Any talk of RCI offering Anytime Dining?

[gambler]

Another vote for tradional dining, that is why we stick with RCI.

[jamandamn14]

yes maybe Im not sure

[wraithe]

I cast my vote for traditional, if it ain't broke, don't fix it!

[critterchick]

We enjoy the traditional dining, whether on RCI or on Princess. We did Anytime on the Star and it was fine, but it was a mess on the Diamond - we had to make reservations and could only do so at 6:00 or 8:00, so I don't see how that qualified as "Anytime". Having said that, the Diamond & Sapphire have different configurations than the standard PC dining rooms, and I understand that they have done away with the specialty menus that each DR offered, so maybe that problem has abated. But we just did 9 nights on the Island in traditional late and loved it, other than the food, which was mediocre.

[SherriZ366]

Another Strong vote for keeping traditional dining on RCCL.

 

We sailed on Princess in 2002 after the instituted personal choice/anytime and even though we were in traditional dining the service seemed to be mediocre. Possibly because of the automatic, pre-paid tips. We have not been back.

 

This topic comes up periodically and I have asked my agent to talk about with RCCL officials during Travel AGent forums. There was a heavy rumor that the change was being made about 2 years ago and Adam Goldstein, R%CCL President, asserted at that time that passenger support for traditional dining ws so strong that they were not thinking of changing it, especially with the ships having various alternative dining venues (especially Voyager and Freedom class). RCCL reads these boards so lets keep posting about our strong support and if posters (or their agents or friends) are going on Freedom preview cruises, it would also be a good time to reiterate our support for traditional dining.

[time4u2go]

I vote for having the choice. One dining area traditional, one freestyle.

[abridalmaven]

I hope they don't change it!!!! I like the personalized service of an assigned waitstaff. A change like that would probably be a deal breaker for me.

 

Does Windjammer count as anytime dining? :)

Tracy

 

Tracy, I so agree. After experiencing " free style", which I hated, I would never chose anything other than RCI's standard. And since do late seating anyhow, what is the big deal?

[grvdggr71]

Every cruise line seems to be jumping on the whole Dining Anytime/Freestyle concept, but I have heard about poor food quality and crowded restaurants. I love my set dinner time (and if you don't, why don't you eat at Windjammer, Seaview, Johnny Rockets, Portofino, or Chops?) and I really feel like meeting new tablemates is part of the cruising experience. Royal Caribbean sets trends, doesn't follow them. Here's hoping that the set dinner schedule will be around for a long time!

[RM]

Traditional dining for us too! We did Caribbean Princess last year and got anytime dining. It worked well (if you ate before 7:30). After 7:30 it became quite a zoo on some evenings. The reservation system was a joke and was constantly messed up. We made reservations but they didn't get it right. Only upon greasing the Matre'd's palm did we get exactly what we wanted. I don't mind giving extra but I felt like I had to tip extra to get what I wanted. Never had that problem before.

 

Yes, we're sailing Princess again but only with Traditional dining! We booked extra early to make sure we have it.

[CruiseDreaming]

My DH and I enjoy the traditional dining. We like the early seating too. I have never tried freestyle, other than the formal dining room for lunch. You get randomly assigned a table, different waiter, and new folks to meet. We thought that was fine, but we would much prefer traditional for our evening meals. I enjoy the thought of other options such as Windjammer and the others, but I always opt for the formal dining room.

 

Kerrie:)

[PhoenixCruiser]

We would love anytime dining! In fact we never even entered the main dining room on our last two cruises. We don't like to eat at a set time or sit with strangers.

 

I agree with others, why can't they just split up the dining room, offer both and make all of us happy :D

 

###

[xpcdoojk]

Why not offer both and make everyone happy. I will choose Princess over RCI specifically for Personal Choice. And eating at the buffet is in no way the same as having the choice to eat dinner when you want. THe beauty of PC dining is if you find someone you like you keep them... you are not FORCED to be with anyone.

 

From reading your past cruise history in your signature it appears that RCI won't be losing any revenue by staying the same as they are now.:D :p I sure wish Princess would change to traditional seatings as that is the only reason I don't prefer them to RCI. ;) That way I could be FORCED to be with you for a whole week when I switch to Princess. :p

 

jc

[Twaincruisers]

We vote for traditional! Our best cruises seem to be when we have had tablemates to share stories of the day with, night after night. We had anytime dining on the Golden Princess, but we had such a good time with our mates the first night that we all just came back each night at 6--didn't even reserve (really upset the guy assigning tables when we would each come in and tell him what table we were going to!). However, we eat early so reservations weren't a problem. We always saw people always having to wait later in the evening.

 

And then there is NCL "freestyle"...free to have bad service and bad food! In most restaurants on NCL we were simply abandoned at the end of the meal--one cup of coffee, etc.; one time had to chase down someone else to pay the bill; seldom got a second cup of coffee.

 

I don't think you can just turn one traditional dining room into anytime dining; there must be many equivalent other restaurants to be able to feed everyone because eating time is not structured as in traditional dining rooms. Please, RCI, stay traditional...with a few other restaurants!

[Hondu]

Some say they there's no wait for Traditional Dining. Who are all those people who stand clustered together waiting for the doors to open? Some if not all stand out there for up to 15 mins or more.

 

We've done both options and can take either way. We also like the staggered times on HAL.

[kkorman]

I think a lot of people are missing the point here... the personal choice is an option, not a must. So if you like traditional, stick with it and you are not effected.

 

 

From reading your past cruise history in your signature it appears that RCI won't be losing any revenue by staying the same as they are now.:D :p I sure wish Princess would change to traditional seatings as that is the only reason I don't prefer them to RCI. ;) That way I could be FORCED to be with you for a whole week when I switch to Princess. :p

 

jc

 

If you look at my past history, RCI should want me to sail with them.

I am a platnium member with RCI and need one more cruise to be diamond. When I make my cruising deicisions it is always down to RCI and Princess... and the Personal Choice option always wins.

 

Please note I am not suggesting RCI to scrap traditional, I am suggestiong that they have the option to choose. If they did this, it would in NO way affect you or anyone else who wanted traditional dining. But it would bring more people onboard, like me, who cruises frequently with the competition. I think it just makes business sense to appeal to the entire cruising market.

 

 

That way I could be FORCED to be with you for a whole week when I switch to Princess. :p

 

Well, I think this just further makes my point... if you did not like me on night one... you do not have to sit with me again! And just because you like traditional seating and I do not does not mean that you would feel inprisoned to be in my company.

[happy cruzer]

My first observation is that everyone is making very valid points for them. This is a very personal decision.

 

I think that with traditional service the cruise lines are offereing a unique experience. You get the same dining companions and service staff each night. If you already know who you want, fine they will be assigned the same table. If not, then the line tries to find you some new companions. This works great for those of us shy folks. For example, my hubby and I are very social but have a terrible time on those first introductions. Thats why we like traditional dining and cringe each day at lunch in the dining room (we love the food and the service but not meeting people each time we eat). But I do understand that lunch is a shorter process 3 courses and people really are on vastly different schedules. In the dining room at night we love to meet the same wait staff and companions. Once we had a problem with our table and we got it changed (so your not really "stuck" with anything) The traditional dining is not meant to be like a good restaurent at home.

 

The anytime dining is more on par with a good restaurent at home. It has the advantages of flexibility. But it also has some of the disadvantages of a restaurent. The waiters and your companions won't get to know you unless you go out of your way to make it happen.

 

I'll vote traditional everytime. But I definitely understand the other view.

 

Happy Cruzin!

[Treven]

Personally, I LOVE the freestyle dining. To me that's one of the selling points of the Atlantis charters; no matter which ship you're on, there's no set time to eat, no coat & tie "suggestion", and certainly NO formal nights!!!!! Simply "smart casual" every evening for dinner in the main eateries. As usual in the buffet, the only requirement is that you wear clothes - no shirt, no shoes, no service. Though nothing has been said, I assume one needs to wear something between the shirt & the shoes. ;-)

[producegirl]

Is it possible to have scheduled dining like it is now, and have another dining room with anytime dining? (Does NCL do that?) I understand that the Windjammer is always open, but we all know that that food isn't quite up to par with the dining room.

The way that Princess does the dining is...they have 2 dining rooms for formal set dinner and 2 dining rooms for any time dinner. Plus they have the options of 2 buffets (similar to Windjammer) and 2 speciality restaurants.

I didn't try anytime dining the last time I was on Princess, but I would love to try it.

[cmich068]

The problem with Personal Choice, is that they can severly underestimate the demand for Traditional Dining, and then have people stuck with the option they didn't want.

[Ohunion Cruzers]

Don't change a thing. Keep the formal dining as assingned seating.

[broncoz1]

Why the (semi)anger towards offering both? Seems like the best answer to me, then you could choose.

 

Last cruise we had 4 people we liked, 2 we could absolutely not stand. We ended up skipping the last 2 nights in the dining room to be away from them...

 

And the buffet line can never be considered a similar alternative to freestyle as while it is OK, buffets are no where near the quality of food.

 

All IMO of course

[happy cruzer]

the only reason I can see for being against offering both is that alot of people have never tried the traditional dining and would be afraid too. They have tried restaurent style dining. And if people don't try it, it will die out just like alot of traditions.

 

my 2 cents.

[kkorman]

The problem with Personal Choice, is that they can severly underestimate the demand for Traditional Dining, and then have people stuck with the option they didn't want.

 

Let's look at a voyager class sjhip... it has 3 levels... why not determine which gets 2 levels base don the demand for a particular cruise.

[SherriZ366]

The problem with Personal Choice, is that they can severly underestimate the demand for Traditional Dining, and then have people stuck with the option they didn't want.

From my last Princess cruise in 2000 and what I have read on Cruise Critic, you have to reserve fairly far in advance to get traditional -- especially late seating. I feel like Princess has put more of their capacity into anytime dining and on the ship, we felt the pressure to go with that schedule rather than traditional.

[negc]

Why the (semi)anger towards offering both? Seems like the best answer to me, then you could choose.

 

Last cruise we had 4 people we liked, 2 we could absolutely not stand. We ended up skipping the last 2 nights in the dining room to be away from them...

 

And the buffet line can never be considered a similar alternative to freestyle as while it is OK, buffets are no where near the quality of food.

 

All IMO of course

Why is it necessary that RCI try to be everything to everyone? I see few calls for NCL to offer traditional dining and Princess, which tries to offer both does a poor job of it in many instances. There is no reason for them to "severely underestimate" the demand for traditional dining on a particular cruise. Passengers request traditional dining well in advance of the sailing and yet there are many instances where the waitlist is as high as 400 and guests who want traditional dining are forced into anytime dining. Princess lacks the flexibility of allocating dining rooms between traditional and anytime dining to reflect their passengers wishes. We were just on the Sapphire Princess and four of the five dining rooms were for anytime dining and only one (the one most difficult to get to) was for traditional dining. Menus in each style of dining room were exactly the same (except that each of the anytime dining rooms offers one special entree) and service was good but varied from meal to meal depending on the wait staff. Those who find traditional dining unsatisfactory, if that is the decision-breaker, have other lines they can choose. RCI has chosen to keep traditional dining as one of its chief selling points and I say more power to them.