How The Whiners Ruined Dynamic Dining

[Deck_Diva]

So sad, so disappointed. I was hoping I could get the rest of my family one day to experience DD. We loved DD. We didn't have to make reservations ahead of time when they came up with DD Classic. It was exciting every night knowing we'll be dining at a different venue and if we changed our mind they did accommodate us with no problem and never have to wait for a table. When we felt like getting dressed up we just went to Grande even without reservations with no problem. The only thing we weren't too happy was the Esplanade vs Promenade, other than that the entire ship was an EXPERIENCE! Very different from all the other RC ships, very innovative ship!

 

 

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[reallyitsmema]

Why doesn't Royal do what DCL does, or a completely DD classic? They can just rotate through the dining rooms with their respective different menus and themes.

 

For example these could be the rotations for a hypothetical 4 night cruise:

Traditional Group A:

Silk

Grande

Chic

AM

 

Traditional Group B:

AM

Silk

Grande

Chic

 

MTD Group A:

Chic

AM

Silk

Grande

 

MTD Group B:

Grande

Chic

AM

Silk

 

This way, you don't have to eat in the same atmosphere with the enhanced menu. And half of the restaurants are still available for MTD like the new system will be.

 

Sorry if I'm confusing, but y'all know what I mean?

 

I used my phone to type this, excuse any typos please!

 

Not everyone wants to rotate to all four restaurants. I would skip Silk and go to Grande twice or even try the restaurant in the Solarium that gets forgotten in all this craziness.

 

They tried to make a compromise when they added classic and it made the issues worse. Royal Caribbean has enough trouble dealing with MTD and DD was just too confusing for them. The managers that run the dining rooms are stuck on the thought that there are two seatings no matter what you book and have issues managing the flow of diners who are looking to eat at other times. Many tables sit empty because they are being reserved for a specific time and do not get turned over as frequently as they could.

[vacationlover_mn]

They at first offered DD on HOTS and then canceled that before she even sailed...must have been a reason :confused:

 

Wait, I'm confused... I'm booked for a Feb 2017 HOTS cruise, and they say I have dynamic dining. Are you saying that this is not true? I've reserved all my times for each night...:confused:

[Blue Midget]

I sailed Anthem last year on DD and Navigator this year on MTD. Both 14 nights. No real complaints about either however in balance I think the food quality was better on Anthem. In addition although the menu changes every night on Navigator made it look as though there was more choice than on Anthem a lot of the dishes on Navigator were very similar (but with different names) so with hindsight I think the food was more varied on Anthem.

 

I will also be sorry to see it go and I really don't see how the design of a ship like Anthem will suit classic dining with a fixed table.

[atb]

If the whiners all provided negative feedback through the post cruise survey - quick response cards on ship, and through various types of social media; and provided extensive descriptions of what they didn't like.

 

And the positive experience people didn't provide positive feedback in the same quantity.

 

Who do you think will win?

[Merion_Mom]

Wait, I'm confused... I'm booked for a Feb 2017 HOTS cruise, and they say I have dynamic dining. Are you saying that this is not true? I've reserved all my times for each night...:confused:

 

You have MTD, or My Time Dining. They are using the wrong words, but you have good ol' MTD. No worries. :)

 

What is the difference between DD and MTD? DD has different restaurant options; MTD has only different time options.

 

:)

[kwazi07]

Not everyone wants to rotate to all four restaurants. I would skip Silk and go to Grande twice or even try the restaurant in the Solarium that gets forgotten in all this craziness.

 

This is true! I was booked onto DCL a two years ago, cancelled to go to Disney World.

 

The general consensus was that one of the dining rooms you rotate too (Parrot Cay on Disney and evidently Silk on RC) is lackluster. However, some people could just not eat there and try a specialty restaurant--or in your case the cafe in the Solarium.

 

But you are right in that if you want to eat twice somewhere it is virtually impossible...

 

I used my phone to type this, excuse any typos please!

[davy jones]

.

 

 

 

What's spontaneous about eating in the same restaurant at the same time every night? :confused: LOL!!!

 

Point well taken when referring to fixed dining. It could apply to MTD though.

 

I was thinking more about the process of reserving all dining and entertainment months in advance.

[Merion_Mom]

We tried DD. It truly sucked. Stuck at a table for two the entire cruise, that we didn't want PERIOD, RUSHED THROUGH our meals each time, noticed the menus were merely rotating, giving people the false impression "look at this, isn't this awesome, we are eating in different restaurants every night" meanwhile watching the hostess and reservation desk try and seat people. It was like watching two monkeys trying to figure out a football. Mass confusion. The entire concept didn't work.

 

Except for the Asian cuisine, Silk, whose entrees were salty. Even Chops was overrated. The food sat on a shelf too long, the steaks were dry and overdone. Just thinking we paid extra cash for that. Never again. I liked Jamie's though. Keep that one at least.

 

Bring back the traditional dining where we're all eating in the MDR again at either EARLY or LATE dining. Yes!!!!

 

I would gently point out a few things in your post.

 

1. Most people would KILL for a table for two and rant and rave when they get "stuck" with strangers.

 

2. If there are four complimentary restaurants and each has three menus, that's 12 different menus. How is this not more than "standard" dining on other RC ships? And are those menus not much more different from each other than "standard" menus are?

 

3. You complain about Chops, which has NOTHING TO DO WITH DYNAMIC DINING.

 

I am sorry that your experience with DD Choice was not good. DD Classic gives passengers the traditional dining experience with fixed times, while still giving the variety of different restaurants with different menus. Of course, I should say "GAVE". :mad:

[K3nn7]

I was very happy when RCCL introduced DD Classic, wich gives you the same waiters, while still giving you the oportunity to taste your way trough the different menues in each venue. Now they scrap this, premiering on my sailing (27th of november). Needless to say, i'm not very happy right now :( Cancelling the trip however is not an option, as it is part of a larger vacation (see signature).

 

Oh well, still looking forward to trying out a Quantum-class ship!

[TC1957]

No such thing.

 

1. YOU never tried it, so as far as I am concerned, you have no legitimate input on the subject.

 

2. Not the majority. The LOUDEST complainers.

 

On #1...I have never experience radiation and chemo treatments but I think my opinion that having to go through them sucks is legitimate. My wife and I enjoy sharing a table with strangers (on the first night) and getting to know them during the cruise. It is one of the things very high on the list of things that make a cruise enjoyable to us. That is impossible under DD. When we were looking at possible cruises for next year, we did not even consider a ship that did not offer the traditional MDR...period, end of discussion. Any business that does not offer me something I know I want during my time with them is not a business I will even consider. YMMV.

 

On # 2...the two groups are not mutually exclusive. As much as RCI is shifting their attention away from retaining customers and toward attracting new customers do you honestly believe they would eliminate something that the majority of their customers liked?

[Thetrail]

I share your observation that the servers were harried. But I don't believe this is a function of the concept of DD, it's the result of not having a sufficient number of staff.

 

The staffing is fine, but the galley locations made it a nightmare for the crew....K.O.:(

[reallyitsmema]

On #1...I have never experience radiation and chemo treatments but I think my opinion that having to go through them sucks is legitimate. My wife and I enjoy sharing a table with strangers (on the first night) and getting to know them during the cruise. It is one of the things very high on the list of things that make a cruise enjoyable to us. That is impossible under DD. When we were looking at possible cruises for next year, we did not even consider a ship that did not offer the traditional MDR...period, end of discussion. Any business that does not offer me something I know I want during my time with them is not a business I will even consider. YMMV.

 

On # 2...the two groups are not mutually exclusive. As much as RCI is shifting their attention away from retaining customers and toward attracting new customers do you honestly believe they would eliminate something that the majority of their customers liked?

 

There are large tables in DD, we had a table for 4 and there was tables for 10 on either side of us that were for people who wanted to sit with others. There could have been more, I only saw those that were beside us. I would not have liked the way they sat those tables as they sat a couple, who were on their main course when they sat 4 others at the same table. The other table at least had 4 couples sat within a short period of time of each other.

[Biker19]

On #1... My wife and I enjoy sharing a table with strangers (on the first night) and getting to know them during the cruise. It is one of the things very high on the list of things that make a cruise enjoyable to us. That is impossible under DD.

What do you think DD Classic was? You sit at a table with strangers and move with them every night and your waiters.

:rolleyes:

[Desert Cruizers]

Andy or anyone, for a person having not cruised with the DD concept, how would one know which place to choose each night. I read you could stick with one place if you wished, is this correct. What type of menu did each offer.

[Biker19]

With some thinking RCI is out to kill them (Feb 6 and Sep 3 sailings) or cancelling because of the ending of DD, or the lowest review ratings of any ship, you'd think Anthem must be terrible and unpopular. All those folks who fill the ship on every sailing (at higher prices than other ships with better reviews) must have missed the memo.

[Biker19]

Andy or anyone, for a person having not cruised with the DD concept, how would one know which place to choose each night. I read you could stick with one place if you wished, is this correct. What type of menu did each offer.

Think of DD as RCI trying to emulate life on land, where you walk to a restaurant see what the menu looks like and walk in or don't. When you have a popular venue you need to make reservations to get in at the time you want. The host of the venue seats you.

[nelblu]

The staffing is fine, but the galley locations made it a nightmare for the crew....K.O.:(

 

On my Aug. 25the sail there was no problem whatsoever, that I noticed. My wait staff had the same # of tables as in other RCL ships. A large, a medium and a small. We had table for 2 and on most nights we completed our dinners in less than 1 hour. Therefore, I'm saddened by the elimination, if they follow through. Just wonder if this affects the Quantum and what has been their experience.

[Little Buddy's Mom]

We experienced DD on the Quantum Maiden TA. Our first night we ate at American Icon and we were the first people to eat at AI. It was actually funny how our waiter hovered over us, he was so glad to finally be able to wait on someone, after the weeks of training.

 

 

Making reservations is the part I didn't like, so we actually preferred eating in the Windjammer. Booking show times and meal times is rather cumbersome.

[Mattsudds]

Add me to those who are sad to see it go. 39 nights on Quantum and enjoyed the DD experience a lot. The vast majority of people I spoke to also liked the concept.

 

We made some bookings prior to our first leg as we had read a few early doom and gloom posts but once on board just cancelled most and did our thing on a daily basis.

 

I predict there will be plenty of complaints once people who expect traditional to be the same as other ships find out there is far less available space for early and late traditional.

 

They will then take up the early or late times in the MTD room and those who expect to be able to just rock up for MTD will miss out all together.

 

Most of the issues with DD were centred around lack pf space in the dinning rooms (far lower seat to pax ratio than all the other ships) and lack of staff to serve them.

 

Unless they turn a few other spaces or fee restaurants into complimentary (not going to happen is it) or find some extra cabins for crew then things may even get worse.

 

Agree 100%. I sailed on Quantum, Anthem and Ovation. And the problem with Dynamic Dining was not the concept but the implementation. I have seen NCLs way of doing it on multiple NCL cruises too, and there it works. With Royal, the implementation suffered numerous problems. It seemed like the IT system couldn't handle the bookings easily so the staff had nightmares with that, as did I when attempting to book at home for our party. For instance, 8 people on Ovation and it took, with the Maitre D onboard, 45 mins to book tables for the first 5 nights. And I had done it onboard only because the online system wouldn't work on any of the preceding weeks.

 

All the 'Dynamic' restaurants missed the one crucial ingredient - an adjacent bar and a pager system so that you can have a drink whilst you wait. And the number of seats to passengers ratio was too low. I struggle to understand how an experienced company like Royal, which gets so many things right and innovates so much, managed to make such a mess of this.

 

The one shame now is that the Quantum class all will have 4 separate dining rooms serving the same food, whereas the rest of the fleet will have a single more spectacular space with a greater seat to pax ratio. I wonder if, with this abandonment, Quantum 4 and 5 will be redesigned to bring back a single, large, spectacular main dining room.

[Big_G]

What do you think DD Classic was? You sit at a table with strangers and move with them every night and your waiters.

:rolleyes:

 

...and there in lies the problem. Too many experts with no expertise.

[CarpeCerevisi]

In my opinion, the first mistake that was made was to introduce Dynamic Dining Classic. The number of tables in the four free restaurants is less than what would normally be in a traditional MDR. However, it was expected that each table would be turned over for more than two sittings unlike in an MDR and this would result in all those wanting a table to be able to be seated throughout the evening. When they then went to DD Classic they took half those tables and pretty much guaranteed that they would only have two sittings at those tables, thus effectively reducing the available seating significantly. This then led to all the favorable non-classic times to be booked very rapidly and leaving people complaining about having nothing available except 5:30 or 9:00 or being told to eat in the Windjammer. They should have left the four restaurants as reservation only as that is what they were designed for.

 

I've sailed on both Quantum and Anthem and have read numerous revues of both. The biggest complaints that I recall reading were about slow or poor service, food quality, and the "loss" of reservations, especially in the early reviews for each ship. I think the service issues were primarily caused by the line trying to cut staff, especially with the elimination of assistant waiters. As for food quality, that's been a complaint of many people on every ship and one can find as many revues where people have loved the food as those that hate it. In regards to the loss of reservations, I fortunately have never lost a reservation on a Royal Caribbean ship. That is not to say that it never happens and with new systems it could happen more than it should, but this is something that should get less and less assuming any effort is made to debug the system.

 

There is one more thing I must add. I strongly believe that those who have a complaint about something are more likely to make their feeling known that those who do not have a complaint. Satisfaction statistics will always be skewed towards the negative.

[RareBird]

DD ruined our Anthem cruise. Good riddance. Still not coming back to Royal for a good while!

 

Ugh. What a nightmare it was this May. I'm a big fan of how NCL runs dining... Royal failed miserably.

Edited September 12, 2016 by RareBird

[Biker19]

Booking show times and meal times is rather cumbersome.

 

Not any worse than the existing MTD.

[Royal Fun]

We sail on Anthem in March. This will be our second sailing on Anthem, and we also sailed on Quantum. We are disappointed with the decision to do away with DD. We loved it. That being said, I do not want to be put into MTD, and would like to request traditional late seating. Would someone know the email address? I knew at one time..but couldn't find it. TIA