MDR popularity?

[LemurCat]

Just my opinion....but it's probably to keep the tradition of the "formal dinner"...assigned waitstaff, same tablemates etc...that was popular in earlier days and that some people (obviously not as many...) still want

 

If they did away with that...they could have it like at breakfast & lunch

 

Great idea!

 

I think you'll see the more traditional dining start to die out in the next ten years. I can envision first one whole dining room that is YTD and one that is tradtional, and then eventually everything YTD.

[gelo7]

All of our dinners are in the MDR and about half of our breakfast'.

[cawagner]

We eat breakfast, lunch and dinner in the MDR when it's open. I'm not a fan of buffets, not that im a full fledged germaphobe, but we don't do buffets at home either. Would rather be waited on and not stand in the long lines. We also do the anytime dining so we can get a table for 2 and request a table for 2 at the other meals, works for us :)

[MamaParrotHead]

I know that's true for us mainly because we're tired of the same ol' menu (the recent additions of a few dishes don't do it for us). It takes some serious packing real estate (with the lovely baggage fees these days) for dinner outfits, not to mention if you need/want to purchase some new clothing pieces for dinner. Not worth it for us. We're planning on hitting the steak house twice and lido for all but one or two nights (of an 8 night sailing) in the MDR. Not huge fans of buffets either, but that's why I enjoy the Conquest and larger class ships, with the woks, burrito stations, deli's, fish and chips, pizza, grill...something for everyone.

[T. Advisor King]

I think you'll see the more traditional dining start to die out in the next ten years. I can envision first one whole dining room that is YTD and one that is tradtional, and then eventually everything YTD.

 

Agree 100%. I'd like to see them make the YTD dining room fully casual and do away with the pretense of formality. That would, in my opinion, make it a much more enjoyable experience.

[larkz]

In an odd twist from my normal restaurant behavior (taking a book and eating alone in blissful peace and quiet) -- while on the ship I like to have dinner in the MDR with a large group of people. Last year on the Dream, I couldn't have asked for better tablemates. There were 9 of us, and most showed up every night. Friendly, interesting, funny and intelligent people, all of them.

 

In virtually everything else during the cruise, I like to go alone, or with my daughter if she's with me.

[jjtimes6]

We always do early seating, and have always had a table to ourselves. First cruise there were four of us, second cruise five, third cruise six. We never requested a table that way, but have felt fortunate to get it. Dinner time is mandatory for the kids... we may not see them all day (on sea days), but they always show for dinner. I'm debating booking the steak house this coming cruise, but don't want to miss out on the dinner! We love the whole experience and the routine.

[Alwaysacruiseinthequeue]

We will be taking our 4th Carnival cruise in a couple of months, and I have noted on our previous cruises highly variable occupancy of the MDR, and was wondering what you have seen. Our first Carnival cruise was a 7 day on Conquest, we shared a 4 place table with another couple, we missed one night and the other couple missed a different night. Our next cruise a 5 day with a 8 place table with 4 couples, only one night was everyone there, 2 nights we had the table to ourselves, one of those nights both tables next to us that we shared our wait staff with were empty. Our last cruise was a 2 place so no company.

 

Ike

 

I think, like some other people noted, the relatively new introduction to "anytime dining" may have caused this. There have always been those who like to eat up on the Lido. That's been there forever. We like the elegance of it all, I suppose...getting ready for dinner and looking forward to the wonderful menu we'll be facing. Also, having the same waiter is great, for us. It's just more romantic this way. After a full day out playing it's almost like their there waiting for you to "come home". It's neat. BUT...and this is a big but...we always go to the maitre d when we board to change our seating to a private booth. This is for things others mentioned, like...well....don't want to be negative...but we like our space. Now, at breakfast, it's perfect! We love to see people fresh at the beginning of their talking about what we all might do for the day..and enjoy the more diverse breakfast choices in the MDR. :D

 

-Stephanie

[TVChick16]

My husband and I have logged 24 evenings at sea and haven't missed a night in the MDR! We've had great luck with our tablemates. We have been seated at tables of all sizes.... from 4 people all the way up to 10 people. We are usually paired with couples our age and have always had the late seating (late seating works better for us because we don't have to rush back to the ship after excursions and there's less of a chance of small children :o).

 

On our last cruise we had the best tablemates ever (there were 10 total people at our table)! On our last night we ended up sitting in the MDR so late talking that we didn't realize we were the last ones there. We also hung out a lot around the ship. I credit Carnival with these great matchups.

 

I'd actually be sad if we found that we were assigned to a table for two in the MDR. Of course, I'm usually the one on the roll call that is the chattiest and always attends the roll call so maybe I'm just a people person.

 

However, when we eat breakfast or lunch in the MDR we always request a table for two... mainly because one time we tried to eat breakfast in the MDR on an excursion day in St. Kitts... we thought we gave ourselves enough time to eat, get off the ship and meet our excursion group... but they seated us with 6 other people and after a half hour we had only been served beverages. We had to bail even though we had already ordered and felt really bad.

[kentuckyluckyguy]

Just off the Elation this past Saturday and we had a ten top table...we knew no one nor did anyone at our table know the other couples. It was fun talking about the days events and seeing all the different food others would order and hearing their opinion on their food. We DID NOT do the Food Porn pics except for the Warm Chocolate Melting Cake on the last night because quite simply, it is to die for!!!!!

 

We did do the buffet one night and as the previous poster said, it's not crowded and great food there too.

 

We had the late seating...just to give us more time to enjoy the day. But, the downside is you are so full after you eat you're ready for sleep. I could see having early seating and then if you're not happy with your dinner hitting the buffet afterwards.

 

The portion sizes in the MDR are pretty small...we didn't eat anything that was "horrible", but some entree's left us feeling like we needed more. However, the Warm Chocolate Melting Cake topped it off and totally filled us up every night!

 

It is pretty neat if you are outgoing enough to sit and talk to others and get to know a little bit about them over dinner..heck it just lasts an hour or so....plus there's always two or three who order something different and you at least get to see how good it all looks!!!!

[kentuckyluckyguy]

Agree 100%. I'd like to see them make the YTD dining room fully casual and do away with the pretense of formality. That would, in my opinion, make it a much more enjoyable experience.

 

I must say here that we really enjoyed formal night tho..and went all out. Heck, I even rented a tuxedo for the first time in five cruises!!! It was really fun getting all decked out and all the looks we got from everyone on the ship....it felt like we owned the ship as we strolled along the Promenade deck...we really enjoyed that whole evening...and I'm sure Carnival did too as they made a TON off of us on our formal night pics...LMAO

[teacher34]

We have been on 3 cruises and always have the early dinig in the MDR. We have always been placed at tables for 6,8, or 10 and we have had wonderful dining companions each time. Also, every time, each couple showed up on time every night. We enjoy meeting new people and have always had really pleasant experiences.

[T. Advisor King]

I must say here that we really enjoyed formal night tho..and went all out. Heck, I even rented a tuxedo for the first time in five cruises!!! It was really fun getting all decked out and all the looks we got from everyone on the ship....it felt like we owned the ship as we strolled along the Promenade deck...we really enjoyed that whole evening...and I'm sure Carnival did too as they made a TON off of us on our formal night pics...LMAO

 

I made my family count the men's attire on formal night on our last Carnival cruise in July. Zero tuxes within our sightlines in our dining room during early seating.

 

I have no doubt that you enjoyed "dressing up" and I'm sure Carnival will try to accommodate everyone if they can. And the fact that more dressing up may lead to more photos which may lead to more money may well keep the "formal night" alive and kicking long after the demand for it has receded. I'd be interested in the revenue metrics related to formal night. Do they sell more bottles of wine on "elegant" night? Do they sell more photos on "elegant" night? More importantly, are those revenues that disappear without elegant night, or are they simply re-distributed among the other nights. That is, if there was no elegant night, would passengers still buy as many photos in total?

[CelticCruiser]

In May we were at a 10-round. Our waiter never waited for late comers. We were handed menus and orders taken when we got there. One pair missed one night. Otherwise, everyone was there every night. We had a blast. I loved getting to know them and am friends with a couple of them still. I don't like anytime dining. I can get that at home:

--wait for a table

--they don't know what you like

--being one or two they may want to seat you with strangers (okay--not that at home).

 

If I am still hungry I can always go to the buffet for soft serve ice cream or pick up a brownie.:)

 

We feel the same about the MDR - consistency, no waiting, having our drink & bread preference waiting for us. We usually do early dining because DH likes karaoke, which for some reason is done early in the evening on a lot of ships. (The times we had late dining, we felt like we had to have a snack between lunch and dinner - not good for the waistline! ;))