Dinner at Horizon Court

[jasbo49]

We have just come back from a week on the New England cruise on the Regal. This year we decided to use other eating venues and only went into the MDR once. We didn't take any formal gear. We ate in a couple of the speciality restaurants and also used Alfredo's as well as the buffet. We really liked the change of pace this time.

 

We have a Regal cruise in December 2016, and we definitely plan to skip the formal wear for that one. Alfredo's makes all the difference. We liked it aboard the Grand, but it was a pretty trimmed down version there, just pizza and drinks.

 

Jim

[drblue]

We have a cruise in Southeast Asia coming up in December, and we are adding a few extra days in Tokyo as a stop over plus a few days in northern Cambodia at the end of the trip. We are 2 adults and our young son. You can imagine that packing adequately would be an important factor of our trip. Coming from California, we are planning to reduce our packing items as much as we can. The obvious reason is to cut the formal wear.

In addition, we have eaten many of our dinners at the buffet section during the formal nights. Many of the reasons have been mentioned here:

- It is faster to eat at the buffet than at the MDR. When you have a child, it is important.

- For picky eaters, you can actually see the food items displayed, and you can try a little bit before serving a full plate.

- The waiting staff at the buffet are usually not working in a hectic schedule as they are during breakfast and lunch service.

- Many people mentioned the warn items (not really hot). This usually happens when the buffets first open, and the hot water stations have not been burning long enough. If people arrive a little bit after opening the doors, the food is warmer and the lines dissipate.

 

I hope this helps.

[sunsetbeachgal]

The Regal and the Royal have such excellent Horizon Court buffets we ate several dinners there. We liked being able to eat at 6:30 ish and not having to wait for a table, seeing what you are going to eat beforehand and getting as much or as little as you want. We also prefer to make our own salad and these ships have such great salad bars.

 

And Alfredos is such a wonderful place for a quiet casual meal. One couple we spoke with said they ate at Alfredos for dinner every night!

Edited October 25, 2015 by sunsetbeachgal

[klenklen]

We've stopped eating in the MDR years ago. Don't want to get dressed nor sit for two hours.

I'll make an earlier run through the HC and have a plate of late afternoon goodies on our balcony.

When we're ready we go to the HC. My wife can get a wine served to her and me lemonade. On the Royal last year we enjoyed eating outside aft and on the Ruby and Emerald we liked eating back outside the Cafe Caribe. In December we look forward to eating aft on the Regal.

We'll get starters or soup and sit a while and go from there. Later I'll bring a sampling of desserts to the table while the waiter gets the Mrs. coffee and/or an after dinner drink.

That's the nice thing on Princess, the choices. Other days it's Alfredo's, the IC and when the DW is not going to dinner I like the outside grill and enjoy the knockwurst and some fries.

[Shelly97060]

The Regal and the Royal have such excellent Horizon Court buffets we ate several dinners there. We liked being able to eat at 6:30 ish and not having to wait for a table, seeing what you are going to eat beforehand and getting as much or as little as you want. We also prefer to make our own salad and these ships have such great salad bars.

 

And Alfredos is such a wonderful place for a quiet casual meal. One couple we spoke with said they ate at Alfredos for dinner every night!

 

I completely agree! We just sailed Regal and liked the HCB & Alfredo's so much that we are planning to eat most of our meals in these venues on our upcoming 14 day Europe trip. :)

[msw.delafield]

We did the MDR for a number of our initial cruises, but these past few years we opt to go to Horizon Court for our evening meal. If traveling with extended family we prefer to join them for a breakfast or lunch in MDR, rarely for dinner – special occasion evenings are an exception. We also enjoy one or two evenings in CG for a really decadent meal.

As others indicate, is a relaxed and easy pace, choose your own table, a good selection of entries and accompaniments, take your time to talk, read or just catch up on the day – yes, there is an occasional disappointment – maybe it’s taste or sometimes temperature is off - but there is always something that hits the spot and fills the tummy.

Wait staff is surprisingly regular, and you do build a rapport. We also always encounter one or more of our Sanctuary stewards working HC each night and they really go out of their way to make our experience more pleasant and enjoyable.

Another benefit is the chance interaction with crew or show cast as they eat in HC nightly. It’s a pleasure to converse with them after you’ve had opportunity to watch them perform their shows or doing their job onboard. We enjoy hearing about where they are from or what their career aspirations are as they move onward with Princess or beyond after their contracts.

After reading many CC reviews of the Royal/Regal HC improvements, we’re looking forward to our December trip as part of getting to know the new class of ship.

Thank you all for your posts on this topic!

[TJMK]

We haven't been in the MDR in about 10 years! HC, specialty and Alfredo's all work for us. And you can't beat the International Cafe for lunch. Plenty of choices and great people watching too! :D

[GUT2407]

On the Diamon now. At in buffet two nights, not sure that there was much from the MDR menu on offer, but a great range all the same, plenty of drink waiters running around.