rjrpar

With three cruises booked on the Quantum……………...

 

I find the reservation system very easy to use and have even gone back in and made two adjustments without difficulty.

 

I like the reservation format.

 

All of my dinner and entertainment meshed without any problems.

 

I do NOT think Dynamic Dining is a disaster.

Dynamic dining may not be a disaster but the rollout of the reservation system last month was from an IT perspective. It probably worked for you but it didn't for most, which qualifies as a Disaster.

So you pay for a meal on the ship, then pay a surcharge for a special area of the ship, so you can pay more for a food item. Sad that this is where the cruise lines are choosing to take things. Hard to call that anything but nickel and dining (more like plastic and papering, can't get anything for a nickel or dime at sea).

If someone wants a premium steak and lobster let them pay for it. Since it doesn't affect you, why do you care? It has no impact on the quality of the free food and is strictly voluntary.

I have booked my dining reservations but am unable to book entertainment yet as it's not showing on my cruise planner. Can anyone give me an idea of the show times so I can alter my dining reservations if it looks like there are going to be any time clashes. Many thanks :):)

Why not just wait until the times are released for your sailing? There will be plenty of opportunity to sync your reservations at that time.

Hi All, we are sailing July 31st on EOS for 9 nights. Will definitely post photos of the pier area that day. Cannot wait to see the pier and what they have done so far up close and personal. ;)

Anxious to see their progress by end of July, look forward to your pictures. Thanks and enjoy the Explorer!

The things that you're terming 'Extras' were included in the base prices that you're comparing current pricing to.

So, to compare apples to apples, you would have to add in the costs for the things that are now optional, and then compare your prices.

You could argue that there are more dining choices than there were and it would be hard to disagree.

But listen to the posts across the boards and you'll see that most people feel that the quality of the food back when all meals and entertainment were included, was better than it is today if you're sticking with the included meals.

In order to get that same quality (or more accurately, maintain the same level of quality that you had back then in the MDR), you have to go to the specialty restaurants.[/quote

 

You're wrong. The food in the MDR 15 years ago was nowhere near the quality of the specialty resataurants. Drinks and soda were never included and entertainment was and still is in the base price. So what are all those optional things you refer to??

On the Oasis class, if you make a reservation, it is recorded on your room key, and you can present that 1/2 hour before show time. Seating is still first come, first serve, please do not reserve seats.

 

If you don't have a reservation, you can wait in a line, and 10 minutes before show time they let the standbys in, a few at a time, while seats are available. So even with a reservation, if you come 5 minutes before the show, you aren't guaranteed a seat.

 

Also, on the Ossis ships, for some venues, a small area was also set aside for suite guests, and higher levels of C&A, until 5-10 minutes before show time.

 

On the Oasis class ships, for most shows, the standbys get in. However for some of the smaller venues, or popular shows, only the first few standbys get in.

 

 

 

 

So… it's nice to have a reservation.

 

However, it will be interesting to see how things go with the new Dynamic Dining. We've always experience minor waiting times on day one with traditional dining, as everyone has to find their assigned tables. We tried to book our entertainment first, so we weren't rushing to the show after dinner. If you book dinner first, remember that if the show is at 8:30, you will want to book dining early enough to get to the show by at least 8:15 to take advantage of the reservation.

 

7:30 dinner reservations will make it impossible to get to a 8:30 show. Some of the 7:00 shows are only 45 minutes, so who knows what will happen if you show up 15-30 late for dinner.

Thank you, seems like reservations make life easie

We are Diamond cruisers on the 2/2/2015 QOTS. We have never had to make entertainment reservations on any cruise, except for getting tickets for the ice shows.. A few questions: Do we need to make reservations for every night in the main theatre?, Are the reservations for entry only or are they for specific seating? We have made several dining reservations for 7:30-8:00pm, could these times conflict with both shows on some evenings?

Any help would be appreciated.

I would rather pay for things I want on a cruise than have everything included and be paying for things I don't want.

Agree, that's why we avoid the AIs; we drink very little.

We are Diamond on RCCL and have been on 3 Carnival cruises, two to Europe. Our opinion is Carnival is usually a great value and provide a very similar experience as RCCL. People criticize their food and service, but it's about the same as most other cruise lines, including RCCL. Actually, earlier this year we were on Celebrity and was disappointed that their food was on a par with both Carnival and RCCL.

I think interest in the Quantum is lacking. I base that on my personal interest level and the fact the since we booked 11 months ago, the prices have remained stable. We booked a standard balcony for the 2/2/15 sailing and paid a very fair price - about $330/nite/cabin - and I expected big price increases to follow and they have not.

The disaster with the dining reservation system has been a big negative. Still considering cancelling but probably won't since we avoid air travel sailing out of NJ.

Been on both cuise lines twice in the last 2 years. There are a few jerks on every ship but the clientele on both RCCL and Carnival is very similar. There is really no reason to even think otherwise; both are mass market lines, traveling to the same ports and charging similar prices. Are customers at Fridays any different than Applebee's???

I don't mind the "just a jacket" requirement for men but I would like to see it enforced. I know DH will be more willing to go to Grande not having to wear a tie. But if this dress code is not enforced -- what's the point? BTW, I do like the menu.

If we go with your suggestion, then Grande is not formal. However, you want your version of formal, or really country club casual, enforced. This is the craziest thread I've ever seen.

Copenhagen - walk

Helsinki - shuttle bus from cruise line for small fee

If you've been calling Royal Caribbean's Dynamic Dining line nearly daily since it opened on the 12th like I have you've probably heard someone mention waiting for the "green light". It's a term that seems to have been given out in some official form as I've heard it repeatedly from multiple people now all in the contexts of still having issues with the system and not being able to do much until they receive the green light that everything is working.

 

The other day I got transferred to someone higher up who had an hour long discussion on what it means and what their process is going to be. Apparently they were officially told to expect it by the end of last week but it never happened. Their was a major upgrade that took the system down Monday night at 8:30 pm EST to 9am EST tuesday morning that fixed some of the issues but the system still has many more. They are now hoping to receive the green light by the middle of next week. Once they are given the green light by IT the entire site should be functioning properly without any bugs. The a select group of agents (sounds like it kept growing to encompass most of the original Dynamic Dining agents) has been taken off the phones to sort through all of the reported issues and build cases. Upon receiving the green light they will begin contacting every person that has had an issue in order to correct them. They have access to a history of every single dining time that you have ever booked. He even went through and listed each of the past times and changes I made so they do have them all. The agent will work to get you back to which ever reservation is correct. I asked for more detail on this and he said that they will work for any time that you had already booked. So if you have a reservation that got messed up and you worked to try to get back to your time it doesn't matter, you can still ask for that original time back. Unfortunately though I did ask about a reservation I made on the 12th that seemed to disappear when I later checked for it and he had no record of it. When I asked him about that and the many times I have called about a time that was available only for the system to say it couldn't be booked because of various issues he said that they would not be able to grant those but RCCL hasn't finalized what they are supposed to do to handle situations like that so a procedure may be coming for that.

 

In my reservation I have many duplicate bookings and I asked him about that issue. He said that it was not limited to me, it was not even a small group, it was an extremely wide spread issue. He couldn't say for sure what kinds of times may be opening up but said to expect availability to slowly start opening up as they go through this process of correcting all the issues and remove all the duplicates.

 

Unfortunately though I did ask about if i should just sit back and wait to be contacted so that they can get me the times I want changed or keep on calling hoping for a change and he was hesitant to answer but recommend continuing what I'm doing. So if you are dealing with issues, reservations that changes, or anything else it sounds like you can just sit back and wait for them to contact you and they'll put them back. If like me you want to improve times though you're best bet is to still keep calling and slowly make improvements.

 

On a side note I asked about the payment box and tab disappearing from my profile for both Quantum sailings but not my future Jewel sailing. He compared them and said that when they redid the site in the fall they changed the categories for cabins and my Jewel has those but the Quantum doesn't. The payment system doesn't know how to handle that. I said that it didn't disappear until the 16th and he said it could have slipped through the cracks in the fall and the Dynamic Dining updates brought the issue out. For this issue he once again said to wait it out and hope that when they receive the green light everything will be resolved, other wise the process to correct it is to rebook the cruise which loses all of the pre cruise planner data including dynamic dining reservations which obviously is not a viable solution. I'm not sure how many other people have this issue, but they are now aware of it and will be working on some kind of solution but have no timeline on it. While the payment section was down I asked for a copy to be emailed. I found out that they switched me to prepaid gratuities. I called and questioned them doing it without notifying me. They looked and said it shouldn't have happened, the system refused to allowed the changed, but they got an override and put it back. Official policy is that you can do prepaid or pay by day gratuities with Dynamic Dining but IT messed up when they switched all of the reservations to Dynamic Dining.

 

If anyone else learns anything about the resolution process please add it. Their are a lot of threads discussing issues, but not many discussing how things will be taken care of.

Thanks for the info. There is no excuse to release a system for general use until it has been thoroughly tested and is in what they call "green light" condition. Makes one wonder how effective RCCL management really is on all other business issues.

very annoyed at RCCL regarding roll-out of Dynamic Dining and Shows. I sent a letter to the CEO. In turn he gave the letter to someone in Executive Guest Relations. Spoke with the person who assured me everything would be handled. A week goes by no response from this person. Just called him again and found out that he has done nothing This lack of service will destroy this brand. This will be my 5th RCCL cruise and another 5 on Celebrity so I am not a NEWBIE. These guys need to get there act together. I imagine the first day on board will be a nightmare with hundreds of people lining up to make changes. Please don't tell me to be patient as this is a horrendous procedure. Cruises are supposed to be stress-free. RCCL has figured out a way to make it just the opposite. I urge everyone to call their executive offices 305-539-6000. Thats the only way they will change things

Very good post. Although I agree with another poster who says this won't ruin RCCL, I find the reservation system and the need to book so many reservations frustrating and I will avoid these ships in the future.

Also, this is not new technology. It's a simple reservation system used by thousands of companies and only the incompetency of the RCCL IT organization is at fault.

Just finalized my booking today. The itinerary was great in the Southern Caribbean to all new ports we have never sailed.

 

I think I got a great deal with the BOGOHO and WOW Sale ($200 OBC)

The final cost in an accessible outside cabin is roughly $2,100 including a couple of perks my TA threw in with the $200 OBC and trip insurance.

 

Did I get a good deal?

 

Best pat of all is 10 days on vacation. Has never happened before.

We travel in February and usually pay $250-275 per nite for a balcony cabin. I think your $210 for an ocean view is a good, not great, deal.

Have a great vacation

Have been on both. Both are very nice ships and provide a very similar experience. I'd go with less expensive

Shuttle that bad? I've never sailed out of NJ so I have no idea what to expect.

It's very easy to use the shuttle. No sane person would cancel a cruise because of a 2 minute bus ride. It drops you 20 yards from he ship.

Is that 3 complimentary drinks per day as Diamond or 3 for entire cruise? Thanks

3/day/person, just like Celebrity offers on many of their cruises. Worked out great for us.

Can't even see show times for our 2/2/15 eleven nite cruise. Is MM only shown on days 1 or 2? I assumed they would have a Welcome Aboard show on day 1 at about 7:00pm. Guess MM is right after that??

Thanks in advance.

Agree, calling is the only answer and I'm also very frustrated with the process. The incompetent IT dept is making the lives of customers and service reps very difficult.

This is pretty consistent w/ my experience on the 11 night. MM 2pm/9pm sea day, and 7/9pm shows for the headliners stuff. The other show... be darned if I can remember its name, was similar to MM later in the cruise.

 

Judy

Is MM available at those times every sea day. We are on the 11 night on 2/2/15 but can't see any entertainment, just trying to plan dining and it's very frustrating. Thanks

What I like most about cruising is the fact that it's hassle free. It's the one time of the year I don't have to be involved with scheduling and decision making once I complete my original reservation. My biggest decision during a cruise is which entree to order at meals.

 

If I didn't have family that had already booked with me and are looking forward to the Quantum (I'm scheduling dining and shows for the 3 cabins) I would have cancelled. As it is, I have booked my next cruise on a different line and plan never to sail RCCL again. In my humble opinion, the personal caring service on RCCL is a thing of the past.

Great post. Booking dining and entertainment for an eleven day cruise is not my idea of a relaxing time, never again. I won't sail on this type of cruise again.

This is my first experience on Royal Caribbean and it looks like it will be our last. We usually sail on Celebrity. This Dynamic Dining is terrible. We are having the same problems as everyone else with the reservations. Can't believe my cruise is a year away and I'm not able to get the times I want. That's ridiculous!!!:(

Royal provides a good cruise experience but IT support of their website is very amateurish. What bothers me is management tolerates it. We too may not sail with Royal again and we are Diamond members.

Doesn't worh for me either, but it shouldn't be a surprise.