RCCL New dining concept

[joeyancho]

The poi

Edited March 29, 2014 by joeyancho

[Tyron]

It's funny how everyone keeps saying RC "copied" NCL....so what!!! :rolleyes: Other cruise lines have been integrating various RC innovations for years (i.e., Aqua parks, rock climbing walls, cantileverd whirlpools, etc.). Times are changing and ships are being designed to attract the next generation of cruisers.

[megr1125]

I guess my biggest question would be this, will these new venues be able to accomadate large groups who are on vacation together and would like to spend dinner together?

 

I know for me, dinner is when you get together with family or new friends and talk about your day. Typically, groups will go thier own way during the day. Will the venues have large tables and how will guests be able to make a reservation say for 20 in 1 location?

 

Cruising to me is getting away from land and having a completely different expieience from home. You get to meet new people at your dinner table and have that relationship with your wait staff. I know that they have made dinner a fun time! I tried anytime dining once and hated it. There was a different waiter each time and the service was not good.

 

I just know I would not want to spend my vacation worrying about getting a reservation for dinner. I like the fact that I have dinner at 6 and go on my merry way before and after.

 

IMHO

 

 

They will not guarantee tables together for more than 16 guests...so if you're more than that, you'd likely be spread out - either tables farther apart, or you'd have to have some in one place and some in another...

 

So if you have 20, there's a good chance that you'll be at several tables scattered around a dining room (maybe 3 8-tops for instance, and they MIGHT not be near each other..)

[Spurschick]

I think he is wrong. We took my Daughter and SIL on our cruise last week. They loved the MDR. They are both" foodies" and my daughter is a vegan and a marathon runner. SIL runs with her, but eats more things.

 

She ordered the Indian entrée the first night. One of our servers spoke quietly to her and told her it was spicy. She assured him that was OK. When he served the dish, he told her she could order something else. Well, as she enjoys eating at Indian and Thia restaurants here, she ate every scrap. She did share some with her husband. The waiter asked her if she liked it, she assured him it was delightful. He beamed. I was impressed with his making sure she knew what it was, and his kindness in telling her she could get something else. She ate that entree ( on the anytime dining lise) two more times. She had all of the vegetable meals.

 

There is just something special about being seated. Tablecloth and all. they even ate breakfast in the MDR when they could.

 

They are 32 and 31. She is A teacher and he is a logistic manager for an import/export company.

 

Seems to me.........that Dining Room sort of anchors the cruise. You met with your family or friends there each night.............and it is the same place.

I am probably not making sense.....but...........I want a MDR. ATD or Set times..either is fine.

 

Agree completely. When we lived in UK indian restaurants never held back on spices. Since moving to us we have found that whilst still good nowhere near as hot/spicy as we were used to.whilst I prefer mild, my DH likes a good spice heat.

 

Normally in MDR if there is a curry option my DH will only order if the waiter can arrange for someone to spice it up.

The asian/indian c offerings we have seen on the new menu certainly look appealing.

Edited March 29, 2014 by Spurschick

[BekkaW]

Just a matter of opinion, but I quit sailing NCL because of this same concept, and now RCI thinks it's cool. HMMM,,,another one bites the dust for me. :mad:

 

"SKY"

 

The really simple solution is to sail other ships rather than quit RCI - it's only quantum and anthem that have this feature.

 

I'm also amused at the number of comments berating RCI for only doing this to increase profit, when in fact the MDR 'replacements' are all complimentary. Yes there are fee based restaurants also, but there are on every ship

 

Edit: I am interested to try this and will reserve judgement until after I have tried it!

Edited March 29, 2014 by BekkaW

[Spurschick]

The really simple solution is to sail other ships rather than quit RCI - it's only quantum and anthem that have this feature.

 

I'm also amused at the number of comments berating RCI for only doing this to increase profit, when in fact the MDR 'replacements' are all complimentary. Yes there are fee based restaurants also, but there are on every ship

 

Edit: I am interested to try this and will reserve judgement until after I have tried it!

 

I agree

It is two ships not the whole fleet. There are plenty of other options.

 

The number of posts I've seen stating they won't sail on quantum or anthem because they're too big as well makes me laugh. It is almost as though people program in that every time RC bring out a new ship it is bigger than the last, and these two are smaller than the oasis and allure;)

 

I'm like you, once experienced able to give an honest opinion.

 

I will probably try eventually. Not top of list but not bottom either:)

[ano]

I won't be there. In fact after the Oasis, having to make reservations for every show was enough of a turnoff. Most of the things we wanted to attend were booked by the second day. I see the same with this. Too much hassle to have to fight to have dinner. They are probably hoping that you will give up and then go for the pay restaurants. Sorry, not me.

Edited March 29, 2014 by ano

[martyap]

I won't be there. In fact after the Oasis, having to make reservations for every show was enough of a turnoff. Most of the things we wanted to attend were booked by the second day. I see the same with this. Too much hassle to have to fight to have dinner. They are probably hoping that you will give up and then go for the pay restaurants. Sorry, not me.

 

 

We are booked on the Quantum for January and although we will keep the booking I see this as a huge problem. We will pre reserve everything. Many who may not even realize the dining system has changed will be out of luck if they wait to make reservations after boarding. We plan to reserve all four of the complimentary restaurants, a fe fee restaurants and use the Windjammer as a backup if we change our minds on board

 

 

 

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[abridalmaven]

I looked at menus for the American icon. Macaroni and cheese? Come on now. No matter how you jazz that up, it is pure junk. Surf and Turf with FRIES? With on or two exceptions not much seemed upscale in anyway.

 

The loss of the MDR is something I don't like. Making show reservations on the Oasis and Allure was a real PIA. And the only downside of those ships. So adding having to make reservations for dinner to adds to the disappointment. We were booked on the Quantum but I cancelled when my husband started his chemo for Leukemia. After he finished I rebooked Adventure for this fall in Norway. I am glad I did. He does not want to go on the quantum now at all and neither do I. We love radiance class Abdul so we will just book those classes from now on. We did freestyle on NCL and did not like it. So it is not like we did not give the concept a chance.

[Paulxyz2004]

I´ve sailed NCL once and Freestyle was a disaster. It turned me off of NCL up to today and they will have a very hard time to win me back.

 

As a result of this I was rather hesistant to try first Anytime on Princess and then MTD on RCI, but it worked out OK. However I´m still not a big fan of it and given the choice always rather settle for traditional.

 

I know it´s just one ship class at this Point, but I´m not that naive to think it will stay contained to These two. If this is their new concept, it will eventually get rolled out across the fleet.

 

I know they are in the market to make Money and I always say and will continue to do, it´s about the Money and not about pleasing the guests, unless they drive the mass of guests away with it.

 

To me it´s way too early to make a decision on this, as I had no intentions on a Quantum class ship anyway, but it surely moves Quantum to the low of the list for me, way behind of ships from other lines offering traditional Dining.

 

It might be a trend to make a cruise more equal to a land based vacation. I go on a cruise because I want something different than a land based vacation.

 

While the Jury is still out this could be a trend that will drive me away, especially as they made the move to completely eliminate traditional Dining. I can well remember how this was the fear when MTD was introduced and AG kept promising that would never happen.:rolleyes:

 

Well it is what it is and I wish them good luck with it. In the meantime I still have some other RCI ships tp sail on and of course there are still other lines out there offering a good product that suits me and I know I won´t be missed by RCI.

Edited March 29, 2014 by Paulxyz2004

[drarill]

I guess my biggest question would be this, will these new venues be able to accomadate large groups who are on vacation together and would like to spend dinner together?

 

I know for me, dinner is when you get together with family or new friends and talk about your day. Typically, groups will go thier own way during the day. Will the venues have large tables and how will guests be able to make a reservation say for 20 in 1 location?

 

Cruising to me is getting away from land and having a completely different expieience from home. You get to meet new people at your dinner table and have that relationship with your wait staff. I know that they have made dinner a fun time! I tried anytime dining once and hated it. There was a different waiter each time and the service was not good.

 

I just know I would not want to spend my vacation worrying about getting a reservation for dinner. I like the fact that I have dinner at 6 and go on my merry way before and after.

 

IMHO

Excellent post.

[Stateroom_Sailor]

We are booked on the Quantum for January and although we will keep the booking I see this as a huge problem. We will pre reserve everything. Many who may not even realize the dining system has changed will be out of luck if they wait to make reservations after boarding. We plan to reserve all four of the complimentary restaurants, a fe fee restaurants and use the Windjammer as a backup if we change our minds on board

 

This is actually creating more structure and red tape to an already structured vocation. What if I'm exhausted after an excursion and miss the show, or don't feel like Mediterranean food because I ate something similar at lunch? How do I know which free restaurants I want to eat at twice? In some ways this is opposite of freestyle, lock it in your be left out!

 

I like to plan months in advance, which hotels and airlines, what excursions, post-cruise activities, but not micromanage ever little thing I'm going to do on the ship. Is that relaxing?

[abridalmaven]

And here is another thing. I see they will be offering an app for your phone to access the food venues. Now how will that work unless they offer free wifi. I have no intention of turning on my data on a ship and incuring huge fees. And the phone and or internet fees on the ships are not cheap. So just how will that work?

[LMaxwell]

And here is another thing. I see they will be offering an app for your phone to access the food venues. Now how will that work unless they offer free wifi. I have no intention of turning on my data on a ship and incuring huge fees. And the phone and or internet fees on the ships are not cheap. So just how will that work?

 

I imagine the ship would have an intranet that you could connect to that would give you use of this app. You will also have the ability to make reservations in person or through the touch screen boards. I really don't see this as a problem, honestly. I put my phone in the safe for a week. Others can't put their phone down for 10 seconds; this appeals to that set.

[LMaxwell]

This is actually creating more structure and red tape to an already structured vocation. What if I'm exhausted after an excursion and miss the show, or don't feel like Mediterranean food because I ate something similar at lunch? How do I know which free restaurants I want to eat at twice? In some ways this is opposite of freestyle, lock it in your be left out!

 

I like to plan months in advance, which hotels and airlines, what excursions, post-cruise activities, but not micromanage ever little thing I'm going to do on the ship. Is that relaxing?

 

Having the ability to make a reservation pre-cruise does not mean you can't change your decision on time and location on the fly to suit your tastes and schedule. It is actually much more difficult to do that now. You are either on fixed time, or mytime so you can go whenever, but you only have option of one nights menu, not 4 different menus to choose from. If pre-reserving before the cruise was the ONLY way it could be done, yes, I agree, it would not be relaxing.

[MommaBear55]

I find the concept fascinating. I like the MDR for all its traditional aspects, sitting with the same group every night, having lots of varied choices every night, having the same wait staff and enjoying a leisurely, elegant dinner.

Having said that, eating at a different restaurant every night would be fun too. I can imagine setting the reservations up ahead of time. I would choose the more elaborate concept restaurants for sea days and the others for shore days. I am certainly open to trying this!

I am going with a group of 100 people the first time I am on the Quantum, and it will be interesting to see how they handle this. We usually have several tables for 10 set up on the same area, and if we cannot replicate that atmosphere of sharing and intermingling, that would detract from the cruise for me. We shall see!

[LMaxwell]

[quote name='MommaBear55']

I am going with a group of 100 people the first time I am on the Quantum, and it will be interesting to see how they handle this. We usually have several tables for 10 set up on the same area, and if we cannot replicate that atmosphere of sharing and intermingling, that would detract from the cruise for me. We shall see![/quote]

I would be adjusting expectations in this case as your group would represent fully 1/4 of the capacity of any one venue. Having 10 tables set up for one group may not be a realistic goal. I don't mean to be a downer on your excitement, just saying that you probably shouldn't expect to have the same situation as you had in the past with these new dining concepts.

[megr1125]

First..I tried the food...it is very good...

Will I write off RCI or QN and AN ...no..

Do I think that people who do say "no way" before trying it are being a little silly? Yes...heck I am a HUGE cynic...but even I think it might work. Will it take adjusting on both guests and Royal's part?? Of course.

Will I plan my whole cruise ahead? No way. Adam was asked, and said that, there are enough options that they will be able to accomodate people on the fly....

Is it om to go book other ships and lines if people are not happy with it?? Yup...makes more room for me!!!

I never liked the assigned dining with forced tablemates and awkward small talk. I love MTD and I think that many love this. There are so many cool food choices...go hunt down the videos....

I am the first to gripe when Royal fouls up...but if I have a bad experience anyplace...I let the business know. When I first heard it I said HUH??

Having been at the reveal I left with the feeling that the food is DIFFERENT...(I hated the spice themed menus....) and that it might be OK..

Point is...I hope people try it...sure some grumbled at the event. And yes they want new cruisers...blah blah.

BUT...how many of us said, before our first cruise.."trying it...not sure if I will like it?" ....and look how far we have come....

Sent from my Galaxy S3, somewhere in the galaxy

[bbiggar]

If this is the trend I will stop cruising all together. What happen to the gold old cruising days?:rolleyes:

[Paulxyz2004]

[quote name='bbiggar']If this is the trend I will stop cruising all together. What happen to the gold old cruising days?:rolleyes:[/quote]

From the mass market - unfortunately gone:( but at this point there´s still options out there.

I agree with you, but the good thing is before there is a Need to give up cruising some time will pass, as of yet it´s just a small part of the cruising world changing in this (to me wrong) direction.

Others will happily take our place.

I have no hard Feelings towards RCI with this, as it´s my personal choice. The Point I´m rather bummed about with this is eliminating the choice. RCI has always been inovating new things on their ships, without completely eliminating the traditional choices. I.e. they adopted MTD without eliminating the choice of traditional. Now, while they could have had the Chance to still Keep even a small traditional Dining place, they Chose to kick it out. Well their ships, their rules.

[SamFritz]

I assume there will be no designated formal nights. If that's the case will tuxedo rentals on the ship be available? If so, how many shirts will they give you, since they won't know how many nights you'll be eating at the formal restaurant?

I'm not a fan of the fracturing of the cruise experience and the increased isolation from my fellow passengers it will create.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk, please excuse all the typos.

[LMaxwell]

I think it would be absolutely fascinating to see some of the research and polling RCI did on this, or what trends or places they studied to come to these sort of conclusions. I'm probably towards the younger end of most people on this site but I look forward to the dining concepts.

I too was not interested in Q/A. I don't need or want a floating amusement park. I really enjoy being at sea. I bemoaned the lack of sea connection on Allure. But I have to say these new dining concepts have really made me start to consider these ships. I look forward to seeing the Anthem itineraries out of Florida. But please, please, please RCI...don't put it on the same lame itins as Allure and Oasis currently run. We already know these ships can go to more unique places. 9 or 10 days from Fort Lauderdale to the ABC island and I'll book, I swear! :cool:

[nbsjcruiser]

[quote name='joeyancho'][url]http://www.foxnews.com/travel/2014/03/28/royal-caribbean-ditches-traditional-dining-on-quantum/?intcmp=features[/url]

Just read this article on the new dining concept on the Quantum. Traditional dining is gone. MDR is gone. Looks amazing. I wonder how Carnival will compete with this or if they will even try. It is different than NCL in that the venues are not for fee. Anyway very interesting.[/QUOTE]

I've said many times on the Carnival board that Carnival should do away with their MDR and replace it with fee based restaurants. Give people the option of the buffet or a small fee to eat at an upscale restaurant. It looks like RCI has sort of done this except that 5 of their restaurants are free. I think the fee based concept would be a great option for Carnival. Based on my last 3 cruises on Carnival the food was pretty bad and drove me away. After my time there they lowered the quality even more with "comfort food", removing table cloths and so on. Its bad enough that I'd never go back but if they had a ship that gave me the option of 5 or 6 fee based restaurants, I'd give it serious consideration.

[Jocko97]

[quote name='abridalmaven']And here is another thing. I see they will be offering an app for your phone to access the food venues. Now how will that work unless they offer free wifi. I have no intention of turning on my data on a ship and incuring huge fees. And the phone and or internet fees on the ships are not cheap. So just how will that work?[/QUOTE]

You can access RoyalCaribbean.com on your device using the ship's wifi free of charge, so I'd say it's a safe assumption that access to reservations for dinning would also be free.

Sent from my VS980 4G using Forums mobile app

[DataStar]

I was also at the reveal meeting and I just wanted to point out that four of the five theme venues each have 400 seats, so with a couple of seatings each, there's capacity. The menus are posted on the website.

For those that want to make reservations while aboard, I was told that this could be done through the interactive TVs in the cabins, or by calling and asking the operator. I was told that when you select a restaurant and time, the system will tell you if any of the shows are at the time you'll be dining, so you can make a decision with that in mind. The expectation was that the interactive dining selector for Quantum would be operational in mid May.

Not trying to influence what anyone thinks or feels about the dining concept, but I wanted to add this information to everyone's equation.