a new Open Seating option for dinner

[SherriZ366]

Even though they won't be doing away with traditional, will it be available to all who want it? One of the main reasons we left Princess was the availability of the traditional. We booked a cruise 13 months out and traditional was already sold out. We were put on a waiting list at around #300. As the cruise got closer we didn't move anywhere on the list so we canceled the cruise. It is one of the biggest complaints I have seen on the Princess board and some who were confirmed for "traditional" boarded the ship and found they had been switched and were not happy.

this is my worry too. I'm following HAL on the sticky thread about their implementation of As You Wish and have seen some posts where tradtitional seems to get a waitlist. It may be growing pains and learning to adjust to the new mix of seating or HAL holding space for groups. One of the problems with Princess is that you can have confirmed traditional and then get anytime dining. My TA said one of the reasons for this is that a large group can push confirmed traditional into anytime.

[Elizanessie]

Even though they won't be doing away with traditional, will it be available to all who want it? One of the main reasons we left Princess was the availability of the traditional. We booked a cruise 13 months out and traditional was already sold out. We were put on a waiting list at around #300. As the cruise got closer we didn't move anywhere on the list so we canceled the cruise. It is one of the biggest complaints I have seen on the Princess board and some who were confirmed for "traditional" boarded the ship and found they had been switched and were not happy.

 

 

From what I have read/been told...Prepaying of gratuities is a must for Open Seating Option...so if you dont prepay your gratuities then I would say they cant/wont give you Open Seating.

[SherriZ366]

Brian - Great e-mail! I agree with you 100%! Let's all hope this "open dining" doesn't go over well and that RCI listens to their customers.

I second that -- Great email Brian and I'm looking forward to the RCI responses. I too hope the open dining does not go over well. Maybe the multiple emails Brian has received indicate that there is not as much interesting in open dining as RCI thought there would be.

[negc]

I really do understand your vehemince. No one is trying to take away your choice of set dining. This is a new option. You like set dining. Others like open dining.

 

Princess has both. That works fine. Even on full open seating NCL, you can request the same table with the same waitstaff at the same time nightly.

 

How are you hurt if open dining is an option for those, like myself, who much prefer it? Why should I be denied an option just because you don't want to do it? Are you so insecure that you are hurt if others are not forced to do things your way?

 

It isn't insecurity, just an awareness that offering both options is not as easy as you would like to make it seem.No one would care that much if they could successfully offer both options, but the truth of the matter is that it doe not work fine on Princess, hence the lengthy wait lists for people who requested traditional but were unable to be accommodated and ended up being placed, unwillingly, in anytime dining, where, if they are lucky and the powers that be allow them to, they may be able to replicate traditional dining by reserving a specific table for a specific dining time every evening. One of the reasons many people choose RCI over Princess and NCL is that RCI offers traditional dining. Why do you think that every line should try to be everything to everybody instead of concentrating on those things it does best? The physical set up of RCI dining rooms makes it even more difficult to provide separate space for open dining and traditional, unless the proportions work out exactly. Forgive us our skepticism. Perhaps RCI can do a much better job of offering both options than Princess, but I don't look forward to seeing beepers outside the dining room the next time I sail on a Royal Caribbean ship.:rolleyes:

[jst]

Bravo CookieMonster,

 

Thankyou for writing such a wonderful letter, my DH and I are in complete agreement with you, and we have already sent our own letter to RCCL.

 

Thank you again...........

[CookieMonster]

I don't understand why everyone is so against this before they try it. Try it, if you hate it, let them know.

 

If I had wanted to try it, I would have chosen a line that offered it.

I question if you read my original post? I mentioned why it was important

to me to have a formal dining. And what makes you think no one has tried

it? I am simply stating why it has no place on RCI

 

It has been my unfortunate experience that when you let a company

talk you into trying something, and they end up saving money... By the

time you let them know you hate it, you are already far to late.

[CookieMonster]

Even if the Trial is a success...Royal Caribbean will not be doing away with the Traditional Seating.

 

Open Seating would just be another OPTION.

 

Yes an OPTION, but will it be a guaranteed option? Or will I be told

that only 1/2 of dining room is open to formal dinner, and since I

booked late, I will be enjoying Freestyle.

You see not every option is an option, just look at the current dinner,

you can have early or late seating, 2 options. But not if you book late,

then you get what ever is left. Now add a third option, freestyle, and

it will be even tougher to get the seating you want. Hooray for options!

I can only hope that the trial fails.

Brian

[jaxon41]

It isn't insecurity, just an awareness that offering both options is not as easy as you would like to make it seem.No one would care that much if they could successfully offer both options, but the truth of the matter is that it doe not work fine on Princess, hence the lengthy wait lists for people who requested traditional but were unable to be accommodated and ended up being placed, unwillingly, in anytime dining, where, if they are lucky and the powers that be allow them to, they may be able to replicate traditional dining by reserving a specific table for a specific dining time every evening. One of the reasons many people choose RCI over Princess and NCL is that RCI offers traditional dining. Why do you think that every line should try to be everything to everybody instead of concentrating on those things it does best? The physical set up of RCI dining rooms makes it even more difficult to provide separate space for open dining and traditional, unless the proportions work out exactly. Forgive us our skepticism. Perhaps RCI can do a much better job of offering both options than Princess, but I don't look forward to seeing beepers outside the dining room the next time I sail on a Royal Caribbean ship.:rolleyes:

 

I agree with the OP. And learned something about Princess from your posts. I have sailed NCL and did not care for freestyle. Because of that experience, I too wondered how this could work on a "traditional" dining ship because of having only one large formal dining room. I wrote a review on the NCL boards, but in a nut shell, the ship has virtually no dance/lounge area because everything is dining venues, and not very good ones, either, unless you pay extra.

 

As the OP said, there is Windjammer, and room service -- don't mess with a good thing, please.

[VegasPinkGirl]

IF RCCL can guarantee that those that want traditional dining get traditional dining then go ahead and try it. Just from reading different boards about this subject, it seems to me that more people prefer traditional dining to freestyle (or whatever you want to call it) dining.

 

I've done both. My last cruise was with RCCL and it was one of my best cruises ever. We were blessed to have a great wait staff and we enjoyed getting to know them. They really helped make it a wonderful cruise. My first cruise was on NCL and it was less than wonderful. Way less! In fact, after that cruise I wasn't sure I wanted to ever cruise again. Glad I tried a different cruise line!

 

IF RCCL can do this where everyone is happy, good for them. If not, put it back to the way we know works.:)

[Jacru]

The cruisers who are gung-ho on anytime (freestyle) dining can move to NCL and leave the RCI dining rooms to the balance of us who still have some class.

Of course, they can stay and as another member says, use the WJ or room service. Or maybe, get a table in the crew's quarters????

[Hypo]

I have a question on this...how would you tip your waiters,etc. If you don't get the same table every night...how could this work.

 

It's not like Princess where you prepay your gratuities.

 

Just wondering.

 

In order to participate in anytime dining/open seating, you must prepay your tips.

[DonnaK]

Excellent letter Brian! We agree with you 100% and have also written to the powers that be protesting any change to traditional only dining. It's why we cruise with RCI.

[Elizanessie]

Yes an OPTION, but will it be a guaranteed option? Or will I be told

that only 1/2 of dining room is open to formal dinner, and since I

booked late, I will be enjoying Freestyle.

You see not every option is an option, just look at the current dinner,

you can have early or late seating, 2 options. But not if you book late,

then you get what ever is left. Now add a third option, freestyle, and

it will be even tougher to get the seating you want. Hooray for options!

I can only hope that the trial fails.

Brian

 

Brian..I agree, I hope the Trial fails...and I said exactly that in my email to Adam Goldstein.

[2ladies]

In order to participate in anytime dining/open seating, you must prepay your tips.

 

Not on Princess - you can have the tips taken off your bill. I did that and tipped each night in PC - just as I do in a restaurant!! Same as the cruiseline recommended amounts.

 

The drawback with PC (although it suits us) is that when the tips are added to the bill, the incentive to provide good service is removed. And it shows on Princess. With some exceptions, the service in PC was deplorable!! Unfriendly, offhand and in one case downright rude to a passenger at our table. If the service is bad, I tip accordingly. In the end, one very good server used to watch out for us and escort us to one of his tables, as he knew he would receive a good tip!!

[lurkernomore]

Thank you for a great email. With two sons (17 and 21) working and in sports, dinner at home is often a 13 by 9 pan of America Chop Suey. When I told "the Kids" about an open dining option, to my surprise, they were bummed. They both stressed how much they enjoyed the formal dinners. They had a lot of free time on our last cruise, but we always had dinner in the dining room.

I am actually having a hard time convincing them to do dinner in the Windjammer when we leave out of San Juan in December. I want to enjoy the ship leaving port...

[johno95]

I am not sure why "freestyle dining", as you call it, offends you. Just say you don't like it. But offensive?

 

And I don't know why you have to list all your reasons, and wax poetic about coming home each evening, knowing you are amongst friends, etc. yada yada. Just say you prefer the assigned seating.

 

You remind me of myself. I take every opportunity to make others sound foolish.

 

Like now.

 

That's what you're doing with RCCL. It wasn't enough for you to reply privately.

 

I find that offensive.

 

Hello-

 

I must stress that adding a "Freestyle Dining" type of

option is very offensive to me. I feel that you have an

option of open dining in the Windjammer.

[CookieMonster]

 

That's what you're doing with RCCL. It wasn't enough for you to reply privately.

 

I find that offensive.

 

I am sorry you do. If I honestly felt that replying to the letter

would get my views to the people at RCI that mattered, I never

would have posted.

 

But I do know that those people watch these boards, and while they

are not bound by the opinions expressed here, they do take them in

to account.

 

Making RCI look foolish is anything but my aim. I have a huge investment

in them. They are my cruise line of choice, I have 3 cruises booked in

the last half of this year. One of them is a group of 10 people in Suites.

 

I spent 10 minutes on the phone with RCI when they called. They called

me at home. I explained what I thought of the freestyle dining, and that

I did not want to participate. I asked that they note my preference and

not contact me regarding the open seating in the future.....

 

Yet today another e-mail, so after much thought, I realized that if talking

to a person does nothing, what good will sending an e-mail do. A canned

response thanking me for my views?

Thus the open letter.

 

Sorry to have offended you, and especially sorry to have made

RCI look foolish to you.

Brian

[heatherb1958]

I agree 100% with the OP.

 

We have been very fortunate to have met some wonderful tablemates on our RCI cruises. The first evening is generally introductions and finding out which country you have travelled from and what you may or may not have in common. By the end of the week we have made new friends who we continue to correspond with and have even met up with again. Open dining would be like ground hog day.:eek: and some ships are that big you may not even bump into the one person you got along with!:(

We have participated in the celebrations of others while on RCI cruises, A wonderful 50th Wedding anniversary, an engagement plus others. This would not have happened with 'anytime dining'.

We have done one Princess cruise, enough said.

[hylasgirl]

Some of us don't need to try it to see if we like it... that's is a statement that I am getting so sick of hearing... (sorry) I have that form of dining here at home. I second the opinion of the OP. Why do they try to do something that other cruise lines are doing when they clearly need to stand apart???

 

And why would anyone respond if they find your statement offensive??? That is what these boards are for... to voice your concerns, opinions, etc. It amazes me every day how many people find time to respond to things on this board in a negative way. If you don't agree with it... or you don't really have anything to add... move along! And go try NCL... they will give you as much Freestyle'ing as you would like! The last thing RCCL should be doing is trying to be more like NCL!!!

 

Anyway... I thought it was a very good letter... and one that pointed out importantances that I hadn't even thought of. I would agree that it would be very important to you to have the same wait staff every night. I think the dining part of all of my cruises is as much fun as the ports themselves, and I am sorry... I don't think you make lasting relationships with people with one night on a cruise when you get seated together.

 

They should take their lunch crowd in the dining room as an example... hardly anyone eats in the dining room at lunch. AND for this very reason. My husband and I went in there once on the last cruise, and it will most likely be the last time... we wanted to sit just the two of us, but we got seated by this horrible man that gave the waiter such a hard time. We were totally embarrassed. I don't need the uncertainty of who I am going to end up with every night. For those that like that... I offer the Windjammer also!

[Wild Bill]

We were asked to give our opinions on this a couple years ago, while on a cruise, and I also said we prefer the same table, same waiters. I like them to know my preferences, and have my beverage waiting for me, or know I like my coffee with dessert, and not have to wait until I am ready to leave the dining room, to get it. I don't like to make small talk with strangers, so I prefer the same table mates.

I wouldn't be opposed to them having a dining area for others to choose freestyle, such as one floor of the dining room for freestyle, and the other two floors for traditional. I also like the "4 dining times" option, as on some other lines. One floor at 5:45, the next floor at 6:15 then the 8:00 and 8:45 seating. A little more dining time options, but still traditional.

Kathy

[heatherb1958]

I met a family earlier this year who are going on their first cruise with P&O on Ventura next year. She knew I had cruised and asked me about the dining experiences . She then went on to tell me that the P&O ship was introducing 'anytime dining' and in the next breath told me her son had food allergies ( peanut). Alarm bells rang straight away with me, she would have to explain EVERY night to her servers about her son's allergy etc. etc. Again, Groundhog day!!! I advised traditional dining maybe better for her family for a stress free dining experience:) .

[dmpuszcz]

I'm with Brian on this one. Some of our best memories are of the wait staff. On our first cruise our whole family got to know them quite well and really enjoyed learning all about them and their families. That doesn't happen with one visit.

 

The following year we were on the same cruise ship and met up with our waiter and he recognized us (and vice versa) immediately.

[Janice M]

I too, agree with you Brian. Eating in the dining room at the assigned time and getting to know our table mates in one of my favorite things about cruising.

 

Jan

[CookieMonster]

The following year we were on the same cruise ship and met up with our waiter and he recognized us (and vice versa) immediately.

 

I know the feeling!

 

I was amazed when on the Serenade, 2.5 years after cruising on her

two of our favorite barmen picked us out of the crowd in a busy room.

 

Its experiences like this that keep me coming back.

 

I am going out this Sunday on Mariner and part of the fun will be seeing

who if anyone from our past onboard.

 

Brian

[MGilly]

Brian, have you been to our roll call thread? We are sailing on the Mariner this Sunday, also, and we've got a great group of people ready for that Meet and Mingle onboard. Join us!