Ovation/Quantum China Modifications

[clm1982]

Ive seen around the boards people saying that ovation and quantum have been modified for the chinese clients what exactly does this mean and how does this effect us Australians on Ovation seen as she will be sailing here also?

[Clarea]

On other ships, the gaming and shop space in enlarged. I believe the Music Hall on Quantum is one of those re-purposed spaces.

[Ashland]

Ive seen around the boards people saying that ovation and quantum have been modified for the chinese clients what exactly does this mean and how does this effect us Australians on Ovation seen as she will be sailing here also?

This may not help...but just what we saw when sailing on RCI Mariner this past March Singapore-Shanghai (awsome itinerary and why we did it and were prepared for what we saw and dealt with)...she had been asianized.

 

High end shops in the promenade..and no pub...lots of Chinese signage and lots of smoking in the casino....and the public restrooms (a mess no matter how hard the crew tried) even though they had signs not to stand on the toilets :eek::eek:

 

What took some getting used to is how very pushy some were and didn't understand the concept of waiting in line or for their turn when it came to anything. Especially when the ice show (first show) had a "full to capacity" sign out and we were let in by the crew member standing guard as we had access to the suite/D+ seating area which was empty untill right before the show started...it turned into a shouting mob mentality quickly...:eek::eek:

[clm1982]

Yes the asians are very pushy ive noticed even on Radiance they were like that lol.

 

I guess the Australian sailings would be a little cleaner and mostly Australians not asians anyway.

 

But yes i wanted to know about the signage etc whether it was all going to be in chinese but i assume as Ovation is a mutlipurpose ship there has to be a bit of both!

[Gquie]

 

What took some getting used to is how very pushy some were and didn't understand the concept of waiting in line or for their turn when it came to anything. Especially when the ice show (first show) had a "full to capacity" sign out and we were let in by the crew member standing guard as we had access to the suite/D+ seating area which was empty untill right before the show started...it turned into a shouting mob mentality quickly...:eek::eek:

From some recent experience in China, there is really no concept of queuing. Lots of shouting and line cutting. I remember being in line while visiting an attraction in Beijing and a group of people at the back of the line kept sneaking into the line. One woman who was really bold cut in front of about 10 people before some westerners spoke up and stopped her from going any further. We didnt kick her out of the line but she turned around, completely ignored all the upset people and waved back to her friends and smirked as if she was proud that she made it up and the rest of her friends were still at the back!

 

Another instance I was checking into a flight in Zurich to Munich and at the time I was flying business class, the economy class line to check in was packed full of Chinese for the Zurich-Beijing flight and the business class line was empty so people in the economy class line climbed under the ropes and spilled into the business class line, made it to the business counter, and then the checkin agents sent them back to the economy class line and refused to check them in. When I got to the agent she told me that people try this all the time on this particular route.

 

Gotta hand it to the Chinese though, no one likes to wait and these people did something about it!

[Ashland]

From some recent experience in China, there is really no concept of queuing. Lots of shouting and line cutting. I remember being in line while visiting an attraction in Beijing and a group of people at the back of the line kept sneaking into the line. One woman who was really bold cut in front of about 10 people before some westerners spoke up and stopped her from going any further. We didnt kick her out of the line but she turned around, completely ignored all the upset people and waved back to her friends and smirked as if she was proud that she made it up and the rest of her friends were still at the back!

 

Another instance I was checking into a flight in Zurich to Munich and at the time I was flying business class, the economy class line to check in was packed full of Chinese for the Zurich-Beijing flight and the business class line was empty so people in the economy class line climbed under the ropes and spilled into the business class line, made it to the business counter, and then the checkin agents sent them back to the economy class line and refused to check them in. When I got to the agent she told me that people try this all the time on this particular route.

 

Gotta hand it to the Chinese though, no one likes to wait and these people did something about it!

I think "this woman" was on our cruise....and I was the one westerner that spoke up as we were boarding Mariner in Singapore...

 

Too bad other's behind us didn't speak up too because she got in behind us and gave us the "evil eye and Chinese chatter" and bumped into us every step we took...but I still didn't let her get past us.

 

After having an amazing 4 days pre-cruise in Singapore where we found everyone so nice and helpful...this was our first experience of things to come ;)

[Bobal]

Have just posted elsewhere saying that we are booked on one of the first Ovation sailings in Europe before she heads off to China. There will be no Dynamic Dining on Ovation - we were told this is because the ship is being built ready for China. As I understand it they have already taken out the DD concept on Quantum for the Chinese market.

 

We have also heard that there will be no Music Hall as that space will be used to make a larger casino. This is a real shame as we had some great evenings in the Music Hall on Anthem recently and could imagine this is a space which would appeal to the Australian market.

[ChipLondon]

Interesting......Where did you get this information from ?

 

.......There will be no Dynamic Dining on Ovation - we were told this is because the ship is being built ready for China. ......

[Bobal]

Interesting......Where did you get this information from ?

 

We got it from the Loyalty/Future cruise consultant as we booked our trip on Ovation with her. Our booking shows MTD and not Dynamic Dining. I have to say this was something of a disappointment to us :(

Edited May 20, 2015 by Bobal

[ChipLondon]

Very interesting, did the LA tell you that there would be no DD, or are you assuming that because of the MTD showing on the paperwork. We both know that Royals I.T. dept does not always reflect what is actually happening :eek:

 

 

We got it from the Loyalty/Future cruise consultant as we booked our trip on Ovation with her. Our booking shows MTD and not Dynamic Dining. I have to say this was something of a disappointment to us :(

[Bobal]

Very interesting, did the LA tell you that there would be no DD, or are you assuming that because of the MTD showing on the paperwork. We both know that Royals I.T. dept does not always reflect what is actually happening :eek:

 

I'm not sure why you seem to doubt me but - to spell it out - I booked our Ovation trip whilst on Anthem only a couple of weeks ago. I booked it with the LA, she was sitting not two yards from me and had reached the point where she asks for dining preferences and said there will be no Dynamic Dining on Ovation as they are making it ready straight away for the Chinese market. As I am sure you are aware there will be no DD on Quantum, but the changes were being made between its original sailings whilst on its way to China.

 

I actually expressed my disappointment to her and did pause over whether to proceed with the booking as DD is the main factor which attracted us to Q class. However, since we had stood in line for a long time to make the booking, and were booking with other friends who were onboard we decided to go ahead.

[ChipLondon]

Nobody is doubting you, I just find it interesting the information you have been told. As MB has stated that DD us the way forward, and our booking says DD, as does this part of the website. But I am sure that Emma us probably more aware than the IT people as she us the one selling the cruises. But you have to accept that it would not be the first time that mixed messages have come out.

 

http://www.royalcaribbean.co.uk/our-ships/ovation-of-the-seas/

[Bobal]

Nobody is doubting you, I just find it interesting the information you have been told. As MB has stated that DD us the way forward, and our booking says DD, as does this part of the website. But I am sure that Emma us probably more aware than the IT people as she us the one selling the cruises. But you have to accept that it would not be the first time that mixed messages have come out.

 

http://www.royalcaribbean.co.uk/our-ships/ovation-of-the-seas/

 

Well I can't disagree with you about the mixed messages - there's a whole thread about that on this sub-board relating to Dreamworks.......

 

I sincerely wish her info is wrong but I somehow doubt it, since I believe they have announced that DD won't be happening on Quantum in China.

 

Perhaps you have some influence with MB and can persuade him otherwise ;)

Edited May 20, 2015 by Bobal

[ITMan]

Dynamic dining lives on on the Quantum, there is no choice as there is no main dining room. However there is DD Classic which gives you fixed table mates and serving staff and you rotate the various dining rooms over the trip.

 

We are booked on Quantum at the end of this year and are booked on DD.

[ChipLondon]

Update -

 

It appears as if DD will continue but maybe it is a little less Dynamic.

It appears as if they are going to introduce a concept where the four main DD styles remain but with open seating at two different times, early and late seating.

 

So realistically more like a combination of MDR and DD, the menus for each venue will remain, but with some local classic dishes as set items as well.

 

We are on Quantum heading to China and this concept is due to be introduced on sailings from Shanghai.

It just appears as if getting the local clients to book in advance is the challenge, and with their booking system being different, it is easier for all to do it this way.

 

I think the term to be used is Cosmopolitan Dining, to me this offers the best solution enabling the DD concept to continue with some more traditional elements retained.

[ChipLondon]

Music Hall is currently maintained, with just a small section of the upper level being given over to shops. It appears as if the Diamond Lounge may become VIP gaming with the DL moving into the MH.

 

 

On other ships, the gaming and shop space in enlarged. I believe the Music Hall on Quantum is one of those re-purposed spaces.

[Bobal]

Thank you very much for those updates. That makes me a lot happier - in regards to both the dining and maintaining the Music Hall. I appreciate your input :)

[AWOL]

Music Hall is currently maintained, with just a small section of the upper level being given over to shops. It appears as if the Diamond Lounge may become VIP gaming with the DL moving into the MH.

 

We just got off the ship in Dubai and was told by the Diamond lounge supervisor that the present lounge will be used as a high roller gambling room and it will move to Boleros. They are also using it at present for the lounge overflow.

The music hall will stay with part of the top deck section being turned into a beauty shop. In fact, the Music Hall reopened a couple of days befor we left. They were also opening some of the new shops such as a Coach shop.

There were a LOT of Chinse on the ship and found them to be using the sportsplex and other facilities as much as everyone else.

They really seemed to like the trapeze and idly.

They were as well behaved regarding getting in line just like everyone else. In fact had more problems with pushing and shoving with the Europeans.

Overall it was a great cruise!!

[avalon007]

So to clarify regards DD on Ovation - will the same restaurants be on board - Wonderland, Jamies Italian etc etc, plus the free ones?

 

The variety of restaurants is one of the things I was most looking forward to - I don't care about it being dynamic dining as long as I can still have My Time Dining or book them like you do now for speciality restaurants on the other ships?

[go fish 44]

We loved the dynamic dining. The choices in restaurants were great. The Free ones.

 

All the different food choices were amazing, I can tell you it will be hard to go back to the regular dining rooms and get the same menu every 7 days.

 

We did make all our reservations in advance but it was not a problem to change restaurants, or times that you wanted to dine.

 

The Diamond Lounge was very busy, as you now do not have huge groups of people leaving for dinner at 6pm. Seems like most were eating 7pm or later.

 

We just loved the ship and the heading line entertainment was excellent.

 

This ship was far and above what we had expected. Great cruise.