Cruise ship dining, at least on more casual family cruise lines including Royal Caribbean and Carnival Cruise Line, has gotten less formal over the years. It was a slow evolution that happened as passengers became less enthralled with the idea of wearing tuxedos, suits, and cocktail dresses for a two-hour dinner.
Currently, both Royal Caribbean (RCL) and Carnival offer a sort of variation of the traditional formal cruise ship dinner. The two cruise lines offer two seating times per night where passengers will have the same table and the same waitstaff taking care of them.
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Having the same waiters each night has long been an important part of the dining experience. After the first night, your service team knows some of your preferences, and the dining experience gets more personal. Maybe it's something like your son wanting extra rolls while grandma likes her glass of wine waiting for her, a set dining time allows your waiters and waitresses to cater to your desires.
Royal Caribbean and Carnival also both offer flexible "any time" seating. That's an option where passengers can dine during a window of a few hours. You may have to wait in line and you don't have the same waitstaff each night, but you have more flexibility to not be tied to an early or late seating for an entire cruise.
In many cases, passengers find early dining (usually 5 or 5:30) too early and late dining (7 or 7:30 depending upon the ship) too late. They like being able to pick a time in the middle, so they're not eating super early but also not missing out on nighttime entertainment.
Many passengers, however, don't like having different waiters and sitting at different tables each night, but want a time more in the middle. That's a problem the cruise line plans to solve, according to an exclusive report from Matt Hochberg of the Royal Caribbean blog.
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Royal Caribbean adding a third fixed dining time
Royal Caribbean Blog, which is not affiliated with the cruise line, spoke to Royal Caribbean Senior Vice President of Food & Beverage Linken D'Souza about the addition of a third dining time. He told Hochberg that the decision to make the change came after listening to feedback from passengers.
"We're just trying to create more convenience, variety, and options for our guests," he said.
The exact time for the third seating will vary based on the ship and further guest feedback. It will be somewhere between 6:30 p.m. and 7:45 p.m.
Royal Caribbean has tested the new dining time on Wonder of the Seas and Icon of the Seas, its two newest ships. D'Souza told Hochberg that the change would be rolled out slowly across the fleet with it being fully deployed by the end of the year.
D'Souza made it very clear that adding a third time was an idea driven by passengers wanting to have the same waiters each night but not having to eat early or late.
Royal Caribbean adds new restaurants
Icon of the Seas, the cruise line's first Icon-class ship, features a number of new restaurant concepts and some changes for some popular passenger favorites. Izumi, for example, the popular sushi and hibachi restaurant has moved to Central Park and added a walk-up counter that sells sushi as well as new soft-serve bubble cones.
The new ship also includes an enhanced version of the Cafe Promenade at the Pearl Cafe, a coffee shop, and a snack/light meal spot located inside the brand new "Pearl." Royal Caribbean has also added its take on a European Food Hall, the AquaDome Marketplace to its newest ship.
That was an important addition because it gives the world's largest cruise ships some added free dining choices aside from Pearl Cafe and Sorrento's after the Windjammer Buffet closes for the night.
AquaDome Marketplace offers five food stands. They include Creme de la Crepe which offers sweet crepes, Feta Mediterranean, Mac's, a macaroni and cheese eatery, GNGR, which serves up Chinese, and Toast and Garden, a sandwich shop.
