know what people have experienced, what they like as a cruiser or a person, or even if it really happened. If you have some experience, offer it, if you do not, and are offering your words based on 3rd party info or because you were influenced on a different thread, perhaps you should try it first hand before you comment.

[Catnip]

I have no interest in Freestyle dining. I know that for a fact and thus is exactly why I will not sail on NCL or Princess. If I can't be guaranteed Traditional seating, I've no interest.

 

Why should RCL have to compromise? .

 

I agree. I have tried both, and I much prefer the traditional dining. But, for those that want to sail on RCCL and want "anytime dining", there are several options for you!

1) specialty restaurants

2) Windjammer buffet

3) room service

 

Simple!

[madforcruising]

Why should RCI compromise, I do not think it is a compromise, it is a sound business decision... if you are losing out on a particular group in the cruising market, I would expect you should do something to gain them as customers. Especially those that cruise frequently and are loyal to certain brands. It is never easy as a business to hear that I am choosing company A over you because they offer just one thing that is different, that you can conceivably do yourself. I fit this category. I think RCI has a fantastic product, but I have a problem with have to eat at one of 2 times. So I choose Princess. With the cruising market as competitive as it is, I would think they would reach out for anyone who enjoys cruising, period. Not those that like one particular aspect.

 

Well that´s where again opinions come into the play instead of facts.

You don´t think it would be a compromise to offer both on RCCL while many (not all) others -including me- would think of it as a compromise.

 

If it would be such an easy business decision like stated and explained by you I´m sure RCCL had already done it and not only RCCL but also Carnival, HAL, Cunard, Crystal, ...........

 

I don´t believe that all cruise lines reach out for all cruisers out there to fit their needs. Yes they want to have a wide range of clientel but no they don´t want to fit everybody needs. I think they all try to cater to a special group of cruisers and try to offer a unique product that is different from others.

 

To me it looks like RCCL made a business decision in not offering anything else than traditional dining and Windjammer along with speciality restaurants and SeaView/Jr as alternative dining options. You don´t like it - that´s OK but probably you have to live with this decision until they change it or the majority of their clients force them to change it.

The same for me, I like it and am happy with what they do, but I couldn´t do anything if they would change it but live with it or look out for another line.

 

At this time from the opinions here it seems to me that most people here like it the way it is and I doubt you can convince them at least not me.

You can look at me as narrow minded for this, but that´s OK for me.

 

Disclaimer, nothing of what I said is a fact but only reflects my personal opinion;)

[madforcruising]

I just forgot to say one thing,

 

Thank you for this thread as it reminds me to strongly voice my opinion about this topic on the comment cards in the future to reassure RCCL knows what I think.:)

[teajak]

I read on another thread that the PC dining on Princess is not working well. People posted that they had very long waits in order to do the anytime dining and that the only times that did not have a wait were either very early or very late. And some people who request traditional dining aren't able to get it, and there's a waiting list for it. (This is all 3rd-party information. I have never been on anything but RCCL so far.)

We found this to be true, they give you a beeper and the wait is very long. It seems that most people want to eat at 7:00 or 7:30 so it was the most crowded then. We did not like it at all, never knowing your table or wait staff, different wait staff every night. RC please don't change.

[love2vacation]

On our March cruise we found that with late seating we didn't get out of the dining room till 10:00 or 10:15, this is pretty late. Our first cruise we had early seating and we had to rush too much after being ashore to get ready for dinner in time. In fact we did eat at the Windjammer one night because we did not get back on the ship till after 6:00. On our Carnival cruise we had late seating, but we were done before 10:00. Maybe because we were the only ones at our table?

 

So we have decided that 6:00 is too early and 8:30 too late. Not sure how we will fix this on our next cruise, because it is silly to eat at the specialty places half the nights and pay an extra charge.:rolleyes: and I dislike buffets.................... well at least for dinner anyway.

 

There is probably a comfort factor for the traditional seating, and our wait staff on RC has been fabulous, but on vacation I like to be a little less regimented. I would try the anytime dining room if it was offered by RCCL.

 

In looking at cruises for 08 we are thinking about trying Princess and the anytime dining. We will see what the ITNs bring, because that is really the deciding factor for us.