tapemann

Hi,

I have only cruised one time before on RC, so I have no special status but if I am not going with a travel agent and book directly with RC is their anyway to get OBC with just 2 balcony cabins.

:)

Why not use an agent? you get the same cost and an agent can get you more. I get an OBC plus an additional OBC if there is a special offer going on.

If NCL is going to Nickel and Dime everyone , then I will NOT add Tips to my Cruise. That should balance out!

Why pay extra for meals you already paid for in the Cruise Fare? Use the OBC else where.

Picking a Cruise is always tradeoffs. Which one better suits what you want. These are two different ships. They all have things in common. They are on the water, all have plenty to keep you busy, and you will have all the food you want. Just pick what your budget is and enjoy the time.

try mbayley@rccl.com

I wonder who would be the most effective person or department at Royal to direct these suggestions to. ANy ideas?

Don't worry RCCL has someone reading these posts. They see ALL.

If you want to try quality, if Celebrity is sailing then try them. I have a couple on the Summit this week left Sat from PR

The Pix on the Link is Enchantment. You can tell by the Loops on the top Deck in the pool where the ship was streched.

I heard that Oasis III will home port in Port Canaveral. Will it do 3-4 Day or 7day?

Would anyone like it is the Grandeur did the Southern Caribbean from Balt during the winter? It does Eastern & Western. It would be nice if they added Southern to the mix. RCCL does Southern NJ, but why drive to NJ if your in the DC/ Balt area.

Ay one time a few years ago RCI the parent Corp tried to buy Princess. But Carnival won that battle.

The mods here will not let it be posted. If you google Royal Caribbean blog you will find it.

I found it. RCCL should come out with an official Press Release. This way everyone will know.

Early and late seating confirmed.

 

On the unofficial blog site they have a confirmed statement from Royal that there will be an early and late seating for Classic dining.

Where is this Blog site??

the problem of seat going unused it a problem that RCCL created with the extra pay Dining. 5:30 is just too early for some. For many of the reasons stated before. They are good with tests. why not test Early & Late and see what happens after 3-4 Months.

I understand you feelings and I hope they are able to accommodate them on every ship you ever wish to sail. That is my hope for you, but remember this new class of ships was likey designed and built with dynamic dining and faster table turnover in mind. Thus, the dining room capacity may indeed already be smaller (compared to passenger capacity) on that class of ship. If so, adding only 5:30 classic dining ( where guests quickly seat themselves at a preassigned table right at opening) actually improves the number of times a table can be turned vs all dd. OTOH, late classic dining reduces their ability to turn as many tables as fast as possible. If the dining capacity is not large enought on this class of ship, adding late classic dinig might add a difficult bottleneck, possibly hurting more guests than it helps (they might not get into that dining room at all, though tables sat empty parts of the evening). If you book last minute, you might get dd rather than classic; you'd then be among the guests hurt in this manner. Again, I really hope this is not the case, but the ships were designed for dd, and capacity may not be there. Fortunately, there are many ships with just what you want; so i'd suggest you happily sail those many ships while avoiding the problematic few one if things do not turn your way.

I pick a ship based on where it is going and Ports. Not on a Class of ship. RCCL still might have time on ships that are not built yet, to take what they have learned into account rather than try and fit their Loyal Cruisers into what they thought people wanted. Maybe they need more focus groups. If you ask questions to get the answers you want to hear its not really giving you the real info. You may not like what you learn.

Not sure why they would even introduce Classic, its simply not needed. just show up at the time you want to eat.

 

Leave classic to Holland America

The point is Many people don't want to make Rez but want to sit at a large table with others, Plus not have to wait. If you are ok with MTD or DD you do want you want. Many others are not happy with the changes. RCCL is working to make changes. They just have to go far enough then cut back if the numbers adjust. What they seem to be doing is start short w/o saying they are willing to expand if needed.

Maybe people will move to HAL, Princess, CEL or others. I don't think RCCL wants that.

Many traditional diners do enjoy leisurely dinners, with multiple slow courses and lingering over coffee and desert while chatting. But there are also people who like to spend less time in dining room and more time elsewhere. The latter people can allow the table to be turned substantially more often.

 

If people are seated at 5:30 pm (classi or dynamic), with prompt service, many might leave the table 75 minutes later. Table can then be reset and ready for next guests (dynamic)art say 7 pm. If they are also seated and served promptly, so table may be ready for another set of guests (dynamic) at 8:30 pm. So, in this they can use that table three times in one night. Some diners eat fewer courses or eat more quickly, in which case they might get four seatings at some tables some evenings. If tables turn in this manner, they seat more 50-100% more guests with early classic plus dynamic vs early plus late classic.

So your saying that RCCL can build Dinging rooms smaller or have more staff if the tables turn more times a night.

Every Cruiser is on Vacation and should be allowed to Dine relaxed and at their own pace. If RCCL needs more profit the could raise fares by $1-2/pp/cabin. They measure onboard Rev of each ship. If they are going to rush passengers they might as well take a land vacation.

The new Menu items are nice and asked for. But not at the sake of being rushed. Also some like to meet new people from different parts of the country or World.

If you limit the number of guests that can use Classic, they should be able to handle two seatings. With Quantum having 4 dining venues it means you would only need to seat 1/8 of the Classic diners in a given restaurant at any one time. They already stated that the availability of Classic would be limited.

 

With 2 seating times and a set number of guests in each seating, all it does is pre-reserve those particular tables for the entire night. it effectively is no different than having Dynamic Dining reservations for those tables.

 

The issue that they need to figure out is what to do about table availability for someone using Classic who opts for a premium restaurant on a particular night.

Many don't want to pay extra at a Premium restaurant. That is the real problem for RCCL. They would like to pay extra and make more Profit from those Restaurants. The meal doesn't cost them $35/pp more , they just like the extra profit. They are counting on long lines at free restaurants to drive people to the extra profit restaurants.

If you limit the number of guests that can use Classic, they should be able to handle two seatings. With Quantum having 4 dining venues it means you would only need to seat 1/8 of the Classic diners in a given restaurant at any one time. They already stated that the availability of Classic would be limited.

 

With 2 seating times and a set number of guests in each seating, all it does is pre-reserve those particular tables for the entire night. it effectively is no different than having Dynamic Dining reservations for those tables.

 

The issue that they need to figure out is what to do about table availability for someone using Classic who opts for a premium restaurant on a particular night.

Classic Dining is also mixing a couple with others at a 10 top table to meet new folks for the length of the cruise. It would be just as it is now. Plus you don't have to think about Reservations. Keep it simple. You have the same number of people moving through the same Dining rooms anyway.

Assuming early and late dining is at 6pm and 8.30pm means Dynamic Diners will not have enought time to eat before the first Classic dining time of 6pm. The early Classic diners should have cleared by 7.30pm at latest. That leaves only 1 hour in which Dynamic Dining can take place. That's not enough time. Late Classic dining is between 8.30 and 10.00 so Dynamic Diners are only able to eat after 10.00pm so it just doesn't work. The only way I can see an early and late sitting work is for Classic and Dynamic diners to eat at the same times by splitting the complimentary dining rooms into two separate areas. I'm sure that RCI have already thought this through, they just need to tell the rest of us how it is going to work (or not work, as the case may be!)

If they have to Split the rooms up fine. I'm sure they monitor this site. They need to try it and see how the numbers fall. They could find that many more prefer the Late seating. That's better than only offering the Early and it fails. (They most likely hopes that happens). They can say they tried. From the notes so far Many want the set times. I know people if they don't get late seating they won't go on that Cruise. They are Diamond +. RCCL will still risk the Base moving to other lines in the hopes of gaining new cruisers. Why not keep ALL Happy!

What time would you prefer for late seating?

The same times that they have Early & Late seating now on the ships. Not to make any changes in times. For many Just Early kills Time in Port by having to be back on the ship to get ready for Dinner. The two times also works well to make the shows. If 90 min is too long to do a serving, that can be speeded up a bit to make things work.

RCI will probably not use the term Rotational since that's a Disney term. The Classic addition to DD is to appease the masses that complained that they like traditional dining. On the Quantum class they can only do so much due to the seating capacity. To fit everyone in they really need almost 3 seatings so they have to squeeze in Classic into the mix somehow. The number of Classic slots available and their times will have to be limited to allow for the seating limits. If you want Classic you'll have to live with what's offered. On Oasis class ships it will be different since the seating capacity allows for two seatings.

 

Biker, who is not surprised the complaints about Classic dining took less than a day to start.

This is NOT a complaint about Classic Dining. They used the word Rotational in the Video. RCCL has to think about the masses they are trying to come up with a solution. A Late and Early Rotation should not be a problem. They already have the staff in those Dining rooms. They don't want to solve a problem half way. That's not a real solution. Let's hear from others.

It's great to see that RCCL sees the need to bring in Classic Rotational Dining. But from the video I saw they said it was only at the 5:30 time. It also need to have a Late time as well. For many 5:30 is too early. It shortens the Port days. You have to be back on board too early to get ready for dinner. What is the feeling out there. Should there be a Late Classic Rotation as well?