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"Dynamic dining is going fleetwide"

ryano

By ryano,
in Royal Caribbean International

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Clarea

Clarea

Posted
Posted (edited)
[quote name='lyndamr']Question if this happens on the Oasis, which restaurants are complimentary, which restaurants are a fee and which remain as the specialty?[/quote]
This info is still unknown until Royal publishes details of the Oasis changes. Edited by clarea
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Clarea

Clarea

Posted
Posted
[quote name='lyndamr']Thats true Clarea but worst case, if it doesn't happen I have specialty dining. ;)[/quote]
That's correct, but the Oasis changes might also re-arrange specialty restaurants. Venues might change completely. We really have no idea what the dining situation will be on Oasis until Royal releases that info.
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EatSleepCruise

EatSleepCruise

Posted
Posted

We are really surprised that RCI announced Dynamic Dining (DD) on Oasis without even a trial run on Quantum.

 

I know many folks are concerned about scheduling their shows and dinner ahead of time. With Oasis you already have to prebook shows, so I guess it makes sense to roll out DD on this ship as it is not too much extra work. But it is still work.

 

It was a bit of a hassle for us to make our reservations for Quantum of the Seas and Anthem of the Seas for our upcoming cruises.

 

We blogged about how we were able to setup our Dynamic Dining reservations here and provide some tips on how to get the dining venue and table you want for your cruise.

 

We are keeping our fingers crossed that this Dynamic Dining is really worth all of the headaches!

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HokiePoq

HokiePoq

Posted
Posted
Ugh. I hate to hear that. The dynamic dining concept just does not appeal to me, which is one of the reasons I won't sail NCL, freestyle is kind of the same thing.

 

Somewhat. The space is nowhere near 50/50. I'm wondering if this means crowd people out of the "free" (I think included is a better word on all lines) venues. We occasionally eat at NCL specialty restaurants but have never felt we had to to be served. I wonder how this is going to work out and agree with those who say try it on one ship first.

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beancounterbeth

beancounterbeth

Posted
Posted

So are we going to have to make reservations prior to our cruise or will we be able to just show up and get into a restaurant? Knowing we have to be at dinner at 8:30 every evening is very different from deciding which place we want to eat at and what variation of time months in advance.

 

I'm so not happy about this but it seems that is the way most people feel.

 

Plus, I've never paid to eat at any of the other restaurants on previous cruises. I would hate to have RCCL force me to start doing that now. That is not what I signed up for when I booked my Oasis cruise.

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OfTheSeasCruiser

OfTheSeasCruiser

Posted
Posted
So are we going to have to make reservations prior to our cruise or will we be able to just show up and get into a restaurant? Knowing we have to be at dinner at 8:30 every evening is very different from deciding which place we want to eat at and what variation of time months in advance.

 

I'm so not happy about this but it seems that is the way most people feel.

 

Plus, I've never paid to eat at any of the other restaurants on previous cruises. I would hate to have RCCL force me to start doing that now. That is not what I signed up for when I booked my Oasis cruise.

 

If it works like the Quantum, then there will be several complimentary "restaurants" that take the place of the MDR. Nobody is forcing you to pay for dinner.

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Grandma Petania

Grandma Petania

Posted
Posted
Just checked with the D+ desk and they have been notified that Oasis will be getting Dynamic Dining in March, 2015

After looking over the Quantum Menus for the complimentary restaurants, I was starting to look forward to Dynamic Dining on our February 21st Oasis cruise. I will be majorly disappointed if we miss it by two weeks.

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Peterbilt Driver

Peterbilt Driver

Posted
Posted
We are really surprised that RCI announced Dynamic Dining (DD) on Oasis without even a trial run on Quantum.

 

I know many folks are concerned about scheduling their shows and dinner ahead of time. With Oasis you already have to prebook shows, so I guess it makes sense to roll out DD on this ship as it is not too much extra work. But it is still work.

 

It was a bit of a hassle for us to make our reservations for Quantum of the Seas and Anthem of the Seas for our upcoming cruises.

 

We blogged about how we were able to setup our Dynamic Dining reservations here and provide some tips on how to get the dining venue and table you want for your cruise.

 

We are keeping our fingers crossed that this Dynamic Dining is really worth all of the headaches!

 

Apparently RCI has decided to implement DD immediately without a testing period or a work out the problems period.

Instead it will be damn the torpedoes full speed ahead and if there are problems oh well it ain't like the diners can go elsewhere

 

DD is apparently the brainchild of some high up executive and it has been decided their baby will not be denied no matter what the costs!

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celebrity

celebrity

Posted
Posted (edited)
Apparently RCI has decided to implement DD immediately without a testing period or a work out the problems period.

Instead it will be damn the torpedoes full speed ahead and if there are problems oh well it ain't like the diners can go elsewhere

 

DD is apparently the brainchild of some high up executive and it has been decided their baby will not be denied no matter what the costs!

 

I'm really shocked that they are moving forward on other ships without testing it fully on Quantum.

It's a contradiction to what Adam Goldstein stated at the Google hangout.

I would imagine that they anticipate increased revenue via specialty restaurants and a static menu.

It will be interesting to see how this all plays out.

Edited by celebrity
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B-52

B-52

Posted
Posted (edited)

Something to keep in mind....everyone says so many different eating venues to choose from....

 

What if the majority decided they wanted to eat at the same restaurant on the same day? It would be sold out!

Or, you may not get your desired times...

 

I say this, because we just returned from Disney-Orlando for a 8 night stay, in a Disney Resort.

The way things are now, you HAVE to make reservations online, for every day, way before you get there....and the popular places to eat fill up fast. Including Breakfast and Lunch! And some are just impossible to get unless you book Way ahead.

 

ALSO...not everyone is computer savvy in respect they do their homework and pre-plan prior to the start of their vacation.

Everyday, I witnessed many frustrated (and angry) people being turned away because they did not know the game before hand.

Edited by B-52
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MichaelCMTX

MichaelCMTX

Posted
Posted
Just checked with the D+ desk and they have been notified that Oasis will be getting Dynamic Dining in March, 2015

 

My bet is Oasis III is to have DD from Day 1, and this is their trial run to see how that plan will work out. Likely Allure will soon follow.

 

...but after that I think it's going to get weird. That's a chunk of change to go fixing what's not really broken on 15-year-old ships. We're not just talking new carpet and drapes here.

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renech

renech

Posted
Posted

I'm looking hearing the feedback on DD, as well as experiencing it myself. Our MDR experiences have been ranged from great to mediocre to boring. I'm more than ready for new menus.

 

I guess my main concerns are the inevitable bumps that come with any transition. Scheduling issues can be so annoying. I will likely just schedule for the same late-dining time that we've always enjoyed and hope that availability isn't an issue.

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Sunny AZ Girl

Sunny AZ Girl

Posted
Posted (edited)

I am split in my opinion about DD. I am looking forward to it on the Oasis in May as it does seem to fit with that ship. The Oasis is not a traditional cruising experience in the first place, so this change up does not really bother me. Actually, the MDR seems a bit out of place to me on her, anyway.

 

As far as Traditional Dining goes, here are my thoughts about it. As these boards have been full of over the last couple of years, TD has been hit or miss for us anyway. Sometimes we get a great wait staff, sometimes not. Sometimes we have had great tablemates, once or twice the tablemates from he!!, and lately, non-existent tablemates who are consistently eating at other venues. It is so inconsistent that DH and I already have decided to book MTD in the future, unless we are traveling with a large group. That way we can switch waiters if we don't like the ones we had and our tablemates could be changing from night to night if we don't have that much in common. We found that we could reserve the same table with the same waiter if we hit on a winner and arrange dining the next night with tablemates who are of a like mind. We loved MTD on our last cruise. While we booked an early dining time pre-cruise almost every night we like the flexibility to book a later time on a late port day. DH does not like to return to the ship and have to rush to get ready for dinner. We never had to wait for our table any night.

 

We will be back on the Jewel in Oct '15 and since she will not do her drydock until '16 I am assuming she will still be TD & MTD. We are signed up for MTD with my SIL & her DH. I feel that ship is still a traditional cruise experience all around & I am looking forward to eating in her classic dining room once again for our 15 night cruise.

Edited by Sunny AZ Girl
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Grandma Petania

Grandma Petania

Posted
Posted
I'm posting this on all the Dynamic Dining threads. It's a document I put together with the complimentary menus. I left out the Coastal Kitchen since it's only complimentary for Jr Suites and above.
Thanks for doing this, which will alert more people about what they need to know about making reservations ahead of time (or not). I had already compiled two pages of the menus for my family, excluding all meat dishes, because we are pescetarians (vegetarians who also eat seafood). I hadn't gotten as far as specifying which of the restaurants also serve lunch (and/or breakfast). When I made our reservations on the Oasis for February, I was told that selection of a dining time in the MDR was "closed", and we were assigned to MTD. As word about Dynamic Dining filtered into the threads, I began to wonder if everybody on our cruise was being told the same thing - in anticipation of the introduction of DD, but not wanting to give out any details yet.
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