Question about Princess Menus

[metsmom]

We will be sailing on our first cruise to Alaska in August on The Grand Princess and have heard of various favorite meals of the passangers that post here. My question is do you get a copy of all the menus the night before so that you can kind of plan which nights you might want to eat in the MDR as opposed to the Buffet or Specialty restaurant? I know the Princess patter will tell you if it's a formal night or not but do you see the actual food choices ahead of time or not till that day? Any answers are appreciated! Thanks!

[HBINLA]

They do not display the menus the day before. However, if you ask one of the captains or matre d's at dinner the evening before, they will definitely bring you one to look at. Beware...it's a tough choice!

 

 

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[metsmom]

Thanks for the reply! So I guess then you have no idea of your dinner choices until you actually sit down and see it?

[cruisin'grandparents]

If it is a sea day then after breakfast, the lunch menu will be posted outside the main dining room. If a port day, then the dinner menu will be posted sometime after breakfast as MDR is closed for lunch. Hope this helps answer your question.

[shredie]

Thanks for the reply! So I guess then you have no idea of your dinner choices until you actually sit down and see it?

 

Well, you can order something specific the night before if you need to. People with allergies will tend to do that, I think. You ask for the menu for the following night to see if there will be something you want, and if not, you can ask for something special. In any case, you can always ask to see the next night's menu in advance.

[OCruisers]

Welcome to Cruise Critic! :)

You can ask your waiter the night before for the menu for tomorrow night.

If you can wait until about noon the next day, it will be posted outside the dining room door.

LuLu

[denmarks]

The dinner menu will be posted outside the dining rooms once lunch is finished.

[OCruisers]

Normally, the lunch menu is on one side of the dining room entry and the dinner menu on the other.

You can just ask your waiter the night before and he'll have someone bring one to you.

LuLu

Edited July 1, 2014 by OCruisers

[Pam in CA]

Well, you can order something specific the night before if you need to. People with allergies will tend to do that, I think. You ask for the menu for the following night to see if there will be something you want, and if not, you can ask for something special. In any case, you can always ask to see the next night's menu in advance.

Not only that but do a search for any recent menus. That'll give you a way to plan in advance. The menus are pretty much the same on Princess ships. As long as it's a 7-day cruise, there'll possibly be only minor differences. Cruises longer than seven days, there will be different menus.

[RickEk]

In my experience, on embarkation day, there will be a table set up outside of Sabatini's and they'll have all the menus for the voyage available. I always go there to see what night I might want to book a specialty restaurant.

[Thrak]

You can always just have the Fettuccine Alfredo in the Parmesan Bowl. It's available every night and is wonderful. :)

[BrandiGreg]

We always have dinner in the main dining room and have NEVER looked at the menu ahead of time, as we consider it bad luck PLUS we like the surprise of opening the menu at the table. There is always something we like and we have no food intolerances. But that is just our tradition. (However, we do look at the lunch menu to decide if we want to eat there or the buffet):D

Edited July 1, 2014 by BrandiGreg

[shredie]

We always have dinner in the main dining room and have NEVER looked at the menu ahead of time, as we consider it bad luck

LOL! Sometimes the bad luck arrives when you do open the menu! ;) Have you ever tried to eat Grandma's Coq au vin? :)

[rdsqrl]

LOL! Sometimes the bad luck arrives when you do open the menu! ;) Have you ever tried to eat Grandma's Coq au vin? :)

*snort*

Not to mention, the entire menu on "Oriental Night." Thank god for Always Available on that night.

 

I too like to be surprised by the menu choices when I sit down. Which is ironic, considering how long it takes me to make up my mind in restaurants on land. My boyfriend used to beg me to start looking at the restaurant's menu online an hour before he picked me up, just to save time.

[lovevacadays]

In my experience, on embarkation day, there will be a table set up outside of Sabatini's and they'll have all the menus for the voyage available. I always go there to see what night I might want to book a specialty restaurant.

 

I didn't know this. Great tip.

 

You can always just have the Fettuccine Alfredo in the Parmesan Bowl. It's available every night and is wonderful. :)

 

I can't wait to have it in November.

[Thrak]

When pressed for time due to excursions, shows, etc. we have looked at the dinner menu in advance. A couple of times we have decided that our other plans won out over the dinner offerings in MDR. Usually though we eat dinner in MDR. We love being catered to and there is generally something on the menu that makes us very happy. :)

 

If we were on the 111 day world cruise I would guess we would skip MDR far more often...

[metsmom]

That's what I mean, if I could see some of the menus ahead of time we would be able to see what nights we might want to eat elsewhere! Thanks!

Edited July 2, 2014 by metsmom

[Jasperdo]

The dinner menu will be posted outside the dining rooms once lunch is finished.

And if you want to see it earlier in the day than that, go to either the Traditional Dining Room, Deck 6 aft, or the mid ship dining room that's not being used for open seating breakfast and lunch. They usually put the next night's menu up after they close for the evening.

[Cruisin' Chick]

If the Grand is like the Golden,there's only one entrance for passengers when it comes to the main dining rooms. The Horizon Court on the Golden does have four entrances -- two at the front and two from the aft deck so I'm guessing the Grand has them too.

 

After you'll be able to see the lunch menu for the MDRs in the morning (after breakfast is over for the dining room that is open for breakfast) in a display case near the entrances of the MDRs. In the afternoon, the dinner menu is in the same display case. On some sailings, I've seen the MDR menu for that dinner displayed by the Horizon Court if I'm remembering correctly. The Horizon Court doesn't usually display a menu so you have to look at the serving area to see what's offered. Sometimes there'll be also a lunch time buffet outside the Horizon Court, at least on my last couple of cruises.

[QualityTime]

So Alaska in August on the Island Princess will be my 2nd cruise in 10 years. My travel agent reserved a 5:30 dinner seating for my family of 4 (kids are 18 & 20). I'm assuming that means dining in the main dining room every night? And should I be opting for a later seating for days when we are at Port? I was thinking having dinner together every night at the same time would insure that our family spends some quality time together while on the ship. Thoughts? Opinions? Thx!

 

 

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[Corinda]

So Alaska in August on the Island Princess will be my 2nd cruise in 10 years. My travel agent reserved a 5:30 dinner seating for my family of 4 (kids are 18 & 20). I'm assuming that means dining in the main dining room every night? And should I be opting for a later seating for days when we are at Port? I was thinking having dinner together every night at the same time would insure that our family spends some quality time together while on the ship. Thoughts? Opinions? Thx!

 

 

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Actually a great plan - but you don't HAVE to eat in the MDR. If you and/or your family get back late-ish from an excursion (or naps) there are other options; Buffet, room-service, Bayou cafe or I think - and I'm sure someone will correct me, you can also go to anytime dining if you missed your traditional seating.

 

I love the Island Princess - say hi for me and ENJOY :)

[Working 2 Cruise]

Actually a great plan - but you don't HAVE to eat in the MDR. If you and/or your family get back late-ish from an excursion (or naps) there are other options; Buffet, room-service, Bayou cafe or I think - and I'm sure someone will correct me, you can also go to anytime dining if you missed your traditional seating.

 

I love the Island Princess - say hi for me and ENJOY :)

 

I really don't think you can go to the anytime dining room if you have traditional dining. If you miss your dinner, you should just go to the buffet, international cafe or the pizzeria...

[FlynnRider78]

On sea days, the breakfast menu will be replaced with the lunch menu, only outside the 1 anytime dining room that serves lunch, the other anytime dining room not serving lunch, should have the dinner menu.

[caribill]

So Alaska in August on the Island Princess will be my 2nd cruise in 10 years. My travel agent reserved a 5:30 dinner seating for my family of 4 (kids are 18 & 20). I'm assuming that means dining in the main dining room every night? And should I be opting for a later seating for days when we are at Port? I was thinking having dinner together every night at the same time would insure that our family spends some quality time together while on the ship. Thoughts? Opinions? Thx!

 

If you think 5:30 is too early, then ask your TA to switch you either to the later traditional dining time (probably around 8 PM) or to anytime dining which means you can show up when you want while the dining room is open (although you may have a wait to be seated just like at a land restaurant).

 

The menus and dress codes are the same in both the traditional and anytime dining rooms.

 

If you keep the 5:30 time and the ship is in port until later, your dining room will change that evening to allow you to show up anytime.

 

And, as others have posted, even when assigned to a traditional dining room, you can still eat elsewhere (buffet, for example) any evening you wish.

[sherryf]

 

If you keep the 5:30 time and the ship is in port until later, your dining room will change that evening to allow you to show up anytime.

 

 

We always have Anytime, but I was curious about this, so I looked back at my Patters from last year. The only day that listed a change in Traditional dining times was the last night, when we were in Victoria. That night showed early dining still scheduled, but people with late dining times had open dining. We were in Juneau until 10 PM and Skagway until 8:15 PM, but these nights still showed as regular dining schedule in the Patters.