ANTHEM - What's going on with DD/Classic Dining?

[beachbuddy]

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.

[baileymouse]

I wonder if that is part of the reason for Rhapsody heading to NJ next summer. Although, it is a shame she is only doing the 7 night Bahamas sailings.

 

Both Rhapsody & Anthem will be doing short Canadian runs as well. I just booked Anthem for the Halifax cruise for summer, 2017.

 

I live a mile and a half from Cape Liberty but I have cruised out of Florida due to lower rates and different itineraries. We have a lot of non-RCCL choices around here with the NYC cruise port being so close. Also, for us, Baltimore and Boston are 4 hour drives if we want to catch a different ship.

 

I think they put Anthem in NJ (and Quantum before it) to make sure there wasn't a lot of local competition. Perhaps they feel Florida is saturated. There's enormous demand here for summer sailings from people who don't want to drive or fly to Florida. Like everything else, I bet it comes down to money.

[OfTheSeasCruiser]

Both Rhapsody & Anthem will be doing short Canadian runs as well. I just booked Anthem for the Halifax cruise for summer, 2017.

 

I live a mile and a half from Cape Liberty but I have cruised out of Florida due to lower rates and different itineraries. We have a lot of non-RCCL choices around here with the NYC cruise port being so close. Also, for us, Baltimore and Boston are 4 hour drives if we want to catch a different ship.

 

I think they put Anthem in NJ (and Quantum before it) to make sure there wasn't a lot of local competition. Perhaps they feel Florida is saturated. There's enormous demand here for summer sailings from people who don't want to drive or fly to Florida. Like everything else, I bet it comes down to money.

 

I agree as to why they probably sent Anthem to NJ, and I am not questioning it. I was just pointing out that maybe Rhapsody was sent to NJ also to provide a completely different cruise experience for those who don't like Anthem. I live about 20 minutes outside of Philly so I am also familiar with all of the options, but the funny thing is, I've never cruised from anywhere in the Northeast.

Edited April 20, 2016 by OfTheSeasCruiser

[baileymouse]

I think that's true for a lot of people, none of us have cruised from the northeast, we wind up traveling. I'm still trying to decide if we're going to drive or fly to Miami this summer.

 

Back to DD, I am interesting to see how this plays out because I signed up for dynamic on my reservation for June 2017.

[CruisingChick]

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.

[beachbuddy]

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.

[cot427]

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.

 

100% agree! Even though they have made changes to the MDR menus in the past, they have been very slight changes. Essentially have been the same for a decade. Very tired!

 

I think this is one of the reasons I took to NCL so well. The food/service in their MDRs was far superior to what I experienced on RCI lately. And this is why I am so excited for Anthem.

 

For them to tamper with it would be a shame. I'm with the group who thinks if you want traditional, sail a different ship. If it's THAT important to you.

[cruisenfever]

Both Rhapsody & Anthem will be doing short Canadian runs as well. I just booked Anthem for the Halifax cruise for summer, 2017.

Just an FYI, but currently, there are no short runs to Canada on Rhapsody when she arrives in Cape Liberty. She is only doing a 12 night Cape Liberty to Quebec on 9/08/2017 and Quebec to Cape Liberty on 9/20/2017. She is then doing a repo cruise to Tampa on 10/23/2017.

 

Ship will be in dry dock from October 1 to the 22.

Edited April 20, 2016 by cruisenfever

[Overtyme]

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.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[nycglitter]

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.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

 

I have not received the letter yet. we are DD on June 30th cruise.

 

Mark

[baileymouse]

Just an FYI, but currently, there are no short runs to Canada on Rhapsody when she arrives in Cape Liberty. She is only doing a 12 night Cape Liberty to Quebec on 9/08/2017 and Quebec to Cape Liberty on 9/20/2017. She is then doing a repo cruise to Tampa on 10/23/2017.

 

Ship will be in dry dock from October 1 to the 22.

 

Weird. Day before yesterday when I was comparing cruises and dates, they had a July 9th sailing for Rhapsody from Cape Liberty to Bar Harbor and Halifax, same itinerary as Anthem's June 26th run. http://www.royalcaribbean.com/cruises/5NightCanadaNewEnglandCruise-RH05N009?currencyCode=USD&sCruiseType=CO&sDateMin=2017-07-01&sDateMax=2017-07-31&sailDate=07%2F09%2F2017

Edited April 20, 2016 by baileymouse
Adding link to cruise

[beachbuddy]

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.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

 

Did she call Royal and ask why they were cancelled?

[SportsFanatic]

100% agree! Even though they have made changes to the MDR menus in the past, they have been very slight changes. Essentially have been the same for a decade. Very tired!

 

 

 

I think this is one of the reasons I took to NCL so well. The food/service in their MDRs was far superior to what I experienced on RCI lately. And this is why I am so excited for Anthem.

 

 

 

For them to tamper with it would be a shame. I'm with the group who thinks if you want traditional, sail a different ship. If it's THAT important to you.

 

 

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 ?

Edited April 20, 2016 by SportsFanatic

[beachbuddy]

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.

Edited April 21, 2016 by beachbuddy

[ocav]

I think they put Anthem in NJ (and Quantum before it) to make sure there wasn't a lot of local competition.

 

 

 

I don't think this is 100% the reason. Q Class is designed for colder environments with more indoor space so hence it suits up north where you have bitterly cold winters compared to Florida

[cot427]

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 ?

 

I'm sorry - when I mentioned the slight changes to the MDR menus, I was talking about the rest of the fleet that doesn't do DD. I just meant that even though over the years, they've updated the menus slightly, they are still pretty boring after a while. So with the different menus on Quantum class, coupled with different venues, is a big draw to the class. To abandon this system would be a shame. There are other ways to fix their problems other than getting rid of DD and implementing traditional and My Time. Maybe hire more staff!! - But perhaps they don't have enough rooms to sleep them. (This was a problem on NCL's new ship the Escape for the production performers, which is why they had to move shows around to different ships and I think a lot of people don't realize that could be an issue.)

[ocav]

I'm sorry - when I mentioned the slight changes to the MDR menus, I was talking about the rest of the fleet that doesn't do DD. I just meant that even though over the years, they've updated the menus slightly, they are still pretty boring after a while. So with the different menus on Quantum class, coupled with different venues, is a big draw to the class. To abandon this system would be a shame. There are other ways to fix their problems other than getting rid of DD and implementing traditional and My Time. Maybe hire more staff!! - But perhaps they don't have enough rooms to sleep them. (This was a problem on NCL's new ship the Escape for the production performers, which is why they had to move shows around to different ships and I think a lot of people don't realize that could be an issue.)

 

 

 

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

[nyc12345]

Just want to add that I am also supporting DD on the Anthem. While it may not work on all ships, it is definitely a selling point for the Anthem. It would be a disgrace if they remove this special feature from the Anthem. If NCL can get it to work, I don't see why it wouldn't work on the Anthem. For those who don't like making separate reservations, they can choose the Classic. Allow the rest of us the ability to choose whatever we want. PLEASE!!!

[beachbuddy]

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! :)

[cot427]

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

 

Interesting...which subreddit? I think I belong to 2 of them, but unfortunately I rarely check them anymore. I'm usually on CC more.

 

Seems the trend is to build these larger ships with less % of crew cabins, only to go, OH NO, and try to figure out how to deal with the problem.

[kevinyork]

Just want to add that I am also supporting DD on the Anthem. While it may not work on all ships, it is definitely a selling point for the Anthem. It would be a disgrace if they remove this special feature from the Anthem. If NCL can get it to work, I don't see why it wouldn't work on the Anthem. For those who don't like making separate reservations, they can choose the Classic. Allow the rest of us the ability to choose whatever we want. PLEASE!!!

 

 

 

I agree, choose classic OR choose one of the other ships! Don't choose Anthem when you prefer a huge main dining room or don't want to rotate dining venues and then moan about it. As the reviews are starting to get more positive this must mean that Anthem is starting to find its market i.e. The people booking her are fully aware of the different dining arrangements rather than regular RCI cruisers who just wanted to try the newbie in the family.

 

On our Anthem cruise if we heard people moaning about 'I much prefer an impressive main dining room' or 'I don't want to have to book my shows' or ' I prefer ships with a Royal Promenade' I just rolled my eyes to my OH. All of this was made very clear from the off and yet people still booked trips on her then moaned. They shouldn't let such people kill off DD altogether. It's like hating Sushi then booking a Sushi restaurant and moaning that it didn't suit.

[cruisenfever]

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 ?

The Executive Chef from Corporate (I apologize for not getting his name) boarded on April 18 and is here until April 30th. He is on board to oversee new dining menus in all dining venues. Implementation date has not been specified.

[Overtyme]

Did she call Royal and ask why they were cancelled?

 

From their Post:

- Received an email that all (dynamic) dining reservations (that they made) for the cruise has been cancelled and they were added to Classic Dining. They had booked all of their dining around show schedules.

 

- They called up RC and spoke to a really nice rep who said that the time slots were taken

 

- They informed the agent that they had an email from RC that something wasn't working properly at the time of booking and that RC had to book it for them.

 

- The passenger forwarded copies of their booking form, email from RC, and copies of booking confirmations as well as the cancellation email that they had recently received (it pays to be organized!)

 

- Last post was that the agent was going to email the ship see if she could get those times back.

Edited April 21, 2016 by Overtyme

[Clarea]

The Executive Chef from Corporate (I apologize for not getting his name) boarded on April 18 and is here until April 30th. He is on board to oversee new dining menus in all dining venues. Implementation date has not been specified.

Do you know yet if the new menus will still be unique to each venue, or the same in each venue?

[ocav]

Interesting...which subreddit? I think I belong to 2 of them, but unfortunately I rarely check them anymore. I'm usually on CC more.

 

 

 

Seems the trend is to build these larger ships with less % of crew cabins, only to go, OH NO, and try to figure out how to deal with the problem.

 

 

 

In /r/cruise

 

It was a few days ago now but it's a quiet sub so probably isn't that buried down