Can you order lunch items in MDR at dinner and vice versa?

[zhuangcorp]

Since you have the menu for the whole day, can you order lunch menu items at dinner and vice versa?

 

Do you do this often?

[The-Inside-Cabin]

1 hour ago, zhuangcorp said:

Since you have the menu for the whole day, can you order lunch menu items at dinner and vice versa?

 

Do you do this often?

No, you can only order what's on the appropriate menu.  Sometimes you can get common items like berries or a cheese plate even if not on the menu.   But as a general rule.  No 

[zhuangcorp]

What about common menu items like the Caesar Salad and French Onion soup are on the dinner menu every night. Can't you order that during lunch hours?

 

I also see the flat iron steak almost every night on the menu. 

[CruiserBruce]

5 hours ago, zhuangcorp said:

What about common menu items like the Caesar Salad and French Onion soup are on the dinner menu every night. Can't you order that during lunch hours?

 

I also see the flat iron steak almost every night on the menu. 

Those aren't on the lunch menu...and keeping in mind the MDR is not open on most port days for lunch, so no, I don't expect you can order them for lunch.

[DaveOKC]

Think of the main dining room as a production line.  They have to serve hundreds of meals all about the same time, so little room for specialty or non-menu items.

 

[Florida_gal_50]

They don’t seem very open to changes never mind things that are off the menu.  Many days I would have Cobb salad with salmon on top.  One day I wanted the salmon instead of the fish of the day.  The waiter said he’d have to see.  They did do it but to me that’s a very small adjustment.  Everything was there.

[syesmar]

@zhuangcorpon a related topic, you are able to order room service from the evening’s MDR menu during select hours. Inquire onboard for the ship’s specific policy and hours. If we eat in the Lido but see an appetizer or dessert offered exclusively in the MDR, sometimes I’ll order it pre-dinner.

[Mary229]

I was able to get pea soup from the Dutch Cafe in the dining room yesterday at lunch and a fruit plate at dinner that was not on the menu.  Of course the ship is at 50% capacity and they have time to do things they would not normally be able to.  

[zhuangcorp]

The reason I ask this is because in one of Gary Bembridge's videos (freebies you can ask for), he says that you can always ask for off-menu items. He says they will typically have a few standard dishes available such as salads, chicken, or steak available. He also says you might be able to ask for dishes from a different part of the ship, or you can ask for dishes that are always available such as their signature dishes. He also says you can order more than 1 main course. 

 

 

[DaveOKC]

You can always ASK, but do not expect them to be able to get it.  Also, remember that your request will slow down the meal service for everyone at your table.

 

[trixiee]

Here we go with the self-entitled people... 

[albingirl]

Well, I don't know if it's self entitled people, but I know that I really hate to put anyone out with a request for something not on the menu.  There is so much to choose from really, so to ask for a luncheon item at dinner and vice versa seems to add a kink into the process.  Heck, I once saw a couple ask a bartender for every drink known to man, and kept him jumping through hoops all afternoon.  Seems to put a burden on the hardworking staff. I suppose they may have felt ill later on. 

[zhuangcorp]

On the contrary, I'm asking now so that I know how feasible it is. If it's easily doable, then it wouldn't be a problem to ask. If it's a major hassle every time, then I will know not to ask for that. 

[OlsSalt]

On an early passenger ship experience (before cruise lines per se), we were handed huge menus the first day - oh my goodness, how to choose.

 

Then the next day, another huge menu but we quickly learned they were often the same items, but just had the names changed on the daily menu.  Cream of chicken soup had at least four different names.  In French.

 

Then as we got more into the trip we realized we were best off with the "waiter recommended" items, since they were already prepared and ready to go for mass consumption.

 

If you wanted something else that was technically "on the menu", it meant you would not get served until everyone else had been served the daily specials for that day. Since it was an Italian ship, it was all good. We just learned to roll with their daily "recommendations".

[Florida_gal_50]

11 minutes ago, zhuangcorp said:

On the contrary, I'm asking now so that I know how feasible it is. If it's easily doable, then it wouldn't be a problem to ask. If it's a major hassle every time, then I will know not to ask for that. 

It seems that you are believing a YouTube person over people that sail a lot with hal.  I’d tend to believe the high star Mariners but feel free to ask.

[chengkp75]

2 hours ago, zhuangcorp said:

The reason I ask this is because in one of Gary Bembridge's videos (freebies you can ask for), he says that you can always ask for off-menu items.

Yes, he says you can ask, but he does not say you will always get an off-menu item.  Particularly, asking for a dinner item at lunch is going to be very unusual to be filled, as they have not started the prep of the dinner items (not even breaking down beef sides to make steaks) until after the lunch service is over.  There may be some left over protein that was not cooked at lunch that is still on temperature control and can be used for dinner, and some salads that were made for lunch that are still on temperature control.  However, the vegetable prep area (salad making) is done and cleaning up when the meal service starts, so they won't go back and make an individual salad for you.

 

The galleys are massive assembly lines, whether it is the veg prep, meat prep, fish prep, soup station, roasting station, bakery, or pastry sections, they are working to prepare and plate thousands of meals, in a couple of hours.  Look at Koningsdam, where dinner could be 1000 plates at each sitting, in just an hour and a half or so.  What restaurant on land turns 600 tables an hour?  They don't have the time for a lot of "special requests", which is why when he mentions dietary specials, you must arrange this a day in advance.

[zgscl]

You can always ask and depending on the item they may be able to accommodate the request. You will also have a lot better luck if you have fixed seating than open seating. 

 

On one Panama Canal cruise I really loved the salad dressing they had on the first night on one of the special salads. My waiter made sure that it was available for me every single night without asking. He just would ask me if I wanted that dressing on whatever salad I ordered for the rest of the cruise. Something like that is relatively easy because it probably doesn't require any preparation. Similarly the Pea Soup from the Dutch Cafe would be a pretty easy request also as they just have to run over to get it (assuming someone has time to do so). If you want to order a hot dish from lunch or dinner that hasn't been prepared I don't think you will have much luck. That being said if you asked for something the next night you might have better results (or at least will know if they can do it for you or not). I know when people have allergies they will take the order the night before and make whatever you order off the menu special. We have also pre-ordered the $75 tomahawk steak for the following night and they asked what sides we wanted with it and were willing to customize for us if we wanted. I think they were just happy to sell one - they told me they had only sold 4 on the 7 day cruise! 

Edited April 22, 2022 by zgscl

[Linguist208]

11 hours ago, zhuangcorp said:

I'm asking now so that I know how feasible it is.

The kitchen is making 3000 dinner items. Let's say they're making 600 of each of 5 main items. If they DO agree to do it (which seems pretty unlikely), you can be pretty sure they won't be pleased about it. They'll be all, "*****, we just put all those thing back in the freezers and fridges, and one guy wants us to go, dig out ONE veal cutlet, 4 small potatoes, and a couple of carrots, just for him? I don't have time for that!"

[zhuangcorp]

Sure, in that situation it might be difficult. But I see that they have caesar salad and and french onion soup everyday on the dinner menu. So I wonder if it wouldn't be too difficult to just ask for it during lunch. 

[Wendy-Europe]

Personally, I think that the menu cards contain enough choices every day so that you can find something you like to eat. If that is indeed not the case, it is certainly possible to make a special request. I've also been sick on the ship before (I got vocal cord inflammation and couldn't speak) and the restaurant staff recommended a particular food to help heal. And also with room service it is possible to write a wish on the order in addition to the things offered (for example, at breakfast). For example, I like Nutella for breakfast and write it down as an extra request. Whether the request can be fulfilled depends on whether the product is available, whether the employee has enough time to fetch this extra product (if a lot of people want Room Service at the same time, no one has time to fetch a non-standard product extra several decks apart - but if the request is on the list every day, the employee may have a stock in the prep kitchen tomorrow). Conclusion: You can make wishes - but the "In the days when wishes still came true" is not always like in fairy tales. My experience with Holland America: they make more effort than others to fulfill wishes.

[chengkp75]

2 hours ago, zhuangcorp said:

Sure, in that situation it might be difficult. But I see that they have caesar salad and and french onion soup everyday on the dinner menu. So I wonder if it wouldn't be too difficult to just ask for it during lunch. 

They will not start prepping the Caesar salad components until after lunch service, to keep it fresh.  Then, about an hour before dinner service, they will start plating salads and putting them in the reach-in fridges for dinner.  After dinner, they will toss unused salads, as they will be wilted by the next day. Soups may be available, but don't expect it to come quickly, they don't have microwaves onboard, so they have to get it from the walk-in, get a pot, and find a stove top not in use to heat it up.  Any large quantity of a given soup will be in a 35-gallon kettle, but will be raw at lunch, needing time to cook for dinner. 

[Cruise Suzy]

When we dined in Canaletto in February, I mentioned to the manager we chose the night based on the special entree. He said they would be glad to prepare it on other nights as well if we made the request a day in advance. Of course, the ship was NOT close to full capacity - I have no idea if that would make a a difference.

[ScoutDiver]

5 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

They will not start prepping the Caesar salad components until after lunch service, to keep it fresh.  Then, about an hour before dinner service, they will start plating salads and putting them in the reach-in fridges for dinner.  After dinner, they will toss unused salads, as they will be wilted by the next day. Soups may be available, but don't expect it to come quickly, they don't have microwaves onboard, so they have to get it from the walk-in, get a pot, and find a stove top not in use to heat it up.  Any large quantity of a given soup will be in a 35-gallon kettle, but will be raw at lunch, needing time to cook for dinner. 

The current koningsdam room service menu includes chicken noodle soup, ceaser salad and cobb salad for both lunch and dinner.

 

Caesar Salad and Cobb Salad is on the late night menu !1;00 PM -6:00 AM

 

The typically offer salad components in the Lido at lunch.  

Edited April 22, 2022 by ScoutDiver

[CruiserBruce]

1 hour ago, ScoutDiver said:

The typically offer salad components in the Lido at lunch.  

They actually offer custom made salads in the Lido at lunch, including Caesar options, including anchovies, with lots of possible ingredients, which is one of the best things in the Lido, IMHO. I have a custom salad made at least one third of the lunches that I eat in the Lido. Sometimes closer to half.

[Horizon chaser 1957]

I have dietary restrictions, and my MDR meals are always a little off the beaten path. The galley is awesome, and what they can and will do amazes me. They really want to make you happy when possible.
BUT, they can’t just root through the freezers on a whim, so there are limitations. What is available in the galley at lunch and at dinner are two different worlds.

As @chengkp75said, special diets need to be ordered a day ahead. Ordering the day of, they will still do a lot within the limitations of what is prepped at the time. You can leave things off, like sauces or a veg you don’t like. You can have a larger portion of a starter as your entree. You can have an entire meal of starters. You can have a plate of veggie sticks instead of a bread basket. Yes, you can have two entrees. If Caesar Salad is on the menu, you can get one of the featured proteins with it. It may come on a separate plate, but you’ll get it. They will do amazing things for you with what they are working with at that time.
They just can’t pull a rabbit out of the hat if rabbit isn’t on the menu. 

Edited April 22, 2022 by Horizon chaser 1957