Lido lovers...

[dfish]

I guess I've been very lucky in my dining experiences. I've had fixed dining, which I did enjoy, but have opted for Anytime on the last two cruises. I've also done a mixture of the Lido, Pinnacle and MDR and all have been positive experiences.

 

What I appreciate most is that there are choices to fit most of us and our desires. There are no right or wrong choices and it is good that we all have different wishes as to dining because if we all wanted the same thing, no matter where, the place would be over run.

 

Debbie

[Cruising Ham]

One conclusion I'm drawing from these comments is that some people like vanilla, some like chocolate, some like tutti-fruiti. And thusly does the world go 'round. I think it's great.

 

From the experience of our one and only cruise so far, we liked all the dining venues. We chose AYWD, because the itinerary was why we went. How often do we get to, say, Stockholm? It provides maximum flexibility.

 

Our first night, we ate with some Danish cruisers in the MDR and had such a good time that the staff had to politely tell us to leave. And I'm seriously introverted. So we weren't clock watching. And I think we ate in the MDR every evening with the exception of one evening in the Lido and one in the Pinnacle.

 

After our excursion to the Arctic Circle (do it!), we were so tired we decided to just eat in the Lido. I don't remember what I ate, but I vividly recall how relaxing and quiet it was.

 

And we ate once in the Pinnacle, just because. Enjoyed that as well.

 

For me, the bottom line is, whatever mood you're in, whatever your view of a "vacation" is, there's a venue that will meet your needs. Relax, do what you like, adapt to the unforseen as necessary, and you'll be fine.

[smilealot1882]

This will be our first cruise on HAL and we are looking forward to the Lido for a few evenings, since we will be in port so late in Alaska. It seems like the Lido gets good reviews so that is a plus. We have "anytime dining" for the same reason, we weren't sure of times for a fixed seating.

[sunviking90]

I personally don't like the atmosphere in the Lido. Too much like a cafeteria. I also find the quantity of food taken by "some" cruisers puts me off. I will go in there in the afternoon for tea and bread pudding though. Nothing will keep me from the bread pudding!

 

We have usually had fantastic service in the MDR, but one cruise we had terrible service, with disappearing waiters, and ate our last 2 dinners in the Canaletto. I guess this is as close as I will come to having dinner in the Lido. Like Ruth, We like to dine, not just eat.

 

The great thing about a cruise is that there is something for everyone.

[sunviking90]

This will be our first cruise on HAL and we are looking forward to the Lido for a few evenings, since we will be in port so late in Alaska. It seems like the Lido gets good reviews so that is a plus. We have "anytime dining" for the same reason, we weren't sure of times for a fixed seating.

 

Not to hijack the thread, but remember that if you enjoy your waiter the first night with anytime dining, you can ask to be seated in his section again. This is what we did last time and found our service was fantastic and just as good as we'd enjoyed with fixed dining.

[Hawaiidan]

To see so many" Lido-ites". And yes boys and girls I always book any time dining. And thus if we meet some other folks who are wonderful we can have a formal sit down if we so choose. However, dining in the lido is even more conducive to conversation. No hovering waiters, No wine selling stewards.. like a "korea Bar" for those of you who have been to one... or heard stories. ( not that I have) or know.

 

My last dining room experience was a bit like going to a combination of an EST meeting and a Time Share sales presentation, all inder the guise of "fine dining" It was good but not fine.:eek:

 

True service is all but invisable, things just happen,smooth with little notice. Like a michelin 3 star.. smooth, subtile, understated ; not overwhelming.

 

In the Lido I developed a relation of respect from the folks serving and cooking. The would make all sorts of like angle hair pasta with capers, olives and lemon zest rather than Marinara sauce. Pare with duck breast and asparagus with olive oil and fresh parmesan.

Not on any dining room, but in the LIDO... bingo... like legos you can build your hearts desire. Like a lobster caesar salad and roast loin and stir fried vegs.

But most times what I loved was that I controlled the timing. Savor and finish each course not be controlled by the kitchen or waiter. Maybe add a soup, a wine might be good.. then a meat course and finsh with a salad at the end. Like a dim-sum feast.

 

Come to think of it the should call it the LEGO rather than the Lido!

 

:o So, as the sage Ruth spoke, don't book fix seating...have the manners to let others who are seeking out the dining room get their wish. They may catch on or not.

 

 

On my next cruise 43 days... thats where you will find me Ill be the guy by the window smiling, relaxed and content.:o.

 

Dining and a cruise should to me be fun, every aspect a discovery chance .:cool:

[iceleven]

I enjoy both and each for different reasons. Yes, it's nice to meet people and enjoy their company each evening but there never is any guarantee that you will be seated with people who you will want to share the time for an entire week...or more.

 

HAL's Lido is a totally different place in the evening than it is at breakfast and lunch. It is quieter. I have to admit, there are other ships I would not ever want to eat in the Lido for dinner. Been there--done that. Never again.

 

Personally, I prefer the MDR for breakfast and lunch when we are at sea. This is the time we enjoy being seated with others and find this shorter dining period easier for small talk and sharing cruising stories. It also gives us the opportunity to meet like-minded people who we might enjoy sharing dinner with later...in any of the other dining options.

 

Just read Hawaiidan's post, and I have to agree with you about MDR service.

[RuthC]

We chose AYWD,

No one can "choose" AYWD. You can only "choose" off the selection of dining options.

[Windsailer]

It's not just eating. You can choose the pace of your courses. You can mix and match the food that's being offered. You can ask the wonderful staff serving the food to make your dish a little bit different. We can always get a window seat...and choose whether to eat with other cruisers or not. I can assure you than I am "dining" rather than just eating...as I sip from the bottle of wine I brought from home that the Lido staff open for me. And yes, we choose "open" dining in the MDR...not that we ever intend to eat there. As for what other people eat in the Lido or in the MDR...whether some might consider it too much...what other people do doesn't make any difference at all to me.

[Cruizer Bill]

Have you seen how popular the Lido is on Formal Nights? With baggage fees imposed by the airlines, we are seeing more and more people going smart casual in the Lido instead of packing formal wear. We have not done this yet but maybe some day.... We really enjoy the freedom of Anytime Dining and sometimes eat in the Lido.

[iancal]

That is when we would go for dinner-on formal evenings.

[Typhoon1]

The only time we eat in the Lido is a port day, when the MDR is closed for lunch.

 

When we are on vacation, I want to be served. Not have to jump up and down to serve myself.

[Cruising-along]

We always choose open seating, and we like a variety of MDR, Lido, Room service, Pinnacle, etc. For all the reasons others have given, we do enjoy dining in the Lido some nights. Plus another reason, which is we can avoid some of the rich sauces served on some of the foods in the MDR. I love the Asian stir-fry section and the salad section.

 

On our last cruise we sailed with my sister and BIL. My sister didn't feel well during the whole cruise (nothing contagious) so she usually just wanted to get something light in the Lido. Wanting to be with them, we at in the Lido many of the nights too.

 

Having choices is wonderful. :)

[serendipity1499]

Have never dined in the Lido at Night, but do enjoy it for lunch..We try to go to lunch around one as the Lido is usually less crowded then..

Next time we cruise, we might try the Lido for Dinner if the service is as poor as it was on our Last cruise...We had late seating & did not enjoy the MDR as much...The first portion of our B2B service was good, but the second half service in the MDR was not up to par..Another person at the table & I both sent the soup back more than once, as it was not hot! Dinner lasted much too long & all of us at the table had mix-ups in our Entrées more than once..

Cheers...Betty

[itzmered]

I have not been on HAL yet but expect to eat in the Lido quite frequently on our cruise next year on the Zuiderdam. We do not care for 2+ hour dinners. We will eat in the MDR a few times but for the most part we prefer the casual atmosphere while on vacation.

[sunviking90]

I hear a lot of people mention 2 hour dinners in the MDR, but ours average about 1 hr, 15 min. We usually do the open dining and have a table to ourselves as we value the family time. Obviously if you are dining at a table for 8 or 10 the social aspect will extend the time you spend dining.

 

For those who are avoiding the experience of the dining room due to time though, give it a chance. Most of the waiters are great and will pick up on the fact that you don't want to dawdle over dinner. In the lower level (open) dining room, they are very good at turning over the tables quickly without ever making you feel rushed.

[RetiredMustang]

We have, for more than 15 years, always booked early fixed dining. But, we have eaten dinner in the Lido a few times. We always eat breakfast and lunch there unless we are ashore for lunch, but rarely do we eat dinner in the Lido. However, even though it has changed over the years, we enjoyed each time we did so.

 

Our next cruise (on Noordam next spring) we asked for AYWD instead, in order to try it. (I don't care what others say or that HAL marketers are trying to change history and make it all-inclusive, HAL initially marketed AYWD as the alternative open dining at dinner ONLY ... so to me, AYWD means ONLY the open dining at the lower level at dinner time, and it DOES NOT include the Lido, Canaletto, Pinnacle, Neptune Lounge, room service or, on those ships that have it, the Tamarind -- those are _alternatives_ to AYWD.)

 

We will see. If we cannot get a table for two when we want it (early), we will go to the Lido.

 

Dave

[sapper1]

I agree with you (and with Ruth). Part of a vacation for me is not being the server. I love the convenience of the Lido for breakfast and a salad-based lunch. But for dining I prefer the MDR. We haven't always had great waiters, but never so bad that they drove us to the Lido.

 

However, it is nice to know it's there if you return late and tired from a shore excursion. We have used a Lido once or twice in those circumstances.

I guess I won't have to give my opinion because you have pretty much summed it up for me.

[jtl513]

We will see. If we cannot get a table for two when we want it (early), we will go to the Lido.

You should have no trouble getting a table for two before 5:45 or so. On our recent 11 days on the Maasdam we had the same table for two reserved for us every night, but near us there was a table for four that had different people every night, and only once was there more than two people there. Usually people were seated there around 5:30 to 5:45.

[janmcn]

We always eat in the Lido nowadays. We prefer to see what we are going to eat ahead of time (often I change my mind when I see it for real), the food is cooked right there, you can easily see what items to try, etc.

Once in the Lido at night you will see that there are tablecloths on the tables, no lines (or short ones), service at your table for coffee, etc…and waiters who will bring you other things if you want…they are very attentive in the evening since there are fewer diners to accommodate.

We watched a couple on our last cruise who were dressed for the MDR but overheard them say they hadn't been able to get in when they wanted so they opted for the Lido…they were amazed they said at how good it all was and how lovely the setting was at night….they returned several times the rest of the cruise!

We also go to the Front Desk before we disembark and tell them we have not eaten in the MDR so our "tips" need to go to the Lido Staff instead. On the Prinsendam we had such excellent service in the Lido that we tipped quite a few of the waiters, the manager, etc. and sent a note to Seattle highlighting several of the people who we felt did an outstanding job. We never had that experience in the MDR.

No problem getting to the shows on time either!

[Poconolady]

Eating in the Lido, or dining in the MDR is truly a personal choice. There are reasons for having both onboard, and reasons for choosing one over the other on any given day. I love the dining room but always choose the As You Wish type programs so that I am in control of the time that I wish to dine on a given day by setting up reservations and also because we will only eat at a table for two, at any meal. If we can't get a table for two at any given meal. we will move on to another location on the ship where we can dine alone. We are not anti-social, but after cruising for over 30 years, we just can't stomach the same old dining room conversation every time that we seated with other cruisers, I really don't care where you are from, what you do for a living and how many kids and grandkids that you have and I don't feel the need to fill strangers in on the facts of my life either.

 

The Lido is wonderful on HAL, not because I like being jostled around by rude passengers (and lets be honest, there are plenty of those onboard, always), or searching for a table, or the small glasses of ice tea that I constantly have to refill myself. I like it because I can be more in control of what I eat, a BIG salad with no dressing, lean meat, vegetables (no potato or bread) and a choice of desserts. The dinner selections are basically the same as in the dining room, and there are tablecloths to boot. It is also very handy on evenings that you return from late excursions or an evening that you are just too tired, or don't feel well enough to make the effort to dress for dinner. I might also add, that we rarely eat dinner in the buffet on any other line than HAL.

 

For those that eat at the Pinacle Grill almost every evening I tip my hat to you, however that extra $50 per night is a little rich for my pocketbook. We usually go to a specialty restaurant twice for dinner on an 11-14 night cruise, and appreciate that HAL has the Pinacle open for lunch.

[RetiredMustang]

You should have no trouble getting a table for two before 5:45 or so. On our recent 11 days on the Maasdam we had the same table for two reserved for us every night, but near us there was a table for four that had different people every night, and only once was there more than two people there. Usually people were seated there around 5:30 to 5:45.

 

Thanks for confirming our assumption! We decided to give it a try because we had read several people giving similar feedback and thought we had a decent shot if we went early, which is when we prefer -- we always ask for early sitting in the fixed dining. The one thing we did not want to do was to stand around with one of those vibrating paging thingies waiting for a table.

 

But, we also knew that the Lido for dinner was an acceptable, and actually nice, fall-back option if there is a long line at the MDR one night.

 

Dave

[Mary Ellen]

I love the dining room but always choose the As You Wish type programs so that I am in control of the time that I wish to dine on a given day by setting up reservations and also because we will only eat at a table for two, at any meal.

This is why all dining options on HAL are part of As You Wish. Yes, even those in the traditional, fixed seating. They don't have to mess with trying to get reservations though. ;)

 

We are not anti-social, but after cruising for over 30 years, we just can't stomach the same old dining room conversation every time that we seated with other cruisers, I really don't care where you are from, what you do for a living and how many kids and grandkids that you have and I don't feel the need to fill strangers in on the facts of my life either.

Precisely why we don't do the open seating aspect of AYWD. That same old 'first night' conversation night after night isn't for us. It is great that the Lido is available for us the two times we ate dinner there. Of course, it was wonderful to share room service in Brian's lovely aft suite once too.

[sail7seas]

I thought it was just us who got to the point of "I don't care where you are from, how many kids you have, what you do for a living, or any of your medical conditions....." If DH and I are traveling alone, we are happy to dine alone, breakfast alone, go ashore alone........

 

Sure, if we meet people along the way that we enjoy, it's nice to have a drink with them, chat when you run into them etc but if we don't come with friends, we plan to dine at 'our' table.

 

[Hawaiidan]

A 7 seas and Pocono said, there are a lot of people who you might get seated with in the dining room than could antagonize Jesus.

My last cruise was the start of my Lido Awareness.. we were seated at a table for 6, 4 of whom were pals, the didnt even say a word to us and treated us like invaders to their space... how dare we sit at their table cold stony silence.. They would not even look in our direction... talk about antisocial...

Even a good evening would not even get an answer:o.

 

Too when I left for the Lido, I halved my auto tip, to a month of service I would never use. so there is 11 bucks a day why to eat in the Lido as well.