Dawn Menus -New, Revised, Final

[luddite]

Dancin', how was the reaction from other pax? Were they just resigned to it? Maybe ecstatic? Or maybe the best review of all "Its not so bad, I found something to eat."?

You mentioned the entrees. Were there any daily special appetizers/soups?

Were the lunch menus in the dining rooms also static?

 

I hafta agree with the poster regarding a regression to Freestyle 1.5.

Maybe the next version will include big TVs in the dining room, so as to help keeps patrons mind off of the food.:rolleyes:

[snorklinbarb]

Dancin',

Thanks for coming back & clarifying. I knew they recently went from offering 1 daily special to having 3 entrees (plus more appetizers & desserts). I wasn't even thinking about the soup, too.

 

I'm sure NCL will be hearing lots of feedback, especially as these get rolled out.

I've looked through day by day and really find enough variety, but I haven't yet experienced them. For a longer cruise, would hope they would add a couple more specials just to keep it interesting.

 

I actually like that lobster tail night doesn't conflict with some other things like rack of lamb like it used to. In fact, I envision going to the DR a little more often + mix it up with the specialties. I'm happy to see lamb shanks (never had that before on NCL) + the braised short ribs and just hope the recipes render good results.;)

 

PE, I doubt there will be any formal announcement about this. It really seems to be much more than a rumor.;)

 

Can't wait to read more feedback. Do wish they would bring back the escargots. Did either of you try the shrimp scampi or do they call it baked shrimp? Initial reports here were very favorable.

 

Not sure what NCL can do now to win back your loyalty since it really does seem to be a deal breaker for you. Hope you find another line that will do a better job.:)

[CanadianTwosome]

I still wholeheartedly believe that it's not the static nature of the new menus that is the problem; it's the fare. Sure, people have been complaining about the lack of variety since the discussion started, but a great many of those people have also noted particular items that seemed 'missing', like chilled soups. If the items on the menu are appealing, choosing seven meals from 26 (5 static + 3x7 changing) options is plenty of variety (in my opinion).

 

I think that EVERYONE who feels negatively about the idea of this menu being implemented fleet wide - or even staying on the Dawn - should write to NCL. Do they read these boards? Maybe... probably... but the recent bar set up situation seems to indicate that the definitely read the mail/email they receive. :)

[dancintomusic]

Ecstatic? LOL! Yes, there were appetizer and soup specials.

 

The thing is, once you have the meals that appeal to you from the static menu, you don’t want to look at that menu any longer. So all you have are the specials to choose from on the rest of the days. If you don’t want vegetarian, don’t like lamb, and maybe already had seafood or fish for lunch so don’t want it for dinner, then you have to leave the specials menu and go back to the static menu and see if there is something that would be okay on that day, for instance. In our case, since we had five people, every item on the static menu was ordered during the cruise, and we all ‘tasted’ each other’s entrees. So it was not long before we all knew which items we did not care to order on the static menus (very helpful as we did not end up with entrees we did not care for).

 

The Garden Café had more people eating dinner in it than I have ever seen before, especially toward the end of the cruise. I heard no ecstatic comments about the menu from anyone at all. In our group, the tilapia entrée, the chicken and shrimp curry, and the lobster entrees were hits (but not the slices of ‘steak’ that came with it when surf and turf was requested on lobster night; the ‘turf’ was more like sliced roast beef cooked medium, which was really weird to have with lobster, IMO. It did not go together at all, and neither of us ate more than a few bites of the ‘turf’ even though we are ‘steak’ lovers). I suggest that if you want surf and turf on lobster night, specify that you want a sirloin steak. The sirloin steaks were the size of the average strip steak, but were not browned well—the ones served to our table were grey on the outside (ordered by different members on different nights). They tasted fine, though. From other passengers, I heard many complaints about the lack of flavor and the consistency of the fruit soups, which were served in the GC. I heard many discussions about the lack of escargot and how there was no simple garden salad available every night.

 

One member of our group said that it seemed like she could find one entrée that appealed at least somewhat to her from the combination of the daily and static menu almost every night, but she missed feeling like, “Oh boy, these all look so good! I just can’t decide what to have!” In other words, a lot of times, she ‘settled’ on an entrée. The desserts were, for the most part, disappointing, and comments were made about them tasting bland and like ‘boxed’ mixes. The best dessert any of us had was in the Salsa restaurant, which was ice cream with apple cinnamon and crumb cake mixed in.

 

Lunch menus were static; we did not see any specials at all and were told by our server on the second day of our cruise that the menu was static and that there would be no lunch specials at all during our cruise. (But the reception clerk told me there would be one special every day.) I can’t add much information as we only had lunch in the MDR twice. We ate lunch in the Blue Lagoon once, and on land the rest of the days. In the Blue Lagoon, 2 of our group had the chicken wings after the show one night, and then again another time, and both said they were the best wings they had ever had. The won ton soup was not good; it tasted like fishy to my husband and me, and we didn’t take more than a few spoons of it. The hot dogs were good, but were served plain, and onions were not offered; order them with onions so that you don’t have to go up to the counter and ask for onions while your hot dog sits on the table cooling off. Ask for fries, or you will get potato chips.

 

Cappuccino was available and free in the MDR, but it was never available in the Garden Café. If you wanted it, you had to go to the Coffee Bar and pay the charge.

 

One complaint I heard over and over was that people had booked their cruise because it was advertised as having lobster available in some form every night, but in truth, it was only served once—people were really upset about that and said they felt tricked. It is my impression that NCL lost the loyalty of many passengers on my cruise because of that.

 

 

Snorklin'barb, yes, I had the baked shrimp appetizer. It is not scampi. It is tiny salad shrimp, served in an oven-to-table escargot ramekin, one little shrimp per slot. The flavor is garlicky and delicious. As you can imagine, there is not much at all, so think about ordering two of them, or many one baked shrimp appetizer and another kind of appetizer. (We are not big eaters, lol, and in fact, none one of us gained weight on our cruise, and I actually came back down a pound and a half. We did walk an awful lot in the ports, though. Nevertheless, this is the first cruise we have ever taken where neither my husband nor I gained weight.)

[amy417]

Maybe I missed it but did anyone mention when this would roll out fleetwide?

[terrymtex01]

It does seem like this decision will drive folks to other cruiselines who food is a major part of their cruise experience. I really do wonder if NCL knows this. And if they do, have they decided that the business they lose will be justified by the savings the are getting with the static menus? I do know that based on the menus we have seen they are actually losing money with us as we will eat more in the main dining room. We normally plan to eat in specialty restaurants about 75% of the time on any given cruise. We have a 14 day cruise coming up and we are only planning to eat in the specialty restaurants 4 nights due to the posted static menus. I think all around it is a tough sale for me that this will benefit NCL, but who am I?

[luddite]

It does seem like this decision will drive folks to other cruiselines who food is a major part of their cruise experience. I really do wonder if NCL knows this. And if they do, have they decided that the business they lose will be justified by the savings the are getting with the static menus? I do know that based on the menus we have seen they are actually losing money with us as we will eat more in the main dining room. We normally plan to eat in specialty restaurants about 75% of the time on any given cruise. We have a 14 day cruise coming up and we are only planning to eat in the specialty restaurants 4 nights due to the posted static menus. I think all around it is a tough sale for me that this will benefit NCL, but who am I?

 

I think you're a guy who's gonna change dinner plans on a 14 day trip with those menus. Life's too short to bored by food.

[AuntieBarb]

I care! Since my very first cruise many years ago the food was part of the cruise experience. You are correct, no one will go hungry, but at home at don't eat at the local diner because that is the same type of food I can make at home. Cruise food is suppose to have a flair - be special - something out of the ordinary to enjoy and talk about.....JMO.

 

By "international flair", I meant cuisine with names and/or spices not considered palatable to ordinary people in the American market.

 

Oh the moans and groans we heard here when NCL abandoned the old, more traditional menus years ago. Now it sounds like the "other half" are doing much of the same. They can't please everyone, but I'm sure they are trying to please a broad spectrum of people, including families with children.

 

We've had no complaints about our dining experience with NCL over the years and I highly doubt we will now. There is plenty of variety, in addition to specialty restaurants, that we will NOT be bored....and still not step foot in the Garden Cafe except for a quick breakfast @ port.

 

Food is subjective. To each their own. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. :p

[njhorseman]

This is unfortunate. Now the difference between NCL's menu and your local diner's is that the diner has a selection many times larger.

 

I eat at diners often at home. I don't care to while I'm on a cruise ship. I used to look forward to having numerous dishes I couldn't make myself or couldn't get at the local diner.

 

Dinner on a cruise ship used to be something special. It doesn't appear to be any longer on NCL.

[luddite]

This is unfortunate. Now the difference between NCL's menu and your local diner's is that the diner has a selection many times larger.

 

I eat at diners often at home. I don't care to while I'm on a cruise ship. I used to look forward to having numerous dishes I couldn't make myself or couldn't get at the local diner.

 

Dinner on a cruise ship used to be something special. It doesn't appear to be any longer on NCL.

 

That sums it up.

Its always been 'what do I really want?'

These menus are more like 'what am I willing to settle for?'

[hat776]

Some one mentioned that they couldn't have capuccino in the GC. Most of the machines do serve capuccino - and it wasn't bad.

I feel that many of us could find something we like every evening in the MDR - however if there was a poll I am sure that there would be an overwhelming vote in favour of not introducing the new system of static menus.

[dancintomusic]

Sorry, double post.

[dancintomusic]

There were no machines in the Garden Cafe on the Dawn that served cappuccino on the 9/6/09 N/E cruise. We did not find any dual coffee/cappuccino machines in there on either side of the venue, and when we asked a staff member where they were, we were told that cappuccino was available only in the MDRs for free and in the Coffee Bar for a charge.

 

When we were on the Jade in the Mediterranean last year, there were coffee machines in the GC that served cappuccino, however.

[Planer's Edge]

This is unfortunate. Now the difference between NCL's menu and your local diner's is that the diner has a selection many times larger.

 

I eat at diners often at home. I don't care to while I'm on a cruise ship. I used to look forward to having numerous dishes I couldn't make myself or couldn't get at the local diner.

 

Dinner on a cruise ship used to be something special. It doesn't appear to be any longer on NCL.

 

That sums it up.

Its always been 'what do I really want?'

These menus are more like 'what am I willing to settle for?'

 

I guess this means we will never meet on an NCL cruise. So Sad.:rolleyes:

 

PE

[H82seaUgo]

if there was a poll I am sure that there would be an overwhelming vote in favour of not introducing the new system of static menus.

 

Already done:

 

68% said they didn't like it.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1047221&highlight=

[VonChap]

In my opinion, I think that the static menu on the Dawn's menu is a lot better than the current static menu choices. I do think that the daily chef specials could use some additional work.

 

I am allergic to Gluten and would have the chilled soups for dessert when the nightly menu did not have a gluten free dessert. Ice cream is always available, but I get tired of ice cream every night. So, I hope they change their mind and bring back the chilled soups to the MDR.

 

I am also very sad to see that the chocolate moulton cake is no longer on any of the menus. That was the one NCL dessert (in the MDR) that was chocolate and was gluten free--besides ice cream. :mad: Plus, I think that a lot of guests liked this dessert.

 

We arent too upset about the menus as we always plan and budget to eat in the specialty restaurants too. There were certain nights that we always planned to eat in the MDR due to the menu and I dont really see a "dont miss" night on the sample Dawn menu.

 

I think that NCL does read these boards, and I know that they read our emails and our letters. Hopefully, they are reading this post...

[jaja]

As an FYI----I did send Hugo a link to this thread..when I first posted the menus---he was aware of the many rumors flying (esp. with all the revisions)...and I did tell him I was posting the photos for all to see..

[luddite]

I guess this means we will never meet on an NCL cruise. So Sad.:rolleyes:

 

PE

 

Well, there's that.

I was really looking forward to seeing yer old jeans and new NASCAR shirt at formal night.

[Planer's Edge]

Well, there's that.

I was really looking forward to seeing yer old jeans and new NASCAR shirt at formal night.

 

Well, if that is what you require people wear in your presence, I guess I could dress down to your level.

 

PE

[snorklinbarb]

Well, there's that.

I was really looking forward to seeing yer old jeans and new NASCAR shirt at formal night.

 

luddite,

You couldn't be further off the mark with this one.:eek:

 

Though I've never met PE, his reputation as a fashion plate along with that of his lovely wife first came to CC'ers attention years ago when pictures of the first FOMT cruise were released.:D;):D

 

Subsequent cruise pictures did nothing to tarnish this.

 

You should really do a webshots search and see for yourself.:rolleyes:

[missdenise]

This is unfortunate. Now the difference between NCL's menu and your local diner's is that the diner has a selection many times larger.

 

I eat at diners often at home. I don't care to while I'm on a cruise ship. I used to look forward to having numerous dishes I couldn't make myself or couldn't get at the local diner.

 

Dinner on a cruise ship used to be something special. It doesn't appear to be any longer on NCL.

 

 

AGREE!!! Where is the something special?

[terrymtex01]

Well' date=' if that is what you require people wear in your presence, I guess I could dress down to your level. [/color']

 

PE

 

Don't worry PE.. I very much look forward to meeting you soon and I could careless if you are dressed up or dressed down.. 8-)

[Planer's Edge]

I too am looking forward to meeting you and Doug.

 

PE

 

P.S. Thank you Barb.

[MrLee]

Don't worry PE.. I very much look forward to meeting you soon and I could careless if you are dressed up or dressed down.. 8-)

 

I've never seen PE gamble but his lovely better half does, so he'll be around the casino occassionally. Since you and I kinda like it there, I'm sure we'll get a chance to have a drink together. :D

[mers416]

Thanks for posting the pixs of the menus. I wanted to take pictures but I didn't want to get into trouble.

For all the nights that I did eat in the main dinning rooms the food was really good. We ate at the Mexican restaurant as well.