Jump to content
Cruise Critic Community

How The Whiners Ruined Dynamic Dining

Merion_Mom

By Merion_Mom,
in Royal Caribbean International

 Share

Recommended Posts

The_Big_M

The_Big_M

Posted
Posted
As I mentioned in my previous post, Quantum changed to "Cosmopolitan" when she arrived in China 7/2015.

 

"Cosmopolitan" is just another name for Dynamic Dining which continued to operate onboard Quantum after that, and with that name.

 

There were very slight differences to cater for international and majority Chinese guests, which is probably why somebody thought they should alter the name. Dynamic dining was still used though - and nobody onboard or in the booking referred to "Cosmopolitan."

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Maraprince

Maraprince

Posted
Posted
I think that's a website repeated myth more than fact, unless you have some data. I don't see too many knowledgeable, seasoned cruisers bragging about it here (small sampling), but rather they seem to work their way up the chain to larger and more expensive rooms.

 

 

New cruisers have no status (freebies) and tend to purchase more than repeat cruisers. They try to do it all and spend a lot in the process. They are the avid buyers of all the promotions on board and can't wait to spend their money. RCL loves them because they are revenue generators.

 

Once you have been on a large number of sailings there is not as much to buy especially if you sailed on the same ship or to the same ports. No longer do you purchase short excursions if you've been to the ports before. Many repeat passengers do not even get off the ship. When the Oasis came out, many repeat cruisers said they sailed just to say they were on the ship, didn't get off, and could not care less about the ports having been there before. How many photos can you buy? Same with merchandise in the gift shops.

 

Repeat customers may purchase higher priced cabins but in turrn they get more freebies due to their status and do not need to buy as much as a new passenger would.

 

On the other side, there were posts on CC from some of the higher level passengers who thought they should be compensated for their spending level (paid more for their cabin) rather than the number of days they sailed. They questioned why someone in the lowest cost inside cabin should get the same benefits as those in the highest priced cabins only because of the number of days sailed. Benefits were based upon the days sailed no matter what level cabin was purchased.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
nelblu

nelblu

Posted
Posted
Totally wrong. My comparison was not specialty vs. complementary.

Take away the $$ entirely. My comparison is strictly based on what the entire problem with DD actually was... failed execution of choice. This you and I agree on totally. Execution, not the idea, was absolutely the whole problem .

 

DD was all about choice, eat when you want, where you want, with who you want, make changes mid-cruise, add fellow cruisers to your table, etc etc ... I can go on. Those thousand DD threads two years ago were all about cruisers who hated not having their same waiter, same table, at the exact same time every single night, same menus (pimiento, saffron, etc), same seat, same view of the dining room, same same same.... creatures of habit.

 

Instead I wanted to offer something that has been an option forever to those who wanted choice. From Quantum onward I've mixed in Specialty and MDR/MTD consistently. My execution of my own version of DD has been flawless. And yours can be flawless too.

 

 

I agree with you regarding execution, but more than that education was lacking from both RCL and the TA's. If I wasn't a member of CC & picked the do's & don't of the Quantum class, I would have been really pi__ed as I would not have the pre-knowledge of reserving dining/entertainment times.

 

Again, you should have left the last sentence off, as anyone who is willing to pay extra can design some sort of, as you call it "DD."

Link to comment
Share on other sites
gkbiiii

gkbiiii

Posted
Posted
New cruisers have no status (freebies) and tend to purchase more than repeat cruisers. They try to do it all and spend a lot in the process. They are the avid buyers of all the promotions on board and can't wait to spend their money. RCL loves them because they are revenue generators.

 

Once you have been on a large number of sailings there is not as much to buy especially if you sailed on the same ship or to the same ports. No longer do you purchase short excursions if you've been to the ports before. Many repeat passengers do not even get off the ship. When the Oasis came out, many repeat cruisers said they sailed just to say they were on the ship, didn't get off, and could not care less about the ports having been there before. How many photos can you buy? Same with merchandise in the gift shops.

 

Repeat customers may purchase higher priced cabins but in turrn they get more freebies due to their status and do not need to buy as much as a new passenger would.

 

On the other side, there were posts on CC from some of the higher level passengers who thought they should be compensated for their spending level (paid more for their cabin) rather than the number of days they sailed. They questioned why someone in the lowest cost inside cabin should get the same benefits as those in the highest priced cabins only because of the number of days sailed. Benefits were based upon the days sailed no matter what level cabin was purchased.

 

I have noticed the Crystal Cruise's Program; rewards guests differently based on the cabin category, on each sailing & the category of their majority of sailings. If you get a Penthouse Suite on most of your cruises, your reward is much larger, then the basic Crystal Cruiser! This does seem like a fair way of doing things, which the actual rewards, compliment the cabin category purchased.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Stitchman

Stitchman

Posted
Posted
New cruisers have no status (freebies) and tend to purchase more than repeat cruisers. They try to do it all and spend a lot in the process. They are the avid buyers of all the promotions on board and can't wait to spend their money. RCL loves them because they are revenue generators.

 

 

 

Once you have been on a large number of sailings there is not as much to buy especially if you sailed on the same ship or to the same ports. No longer do you purchase short excursions if you've been to the ports before. Many repeat passengers do not even get off the ship. When the Oasis came out, many repeat cruisers said they sailed just to say they were on the ship, didn't get off, and could not care less about the ports having been there before. How many photos can you buy? Same with merchandise in the gift shops.

 

 

 

Repeat customers may purchase higher priced cabins but in turrn they get more freebies due to their status and do not need to buy as much as a new passenger would.

 

 

 

On the other side, there were posts on CC from some of the higher level passengers who thought they should be compensated for their spending level (paid more for their cabin) rather than the number of days they sailed. They questioned why someone in the lowest cost inside cabin should get the same benefits as those in the highest priced cabins only because of the number of days sailed. Benefits were based upon the days sailed no matter what level cabin was purchased.

 

 

Thi is a great post !

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Link to comment
Share on other sites
the mistral wind

the mistral wind

Posted
Posted
i have noticed the crystal cruise's program; rewards guests differently based on the cabin category, on each sailing & the category of their majority of sailings. If you get a penthouse suite on most of your cruises, your reward is much larger, then the basic crystal cruiser! This does seem like a fair way of doing things, which the actual rewards, compliment the cabin category purchased.

yes

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 8 months later...
yuvraj

yuvraj

Posted
Posted

I would like to add that I tried DD on Anthem before they removed it and really enjoyed it. There were a lot of complainers on the same cruise who didn't like it because it was such a leap from what they were used to.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
champagne123

champagne123

Posted
Posted
I would like to add that I tried DD on Anthem before they removed it and really enjoyed it. There were a lot of complainers on the same cruise who didn't like it because it was such a leap from what they were used to.

Agree. We were one of the last sailings to experience it. We absolutely LOVED IT!!!! Such a shame that not everyone was able to experience it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
exelsor

exelsor

Posted
Posted

I was on quantum for 12 nights a few years ago and LOVED dynamic dining, yes u had to think a bit in advance but they had planners online so you could just pick where ever u wanted to eat then arrange your shows or night around it. It was great. I think where i failed was that a lot of passengers are a bit older and not as comfortable with going online themselves and booking it all. For the younger generation im sure it would have been fine. One problem i could see tho as if you booked your cruise late then a lot of places would be fully booked so that would be disapointing. Quantum class ship was built to be different and ahead of its time. Perhaps appealing to a younger generation.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Link to comment
Share on other sites
John Reid

John Reid

Posted
Posted
The same way whiners ruined traditional dining and formal dining nights,

 

Doing a bit of whining yourself?

 

The "whining" about Dynamic Dining on Cruise Critic would be so low in percentage of guest numbers that it would be insignificant. There is far greater a chance that it was canceled because it required more staff to be successful.

 

And for everyone else - a great deal of placing the blame on not being used to it. How about the possibility that people tried it for a week and just didn't like it? Did they have to like it better?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing
  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Cruise Critic News & Features
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...