Dynamic Dining

[TravelinGert]

I have been on the side of RCCL for quite some time prior to this announcement, but I have to say I'm disappointed.

 

Even with the updated deck plans yesterday, I was OK because I figured the majority of options would be free of charge. Who isn't a fan of options?

 

But now, it seems, everything other than American-type fare is tied to a surcharge. I don't like the idea of going on an all inclusive vacation and paying extra for having quality food. I mean really - even the pub food?

 

It may turn out OK, but with only 3 free of charge dining rooms, I feel like I will be out of options by night 5.

 

Why invite people to event to show off new food if it's ONLY going to be the food that has a surcharge. It seems moronic.

 

More specialty restaurants mean a decline in the quality of food us commoners eat. Heading the wrong way in my opinion...

 

 

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Sorry to be so negative this morning. It was quite the slap on the nose to have so many of the things I was most looking forward to in a cruise taken away all at one go. Especially after I'd been so careful to make certain scheduled MDR dining times would be available to us if we wanted them. I will certainly be smiling on our cruise, never fear. It was just the shock.

 

Sorry, back to edit after finding links.

 

So....why are they asking us to make reservations 4 days in advance (hope they get their computer systems working before then-would be quite awful if a ship full of people find no one can make reservations as the computer isn't working at the proper time) if there are no set dining times? Do they mean everyone can just wander up at the free venues any time? Or do they mean reservations only if you want to eat in the for fee places?

Edited March 26, 2014 by TravelinGert

[DEIx15x8]

So the new site lists all of the menus as well as the dress code for each one. Yes they do exist, casual, smart casual, and formal. It looks like one menu per venue. I wonder what alternative items are though. I see nothing at Chic, all sea food but my parents love sea food.

[Indy_Girl46]

Do we have to book for each evening?

[moakes]

Sorry to be so negative this morning. It was quite the slap on the nose to have so many of the things I was most looking forward to in a cruise taken away all at one go. Especially after I'd been so careful to make certain scheduled MDR dining times would be available to us if we wanted them. I know there was a post earlier that showed more than three no surcharge restaurants.

 

Can anyone link me to where Royal has posted which restaurants have a surcharge?

 

Surely there is a misunderstanding somewhere I just can't help but think. If there are only 3 no surcharge restaurants, Royal is definitely cheapening their image going with the Spirit Air plan.

 

I shall certainly be smiling and happy on the cruise, of course, don't worry!

 

Having thought on it a bit, I now think surely we should be able to just book dinner every night in advance and then make changes. Surely they will build some sort of kiosks in to this new ship where people can update their reservations or make new ones on the fly according to availability so that new friends can dine together if they like. Aside from trying to change to eat with unexpected friends, surely there will be many people who will find they've scheduled dinner smack in the middle of some activity they wish to enjoy once they get the schedule of activities. Certainly if they haven't planned ways for people to change reservations on the fly, Guest Services is going to come to hate this new dining plan.

 

Here is the link to the RCCL Quantum site:

 

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/quantumoftheseas/dining/

 

You can sort by complimentary and for pay as well as by meal time. Menus for each restaurant are located in each restaurants page.

[ChipLondon]

The video makes it all look very exciting, I hope the standards shown will translate to the ships. I am very excited now about my various bookings on both new ships. :D

[moakes]

While each restaurant has a good selection of dishes, there is the risk of not wanting what you booked. Because each restaurant is a specific type of cuisine and if you are having to pre-book weeks if not months in advance, you run the risk of not being in the mood on the night for the restaurant cuisine your pre-booked for. Hmmm… this could be a bit of an issue for those that like to decide what type of food they want to eat right before they eat it. At least in the MDR there were varying degrees of choice of different styles of food.

[karmacats]

i stand by my earlier rant (which i think was on this thread), but i have to admit, some of those restaurants look really good!

 

the sort function (to find complementary restaurants) worked fine for me, but not for DH. i was on chrome and he was on IE, if that makes a difference.

 

one of my travelmates on quantum is excited, one not so much. it'll be interesting for sure.

 

maybe i could slip a server a twenty to follow us from restaurant to restaurant, so we could keep the same one. :D then i'd be a happy lady.

[Cruzin-K]

Did I miss something? What was the big announcement at 6:30?

 

edit: oh never mind - I guess it was just the new video they posted?

Edited March 26, 2014 by Cruzin-K

[tls1012]

While each restaurant has a good selection of dishes, there is the risk of not wanting what you booked. Because each restaurant is a specific type of cuisine and if you are having to pre-book weeks if not months in advance, you run the risk of not being in the mood on the night for the restaurant cuisine your pre-booked for. Hmmm… this could be a bit of an issue for those that like to decide what type of food they want to eat right before they eat it. At least in the MDR there were varying degrees of choice of different styles of food.

 

 

So can we reserve each restaurant for each night and then choose when we get there?

 

 

 

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[scandinavianvoyager]

"Freestyle" or "Dynamic" in the cruise business are supposed to mean that one is "free" and can choose when, where and with whom to eat, but in reality it means booking and planning months in advance to get a variety of food and the type one wants.

 

So at the end one is less "free" than in the "old fashion" Cruise ship standard dining with fixed dining schedule.

 

Looking beyond the food I'm still mostly sad that the "enlarged" Radience class ships we heard about at the begining never materialized in the Quantum class. Well we stil have the Radience class hips to enjoy :)

[karmacats]

Did I miss something? What was the big announcement at 6:30?

 

edit: oh never mind - I guess it was just the new video they posted?

 

Hi Karen! The royal homepage now has a link to information on all 18 restaurants, including menus for the MDRs and specialty restaurants, and pictures of the interiors (i presume mockups or really good renderings, since i don't think they've started on the real interior of the ship yet). It was a huge link at the top of the royal page for me. Maybe I'll see you on quantum, since I never did get to meet you on our Allure cruise! :(

 

 

So can we reserve each restaurant for each night and then choose when we get there?

 

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You mean make a bunch of reservations for the same night at different places? Normally I'd say their system wouldn't let you, but royal's IT is so messed up, that just might work. :D

[moakes]

It appears to be advised to pre-reserve a restaurant each night before boarding the ship…I'm guessing/hoping there will be some accommodations made for walk-ups. Having to pre-book doesn't really sound that dynamic.

[tls1012]

Hi Karen! The royal homepage now has a link to information on all 18 restaurants, including menus for the MDRs and specialty restaurants, and pictures of the interiors (i presume mockups or really good renderings, since i don't think they've started on the real interior of the ship yet). It was a huge link at the top of the royal page for me. Maybe I'll see you on quantum, since I never did get to meet you on our Allure cruise! :(

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You mean make a bunch of reservations for the same night at different places? Normally I'd say their system wouldn't let you, but royal's IT is so messed up, that just might work. :D

 

 

Yup that's exactly what mean. Lol

 

 

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[Cruzin-K]

Hi Karen! The royal homepage now has a link to information on all 18 restaurants, including menus for the MDRs and specialty restaurants, and pictures of the interiors (i presume mockups or really good renderings, since i don't think they've started on the real interior of the ship yet). It was a huge link at the top of the royal page for me. Maybe I'll see you on quantum, since I never did get to meet you on our Allure cruise! :(

 

 

Thanks. I've been browsing around some of the menus (I've looked at four so far). I wish they'd throw them all into one giant pdf file so I could just download it, print it, and read it easier than the way it is online. It's a "royal" pain to have to click, wait for the page to load, then you have to click to see appetizers, then click for entrees, etc. I'll probably give up after the next one. Not much point in picking out meals for a ship I won't be on for several years (by which time, the menus will change :D )

 

I wish Royal would have organized our Allure M&M a bit better, so we could have spent more time talking with each other, instead of listening to the activities director go on and on.

[OfTheSeasCruiser]

A little disappointed in Royal's decision. There could have been a way to meet in the middle with both traditional and dynamic dining. However, the food and venues look great. I especially like the smaller venues for lunch, etc., like the pub. We can probably expect to see this concept on Oasis 3 also... :(

[Cruzin-K]

A little disappointed in Royal's decision. There could have been a way to meet in the middle with both traditional and dynamic dining. However, the food and venues look great. I especially like the smaller venues for lunch, etc., like the pub. We can probably expect to see this concept on Oasis 3 also... :(

 

The food does look good in some of the restaurants.

 

I must say, dining in the MDR on the Allure left a lot to be desired, so maybe getting rid of it on these mega-ships isn't such a bad idea.

[MADflyer]

"Freestyle" or "Dynamic" in the cruise business are supposed to mean that one is "free" and can choose when, where and with whom to eat, but in reality it means booking and planning months in advance to get a variety of food and the type one wants.

 

So at the end one is less "free" than in the "old fashion" Cruise ship standard dining with fixed dining schedule.

 

Looking beyond the food I'm still mostly sad that the "enlarged" Radience class ships we heard about at the begining never materialized in the Quantum class. Well we stil have the Radience class hips to enjoy :)

 

I fundamentally agree with you and will always appreciate classic cruising. That said, the quality had started to slip too greatly the past few years.

 

They are putting on a great marketing hype here and the venues and menus look fantastic.

 

What they are not telling us is that this will be much better for their operations than classic cruising. They will have 5 complimentary dining venues full for the most part of every evening. The fact that booking for each night is necessary anyway, more will make a specialty choice in advance and enhance their revenue.

 

Another shift is evident on these boards and elsewhere. Many just want to plan every single detail of their trip in advance and the internet gives them that access.

 

I assume we will all be required to pay gratuities and some will not be able to remove them as they do now and while the servers only had two seatings previously, they may now serve each table three to four times an evening.

 

This fact does change another onboard 'dynamic' altogether.

 

*Jag kan svenska men man ska håller sig säkert till engelska här ....

[M. St. Louis]

Well, this certainly puts a massive damper on our trip. One of our favourite things about cruising is meeting a small group of folks at dinner on night 1, and becoming friends over the cruise. You end up seeing shows together, sometimes even doing excursions together. We've even booked later cruises together with some couples we've met.

 

Now all that is gone. We have to train a new wait stuff every damn night on what we like, and we get that horrid "table for 2" we absolutely despise. Or, we end up at a new large table every night, and get the insipid "where are you from, what do you do" small talk repeated every night ad nauseam.

 

We simply never would have booked this ship had we known they were going to destroy the dining experience. I doubt we'll cancel, but we're discussing it.

[Overtyme]

Well, this certainly puts a massive damper on our trip. One of our favourite things about cruising is meeting a small group of folks at dinner on night 1, and becoming friends over the cruise. You end up seeing shows together, sometimes even doing excursions together. We've even booked later cruises together with some couples we've met.

 

Now all that is gone. We have to train a new wait stuff every damn night on what we like, and we get that horrid "table for 2" we absolutely despise. Or, we end up at a new large table every night, and get the insipid "where are you from, what do you do" small talk repeated every night ad nauseam.

 

We simply never would have booked this ship had we known they were going to destroy the dining experience. I doubt we'll cancel, but we're discussing it.

 

I think that would be a good question to ask Adam tomorrow afternoon.

I'm looking at a future cruise, and wonder how people who meet other people can sit together. I'm sure you can book a reservation for X number of people under your name.

[gordiej]

I don't see any reason why they still couldn't offer larger tables for multiple smaller parties. Booking for 2? Would you like a table for 2, a table for 6 or a table for 10? Sure, some extra IT programming that they may not be up to, but it's definitely possible...

[TravelinGert]

I don't see any reason why they still couldn't offer larger tables for multiple smaller parties. Booking for 2? Would you like a table for 2, a table for 6 or a table for 10? Sure, some extra IT programming that they may not be up to, but it's definitely possible...

 

Sounds like a good plan to me.

[icsys]

here are some links:

 

http://www.creative.rccl.com/Sales/Royal/Quantum/14037847_QN_Class_Culinary_FAQs.pdf?cid=UKRCIEM_Culinary_Experience_270314_GBRRCIQNCULINARY2014EMPRNONBOOKED_faq&wuc=GBR

 

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/quantumoftheseas/dining/restaurants/?wuc=USA&cid=UKRCIEM_Culinary_Experience_270314_GBRRCIQNCULINARY2014EMPRNONBOOKED_landing&wuc=GBR

[dekhands]

We have always been staunch RCCI fans...but circumstance had us on a Norwegian cruise last fall, where we tried to keep an open mind. The key element that soured us on NCL is their "Freestyle" Concept...imagine having to either carry a "beeper" around the ship for an over-booked dining room when it was impossible to make reservations...or to be forced to one of the non-complimentary options when it wasn't really what you had in mind. How can RCCL say that this is a revolutionary idea "never seen before at sea" !!!

 

We couldn't wait to go "home" to RCCL and Traditional Dining, which is what we prefer. Now...certainly does appears that you can't go home again.

[OfTheSeasCruiser]

We have always been staunch RCCI fans...but circumstance had us on a Norwegian cruise last fall, where we tried to keep an open mind. The key element that soured us on NCL is their "Freestyle" Concept...imagine having to either carry a "beeper" around the ship for an over-booked dining room when it was impossible to make reservations...or to be forced to one of the non-complimentary options when it wasn't really what you had in mind. How can RCCL say that this is a revolutionary idea "never seen before at sea" !!!

 

We couldn't wait to go "home" to RCCL and Traditional Dining, which is what we prefer. Now...certainly does appears that you can't go home again.

 

 

Exactly how we felt after cruising with NCL last year. We decided we liked Royal better and now have a cruise booked with them. Now they decide to do this to us...

[nolesrule]

Exactly how we felt after cruising with NCL last year. We decided we liked Royal better and now have a cruise booked with them. Now they decide to do this to us...

 

This is only on Quantum and Anthem. Nothing has changed on the other ships.