Dynamic Dining options for Quantum class cruise ships

I know by now you should all know about the new dining options on Royal Caribbeans Quantum class ships, this is the first time I have had chance to talk about this new concept, which I totally love and think it is the way forward. It gives all guests freedom of choice and having experienced this last year when I travelled on Norwegian Cruise Line I am all for this.

So The two biggest pieces of news were that Jamie Oliver would have a restaurant aboard, (Jamie’s Italian), and that – at least on the Quantum class of ship – Royal Caribbean would be doing away with traditional dining of an evening.

For those that don’t know, the majority of cruise lines offer traditional dining options involving a first and second seating in the main dining room. Usually at either 6:30 or 8:30pm although times can vary from ship to ship).

This new dining option gives you more  control and enables guests to dine in whatever restaurant they wanted; at whatever time they wanted, with whoever they wanted.

Dynamic Dining, guests will have a choice of five free restaurants of an evening:

• American Icon Grill – This will be a New Orleans type restaurant offering up gumbo, fried chicken and the like.
• Chic – Slightly more up market this will offer guests choices along the lines of rib-eye, lamb chops and sea-bass.
• Silk – With pan-Asian flavours cruisers in Silk will be able to enjoy lamb curry, ginger and sesame crusted tuna, teriyaki steak and many other modern fusion dishes.
• Grande – A more traditional, formal venue Grande will offer up servings along the lines of  beef wellington, chicken a l’orange and roasted scallops
• Coastal Kitchen – This will only be available to suite guests but anyone dining in here will be able to enjoy sea bass ceviche, Serrano ham or goats cheese and will once again be slightly more formal than the other venues.

Guests can also dine in the below at a charge

The new specialty restaurants include

• Wonderland, an elaborate feast for the senses in a setting where Royal Caribbean chefs twist their culinary kaleidoscopes to invent a dreamscape of never-before-seen fare
• Jamie’s Italian, featuring rustic Italian favorites, handmade – using seasonal ingredients and Jamie’s tried-and-tested crowd pleasers
• Michael’s Genuine Pub, the first American gastropub at sea and the next evolution of Royal Caribbean’s relationship with James Beard Award-winning chef Michael Schwartz, offering simply-prepared food and drinks made with quality ingredients from the best artisanal producers
• Devinly Decadence at Solarium Bistro, Royal Caribbean’s fittest dining destination, serving the foods you love all under five-hundred calories, designed by Devin Alexander, media personality, New York Times bestselling author and chef of highly-rated television show, “The Biggest Loser”.

I think by changing the dining options it gives an appeal to younger generation of Cruises and gives everyone more freedom, I personally love the idea and think more cruise lines should follow suit, how do you feel or should cruise lines stick with the more traditional dining concept of 1^st or 2^nd sitting.