10/22 Oosterdam Dining Change - No, I'm not kidding...

[Copper10-8]

Good to see you back Janice and to learn you had a good time! Hopefuly this "in-depth and scientific one cruise" experiment will quitely go away not to be seen anymore and, hopefuly, HAL will pay close attention to the comments you overheard the Maitre'd make!

[Sierrachik]

Good to see you back Janice and to learn you had a good time! Hopefuly this "in-depth and scientific one cruise" experiment will quitely go away not to be seen anymore and, hopefuly, HAL will pay close attention to the comments you overheard the Maitre'd make!

 

I'm sure the staff isn't any more thrilled at change than the passengers. I'm not convinced HAL will stop the testing though, they'll just refine it. Even though I might lean toward assigned seating personally, there were a couple of nights I might have enjoyed open seating. An alternative besides the Lido would be nice for those that want it.

 

I really think people ought to cut HAL a bit of a break on offering options to it's passengers. Neither Stanford's Girl or huntram were forced into leisure dining, they were able to keep their original plans once they spoke with Maitre'd and it appears they had a great time.

[RuthC]

Thanks for your comments about how the "test" worked out in practice---it sounds like it wasn't even tried as presented a week ago.

Perhaps HAL read this thread and decided to pull back a bit? Perhaps HAL realized there would be a PR nightmare on their hands? Whatever---it's nice to see that those who wanted traditional seating at a later hour were accomodated.

Now may concern is that HAL will try to tweek and twist rather than back off on the whole idea. It's like a negotiation tactic: put something totally off-the-wall out there then fall back to what you wanted in the first place. It sounds so much more palatable then.,

[PRINSENDAM]

I spoke to a someone in Seattle who explained that HAL will never go to 'Freestyle'. It simply isn't possible on HAL ships due to the lack of alternative restaurants. What they are trying to do is introduce a kind of flexibility in dining times for passengers. It may or may not work. We shall see.

 

Stephen

[PRINSENDAM]

 

If I can answer any questions' date=' feel free to ask. I'll hopefully be able to answer them. [/size']

 

 

 

Janice,

 

Did you notice any change in 'atmosphere' in the dining room? What happened to the traditional chef's parade and the baked Alaska? What about the Indonesian farewell on last night? It would be a shame to see these old traditions die out.

 

Stephen

[stanford's girl]

Ruth,

I believe that HAL must have read the boards and "tweeked" it. The way it worked out, was not the way we were told on the phone when we called Ships Services.

The paper we were given when boarding said "the dining changes were based on guest feedback".

It also said that "only the Oosterdam features this concept on a trial basis".

Open seating times without a reservation were at 7:30, 8:00, 8:30 and 9:00 pm and it was "on a first-come-first-served basis".

The reservation for the open seating was explained like this: "You can make a reservation for the same day, or for the upcoming days, or for the entire cruise, and for the same or different times in any combination".

I'll stick with my traditional dining time even if this becomes company wide in the future. I like being at the same table, at the same time, having the same dining steward, and enjoying the same people to converse with every night.

Dinner was one of the highlights of this cruise. We had a great table and I would have missed out on making some new friends. The people we dined with are what made this cruise so special. We spent most of our time on board with these people.

If you are reading this HAL, I won't be one of those who will ever try your "open seating". If I want to do that, I'll be dining in the Lido.

[Iggipolka]

I really think people ought to cut HAL a bit of a break on offering options to it's passengers. Neither Stanford's Girl or huntram were forced into leisure dining, they were able to keep their original plans once they spoke with Maitre'd and it appears they had a great time.

 

And once again, that may work out well for people who are traveling with a group of friends or as a couple, however, as a solo traveler, I'm not sure how this would work.

[Iggipolka]

Open seating times without a reservation were at 7:30' date=' 8:00, 8:30 and 9:00 pm and it was "on a first-come-first-served basis".[/size']

 

Was the 6:15 dining time eliminated then?

Did you have a meeting with anyone to give direct feedback to?

 

Thanks again for all your information on this. It does sound like HAL tweeked it a little bit. Hopefully they'll stop tweeking and just go back to the way it was before.

[Iggipolka]

Yet another double post

[stanford's girl]

Janice,

 

Did you notice any change in 'atmosphere' in the dining room? What happened to the traditional chef's parade and the baked Alaska? What about the Indonesian farewell on last night? It would be a shame to see these old traditions die out.

 

Stephen

This was my first HAL cruise. I thought that there wasn't any change in the atmosphere, when comparing it to other cruises. I never saw a chef's parade and the baked Alaska was just brought to the table by the steward. I'm not sure what the Indonesian farewell is but all the guys in the white uniforms sang a song and we twirled our napkins in the air.

[stanford's girl]

Was the 6:15 dining time eliminated then?

Did you have a meeting with anyone to give direct feedback to?

 

Thanks again for all your information on this. It does sound like HAL tweeked it a little bit. Hopefully they'll stop tweeking and just go back to the way it was before.

The 5:45 and 6:15 were both eliminated and the Early Seating was at 5:30 only. The doors closed promptly at 5:45 so be on time.

I never got to meet the famous Joe Potts. I was told he was on the ship just for Saturday and got off before we sailed. There was never a meeting but I did give direct feedback to the Hotel Manager, the Maitre "D, and the front desk. I also put it on my survey at the end of the cruise.

One thing I never could get anyone to give me a straight answer to was this: Our table for 10 was reserved every night for us at 8:30. Since there was no way that they could seat it from 7:30 to 8:30 for dinner, we wanted to know why we couldn't come earlier on some nights as it was empty and available. They only answer we could ever get out of the Maitre 'D was because you have to come at 8:30.:eek: I'll just say he wasn't the most friendly of people and leave it at that.

[jhannah]

I never got to meet the famous Joe Potts. I was told he was on the ship just for Saturday and got off before we sailed.

What????? :confused: I thought he was supposed to oversee the experiment. How could he adequately do that just by being there Saturday?

[kruzkeen]

One thing I never could get anyone to give me a straight answer to was this: Our table for 10 was reserved every night for us at 8:30. Since there was no way that they could seat it from 7:30 to 8:30 for dinner' date=' we wanted to know why we couldn't come earlier on some nights as it was empty and available. They only answer we could ever get out of the Maitre 'D was because you have to come at 8:30.:eek: I'll just say he wasn't the most friendly of people and leave it at that. [/size']

 

Thanks for your updates on how the changes worked out.

 

I think the reason that you could not come before 8:30 is the same reason that they went to the 4 sittings and separating each sitting by 1/2 hour. They want to take some stress off the galley and the wait staff. It is more difficult to give good service and HOT food if too many tables are occupied at the same time.

[stanford's girl]

What????? :confused: I thought he was supposed to oversee the experiment. How could he adequately do that just by being there Saturday?

That's exactly what I thought too Jim. I think he was just there for the initial damage control and then left it up to the people on the ship.

Maybe that's the reason the Maitre 'D never smiled and was so cranky all week.:rolleyes:

[rkacruiser]

Who was the Maitre d'? Who was the Hotel Manager?

 

And, I personally doubt the existence of "Mr. Joe Potts", who was described as a "General Manager"--a job classification I don't think exists at HAL. It would make no sense whatsoever to have "Mr. Potts" only there for the day of embarkation, leaving before the ship sailed. What could he possibly have learned from that?

[stanford's girl]

Who was the Maitre d'? Who was the Hotel Manager?

 

And, I personally doubt the existence of "Mr. Joe Potts", who was described as a "General Manager"--a job classification I don't think exists at HAL. It would make no sense whatsoever to have "Mr. Potts" only there for the day of embarkation, leaving before the ship sailed. What could he possibly have learned from that?

I can't remember the name of the Maitre d' but I'm sure you could find it. I think I have a mental block with him. The Hotel Manager was Henk J. Mensink. The Captain was Jonathan Mercer and the Cruise Director was Jimmy Lynett.

I never saw or talked with Joe Potts so I can't personally say if he existed or not. I agree that to have him there until the ship sailed would make no sense. But nothing about this trial run of "Leisure Dining" made sense either.

[PSR]

Well, we are just back from the 10/22 Oosterdam also. We were scheduled for the 8pm dining at a table for two and as part of the letter we got it said we could keep our previous rez if desired (this appeared to be a major change to what we all originally thought, and I do think it was possibly due to all the replies to this thread). We did go to see the MD the first day to verify that, but did not even get in to see him. The greeter said if we wanted to keep our original rez, we did not have to do anything. I couldn't figure out how that would work, except that maybe you keep your original table/time UNLESS you make another rez. But that didn't match what we heard previously....(?) Anyway, we ate at the same time/table each night and really enjoyed it and the wait staff. It was like there were no changes to anything. The only time the whole cruise we had anyone different around us was the last night when the table for 2 next to us had totally different people than were there before. Also, there was no long line to get in the dining room at 8pm. We just walked in. I really liked that part!

 

As for the previous question, "Did you notice any change in 'atmosphere' in the dining room? What happened to the traditional chef's parade and the baked Alaska? What about the Indonesian farewell on last night? It would be a shame to see these old traditions die out"; this is a quote from the Daily Program on the last formal night:"This evening during the Captain's Farewell Dinner, we will present the time-honored Baked Alaska.For the Early Seating,we will feature the traditional parade followed by the culinary staff introductions. During the Leisure Seating we will be presenting this classic dessert personalized to the dining needs of each individual table". We really liked this, since we do not care for any ship's Baked Alaska-it melts before it gets to you. We actually got to choose a different dessert, although we could've had a piece of the smaller baked alaska cakes they displayed to each table. The wait staff did sing a farewell song the last (casual) night.

 

The "test" did not seem to affect us at all, except for the better. Wish they would've explained the ability to keep all our original reservations so we wouldn't have gotten all riled up. Of course, we haven't heard yet from the early diners who lost their 5:45 and 6:30 rezes (or did they?).

 

Penny

[Sierrachik]

I would say ships services either got bad information or interpreted the info incorrectly. The test as described by returning passengers is what Mr. Deering had stated would happen.

[cruisecrasy]

Ruth' date='[/size']

I believe that HAL must have read the boards and "tweeked" it. The way it worked out, was not the way we were told on the phone when we called Ships Services.

The paper we were given when boarding said "the dining changes were based on guest feedback".

It also said that "only the Oosterdam features this concept on a trial basis".

Open seating times without a reservation were at 7:30, 8:00, 8:30 and 9:00 pm and it was "on a first-come-first-served basis".

The reservation for the open seating was explained like this: "You can make a reservation for the same day, or for the upcoming days, or for the entire cruise, and for the same or different times in any combination".

I'll stick with my traditional dining time even if this becomes company wide in the future. I like being at the same table, at the same time, having the same dining steward, and enjoying the same people to converse with every night.

Dinner was one of the highlights of this cruise. We had a great table and I would have missed out on making some new friends. The people we dined with are what made this cruise so special. We spent most of our time on board with these people.

If you are reading this HAL, I won't be one of those who will ever try your "open seating". If I want to do that, I'll be dining in the Lido.

 

myself included who sometimes get 'bad' tablemates or even stuck at tables, like RevnNeal said, by themselves when others don't show up and can't, for whatever reason, change tables and that is happening a lot these days 'cause ships are sailing full. Those folks then have no option except to put up with a 'ruined' dining experience for the entire cruise OR pay for Pinn Grill (& this can be too expensive for some) or go to the buffet each & every nite at the Lido. Now I enjoy the Lido but definately not every meal. Seems to me that offering an open times & seating like HAL is experimenting with (somewhat flawed esp when offering set time & tables at 5:30 pm) wld solve that problem. Just something to consider, hmmm?

 

Happy cruisin'!

[huntram]

I'm sure the staff isn't any more thrilled at change than the passengers. I'm not convinced HAL will stop the testing though, they'll just refine it. Even though I might lean toward assigned seating personally, there were a couple of nights I might have enjoyed open seating. An alternative besides the Lido would be nice for those that want it.

 

I really think people ought to cut HAL a bit of a break on offering options to it's passengers. Neither Stanford's Girl or huntram were forced into leisure dining, they were able to keep their original plans once they spoke with Maitre'd and it appears they had a great time.

 

I didn't even talk to the Maite'd. they had the table number on my boarding card. I just showed up at my scheduled time and they had my table ready.

 

Brian

[Sierrachik]

I didn't even talk to the Maite'd. they had the table number on my boarding card. I just showed up at my scheduled time and they had my table ready.

 

Brian

 

That's awesome, glad it worked so well.

[Sierrachik]

And once again, that may work out well for people who are traveling with a group of friends or as a couple, however, as a solo traveler, I'm not sure how this would work.

 

If HAL goes to a dual dining option (leisure and assigned) I think it would work the same as always if you specify assigned seating at time of booking.

[cruisegirl]

OK, here's what really happened. There was leisure seating available, but for those of us that had made seating araigments they were honored. We had a table for 4. Table 81. We sat at the same table at the 8:00 pm seating with our two friends every night.

Brian

 

Brian,

I want to be sure I understand you. Are you saying if you have linked your reservation with other people for dining preference and to be seated together, you will be okay and that request will be honored?

Ann

[Cruiseoften]

Anytime dining, as described from Cunard's model, has people eating at the SAME table, with the SAME people, but with the freedom to come at various times.

 

Anytime Dining - Been there, Done that! It's just not for us!!!!

 

On Cunard you pay top price for the 'privilege'. We had an assigned table for 8, available to us between the hours of 7.30p.m. and I think 10.00p.m. First night (probably around 8pm) we met up with one couple - they were at the 'crackers and cheese' stage - we ordered our salads as they left. Following night we sat down at 7.45 - just us - around 8.15 another couple appeared, they had salt free diets........and so it went - How can anyone enjoy Crepe Suzette (or the desert of your choice) when someone else is slurping pickled herring? and how can they enjoy the herring :rolleyes: :D

[cruisegirl]

Just

They did have a table set up from 1:00 to 4:00 on the day we sailed' date=' to talk to the Maitre "D about making your dinner reservation permanent for the whole cruise.[/quote']

 

Janice, I'm still trying to understand all this although I'm hoping by my cruise (11/26) this will all blow over and things will be back to normal.

 

Even though your original reservation specified 8:30, are you saying you had to make arrangements with the Maitre 'D to keep that time and your table for the rest of the cruise? Originally I thought your message sounded like it happened automatically but after reading this part I'm not so sure.