Recent Anthem cruisers - How was DD?

I'm curious about cruiser's experiences with DD on Anthem since they announced the upcoming end of DD. We will be sailing next month and have DD choice.

How was the food? How was the service? Were you able to get reservations?

I'm curious about cruiser's experiences with DD on Anthem since they announced the upcoming end of DD. We will be sailing next month and have DD choice.

 

How was the food? How was the service? Were you able to get reservations?

I will be on the Anthem next month also, so I cannot answer your questions, but we made our reservations on-line. Did you not make them or are you just going to "wing" it?

We were on the New Year's Eve Cruise and were very satisfied with Dynamic Dining. The ship was packed to capacity, but we had reservations and never had more than a minimal wait.

We are on the November 10th cruise and have our reservations. I'm glad we are getting another opportunity to dine dynamically.

I was on the Aug. 25th NE/Canada cruise and loved it, especially the DD classic. If , I wit comes to an end, I will miss it.

We just got off the Anthem on Thursday of last week and had Dynamic Dining.

We had made reservations prior to boarding for approximately the same time (6:15 p.m. or 6:30 p.m.) on four of the five nights at different restaurants (no specialties). When we made our reservations, there were various time options.

Comments:

We liked moving around to different venues (reminded us of our Disney cruises) and liked some places/menus more than others, but we also like different menu nights more than others when we go to one main dining room.

We were seated right away at every venue.

Dinner took much less time than traditional dining, which was very nice, but that could also have been due to the fact that there were only two of us. Shorter time for dinner helped us to attend different shows and we didn't end up with any conflicts, which I think happens to some people that make reservations.

Overall, I don't feel that we experienced any issues with Dynamic Dining and are not sure why they are discontinuing it. It is the only time we have been part of it, and have not yet ever done "My Time" dining (quite frankly, not sure what is different about the two systems). We typically travel with very large groups, however, so it isn't something that we would need or be able to use on most cruises.

Since our experience was so good, I'm not sure that I was able to contribute any worthwhile information.

We were on Anthem in June and did DD. Didn't particularly enjoy it, prefer the old style dining because we were flitted around each meal eating at the different "restaurants" but the menus seemed to be most of the same food we've had in the past. The biggest issue we had was the feeling of being "rushed through" dinner. For us, it just wasn't the same as the traditional dining.

We were on Anthem in June and did DD. Didn't particularly enjoy it, prefer the old style dining because we were flitted around each meal eating at the different "restaurants" but the menus seemed to be most of the same food we've had in the past. The biggest issue we had was the feeling of being "rushed through" dinner. For us, it just wasn't the same as the traditional dining.

Must have been on different ships. On our 9 niter we had 9 different menus and never felt rushed or anything like it. We had a table for 2 and our complete dinner took less than 1 hour, on average, and we were glad as it gave us more free time to explore the ship's ambiance and activities. Also, don't understand "same food we've had in the past." No such thing--the boring food is the MDR concept.

We sailed on Anthem in August and had Dynamic Choice Dining. We made a few reservations before we sailed, and a few while onboard. We did not have any issues with reservations nor did we wait to be seated at any time.

The only places we had to wait were in Chops and Jaime's.

The food was ok. We didn't care much for American Icon or Silk but we didn't go hungry either. Enjoy your cruise!!

Must have been on different ships. On our 9 niter we had 9 different menus and never felt rushed or anything like it. We had a table for 2 and our complete dinner took less than 1 hour, on average, and we were glad as it gave us more free time to explore the ship's ambiance and activities. Also, don't understand "same food we've had in the past." No such thing--the boring food is the MDR concept.

There are only 4 menu's for DD. They repeat on day 5. How did you have 9 different menu's?

There are only 4 menu's for DD. They repeat on day 5. How did you have 9 different menu's?

On the 2nd (5th nite) & 3rd (9th nite) go round we got different menus, therefore, 9 different menus in total. After we were assigned our table # only on the 1st nite we were guided to our seats. Afterwards, we basically walked in and went directly to our table as the configuration was approximately the same in the 4 distinct restaurants.

Yes, many people have reported a 3rd menu.

The key to DDChoice is to make any reservation you can get even if you do not like the time. That puts you in the line that has reservations. You just give the host your name/cabin number and by pass the no reservation line. A quirk in there system, but it works..........make reservations for everything! Bring a jacket for The Grande and you can enjoy lobster every night! WE had lobster 5 nights out out 12 and did like the change of scenery in the restaurants other every other night.

Very sad to see DD go. Have a great cruise. :)

On the 2nd (5th nite) & 3rd (9th nite) go round we got different menus, therefore, 9 different menus in total.

Assuming all venues had a third version of the menu that would be 12 menus.

We were on the September 17th sailing....

We did the Dynamic Dining Classic, since we LOVE the traditional dining.

I honestly found this to be the most confusing thing that we've ever done, dining-wise.

First off, what appeals to me the most is having the same wait-staff the entire cruise.

Saying that, there were only a few things that bothered us, but also some things that we did like about this.

First, switching between the restaurants. It was a 5-night cruise, so our rotation went like this... American Icon Grill, Chic, The Grande, Silk, and then American Icon Grill again.

I loved the different decour and themes of the restaurant, but we found it kind of annoying to not just go to the same place every night. It was kind of bothersome to have to figure out which restaurant we were going to, and what the dress code was. For instance, we were not told (since we went to Wonderland on the second night), that The Grande was the formal restaurant. We dressed nice, but I didn't have a jacket on. I was given a jacket, but it looked like 60% of the men that went there did the same thing that I did.

The second thing that bothered me was about the waiter and his uniforms. He mentioned to us (since I asked how he felt about the November 27th change), that his room, that he shares, is almost full with just different uniforms, since he has to have 5...whereas on the traditional dining, its only one, or two, uniform(s). I could imagine that that is SUCH a pain to handle. He said that almost everyone was VERY happy about the upcoming change.

Now, one of the good things is something I touched on earlier, which is the decour and theme. Having one restaurant (traditional dining) meant the same rotation of menu's, which doesn't allow for trying the food from different places. The one menu that stuck the hardest in my mind was the menu from Silk. This had Asian dishes from MANY countries...even the 'traditional/classic' menu had some dishes that I have seen on other ships, but were slightly Asian themed. They seemed to go all out.

Another thing that I kind of liked was that on the repeat dining location (American Icon Grill), they did have a completely different menu than the very first night. It got me wondering, though, what yummy things I missed out on from the other restaurants when they switched the menu around.

To get back to your question...honestly...I did not PERSONALLY like Dynamic Dining, or even their rendition of the 'classic' Dynamic Dining experience. Although, there were some pros to the experience.

I'm glad I got to try it so I can pitch in my 2 cents into this topic :)

I hope you enjoy!

Assuming all venues had a third version of the menu that would be 12 menus.

Doesn't matter which restaurant you begin with. We started with Chic & ended with Chic and the 9th nite menu was different than the 1st & 5th.

What was so confusing about the rotation for DDClassic? The print out is in your room and on your Royal App. and on your TV.:confused:

Yes, many people have reported a 3rd menu.

 

The key to DDChoice is to make any reservation you can get even if you do not like the time. That puts you in the line that has reservations. You just give the host your name/cabin number and by pass the no reservation line. A quirk in there system, but it works..........make reservations for everything! Bring a jacket for The Grande and you can enjoy lobster every night! WE had lobster 5 nights out out 12 and did like the change of scenery in the restaurants other every other night.

 

Very sad to see DD go. Have a great cruise. :)

That would work if there was a no reservation line but there was only one line at each restaurant when we were just on Anthem. Jacket for Grande is no longer enforced, we were in line between two men in shorts and polos and two men in tuxes. The guys in shorts were seated with no questions asked.

What was so confusing about the rotation for DDClassic? The print out is in your room and on your Royal App. and on your TV.:confused:

We've only done traditional dining. It was just a change that we didn't realize was going to happen. Throughout our 9+ cruises, it just wasn't something that we properly looked into. We assumed DDClassic was more 'traditional' rather than still rotating restaurants.

We're used to looking for the dress attire on the Daily Compass, and the dining room/table on our card.

So far this is sounding to me like people who embraced the "newstyle dining" and did dynamic choice really loved the experience, and people who insisted on having dynamic classic in the first place (which RCCL didn't really want to do, but backpedaled on to appease a shrinking minority in cruise preference) are the ones who are loudly unhappy with dynamic dining and the cause for the change.

I also wonder if dining time preference will show a correlation with bad or good experiences. Will my 6:15 dining time experience be perfect all week when someone else's 7:45 dining time experience is hellish for most of the cruise?

We loved DD classic and are sorry to see it go. I will be interested to hear what the do about the dining room décor. Silk is over the top Asian influenced and although it was fun for two nights I would not enjoy it for 9. Grande us very formal while Chic and American Icon are easily adaptable to the regular menus

Yes, many people have reported a 3rd menu.

 

The key to DDChoice is to make any reservation you can get even if you do not like the time. That puts you in the line that has reservations. You just give the host your name/cabin number and by pass the no reservation line. A quirk in there system, but it works..........make reservations for everything! Bring a jacket for The Grande and you can enjoy lobster every night! WE had lobster 5 nights out out 12 and did like the change of scenery in the restaurants other every other night.

 

Very sad to see DD go. Have a great cruise. :)

I know when dining at The Grande the men have to wear a jacket but...how fancy does the woman need to be? I would love to dine more than 2 times just didn't want to bring that many formal outfits! Is a dress or dressy slacks & blouse work?

I know when dining at The Grande the men have to wear a jacket but...how fancy does the woman need to be? I would love to dine more than 2 times just didn't want to bring that many formal outfits! Is a dress or dressy slacks & blouse work?

You'll be PERFECT! I wore long sundresses almost every night and sometimes just put a shawl or holey light sweater over my dress. :)

You'll be PERFECT! I wore long sundresses almost every night and sometimes just put a shawl or holey light sweater over my dress. :)

Perfect! Thank You so much for the info!

Perfect! Thank You so much for the info!

You are welcome. Have a wonderful cruise :)

Must have been on different ships. On our 9 niter we had 9 different menus and never felt rushed or anything like it. We had a table for 2 and our complete dinner took less than 1 hour, on average, and we were glad as it gave us more free time to explore the ship's ambiance and activities. Also, don't understand "same food we've had in the past." No such thing--the boring food is the MDR concept.

Yeah, I could've been more descriptive on that bit about same food. To me, it's been the same type of food. I didn't find the meals "boring" much. Just rushed through. Same ship, different cruise probably.

Question arises though. If they truly are doing away with DD, does that mean the different restaurants as well?

I will be on the Anthem next month also, so I cannot answer your questions, but we made our reservations on-line. Did you not make them or are you just going to "wing" it?

We have reservations for every evening except night 1. We purchased the BOGO dining plan for the first two evenings.