Early Results of Anytime Dining Not Going Over Well??

[isujim]

This seems to be the week for these types of threads:)

 

Just returned from my TA office. Yesterday her District Rep and someone from the Miami office made a routine call to the office. My TA asked about anytime dining.

 

The guy from Miami said it was an experiment and to quote him, he said at this time it is "failing miserably". That apparently the RC faithful want to keep traditional dining. This is not to say as time goes on, more and more will like the option and eventually become an option fleetwide.

 

While not scientific and way to early to tell how this will shake out, it is apparent according to this person that the results indicate a return to traditional dining after the experiement.

 

Early results at least seemed to surprise them.

 

Just passing along information......

[negc]

This seems to be the week for these types of threads:)

 

Just returned from my TA office. Yesterday her District Rep and someone from the Miami office made a routine call to the office. My TA asked about anytime dining.

 

The guy from Miami said it was an experiment and to quote him, he said at this time it is "failing miserably". That apparently the RC faithful want to keep traditional dining. This is not to say as time goes on, more and more will like the option and eventually become an option fleetwide.

 

While not scientific and way to early to tell how this will shake out, it is apparent according to this person that the results indicate a return to traditional dining after the experiement.

 

Early results at least seemed to surprise them.

 

Just passing along information......

 

Probably the same type of surprise that Coca Cola executives experienced when they discovered that the public preferred the original to the "New" Coke.:rolleyes:

[isujim]

Probably the same type of surprise that Coca Cola executives experienced when they discovered that the public preferred the original to the "New" Coke.:rolleyes:

 

Gee Bill..........I remember that like it was yesterday:D

[rsscaptain]

Gee Bill..........I remember that like it was yesterday:D

 

I know. Our local news did a story on it, and I think that was like in 85 that they changed the formula.

[TRadle]

How can there be results if they haven’t tried it yet? Is this based on people not signing up for this option? :confused:

[negc]

I have a friend who was a top executive with Coke at the time, and when they made the switch to new Coke, he regaled me with stories about the extensive research they had done which convinced them that the new formula would be a resounding success. Funny, but he never raised the subject again, after the debacle that followed and they scrapped the new formula and brought back the original as "classic Coke".:D And just to tax your memory even further, I'm sure that Ford officials were sure they had a winner when they introduced the Edsel. ;)

[reapfm]

I, for one, hope they stick with traditional dining. They have other options on board now...i.e., Chops, Portofinio's, Windjammer, Johnny Rockets. They are probably being swamped with e-mails about the change. That would give them a good indication of whether it would be successful or not.

[corkpopr]

love princess choice of either. it runs 2/3 anytime and 1/3 traditional on most of their voyages. on NCL it is anytime only but i prefer the choice.

[isujim]

How can there be results if they haven’t tried it yet? Is this based on people not signing up for this option? :confused:

 

I do not know..........just reporting back what was said to me.........since it really is a non issue to me, I didn't dive deeper into the subject. I think response is probably a better word than results.

[Lynnees]

I don't understand how they can say it isn't going over well if it hasn't been tried yet. I don't forsee them cancelling it until they have actually put it into practice first.

[Kruuzin]

I prefer traditional. I enjoy seeing the same waiter, table mates and sitting in the same spot each night. I don't care for change

[iheartbda]

Got an email from Celebrity yesterday with a survey to fill out and it's rather obvious that they too want to try the anytime dining idea. Said you may see results of the survey put into use in the future. Looks like they're testing the waters on paper before an actual trial test on a ship. Maybe they're doing this in response to a backlash for what they've done on RCI with no warning for the trail testing.

[Sue L]

How can there be results if they haven’t tried it yet? Is this based on people not signing up for this option? :confused:

 

 

I suspect that the email and the phone number they gave those on the "test" sailings are eliciting less than positive responses and instead people are using the contact info to voice their displeasure at the idea.

[FreewayFortune]

I always consider my anytime dining to be in the Windjammer. I always like the traditional dining because of the great waiters and table mates that I have had. But I have talked to people who have had anytime dining and they have really enjoyed it. I guess we'll see what happens after the trial run.

[Janet524]

And just to tax your memory even further, I'm sure that Ford officials were sure they had a winner when they introduced the Edsel. ;)

 

Oh, what I wouldn't give to owe one or two of those now!

[Annefran]

I'm another vote for traditional dinning too. I like having the same wait staff, same people at my table and same table each night. But maybe they could offer up one dinning area for people who prefer that open seating. :cool:

[TheEngineer]

This seems to be the week for these types of threads:)

 

Just returned from my TA office. Yesterday her District Rep and someone from the Miami office made a routine call to the office. My TA asked about anytime dining.

 

The guy from Miami said it was an experiment and to quote him, he said at this time it is "failing miserably". That apparently the RC faithful want to keep traditional dining. This is not to say as time goes on, more and more will like the option and eventually become an option fleetwide.

 

While not scientific and way to early to tell how this will shake out, it is apparent according to this person that the results indicate a return to traditional dining after the experiement.

 

Early results at least seemed to surprise them.

 

Just passing along information......

 

They introduce it on a mostly sold cruise with people who expect the old way and then are surprised that those people aren't gung ho about the new?

 

No fecal matter, Sherlock.

 

Not scientific and way to early to call are understatements in this case. Most cruisers, even RCI ones, don't know about this experiment. It would be hard to find supporters when no one is aware of it.

[isujim]

They introduce it on a mostly sold cruise with people who expect the old way and then are surprised that those people aren't gung ho about the new?

 

No fecal matter, Sherlock.

 

Not scientific and way to early to call are understatements in this case. Most cruisers, even RCI ones, don't know about this experiment. It would be hard to find supporters when no one is aware of it.

 

 

I agree.........I said it wasn't scientific.......just repeating what I heard.....but it is always easier to shoot the messenger:rolleyes: I just thought it was an interesting comment from someone from RC Miami........that is all.:)

[negc]

love princess choice of either. it runs 2/3 anytime and 1/3 traditional on most of their voyages. on NCL it is anytime only but i prefer the choice.

 

It runs that way on Princess because that is how they have set it up and when the split is reversed, those who want traditional dining are forced to take anytime. Not exactly a flexible position on the part of Princess. The idea of having the ability to choose between the two styles of dining sounds great, but the reality is that the way Princess has configured the dining room assignments, it doesn't work.:mad: As with so many things in life, the devil is in the details.

I think that response is probably a better word than results, since it is really too early to read much of anything into those reports because the whole thing was only recently announced and I suspect that very few of those who have booked the Freedom are even aware of the upcoming test. We should probably wait until closer in to the cruise dates before we conclude that the test will be a bust or a success.:)

[Sue L]

They introduce it on a mostly sold cruise with people who expect the old way and then are surprised that those people aren't gung ho about the new?

 

No fecal matter, Sherlock.

 

Not scientific and way to early to call are understatements in this case. Most cruisers, even RCI ones, don't know about this experiment. It would be hard to find supporters when no one is aware of it.

 

 

They sent emails to those on the "test sailings" and they were supposed to email or call back if they wanted to try the anytime option. So for the ones on the sailings they should have been notified either by RCCL or their TA's.

[Royalpair]

I don't understand anytime dining. It seems anything I hear about it, the people just make reservations for the time they want to eat, proably the same time every night. In the end, it sounds like they are just picking their time, instead fo the cruiseline doing it for you. And all the waiting they do in line before they eat. It's not like you could say,"I think I want to eat at this time" and go get a table right away. Give me traditional, with a waiter who gets to know your wants before you even do, and the same, friendly dinner mates, and I'm happy. I think that is one reason we never look at NCL crises.

[Hypo]

We are on the Freedom the first week of the test. They sent two E-mails to me (so far) offering us a chance to sign up for anytime dining. I am totally opposed to the concept, we prefer the traditional.

 

Other folks on our roll call have received personal phone calls from RCCL to encourage them to sign up for anytime. Those who reported receiving phone calls let RCCL know what they thought of anytime dining. From their reports, I think RCCL has not received an overwhelming positive response to anytime dining.

 

Hypo

[TheEngineer]

They sent emails to those on the "test sailings" and they were supposed to email or call back if they wanted to try the anytime option. So for the ones on the sailings they should have been notified either by RCCL or their TA's.

 

No doubt, but I have to assume that most of those people made their reservations a while ago when there was no choice and that they approve of the traditional setup. Trying to convince them to switch will not go well. Now advertise this as a benefit on a future and mostly unsold sailing and let's see the results. That will give people a better idea of the workability of this idea.

[DonnaK]

I suspect that the email and the phone number they gave those on the "test" sailings are eliciting less than positive responses and instead people are using the contact info to voice their displeasure at the idea.

 

This is what I think too! Also, a lot of people who are NOT on the test cruises have written to C&A, Richard Fain and/or to cruisecomments@rccl.com to express their preference that the ships remain traditional throughout (I know I sent an email to all of the above objecting to the proposed change, and have received two replies back already).

[LisaGoeke]

We received a call last night (we're on the first sailing they're trying it) asking us if we were interested in it and my parents rec'd a call last week asking them if they'd be interested in it too.

 

Neither one of us are...