multiple entrees, appetizers, desserts, etc.

[doak]

I keep seeing it referred to that one can order more than one appetizer, entree, or whatever. This is news to me. How does one do that? They just tell the waiter when the order is taken "oh bring me two of those escargots"?

 

And don't your table mates look at you like you're being a glutton?

 

I'd love to do it, but I think I'd be embarassed.

[WriterOnDeck]

I keep seeing it referred to that one can order more than one appetizer, entree, or whatever. This is news to me. How does one do that? They just tell the waiter when the order is taken "oh bring me two of those escargots"?

 

And don't your table mates look at you like you're being a glutton?

 

I'd love to do it, but I think I'd be embarassed.

 

I did just that on the cruise I just took. Not at every mean by any means, tho! but when we had escargot, I ordered two orders, and then skipped the soup or salad.

 

What did others at the table think? that it was a good idea, so they did the same! The waiter took it all in stride, as I'm sure he's seen it and everything.

 

On lobster night I and others ordered the steak with one lobster tail (rather than the two...).

 

Do what you want!

[Cotton]

Since you didn't mention which cruiseline you'll be on, and they may vary, I'll tell you about Carnival.

 

Most people order one of something, and if they'd like another, the waiter will bring it - no prob. However, I have seen people order two appetizers, and on 'lobster night', lobster and prime rib. The waiters are quite used to that, but I think they prefer to bring one entree at a time. (I'm a petite female, but I always have two lobster tail entrees....can't resist....but I order only one at a time.) I often skip dessert and have espresso instead, but I've seen tablemates order 2 and even 3 desserts!

[safein]

I've seen 2 instances where 2 entrees/dessert were ordered at one sitting.

 

On our first cruise on the Horizon, we had an open seating for dinner. We were seated with 4 other couples, that included 2 couples (A & B)who weretravelling together. We ordered our meals with one per person. Dessert was another story. As the waiter asked the table what they wanted for dessert, everybody gave their order. However, the wife of couple A said that all she wanted was an empty plate. Her husband ordered his dessert as did the husband of Couple B. The waiter nearly dropped his pen when Couple B's wife ordered one of everything! After we all stopped laughing, Couple A's wife quickly explained that she splits all of the desserts with Couple B's wife.

 

When we sailed on NCL's Sunward, we were seated at a table with a member of the CD staff and his wife while they were on their vacation. He told my husband that he better order 2 of each of the entrees. When asked why, he told my husband that the portions are too small for anyone. He was right and on the remaining nights, my husband did just that!

 

Anita

[doak]

I'll be on the Enchantment of the Seas.

 

Maybe I'll get brave, especially when the escargot is on the menu, and the lobster.

[blackbird71]

My 125lb mother normally aways order two desserts and the waiters knew to ask her what her second desert would be.

[House_Atreides]

Being diabetic I only order one of each course, but my friend on lobster night on our last cruise...ordered 6 of 'em..........hehehe! No one at the table said a word because we were all cruising together and EVERYBODY knew she'd order a lot of lobster!

I really don't look at my tablemates as gluttons; if they want to order 4 entrees, 6 desserts, whatever, hey they're on vacation and have a right to enjoy themselves!!

[ROCruiser]

We had no problem doing multiple orders on Carnival. Anything we wanted, the waiter glady brought them. I would have to let my husband know about the 6 lobsters though.:) Do anyone know if NCL Sea serve escargot at all? We'll be on the July 22 Panama cruise, hoping maybe one of the meals in those 2 weeks will have escargot.:p

[gerif]

I nearly always order two desserts, usually a dessert with an extra scoop of ice cream - hey, that's my favorite part of the meal - I'll happily skip appetizers, soups and salads! On our last cruise, I wanted to order the sea bass but didn't like the "sides" that came with it. The sides with the pork chops sounded great, though. I asked if I could have the bass with the pork chop sides. The waiter said no, but he would bring me both plates. OK, no problem - it's vacation, right? Well, he brought out the pork chop plate first - I had been warned about the lousy, dry, tough pork chops on RCCL, so wasn't going to touch them, but decided to taste just a small piece - delicious, tender, yum! By the time he came with the bass, I was no longer interested, but DH helped out:-)

[kjunea]

Best advice ever given.... Order two chocolate souffles at the same time!! If you wait and order the second one after the first, they often run out!! And I am such a chocoholic, that after the first night, the waiters bring me whatever is the chocolate dessert AND whatever I order!!

 

June

[m steve]

After seeing so many people ordering doubles or more on the menu, we sit at a table for 2 and avoid the piggies. One person bragged that they eat 13 lobster tails and other several starters, soup, salad, 2-3 mains and several deserts. I am sure that they never miss ameal and probably come back to thhe ship for lunch. Just because the food is available doesn't mean you have to eat everything on the menu.

Sometimes the firstcourse sounds better than the main and I have asked to substitute with 2 starters.

It reminds me of an old friend who worked in the Catskills in the 50s. When he presented the menu to a guest the patron ordered "yes"!

[dc-snoopy]

As you can see from my .sig, I've only done RCI.

 

On RCI, you can order any number of any item on the menu. We recently went on a cruise with a friend who was getting married on day 2. The happy couple brought 56 friends and family with them for the wedding. We were spread over 6 tables. And a the two main tables in the middle, we had several guys who got two entrees per night. I myself always got two appetizers (mostly because I consider soup a separate course, so I would get a true appetizer, a soup, a salad and an entree). One friend even got prime rib and *THREE* lobster tails on 2nd formal night. The one thing our waiter mentioned to us earlier in the week was that if we knew ahead of time that we would want multiple lobster tails to warn him the night before so that he could make sure to keep an eye on those diners and make sure to get the lobster tails ready for when we were ready for them. If we waited until that night, then there might be delays between the courses and would hold up clearing the table and dessert menus and dessert for the rest of our table.

 

As for serving, our waiter was very good and kept an eye on everyone. For those of us getting more pre-entree courses, he tried to time things as well as possible to avoid delays after one course before he would put another down. And despite having one more course than most of my table (but not always as several others would have two appetizers occasionally), the timing was always just right so that I would be getting my entree only shortly after the others. It just seemed as if I always got served my entree last when actually he was timing it so that I could get in my double appetizers.

 

I remember on one night when he overheard me talking about one entree that I particularly liked. While he was clearing plates, he asked if I wanted another. I said that I really shouldn't...and he responded that he had already set aside another plate of it and it would be a shame to waste it. I took the 2nd entree and loved it (again).

[CateW]

There is sooo much food - all those courses that I normally wouldn't even consider ordering a second anything (well except maybe another lobster tail) but on the Rotterdam last May there was a Vegeterian entree that I asked our waiter about - it sounded wonderful but I ended up ordering the snapper instead. The waiter brought over the other dish to try since I was on the fence. Even at that, I felt guility, not so much about having the 2nd entree but more about wasting it.

[House_Atreides]

We had no problem doing multiple orders on Carnival. Anything we wanted, the waiter glady brought them. I would have to let my husband know about the 6 lobsters though.:) Do anyone know if NCL Sea serve escargot at all? We'll be on the July 22 Panama cruise, hoping maybe one of the meals in those 2 weeks will have escargot.:p

 

Hi,

I can't speak for the Sea but I do know the Dream served escargot...yum! And very well prepared I might add:cool:

[lnhoney]

I found this message board before our first cruise 4 years ago and learned that we could order more than one entree. The first night of our cruise dh and I both ordered 2 entrees. Our table mates seemed a bit surprised but the next night another couple at the table also ordered two and it went from there. The night I ordered Quail I was very glad for the second entree, those things are small! It's fun to get something you know you'll like and also something you haven't tried before. Go ahead, enjoy!!:)

[ROCruiser]

Thanks, House Atreides, for the info. So looking forward to our cruise in July.

[murfandpeg]

I wonder if they would give me a gallon of that pumpkin soup????? HAHA I love that soup. Tried it because I did not know what else to order and it was delicious.

[DevBrown]

The last cruise I took was Carnival. They served steak everynight as part of their menu. My standing order was to bring me a steak nightly along with the entree I ordered. The waiter took it in stride and seemed to have a good time with it. My wife and I also ordered one each of each dessert nightly so we could try them all. Again, no problem from the waiter.

 

I also did similair on a NCL cruise I took before that. On that cruise I even asked the waiter to send a special dessert to a friend at another table as a joke. I asked to waiter to send him something "big and obnoxious". He got into the spirit of things and sent him over a bowl with 6 scoops of icecream, cookies all around the side and covered with chocolate syrup. It was awesome!

 

Its important to remember that the staff depends on your tips and they want to make you happy. Have fun with it. Part of a cruise is being able to be a glutton.

[Sigtau21]

There are times when I can decide between two entrees, I order both. It has never been a problem. I have seen others do it as well. Do what you want, who cares what others think.

[Cotton]

After seeing so many people ordering doubles or more on the menu, we sit at a table for 2 and avoid the piggies. One person bragged that they eat 13 lobster tails and other several starters, soup, salad, 2-3 mains and several deserts. I am sure that they never miss ameal and probably come back to thhe ship for lunch. Just because the food is available doesn't mean you have to eat everything on the menu.

Sometimes the firstcourse sounds better than the main and I have asked to substitute with 2 starters.

It reminds me of an old friend who worked in the Catskills in the 50s. When he presented the menu to a guest the patron ordered "yes"!

 

AMEN! I don't know what it is about cruising that turns some (certainly not all) folks into acting as if it's their last meal. The "it's paid for, eat it all" mentality....:rolleyes: But- to each her/his own.

[pookie9922]

DH and I have only taken one cruise but I think we have this eating thing down pretty good. After we discovered that the meals were small we took to ordering multiples of everything. I think, though, that on our cruise they limited the number of lobsters you could order, but maybe I'm remembering that wrong.

By the end of the week we had pre-lunch and post-lunch lunches and pre-dinner and post-dinner dinners at the buffets. I also found myself waking up in the middle of the night to find DH missing! -- only to have him come in about 10 minutes later with a piece of pizza in one hand and a sandwich in the other.

I have to admit, though, that we did eat so much a few times that we regretted it a bit. But we figured we payed for all-you-can-eat and we were going to eat our money's worth - all we could.

The only thing we didn't go for was the midnight buffet and dessert. We stood in line so long to see the darn thing, we had very little desire to stand in line again to eat it.

This is my first time on this thread. I'm so excited to see that it's not just us that take advantage of this. None of our family or friends cruise so they just look at us like we have 4 heads when we try to explain this to them.

[paula2051]

When a clock gets hungry, it goes back 4 seconds!

[MrsHeg]

I look at it as a perfect opportunity to try new foods that I otherwise would not, the thought of going to a restaurant and paying high prices for food that I may or may not like doesn't appeal to me. On a cruise I can try things without feeling guilty about wasting money.:p

[Mump]

I keep seeing it referred to that one can order more than one appetizer, entree, or whatever. This is news to me. How does one do that? They just tell the waiter when the order is taken "oh bring me two of those escargots"?

 

And don't your table mates look at you like you're being a glutton?

 

I'd love to do it, but I think I'd be embarassed.

 

When will you ever see your dinner mates again??? I try whatever, whenever and when my dinner mates look longingly at my plate(s), I tell them to be adventurous How many times in your life are you going to have such a great selection all for the same price?

[laurasue]

This is great to know. I'm an admittedly finicky eater (though I do try new things) and there is nothing worse for me than ordering a meal at a restaurant, not liking it, and because I paid for the meal, not odering another and not being full at dinner. At least on a cruise I can feel comfortable to try a bit of everything. And if I don't like it? Nothing lost. :)