What type of cruiser are you? MDR vs Specialty

[cb at sea]

WE enjoy the MDR, IF we have table mates! We are into that! It's fun! On a longer cruise, we might switch it up 1 or 2 nights at a specialty, but not on shorter trips.

 

We do the MDR for breakfast, as well....much nicer to be waited on than scrounging for food at the buffet! Don't mind WJ for a sandwich or something like that at lunch.

[Susie51]

MDR, but when I cruise next month I'm going to try several specialty restaurants.

[akcruz]

We stick mainly to the MDR, however usually do 1 night in a specialty restaurant and one in the windjammer.

 

The specialty restaurant is not necessarily for the food but more for the service and more intimate atmosphere. This used to be our date night when the kids were young and having dinner with AO. Now that they are older they want to join us. Since they are both out of the house its nice to have them eat with us on vacation. They have learned to enjoy the experience and look forward to our night.

 

The windjammer is usually for that day that is just long, usually a late port day that we really don't want to take the time to get ready for the MDR. Also on Allure, if we have a strangely timed show, that could be windjammer night.

 

Bottom line, be flexible and try them all out to see what works for you.

[Rocketlady]

I prefer the buffet. My husband MDR. WE only paid 2 times in the last 4 cruises for specialty restaurants.

[critterchick]

MDR one or two nights at most, then a mix of specialties and WJ the rest of the time. On Serenade and Jewel, you can get a cooked to order meal at the aft stations that is superior to anything the MDR can offer. The only downside is fetching it yourself. Unlike at breakfast or lunch and unlike the MDR at dinner, the WJ is usually peaceful at night. We will bring up a bottle of wine or order a couple of glasses, find a corner and enjoy a nice, leisurely meal.

 

As for sabotaging ourselves by eating too much, it doesn't happen at dinner. We'll get a salad and a main course, maybe a small portion dessert and call it good.

 

It's the specialties where we are inclined to over-order or allow the waitstaff to over serve us, but we've gotten good at controlling ourselves there (for the most part).

[Cuizer2]

Not looking to judge or anything just generally curious as to what everyone's preference is.

 

Are you the type that stays with MDR most of the week because they change the menu?

 

Or are you the type that loves to spend most nights in the specialty dining?

 

I myself prefer the MDR, I do like that they change the menu and to me it keeps it fresh and I feel like I miss out if I go elsewhere. Plus it saves me extra money.

 

I have had one experience in specialty dining and I enjoyed it very much and I am not adverse to trying again just prefer the variety every day and money savings of the MDR.

 

What say you?

 

I prefer the MDR, but not because they change the menu. I usually try one specialty restaurant per cruise.

[Justmekaren918]

I have to say I've never thought about grabbing WJ and eating on the balcony, but love that shot by Justmekaren918. May have to try that:)!

Thank You

I second that

Thank You, and I would order room service breakfast 1 morning and I would keep the cover and I would go and get food and bring it back! I gotta so it worked well!

 

It was the best sunset of the cruise and I was contemplating eating at 1 of the specialty resturants, and I was really glad I got food and ate on the balcony. It was a great dinner and sunset and the flowers from my friend ordered through Royal. They lasted awesome through my 5 day.

 

Enjoy your cruises all!

[Cuizer2]

I have to say I've never thought about grabbing WJ and eating on the balcony, but love that shot by Justmekaren918. May have to try that:)!

 

That is what I do for breakfast and sea day lunches ...

 

 

 

 

 

[krisko]

MDR all the way! My girlfriend is horrified at the thought of paying extra in a restaurant when the food in mdr is free...I'll drag her into Chops once a cruise anyway.

 

If we don't like dynamic dining on Anthem next year, I could see us jumping ship. We really enjoy the mdr dynamic, no pun intended.

[QTBabyNurse]

We have never dined at a specialty restaurant! We enjoy the MDR and feel there are plenty of options there. We also enjoy traditional dining at a large table getting to know our table mates throughout the week!

 

 

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[gaiamother]

Justmekaren918

 

"Thank You, and I would order room service breakfast 1 morning and I would keep the cover and I would go and get food and bring it back! I gotta so it worked well!"

 

Keeping the cover:) brilliant!! 30+ cruises and never thought to do either of these. On Allure mid December will have to partake in this:). T

Edited October 31, 2014 by gaiamother

[cruiseseeker]

MDR. Love the treatment from having same waiter. They learn who you are and what you like.

[mufflerman]

Mdr I paid for the cruise with the food included, Not going to pay again

 

 

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[Cruisegirl6]

I don't want the banquet type food available in the MDR (although its fine but I much prefer specialty dining) and certainly don't mind paying more for better quality and variety of food. If I dine at a good restaurant here at home it sure makes the little 20-40 fee per person not even cover the entree in a restaurant. I feel the extra fees are decent and fair.

 

On the Freedom Class ships we found Chops to be more superior than on the Oasis class and Portofino's our favorite which is located only on the Freedom Class ship. Giovanni's on the Oasis class to us is not as good as Portofino's when it comes to the overall food.

 

We went on the Oasis this past May NEVER dined in the MDR but chose to try each specialty restaurant on this cruise. We were 7 adults with 4 staterooms, and this ship was my 53rd cruise:

 

Giovanni's- Have to say this was our favorite of all the specialty restaurants but we all remain to rate it below Portofino's.

 

Chops- Probably the least liked when it came to the servers (we dined here twice) and this was our least liked Chops compared to the Chops on the Freedom Class ships. The new menu to us showed that they were cutting back and although it was good we probably won't dine at Chops when we go on the Oasis coming up in May.

 

Samba Grill- All of us felt this was the most horrible dining/food experience that we ever had on all of our cruises.

 

150 Parc Place- Because we dine many times at 4/5 star restaurants we are comparing our experiences of other fine restaurants to this one and we only rate this restaurant good....Service was excellent overall but when it came to catering to dietary needs (I need to be gluten free) I was given items from the MDR and a plain and simple gluten free pasta dish with no meat or fresh herbs...the dessert they gave me was just a scoop of sherbet again something they got from the MDR there...our main course was the short ribs which was not an actual piece of meat but more of a short rib spread that was placed on a large cracker (perhaps since it was the last evening of the cruise they ran out of short ribs) and mine did not have it on a cracker but a couple of tablespoons on a dish. Extremely disappointing overall and the others that did not have dietary needs said it was good but nothing special. I would not go back here again.

 

Izumi- We had dinner here once five out of seven of us had the Hot Rock which we were given our meal on the hot rock that consisted of three pieces of broccoli florets, one slice of bok choy, about 6 thin sliced carrots and rice, not much of a meal by any means would of made a wonderful lunch. Overall the food is very salty but aren't they all when it comes to oriental cuisine? Sushi was very good as so was the soups. I may go back here for lunch but not for dinner.

 

Rita's Cantina- fortunately we had lunch here and not dinner, it was your typical mexican food, excellent guacamole and very good and fresh salsa.... we were given some burnt tacos...it was a decent lunch and I would go back for lunch or late night snack.

 

Vintages- Unfortunately we had lunch here the 6th day and we would of loved to have dinner here everything was tasty and delicious and service was excellent.

 

With this being said....if we are on a Freedom Class ship because Chops was better than the Oasis class and Portofino's one of our favorite specialty restaurants we would continue to dine every evening at the specialty restaurants on this class of ship but on the Oasis class of ship I will choose the MDR (fortunately they going to go to Dynamic Dining which I am excited about and love this idea, different menus, different restaurants and choose any time you want to dine at a private table) at least 3 times during a week long cruise. The specialty dining in most of the specialty restaurants available on the Oasis class to us wasn't worth dining every day on a cruise at and paying an extra fee for.

[Vitamin_Sea]

MDR every night and we love it.

 

I have zero interest in the "pay" restaurants on cruise ships.

[nolesrule]

We do MDR most nights, but honestly I've started to get bored of the menus. It would be nice if they switched the menus up a bit more, since there are many more menus than there are cruise nights on the cruises I've been on. I enjoy the service and attention that I get in the MDR, but I'm at the point where I want some different food. 5 cruises in a row, 5 prime ribs on the first night. It was the only thing that appealed without dipping into the everyday options.

 

When we take the kids, we give ourselves a date night by feeding them in the Windjammer, dropping them off at Adventure Ocean, and go to a specialty restaurant.

 

On our last cruise, my wife and I also did the Windjammer once without the kids, and I liked it. I'll probably do it again.

 

I actually feel like I'm wasting money by getting the everyday option on the MDR menu, yet I don't mind spending extra going to a specialty restaurant, but that's just me.

[Paulette3028]

We do MDR most nights, but honestly I've started to get bored of the menus. It would be nice if they switched the menus up a bit more, since there are many more menus than there are cruise nights on the cruises I've been on. I enjoy the service and attention that I get in the MDR, but I'm at the point where I want some different food. 5 cruises in a row, 5 prime ribs on the first night. It was the only thing that appealed without dipping into the everyday options.

 

When we take the kids, we give ourselves a date night by feeding them in the Windjammer, dropping them off at Adventure Ocean, and go to a specialty restaurant.

 

On our last cruise, my wife and I also did the Windjammer once without the kids, and I liked it. I'll probably do it again.

 

I actually feel like I'm wasting money by getting the everyday option on the MDR menu, yet I don't mind spending extra going to a specialty restaurant, but that's just me.

 

I grew up where if it was Monday, you knew exactly what my mom would make for dinner and the same could be said for every day of the week. It was predictable. Now 40 years into having my own home I have tried very hard NOT to have the same item, on the same night each week. There are more than 5 'weekday night meals that I can make'. Having said that, I am not on a cruise for more than a week, usually. Our first 8 day cruise will be in February 2015 - so I will repeat the first nights menu on the last night. I am SURE, when I see the same menu on that night, I will be able to find something different on it, so as NOT to order the same thing, unless of course, I enjoyed it so much that I want it again.

 

Usually we cruise once a year, or maybe once in 10 or 11 months. But not nearly close enough in time, for me to care that the menus are the same each time....just my opinion.

[Trainman-2]

Generally Speaking, we prefer the Windjammer to the MDR, especially for dinner.

 

I recommend that anyone who had not tried the Windjammer for dinner should do so. You will be pleasantly surprised.

 

But we also like the specialty restaurants!

 

We especially like our T/A who always provides a certificate for both of us for one night in a specialty restaurant and he also gives us $150 on board credit which we use for more specialty restaurants.

 

We are looking forward to trying out the new Dynamic Dining program. We have no clue what new possibilities will be there.

[nolesrule]

I grew up where if it was Monday, you knew exactly what my mom would make for dinner and the same could be said for every day of the week. It was predictable. Now 40 years into having my own home I have tried very hard NOT to have the same item, on the same night each week. There are more than 5 'weekday night meals that I can make'. Having said that, I am not on a cruise for more than a week, usually. Our first 8 day cruise will be in February 2015 - so I will repeat the first nights menu on the last night. I am SURE, when I see the same menu on that night, I will be able to find something different on it, so as NOT to order the same thing, unless of course, I enjoyed it so much that I want it again.

 

Usually we cruise once a year, or maybe once in 10 or 11 months. But not nearly close enough in time, for me to care that the menus are the same each time....just my opinion.

 

That's just as valid an opinion as mine.

 

The reason I have issues with the variety of the menu is I do not eat pork or shellfish and I do not like mushrooms. That itself eliminates quite a few menu selections.

 

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[Paulette3028]

That's just as valid an opinion as mine.

 

The reason I have issues with the variety of the menu is I do not eat pork or shellfish and I do not like mushrooms. That itself eliminates quite a few menu selections.

 

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Everyone has a valid opinion, no problem with that. Whether you do not eat port or shellfish and don't like mushrooms, in itself would cause a problem no matter how large a menu it was. Mushrooms are often used in dishes as complimentary items.

[nealstuber]

Generally MDR, with very occasional specialty.

 

 

Ditto - maybe an extra-extra special occasion. On our LAST Carnival cruise we did the Italian joint because the dining room felt like a Luby's.

 

 

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[Clarea]

Ditto - maybe an extra-extra special occasion. On our LAST Carnival cruise we did the Italian joint because the dining room felt like a Luby's.

What's a Luby's?:confused:

[grandmarnnurse]

What's a Luby's?:confused:

 

Lubys' is a chain of buffet restaurants, I believe. None where I live, but there was one near my son's home in Texas before it closed its doors.

[Clarea]

Lubys' is a chain of buffet restaurants, I believe. None where I live, but there was one near my son's home in Texas before it closed its doors.

I take it from the context of the other post then that Luby's must have been a low end type of restaurant?

[nealstuber]

I take it from the context of the other post then that Luby's must have been a low end type of restaurant?

 

http://www.lubys.com/

 

Nothing wrong with Luby's but when I want a cafeteria style experience, I'll go there.