NOt eating in dining room

[MSRussell]

I like eating from the Buffet, the salad bar is what does it for me. I eat in the MDR a couple three nights of the cruise, though.

[LibratPDX]

It justifies them to remove all the tips and bounce the cabin steward a fiver..

 

Noooo, it doesn't, I hope you were joking :) Most of the servers work in the main dining room AND the lido buffet........

[Skywench]

Personally, I don't care about eating in the MDR. I went many cruises without stepping foot in there. I don't cruise for the dining experience. I only go in there now because the person I cruise with likes it, but we might go in there about half the time during the cruise. I love the anytime dining option so that we can have a table to ourselves. I don't enjoy dining at big tables with strangers and I like that I don't have to be on a time schedule. Also, sometimes after a day in port, I just want to grab a burger or something from the grill or buffet for a late lunch and then don't feel hungry for a big dinner later.

[Rottweiler Puppy]

I think lots of folks don't like the idea of being assigned to share a table with strangers. Simple as that.

 

You don't like to sit with strangers? Thats ok I guess. I never thought of it that way. You are the first I have heard it from.

[WetToes]

It justifies them to remove all the tips and bounce the cabin steward a fiver..

 

 

So your lumping everyone who ditches the MDR into one (negative) lump?

Don't do that.

[Rottweiler Puppy]

I like the MDR because the buffet is absolutely one of the worst.

[askimdog]

Yeah, what they said...

 

I'll start off by saying we love food, good food and eating. MDR food seems no different than the buffet 90% of the time. We dislike the long meal time, we dislike sitting with or too near strangers, we dislike dancing waiters. On our last 2 cruises we have had bad waiters. The last cruise we tried the MDR twice after having a bad experiance the prior cruise, it was worse. The only words our head waiter said ever was "Wad you wan" over and over again, both times I asked for tabasco and once my wife asked for a sweet roll at a MDR breakfast...these things NEVER arrived with asking several times. We just gave up.

 

Done with the MDR, and I like seeing my meat carved as well, as someone mentioned, and making a salad as big as I want, how I want.

 

The best eating for us is at Port where we do extensive research to find before the cruise the most traditional meals the location has, be it gibnut in Belize, balleadas and drinking a shot of guifidi in Roatan, Stewed cowsfoot and mannish water in Grand Cayman, going to the sea market and picking out seafood to be cooked right their at the docks in Ensenada etc...

 

Those are why we now totally plan to avoid the MDR hassles. I might add the whole dressing up thing to makes a difference. I am one of those on vacation who dress how I want, the 2nd from last cruise was the last cruise I even packed any long pants. Sandals, t-shirts and shorts, maybe a polo? It's not like I am cruising a fancy line. Packing these clothes also make it possible to pack smaller and avoid airline luggage fees and porters, the 3 in our family now just carry all our stuff ourselves. Our first cruise we had formal clothes...that was the last time.

 

I might add the MDR food isn't totally awesome but good, the buffet, again not totally awesome but better than a buffet on land would be. Quality of food between the two varies little. As far as being served, don't mind serving ourselves and our family does eat out about once a month, so I can enjoy that on land, not that it is a big thing?

[SkyMaster]

The ONLY time I miss eating in the dining room, is when the dining room is closed. I ALWAYS eat there for dinner, and if it's open for breakfast, and/or lunch, I eat there then too. As others above have noted, it's one of the highlights of a cruise for me. ;)

 

"SKY"

[Aplmac]

I think lots of folks don't like the idea

of being assigned to share a table with strangers. Simple as that.

OMG! Xenophobia!

You might get someone from another town or city. :D

 

Worse yet from another State! :D How do you handle that?? :eek:

 

 

But it gets worse: you might end up with someone from some exotic location

like Me from the West Indies, who might speak English ... real English. :confused:

 

My wife and I love eating in the dining room, and meeting new people.

We met some nice people from Switzerland last time: he was CFO for Brinks, I think he said.

Wouldn't miss the Dining Rooms fer nuthin.

.

[ichigohime]

Eating in the dining room was always one of the highlights of my cruise. We don't get to eat out often and I really like being treated like a guest at a fancy restaurant. Unfortunately now I am confined to a wheelchair & with so many tables, chairs, guests,and other obstacles it has become exceptionally difficult to make my way thru the room to get to a table. We sometimes go for breakfast or lunch when the crowds are light but dinner is tough. I can always find something on the buffet so I don't miss any meals.

 

 

I also travel with someone in a wheelchair, we have discovered a little "trick". Get Anytime Dinning; that way you do not have to worry about being assigned a seat that is inaccessible to your wheelchair. Ask for a table on the end that is easy for you to get to. You will be accommodated, we have never even had to wait for a table doing this.

[Skywench]

OMG! Xenophobia!

You might get someone from another town or city. :D

 

Worse yet from another State! :D How do you handle that?? :eek:

 

 

But it gets worse: you might end up with someone from some exotic location

like Me from the West Indies, who might speak English ... real English. :confused:

 

My wife and I love eating in the dining room, and meeting new people.

We met some nice people from Switzerland last time: he was CFO for Brinks, I think he said.

Wouldn't miss the Dining Rooms fer nuthin.

 

.

 

Well, it's a good thing that there's something for everyone on a cruise. Not all of us cruise for the social and dining aspects. On my cruises, I like to spend time with the person/people I went on the vacation with. It doesn't make any difference to me where other people come from or what they do for a living. LOL, it doesn't matter to me if they are a CFO or if they flip burgers at McDonald's! As far as I'm concerned, they're there for a vacation just as I am lol.

[firefly333]

I didnt eat there my last cruise because I booked late and got stuck with late dining. I didnt want to eat that late, so I ate in the buffet.

[Stilles]

My wife and I always have dinner in the MDR some times breakfast mostly on sea days for Breakfast.

It depends on your taste and your idea of a good time. If you don't like sitting down and having a nice meal with good service that has a little bit of an upscale feel to it then skip it. If you do enjoy such a things give it a try one night you can always bail and go to the buffett if you dont like it.

 

My only advice otherwise is that if you are on the fence about it don't go on an elegant night so if you bail you're not in a suite at the buffet line!

[Tasha4199]

On past cruises, I always ate at the MDR and had a good time. I'v had some great tablemates and some I couldn't get to speak above a whisper and couldn't make conversation with. On the Sensation a few months ago, I brought all nice clothes for dinner. We ended up going the first night, which was okay, but we didn't go back. First time I've ever NOT eaten at the MDR! We did the buffet one night and brought it to a table on the back of the ship where no one else was and had the most peaceful dinner! We also did room service for dinner one night and ate in bed. After realizing how relaxing it was, I may never go back to dinner in the MDR! But DH and I are still in the honeymoon stage and spent time sitting in the walkway by the coffee shop with spiked coffees and just talked for hours. That's what matters, right? :D

[Rosefloater]

On the West Coast, there are a lot of cruisers from Asia (Japan, China, Korea). Whenever I eat dinner up at the buffet, they are eating there. As a foreigner who has limited English, it is easier to eat in the buffet where you can see the food then in the MDR where you have to read a menu.

 

OP - the main reason I don't eat in the MDR is there is nothing on the menu that interests me. Some days there isn't anything that interests me in the MDR or buffet, so I just order room service and bring it up to the buffet area to eat.

 

The only problem I have with the buffet at dinner, is if you get up from the table while you are still eating, your food might not be there when you get back.:eek::D

[elliair]

I think lots of folks don't like the idea of being assigned to share a table with strangers. Simple as that.

 

Bingo, and especially when you get seated with a couple who can't speak English and you have nothing in common with them. We do any time dining just to avoid that from happening again.

[Rockee4055]

MDR every night for us. This is a lot of enjoyment for us. We ALWAYS have fun with our wait staff.

 

Definitely a must and a highlight of our cruise....tons of fun!

[elliair]

One more thing to add. If you're diabetic or on a restricted diet, the buffet is much easier. Sitting at a table with people you don't know and getting asked personal questions about your health wise eating is embarrassing. I hate the 50+ questions being asked of DH and me.

[monkeyluis]

We've been doing it lately because we've had big groups and able to get the same table. If we go alone, we are a family of four, we'd sit with other people. But I really don't like making friends or talking to others. People generally annoy me. I like to have peace & quiet. It is nice to sit down & get served & not have to wait in line at the buffet. My kids are very well behaved though, so at least we're not an interruption to others. It's funny though that one of our last cruises we were say with 3 couples, young people, probably around our age (mid 30's), but it was just weird that it was us 4 & them. I don't really care though, we are up for doing anything.

[DKF97]

We've been on 2 cruises. On the first one we tried the MDR 3 times, on our 2nd cruise we never went to the MDR. We didn't miss it. I just can't sit there for 2 hours, I go nutty. Food is available 24/7, so I tend to eat several small meals. Eating 3 or 4 courses all in one sitting just isn't for me.

[BARBARA J.W.]

 

The only problem I have with the buffet at dinner, is if you get up from the table while you are still eating, your food might not be there when you get back.:eek::D

 

 

 

That has happen to me many times...........

 

If I see a waiter walking around, I'll

let them know I'll be right back.......

[Thebosn1]

Hi all.

I read these boards a lot. quite a few people mention NOT eating in the MDR. Can I ask why?? What are some reasons you have for not eating there.

Just curious.

 

I always PLAN to eat in the MDR but usually after being in the sun or on an excursion all day, I really don't feel like getting ready and sitting down there for that long. It's just me being lazy really. I think the buffet food is fine, and I can grab it and go relax in my cabin in my shorts and sandles.

 

:o

[larkz]

I've always eaten in the MDR, always had excellent servers, really liked the food (especially the Indian vegetarian), and enjoyed my table mates.

 

However...

 

Because I'm sailing Liberty again in December, and I previously fell madly in love with BlueIguana Cantina, I'll be eating most of my meals there. The rest will be in the buffet, with the exception of a steakhouse reservation one night. I'll have a load of unused non-refundable OBC and figured that if I was ever going to try the steakhouse, this would be the cruise (frugal or not). I'm not a big beefeater, but the lobster sounds good.

 

And just in case I decide to do the MDR, I requested ATD.

[Kudos2Fly]

Hubby and I like to eat in the main dining room for a few reasons... One I like to be served as I do all the cooking in the house so it's nice not to have to cook. Plus someone else brings the food to me. Plus the last few cruises we get a table for two when possible. As a cruise we did a few years back we didn't get great table mates. We had a few cruises were we didn't have anything in common with the people or they didn't talk much. We have had some luck with a few couples. But normally we like to eat by our selves. We are not anti-social by any means, but unless it's family or friends its hard to know how well you will get along with someone... ;-)

 

Last time we even ate in the dining room for breakfast which was nice. Plus we don't mind dressing up for dinner. There only have been a few times we didn't go, due to other things we were doing.

[larkz]

We've been on 2 cruises. On the first one we tried the MDR 3 times, on our 2nd cruise we never went to the MDR. We didn't miss it. I just can't sit there for 2 hours, I go nutty. Food is available 24/7, so I tend to eat several small meals. Eating 3 or 4 courses all in one sitting just isn't for me.

 

It does lock up a considerable amount of time -- about 1 full waking day of your total cruise. I think I'd feel a little less concerned about grabbing a slice of pizza in the late afternoon, or a heavy meal in port, if I weren't planning a big long dinner each night.