Are the MDR's loosing their appeal?

[tip]

I don't understand why someone would say the selections are sparse. I think they have a very nice variety of foods.

 

Are you ready for this? I agree with you!:D

[KiwiFunCruiser]

Not in my eyes.

I can never complain about the quality of food served in the MDR.

However' date=' I have noticed one thing, they do not serve lobster tails like in years past.

They use to be big and succulent. :D

Now the are tiny pawns. :cool:[/quote']

 

We have never had to complain on the MDR quality or service on any of our cruises and Yes, I have heard the lobsters are getting a bit sparse lately which is a shame as I love a good cooked lobster.

[misha1]

I have not read thru all of the posts but do want to weigh in. We have had select dining on our last two sailings and we like the flexibility of that but found the dining room atmosphere to be hectic, bordering on chaotic. We rarely noted that on assigned dining, and never in the speciality restaurants. Dining is a big deal to us...it is something that we look forward too. when we are at home, it is just another night at dinner so we build up our evenings on ship with happy hours, appetizers, pomp and circumstance, but then we are let down with less then stellar service and mediocre food. yes, we send it back if it is not good. yes, we mention our dislikes to the guest relations and on comment cards. No, we are not picky or difficult to please. From our standpoint, if we are going to eat in the main dining room, we will be returning to assigned dining, or eat at the other venues. To each his own, which is why cruising is so awesome, many choices await us.

[cindygad]

We just got off the Summit and we found the food to be exceptional in MDR. We had someone at our table who was on B2B and he recommended the prime rib. I never get it in the dining room. I gave it a try and we all commented on how well is was cooked with good seasonings. I loved getting the escargot from the left side of the menu.

 

Our table ate at the Normandy one night and we all commented that we liked MDR just as much. My husbands lobster was of course better in Normandy and the rack of lamb seasonings very good in Normandy.

 

We usually are not buffet people. We found the Asian and pork, turkey, ham very good on buffet for lunch.

 

I am one that loves MDR for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I miss the MDR not being open for lunch. We had a port intensive cruise so it was not open all week. People who did B2B said they served them a lovely lunch in MDR on turnaround day.

 

For me the anytime dining worked great picked time, same table and set it with same waiter all week. Had wonderful service.

Edited November 5, 2013 by cindygad

[mompolo]

We also just got off the Summit. We had requested first seating in the MDR and when we showed up the first night, they had us in select dining. We did that the first night and then the second night we were seated at a table for 10. We had the absolute best table mates and we were always one of the last tables to leave the dining room.

 

We thought the food was fantastic and our lobsters were as good as anywhere I have had them. They weren't huge, but not small either. Most of the table requested two and one of the ladies even had three.

 

The desserts were very good although I would have liked to have had more chocolate selections. The chocolate lava cake was just so-so, it didn't compare the same that we had on Carnival.

 

Based on the food we had - I would have to say that the MDR rocks and we won't be doing many specialty restaurants anytime soon.

[azcruisingmom]

Is the MDR open for lunch on departure day like on Princess ships?

[Ma Bell]

No, it isn't.

[Orator]

Is the MDR open for lunch on departure day like on Princess ships?

 

On Solstiice, Eclipse and Equinox you might try Bistro on 5. On Silhouette and Reflection you can try The Porch in addition to Bistro on 5. A $5 per person charge, but a great way to start your cruise. Bistro on 5 is also available on the M Class ships.The Mast Bar is also open for great burgers at no additional charge.

[Balconyaft]

That's why we try to board early:) We head out to the Oceanview Bar for a nice table outside, order drinks and we are usually finished lunch before the hoards arrive! I wouldn't mind going to Bistro on Five but there is nothing there that interests DH - he heads right to the carving stations lol

 

This sounds like a perfect strategy....I think we will do the same thing on our next cruise, Feb.2014. Table outside, drinks compliments of our Classic beverage package and enjoy the excitement!

 

 

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[pris993]

Interesting question.

 

For us, the MDR food and service vary from cruises to cruise, line to line. We cruise Princess, HAL, Celebrity, Cunard and NCL.

 

We are elite on both Princess and Celebrity. We have cruised Celebrity for more than 10 years. We don't really like the MDR on new X ships, Equinox, Eclipse etc., too crowded and nosey and food/service has been hit and miss for us. Consequently, we have skipped the MDR more than we have utilized it on these ships. The only other line we have regularly skipped the MDR is NCL.

 

We have found we are just as happy on Celebrity enjoying a late lunch from the buffet and skipping dinner.

 

We tried BLU did not seem worth it on our last Eclipse cruise. Next cruise we are planning on the Silhouette we will plan to do lunch only.

 

I am sure we are unique... many rave about the food on X, just never seem to measure up compared to Princess, HAL or Cunard for us. We get more personal attention and service on the other lines, we can special order off menu which Celebrity never seemed to do well for us.

 

Does not stop us from cruising X, we just plan to do lunch and let it go at that.

[Lois R]

Interesting question.

 

For us, the MDR food and service vary from cruises to cruise, line to line. We cruise Princess, HAL, Celebrity, Cunard and NCL.

 

We are elite on both Princess and Celebrity. We have cruised Celebrity for more than 10 years. We don't really like the MDR on new X ships, Equinox, Eclipse etc., too crowded and nosey and food/service has been hit and miss for us. Consequently, we have skipped the MDR more than we have utilized it on these ships. The only other line we have regularly skipped the MDR is NCL.

 

We have found we are just as happy on Celebrity enjoying a late lunch from the buffet and skipping dinner.

 

We tried BLU did not seem worth it on our last Eclipse cruise. Next cruise we are planning on the Silhouette we will plan to do lunch only.

 

I am sure we are unique... many rave about the food on X, just never seem to measure up compared to Princess, HAL or Cunard for us. We get more personal attention and service on the other lines, we can special order off menu which Celebrity never seemed to do well for us.

 

Does not stop us from cruising X, we just plan to do lunch and let it go at that.

 

You never get hungry in the evening at all? You know there are other

options if you don't find anything in the dining room for dinner.

I realize food is subjective but lunch only? Sorry you haven't found

anything you like for dinner:eek: