Royal Caribbean...the "new" NCL

[artypharty]

Seems like Royal caribbean is following in the footsteps of Norwegian cruise line with their "dynamic dining" aka freestyle cruising with no set seatings and different waiters every night. This is the approach for the new quantum class ships.A lot of the places on their restaurant list are for fee. This is ashame because most loyal royals prefer to have the same waiters every night and the same table. With this,you will not be able to meet new people as tablemates. This is a bad direction for royal to follow the footsteps of NCL. They will lose many of their loyal customers if they turn the entire fleet this way. I feel like RCCL has been copying NCL for the past few years and losing its image in the process.

 

I cancelled a cruise with NCL because I didn't want that freestyle meal service. I much prefer meeting people and keeping "my" waiters!

[jenninlaca]

TX21- I have been saying this for 20 years & 29 cruises..while it's nice to converse with the dining staff, I DO NOT go on cruises to meet waiters...again my wife & I LOVE to chat ( and we do) with our waiters, BUT- we do NOT cruise to meet waiters and people we 99% likely will never see again...we also do not care about meeting people at a table we have nothing in common about ..we much prefer a table for two ( or for however many we are) and dine that way..also, we LOVE Freestyle cruising on NCL...I love trying different restaurants and 95% of the MDR food we've had has been "OK- Mediocre" at best....Disney has a great dining program called "rotation dining"..in that you dine at 3 DIFFERENT restaurants, all with different themes & menus, and your wait staff FOLLOWS you to each venue! PLUS we thought the MDR food on Disney was decent...RCI should follow that lead IMO...

 

 

 

SaintL- We are with you....I love Le Bistro, Cagney's, Teppanyaki..all those terrific NCL dining options...everytime someone says to me, "don't you want to get to know your waiters? I prefer traditional dining over this new freestyle or anytime dining thing"..really?? I don't want to be told WHERE to eat, WHAT TIME to eat, WITH WHOM to eat, WHAT to wear ( a big one there!) , etc...that feels like you're at a wedding- you know..sitting at table # 22 ..here's your FIXED menu, we all dine at 6..etc....we love to eat around 6:30- 6:45 PM..that gives us enough time to eat, go back to the cabin & freshen up, then go out to the shows or bars, etc..

 

on our first cruise on CCL Fantasy in 1990, we sat at a table with 3 other couples and we had nothing in common with them..we dined at 6..there were NO options then- nothing.. everyone dined in the same room at either 6 or 8:15..that stayed like that until NCL started the Freestyle cruising in 2001 on the new NCL Sun..we LOVED not getting dressed up, having to eat at certain times ( what if you're not hungry at 6PM??), and how nice to sit at a table for 2 with just my wife....OPTIONS, folks, options!!! Different strokes for different folks...IMO, cruise lines should keep BOTH traditional dining options AND freestyle/ anytime dining options available for all..variety is the spice of life...

 

 

 

Big Al

 

 

This!!! I totally agree, I don't understand the obsession rut having the same wait staff, table and dining companions. I was so excited about huge new Quantum dining options - that would be an incentive ly book that class for me. I want more flexibility, not less, when I am on vacation. While the same wait staff is nice, is it really that important? Is if that difficult to simply tell the new server what drink you want when you arrive?

 

The companion thing is so hit or mid. Great if it works, but I am surprised to hear that people cruise to meet others. Great if it happens, but I cruise to spend quality time with my family. I would rather have a table to ourselves to talk than have to make small talk with random people who you are basically stuck with even if you have little in common

 

 

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Edited March 28, 2014 by jenninlaca

[Julia’s Journey’s]

The one thing than I want RCCI to copy from NCL, is having the MDR open for lunch on embarkation day.

 

It is wonderful to be seated and waited on, even with a limited menu, when you're bogged down with carry-on luggage. Jockeying for a table, while carrying bags is not pleasant.

 

We love that our cabins are ready on Princess when we board and drop our stuff off then head to the MDR for a relaxed lunch - very few people know it's open or use it and it's a great way to start a relaxing vacation.

We are booked on Oasis for the westbound TA and plan on getting checked in later so we don't have to schlep carry on's etc around:D

[moakes]

This!!! I totally agree, I don't understand the obsession rut having the same wait staff, table and dining companions. I was so excited about huge new Quantum dining options - that would be an incentive ly book that class for me. I want more flexibility, not less, when I am on vacation. While the same wait staff is nice, is it really that important? Is if that difficult to simply tell the new server what drink you want when you arrive?

 

The companion thing is so hit or mid. Great if it works, but I am surprised to hear that people cruise to meet others. Great if it happens, but I cruise to spend quality time with my family. I would rather have a table to ourselves to talk than have to make small talk with random people who you are basically stuck with even if you have little in common

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

 

I feel the same way… I don't want to sit with strangers in a land based restaurant, why do I want to do it at sea?

[waterbug123]

Realistically though, I don't think it can be rolled out fleet wide as some of the ships are quite small and there is no way you can get that many mini restaurants

 

Not to mention the fact that Royal is just now nearing the end of a multi-gazillion dollar, fleet-wide renovation program, in which the other ships have or will get various new dining venues already in existence on other ships NONE of the ships have lost their MDR in the process. Such renovations seem suited to maintaining the existing style of dining. To change these ships now to dynamic dining would involve yet another renovation to some degree, and I highly doubt Royal is going to pour more money into them just yet.

Now, down the road a bit, when these newly renovated ships age enough to need yet another renovation, or additional new ships are added to the fleet, then I suspect the concept will be expanded.

[ryano]

Not to mention the fact that Royal is just now nearing the end of a multi-gazillion dollar, fleet-wide renovation program, in which the other ships have or will get various new dining venues already in existence on other ships NONE of the ships have lost their MDR in the process. Such renovations seem suited to maintaining the existing style of dining. To change these ships now to dynamic dining would involve yet another renovation to some degree, and I highly doubt Royal is going to pour more money into them just yet.

Now, down the road a bit, when these newly renovated ships age enough to need yet another renovation, or additional new ships are added to the fleet, then I suspect the concept will be expanded.

 

Oh come on now! Surely you jest! Two ships that arent even sailing yet are going to this new concept so they are gonna roll it out fleetwide by the end of the year! :D

 

THE SKY IS FALLING! THE SKY IS FALLING!

[cdamion]

To me they are taking a choice away. I vastly prefer traditional dining. Now those of us that do will not have that option anymore. Why not keep one or two dining rooms traditional for those that like it?

[mattwright]

I vastly prefer traditional dining. Now those of us that do will not have that option anymore. Why not keep one or two dining rooms traditional for those that like it?

 

They are. On the other 21 ships in the Royal Caribbean fleet.

Edited March 28, 2014 by mattwright

[Debde]

I don't understand the obsession rut having the same wait staff, table and dining companions. I was so excited about huge new Quantum dining options - that would be an incentive ly book that class for me. I want more flexibility, not less, when I am on vacation. While the same wait staff is nice, is it really that important? Is if that difficult to simply tell the new server what drink you want when you arrive?

 

The companion thing is so hit or mid. Great if it works, but I am surprised to hear that people cruise to meet others. Great if it happens, but I cruise to spend quality time with my family. I would rather have a table to ourselves to talk than have to make small talk with random people who you are basically stuck with even if you have little in common

 

Like this post.

I too think of a cruise as family time and can meet nice people all over the ship if I choose to. don't need a dining room for that!!

[Debde]

They are. On the other 21 ships in the Royal Caribbean fleet.

 

OMG this made me laugh out loud!!:)

[ryano]

They are. On the other 21 ships in the Royal Caribbean fleet.

 

Thank you! There are SO many other options when it comes to RCI! I honestly DO NOT see them rolling this out fleetwide, ever! It would be impossible on the "smaller" ships! Most of the smaller ships still have 10-15 more years of cruising with RCI I imagine too. Maybe on the new builds from here on out but I really dont even see this coming to Allure or Oasis. At least anytime soon anyway.

 

If you dont like freestyle dining, its really simple. Dont choose the two Quantum ships! If you dont like freestyle dining but still want to cruise on a Quantum ship, well there is a slight problem and you will have to weigh what is more important to you.

 

Im a huge traditional dining fan and I love the MDR. I have met many great people at my dining table, some of whom I still keep in contact with. Never a bad experience.

 

With that said, I am really interested in this new concept (well at least new to RCI anyway), all the new foods available and I am REALLY interested in these new ships. Enough that I am willing to give up traditional dining in order to experience the Quantum class.

 

Now, hopefully in the next 5 years or so, they will homeport one in FL and the prices will come down some so its in my budget :)

Edited March 28, 2014 by ryano

[tobyt]

Vacation time goes by far too quickly! The requirement to eat with anyone who is not going to be willing to share a bite of whatever I did not order and not judge on my many, many things I do order, vital! Our first Princess cruise we were convinced by the head waiter to join a table [this was at anytime dining] on formal night with others...we gave it a shot and spent a unpleasant evening wishing for a table for 2 regardless of the wait time. The cruise last month I told him after he would ask nightly for us to join others we were mean miserable people and we did not want to inflict pain on others. Well, that got his attention and he knew that we would always want to eat alone. We both work at jobs that require us to interact with lots of people some we like and some not so much with that said dining with folks I don't know and trying to determine f there is anything even remotely similar to chat about=WORK! I do it when I have to for work but never on vacation. We are considering either Oasis or the new ship for next years winter vacation so I am super excited about the change. NCL does freestyle well and quite frankly I love some of their options sometimes you just want buffalo wings and not to have them in a buffet! Main dining room yup we eat there, steak house yup there too, Japanese sadly have never been able to get in but that is my bad for not trying to make reservations as a smaller space. It is all about capacity and the proof will be on a giant ship like these with around 6k in cruisers do these venues have like a huge dining room with hundreds potential diners or is it a venue which when you so the simple math of occupancy of ship to restaurant and limited hours of operation will never be able to serve even a tiny slice of the overall population.

[cdamion]

They are. On the other 21 ships in the Royal Caribbean fleet.

 

LOL. Obviously I meant on those ships.

 

You are right though. I don't like the mall-at-sea feeling, so I have the option of going on Radiance class ships or smaller to get the experience I like, and if that somehow isn't good enough, I am lucky enough to have any number of lines to choose from.

 

I have not been on the Oasis class - I would like to just to see it, but I will not use 75% of the things on those ships. Why book it.

 

Thank goodness we have choices.

[beer1234]

I tried the NCL dining format once and didn't like it at all. Unless you made reservations each night or heaven forbid change your mind about which place you eat that night you were handed a BEEPER!!!!

I am already booked on the Quantum and will give this a try BUT if I'm ever handed a BEEPER it will be the last time I set foot on a RCI ship with that dining format and should they make it fleetwide I won't be back even being a few nights short of DP. I refuse to stand in line like I'm at a strip mall chain restaurant and then get sub-par service from a wait staff that doesn't know where it's tip is coming from.

[cruising sister]

I find the anytime or freestyle dining works best with small groups. If you have a large party you are sailing with you can wait a very long time. I prefer the set time and if I don't want to go then I have the option of the buffet or specialty dining. The last thing I want to do on vacation is wait to be seated or stress trying to figure out the best time to go to wait.

[time4u2go]

I tried the NCL dining format once and didn't like it at all. Unless you made reservations each night or heaven forbid change your mind about which place you eat that night you were handed a BEEPER!!!!

I am already booked on the Quantum and will give this a try BUT if I'm ever handed a BEEPER it will be the last time I set foot on a RCI ship with that dining format and should they make it fleetwide I won't be back even being a few nights short of DP. I refuse to stand in line like I'm at a strip mall chain restaurant and then get sub-par service from a wait staff that doesn't know where it's tip is coming from.

 

Why would you think the service would be sub-par?

[mek]

Personally, I would rather try something new and find out I don't like it than to do the same old thing over, and over, and over........

 

The concept sounds interesting, so I'll wait and see what people have to say after they have actually sailed.

[fairweather]

I agree with your NCL freestyle analysis. It also sounds a lot like what Princess is doing with it's main dining room...carving it up into smaller more intimate themed areas. I'm not entire opposed to that idea; actually find it intriguing. But I'd like to see an overall main dining room menu on RCI that rotates from day-to-day with some ethnic themed foods thrown in each night.

 

It seems to me that a lot of people will not only miss their newly found nightly table mates/friends but also the variety that the main dining room has always offered during a cruise. Unless these complimentary restaurants rotate nightly menus, cruisers will be getting less not more.

 

I'm also a little worried about these celebrity chef-inspired menus. Many dishes seem rather rich as well as exotic. I'm all for trying something new, but some of the menus seem to overuse ingredients that would upset a dinner's tummy if they were not used to them. There is already the threat of Noro virus on board during the flu season?

 

I can see a real run on the American Favorites restaurant reservations. That could result in leaving a lot of folks having to opt for the Windjammer or less formal fare. I think most cruisers like to feel that they are being pampered on a cruise not being sent to the Dog House.

 

But time will tell. I suppose cruisers sailing from New York would have a far more adventurous, sophisticated palete with many visitors from overseas being on board as well. For those who say they liked the variety on board Allure and Oasis but still prefer the Freedom class more, I'm feeling the same vibe developing from this ship class as well because of the new dining plan.

 

And why on earth did RCI get rid of Giovanni's family style and offer no Hispanic restaurant on this new ship class? Both have been big hits on most ships out of FL and the Gulf. Am I missing something here? Rita's Cantina offered the only fun Carnival-type venue onboard RCI. Loved those margaritas and the open air view to the aft.

 

I honestly don't see many families with children eating at the four themed main dining rooms with these menus. But maybe that is the reasoning behind this change? To keep these venues adult? There could be some pretty shrewd reasoning to this new madness? Just like offering a restaurant only for those willing to pay for a JS and above?

 

But then who would have thought that the food at the the Central Park restaurant on the Allure would taste so good even though it sounded a bit strange. Change is good, right? It's certainly inevitable as cruise styles change.

[Thetrail]

Also I do believe that ncl has the lowest amount of noro outbreaks, of all the mass market cruise lines.

Do you have one iota of data to back that up???.....:rolleyes:

[Thetrail]

If you read the Question portion of the announcement they are very clear in that you should make reservations before you go. How else are they going to control the flow of people. Yes, you can walk up and hope that you can get in............. but don't hold your breath.

Order your restaurant choices online, very simple! If your at a land based restaurant you make a reservation or what????....You might be holding your breath on not get a seat. Looking forward to something new and exciting on Quantum next april....:)...K.O.

[Thetrail]

To those that are unhappy with the change and already considering leaving Royal before the change actually happens, I wish you good voyages wherever you end up.

To those that are unhappy about the change and already considering leaving Royal before the change actually happens and keeps posting again and again and again about leaving, how can we miss you if you don't leave?

I'm now a Richiebaseball fan! ...K.O.......:)

[Thetrail]

Coastal kitchen. For suite guests. Very nice that they include Jr. suites for this.

Was not aware, thanks!.....K.O.

[Thetrail]

LOL. Obviously I meant on those ships.

 

You are right though. I don't like the mall-at-sea feeling, so I have the option of going on Radiance class ships or smaller to get the experience I like, and if that somehow isn't good enough, I am lucky enough to have any number of lines to choose from.

 

I have not been on the Oasis class - I would like to just to see it, but I will not use 75% of the things on those ships. Why book it.

 

Thank goodness we have choices.

When people use the "mall at sea" phrase and have never been on Oasis or Allure, sad and so shortsighted.....:(....K.O..

[Thetrail]

I tried the NCL dining format once and didn't like it at all. Unless you made reservations each night or heaven forbid change your mind about which place you eat that night you were handed a BEEPER!!!!

I am already booked on the Quantum and will give this a try BUT if I'm ever handed a BEEPER it will be the last time I set foot on a RCI ship with that dining format and should they make it fleetwide I won't be back even being a few nights short of DP. I refuse to stand in line like I'm at a strip mall chain restaurant and then get sub-par service from a wait staff that doesn't know where it's tip is coming from.

You book your dining options online, why in gods name would you think you would have a beeper?????? LOL sorry your easily worked up aren't you....:D

[Guest maddycat]

[quote name='tx121']Seems like Royal caribbean is following in the footsteps of Norwegian cruise line with their "dynamic dining" aka freestyle cruising with no set seatings and different waiters every night. This is the approach for the new quantum class ships.A lot of the places on their restaurant list are for fee. This is ashame because [COLOR="Red"]most loyal royals prefer to have the same waiters every night and the same table[/COLOR]. With this,you will not be able to meet new people as tablemates. This is a bad direction for royal to follow the footsteps of NCL. [COLOR="Red"]They will lose many of their loyal customers if they turn the entire fleet this way. [/COLOR]I feel like RCCL has been copying NCL for the past few years and losing its image in the process.[/QUOTE]

We're loyal royals (28 RCI cruises and 3 more booked) and we're looking forward to sailing on the Quantum next spring. We think that the new dining concept will be very interesting. It's time for a change.