Dynamic Dining postponed for Oasis & Allure

[SANCruisers]

Having sailed on the Quantum and actually did DD, I have to say I did not like the idea. I like the Idea of having specialty restaurants but also loved the MDR. We made reservations prior to sailing for every night, however, once onboard and reading the compass we found that there were activities and shows that we would miss that conflicted with our dinner reservations. We were able to change times with the help of the concierge, but we witnessed many guests furious because they could not get times they wanted and stormed off!

 

While dining at Chops we asked for an additional entree for the table to share and we were told that there would be an extra charge, we were also served our appetizer and salad at the same time then waited an hour for the entree. We spent 3 hours at Chops! I felt really sorry for the waitstaff since assistant waiters were nonexistent, the waiter did everything. I'm sure this saves money for RCCI but at the guests expense.

 

This concept of DD is for new cruises and have nothing to compare it to, however, after talking with experienced cruisers (Diamond Plus and Pinnacle) all agreed that we would not cruise on a ship with this venue again.

[negc]

I expect that the issue will have been resolved by August when we cruise on Oasis but I must say that while we are enthusiastic proponents of MTD, we had very good experiences with DD when we sailed on Quantum in November. Either way, we expect to enjoy our time with friends and relations in August.:)

[kerrydee]

we have a group on Oasis on May 16. i hope DD will not be there, then. too difficult.

[Big_G]

Does anyone have pictures of what the dining venues look like on Oasis since it has been refitted? I'm really not sure that I have a good image of what they did.

 

 

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I believe there are photos in this review by kcjarvis but it's been a while so I'm could be wrong.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2115379&highlight=oasis+review

[SamFritz]

There were photos posted on one of the Oasis threads.

Looks the same we thought on our Oct TA, just different decor and new chairs or a bench seating for each one etc.

 

 

So are the levels all still open? Can you see across to the levels on the other side of the ship, or down to another level? It seems weird to me that you'd have a "formal" tier that is open to a "casual" tier.

 

 

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[setsail]

So are the levels all still open? Can you see across to the levels on the other side of the ship, or down to another level? It seems weird to me that you'd have a "formal" tier that is open to a "casual" tier.

 

 

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Yes to your questions. There is different signage on the outside of each level and some different décor, but overall its still 3 levels all open, at least it was a little over a week ago. Really, the biggest changes are coastal kitchen/suite lounge, some cabins added, and cats, DL on 4.

Edited December 24, 2014 by setsail

[karena1]

.

 

Here is my take on it. We love MTD and the flexibility of eating when we feel like it We rarely, if ever, make reservation, we go when we feel like it. With DD, my opinion is it is the same as going to eat at home, so no big deal. Won't do Quantam just b/c it is out of the north. But if Oasis/Allure does it, no biggie for us

[Biker19]

 

Another possible reason, which I haven't really seen posted here or anywhere else is the impact of DD on the wait staff. Are they loosing tip money with DD? Even if everyone keeps the tips, I'm sure they aren't making nearly as much in extra tips as they did with traditional. And those that do remove the tips (I'm sure there are some) how many are not tipping the waiters at all? Is there a chance that their top waiters, who were chosen for the Quantum are asking to be moved to non DD ships or threatening to leave Royal and go to other cruise lines (I'm sure it wouldn't be hard for a top waiter to get a job elsewhere). I suspect if Royal is faced with a high turnover of wait staff that it will make DD even that much hard to run smoothly. Just speculation based on some comments I've read that the waiters aren't happy with DD.

Common sense math would say that the regular income would go up for the waiters since there are fewer of them to spread the money around to. I think their main gripe with DD is that they have to work harder and just like the customers, they are frustrated with IT issues (bosses telling them to use tablets for orders when they don't always work).

Edited December 24, 2014 by Biker19

[Lionesss]

Well, I would just point out that I don't have to give birth to a baby to know it hurts!:eek::D

 

 

 

 

Love it.

 

 

also-------------

 

This announcement...........well..............

 

What a great Christmas gift for us as long as the Grinch doesn't change his mind in August.:eek:

 

Sea Ya

[twindaddy]

I am a big fan of the MDR, I have and never will sail NCL because of the freestyle crap. I like a table with a familiar server waiting for me, but that is just me, I know others feel differently.

 

I had accepted dynamic dining and was cautiously optimistic.

 

I am scheduled for what was the second cruise of dynamic dining on the Oasis, I relieved it postponed. Nothing on any cruise line is ever good for the first few months. I will never understand people who go on the first few sailings of a new ships and are surprised there are kinks, sometimes huge, that have to be worked out.

 

This is incredible selfish, but I am glad the kinks are not being worked out on my dime.

 

So if I am assigned to eat in The Grande, do I have to dress up every night? My scheduler still shows dynamic dining, need to see how I can get that switched to late.

[Clarea]

...So if I am assigned to eat in The Grande, do I have to dress up every night? ....

Yes, the Grande is formal every night.

[1ParticularHbr]

We're booked on Oasis and were looking forward to DD - actually booked it so that we could try it. Now it seems we're in a holding pattern with our reservation still showing Dynamic but Oasis' page changed to say it has been "delayed until later in 2015". Best case scenario, May will be "later in 2015". Worst case scenario, we have traditional dining or MTD, both of which we've tried and enjoy. There's really no down side other than we're in limbo. It's still a great ship with a great itinerary so we're just going to kick back and see what happens.

[TravelerThom]

...So if I am assigned to eat in The Grande, do I have to dress up every night?...

I'll differ with Bob on this one (although he & I are probably just interpreting the question differently)

If DD is not in place for your cruise, and you are assigned a traditional fixed table in the portion of the MDR that has the name Grande at the entrance I can't believe that everyone who ended up there by the luck of the draw would be expected to be formal every evening. I'd pay to see the riot that would ensue.

 

Thom

[islandercruiser]

This is good news to me! I have had the DD experience (Dec 1st) and it did leave me with a question of now what line do I chose if they all go to DD? Sorry, I did go in with hopes that it would work out well. What I found was limited choices on the menues (picky eaters or no seafood/fish you are in trouble). and any traditional meals had something non-traditional added to it.

 

To spend my vacation running around with a schedule was not relaxing. always had to check where was i eating today and at what time. Entertainment was also hard to fit in with your schedule. Missed a lot of activities because of this.

 

Beautiful ship, staff was nice and I didnt see or experience poor service. But if you are into traditional cruising, this is not your option right now.

[Johnamac123]

...

Edited December 24, 2014 by Johnamac123

[Jimmers]

This is definitely good news for our large group going on the Oasis in April. Personally we did the DD on the Quantum's Dec 1 cruise and found that we enjoyed it and would have no qualms about doing it again. The food was a step above the typical RCI fare in our opinion and we enjoyed the variety.

 

One of the biggest, if not the biggest headache about DD is having to reserve meals and remembering where you're dining on a particular night especially if you're with a group. With the MDR you know when and where you will be every night.

[Johnamac123]

Well, I would just point out that I don't have to give birth to a baby to know it hurts!:eek::D

 

Or as Carol Burnet used to say, " a man can experience the effects of childbirth. Just take your bottom lip, and pull it up over your head".

[Dave85]

 

 

 

So if I am assigned to eat in The Grande, do I have to dress up every night? My scheduler still shows dynamic dining, need to see how I can get that switched to late.

 

 

If your traditional dining table is assigned within the space that will eventually be the Grande you will NOT have to dress up every night. The Grande will not be a formal every night venue until DD officially begins. It'll be like any other traditional dining venue until then.

 

 

 

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[critterchick]

Princess tried a sort of Dynamic Dining experience - they built two ships, Diamond and Sapphire, with themed ATD rooms - Asian, Mexican, steak and Italian. They kept a single traditional early/late dining room. We tried it a couple of times and it was a disaster - it seemed like everybody on the ship had a craving for the same type food on any given night. They converted all of the rooms to the regular Anytime Dining format, but offer a specialty from the region in each of the three ethnic restaurants. The steakhouse is just a dining room now, since they charge for their steakhouse.

 

I recall AG saying that they were going to see how DD went on Quantum/Anthem before rolling it out fleetwide, so was a little surprised when Oasis was refitted. I'm a little surprised that they're backing down so quickly now, too.

[LetsGetWet!]

I love how the rest of us are either 'complainers' or 'stupid' if we don't agree. Your words. :p

Par for the course. Heck, this thread probably has at least a couple of "knowledgeable" posters pretty confused, since they've used similar derogatory language and stated with certainty that DD will soon be on ALL ships! :rolleyes:

You might as well get over it. Dynamic Dining will be implemented on every ship where it is possible to do so.

People stop this BS already, all ships will be dynamic people want choices and the couple of people thay complain about it here can go to another line but I'm sure that won't last long.

(Personally, I'm ambivalent about DD. I see some good things and some bad things. I think a lot depends on whether they can really provide an efficient means of getting reservations, or of being able to have only short waits without reservations - and how well they end up enforcing the dress code for The Grande to differentiate that dining experience.)

Edited December 24, 2014 by LetsGetWet!

[LoveyHowell]

What does late 2015 mean? Just in time to make you a guinea pig on a peak priced holiday cruise?

[LoveyHowell]

I think a lot depends on whether they can really provide an efficient means of getting reservations, or of being able to have only short waits without reservations

 

See my last comment. This is what I was referring to. They must find a way to get rid of the waits and lines for it to truly be "Dynamic". Scheduling a cruise hour by hour, months in advance is not Dynamic in any sense. Everyone has different tastes in food and fashion, so I'm not worried about those things. But it burns me up getting on a ship and standing in lines for everything.

[sailset]

We were on the Dec. 1st sailing of the Quantam. I felt hesitant about DD as I have always enjoyed the MDR. It actually turned out to be a pleasant experience for us. We had made our reservations months before our cruise, so no waiting in lines for us. We usually travel in groups of 10 to 30. This trip there were 10. I was concerned that they would make us "wait" for everyone to arrive before seating us....was pleasantly surprised that this wasn't the case. We were permitted to go to our table, whether all of us were there or not. Just like in MDR.

 

One night in the Grande the "Director of Food Services" for RCI stopped at our table and talked to us for about a half hour about how we liked DD. He got an "earful" as most of our group did not like it.

 

We are booked for a cruise in April on the Oasis. And altho the DD wasn't bad, I am happy that the DD was postponed. I did miss the "relationship" we always had with our waiters in MDR.

[kerrydee]

Princess tried a sort of Dynamic Dining experience - they built two ships, Diamond and Sapphire, with themed ATD rooms - Asian, Mexican, steak and Italian. They kept a single traditional early/late dining room. We tried it a couple of times and it was a disaster - it seemed like everybody on the ship had a craving for the same type food on any given night. They converted all of the rooms to the regular Anytime Dining format, but offer a specialty from the region in each of the three ethnic restaurants. The steakhouse is just a dining room now, since they charge for their steakhouse.

 

I recall AG saying that they were going to see how DD went on Quantum/Anthem before rolling it out fleetwide, so was a little surprised when Oasis was refitted. I'm a little surprised that they're backing down so quickly now, too.

 

jean do you think it had to do with the new titles of the executives lately?

[Ramblin' Ma'am]

I have not been on Quantum, but I doubt they will change the Anthem.

 

 

 

However, if they did, I guess they could just have multiple smaller MDR's all decorated similarly.

 

 

That is basically what NCL does, according to my friend who cruises with them. There is no assigned seating, but you have two or three MDR's with menus that change each night.

 

 

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