should RCCL offer a seperate formal dining room?

Perhaps you all should chill out a bit...although I will be taking my 30th cruise in Oct. on the 5 night Oasis Halloween cruise, we are done with formal attire...however, I think James's idea merits some attention...I don't do the formal nights because I wear a suit & tie everyday in a hot & humid climate, so wearing a suit on my vacation cruise would be to me, like a postman on his day off, he takes a walk...pretty dumb...I NEVER wear shorts nor jeans to the dining room- in fact, I wear Tommy Bahama shirts ( $$), and nice dockers to the dining room. This is my vacation, and I don't want even a hint of dressing for business, sweating like a dog through 3 layers of clothing is not my idea of a vacation...that being said, I think a small dining room for those who prefer to dress formal is a good idea..you probably won't need a big room, since most people prefer to dress casual, and there should be NO charge.. I wish I could wear a nice gown or dress like women can- eating in a suit or Tux is not fun ladies, you should try it...most formal nights we eat in one of the specialty venues anyway, much better food, ambiance, and romantic...just MHO...

Big Al

I am rather new to cruising so i should give those a go sometime. i wont dare step foot on a gasly carnival cruise again. savages.

I am ON to you MR. Thurston...

Do you have any relation to the Howells of Newport Rhode Island?

BTW Very well Played old sport...

Not interested in the small formal dining room idea at all. We LOVE meeting new friends and ask for a large table and regular dining with the same people gives us that chance. It's one of the reasons we may never sail on a Quantum class ship.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk, please excuse all the typos.

What makes you think that Grande won't have large tables or that you can't join with your newfound friends to dine together there? And if formal dress is not to your liking, you can do the same in the other complimentary restaurants on a Quantum class ship. You may be making assumptions that won't prove true once the ships enter service.

So far I been on 52 cruises, my 53 is coming up in three weeks. Since 2006 we never dress for formal night, forget the suit and tie and gown/cocktail dress...airlines charge for baggage weight now don't want to waste the pounds on formal clothing which is heavy just to wear a couple of hours two nights a week.

We started dressing down in 06-08 my other half wore dress pants, dress shirt and tie and I wore nice pants and blouse...from that time forward my other will wear dockers and dress shirt and no tie, I will wear nice dress pants or capris with a nice top. For us not only is it the issue of weight for the baggage but the majority doesn't dress any longer and the food has gotten down hill (quality speaking) we just don't feel getting dress in formalwear and we don't care what others think if they feel we are wrong, because 85% are just like us, not wearing gowns and tuxes any longer and we never feel out of place. As long as we are dressed as if we dining at a nice restaurant at home I say we are considerate. Again we all entitled to our opinions and to each their own.

I love the Quantum new concept in dining, maybe because we rather eat and do eat at the specialty restaurants 5-6 nights on a cruise and we don't mind paying for better quality and variety we feel we get what we pay for. But to take away the MDR experience for those who do prefer that such as the Quantum is doing, I don't know if that was a wise choice on RC part, on the other hand that ship is going to Asia anyways its not that most of us will be going on her until her sister ship comes out one day.

Why, anyone can dress up every night now if you want for the mdr or a sr, rci won't stop you and no one else would care

So true, everybody make the cruise what they want it to be . :p

Well if there is a charge then it would defeat the purpose, as you can go to the specialty restaurants if you wish. I like the idea of a small chops size or slightly bigger Formal MDR for those of us that like to dine with a certain elegance

Umm..it takes more than nice clothes to be truely elegant. In fact, while they help with the first impression nice clothes are not even required.

Again more truth lol

You know, I blame Royal and other mass market lines for a lot of this issue. They insist on having this atmosphere of elegance in what they try to portray in the MDR food and facility but have to fill these larger ships with the average joe to stay profitable. There will also always be a certian number of snobs that feel they are entitled to be treated like royalty who don't want to mix with the average person who do not have their "blue blood". Personally, give me a decent steak or some good seafood without all the foreign sounding names and I'm happy. I'm also well educated and was very successful in my career, now retired, but I'm sure I would be considered riff raff by Thurston and others because I like to dine in dockers and a polo shirt if I dress up at all on a vacation. If the wife wants to get more formal one night, I'll wear a suit but that doesn't change who I am. I do think Lori's idea of a separation in the MDR area is probably a good idea for those who think they are too good to dine with us commoners as long as the cruise lines are going to try and maintain this atmosphere. The only thing I would suggest is that for those "upper class folks" there be criteria by linage or other means as to who qualifies to be there. Hmmm..Thurston, you might not make it so be careful what you wish for.:rolleyes::D

Such snobbery from people cruising on a mass market line...

And they can't even spell correctly! He obviously didn't attend Cambridge.:p

I have to say not a large formal dining room but maybe a supper club where they have mandatory formal dress codes. Perhaps the size just like Chops would be sufficient and maybe a charge a fee so the food is more upscale than what you get in the MDR because if your dressing up you deserve better quality food.

Yikes! I have to disagree that you deserve better quality food if you're dressing up! I'm regularly amazed that dress codes are such a passionate issue on these boards.

You will notice on the Quantum that the "formal only" restaurant is sized to accept around 10% +/- of guests at any one time. Guests also have a greater variety on Quantum than other ships, so it is reasonable to assume or at least understand the thought process behind a smaller dedicated area.

On current ships I doubt you could really dedicate 1/3 or 1/2 of the main dining area to be formal ONLY. While I have no issues with a setting requiring formal wear per se, my issue becomes that not enough people are going to want to dress formal every evening and utilize the space.

Think of it like this; some newer ships on other cruise lines have more plush amenities / deck areas. Now I know they are pay for, and that is not my comparison; but the comparison I am drawing is that nearly 1/3 of some other lines newer ships are dedicated to space for less than 5% of guests. When that happens you end up with the other 95% of guests squeezed in to an area 2/3 the size of what it otherwise would be (this is in relation to pool decks). You hear complaints over a tight pool deck with limited seating. Can you imagine what would happen when 1/3 of the dining room is formal only but 85%-95% of the guests want to dine in casual wear? You would have massive lines to get in the non-formal section.

As a paying guest I am offered the option to pay more to get more via specialty restaurants. However, to dedicate a section of the MDR as formal only would require some restructuring of the area. I mean it can't just be demarcated by a line of duct tape; so some walls would need to be put up (sort of how they are for chef's tables on ships with CT held in the MDR). Now, those costs are passed on to all consumers whether I want to utilize them or not.

Finally, I submit this, RCI offers a free choice where one can dress formal at all times for no extra charge. This is called the Main Dining Room. For all those formal lovers, you can dress to the hilt every evening, no one is stopping you; just because it says cruise casual, resort casual, casual, etc. in the daily planner does not mean you need to slum it. Send that suit out for pressing! Begin your dressing ritual at 3:45PM. There are photographers out and about everywhere. Go craaaaaaazy all week if you want. Wear what you like, what you want already exists.

And if you just can't get over others in non-formal wear...sit in your stateroom and be a miserable person if that's what you want to do as well. You've got all the choice in the world here as to what to do to make your vacation enjoyable.

The OP pulled the strings and everybody danced.:rolleyes:

Yikes! I have to disagree that you deserve better quality food if you're dressing up! I'm regularly amazed that dress codes are such a passionate issue on these boards.

I think lyndamr highlighted in another post that they don't dress up anymore as it is not as special as it used to be. I agree. It's not that those that dress should have better food, it's that the food used to be better. Really, way better. It was worthy of dressing up I guess was their point in their later reply.

I am rather new to cruising so i should give those a go sometime. i wont dare step foot on a gasly carnival cruise again. savages.

Some of us savages on a ghastly Carnival cruise have a wonderful time! Sorry you couldn't enjoy your vacation.

The OP pulled the strings and everybody danced.:rolleyes:

I know you are 100% correct, but it's ok to play along in the peripheral as long as you don't dance with the troll. :D

While were at it, lets have a separate pool where no loungers can be reserved.

The OP pulled the strings and everybody danced.:rolleyes:

Haha! :D Kind of what I was thinking too! :cool:

And, what he proposed is exactly what's already been announced for Quantum anyway!

The OP pulled the strings and everybody danced.:rolleyes:

Says the man who pretends to be some version of 007 and pulls peoples strings with his posts...

Perhaps the size just like Chops would be sufficient and maybe a charge a fee so the food is more upscale than what you get in the MDR because if your dressing up you deserve better quality food.

Seriously? So even if I should pay more for my cruise than you do (not like that should make a difference), I should get inferior food/service because I am OVER formal nights? Yeesh.

I am rather new to cruising so i should give those a go sometime. i wont dare step foot on a gasly carnival cruise again. savages.

Love the persona (even if I don't agree with everything James espouses). It seems that Cruise Critic has spawned its own version of Stephen Colbert! :D

this is true however from my experience it has been mostly the poorly dressed sorts that have bad table manners , you know the sort, they are loud sneeze all over and stuff rolls in their pockets for later. smh

I beg to be different as that is simply not true. :cool: Many times after visiting the water park in the summer we stop at a nice local Mexican restaurant for drinks and nachos; HOWEVER, just because I am wearing shorts and a t-shirt, I do not leave my manners at home in the closet with my formal gown. As someone else pointed out "clothes do not make the man" :D

Oh and just FYI, I don't stuff tortilla chips in my purse to eat on the way home, nor do I sneeze all over my food, ewww, who do you hang out with?

LMaxwell you understand exactly what I saying thank you. Your correct, in a past post on here I did say we no longer dress up on any cruise on formal night.

I think the comments about calling people "riff raft" all because they don't want to dress up the way you want them to is totally unwarranted, maybe you should get your noses back down from the air and stop judging people by the way they dress, you can't make judgement of people that you don't know!

LMaxwell you understand exactly what I saying thank you. Your correct, in a past post on here I did say we no longer dress up on any cruise on formal night.

 

I think a lot of current cruisers have cruised for less than 5 years and don't remember or never experienced the truly lavish food and service on cruises, not just Royal Caribbean, but pretty much all the cruises. The food and service were worth dressing up for. Now that the food is average, the service/presentation nothing special, and the dining rooms larger and more chaotic and noisy than ever before it just doesn't feel special enough to dress up. The varnish has worn off on formal night and I now recognize it for what it is; a photo opportunity.

I remember when Lobster night for formal night was NOT just a small tail. I remember flaming desserts. I remember sorbet between courses. I remember silver platters with side dishes served by the waitstaff. Some of the Gala Captains dinners you would be presented with a keepsake menu.

Believe me, I totally understood the intent and purpose of what you said; I can see how others would take it out of context but it came across clearly to me.

It will be interesting to see how The Grande on Quantum works out. I'd be willing to dress for the occasion to experience it...once.