Something Important… Yummy Cruise Food Questions

I’ve yet to be on a HAL cruise where the Lido did. It have the same food as the MDR plus more choices. So if there is a gala night with lobster tails on your 4 day cruise, based on my experience, there will be the same in the Lido. We’ve been on 3-7 day cruises so far, with 2 gala nights each time.

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I agree that the fries were probably the best food we had on the trip and the only food we had I would rate above other lines. The burgers and hot dogs were ok, but nothing special like the fries.

 

 

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Absolutely. Burgers and dogs are fine, but the fries are the kicker.

We've only done one Hal, Koningsdam a few weeks ago. Have done some CCL, an NCL, an RCI.

MDR service was extremely slow, food seemed to be on a par with the others, although the bread brought to the table was never warm.

The Lido was excellent (aside from annoyance that one side and/or certain parts of it were often closed, it doesn't always run at full throttle). Some of the sort of 'tucked away' things at the Distant Land section were particularly good (tandori chicken, Indian curries, etc.). Since MDR was so slow, we did maybe 3 dinners at the Lido.

The bread section is indeed excellent. I don't recall any 'slouches' on the lido.

Only had one burger, thought it was good (probably still a preference toward Guy's burger). Had one hotdog, it was good (Nathan's iirc). Pizza was not as good as that on Carnival, imo. CCL cheese pizza has blobs of that good quality buffalo-type mozzarella, whereas on Hal it's more of a "kiddie style'' cheese pizza. It's kind of interesting how CCL cooks the Guy burgers in huge batches, whereas on Hal it's one order at a time, get a buzzer, wait 10-15 minutes.

I also got a couple of lox and creamcheese on an everything bagel from the pizza place for breakfast. Not the best bagel in the world, but it hit the spot. Be sure to ask for double meat/lox if you order from the pizza place, as they tend to skimp on it.

Lido will serve at least some of the same entrees as the MDR for dinner. And you can check the menus for both venues ahead of time - menus are posted in Lido aft, and outside the MDR on both levels. I think that some entrees are not amenable to the buffet type of service in Lido.

Lido does not ever serve the cold soup selection of the day that you will find in the MDR.

Lido only serves a limited version of the appetizers (starters) and salad selections (plated in those little square plastic dishes) that you will find on the MDR menu. The salad bar where you request each item that you want is the main salad in the Lido for dinner.

Desserts may have one of the main MDR selections, plus other selections, plus ice cream.

It's just different. If you want the MDR selections either eat in the MDR or order it from room service. We usually compared menus and maybe also took a walk through the Lido before we decided where we wanted to eat that night. We were on Open Dining so we could go to the MDR whenever we chose it.

As for specialty dining... we've not too enamored with it. We've had some excellent meals in Pinnacle Grill, but too much food for us, . The steaks are the most reliable menu items IMO. Neither one of us cares for the sides, we both like the starters, and DH loves the volcano cake, not I so much, I'd rather have a simple dish of ice cream. The coffee is excellent! With our discount it's ok, but we wouldn't pay the full price. We've really enjoyed it when we've been in port very late or overnight, at which times we've noticed the MDR menu is less to our liking.

We're not into the Asian food of Tamarind so didn't try it the one time we were on a ship with it.

We tried Canelletto when it was free and didin't think it was worth it then except for the desserts! Haven't gone back - don't care for the menu although i check it out on every ship. .

So it's all very subjective. And food isn't the only consideration, the ambiance is part of the choice too! Enjoy your cruise, and I hope you get to come back for a longer one! m--

Your questions are discussed in this thread: link

 

I've never been on a HAL cruise that short, so can't address from personal experience. If it's on the menu at the MDR, there is a chance it will also be in the Lido.

Thank you. That's a thread that I was referring too :)

Lido will serve at least some of the same entrees as the MDR for dinner. And you can check the menus for both venues ahead of time - menus are posted in Lido aft, and outside the MDR on both levels. I think that some entrees are not amenable to the buffet type of service in Lido.

Lido does not ever serve the cold soup selection of the day that you will find in the MDR.

Lido only serves a limited version of the appetizers (starters) and salad selections (plated in those little square plastic dishes) that you will find on the MDR menu. The salad bar where you request each item that you want is the main salad in the Lido for dinner.

Desserts may have one of the main MDR selections, plus other selections, plus ice cream.

It's just different. If you want the MDR selections either eat in the MDR or order it from room service. We usually compared menus and maybe also took a walk through the Lido before we decided where we wanted to eat that night. We were on Open Dining so we could go to the MDR whenever we chose it.

As for specialty dining... we've not too enamored with it. We've had some excellent meals in Pinnacle Grill, but too much food for us, . The steaks are the most reliable menu items IMO. Neither one of us cares for the sides, we both like the starters, and DH loves the volcano cake, not I so much, I'd rather have a simple dish of ice cream. The coffee is excellent! With our discount it's ok, but we wouldn't pay the full price. We've really enjoyed it when we've been in port very late or overnight, at which times we've noticed the MDR menu is less to our liking.

We're not into the Asian food of Tamarind so didn't try it the one time we were on a ship with it.

We tried Canelletto when it was free and didin't think it was worth it then except for the desserts! Haven't gone back - don't care for the menu although i check it out on every ship. .

So it's all very subjective. And food isn't the only consideration, the ambiance is part of the choice too! Enjoy your cruise, and I hope you get to come back for a longer one! m--

Thank you so much for taking the time to write this out for me. I really do appreciate this. We are very excited for our cruise and we chose this shorter cruise for the itinerary and also because we will not be away from home/work as long. Very excited to try HAL!

We've only done one Hal, Koningsdam a few weeks ago. Have done some CCL, an NCL, an RCI.

 

MDR service was extremely slow, food seemed to be on a par with the others, although the bread brought to the table was never warm.

 

The Lido was excellent (aside from annoyance that one side and/or certain parts of it were often closed, it doesn't always run at full throttle). Some of the sort of 'tucked away' things at the Distant Land section were particularly good (tandori chicken, Indian curries, etc.). Since MDR was so slow, we did maybe 3 dinners at the Lido.

 

The bread section is indeed excellent. I don't recall any 'slouches' on the lido.

 

Only had one burger, thought it was good (probably still a preference toward Guy's burger). Had one hotdog, it was good (Nathan's iirc). Pizza was not as good as that on Carnival, imo. CCL cheese pizza has blobs of that good quality buffalo-type mozzarella, whereas on Hal it's more of a "kiddie style'' cheese pizza. It's kind of interesting how CCL cooks the Guy burgers in huge batches, whereas on Hal it's one order at a time, get a buzzer, wait 10-15 minutes.

 

I also got a couple of lox and creamcheese on an everything bagel from the pizza place for breakfast. Not the best bagel in the world, but it hit the spot. Be sure to ask for double meat/lox if you order from the pizza place, as they tend to skimp on it.

Thank you. The food sounds good. I would like to try the tandoori chicken and the Dive In Burgers.

This is the question we always ask each other when we try a new line or anything for that matter. Would you book with them again? What do you think?

Regarding Dive In Burgers, unlike other cruise lines they have a delicious vegetarian option.

Thank you. The food sounds good. I would like to try the tandoori chicken and the Dive In Burgers.

 

This is the question we always ask each other when we try a new line or anything for that matter. Would you book with them again? What do you think?

We have two kids (12, 9) and we had an anti-HAL bias, but over new year's there were a good number of kids and young people in general (which was good to see). Younger child enjoyed the kids club. We had two adjacent inside rooms, which were nice, the showers worked great. Food was overall really strong (MDR portions did seem a tad small, but we didn't starve).

Certainly over a school break, we'd consider Hal again. Normally, there are almost no kids on board, but not the case for our cruise.

Just FYI, if the portions in the MDR seem small, you can always ask for more..:D

Just FYI, if the portions in the MDR seem small, you can always ask for more..:D

True. One night (maybe the formal night?) I got steak and asked if they could add on the grilled shrimp (which were on menu as part of another entree). They were generous enough to add on two shrimp.

Wife got the duck and it was like 2 or 3 slices, not a full duck breast.

But overall, we ate plenty.

Sailed the Eurodam this past September.

Thought the MDR food was good. The Wild Harvest salad bar and Distant Lands section of the Lido Buffet was very good. Thought the Dive In was just OK, though

Tamarind was the highlight of our dining experience on her

We have had the opportunity to cruise a "few" times on four different cruise lines. The very best ever cruise was our first in 1994 on Norwegian's SS Norway, long since gone from the fleet. Best food, best service and massive midnight buffets! We realize we have compared every cruise since to that one, and you just cannot do it! I'm reading so many negatives, then so many positives - people are right - it's all subjective. I have heard how one specific cruise line is so fantastic, yet, I see the food sometimes gets poor reviews! Oh well.....

Here are some tidbits I just found today on CC, that just might help, I especially find #2 and #9 to have enlightening to me. (I remember reading someone said, get the seafood on the ship, it's fresh - well, maybe not!)

https://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=2688

I remember reading someone said, get the seafood on the ship, it's fresh - well, maybe not!

It's like anything or anywhere else. On land I look askance at "fresh" seafood in say Kansas -- farmed catfish, maybe; Pacific Salmon or Atlantic mussels, no. It depends on where you are and what they're serving. Louisiana crawfish will be in Louisiana, but not Michigan.

It they are serving lobster on the Canada/New England itineraries, I would expect it to be Maine (or Nova Scotian) lobster, and I'd expect it to be fresh. On those itineraries, I would be disappointed to see a spiny Caribbean lobster and would not expect that it was fresh, especially since I have ben on those itineraries and come back from Bar Harbor with the fresh lobsters for dinner that night. Similarly, in the Caribbean, I would be surprised of the lobster served is "fresh" Maine lobster, I would expect spiny warm water lobster. I have been coming back ashore in Caribbean ports and seen them loading fresh fish for the menu that night.

ellieanne.... I so hope there is fresh Alaska salmon and crab legs on our cruise! ❤️