Bad signs from the Quantum launchs

[Italiansal]

Apparently RCL is trying to do away with the main dining room. I read a couple of Facebook posts from Quantum passengers saying that the three or four alternative dining rooms offer the same menu every day. People have suggested that this is a ploy to drive people to the specialty restaurants. Apparently RCL wants to roll this out fleet wide.

 

This smells like a money grab to me. I have been on two RCL cruises and loved both. But I cannot afford to be nickeled and dimed any more then I am.

 

I have a New England/Canada cruise booked next year. But, all the bad press and hype around the Quantum is giving me second thoughts.

 

Thoughts?

[Clarea]

The subject has been discussed extensively. If you search on Dynamic Dining, you will find some threads.

[DonnaK]

We were on the 3 day Quantum sampler cruise to nowhere last week.

 

We had excellent meals in each of the 3 complementary restaurants. (We did not book The Grande because it is formal all the time. We like formal nights, but only when it's the theme ship-wide. Otherwise, it was kind of awkward to have only the handful of passengers who dined in that particular restaurant on a given night to be all dressed up).

 

We felt the servers did an excellent job, however, service was not as personal or attentive as it is with a MDR. There was only one server (not a wait team), so he/she had to do everything - this greatly delayed getting refills on beverages, or condiments like parmesan cheese or ketchup. Service was also rushed; the courses were brought out in rapid succession without some time to sit and digest the food between courses. We were in and out withing 40 minutes. We like MDR meals that feel more like an evening event!

 

Since the menu does not change, there weren't additional choices that we'd like to try on a subsequent visit to the same restaurant. This is where we feel Dynamic Dining is definitely not for us. We refuse to pay additional for food. I prefer the MDR for service and for its rotating menu. Also, we didn't like having to make reservations in advance - it was too much work. One of the appealing things about cruising is that we just show up - the mealtimes and showtimes are already planned for us.

 

We will not book a cruise on a ship that does not offer a MDR option.

Edited November 28, 2014 by DonnaK

[mulan1123]

As far as I was aware, they were only going to Dynamic Dining on the Quantum and Oasis class (as RCI announced earlier this month)

 

The smaller ships do not have the room for the multiple restaurants.

[Clarea]

As far as I was aware, they were only going to Dynamic Dining on the Quantum and Oasis class (as RCI announced earlier this month)

 

The smaller ships do not have the room for the multiple restaurants.

They could do what they have done to Oasis, and install walls in the existing dining rooms.

[OfTheSeasCruiser]

They could do what they have done to Oasis, and install walls in the existing dining rooms.

 

Please don't give them anymore ideas! :D

 

But, I don't think they installed walls on Oasis. They only put a different restaurant on each floor.

[setsail]

So who is forcing you to book cruises with these things??

[marci22]

One of the appealing things about cruising is that we just show up - the mealtimes and showtimes are already planned for us.

 

We will not book a cruise on a ship that does not offer a MDR option.

 

Too bad you felt rushed at mealtimes; I think they are going after a passenger who eats and runs. Requires less staffing, I suppose.

 

A dependable relaxed dinner hour is important to us as it is the time we all meet up during our cruises, regardless of what else is going on.

 

MTD was ok but we like the same waiters every night, and that is hard if you are changing times. DD will probably worse in that respect as we have to change restaurants/staff as well.

[killtheump]

They could do what they have done to Oasis, and install walls in the existing dining rooms.

 

We were on The Oasis last week. So far no walls and we were told only a few minor changes when Dynamic Dinning starts. Deck 3 was The American Icon, Deck 4 was The Grande and Deck 5 was Silk and Coastal Kitchen was on deck 17.

 

We were told that they may change The Grande a little bit because they are concerned that it won't be full every night seeing it will be Semi- Formal.

( BTW please don't kill the messenger this is just what I was told)

[Clarea]

We were on The Oasis last week. So far no walls and we were told only a few minor changes when Dynamic Dinning starts. ...

Sorry, I was obviously mixed up. Thanks for the correction.:)

[killtheump]

Sorry, I was obviously mixed up. Thanks for the correction.:)

 

I also thought that the rooms would look different but they didn't. I was surprised that they told us that The Grande may be made smaller because they don't think it would be filled all 7 nights with a Semi-Formal Dress Code. They are thinking of using part of it for the overflow from the other 2 venues.

 

But as always I take what I hear on the ship with a grain of salt, not sure they know any more then we do when it comes to changes. :)

[Debde]

As far as I was aware, they were only going to Dynamic Dining on the Quantum and Oasis class (as RCI announced earlier this month)

 

The smaller ships do not have the room for the multiple restaurants.

 

I would think Freedom and Voyager class do have room for them. I'm guessing it's just a matter of time and rumors are spreading it may happen to Freedom sooner then later on upcoming dry dock.Time will tell on that latest gossip!!:eek:

[dacsmom]

Apparently RCL is trying to do away with the main dining room. I read a couple of Facebook posts from Quantum passengers saying that the three or four alternative dining rooms offer the same menu every day. People have suggested that this is a ploy to drive people to the specialty restaurants. Apparently RCL wants to roll this out fleet wide.

 

This smells like a money grab to me. I have been on two RCL cruises and loved both. But I cannot afford to be nickeled and dimed any more then I am.

 

I have a New England/Canada cruise booked next year. But, all the bad press and hype around the Quantum is giving me second thoughts.

 

Thoughts?

 

That is what dynamic dining is, have you read about it or looked at the menus on RCI's site. There are multiple restaurants to choose from, but they have a fixed menu just like land based restaurants. Some of the ships are too small to convert to D.D., there are many threads on here discussng it. So far it is the new ships, the Oasis, the Allure, and the Freedom who are getting it. I can't wait to try dynamic dining, there are so many more food choices.

[OfTheSeasCruiser]

That is what dynamic dining is, have you read about it or looked at the menus on RCI's site. There are multiple restaurants to choose from, but they have a fixed menu just like land based restaurants. Some of the ships are too small to convert to D.D., there are many threads on here discussng it. So far it is the new ships, the Oasis, the Allure, and the Freedom who are getting it. I can't wait to try dynamic dining, there are so many more food choices.

 

Dynamic Dining is not confirmed for Freedom.

[mulan1123]

Dynamic Dining is not confirmed for Freedom.

 

RCI released a Dynamic Dining FAQ's and they said they will not be implementing DD on Freedom in the upcoming dry dock. This was back in October. Maybe far far down the road... but not yet....

[Johnamac123]

We were on the 3 day Quantum sampler cruise to nowhere last week.

 

We had excellent meals in each of the 3 complementary restaurants. (We did not book The Grande because it is formal all the time. We like formal nights, but only when it's the theme ship-wide. Otherwise, it was kind of awkward to have only the handful of passengers who dined in that particular restaurant on a given night to be all dressed up).

 

We felt the servers did an excellent job, however, service was not as personal or attentive as it is with a MDR. There was only one server (not a wait team), so he/she had to do everything - this greatly delayed getting refills on beverages, or condiments like parmesan cheese or ketchup. Service was also rushed; the courses were brought out in rapid succession without some time to sit and digest the food between courses. We were in and out withing 40 minutes. We like MDR meals that feel more like an evening event!

 

Since the menu does not change, there weren't additional choices that we'd like to try on a subsequent visit to the same restaurant. This is where we feel Dynamic Dining is definitely not for us. We refuse to pay additional for food. I prefer the MDR for service and for its rotating menu. Also, we didn't like having to make reservations in advance - it was too much work. One of the appealing things about cruising is that we just show up - the mealtimes and showtimes are already planned for us.

 

We will not book a cruise on a ship that does not offer a MDR option.

 

I thought the three DD included restaurants changed their menus once a week on a 7 day cruise. This way, you can try six different menus over the week long cruise, not counting specialty venues. Can you confirm?

[nednrom]

Apparently RCL is trying to do away with the main dining room. I read a couple of Facebook posts from Quantum passengers saying that the three or four alternative dining rooms offer the same menu every day. People have suggested that this is a ploy to drive people to the specialty restaurants. Apparently RCL wants to roll this out fleet wide.

 

This smells like a money grab to me. I have been on two RCL cruises and loved both. But I cannot afford to be nickeled and dimed any more then I am.

 

I have a New England/Canada cruise booked next year. But, all the bad press and hype around the Quantum is giving me second thoughts.

 

Thoughts?

 

The dynamic dining is being launched only on the Oasis and Quantum class ships only for now -- I haven't heard that it will be fleetwide. It is very new so it has been difficult to get a feel for how it will work out. There are very valid objections to DD but I also remember how this board lit up when MTD first came about.

 

On the Quantum and Oasis class ships there are 4 free restaurants serving free food. The problem has been the launch has been very disorganized with reservation time changes, long waits etc. Hopefully by the time I get on the Anthem, all of this will be resolved but I'm willing to give DD a try once. If it doesn't work, I'll go back to Freedom class ships that I love.

[shipshape sam]

I will try Dynamic Dining. Can't say I like most of what I hear, but want to experience it myself and then decide.

[DonnaK]

I thought the three DD included restaurants changed their menus once a week on a 7 day cruise. This way, you can try six different menus over the week long cruise, not counting specialty venues. Can you confirm?

 

I was only on a 3 day cruise, so I cannot confirm based on personal experience. Talk is that the menus will change only on cruises that are longer than 7 days.

[Oville]

I was only on a 3 day cruise, so I cannot confirm based on personal experience. Talk is that the menus will change only on cruises that are longer than 7 days.

 

Was your cruise a three day, 2 night cruise or a 3 night introduction launch cruise. We've done both type launches and they were not representative of the real deal. The travel agents sailing for free (and being wined and dined) drove us nuts with all their endless complaints, (service stinks, the specialty restaurants aren't good, who wants to sail on a ship like this, complain you'll get your money back.....). Funny thing, the ships quickly became some of the most popular sailing today.

 

Personally, I'll give the Q and O class ships time to work out DD before passing judgement. Your thread title, "Bad Signs for the Quantum Launchs" is a bit premature for what the future will bring.

Edited November 29, 2014 by Oville

[Biker19]

Og, good, another DD thread.:rolleyes:

 

Biker, who can't believe how much of a dead horse beating DD is getting.

Edited November 29, 2014 by Biker19

[dz9yvr]

We were on The Oasis last week. So far no walls and we were told only a few minor changes when Dynamic Dinning starts. Deck 3 was The American Icon, Deck 4 was The Grande and Deck 5 was Silk and Coastal Kitchen was on deck 17.

 

We were told that they may change The Grande a little bit because they are concerned that it won't be full every night seeing it will be Semi- Formal.

( BTW please don't kill the messenger this is just what I was told)

 

 

Thanks for the correct and current information. It's amazing that people with no information respond to almost every question. Thanks again,

[transam84]

I was on the 3 day and 2 day cruises. It is too early to tell how DD will work out overall, IMO. And the short cruise are probably not indicative.

 

I loved Quantum and loved DD in concept, but honestly not the menu selection in the 3 out of 4 restaurants I tried.

 

Here is my opinion:

PROS

I loved being able to change the dining time to suit my schedule.

I honestly feel that I got more socialization than with MDR. Although we picked table for 2 we ended up chatting with our neighbors more than any other cruise. I think because people didn't feel forced to socialize it seemed more relaxed.

The food quality was excellent.

The servers were excellent. Even though we did not have the same every night they made an effort to get to know us and when we went back stopped to say Hi. We gave them each an extra tip nightly because they were great.

If you eat early, before 7 it was never crowded and we did not need a reservation. People were walking right in, no line.

CONS

For a short cruise menus did not change.

The menus are limited for my taste. In all but Grande, for the three 3 free, there were mostly fish items, but no shellfish in each restaurant, and I only eat shellfish. So my choices were limited.

I did not like selection in American Icon. Fish, fried chicken, turkey, hamburger and fettuccine. I don't go out to eat to dinner to eat a hamburger, turkey or fried chicken. I got the fettuccine but it was too rich for me. That being said, we just didn't go back and ate in Chic. Again it just felt limited. My husband does not like pan Asian that much, we did not want to dress, we did not want to pay extra so we were left with Chic, or Windjammer, or "fast food". We were ok with that, but not optimal.

 

All that being said, I think if they put some scallops or shrimp on the menus, vary them on 7 day or longer, it will be a winner for me.

[DonnaK]

Was your cruise a three day, 2 night cruise or a 3 night introduction launch cruise. We've done both type launches and they were not representative of the real deal. The travel agents sailing for free (and being wined and dined) drove us nuts with all their endless complaints, (service stinks, the specialty restaurants aren't good, who wants to sail on a ship like this, complain you'll get your money back.....). Funny thing, the ships quickly became some of the most popular sailing today.

 

Personally, I'll give the Q and O class ships time to work out DD before passing judgement. Your thread title, "Bad Signs for the Quantum Launchs" is a bit premature for what the future will bring.

 

We were on the 3 night introduction launch. There were a lot of travel agents. They weren't complaining so much on our sailing. They were very willing to strike up conversation with us and ask our opinion of the ship, food, etc. One travel agent in particular was very sociable while we were waiting for a show to begin, and even took notes on some of the things we commented on.

 

I really have no complaints about Quantum. The restaurants are lovely, and the food was delicious. Now that I've tried DD, I know that I prefer the MDR experience.

[Elizanessie]

 

All that being said, I think if they put some scallops or shrimp on the menus, vary them on 7 day or longer, it will be a winner for me.

 

The menus do not change at all on Quantum no matter how short/long the cruise is.