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What's your favorite way to dine?


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Do you prefer the dining room, the buffet, room service, or specialty restaurants?

 

I usually eat in the dining room. I prefer to be served. I don't really care for buffets at all, especially on vacation because then you have to get your own drink, look for a table, etc. You can still ask for as much as you want in the dining room anyway so I always go there. Also like the quality of the food better. Love room service late at night, or in the middle of the day to relax in the cabin before getting ready for dinner. Of course, the next time we cruise we will be bringing our baby so this will be a new experience for us! Probably more room service! As for specialty restaurants, I don't like paying extra for food on cruises because I just love the food in the main dining room, but my husband and I tried the one on the Norwegian Sea in 2002 and it was wonderful. Excellent food and service, but we also felt like it was not worth it to do it again when we went on the Dawn, so we stuck with the "free" choices.

 

Bonnie

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Do you prefer the dining room, the buffet, room service, or specialty restaurants?

 

Personally, it depends on the travel companions and what meal it is (breakfast, lunch or dinner).

We always go to the dining room for dinner, and only occasionally for lunch. Most of the time though, the buffet is where we go for lunch. On the last cruise, there were 8-10 of us, so the buffet was a safe bet in making sure there was something for everyone! :)

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My husband and I ate every evening meal in the dining room while on the Celebrity Infinity. It was wonderful and we really enjoyed our waiter and his assistant. They were very nice and very attentive. This gave us a chance to experience foods we probably never would otherwise. I loved all the dinners we had there. We ate 2 or 3 lunches there as well, and they were also very good. Otherwise, we ate lunch at port or at the buffet. I must regret that we never tried the dining room for breakfast as I heard they were quite excellent. We ate that meal at the buffet every day. The breakfast buffet was very good and had an abundance of choices.

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Depending on my mood and the meal I am happy all three places. I like the buffets for a quick bite. I love the dining room for the friendly atmosphere and I love the Specialty restaurants for spending time alone with my husband.

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I look forward to dining in the dining room each evening. For other meals i liked the buffet, not because the food is better but because I really disliked the open seating in the dining room at breakfast and lunch. I felt very uncomfortable as each time I seemed to be seated with people who were not too friendly.

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I love being pampered....so I have every meal each day in the dining room. I'm not much on buffet food, and if I were, I can do that at home. I've glanced at the buffet a few times, but why get food from steam pans when you can be served fresher dishes in the dining room?

 

As I sit in the dining room enjoying Eggs Benedict, Strawberry Crepes, etc., I think how much those folks are missing who are having the soggy French toast, wilted bacon, etc. at the buffet area. And then at lunch, umm, the fresh fish entrees, Mongolian steak salad, shrimp remoulade.... Also, I can get complimentary cappuccino and espresso in the dining room, and it's certainly not available at the Lido Buffet........BUT - to each his/her own!:D

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Cotton, I agree with you. I have tried the buffet on most cruise ships I have been on (12 total), and though the food always seemed decent, the dining room in my opinion was much better. I also love being pampered on vacation and I love having the fancy lunches too! I never eat steak for lunch at home, and when I am on vacation I like to do things differently. I do like the poolside BBQ's that they have on NCL though. But that's more for an afternoon snack in between :)

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What about on the RCCL ships? We are going on the Freedom next year. I am curious to know about dining and where to eat? What not to miss and where to go to eat. We have cruised RCCL on a small ship a couple of years ago but the larger ships are so different. We normally cruise Disney and I know all about them, but this is a new experience for us.

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I too prefer the dine room and do breakfast and lunch there at least several times each 7+ day cruise. Like being waited on but have no problem w/ personal choice/freestyle. It’s no worse than going to different restaurants at home and I like meeting different people. I seldom order room service except for a late eve snack/drink as I prefer to be out, about and people watching. The only extra charge restaurant late hubby & I ever did was also on NCL (Le Bistro) on ½ price night on a day close to our anniversary. On NCL I, too, really like the poolside BBQ. With Carnival I have always liked the dinner dine room choices almost every nite and indulge in the cappuccinno/expresso. With Celebrity the older ship did not have this available.

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I've done the traditional set-seating and open-seating and I have to say that without a doubt we prefer open-seating. Our last ship, the Radisson Diamond, was a near perfect experience. We usually took breakfast and lunch at the buffet on the top deck - scrumptious, fresh and never a line (the advantage of a small ship). We generally ate dinner in the main dining room, usually at a table for two, a couple of times with friends we had made at a reception. Plus, we loved being able to show up whenever we wanted, not at a set time, with never a delay being seated and no pressure to make small talk. We especially enjoyed some dinners taken on our veranda - a perfect way on a warm evening to watch the coastal lights and islands drift by - you can't do that at home. The Diamond offered only one alternative venue, the Italian restaurant on top, where we found the food and the experience very dated. Another thing, I really appreciated the fast that wine at dinner and service gratuities were included in the fee. We don't drink much, probably not our money's worth, but just appreciated not having to review purchases and expenses at every turn - plus the service was superb. In sum, it's open dining for us - or at least plenty of alternative choices.

 

The Diamond leaves RSSC this year - may be gone already - we'll miss her. She was slower than a sloth but a real joy - relaxed, comfortable, a great crew and not overburdened with the kind of expense generating features we have no interest in.

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Yeah, without a doubt, Freestyle dining and open seating is great! We usually go with a very large group (Table for 25 please!), and NCL is wonderful in accommodating us. On the first night, we go to the dining room and request the same table for all of us every night at 5:30 when the dining room opens. This is convenient because we travel with little kids, so the early dinner time is a warm welcome. They just tell us to let them know that day, even if it is just half an hour before dinner, if our party will be smaller or if we will not be attendin the dining room that night. This worked well. Some nights a few people from our group would choose to go to a specialty restaurant, and they just fixed a smaller table for us in the dining room. The next night, our table for 25 was ready at 5:30 again. Never had a problem!

 

I like going to breakfast and lunch simply during breakfast and lunch hours. No worrying, what if I sleep until 8AM and miss breakfast because I have first seating and it starts at 7:30. Same for lunch. If I am at another activity on the ship or getting a massage in the spa or something I can go to lunch whenever I am ready. And I'm not talking the buffet, I like the dining room like I said before. Love having a long window of time that I can show up.

 

On our first cruise with NCL, in 2002, we sailed about an hour behind schedule. My husband had only cruised once before that and the weather was pretty horrible when we sailed, so he wanted to get the full effect and stay on deck until we sailed under the Verrazzano Bridge (NYC). My parents and the rest of our group wanted to go to dinner at 6:00. So they went and we stayed on deck and had a later dinner at about 7:30. We got a nice table for 2 in the dining room and it was wonderful. If we had a set dining time fo first seating, we wouldn't have been able to stay on deck and also eat dinner in the dining room. Love Freestyle!

 

-Bonnie

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On our first cruise on RCI's NOS in January we ate in the dining room every night. The menus of the specialty restaurants did not intice and I found the regular dining room food to be excellent, with exceptional service from our wait staff.

 

For breakfast we ate one day in the dining room but were less than impressed. We were sat at a table for 10 but remained the only 2 there the entire meal! It took forever, and the food wasn't piping hot. We switched to the buffet and were impressed with the selection and quality of the Windjammer offerings.

 

We weren't onboard for too many lunches (our excursions on land usually included them) but we ate once in the Windjammer and once at Johnny Rockets, which was fun to try once. We meant to try the dining room and just never got there.

 

The place we found we ate the most was the Promenade Cafe. Often coming back from port, we would grab pizza (o.k.) sandwhiches (excellent) fruit and pastries (very yummy) and either take them back to our room or sit down there and watch the people go by.

 

Also went to a lovely wine tasting in the Vintages bar that was accompanied by an excellent fruit and cheese plate- a nice touch that is also available every late afternoon before main dinner seating.

 

We had room service lunch one day- I couldn't figure out why my DH was so against it- then I found out he didn't know it was free! We will be taking better advantage of this one on our next cruise:D

 

Not sure what the Freedom will offer but this gives you an idea of what might be available.

Cheers

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I prefer traditional dining and enjoy being served in the dining room. I dislike buffets and lines and the whole atmosphere of noise, crowds and wet bathing suits. Only in a pinch is this my choice.

 

I have grown to enjoy the specialty restaurants, especially Portofino's on RCI. Intimate atmosphere, attentive and polished service, views of the ocean, an enforced dress code and adults only.

 

To me, it's worth the price.

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i have cruised on carnival, rccl and ncl and i have to say i love ncl's freestyle option. that said, on carnival and rccl the buffet's were better so i ate there more often, ncl had the best food of the bunch though (excellent actually) in the restaurants but awful in the buffet, so i only at there. the restaurants were so nice though and you only sat with the members of your own party so it was really a great experience. like going to a v. nice restaurant each meal.

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We always get coffee/tea and pastries delivered to the stateroom early, then go to the dining room for breakfast. Lunchtime, we'll look at the dining room menu, and eat there if there's something we like, if not, we'll go to the buffet. I don't like steam table food much, but there's always a pasta/omelet/stir-fry station where the food is a little 'fresher.' If not, I can have soup and bread and be happy. Dinner always at the dining room. I have not done the extra charge restaurant yet, I'm perfectly happy with the dining room menu. And we do use room service a lot, sometimes in the afternoon for a snack, sometimes late at night. Once we came back from a tour tired and sweaty and did not feel like going out, so we called room service and ordered off the dining room menu. :D

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Our favorite cruiseline is Oceania, where the seating is open - meaning dine when you want and with whom you want. We love that as we don't like the have to a "be at your table by 8:00" rule and dine with the same people every night.

On Oceania, the specialty restaurants have no extra charge, but we like the main dining room just as much.

However, we just learned that our favorite dessert - the chocolate lasagne - which was served at the italian specialty restaurant, is now back on. So I'm sure when we can cruise with Oceania again, we'll go there.

 

On Princess, we also enjoyed their Open Seating policy, though we ended up dining with the same couple every night. We hooked up w/ them for private shore excursion, pre-cruise right here on CC. :)

 

We prefer to eat locally, off the ship, whenever possible - after all, isn't new cuisine part of the fun of travelling? While on cruises, we've had wonderful lunches in Gdansk, Stockholm, Seville, Tallinn, St. Emillon, Lisbon, as well as dinners in Rio, Bordeaux and Cadiz. We just love it when the ship docks overnight in a port so we can spend lots of time there without having to look at our watches. If it's an overnight port, we go back to the ship, shower, change and go out to a fabulous dinner at a wonderful local restaurant.

 

For breakfast, we go to the buffet for some coffee, fruit and a roll. The thought of ordering a full meal at breakfast....ugh.....too much food!

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On both our cruises my boyfriend and I ate all our dinners in the dining room and really tried to get as many breakfasts and lunches there as well. We enjoy everything about the dining room experience: the obvious reason is the superior quality of food and the chance to be served from the moment we sit down, but we also really enjoy meeting our tablemates for the week, bonding with our headwaiter and assistant ( i must say that on both cruises we have had the BEST waiters...so kind, generous and always smiling. This definitely made our dining experience more memorable) and the "SHOWTIME" entertainment. We never did the specialty restaurant...we'll give it a shot on our next cruise ;)

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My husband and I ate room service on our balcony every morning. It was great! For lunch we usually ate pizza, sandwiches, and desserts in the Promenade Cafe (on the RCI ships) alothough we ate at Johnny Rocket's once. We did usually look at the lunch menu in the dining room but preferred a lighter lunch because we knew we would eat a huge dinner. We LOVED Chops and Portofino and found that they were well worth the $25.00 surcharge. The dining room food was good but not exceptional. We are sailing on the Mariner next June and will have our son with us and we can't wait. We are possibly going on a family reunion cruise on the Freedom of the Seas in the summer of 2007 and can't wait to read all of the reviews and get suggestioins. :o

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Buffet, all the way! I love that there are more choices in food, dress, and the time you choose to dine. (No annoying appointments/obligations.) I've found that at the buffets, some people are casual, and some have dressed up. It's just whatever you want it to be!

 

As for servers getting to know both you and your preferences, this is not lacking in the buffet experience because the cooks will ask your name & call you by it the next day - even remembering that you like your fish without the breading!

 

P.S: I do like room service for breakfast, however. I roll out of bed, hit the gym, and time my return to have my breakfast waiting for me. It's fabulous.

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Speaking of hitting the gym then having breakfast...on the Norwegian Dawn last year, I would get up early and go to the gym (5 morning of the 7). I'd work out for about an hour, then stop by the Blue Lagoon (24-hour eatery) for a danish and coffee or juice. Yes, I know danish kind of defeats the purpose of exercising, but not in my book. I like to keep moving, and whether or not I work out on a cruise, I am still gonna eat a ton, and may I add, a ton more than I would at home! After all, it's vacation. So while this may sound funny to some of you, at least I still worked out! I also enjoy working out, kind of a hobby for me, so it didn't bother me at all to work out and then "ruin" it with some danish! And of course the rest of the rich food I ate that week! But the Blue Lagoon, very convenient! There is also one on the Norwegian Spirit, so I am looking forward to it next year!

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