IMHO "traditional" dining, as we know it now, will not exist in about five years

[Former Goalie]

FLAME SUIT ON!!

 

I am C&A Platinum, and generally love the RCL cruise experience. I will admit to not really liking traditional, fixed seating. So, we generally go to the Windjammer for dinner when we want to, and occasionally go to a specialty restaurant, at the time we desire. Only very occasionally do we go to the main dining room.

We prefer the dining options offered with Princess' Personal Choice and NCL's Freestyle better.

Yesterday, NCL ratcheted up the marketing of its Freestyle concept in a big way, with a new "brand identity" campaign. At the same time, it announced that it has two new builds (just slightly smaller than Freedom OS) on the horizon. This increases the competitive pressure RCL and other mass market lines face to offer multiple and more flexible dining options.

I feel that sooner rather than later other cruise lines will be forced to respond to the trend to more casual dining options, where one can choose the format and time as one wishes.

I know there are many "traditional" dining loyalists, it's JMHO that this is the way the industry is ultimately headed.

[wolfcathorse]

The industry may be headed that way but I don't like it. I do free style dining at home... let's see do I want McDonald's, Wendy's, Applebees, or Subway tonight? We don't have restaurants around here with the level of attention and service we get while cruising, so it is a treat. We enjoy meeting new people, haven't had bad tablemates yet. I may as well stay home when the industry as a whole goes free style dining. Nyet, that won't happen! I still love the motion of the ocean.

[teajak]

I certainly hope you are wrong.We have found the level of service very much decreased in free style dining.

[addictedinflorida]

Not flaming, but I surely hope not. One of the reasons I truly enjoy cruising is the dinners because I love to meet our tablemates and gather each night with them to talk about our days, etc. and of course get to know our waiters and asst. waiters. Most of the times its just my husband and I that travel alone, so it gets pretty boring if we dont find other cruisers to enjoy the time with.

 

I can go to any restaurant while I am home and get my own table and have a nice dinner by ourselves, but when I go on a cruise, I look forward to the particular dinner times and having "our table" and tablemates. I think its nice that the cruises still offer traditional dining for those that enjoy that, but those that do want the freestyle, can still visit any of the other cafes, buffets or specialty restaurants. It would seem to be pretty lopsided if they did away with the traditional dining.

 

I have wanted to sail on NCL because it looks like they have some nice ships, but I know unless I got a large group of family and friends to go with, I wouldnt enjoy the dinners.

[zuscruiserz]

Not gonna happen at RCI.

[critterchick]

It doesn't appear that RCI is having trouble selling cabins, so I don't see where the "pressure" comes from - not every line is going to offer the same product, which is fine with me! If indeed they can trace any future decline in sales to the dining concept (as opposed to a glut of ships in any given market or another major terrorist event), then perhaps they will have to change, but I don't think that just because the competition is doing things one way everybody in that class of cruiseline will necessarily follow.

 

Plenty of people still like the traditional concept -from what I see on these boards and on the cruises we've taken on Princess, there is often a long waiting list for traditional dining, so there may well be some number of people who prefer RCI because they don't have to beg for the dining arrangement they want (other than early vs. late or the size of table).

[logan1_2000]

I think OP presented a thoughtful discussion topic, took a position and provided reasons why, and join in those who respond w/o flame, but just hope OP turns out to be wrong because we enjoy having the service level that traditional dining offers. That said...

 

I really have not been "wow'd" by RCI's dining room compared to Disney's rotational dining. But that is highly subjective and I suspect on this board there are many more who might enjoy RCI better.

 

I think OP is right that there are many who enjoy the freestyle dining format--and I think that is what differentiates the many lines. And as other lines go away from traditional dining, perhaps others will come to RCI if that is what they are looking for.

 

I most enjoy when we have a wonderful Portofino's and Chops on board, and a modern Windjammer to offer an attractive casual option. That is flexible enough for us. But knowing that I have a table that is reserved, for me, at a given time, that I don not have to go make a reservation to get, is relaxing compared to other dining experiences of waiting for a table or being told that they have a table at 5:15 or 9:30 (just happened two weeks ago here in ATL...we're not such night people, early dining is fine, 7 would be better, and 8 or 8:30 we can handle though it gets tough for DS (10) on a longer cruise).

 

That said, we might choose to go totally casual on our upcoming sovereign cruise because of DS and our friends traveling with us has a son who is a year younger, or perhaps just go either casual or specialty on the radiance cruise we have over thanksgiving...but I do like formal night so I'd hate to miss that, and it would be so nice to be served our thanksgiving dinner.

[GF2045Cruiser]

Maybe one alternative is to do more like Disney, where your servers follow you from restaurant to restaurant each night? I liked it because the scenery changed each night, although you could still not pick which place or time to eat. Was still nice change of pace.

Someone mentioned the idea of breaking up the big dining room to gear towards level of dress. I thought that was a cool idea, as I hate dressing up for dinner. I sure don't at home, even when I go out to decent restaurants.

Think cruise lines will have to continue some type of scheduled dining so that everyone does not want to eat at once :eek:

[ncdazz]

i hope dining doesn't change as suggested in original thread. i really like the windjammer for breakfast, can suffer thru it for lunch, but wouldn't dream of eating dinner there.

 

i enjoy the ambiance offered with the dining rooms. preparation for dinner, dress attire, cocktails, etc, are all part of making the evenings special while on the cruise.

[MrPete]

You will find that thinking is truly in the minority.

[It'sRC4ME]

I think one reason for RC to stick with traditional dining comes from their heavy marketing emphasis on families, reunions, etc. It's one thing to have couples or small groups showing up whenever they want for freestyle dining (although if you read the NCL boards, everyone RUSHES to make reservations for a fixed dining time as soon as they get on board), but could you imagine if the many large family parties travelling on RC showed up whenever they wanted? Chaos in the kitchen, long waits for tables, and everyone eventually just making reservations.

 

Plus, who wants to have a daily argument with aunt Zelda, two teenagers and your father in law over when/where to eat dinner? Much easier for it to be a foregone conclusion instead of a potential point of contention!

[threeofus]

The Sooner the Better....

 

Princess has the best experience....They have a traditional dining room and second dining room where you can choose what time you eat - everyday!!! You can still choose your server and the size of your table.

Best of both worlds. They call it personal choice. I call it a WIN WIN.

 

On our most recent RCL cruise the line to change tables was enormous!!!!

[negc]

FLAME SUIT ON!!

 

I am C&A Platinum, and generally love the RCL cruise experience. I will admit to not really liking traditional, fixed seating. So, we generally go to the Windjammer for dinner when we want to, and occasionally go to a specialty restaurant, at the time we desire. Only very occasionally do we go to the main dining room.

We prefer the dining options offered with Princess' Personal Choice and NCL's Freestyle better.

Yesterday, NCL ratcheted up the marketing of its Freestyle concept in a big way, with a new "brand identity" campaign. At the same time, it announced that it has two new builds (just slightly smaller than Freedom OS) on the horizon. This increases the competitive pressure RCL and other mass market lines face to offer multiple and more flexible dining options.

I feel that sooner rather than later other cruise lines will be forced to respond to the trend to more casual dining options, where one can choose the format and time as one wishes.

I know there are many "traditional" dining loyalists, it's JMHO that this is the way the industry is ultimately headed.

 

I would never say never, but I would also never allow my bias to cause me to predict the imminent demise of traditional dining as you may have done. As you admit there are many passengers who prefer traditional dining and as NCl continues to push Freestyle dining to attract those that find that style appealing, they may cause more of those who enjoy traditional dining to consider those lines that do offer that style. Princess seems to be particularly unsuccessful in making anytime dining as popular as they thought it would be, if you go by the long wait lists that they have for traditional dining. It could turn out that their inflexibility in dealing with the imbalance, will cause some devoted Princess fans to try RCI, HAL, Celebrity et al, so they can get the dining experience they want.The "trend" that you see, IMHO, is more of a tendency on the part of some lines to force passengers into accepting a land-based style of dining experience where reservations will be required if people want to be sure of being able to dine "when and where they want". The cruise industry is more likely to end up with some lines that offer freestyle dining, while others offer traditional. Any line which can successfully offer both options, which IMHO Princess does not, may be the most successful, but I think there are enough potential customers to support both the "traditional" and the "freestyle" lines. Time will tell.:)

[LAKaye]

When cruising, it is a relief to not concern ourselves about when and where to eat. DH and I do the "what/where do you want to do/eat tonight?" dance just about every day of our working lives. It is a chore.

 

When we step onto our ship, we know we have only to be dressed and hungry around 8PM, and we don't have to think or decide anything until that waiter hands us a menu. Yay and Whew!

 

Leslie

[la_croisiere_s'amuse]

I agree with most of the previous posters. While there is certainly a market for NCL-style dining, there is clearly a substantial market for RCI/Celebrity style as well.

 

It's a simple case of market economics, good ol' supply and demand. The savvy supplier will keep track of the prevailing demand -- but where there is a split opinion, it's often a good idea to cater to the minority niche. It's risky, yes, but the payoffs can be huge. That is what NCL has done by positioning themselves as 'THE' cruiseline for freestyle dining, and personally I think it was a brilliant marketing move. I'm not at all surprised to see them advertise it more heavily.

 

So . . . while NCL has found success by catering to a specific niche in the market, if you crunch the numbers (total cruising public minus freestyle dining loyalists = a significant majority of cruisers), I just don't think that the OP's hypothesis bears much scrutiny. NCL is banking on the idea that their niche will continue to keep one cruiseline afloat (no pun intended), and I believe that it will. But it's a pretty drastic leap to assume that their success with this dining concept will somehow sway the market as a whole.

 

Just my $.02 :)

[dfgf]

I prefer traditional, because I like meeting new people and am fairly extroverted.

 

DW, on the other hand, is very introverted and would LOVE to see the end of traditional dining!

[royale]

Here is another vote for traditonal dinning.I hope RCI doesnt change over

to free style.

royale

[Bluenose Sandy]

One thing I didn't like about the traditional dining (on my grand total of 1 cruise, so I should talk) is that I think our choice to eat elsewhere on 3 out of the 7 nights put a damper on our tablemates' experience. They were great people but we just had other priorities than a 2-hour dinner at a set time. And I know our waiters were really fretting about whether we just didn't like the dining room! Guess a little more anonymity and spontaneity would suit us, even if "spontaneous" means we sometimes end up eating at weird hours to escape crowds.

 

But it's all about choice, and since there doesn't seem to be a horde of cruisers stampeding over to the freestyle lines to escape traditional dining, I wouldn't expect RCI to change their style.

[wraithe]

FWIW, if RCL decided to go to freestyle, then I'll find another line to cruise that still does traditional. Like many others have opined, that's my personal choice.

 

Plus' date=' who wants to have a daily argument with aunt Zelda, two teenagers and your father in law over when/where to eat dinner? Much easier for it to be a foregone conclusion instead of a potential point of contention![/quote']

 

Exactly, one of the beauties of cruising is that you don't have to decide where you're going to eat for lunch, or where you're going to eat for dinner. I love the fact that dinner is at 6:00 pm, your table is ready at 6:00 pm and if you're there, all you have to do is make up your mind what you want to eat off the menu they hand you.

 

I prefer traditional, because I like meeting new people and am fairly extroverted.

 

DW, on the other hand, is very introverted and would LOVE to see the end of traditional dining!

 

That confuses me a little, unless you're going to get a table for two every night, you're going to sit with different people every night. At least with traditional dining, you only have to meet new people once during a cruise.

 

One thing I didn't like about the traditional dining (on my grand total of 1 cruise, so I should talk) is that I think our choice to eat elsewhere on 3 out of the 7 nights put a damper on our tablemates' experience. They were great people but we just had other priorities than a 2-hour dinner at a set time. And I know our waiters were really fretting about whether we just didn't like the dining room! Guess a little more anonymity and spontaneity would suit us, even if "spontaneous" means we sometimes end up eating at weird hours to escape crowds.

 

Bluenose, are you a bluenose?? To keep your waiters from fretting about where you are, just tell them you're going to eat elsewhere or call the maitre d'. That way they'll know not to expect you.

[BigDoug]

The Sooner the Better....

 

Princess has the best experience....They have a traditional dining room and second dining room where you can choose what time you eat - everyday!!! You can still choose your server and the size of your table.

Best of both worlds. They call it personal choice. I call it a WIN WIN.

 

On our most recent RCL cruise the line to change tables was enormous!!!!

 

There are usually huge waiting lists on Princess for people wanting traditional dining but are shut out and forced in their AnyTime Dining. Many do rush to make reservations for specific times and tables (which seems to negate the AnyTime part). I prefer traditional dining and hope that the cruiselines continue with it.

[Ohunion Cruzers]

Seems like the majority here prefer the Traditional Style of dining. Sure hope you don't change. If you do, there would be no difference between NCL, Princess, etc. And that would probably mean loss of loyal customers.

[negc]

The Sooner the Better....

 

Princess has the best experience....They have a traditional dining room and second dining room where you can choose what time you eat - everyday!!! You can still choose your server and the size of your table.

Best of both worlds. They call it personal choice. I call it a WIN WIN.

 

On our most recent RCL cruise the line to change tables was enormous!!!!

 

I agree with you in theory, but having experienced the reality, Princess doesn't allow their system to work. When they have multiple dining rooms they assign one room for traditional and the others to anytime dining. That would be fine except that when more people request traditional dining than the one room can accommodate, they will not reassign another room to match the demand. When you have two hundred or more passengers on a wait list for traditional dining and Princess doesn't readjust its dining room assignments, something is wrong with the system. Add to that the fact that often, when people try to dine in one of the anytime dining rooms, they are faced with such a lengthy wait for a table that they are issued pagers. They also cannot make reservations if they wish to eat between 7 and 8 pm in an anytime dining room and, at least on the Sapphire Princess, tables for two in those dining rooms provide anything but a private and intimate dining experience. The table for two arrangement is similar to what you might find at MacDonald's where you can reach out and touch the parties next to you.

[Lightsluvr]

Don't change...we're happy with the status quo...

 

LL

[Nurse Daybreak]

The one experience we had with freestyle dining really turned us off, Granted we were a party of 6 but to wait outside the dining room for 1 1/2 hours for a table was ridiculious. That's 1 1/2 hours out of my party time. That cruise we ate only two nights in the dining room (the second time the wait was only 50 minutes) that cruise beacuse of the wait and won't sail that line again because of it, soooo I hope RCL is listening. If they go freestyle I won't be going.

 

Maybe they've changed but we were told we couldn't make reservations and if we left and they called us they would give up our spot.:(

[karessamom]

The one experience we had with freestyle dining really turned us off, Granted we were a party of 6 but to wait outside the dining room for 1 1/2 hours for a table was ridiculious. That's 1 1/2 hours out of my party time. That cruise we ate only two nights in the dining room (the second time the wait was only 50 minutes) that cruise beacuse of the wait and won't sail that line again because of it, soooo I hope RCL is listening. If they go freestyle I won't be going.

 

Maybe they've changed but we were told we couldn't make reservations and if we left and they called us they would give up our spot.:(

 

I hope we don't go freestyle if you have to wait that long! I can wait that long here at home for a restruant--I certainly don't want to do it on a cruise.

Although at times I do wish the early seating was a little later and the late a little earlier:D I deal with it and appreciate the fact that I don't have to wait for a table--I can just go in and sit down at the specified time and know that your table is waiting and ready for you. Got kind of used to that--the other night we went out to eat and had to wait--ended up at a 3rd choice restruant because lines were out the door on our 1st and 2nd choices:D