10/22 Oosterdam Dining Change - No, I'm not kidding...

[LAFFNVEGAS]

I agree that 5:30 is a ridiculous time for a traditional seating, but since it appears from this first test that HAL is thinking of a traditional AND open seating plan, if the times of traditional were changed to 6 and 8 PM (one level having 2 traditional seatings) would that not solve most of the present complaints?

 

peaches, I agree. Pick one of the levels to be tradition and other Leisure Dining. Go Back to 6 PM and 8 PM Tradition Dining and have the other level be the"Leisure Dining" Open from 6 PM to 8:30 PM Then they could still have all the normal functions they do and those choose "Leisure Dining" Can also choose what time and which function they want to attendend. With the Leisure Dining thing it would also take away from the Yum Yum Guy and the ringing of the chimes annoucing dinner.

[gizmo]

peaches, I agree. Pick one of the levels to be tradition and other Leisure Dining. Go Back to 6 PM and 8 PM Tradition Dining and have the other level be the"Leisure Dining" Open from 6 PM to 8:30 PM Then they could still have all the normal functions they do and those choose "Leisure Dining" Can also choose what time and which function they want to attendend. With the Leisure Dining thing it would also take away from the Yum Yum Guy and the ringing of the chimes annoucing dinner.

 

What happens when the majority of the Leisure group all show up around the same time? LINES AND BEEPERS :rolleyes:

 

If I wanted to do this I would sail on Princess or NCL.

[RevNeal]

The problem that I have with this whole "experiment" is that it's so ill-conceived. I wouldn't mind HAL adding some sort of open dining - IF they had the facilities for it, IF the staff were trained to handle the new process, and IF they were actually adding to the dining options instead of reallocating them. But none of those conditions are being met here, as far as I can tell.

 

As I said a few pages back on this thread: Someone has been handing out stupid pills at Seattle HALHQ ... and whoever it is, I wish they'd STOP.

[jhannah]

... have the other level be the"Leisure Dining" Open from 6 PM to 8:30 PM

Was this a typo? 2 1/2 hours isn't long enough for leisure/anytime dining. It would be too small a window, IMO. Leave it open until 10:00 maybe?

[mariner]

The dining room logistics on HAL ships just don't make this easy.

 

Remember, the dining room (both levels) can seat HALF the passengers. Once filled, they must wait until people start leaving before they can let anyone in.

 

In the case of the larger tables, they must wait until the last person is served and finished.

 

Talk about a bottleneck. On the ships that do offer PC/Freestyle, there are so many more food options to spread the passengers around.

 

They could transform the Lido at night into more of a dining room setting. But then they have the problem of getting the food up there.

 

My wife and I don't want to eat with anyone else. We don't get to have dinner together during the week at home and we would want a table for two. But we would not wait until 8:30 for that to happen and I would probably order less wine because I'd be killing time at the bar.

 

We also like having a waiter who knows our preferences. Service during the open seatings, while okay, just isn't the same. And the crew just isn't going to work to make it extra special if they're not getting extra tips.

 

We would probably just order dinner each night in our suite and take very good care of the room service waiter who has to bring the food there.

 

We pity the crew on Oosterdam. First they had the group take over the dining room. Now they have to deal with this experiment.

 

Perhaps they'll mutiny before the passengers. Who would blame them?

 

Anyone know who the HM and Maitre d are? I want to have a couple of bottles waiting for them on the pier.

[blossiem]

We travel with elderly parents and the thought of 'fixed dining' changing before our cruise next May does not bear thinking about.

 

A large number of cruisers from the UK sail with PandO (also one of the Carnival family). They are changing the Oceana to free style dining next year, but at least have written to all past cruisers to inform them and have only done it, to one of the two main restaurants on board. The other, remains with 6.30 and 8.30 seatings.

 

HAL along with the many, many others here, please note my absolute and total dissapproval.

[localady]

peaches, I agree. Pick one of the levels to be tradition and other Leisure Dining. Go Back to 6 PM and 8 PM Tradition Dining and have the other level be the"Leisure Dining" Open from 6 PM to 8:30 PM Then they could still have all the normal functions they do and those choose "Leisure Dining" Can also choose what time and which function they want to attendend. With the Leisure Dining thing it would also take away from the Yum Yum Guy and the ringing of the chimes annoucing dinner.

 

Lisa- I think HAL Seattle should hire you!!!:D

If they want to try an experiment, try something that will make the most folks happy. 5:30 is insanely early to eat every day, especially on days in Port. So the multitudes who dislike 5:30 get stuck with waiting until 7:30 and taking a number!!!:eek:

If they have to try something, I think Lisa's idea would be a possible solution.:cool:

[sail7seas]

Was this a typo? 2 1/2 hours isn't long enough for leisure/anytime dining. It would be too small a window, IMO. Leave it open until 10:00 maybe?

 

 

How many hours a day can dining stewards work? Remember, they start at breakfast, Lido breakfast, Lunch, Lido Lunch, Diiiiiiner stretched to how many hours??, and then they do late night buffet. Isn't that asking just too much to have them starting dinner at 5:00 and finishing after 10:00 and then some of then do late night buffet.

[Iggipolka]

On the Oosterdam test, traditional dinner seating is at 5:30 and then their new (asinine) open seating is from 7:30 - 9:30. People can be seated at 9:30, so technically, people could be finishing up their dinner at 11:00 or so!

 

I do feel very sorry for the crew.

[BJane]

The day that I have to "take a number" to eat dinner on a cruise ship will be the day that I decide to never cruise on that line again. Thank heaven I still have wonderful memories of cruising the way it was when I first began many years ago. Things may change, but not always for the better.

[jander]

Don't know why I want to say this, but is dinning the main reason to take a cruise? Doesn't anybody just enjoy being at sea on a ship?

[Ziggy7]

Just go and have fun everyone !!!! Dont let anything spoil your cruise for you! I'm hoping it all works out for all of you!!! Blue skies and Calm seas!!!! :):):)

[dougnewmanatsea]

On the ships that do offer PC/Freestyle, there are so many more food options to spread the passengers around.

It should be pointed out that the SUN-class Princess ships have no alternative restaurant (just the main dining rooms and "Horizon Court", i.e. Lido) but they do offer Personal Choice.

 

However, I think it is pretty clear that this sort of arrangement usually works best either on small ships or on ships with a wide range of dining alternatives (and either way, there has to be seating for more than half of passengers at once). HAL's ships don't fit those requirements.

 

That said, the only way to know if it will work or not is to try it. I don't blame HAL for trying something new, I just think they ought not to have done it on such short notice and without notifying passengers.

 

They are changing the Oceana to free style dining next year, but at least have written to all past cruisers to inform them and have only done it, to one of the two main restaurants on board. The other, remains with 6.30 and 8.30 seatings.

It is interesting that P&O did not seem to run a "test" but rather simply made the decision... On the other hand, P&O did not do it on short notice and the different dining arrangement is made amply clear in brochures, etc. as you point out. There was even a press release that was widely distributed.

 

However, one thing that you just reminded me of is that they are also doing this on ARCADIA. This is pertinent because ARCADIA essentially is an HAL Vista-class ship (with minor alterations, mainly decorative). They are, of course, keeping normal two-seating dining on one level of the dining room and going "Personal Choice" (or whatever P&O happen to call it) on the other.

 

I do not understand why HAL cannot do this as well, seeing as we are talking about virtually identical ships, nor do I understand why HAL think (as one must assume they do) that their proposed setup is superior to what P&O will be doing.

 

How many hours a day can dining stewards work?

Not more than they already do, surely. But there is always the possibility of adding some. NCL added more crew to all their ships when they implemented Freestyle, in some cases taking over passenger cabins or, on NORWEGIAN CROWN, what used to be an indoor pool just to accomodate the higher staffing levels.

[cruznon]

Dining in the evening is an event to many of us. It caps off a lovely sea day or the delightful way to to share the port day events with friends over a relaxing, gracious dinner.

Having recently experienced a cruise in which I was assigned 5:45 dinner seating-much too early for us--I know personally how this can affect the whole cruise experience. We love dressing for dinner, a pre-dinner drink, etc. For us dinner each evening in the dining room IS an important part of our cruising holiday. It's not just eating--it's much more.

[travellady]

We enjoy traditional cruises with traditional dining as well as Anytime Dining as Princess offers. It all depends on what our goal is for each cruise and who we are cruising with. We picked Princess this Christmas because we're sailing with my young adult sons and a 12 year old. We enjoy the freedom anytime dining offers and we're not always hungry at the same time.

 

But, when my husband and I cruise alone, we do enjoy meeting people at dinner and having the type of in-depth conversatoin you can only have after getting to know somebody after a few meals.

 

5:30 for us is way too close to lunch and I can't imagine eating dinner at that time. My husband and I are booked on the Oosterdam for it's 4 day repositioning cruise in April. It will be interesting to see how this new experiment pans out.

[stanford's girl]

Hi Everyone!! I have finished packing and am all ready to go. Just not sure what will await me when I get on the ship.:rolleyes:

You can bet that I will let Joe Potts know how myself and everyone else on the HAL board feels about this fiasco.:D

 

I have a party arranged through HAL for all the CC roll call people on this cruise. It will be interesting to see if any big wigs show up to see what we have to say. ;)

 

You can bet as soon as I'm home, I will be on the board to tell you all about this cruise.

[Aussie Gal]

Don't know why I want to say this, but is dinning the main reason to take a cruise? Doesn't anybody just enjoy being at sea on a ship?

 

We do enjoy each day whether it is at sea or in port on the ship, but to us the highlight of each day is getting dressed for dinner, having a drink and then going down to the dining room, meeting up with our tablemates and hearing how they have passed the day.

 

We usually have a lovely meal with a good wine and to us it is a great way to finish a wonderful day. ;);)

 

This of course is not at 5.30pm but at 8pm!!

 

Jennie

[Copper10-8]

As I said a few pages back on this thread: Someone has been handing out stupid pills at Seattle HALHQ ... and whoever it is, I wish they'd STOP.

 

Just food for thought: this and some of the other recent "grand schemes" affecting HAL could very well be coming out of Miami (can you say Carnival?) and forwarded with orders to implement to Seattle

[cruznon]

It is interesting though, that Carnival has two dining times (which I prefer)and Princess is the line that has open seating dining.

[Copper10-8]

It is interesting though, that Carnival has two dining times (which I prefer)and Princess is the line that has open seating dining.

You're absolutely right! Carnival owns both HAL and Princess, among others, so they can easily run experiments to see if they work or not. Don't get me wrong, I don't like "free-style" or open seating dining I wish they (HAL) would just go backl to the 1800 and 2000 dining times

[Grumpy1]

Just food for thought: this and some of the other recent "grand schemes" affecting HAL could very well be coming out of Miami (can you say Carnival?) and forwarded with orders to implement to Seattle

 

I tend to think that this is NOT being dictated by Carnival, as their involvement in their subsidiary companies has been mostly limited to things where "economy of scale" can make a difference in the bottom line. Beyond that, they prefer to let the subsidiaries run their own operations as long as the subsidiaries are meeting profit projections. More likely, it's a Seattle based idea... I mean, think about it... isn't this something you would expect from laid back left coasters, rather than right thinking Miamians??:D Ol' Grumpy is ducking now...:eek:

 

I don't know if the Oosterdam draws a large majority of her passengers from San Diego and the surrounding areas for these Mexican Riviera cruises, but if they do, that could explain the idea of experimenting with a change in dining. To the rest of the country, southern California is viewed as being less about tradition and more relaxed, free wheeling, open to new ways of doing things than most of the country.

[Copper10-8]

No need to duck, just wear a helmet! If I remember corectly, a large part of the Mexican Riviera cruisers do come from the western part of the country (but not just from California)

[SeaPeaInn]

Most of the upscale lines have gone open seating or some variation with no formal nights. Maybe this is an attempt by HAL to gradually make a transition that they feel would position them closer to these lines.

[rucruizin]

Glad I'm not booked on the Oosterdam and I hope this doesn't fly for the sake of the cruiseline.

 

Our one PC dining experience was a real pain in the rear. We were told different things about the reservations everyday and never did figure out what to do. We were completely dissatisfied with our Princess dining mess and would never intentionally do it again. I love having tablemates to share daily adventures with and to make lasting friendships. You just can't do that easily with someone you only see once. A couple that we did hit it off really well with had traditional seating and loved their waitstaff so they didn't want join us for PC. It was the only cruise where we didnt really make any friends.

 

Last spring on our Princess cruise we had traditional dining and all I heard anyone say is how they couldn't get traditional seating because it was full...but they were on a waitlist... Seemed like everyone was on the waitlist so WHY does Princess/HAL do this when it really doesn't work for most people????

[BEAV]

To the rest of the country, southern California is viewed as being less about tradition and more relaxed, free wheeling, open to new ways of doing things than most of the country.

 

BEAV can't wait for Grumpy's views of us NORTHERN Californians !! ;)