Royal's Quantam goes all in with NCL freestyle dining

Malcolm Oliver's cruise blog has a poll. So far it is 54% a little dissapointed, 38% like it and 8% not for them.

Interesting! This thread on the RC board goes the other direction, but there has been lots of vocal criticism.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2016191

I'd noticed the video on YouTube but didn't realize that some of these were free options. Thanks for posting. I'm definitely going to be booking that along with the Norwegian Escape. So many new ships across the cruising world, it's a fun time to be cruising.

What is your source for that? Making reservations pre-cruise will be available but is not required. In fact you can walk right up with no set reservations. Now, conditions on board will dictate if there is a wait at that time or not obviously.

 

Your statement is the first I have read that multiple nights at the same venue is frowned upon. The information I have seen indicates you can park yourself in the same place at the same time with the same group each night if that is your desire. Go to any given free place as much or as little as you like with set times or not. Hence the name Dynamic. Will it work seamlessly and perfectly? Probably not; a lot of moving pieces and it will take time for them to find a rhythm, but I am optimistic and it has me considering ships I otherwise had no particular interest in.

 

Put me in the "Willing to give it a try" camp.

My source is the RCI website. There is a Q & A section For Dynamic Dining.

"Q: Do I have to make reservations prior to the cruise, or will I be able to make reservations once onboard?"

"A: In order to satisfy all guests' preferences, we encourage guests to make restaurant reservations prior to their cruise. However once onboard, guests will have the ability to make and edit reservations."

"Q: "Are reservations made on a first come first served bases?"

"A: "Yes. Once a restaurant is full, an alternative restaurant recommendation will be made. We encourage guests to experience a different restaurant each night.".

"Q: "What if I want to dine in the same restaurant every night?"

"A: "Dynamic Dining allows guests to make reservations in the same restaurant every night of their cruise if they wish, based on availability, but we recommend guests to experience a different restaurant each night."

Note that no where is there any mention of walk ups or that there is no need to reserve in advance. The scenario you have described is available with Freestyle, but I don't think you'll get it with DD.

I think this is a step in the right direction for Royal, but they still have a long way to go, IMO.

After 20 cruises I went on the NCL Getaway and loved the freestyle. I wish I would have done it sooner instead of paying attention to reviews. It was one of the best cruises Ive ever been on. What a ship. They hit a homerun with this ship. Thefood in the specialty restaurants was outstanding. Having the ultimate dining package for 119 per person was well worth the money. The shows were excellent and the casino was the largest one i ever saw and busy all the time. And it was nice being around a younger crowd. I can understand why RCCL is doing this, its the future of cruising..They have to increase onboard spending if there going to keep prices low and whats a better way then to give you more food options. I was sick of the MDR food on RCCL, Celebrity, and Princess. and ate in the specialty restaurants as much as possible. The people who like to pretend the food in the MDR is great just do not want to spend extra and one day in the future they will only have the buffet. I see that happening. Dont know when but it will happen.

My source is the RCI website. There is a Q & A section For Dynamic Dining.

 

"Q: Do I have to make reservations prior to the cruise, or will I be able to make reservations once onboard?"

 

"A: In order to satisfy all guests' preferences, we encourage guests to make restaurant reservations prior to their cruise. However once onboard, guests will have the ability to make and edit reservations."

 

"Q: "Are reservations made on a first come first served bases?"

 

"A: "Yes. Once a restaurant is full, an alternative restaurant recommendation will be made. We encourage guests to experience a different restaurant each night.".

 

"Q: "What if I want to dine in the same restaurant every night?"

 

"A: "Dynamic Dining allows guests to make reservations in the same restaurant every night of their cruise if they wish, based on availability, but we recommend guests to experience a different restaurant each night."

 

Note that no where is there any mention of walk ups or that there is no need to reserve in advance. The scenario you have described is available with Freestyle, but I don't think you'll get it with DD.

 

I think this is a step in the right direction for Royal, but they still have a long way to go, IMO.

Oh!

Thank you for this information.

The making of reservations for dinner was something I didn't know when I said on another thread that I would be more likely to take a Royal Caribbean cruise now that you could dine where and when you like. But, if you have to make reservations before you even get on the ship, then spend time and energy to get them changed once on board... Maybe I'll hold off looking at their cruises until they figure out that this reservation-making and changing for all passengers will be a lot of extra work and headache for them and the passengers.

The making of reservations for dinner was something I didn't know when I said on another thread that I would be more likely to take a Royal Caribbean cruise now that you could dine where and when you like. But, if you have to make reservations before you even get on the ship, then spend time and energy to get them changed once on board... Maybe I'll hold off looking at their cruises until they figure out that this reservation-making and changing for all passengers will be a lot of extra work and headache for them and the passengers.

They encourage making reservations, but it is not mandatory.

They encourage making reservations, but it is not mandatory.

I really hope you are correct! I would not consider Booking Royal otherwise. But in looking at the information on the Royal website, I can find no statement that reservations are not required. If you have found it, please share.:)

I love the fact that unlike NCL, some of these specialty/themed restaurants are included at no additional cost. That's one thing that NCL is missing, in my opinion. It would be nice to have a La Cucina, for instance (which I view as being on the low end of the specialties) included for free. RCI is really hitting the mark by allowing their guests to enjoy a variety of tastes and styles for no up charge if they so choose.

The idea of making reservations on a ship touting the freestyle concept does not appeal to me. It is "dumbing down" the freestyle system.

I know some like the idea of reservations, but it seems that is heading back to the old system of assigned seating for meals.

I love the fact that unlike NCL, some of these specialty/themed restaurants are included at no additional cost. That's one thing that NCL is missing, in my opinion. It would be nice to have a La Cucina, for instance (which I view as being on the low end of the specialties) included for free. RCI is really hitting the mark by allowing their guests to enjoy a variety of tastes and styles for no up charge if they so choose.

La Cucina and Endless Summer on NCL were free for a few years, but the demand exceeded the capacity so NCL applied a fee to diminish the demand.

As with anything that is free, too many people wanted it and registered complaints if their demands could not be met.

La Cucina and Endless Summer on NCL were free for a few years, but the demand exceeded the capacity so NCL applied a fee to diminish the demand.

 

As with anything that is free, too many people wanted it and registered complaints if their demands could not be met.

Yes, it would definitely have to be more than one tiny free themed restaurant. It would be nice if they did something with the 2 MDRs to make them have distinguishable personalities and separate menus. I don't expect we will ever see that, though.

Yes, it would definitely have to be more than one tiny free themed restaurant. It would be nice if they did something with the 2 MDRs to make them have distinguishable personalities and separate menus. I don't expect we will ever see that, though.

They do have slight (very slight) differences in the menus of the two MDR's on the Star, but since they are served from the same kitchen, I wouldn't expect them to change very much. Too much change could result in one venue being overcrowded and the other not busy.

That could possibly happen on the new RCCL ship, also.

I find it best to keep an open mind & try it out for myself. Everyone has his/her own opinion on how to address change.

Looking forward to trying that ship out.

"In order to satisfy all guests' preferences, we encourage guests to make restaurant reservations prior to their cruise. However once onboard, guests will have the ability to make and edit reservations."

For good or ill, it sounds to me like they are strongly encouraging you to make reservations. So, it's now a spin off of anytime dining, which didn't work well at all for us on our Allure cruise.