NEW YORK CITY-how would you best use 3hrs with city/tour guide?

[Lizzybell]

Hello-my 2 sis & i are leaving for NY City next wk-we have 3 days and 3 nites, so very limited time. None of us have ever been to NYCity & are all

so excited. Thanks to CC I found Big Apple Greeters lined up for the morning of our 1st day for a couple of hrs. Our greeter will meet us at the hotel(Sheraton Towers) We want to learn the subway-1 sis & I will be going, we love old buildings & want to see Grand Central Station for sure. We want to save Stature of Liberty, Empire State Building, Staten Inland Ferry etc. for 2nd sis next day. Finally the questions..

 

Leaving from our hotel, we will have our greeter take us on the subway- we would like to see some great old neighborhoods, while familiarizing ourselves w/the subway for using over the next 2 days & would like to incooperate Grand Central Station. We would like to visit Central Park w/our greeter to get an overview & do another visit ourselves with our other sis with more time. I believe we have a greeter for @ 3 hrs.

 

Any suggestions as to spec neighborhoods/areas and how best to to learn @ how to get around the city from our greeter-what areas should we concentrate on???

 

Also looking for suggestions for a nice restaurant for lunch-I have heard @ the fixed menus & would like to take my sisters out Sat to a nice lunch with a real New York flavor for under $100-is this possible, if so, where? Anything that we should not miss, please share w/us.

 

We are doing this on a budget, in our 40's and all love to walk. Thanks much for any and all feedback is greatly appreciated. Thanks much, Liz

[tarababy18]

Hello-my 2 sis & i are leaving for NY City next wk-we have 3 days and 3 nites, so very limited time. None of us have ever been to NYCity & are all

so excited. Thanks to CC I found Big Apple Greeters lined up for the morning of our 1st day for a couple of hrs. Our greeter will meet us at the hotel(Sheraton Towers) We want to learn the subway-1 sis & I will be going, we love old buildings & want to see Grand Central Station for sure. We want to save Stature of Liberty, Empire State Building, Staten Inland Ferry etc. for 2nd sis next day. Finally the questions..

 

Leaving from our hotel, we will have our greeter take us on the subway- we would like to see some great old neighborhoods, while familiarizing ourselves w/the subway for using over the next 2 days & would like to incooperate Grand Central Station. We would like to visit Central Park w/our greeter to get an overview & do another visit ourselves with our other sis with more time. I believe we have a greeter for @ 3 hrs.

 

Any suggestions as to spec neighborhoods/areas and how best to to learn @ how to get around the city from our greeter-what areas should we concentrate on???

 

Also looking for suggestions for a nice restaurant for lunch-I have heard @ the fixed menus & would like to take my sisters out Sat to a nice lunch with a real New York flavor for under $100-is this possible, if so, where? Anything that we should not miss, please share w/us.

 

We are doing this on a budget, in our 40's and all love to walk. Thanks much for any and all feedback is greatly appreciated. Thanks much, Liz

 

i will try to help as much as possible but i'm not completely familiar with the city...

 

as far as the subway goes... there are maps in every station if you need to check then out before you actually enter the platform which help... you should def get a fun pass of some sort which is unlimited rides for a day (there used to be a 3 day or week one, but i'm not sure if they still have it) the subway isn't too hard to figure out, there are only a few lines you should need, for example, i usually only use the 4 and the 1 and the shuttle from times sq to grand central (GCT). you get the hang of it after a while too. just pay attention to whether or not you are going uptown or downtown. my friends and i usually just take the subway to the area we want and walk everywhere.

 

times sq at nite is great to see because of all the lights and signs, there are also some stores there... there is a restaurant there that i've been to that was really good called virgils bbq. it's down the block from toysrus in times sq (also a lot of fun to go into). i love going to the village, so much fun, such diversity and everyone is so nice there. there's this place called pom frits (sp) that has the best fries with almost any topping you can think of. there is also this place called gonzales and gonzales that my friends talk about but i have never been to. i would definitely stop by union sq (which is 14th street - the 4 subway goes there) there is almost always something going on around there, performances and whatnot. i haven't been to little italy in a long time, but there is definitely great food in that area.

 

not sure if you're looking for a themed restaurant or not but jekyll and hyde is alot of fun and not too expensive... a line gathers so it's good to go during the off hours. its on sixth between 57th and 58th i believe... there's a place called mars2112 which is a cool idea, but not worth the money and the food isn't good at all. there's serendipities, but the wait here is usually like 3 or 4 hours so i've never been there (it's by 60th and bloomingdales, i think somewhere in the area of madison)

 

definitely go to central park and walk around... we usually shop on 5th ave, the village, 34th street (macy's is there), 6th, broadway, around madison/park/lexington... the best way to get to know the city if by just walking around... if you get disoriented, just ask someone or take a cab or find a subway... not too hard to get back to where you started

 

here are some websites:

www.mta.info - entire subway map

http://www.nycvisit.com/memberSearch/searchCategory.cfm?pagePkey=12

http://gonyc.about.com/od/attractions/

http://www.go-newyorkcity.com/index.asp?RegionID=45&CategoryID=1

www.iloveny.state.ny.us

 

 

i hope this all helps... if there is anything you want more info on just let me know and i'll try to find the exact locations, etc. feel free to email me tarababy18@aol.com... just subject it message boards questions...

[tarababy18]

one more thing i forgot... if you're into broadway shows, there is a booth in times sq that sells discounted tickets to shows that day and there are alot to choose from... it's the tkts booth and it's in the middle.... great way to find something to do :) the shows are alot of fun

[Jane110]

Hiya,

 

Your Big Apple Greeter will be able to answer alot of these questions. He/She will give you the "lay of the land" and help you maximize your time here.

Go to any subway station and get a free subway map. This will give you a good layout of the city. Or your hotel should have one. Personally, I prefer the bus to the subway. Subway is faster but the bus allows you alot of siteseeing.

 

It's best to see NYC by neighborhood. Pick a different one to explore everyday. So one day, go downtown and visit Chinatown, Little Italy, Soho, Tribeca, the village (east and west). Village is also NYU territory - so lots of cheap eats, trinket shops and bars. This will keep you busy all day. There's so many places to see, shop and eat here. This is also a great area for walking at night as the streets are filled with people and little shops are open. (again, your big apple greeter can map it out for you).

 

In midtown one day you can cover Grand Central Station, The Chrysler Building, the Empire State Building, Rockefeller Center & Skating Rink, St. Patrick's Cathedral, Sak's 5th Ave, Tiffany's and Central Park. Since it's winter, one visit to Central Park will be enough. Eating in this neighborhood is tough since most places are either quick lunch take-out or very pricey business lunch places. Under Rock Center is a maze of not too pricey places. Or head east to the Bloomingdales area (59th and Lex) There are many great lunch spots - Alice's Tea Cup is very charming on E. 60th St. (just opened a few weeks ago).

 

Times Square a wonderful place to see other tourists, day or night. <yawn>

 

You might want to go waaay uptown to the Cloisters and parts of Harlem and Columbia University. This can be tricky to navigate so do this with the Greeter.

 

Buy a Zagat Guide - that's a food guide and costs about $12.00. It'll keep you from having a lousy meal. Keep it with you. It's alphbetical - so if you spot a restaurant that looks good, look it up and read about it. Or, go to the back index and look up places by neighborhood. Please, do NOT come to NYC and eat in a chain restaurant! You can do this at your local mall. (no flame intended to the other poster).

 

Dinner in NY is entertainment in and of itself and you can go as cheap or pricey as you want. Check your Zagat for some fun places. Some idea's are Chinatown (then walk to Little Italy for dessert), East 6th Street between 1st and 2nd Ave has tons of indian places - then for dessert go to Veniero's on 1st Ave and 10th St. Or go to the Meat packiing district (Markt on 14th & 9th is a good Belgian Bistro, or go to Pastis. Have drinks on the rooftop bar of the Ganesvoort Hotel). If you give me some idea's of what you're looking for I'd be happy to make some suggestions.

 

Enjoy my little town!:)

 

Jane

[Lizzybell]

Jane & Tarababy-thanks so much for the suggestions. all of them sound like so much fun.

 

Jane, I have read your posts with much interest over the last few months, i am envious of you-getting to live in such a great city as New York. The way you described how to "do the city" was perfect-broken down by neighborhoods. We will def hit downtown & thanks for the tip @ the buses. I hadnt thought of that and you are absolutely right-we want to see everything we can and by taking the bus-well, we will be the 3 rubbernecking sisters :)

 

Jane could you please tell me @ Serendipity?? All i know is its sort of an NY icon? & they are famous for their frozen hot choc & hours long wait. It just sounds so cool & so New York-is it worth our time & if so, whats the best(least crowded) time to go. One sis wants to go to the Soup Kitchen Intl(Seinfeld-Soup ****)-have looked on the net, but not sure if its worth it or even open-found info it was closed.

 

Thanks so much for the great tips. I will be printing them out & def doing the neighborhoods & i will buy a Zagats guide-sounds like a great $12 investment. I so agree w/you @ "theme" rest-i live 10 min from Mouseland and can do w/out all of them :)Liz

[Jane110]

LizzyBell,

 

Yes, Serendipity is famous for their frozen hot chocolate and their sandwiches are good too. I like their chicken salad on Irish Soda bread or their chicken liver in red wine omelet. I'm not sure if they take resy's or not - perhaps only for big parties (?). So to avoid a long line get there just before when they open (call to find out) or go late at night when the kids aren't there. Is it worth it? Yes and no. It is cute and charming, but I don't know if I'd give up another place to experience it. If you go there and there's a long wait, go to Alice's Tea Cup which is a block away.

 

Forget the soup place. It's simply a little hole-in-the-wall stand which sells containers of soup. The only thing that makes it famous is the guy's attitude. Not worth going out of your way for. It's more fun to see on Seinfeld reruns, honestly.

 

If you scroll down this board, perhaps you can find some of my prior restaurant suggestions. I've made lists for people, so you might enjoy looking through them for some idea's.

 

Yes, I feel lucky to live here. I love this city. I'm a third generation NYer (born on the upper east side, same hospital as my Mother) and can't imagine living anyplace else....other than perhaps Paris. ( I did live away when in college)

 

I'm glad you've enjoyed reading my NY info threads and happy to help people have a great time here.

 

BTW, the Metro card is good for both the subway and the buses.

 

I realized that I didn't even mention any of our museums in my post! Obviously, the "biggies" are the Metropolitan Museum of Art (82nd & 5th) and the Museum of Modern Art, aka MOMA (53rd 5th & 6th, near Rock. Ctr). Also pick up either New York Mag or Time Out New York (TONY) for other things that might interest you.

 

In the evening, you might enjoy a jazz performance at the Blue Note in the village. If you're into watching dance, then the Joyce Theatre in Chelsea is a dance-only theatre. (I saw Savion Glover 3 nights ago - he's the worlds greatest tap dancer). Of course, there's Broadway. Don't ask me show recommendations as I'm not a fan of B'way musicals. The Carlisle Hotel is a swanky, grown-up place where you can dressed chic-ly and enjoy some champagne and piano music. The NYC city ballet is now in season at Lincoln Center and there are usually seats available. I'm a subscriber and this season is wonderful!

 

Feel free to ask any more questions.

 

Jane

[tarababy18]

i'm glad i posted on this thread, i've learned some stuff too... i wish i lived in the city, but it's not worth it for me as far as commuting back up to westchester for work (that's where i live now)... which restaurants that i mentioned are chain? i'm just curious cuz i am/was unaware...

[Lizzybell]

tara-I am not sure as we dont have them out here in OC, but i think Jeckl & Hyde(by the name:) I dont, in general, like "theme" restaurants, the ones I have been too are overpriced for ok food. Maybe i just havent been to any good ones.

 

Jane, Tara or anyother CC outhere that knows Manhatten- I have a game plan for Friday-in afternoon the 3 of us are going(in order) Central Park, then on to Greenwich Village to shop & have dinner-so any suggestions for a mod priced@$20-30(w/out booze) for dinner(and walk, walk, walk!!!)-looking at a map of Manhatten, i see Little Italy is right next door, we love italian..... :) so that is an option. I am going to buy a Zagats, but I would love a personal recommendation, like Alices(which i found on the net & its getting really good reviews-thank you-Jane-i am also going to try to find your posts on rest. recommendations)

 

Then heading bk to midtown & either going to the Empire State Building or the Chrysler Building observation decks. Any thoughts as to which one to choose. My gut says Empire State Building....

 

We chose the above as its supposed to be clear on Fri and rain forcast for Sat and Sun, so now we have to decide what to do in the rain. If its pouring-any suggestions for an area that is either partially/covered, or lots of little neighborhood ind stores that sell unique items, clothes, jewerly etc that we could shop at and not get soaked due to having to walk blocks between stores. We are going to Bloomindales as we have never been before & i hear their shoe dept is awesome. Rockfeller Center is a possibility...so looking for a few more ideas in case of heavy rain. Going to pass on the museums for now. I dont want to rush thru them & so will save them for our next visit when we have more than 2 1/2 days.

 

Thanks so much for your help. I feel that at least we have some kind of game plan for Friday. Hopefully it wont be pouring all weekend, if it is-we will all be soaking wet for 2 days as we wont let a little rain stop us! Liz

[Jane110]

TONS of restaurants in the village. I won't go into descriptions or details of addresses since you can look that up in Zagat, but here are some of my favorites that should fall into your price range. I can't say anything about Alice's because I haven't been there yet, sorry.

 

North Square - new american

Jarnac - small,cozy french

Village - very casual, french bistro. (brunch too)

Vittorio Cucina - italian

Jane - new american (brunch too, very noisy at dinner)

Lupa - italian (roman) incredible food.

 

(oh and if you walk by "Gusto" pass on it. world's worst service & attitude.)

 

in Soho

 

Balthazar - french bistro. great bar

Cupping Room (for brunch. i don't love dinner here)

Felix - french bistro

Ideya - nuevo latino

Zoe - new american (dinner a bit out of your budget, so brunch)

 

in Meat Packing District

 

Markt - french/belgium bistro. dinner or lunch

Pastis - french bistro - lunch or dinner (sister to Balthazar, less pricey)

Paradou - Provencal style french. very tiny place

 

other recommendations - not in the village, tho' not that far from it...

 

Aleo - meditt./italian

Danal - french, charming/cute

Crispo - italian (between village/meatpacking/chelsea)

 

If it's raining, stay downtown in village & soho and walk between stores and bars. Broadway and West Broadway are main streets and are about 3 blocks parallel to one another and lots of fun little streets in between. Broadway has more of the mall stores & W. B'way has more boutiques. Also art galleries on W. Broadway to pop into as well as on side streets. Start on Houston and walk south. (SoHo stands for South of Houston) Outdoor "flea market" on Spring for fun, cheap fashions & accessories. Don't miss a visit to Pearl's chinese "dept store" on W. Broadway - you could spend an hour in there. Bloomingdales has opened a Soho branch on Broadway (tho very different from uptown Bloomies).

Lafayette also a fun street - not as many stores as others, but for fab shoes go to Otto Tootsie Plouhound on Lafayette and Spring.

Have drinks at Balthazar or glass of wine at Zoe even if you don't eat at these places.

Bruno's Bakery on LaGuardia Place (which is what W. Broadway is called when it's north of Houston) is a nice respite for a cappuccino and good pastry.

 

If Friday will be nice and Sat. will be rainy - then perhaps stay uptown on Friday after Central Park? See Rock Center, Sak's, 5th Ave, etc or go to upper west side or upper east side (madison ave).

 

If you go to Chrysler building, go to Grand Central Station nearby and see how beautifully it's been renovated. While there have a drink at the Campbell Apartment or Cipriani's.

 

Have a GREAT time here!

 

Jane

[Jane110]

It's not called Pearl's Dept Store. And it's on Broadway, not W. B'way as I accidently posted.

 

It's called Pearl River. Fun, funky shop of asian "stuff" you never knew you needed. <g> Located on 477 Broadway between Broome and Grand St. Just a fun place to go, especially if the weather is bad and you'd like to buy some inexpensive gifts or things for yourselves.

 

Jane

[BlueHerons]

tara-I am not sure as we dont have them out here in OC, but i think Jeckl & Hyde(by the name:) I dont, in general, like "theme" restaurants, the ones I have been too are overpriced for ok food. Maybe i just havent been to any good ones.

 

 

 

 

Liz, eat anywhere but Jekyll and Hyde. Nasty and overpriced.

 

Jane has given you an excellent list of restaurants.

 

One of my favorite parts of Manhattan is also the most historic, Downtown and the Financial District.

 

Brooklyn Bridge, Battery Park, Statue of Liberty outstanding views via the FREE Staten Island Ferry,Maritime Museum, World Trade Center Site, Fraunces Tavern, Jewish Museum, Trinity Church, St. Paul's Chapel, Wall Street, NYSE, the Federal Building (where George Washington was sworn in as the nations very first President then walked up to St. Paul's or Trinity for church service), Police Museum, Irish Famine Memorial, South Street Seaport and so much more it is hard to list.

 

The architecture downtown is outstanding with some of NYC's most famous buildings.

 

A great resource is www.DowntownNY.com which has free guides and gives information for free transportation and free tours.

[tarababy18]

Liz, eat anywhere but Jekyll and Hyde. Nasty and overpriced.

 

.

 

i'll admit that they could be a little overpriced depending on what you're looking to pay, but i was there a few times and the food was good, or atleast i thought so... i went about a year ago... mars2112 is nasty in my opinion... also, it doesn't seem that overpriced compared to the prices we pay around here, where i live... (westchester county)... but i suggested it because it's a fun place and i'm not extremely familiar with smaller restaurants, i only know a few...

[Jane110]

i'll admit that they could be a little overpriced depending on what you're looking to pay, but i was there a few times and the food was good, or atleast i thought so... i went about a year ago... mars2112 is nasty in my opinion... also, it doesn't seem that overpriced compared to the prices we pay around here, where i live... (westchester county)... but i suggested it because it's a fun place and i'm not extremely familiar with smaller restaurants, i only know a few...

 

Tarababy,

 

No disrespect meant, but I have to completely disagree with your choices of both Jeckyl & Hyde and Mars2112 as dining recommendations for people visiting NYC. If you like them, that's fine. But even Zagat gives each of them a 9 or 10 food rating (out of 30). My guess is that McDonalds would get a higher rating.

 

I personally have some oddball choices of where I like to dine (such as Shopsins) that I don't recommend to others (especially visitors) because they are too "off the wall" and I like them because of my own personal reasons. I think that J&H and Mars falls into that catagory. You like them, but overall their reputation is poor food quality, high prices and a themes that are best served in places like Disneyland not NYC.

 

LizzyBell,

 

I looked again at your original message and see that you're staying at the Sheraton Towers. If memory serves me right, you'll be located on about 6th Ave and 51st Street, right? Just as a point of info in case you want a couple of places to eat near your hotel:

 

China Grill - fusion asian food. also lively bar for a drink.

Molyvos - Greek. maybe a little more than you want to spend, but food is fabulous.

Trattoria Dell'Arte - italian, pricey. but dine at the fabulous anti-pasti bar

Stage Deli and Carnegie Deli - Famous jewish deli's for things like corned beef and pastrami sandwiches. Carnegie is more famous than Stage.

 

Have fun! Hope you luck into great weather. Today is gorgeous - sunny and about 50 degrees.

 

Jane

[BlueHerons]

i'll admit that they could be a little overpriced depending on what you're looking to pay, but i was there a few times and the food was good, or atleast i thought so... i ...

 

Go into the J&H on West 57th during daylight hours and you'll see what I mean. I used to be based out of West 57th when I worked in Manhattan and took my stepdaughter in for a coke and we about threw up seeing all the filth.

[Jane110]

LizzyBell,

 

I hope you'll pop back in here and let us know how your weekend in NY was.

 

Where did you go? Where did you eat?

 

Hope you had a great time!

 

Jane

[Lizzybell]

Dear Jane-I loved New York!!!!! I cant say enough good things about how nice 99% of the people we met were, how clean & graffitti free(quite a surprise-I live in the LA area & there is a lot of it here, so i assumed...) What a wonderful surprise to see how clean your beautiful city is... all of the art, the buildings, C E N T R A L PARK :)

 

Not only did we get an indepth 2 hr tour of the park from a very experienced NY gentleman from the Big Apple Greeters on Sat in good weather that was amazing, but it snowed sat nite and we walked down Central Park West(?) to the Dakota on sunday morning-Central Park covered in snow was one of the most beautiful sites I have ever seen. We were blessed with unseasonably warm weather the first 2 days and then snow the day we left-no one could ask for more.

 

Other favorites: the Main Library, St Patricks Cathedral, window shopping on 7th ave, Empire State Building(to fogged to go to obs deck), Chrysler Building & all those old amazing buildings. Little hidden parks/areas on many corners, Little Italy & Greenwich Village., Did the Staten Island Ferry r/t for free-it was great & once again we met some really nice people while onboard. All the art that is in office buildings all over the city-amazing & many other sites.

 

My sis and i had the best time, we rode the subway-i am not good w/directions, but we asked questions & everyone was so helpful and nice-got the 1 day fun pass for $7-unlimited subway & bus srv for 1 day. The best public transportation system-i couldnt believe the efficiency.

 

We ate at the local bakeries, delis & had new york pizza several times:) all good quality & affordable.

We flew into/out of JFK-3 people-taxi was $55 from 53rd/6th.Sheraton-shuttle was the same price, so go for the taxi if 3 or more. Even the one taxi ride we took from the hotel to JFK, the taxi driver couldnt have been nicer.

 

Thank you to all for your suggestions and imput, we were able to do our top ten list of New York & will return for at least 1 week as we fell in love with New York. Liz

[tarababy18]

glad to hear you had a great time and love the city as much as all of us that live there or around it do :)

[Jane110]

LizzyBell,

 

Welcome home and thanks for the report. I'm so glad you all had such a wonderful time here! Yes, despite the reputation, we NYers are quite a friendly lot. Good you found that out first hand.

 

When you walked into Central Park from the Dakota, I hope you got to see Strawberry Fields - the memorial to John Lennon. Yes, Central Park is amazing looking with a dusting of snow. I'm so glad you got to witness it and hope you had a camera with you.

 

As you can see, I wrote up a list of restaurants for you which didn't get to you before you left. Maybe it'll be useful to you on your next visit.

 

Bet you can't wait to come back now, right? ;)

 

Jane

[canadarose]

hi, i've been reading this thread with great interest as DH an i willbe in nyc for 4 days end of march (pre-cruise) will be staying at Belvedere- any restaurant suggestins for this area? If requesting big apple greeter, for which neighbourhood? What about sightseeing tour (hop-on, hop-off?) Interested in a broadway sho, half day at the Met (would choose just one or two exhibits- any suggestins would be appreciated. We are late 40s, first time visitors from smalltown eastern canada, who don't mind walking, if that's any help. thanks

[Jane110]

hi, i've been reading this thread with great interest as DH an i willbe in nyc for 4 days end of march (pre-cruise) will be staying at Belvedere- any restaurant suggestins for this area? If requesting big apple greeter, for which neighbourhood? What about sightseeing tour (hop-on, hop-off?) Interested in a broadway sho, half day at the Met (would choose just one or two exhibits- any suggestins would be appreciated. We are late 40s, first time visitors from smalltown eastern canada, who don't mind walking, if that's any help. thanks

 

If you tell me where the Belvedere is I'll come up some suggestions. Also tell me if there are any budget or dietary restrictions as well as any kind of cuisine or ambience especially desired. Also, see my other restaurant suggestions on this thread as well as on other NYC threads. Buy yourself a Zagat Restaurant Guide to keep in your bag while you walk around.

 

Yes, the hop-on, hop-off bus is always good for a 1st day orientation around the city and you can see some of the "must see" sites so can check them off your list.

 

Half day at the Met might be too much - but that's your own limitation. Personally, 2 hours at one museum is generally enough for me. You could do 2 or so hours at the Met and then walk to a smaller museum like the Guggenheim or the Whitney (depending on who's got an exhibit you want to see) and have totally different museum experiences. I'd also suggest spending a couple of hours at the newly renovated MOMA (Mus. of Mod Art).

 

Jane

[cafe rose]

I believe that the Belvedere is on 50th Street? You will be right near Broadway (2 blocks away I believe). Try to order tickets for a show now at Ticketmaster.com. Every show is marvelous. There is a Palm Restaurant near your hotel which is expensive but sooooo good. Also, on 48th Street between Broadway and 8th is a small bar/restaurant that my family and I like which is called Hurley's. It used to be next to Radio City until they lost their lease. American/Irish food and I highly recommend the stuffed clams (I can eat them for appetizer, entree, and dessert). The phone number is 212-hurleys;)

[canadarose]

hi, the belvedere is on 48th close to 6th ave. breakfast is included at hotel, so am interested in suggestions for lunch or dinner. Budget is somewhat limited (max $30pp dinner,not including wine) Am not interested in curry, other than that am open to suggestions. Is it ok to order one salad and one entree for 2 people? (Am trying to watdh my weight, this trip is pre-cruise -12 days and otherwise my clothes won't fit by end)i would still tip for 2 meals) Anything else we shouldn't miss?