How The Whiners Ruined Dynamic Dining

[dpostman]

With the numbers offered, that would mean that they would have 860 x 2 for traditional dining as the maximum number. I would assume that My time would be that same 860 x 2 + 430 then.

 

That would be a total of 1720 slots for traditional dining and then 2100 for My Time for a total of 3820.

 

With the double occupancy of the ship being 4180 and the maximum occupancy being 4905, that would mean that RCI will have to increase cruise fares on these ships.

 

I would say that Quantum class ships will now see much higher 3rd and 4th passenger rates and that incentives for solo travelers might be quite good at times.

 

I would also think that this might incentivize RCI to start tracking Specialty dining and actually using the empty seats created in the traditional dining room when guests are away and dining at specialty venues.

 

This could also lead to much more aggressive marketing of specialty venues as a very necessary element of making this work.

 

This might also move RCI to offer an 'all specialty' alternative where guest dine all nights in specialty venues and the Windjammer.

 

This makes sense to me.

 

Perhaps RCI could offer discounted cruise fares for those that would opt to dine at the windjammer for all their meals. I'm sure that would relieve some pressure on the other venues.

 

dp

Edited September 13, 2016 by dpostman

[gaylemh]

I'm guessing that they will be able to add a lot more tables to the 4 restaurants by doing away with a lot of the 2 - 4 top tables. A table for 10 takes up a lot less floor space than 5 tables for 2.

[OfTheSeasCruiser]

This makes sense to me.

 

Perhaps RCI could offer discounted cruise fares for those that would opt to dine at the windjammer for all their meals. I'm sure that would relieve some pressure on the other venues.

 

dp

 

I like the idea of offering a cruise fare that includes specialty dinners every night. There could be a stipulation that you're not allowed to eat in the main dining rooms if you choose this option (Windjammer would be the only alternative), therefore, freeing up some space.

Edited September 13, 2016 by OfTheSeasCruiser

[boatseller]

Having read through both threads, this is Freestyle Dining from NCL. Multiple venues sharing a menu. It works very well for them.

 

We've never had a problem getting seated even without reservations.

 

I predict they will try to subtly make the "Traditional" option as unappealing as possible since it does carry a much higher operational cost than on-demand, which is what those venues were designed for. You can also expect plate quality for the Traditional seating to be under that of on-demand.

 

I had no issues with DD on my one short Anthem cruise. Looking forward to my next, whenever that may be, and going res-free then too.

[OfTheSeasCruiser]

Having read through both threads, this is Freestyle Dining from NCL. Multiple venues sharing a menu. It works very well for them.

 

We've never had a problem getting seated even without reservations.

 

I predict they will try to subtly make the "Traditional" option as unappealing as possible since it does carry a much higher operational cost than on-demand, which is what those venues were designed for. You can also expect plate quality for the Traditional seating to be under that of on-demand.

 

I had no issues with DD on my one short Anthem cruise. Looking forward to my next, whenever that may be, and going res-free then too.

 

I disagree with your assessments. The galleys for traditional and MTD will be completely separate, and should be no different than the other ships in the fleet. Quality should, and most likely will, be the same within traditional and MTD - just like the rest of the fleet.

 

I also think that if they wanted to get rid of traditional, they wouldn't be making a change as drastic as this one is. The goal of DD when Quantum first debuted was to completely rid the ships of traditional dining...We see how that worked out.

Edited September 13, 2016 by OfTheSeasCruiser

[boatseller]

The galleys for traditional and MTD will be completely separate, and should be no different than the other ships in the fleet. Quality should, and most likely will, be the same within traditional and MTD - just like the rest of the fleet.

 

Separate galleys doesn't matter so much. I'm thinking of the operational difference between banquet service and continuous service. Something I remember from school many moons ago. I am not in the biz btw, hated it.

 

I cringe whenever I see those plate covers because we learned they're not for keeping the food warm (although they do), they're so the plates can be stacked and stored when staging the service.

 

If you want something plated 'fresh', request something special.

 

Anyway, doesn't matter to me. I genuinely expect to show up whenever and be seated with minimal wait since that's pretty much what's always happened on both Royal and NCL. And FEI, the wait time can vary greatly for each MDR on the Breakaway Class ships, even with the same menu. So, if one is full, go across the hall.

[OfTheSeasCruiser]

Separate galleys doesn't matter so much. I'm thinking of the operational difference between banquet service and continuous service. Something I remember from school many moons ago. I am not in the biz btw, hated it.

 

I cringe whenever I see those plate covers because we learned they're not for keeping the food warm (although they do), they're so the plates can be stacked and stored when staging the service.

 

If you want something plated 'fresh', request something special.

 

Anyway, doesn't matter to me. I genuinely expect to show up whenever and be seated with minimal wait since that's pretty much what's always happened on both Royal and NCL. And FEI, the wait time can vary greatly for each MDR on the Breakaway Class ships, even with the same menu. So, if one is full, go across the hall.

 

Okay, maybe separate galleys doesn't make much of difference, but Anthem will now be no different than every other ship in the fleet, which are all able to present meals of equal quality in both traditional and MTD.

[Mattsudds]

I disagree with your assessments. The galleys for traditional and MTD will be completely separate, and should be no different than the other ships in the fleet. Quality should, and most likely will, be the same within traditional and MTD - just like the rest of the fleet.

 

I also think that if they wanted to get rid of traditional, they wouldn't be making a change as drastic as this one is. The goal of DD when Quantum first debuted was to completely rid the ships of traditional dining...We see how that worked out.

 

I am not sure what you mean here when you say the galleys for traditional and MTD will be completely separate - do you mean that each 'Dynamic' restaurant would have a pair of galleys? One to serve MTD and one to serve traditional?

 

I have toured the galleys on Quantum and Anthem and I don't remember that being the case but I apologize if I misunderstood. I do remember each 'Dynamic' restaurant had a separate kitchen, which was of course due to the fact that they each served different food. If all 4 restaurants now serve the same food, some very expensive reconfiguration could be done in order to merge the galleys. I don't know enough about kitchen layout etc to know whether that would be either necessary or useful.

 

The big issue though is going to remain seating capacity. The only sources I can find online indicate that each Dynamic restaurant seats around 430 people. If that is correct, that is 1720 seats for a ship with over 4,180 lower berths and a 4,900 max capacity. By way of contrast, Royal's website has a page on Freedom of the Seas which lists her main dining room capacity as 2,100 with a lower berth capacity of 3,600 and a max capacity of 4,300.

 

Of course these numbers aren't perfect, because they don't take account of Coastal Kitchen. And Anthem/ Ovation/ Quantum have more speciality restaurants.

 

If this change is permanent, and irreversible, I wonder if Royal might send the ships for a rebuild of the dining room. Move the entrance to the dining room (you wouldn't need a pair of large hallways with a single dining room without the reservation lines), and perhaps reconfigure the kitchens in order to create space at the aft end of the dining room, and the capacity problem could be solved.Maybe they won't bother with the rebuild, but surely the Ovation 4 and 5 will have quite different dining room and kitchen layouts now that Dynamic Dining has gone.

[OfTheSeasCruiser]

I am not sure what you mean here when you say the galleys for traditional and MTD will be completely separate - do you mean that each 'Dynamic' restaurant would have a pair of galleys? One to serve MTD and one to serve traditional?

 

I have toured the galleys on Quantum and Anthem and I don't remember that being the case but I apologize if I misunderstood. I do remember each 'Dynamic' restaurant had a separate kitchen, which was of course due to the fact that they each served different food. If all 4 restaurants now serve the same food, some very expensive reconfiguration could be done in order to merge the galleys. I don't know enough about kitchen layout etc to know whether that would be either necessary or useful.

 

After Royal implements this change, the deck 3 dining rooms (Grande and Chic) will be reserved solely for traditional dining, while the deck 4 dining rooms (Silk and Icon) will be reserved for MTD. So, the deck 3 galleys will function for traditional dining, while the deck 4 galleys will function for MTD. Therefore, the traditional and MTD galleys will be separate. It really doesn't matter much, I was just responding to a post that stated food quality might vary between MTD and traditional.

[Cruising4]

As a returning cruising family to RCCL (after multiple NCL and CCL cruises) we are booked on them Anthem for February.

 

The reviews of the process of DD have not been great. Long waits for empty restaurants.

 

Menus at Silk and Chic didn't appeal to my family. The dress code at The Grand was a hassle for the teens so that left us with WJ, American Icon or a pay meal.

 

I believe DD would work better if RCCL didn't change the show schedule so often AND offered something like O'Sheehans on NCL.

 

The paid dining on RCCL seems just meh compared to NCL.

 

I was relieved to see the change. Maybe they'll enforce the chairhog rule next, as CCL did!

[psupa]

I'm guessing that they will be able to add a lot more tables to the 4 restaurants by doing away with a lot of the 2 - 4 top tables. A table for 10 takes up a lot less floor space than 5 tables for 2.

 

Well I hope not. We like a table for 2 and don't want to sit around for over 2 hours at a larger table, have to wait for everyone to be done before another course is served and then have to listen to someone's drama. If you look around the dining rooms you will see that many people like the smaller table.

Edited September 14, 2016 by psupa

[Blufin]

I was on Quantum for 19 nights. I found it to be a lot of effort compared to the regular dining. Having to know which day you are going to which dining room and at which time. Our times were all over the place and couldn't get them switched. Prevented us from seeing some of the shows. Did not like some of the menus in a few of the dining rooms as well but we didn't want to eat from the same menu all of the time. Also ate in the WJ. I liked the idea that they let some people do the DD and others the regular. Gives people choices and DD would not be fine.

 

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[Baron Barracuda]

Anthem was built for sailing from cool weather ports and not as open feeling as other classes of ships, so Miami or Fla, would not really work.

 

Royal did not give this DD a chance, they made it too hard and confusing for guests to plan, and make reservations. Then reservations were commonly lost and dinner times had to be re-imput and often conflicting with other reservations, like shows etc. It was very frustration for many.

 

The DD Choice , I think was the major problem as you had to know what time you would be hungry months in advance. That was set up to fail before it even started. Then if you did not have a reservation, or it was lost , you had to wait and many were told to eat in the Windjammer. Most don't cruise to eat in the Windjammer for dinner, so I can see where complaints were many and valid ones at that.

 

If they offered My Time Dining where you just showed up or made a reservation by lunch, and kept the DDClassic with the rotations, it could have worked out.

 

They did not have enough waiters/servers and organization to work out the kinks. We are sorry to see it go. Anthem is a wonderful ship for the mid/north Atlantic............just like their IT dept sucks, so do many other areas of corporate. :confused::cool:

 

Don't disagree with any thing you say. And I am aware that Anthem was built for cold weather (although imo Explorer sailed smoother than Quantum). My point was strictly hypothetical.

 

There are quite a few folks from the NY area who never wanted dd, however they wish to sail from NY and Anthem is currently the only Royal ship in town. This group is sizable and has been very critical of dd.

 

If Anthem were to HYPOTHETICALLY be placed in another location, for instance Miami, where customers have a choice between her or other Royal ships with td this negative bias would be eliminated. Then, with the ship full of passengers who all CHOSE dd we could see if ratings improve.

 

Will never happen, but interesting experiment.

[gaylemh]

I think was the major problem as you had to know what time you would be hungry months in advance

 

I don't get why people say this is an argument against DD. What is the difference if you have 6 o'clock early seating, and making a reservation for DD months in advance, both reservations are made months in advance.

[livlyf]

I am sad that DD has changed for my upcoming cruise on the Ovation, I was looking forward to experience the different menus and themes that each different restaurant presented. I had even looked through the menus in anticipation :) I do love the MDR especially as you get to know the waiters etc. I think they should have changed it to the similar way that Disney do it. They have different restaurants and you rotate through them and your wait staff travel with you, that way you get to experience the different themes but also have that familiarity of the wait staff knowing what you like and having the opportunity to build the friendships.

[kevinyork]

I am sad that DD has changed for my upcoming cruise on the Ovation, I was looking forward to experience the different menus and themes that each different restaurant presented. I had even looked through the menus in anticipation :) I do love the MDR especially as you get to know the waiters etc. I think they should have changed it to the similar way that Disney do it. They have different restaurants and you rotate through them and your wait staff travel with you, that way you get to experience the different themes but also have that familiarity of the wait staff knowing what you like and having the opportunity to build the friendships.

 

 

 

That's Dynamic Dining Classic your describing. They had that as an option.

 

 

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[curlyhaired]

We cruised on Anthem and DD was very unorganized (we did the classic version) so we're not sorry to see it will be phased out and are Not surprised that is has been cancelled on the Oasis class ships.

[John&LaLa]

I think was the major problem as you had to know what time you would be hungry months in advance

 

I don't get why people say this is an argument against DD. What is the difference if you have 6 o'clock early seating, and making a reservation for DD months in advance, both reservations are made months in advance.

 

I'm hungry now

 

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[Biker19]

We cruised on Anthem and DD was very unorganized (we did the classic version) so we're not sorry to see it will be phased out and are Not surprised that is has been cancelled on the Oasis class ships.

 

Another chuckle moment - what do you think it will become when it goes to traditional? The only thing that will change over what you experienced with Classic is that you don't move (never mind the menu change - that could change at any time).

 

Biker, who can't wait till end of November for the complaints to roll in on the new system on Anthem.:rolleyes:

[Clarea]

Another chuckle moment - what do you think it will become when it goes to traditional? The only thing that will change over what you experienced with Classic is that you don't move (never mind the menu change - that could change at any time).

 

Biker, who can't wait till end of November for the complaints to roll in on the new system on Anthem.:rolleyes:

I agree, there may still be problems because of the inadequate dining seat number to passenger ratio. However, there should be some improvement since any table in any venue will be able to be used, as opposed to the present system.

Edited September 14, 2016 by clarea

[John&LaLa]

Another chuckle moment - what do you think it will become when it goes to traditional? The only thing that will change over what you experienced with Classic is that you don't move (never mind the menu change - that could change at any time).

 

Biker, who can't wait till end of November for the complaints to roll in on the new system on Anthem.:rolleyes:

 

I thought November would bring us complaints from Harmony crossing. ;)

 

This is a bonus

[The Grumpus]

Don't need to wait until November... it's alive and well and right here in this thread.;)

[Big_G]

Reminds me of this.

 

QsvlGF73GMA

[Cruise-A-Hoy]

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.

 

Sorry Merion Mom but according to Vicky Freed the majority of passengers did not like it. The number of complaints was overwelming.

Royal Caribbean reads every comment form submitted and was overwelmed by the number that did not like it.

 

I have sailed with DD several times and did not like it but it did not turn me off of sailing with Royal Caribbean..

[Cruise-A-Hoy]

The problem they had with DD. First it was very confusing to many of the guest they did not know when or where they wanted do dine that far in advance. Then if you were 2 or more couples going together and one did not like or could not each Asian food (Silks) none could go there, it was too limited. They fixed that by adding the alternative menu.

After having it for 2 years they encountered numerous complaints. One thing RCL does do is read EVERY comment form and letter submitted. From these comments they received numerous overwhelming numbers of complaints about DD. One major complaint was trying to schedule a dining reservation with a show reservation. This became a nightmare for many especially when doing it so far in advance. Doing it last minute did not always work because of available dining times would conflict with show schedules.

No matter how good or bad something is if the majority of passengers are not happy with it, change it. So they did

 

I cannot see the problem with “My Time” dining you can still go anytime you want and have the advantage of a different menu every night. DD you had the same menu for half a week per dining venue.

 

I THINK WE BEAT THIS TOPIC TO DEATH, those that hate DD are happy and those that LOVE it are sad.