RCCL copies NCL on new ship

Maybe old news here, but I received a promotional email today from the online agency we usually use. It was promoting Quantum of the Seas.

There was a list of attributes and two of the four, I think it was, were no set meal times, and no required formal nights. Wonder where they got that idea!

Another was the production show Mamma Mia....not holding my breath to see that one, either.

Most cruises lines these day is having a dine at your time, similar to NCL freestyle dinning. On carnival, it is called your time dining and other cruises lines have similar names. It is the trend now, no one wants a traditional dinning time at a set time

Most cruises lines these day is having a dine at your time, similar to NCL freestyle dinning. On carnival, it is called your time dining and other cruises lines have similar names. It is the trend now, no one wants a traditional dinning time at a set time

I'm not sure that it is accurate to say that "no one wants a traditional dining time at a set time". Flexible dining is certainly increasing in popularity but even on ships that offer a flexible dining option there are still hundreds of passengers who choose, and prefer, traditional dining and even NCL is now accepting reservations for specific times in their main dining rooms, perhaps due to the lengthy waits some experience when they just show up for dinner. Show times still dictate the choice of dining times for those who want to be sure to see the performances and there will always be some who prefer the structure of set dining times.:)

Technically speaking, there are no enforced formal nights even on current ships.

Royal did however introduce a restaurant where formal is required for those that want that sort of thing.

The main difference is that Quantum does away with the set dining times altogether, where current ships have both my time and regular scheduled dining available.

The interesting thing about the Quantum class ships is that they are smaller than Oasis. I guess they kind of had to (build some more smaller ships) since the mega ships have limited port options. That being said, they are building another Oasis class ship as well.

The interesting thing about the Quantum class ships is that they are smaller than Oasis. I guess they kind of had to (build some more smaller ships) since the mega ships have limited port options. That being said, they are building another Oasis class ship as well.

QOTS and AOTS are indeed smaller than the Oasis class, but they're still pretty big. If I recall correctly, they're about 80 feet longer and 3 feet wider than Breakway and Getaway, so there are still some port limitations there.

RCCL copies NCL on new ship.

Paybacks, I guess, for all the things NCL copied from other cruise lines.

I was on explorer last year and they had my time dining. You had to make a reservation for the time you

want to eat. On a 9 day cruise we got the time we wanted once. The other days they told us when to eat. So I guess my time dinning was their time dining. We were a group of 7, don't know if that made a difference. And they did have two formal nights.

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It's nice that ships have choices of my time dining and also a set time for dinner. The Freestyle type dining does slow things down in the MDR. We are going to choose to eat in specialty restaurants more frequently now, because of the amount of time it takes to finish a meal.

Don't really understand what freestyle dining has to do with how long it takes to finish a meal. What difference does it make? If you consider one slow then tho other system should be the same.

I realize that some folks with larger parties may have to wait for a table, just like in land-based restaurants.

DW and I had to wait 10 minutes for a table on the Epic. Boy, I was boiling mad. Also, the very idea that a three course meal would take longer than 45 minutes is ridiculous.

Maybe old news here, but I received a promotional email today from the online agency we usually use. It was promoting Quantum of the Seas.

There was a list of attributes and two of the four, I think it was, were no set meal times, and no required formal nights. Wonder where they got that idea!

Another was the production show Mamma Mia....not holding my breath to see that one, either.

I read about the QOTS a while back, and they do have a unique twist on Freestyle in that they have completely done away with the large aft MDR and replaced it with 5 or 6 smaller venues, one of which requires more formal dress to appease those who like to dress up, and want everyone else in the room to be as well. Each venue will feature a certain cuisine such as Italian, Steakhouse,etc. I don't recall all the choices, but they sounded very good. The menus are fixed I believe, but with several main dish choices and you are able to dine at whatever your choice is at whatever time you wish. No rotation required like on Disney. I believe the dress code in all but one was casual.

If it is not required to make reservations for dinner, it might be enough to make me try Royal again. But I believe the window of opportunity will be brief, as it will be redeployed permanently to China soon after it is launched.

I read about the QOTS a while back, and they do have a unique twist on Freestyle in that they have completely done away with the large aft MDR and replaced it with 5 or 6 smaller venues, one of which requires more formal dress to appease those who like to dress up, and want everyone else in the room to be as well. Each venue will feature a certain cuisine such as Italian, Steakhouse,etc. I don't recall all the choices, but they sounded very good. The menus are fixed I believe, but with several main dish choices and you are able to dine at whatever your choice is at whatever time you wish. No rotation required like on Disney. I believe the dress code in all but one was casual.

 

If it is not required to make reservations for dinner, it might be enough to make me try Royal again. But I believe the window of opportunity will be brief, as it will be redeployed permanently to China soon after it is launched.

However, after Quantum departs for Asia, it will be succeeded in the Fall of 2015 by her sister ship, Anthem. By that time there will have been a large enough number of passengers who can comment, favorably or unfavorably, on the new dining system. None of RCI's ships "require" reservations to dine in the main dining rooms.

I was on explorer last year and they had my time dining. You had to make a reservation for the time you

want to eat. On a 9 day cruise we got the time we wanted once. The other days they told us when to eat. So I guess my time dinning was their time dining. We were a group of 7, don't know if that made a difference. And they did have two formal nights.

 

 

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Seating a party of 7 or more may be a bit more difficult than seating a party of two, but when my wife and I and another couple selected My Time Dining on RCI we often simply showed up when we wanted to dine and were seated within minutes (5 tops). When we wanted to be served by a particularly good wait staff that we knew from previous cruises, we did make reservations for a time when one of their tables would be available. To my mind, being able to eat at a time other than the two traditional dining times was still flexible enough to qualify for the description "my time".

However, after Quantum departs for Asia, it will be succeeded in the Fall of 2015 by her sister ship, Anthem. By that time there will have been a large enough number of passengers who can comment, favorably or unfavorably, on the new dining system. None of RCI's ships "require" reservations to dine in the main dining rooms.

No, but their current MDRs hold hundreds of people at one time, and the majority of them are either on an early or late seating, correct? Easy for the ship to manage. These new venues will be very small by comparison. Getting everyone spread out each night is going to be the trick. With no very large MDR to take up most of the people, it is not clear to me how easy it will be to just walk up to the steakhouse and not find that it is already full. From what I read, and this was several weeks ago, it was pretty clear that Royal EXPECTED folks to make reservations for the venue/time they wanted each night. Whether or not they were going to REQUIRE them was not clear. Maybe more info has come out since then. As you said, this will eventually be known, but I doubt I would consider them if reservations are required for every night.

Maybe old news here, but I received a promotional email today from the online agency we usually use. It was promoting Quantum of the Seas.

There was a list of attributes and two of the four, I think it was, were no set meal times, and no required formal nights. Wonder where they got that idea!

Another was the production show Mamma Mia....not holding my breath to see that one, either.

Royal Caribbean has had anytime dining for eons now. Also, they have been doing production shows for years! Mamma Mia was fabulous. I'd love to see it on a ship.

Royal Caribbean has had anytime dining for eons now. Also, they have been doing production shows for years! Mamma Mia was fabulous. I'd love to see it on a ship.

Their new concept for the Quantum is not anytime dining. Something totally new.

Their new concept for the Quantum is not anytime dining. Something totally new.

Dynamic Dining - I just looked it up. It does sound like NCL LOL

No, but their current MDRs hold hundreds of people at one time, and the majority of them are either on an early or late seating, correct? Easy for the ship to manage. These new venues will be very small by comparison. Getting everyone spread out each night is going to be the trick. With no very large MDR to take up most of the people, it is not clear to me how easy it will be to just walk up to the steakhouse and not find that it is already full. From what I read, and this was several weeks ago, it was pretty clear that Royal EXPECTED folks to make reservations for the venue/time they wanted each night. Whether or not they were going to REQUIRE them was not clear. Maybe more info has come out since then. As you said, this will eventually be known, but I doubt I would consider them if reservations are required for every night.

Not correct. On Radiance class ships, for example, which have a two level dining room, My Time Dining takes up one entire deck and since MTD probably has the equivalent of three or more seatings, it would appear that as many, or more, people have selected My Time Dining as have chosen Traditional. The new venues, while smaller are by no means "very small" and I believe that the total capacity of those rooms will accommodate just as many guests as those ships with a traditional main dining room can handle. Considering that the tables in those rooms can be turned over three or more times each evening, they,and all of the other specialty restaurants, should be able to handle the load pretty well. We'll know for certain in just a few months but there is a big difference between "reservations can be made" and "reservations are required". Incidentally, why has NCL suddenly decided to accept reservations in its main dining rooms and will they eventually "require" them? If so, will you be looking to sail with another line?

Dynamic Dining - I just looked it up. It does sound like NCL LOL

I thought all the variety was intriguing, and you can go casual in all but one, but NOT if I have to reserve every night! I just can't wrap my mind around no big MDR. Can you imagine the Getaway without the Tropicana?

I thought all the variety was intriguing, and you can go casual in all but one, but NOT if I have to reserve every night! I just can't wrap my mind around no big MDR. Can you imagine the Getaway without the Tropicana?

No, I can't. I love the options, but we really enjoyed eating in there. Sometimes it's nice to just go to the MDR for dinner!

Not correct. On Radiance class ships, for example, which have a two level dining room, My Time Dining takes up one entire deck and since MTD probably has the equivalent of three or more seatings, it would appear that as many, or more, people have selected My Time Dining as have chosen Traditional. The new venues, while smaller are by no means "very small" and I believe that the total capacity of those rooms will accommodate just as many guests as those ships with a traditional main dining room can handle. Considering that the tables in those rooms can be turned over three or more times each evening, they,and all of the other specialty restaurants, should be able to handle the load pretty well. We'll know for certain in just a few months but there is a big difference between "reservations can be made" and "reservations are required". Incidentally, why has NCL suddenly decided to accept reservations in its main dining rooms and will they eventually "require" them? If so, will you be looking to sail with another line?

My opinion on the reservation option for the MDR currently offered is that it was done to appease those who must have a reservation "security blanket" even if there are no wait times and a reservation for the MDR is sort of like ***s on a bull, so to speak. Just one more option that you have on NCL. It is offered for limited time slots, and not every MDR on every ship. I doubt it will affect most NCL cruisers at all. I think it's pretty safe to say they will never be required, so I will not have to start looking for a new cruise line. I do like Royal's concept, and I might consider them in the future. But knowing that there are no reservations needed would make the decision a lot easier:).

Paybacks, I guess, for all the things NCL copied from other cruise lines.

LOL I was thinking the same thing. It's a pretty long list... :p

But hey, imitation is the highest form of flattery.

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Incidentally, why has NCL suddenly decided to accept reservations in its main dining rooms and will they eventually "require" them? If so, will you be looking to sail with another line?

I'll ask you the same question. Why do you think it is that Royal has suddenly come up with a concept that completely eliminates the MDR and assigned fixed dining and replaced it with Dynamic Dining which includes several smaller themed dining rooms which require no reservations? And, if this concept is well received and is rolled out in the rest of the fleet, will you be looking for another line?

Not only is it old news, but you managed to almost identically copy the title of the thread someone else posted months ago about this. I only opened it thinking the discussion had reignited on the old post.

All cruise lines copy all cruise lines. You think Epics failed ice skating rink was a stroke of genius? How about the ropes course?

Not only is it old news, but you managed to almost identically copy the title of the thread someone else posted months ago about this. I only opened it thinking the discussion had reignited on the old post.

 

All cruise lines copy all cruise lines. You think Epics failed ice skating rink was a stroke of genius? How about the ropes course?

First word I heard about it elsewhere was probably April at the earliest, and speaking for myself, if there was a thread posted about Royal's new Dynamic Dining concept here, I must have missed it, and I appreciate the OP posting about it. How many threads do we have about the UDP and UBP? The pertinent thing here is not that a concept was "copied". Yes, all cruise lines copy what works on the others to some extent.

Rather than an imitation of Freestyle, this Dynamic Dining concept is a twist on Freestyle that I have never seen anywhere else. And for that reason alone, IMO, it is worth discussing on NCL.

I'll ask you the same question. Why do you think it is that Royal has suddenly come up with a concept that completely eliminates the MDR and assigned fixed dining and replaced it with Dynamic Dining which includes several smaller themed dining rooms which require no reservations? And, if this concept is well received and is rolled out in the rest of the fleet, will you be looking for another line?

Innovative thinking is a hallmark of RCI so this new dining concept is just another example of that style of thinking. How successful it will be has yet to be determined, but the likelihood of it being rolled out across the rest of the fleet is highly unlikely given the physical layout of those ships which would require extensive and very expensive restructuring. RCI has spent and is continuing to spend millions to refurbish its fleet of ships and is unlikely to spend the additional millions that would be required to replace the main dining room with more specialty restaurants. However, I want to experience Dynamic Dining before I decide whether or not I like it. If I do like it, I might have no problem with it being introduced across the fleet, though as I said, such a move is highly unlikely. If I don't like it, the time and cost factors involved in converting the other ships would offer some years to enjoy the traditional main dining rooms. Of course, the dining experience is only one of a number of factors involved when I decide which line I prefer, so it is unlikely that it would be a reason to change from a line that offers me a great cruise experience. My past experiences with freestyle dining on NCL have not been especially satisfactory, so I will be looking forward to my upcoming cruise on Dawn to see if some of the problems we experienced have been eliminated.