any one else not pre-selected for dining on quantum?

[Dameon]

While the Loyalty program is a part of RCI's marketing, this test is not based on loyalty and has nothing to do with giving a small group some privilege. This is an operational test.

 

 

 

While some here are accustomed to 'privilege' as they have what they feel is superior status to others, most of us selected were very excited to participate in this test.

 

 

 

They need to also see all the data related to these test bookings for their planning. They have a new product and need to see how it is will work both for the benefit of those passengers participating in the test and for all future passengers enjoyment.

 

 

 

The booking patterns of Dynamic Dining will also give them information for the planning of all shipboard opening hours, entertainment and activities.

 

 

 

They also have a 2nd and 3rd ship in the same class being built and may need to even consider adaptions to their plans based on this data.

 

 

 

I think the percentage of bookings being tested is actually under 3 % and they would want to get a large sample across all booking categories, regions, age groups and previous cruise history.

 

 

 

While I was not first allowed to book Coastal Kitchen and fully understood why, I think one of the problems they discovered quickly was that some of the early test candidates did get to book. They were not promoting Coastal Kitchen to those of us that called back, but when we noted later that others had been allowed to book, they let us book as well. This step, I feel, was done to avoid issues within the test group and not in some way to 'slight' passengers that were not selected for the random test.

 

 

 

I think they are willing to face the few cancellations they will have over this fact as they know they will avoid many more future cancellations by avoiding any major issues with the roll-out of this exciting new product.

 

 

It's easy to speak in-favor of the preselection dinning when you were part of the few who were preselected. Where are all the travelers who was not preselected and find this system fair?

 

 

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[Babyrocko1908]

It's easy to speak in-favor of the preselection dinning when you were part of the few who were preselected. Where are all the travelers who was not preselected and find this system fair?

 

 

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I wasn't selected and I understand what RCCL is doing with the preselection process.

 

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[Dameon]

I wasn't selected and I understand what RCCL is doing with the preselection process.

 

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1, figured as much

 

 

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[nelblu]

It is a scientific process called randomly selected , usually by a computer.....in the old days, drawn from a hat!!!!

 

Call me a skeptic, but you have been drinking too much Kool-Aid.

[TeresaN]

We are new to cruising.... In order to book the right times for dinner I would like to know what time shows normally start on the ships?

 

I know, the times for shows should normally be available on May 15, but I would just like to know in general, whether certain shows are always at one time, for example on Oasis/Allure with mytime-Dining?

 

 

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[swsf99a]

yj2cute, When I got the "call" , I went to Royal main page, clicked on Quantum OTS, hit dining, then Coastal Kitchen and read the menu and "Details". At that time the Details said (Coastal Kitchen) was complimentary for Jr Suite and above ,.....and ..... It also listed the $$ icon just as all the pay venues have it listed. That was April 4th-5th. One would assume that anyone could pay and reserve the dining. After I read your post, today (April 11th), the Details page only states it is Complimentary for Jr. Suites and above. It no longer lists the $$ icon. Somewhere RCI has made a change on this or it was never intended to be listed as a pay restaurant. I know for a fact that what it said a few days ago is not what is on the Detail page now. Sorry if I am wrong about anyone being able to book and pay for dining in Coastal Kitchen, but RCI must be having a time figuring all this out. It could be backlash from those staying in suites and RCI is holding the place for them now !????

[swsf99a]

nelblu, I do prefer my Kool-Aid with Macallan, but seriously, How else can you explain Gold, Platinum, Diamond and Me, being selected to book dining when a bunch of D+ and Pinnacle people cannot? I am sure RCI is not trying to intentionally get their most loyal customers PO'd. I have no problem with D+ and Pinnacle booking early, they earned that right. But if RCI is trying a new way with this Dynamic Dining, they have to have a random sampling of cruisers across all the levels ( maybe even some first time cruisers). Just my thoughts.....now back to that Kool-Aid!!

[chiquita cruiser]

We were not preselected. I am ok with test marketing. However, if it is only for the "in" listed folks then that is how it should stay. Test marketing a small percentage is a far cry from what I am hearing is happening on this food fiasco.

 

My annoyance is with passengers stating that they kept calling RCI and eventually were placed on the "in" list. So that means that in order to be selected for this I have to call until someone gives me what I am already entitled to? That is, a meal in the dining room at a time that I had already preselected at booking and hopefully at a size table setting that we requested.

 

For one, we are not interested in what they call their "dining options". How is it an option when you are forced to eat your meals while on vacation at a venue you would not have selected had you not been forced to do so? RCI also lists the Windjammer as a dining option. Are they for real?

 

I believe that this is nothing more than RCI applying more cost savings methods to food choices. We have noticed that many people book the MDR and then do not show up. The rest are choosing my time which I am ok with as long as I make the choice. I am paying for a vacation, not aggravation. As for a computer meltdown, what do they think will occur on May 15th when everyone not pre-selected calls in? lol

C.

[martyap]

We were not preselected. I am ok with test marketing. However, if it is only for the "in" listed folks then that is how it should stay. Test marketing a small percentage is a far cry from what I am hearing is happening on this food fiasco.

 

My annoyance is with passengers stating that they kept calling RCI and eventually were placed on the "in" list. So that means that in order to be selected for this I have to call until someone gives me what I am already entitled to? That is, a meal in the dining room at a time that I had already preselected at booking and hopefully at a size table setting that we requested. C.

 

We were not pre-selected and are not on any "in" list. I simply called the number listed on these board on 4/7 at 6am and asked if I could reserve my dining. The rep asked for my booking information and took my reservations. One single call and no coercing. If they had told me no I would have simply said thanks. I don't know how RCCL set up this test or how they created a selection list. And it seems the reps did not know the ground rules. I do agree that they better get things in place for 5/15.

[BrianAlt]

RCI also lists the Windjammer as a dining option.

 

As always. Because people eat there.

[yj2cute]

And from the description of the WJ on this class, it will be a very good option. Many more offerings, including freshly made, than the current WJ. I think I'll enjoy eating there.

[BrianAlt]

And from the description of the WJ on this class, it will be a very good option. Many more offerings, including freshly made, than the current WJ. I think I'll enjoy eating there.

 

I'm looking forward to checking it out more than I have in years!

[Babyrocko1908]

As always. Because people eat there.

 

Brian.... lol smh.

 

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[ksg]

I just booked the Jan. 23 sailing and called about making reservations and was told I couldn't. I pushed back and eventually reached someone to make the reservations, but then was told I couldn't make it for 4 people - we're sailing with friends - because even though our reservation was linked to them, they weren't linked to us. So now we wait until Monday for our friends to get it squared away with the TA.

 

But the whole RCCL web page is so annoying - they don't have my name associated with my booking, unless I go in through the "before you board" part of the site. And the C&A number is not associated with my name - at least on the web site. Customer service is lacking, and I actually got a snide comment about how my name appears on my passport! I use given, middle, maiden and married - so the passport has 4 names. Messes up their system every time - but we digress.

 

But much of what we are likely to reserve will probably end up being changed when we get the show schedule, and I imagine that's the same for many of us. This whole thing is causing unnecessary stress, and it's a vacation! When we were on Allure two years ago, we basically ate whenever we wanted, but had trouble on Oasis, especially the first night when we were offered 5:15 or 9:00. We ended up in the main dining room at 7:15 using a table where the people were no-shows for early seating. But that was just a fluke.

 

Traditional dining was so stress free. You knew where you had to be, and what time your show was, and everything revolved around the dining times.

[scubanurse]

I find it ridiculous that people are getting annoyed at the small preselected group that are effectively serving as lab rats for their booking system. Thank goodness RCI did this, because it seems, from the boards, that the preselected bookings have been a hot mess! So many people are saying how "stressful" it is to book all this stuff...clearly, they have never planned a trip to Disney world, where dining rezzies are made 180 days in advance, fast pass choices for rides are made before you go, so your dream Wdw vakay becomes more like a battle plan! Relax, it will all work out. Personally, I can't wait!

[martyap]

I find it ridiculous that people are getting annoyed at the small preselected group that are effectively serving as lab rats for their booking system. Thank goodness RCI did this, because it seems, from the boards, that the preselected bookings have been a hot mess! So many people are saying how "stressful" it is to book all this stuff...clearly, they have never planned a trip to Disney world, where dining rezzies are made 180 days in advance, fast pass choices for rides are made before you go, so your dream Wdw vakay becomes more like a battle plan! Relax, it will all work out. Personally, I can't wait!

I agree....we took our family of ten to WDW last summer and the reservations we made 180 days prior to the trip worked out perfectly. I think out of eight we changed only one. As for our 1/23 Quantum, I called a week ago and was told they would reserve our ten dinner reservations. I selected various times (6:00 to 7:30) based on port days. They allowed me to select all five comp restaurants as we don't usually do specialty restaurants for dinner. If we have to change one or two because of a conflict we could always hit the the WJ.....no big deal and nothing to stress about.

Edited April 14, 2014 by martyap

[DaisyL]

We were allowed pre booking for dining for our cruise next April and were able to include another couple although they were not pre-selected. We called together, linked reservation numbers and made dinner reservations for all 12 nights. Two were extra fee restaurants and the others were complimentary restaurants and all for 7 pm.

 

We hope the 7 pm reservations will allow us to go to the late shows. We're a little annoyed at having to preplan all nights but we didn't want to chance 'freestyle' type dining, and we did have my-time dining prior to this change. We've cruised NCL with freestyle many times and love it for small tables but we're not sure how this new plan will work for RCL so we felt better making reservations... Who knows? We'll see!

[dorito6778]

We were allowed pre booking for dining for our cruise next April and were able to include another couple although they were not pre-selected. We called together, linked reservation numbers and made dinner reservations for all 12 nights. Two were extra fee restaurants and the others were complimentary restaurants and all for 7 pm.

 

We hope the 7 pm reservations will allow us to go to the late shows. We're a little annoyed at having to preplan all nights but we didn't want to chance 'freestyle' type dining, and we did have my-time dining prior to this change. We've cruised NCL with freestyle many times and love it for small tables but we're not sure how this new plan will work for RCL so we felt better making reservations... Who knows? We'll see!

 

when i booked my dinner reservations, i asked about this and was told that show times would likely stick to the RCCL "norm." i looked back and saw in an old email that we had had reservations for a 9pm show of Chicago on Allure 3 years ago, so i made my 6:30-6:45 reservations with a 9pm timeframe as a "late show" in mind.

[Calker]

We have a b2b booked over Christmas/New Years. I kept checking daily to see if we could book dining reservations.

 

Yesterday I finally called the dining reservation # and asked if I could make reservations. She could not get into the first cruise but was able to pull up the second leg of the b2b and book all of our reservations. She stated that there was availability every night for every restaurant we were interested in.

 

The staff member was still unable to get into the first reservation so I called back later in the day. He was able to make all of our reservations at the times we requested except for one - on the first night instead of a 7:00pm Chops Grille reservation we were given the option of 6:45 or 7:15. He also made a comment that there were reservation times available for every restaurant on every night.

 

Hope this helps those that are concerned that reservations wont be available for the days they are interested in.

[DEIx15x8]

We have a b2b booked over Christmas/New Years. I kept checking daily to see if we could book dining reservations.

 

Yesterday I finally called the dining reservation # and asked if I could make reservations. She could not get into the first cruise but was able to pull up the second leg of the b2b and book all of our reservations. She stated that there was availability every night for every restaurant we were interested in.

 

The staff member was still unable to get into the first reservation so I called back later in the day. He was able to make all of our reservations at the times we requested except for one - on the first night instead of a 7:00pm Chops Grille reservation we were given the option of 6:45 or 7:15. He also made a comment that there were reservation times available for every restaurant on every night.

 

Hope this helps those that are concerned that reservations wont be available for the days they are interested in.

Were you calling daily? I've called a few times and always told no. I know they are slowly adding to the list though and people are finding out long before a call is ever made to notify them of their availability. Trying to figure out how often is alright. Too anxious though, lol.

[DaisyL]

when i booked my dinner reservations, i asked about this and was told that show times would likely stick to the RCCL "norm." i looked back and saw in an old email that we had had reservations for a 9pm show of Chicago on Allure 3 years ago, so i made my 6:30-6:45 reservations with a 9pm timeframe as a "late show" in mind.

 

Thanks for adding that. I think as a table of 4 with a 7 pm dinner time we should be done by 8:30 pm and able to make a 9 pm show.

 

If it looks like it's running slow, we can always leave after the entree and get dessert after the show in the Windjammer. What do you think?

[BrianAlt]

Definitely.

[Thetrail]

With all respect you can feel like it won't be a problem. You got to book what you want. Those of us not selected are concerned that times are filling up and we will get the leftovers. As I stated on a different thread if it becomes a problem when we try to book after May 15 we may just cancel. Not worth all the hassle. Vacations are suppose to be fun. RC states at a public function that reservations open May 15 and now MANY people got to book early. Once again they changed the rules once the game started.

Your D+ and didn't get selected????? And secondly that'll show RCCL go ahead and cancel.....:D

[Thetrail]

Especially since they are allowing non-suite guests who have been pre-selected to book Coastal Kitchen prior to May 15th. So much for exclusivity.[/quote Are you in a suite?

Edited April 15, 2014 by Thetrail

[Dameon]

Sarcasm huh

 

 

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