beachbuddy

Well I emailed Mr. Bayley and told him I was disappointed - because we all know he'll care ;) in my email I mentioned how they came out with unique ships and have already gotten rid of WOW bands (unless I buy them) and now DD, so why should I sail the ship with such a high price tag after you've gotten rid of things that made it different.

 

If I hadn't done so much research on the Oct cruise I would cancel. But dh wants something other than the 7 day Bermuda offerings on NCL and didn't like the Celebrity repo to San Juan.

 

I will most likely cancel the April cruise I had booked on Anthem and look for something else. Maybe do Breakaway again or fly down to FL and do something from there. Maybe give MSC a try.

I'm on in November and April. Not sure what I'll do for November since we're linked with 8 other people for dinners and all our DD restaurants and times are already booked!!! But I definitely am canceling the April one. Was on Quantum and we loved DD and that's the reason we booked Anthem. Honestly, not looking forward to eating in one small restaurant for 12 days!

Fleet menu means same boring menu as the rest of their ships. And if you have DD now, you will be eating in Silk or American Icon. I think it stinks!!!

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We're on Anthem May 5th and we've been told that Dynamic Dining is still on for that sailing. I guess we won't know until it actually happens, but as of now we have reservations for the cruise in various venues. It will be our first experience doing it this way so we're jazzed about the opportunity for something different.

 

Tom

Enjoy, Even if they announce something new soon, I think it would take them awhile to implement it. Hope you enjoy DD as much as we did.

Silk has been a disaster for a while. I spoke to one of the head chefs (from the specialty restaurants, I believe) while on board in January and he claimed it was because they had a curry-based menu while in the UK and that was not popular in the US. Maybe that was their excuse for having such terribly prepared dishes on it when I sailed, but I can tell you that the best items on the menu was stuff that was mildly Asian influenced, like the Five Spice Lamb Chops and the Hibachi Steak.

 

A co-worker was on board in March and got me copies of some of the menus and it appeared that there had been significant changes since January and the choices looked better. I am very interested to see how this all plays out, since I really do like the idea of different menus. The only thing we missed from the standard Royal menus were the cold fruit soups.

May will be here soon so we should be hearing some sort of announcement from Royal. I really am hoping they don't change DD. We loved eating in different restaurants and having different menus.

Yes, the menus are not the same as what we remember on Quantum. We were told that all 4 restaurants have added and removed items from appetizers to desserts. We remembered being served fried wontons with sweet chili sauce when we were first seated. They don't do that any more. I will say that Silk is still our most favorite and everything we have tried is fantastic. The glazed lamb chops are especially delicious.

 

In Coastal Kitchen they had a wonderful salted carmel pudding with waffer cone crumbled on top. That is no longer available.

 

Thanks Patti, People on early sailings of Quantum told me they loved Silk but when we sailed her, they had changed the menu and we didn't have the same menu that the earlier cruisers had. One of my friends was on both the early sailing plus our sailing and she even said Silk had gone downhill. Glad to hear your enjoying Silk. Hoping we enjoy it next time around.

Thanks for all the information you've been providing all of us.

Patty

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You know what? We are very lucky to have a ship right here in NJ! Actually, if there was anything smaller than say Radiance Class here in NJ, I'd most likely be flying elsewhere to cruise and not complain that Royal sent us a small ship. There are people that prefer smaller ships but out of NJ, I'd rather be on a big one. I have sailed Enchantment but sailed it out of Florida and it was fine. Actually, I loved Enchantment. Actually, we do fly elsewhere to cruise but it's nice to be able to jump on Anthem now and then.

Unfortunately I don't have an answer to that. If DD stays, then the current menus, unique to each venue, will be the ones that will be updated.

 

Plus, with the new Suite Program, the menus for Coastal Kitchen and Solarium Bistro are also being updated.

Patti, have the menus changed from Quantum? Just curious because we thought the menus were great except for Silk.

A crew member posted a load of photos from onboard Anthem to Reddit, in it there was a photo of a contractor who had been hired to help transform their rehearsal space (he was in the orchestra) into more crew cabins

That sounds promising! :)

I thought the reason for the change was because of all the complaints. People were not happy with the dining. Bad service, cold food and so on. they were to work on a fix. So we will be hearing what that fix is shortly. Do you think they will keep same menus and just rotate them ?

Almost all reviews that I've read lately have been excellent regarding the ship and the food. No one knows what they're going to do so I wouldn't even begin to guess at this point.

Yes, there were bad reviews regarding service when Quantum first started sailing from NJ but this type of dining was all new to the staff too and they had a hard time adjusting, plus they weren't use to taking orders on an iPad. By the time we sailed Quantum last April, things were running very smooth and we were in and out of the dining room faster than we ever were in traditional dining and the food was 100% better than traditional dining.

On our meet and mingle thread, someone received a letter from RC that her dining reservations had been cancelled.

I wonder if this adds to the speculation that they are going away from DD.

Our cruise is at the end of June, which is in line with the the time frame that changes (if the rumors are true) might happen.

I didn't get the same letter, but I'm confirmed for classic I.

 

 

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Did she call Royal and ask why they were cancelled?

While I prefer traditional dining. I did like the new different dinner menus on Anthem and would prefer that over them taking a ship designed for Dynamic Dining and trying to turn in into traditional dining.

 

I would not want to be stuck in the same restaurant for the entire cruise and I definitely would not want to go back to the old RCCL MDR dinner menus. The Anthem menus were such a big improvement.

That's exactly my thoughts. The ship was made for DD so why even try to change it into something else. We loved all the restaurants and all the different menus. Our last cruise was a B2B on Oasis and I realized how much better the food was when we sailed Quantum. I have their regular menus in the MDR's memorized - very tired of them.

It sounds to me that my May 14 sailing will be DD after all.

 

After what I read, it seems they would need more time than just a few weeks to actually implement this once they do actually announce it. I see that have to reorganize the dining rooms, probably implement a new system regarding menus in the kitchen and ordering. I can't see them doing this willy nilly, especially with the flack the ship has taken in the past.

I agree and I'm happy that it looks like you will still have DD. I have 3 friends on your sailing and I know they are looking forward to DD, especially one of them who has not been on Quantum Class yet.

Most areas of our country, including mine, have NO ship home-ported.

 

Yes, Florida has many but that is no reason for you to discount something that a person from that state says.

 

Consider yourself fortunate that you have a ship. If you don't like what it offers you are no worse off than the rest of the nation, excluding Florida.

Your so right. I remember when we didn't have a Royal ship in NJ. We really are lucky to have one home-ported here!! I'm pretty much happy with whatever ship they put here......LOL Would love a Radiance Class home-ported here.

We still sail out of Florida as well but it's so nice to just drive to the port here in NJ - we only do 12 nighters out of NJ.

my reply was from Joan as well

My response just sounded like a pre-printed letter.

I heard from

 

Rudy Navarro

Executive Guest Relations | Executive Office

1-888-767-4644 Ext. 11513 | rudynavarro@rccl.com

Oh, ok. Sounds like they have a few people responding. Thanks for letting me know.

You keep saying this, but the problem is that RCI chose to homeport their unique ship in NJ. Those of us who don't want to fly only have ONE choice. If it were homeported in Florida where there are other options, then your argument would hold weight. But, they have isolated their unique ship, and their only port within driving distance for a great many people on north/central coast is left without a traditional ship.

#1, I'm not arguing with anyone.....LOL I just posted what I think.

I wasn't happy when Quantum first came to NJ. I thought the whole DD thing was a mess and I thought making reservations was one big mess but that was before we sailed on her plus there were so many negative reviews. Glad we sailed on her regardless of the bad reviews because we loved DD. We already made all our DD reservations for our next cruise on Anthem and it wasn't hard at all. I'm curious what kind of issues you had on Quantum or Anthem that your so against DD.

Sounds like your gripe is with Royal Caribbean for home porting Anthem in NJ and not so much with the concept of DD. No matter where the ship is I don't think they should change DD since that's what was advertised.

Sorry you don't want to fly anywhere to cruise. I would have been just as happy if Explorer stayed in NJ but we have a brand new ship in Anthem......LOL People sailing on Anthem are not just from NJ....there are people that fly from all over the world to sail Anthem just like they fly to any other port.

They are sending Rhapsody to NJ and that is traditional dining so that could be an option for you if Anthem doesn't change to traditional. There is usually a Radiance Class ship in Boston and also the Grandeur in Baltimore which isn't that far of a drive from NJ. I have friends coming from Florida and California to sail on Anthem.

Plus, if you strictly sail on Royal, they have Celebrity ships with traditional dining that sail locally plus there are a few other lines that sail from NJ and/or NY.

Not necessarily.

 

If this thread and Patti's information generated enough emails expressing approval of Dynamic Dining……then it was worth the 38 pages.

 

So often people who are negative are the most vocal. Patti has brought the possibility of DD being redone to the attention of those who like it and that is a good thing because it gave them reason to speak up.

I totally agree!!! I hope more people write letters and/or call Royal.

Most responses that I've seen came from

Janice Vilchez

Executive Guest Relations | Executive Office

1-888-767-4644, ext. 11507 | jvilchez@rccl.com

So far mine is the only one on this thread that came from

Joan Bernheimer

Executive Guest Relations | Executive Office

(888) 767-4644 | jbernheimer@rccl.com

Royal Caribbean International

The RCI Guest Relations representative called today. I appreciate the phone call, as I was able to reiterate what I stated via email, which is that many cruisers have expressed that they really like DD, and that while we know there have been negative reviews about the concept, many of us see DD as one of perks that led us to book a Quantum Class cruise, and we look forward to it.

 

He said that RCI really works to listen to its guests' feedback, and as a result, RCI will be modifying DD, but details haven't yet been finalized. He hesitated to say much because plans are still up in the air, but he did state that Solarium Bistro, like Coastal Kitchen, will be reserved for certain suite guests, but that there may be an option to access Solarium Bistro for a fee if space allows. He mentioned the idea of MTD in a MDR on Deck 4... but nothing definite yet. Even the time of the announcement wasn't pinpointed in our conversation. Sigh.

I don't think they know exactly what they are going to do. Seems they're trying to make everyone happy but Quantum Class is only one class that has unique dining and people that want traditional have all the other ships to sail on so I don't get it. It's only 1 ship!!! LOL They advertised Quantum Class as being a new concept in dining so I have no idea why they want to change that now! I'm just hoping they don't make any changes. I'm sorry they took Devin's place out and put Solarium Bistro in. Divinely Decadent (or whatever it was called) was very good on Quantum and it was free.

Thanks Patty. We are on board until April 30th.

Wow!! Enjoy!!!

You're welcome. IMHO, I really don't think they are going to change. I think they have gotten a lot of feedback from folks that really like DD and don't want to see them change it. I guess only time will tell.

 

We are having a great time with currently beautiful seas. Had a slightly bumpy ride up to Cape Liberty on Saturday and Sunday.

Patti, Thanks for all the information. I like your thinking that maybe they won't make any changes. I'm keeping my fingers and toes crossed that they don't mess with DD! LOL I really think it would be a big mistake if they do.

Hoe long are you on the ship for? Enjoy the rest of your time on Anthem!!

Patty

I think the announcement May 1st will be for a phased implementation starting in the late summer/early fall - just my guess. Now exactly what the "enhancements" are will be interesting to find out! :rolleyes:

If they're going to change anything, I hope they do it sooner than later. We sail in the fall and I don't want to be on the cruise where they make the changes.....

Just got off the Anthem. It was our first time on her and our first experience with Dynamic Dining. I was a little apprehensive about it since we had such a difficult time with the reservation process (we did MTD - Choice). Anyhow, it all worked out great, and we loved all of the restaurants. No complaints whatsoever (besides the reservation difficulties).

 

I did ask one one the head waiters (sorry, I don't know his name or actual position...he might have been the matrie d) about the change from DD, and he said he could not confirm or deny it. Just that 85% of guests complained about it, and they want to do their best to make their guests happy. My husband and I told him that we really enjoyed it, and thought the service was excellent.

 

Seriously, for the most part, the service was outstanding. We had one server on our last night who was a bit brusque with us, but the majority of them were wonderful. We tried Silk on a whim (we don't typically care for Asian food, but it was the only restaurant we could get reservations for that night), and we were astounded by the level of service and were really happy with the food.

I have no idea how hey say 85% complained about DD. They may have before they tried it and some complain who haven't even been on the ship. I think if they do away with it they're going to be sorry. There are quite a few that book Anthem because of the DD.

I received an email reply to my letter today as well, asking for the best time to call me tomorrow to discuss my concerns with my upcoming Anthem cruise. Let's see how this goes.

Oh, please come back and let us know if they call you.

If they are describing their new set up as 'exciting' & offering the 'widest range of flexibility & choice' then they need to ensure DD is intact enough that you don't get the same old menu in every restaurant.

 

MTD in 2 rotating of the 4 restaurants will still allow non classic diners to experience all 4, albeit not always on the night you would prefer.

 

But for me if they reduce the menus to a smorgasbord rather than the different unique menus they promised that will be a total sell out.

 

We sail on Ovation in January, so far on inaugural cruises reports for her are that menus are intact even for classic diners, so hoping it stays that way for her first Australian season.

Hoping Anthem stays that way too. We have two 12 nighters booked on Anthem and if dining changes for the worse, I'll be canceling at least one of those two.....

I would be more interested in a dining setup that functions well, as opposed to one that is "exciting".

LOL........and exciting to who? The ones that wanted traditional? I was excited with Dynamic Dining!!! And what about the comment of rolling it out across their entire fleet??? That certainly doesn't sound like DD to me!! Guess we have to wait till the first week of May!!!

I just don't see the same type of dining happening on their entire fleet. Not with most ships having a large MDR and Quantum Class having 4 smaller restaurants.