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Mongolian Wok

ALWAYS CRUZIN

By ALWAYS CRUZIN,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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ALWAYS CRUZIN

ALWAYS CRUZIN

Posted
Posted

So many love this on Carnival ships and the lines are always sooooo long. Unless you get in line before it starts, you will be in line for a long time before you can go and sit and enjoy the food. You would think by now Carnival would double the size of the WOK to accommodate the vast amount of cruisers that love it. What do you think?

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JT1962

JT1962

Posted
Posted (edited)

I wish they would add more space / employees, but I don’t see that happening anytime soon with the current staff shortages. The Mongolian Wok is a fairly slow process and can’t serve as many per hour as Guy’s Burgers or Blue Iguana Cantina. I have not timed it, but I would guess it takes an average of 3 minutes per person from the time they start the order until they are able to move to the next person. That’s only 40 people per hour per cook if each on is using 2 burners at a time. Guy’s burger’s can probably serve 3-4 per minute, so 180 - 240 per hour.
 

I was on the Ecstasy recently and there were always slow lines for the deli, pizza and buffet at lunch / dinner (they didn’t have a Mongolian Wok). 

Edited by JT1962
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Pellaz

Pellaz

Posted
Posted (edited)
On 6/17/2022 at 12:41 PM, ALWAYS CRUZIN said:

So many love this on Carnival ships and the lines are always sooooo long. Unless you get in line before it starts, you will be in line for a long time before you can go and sit and enjoy the food. You would think by now Carnival would double the size of the WOK to accommodate the vast amount of cruisers that love it. What do you think?

 

I usually get in line nice and early, or make a beeline for the Wok  as soon as I board the ship.   I like it THAT much; I'm a Mongolian BBQ/hibachi FIEND.    🙂  

I can't see them doubling the size because I don't think they can increase the linear distance that's used for it along the buffet (i.e., how much counter space it takes up). 

It also MUST be in close proximity to high capacity wash-sinks, and if you've ever watched the continual dance of the employees as they rotate the woks from the cooking station to the wash-sinks and back, you'll understand why.

 

Many newer ships have Jiji's Asian, which has the same complimentary Mongolian Wok offerings for lunch but in a sit-down, fill-out-the-card-with-your-choices setting, which was awesome.  Mardi Gras also includes this at Chibang! as well as an expanded Asian menu.  Caveat:  Chibang! is not open for lunch on embark day on Mardi Gras, whereas on other ships, Mongolian Wok and Jiji's ARE.  

 

Edited by Pellaz
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JimmyTheSaint

JimmyTheSaint

Posted
Posted

I've just finished a cruise on Carnival Pride and one of the things I really missed was not having the Mongolian Wok. If I had the authority to do so I would shut down the Bonsai Sushi place on Pride and turn it in to JiJi's and then it could be used as Mongolian Wok at lunch time.

 

Two benefits for Carnival;

one, more revenue from that floorspace, there was never more than one or two people in Bonsai and I'm willing to bet they were using OBC,  JiJi's is the best $ restaurant Carnival have and is always busy 

two, by having a Mongolian Wok for lunchtime they can close Chopsticks in the Lido Buffet and use the space for something new like Shaq's Big Chicken.

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mz-s

mz-s

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Posted

The cook to order aspect is why the line is long. Same with the omelettes in the morning. Maybe what they should do is similar to how Cucina works for lunch - write out your order and get a pager and pick it up once it's ready.

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ALWAYS CRUZIN

ALWAYS CRUZIN

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Just now, havanadaydreaming said:

I remember being unimpressed with MW the one time we tried it.  Didnt expect the line to take 40 mins, or so,to get dish. Meh. 

 

On the other hand loved Jiji at lunch. Much faster and didnt have to stand in line.  Being seated was nice and the meal was really good. 

Wife tried it. Only problem. You cannot stand and talk to the cook to indicate exactly what you want and how much of each.

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nlktx49

nlktx49

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My husband and I really like the Mongolian Wok. It was especially enjoyable on the Vista because they had JiJi's so at lunch we could sit down and order. Ships without JiJi's we just made sure to be there when they first opened to avoid the long lines.

 

Earlier in this post someone suggested doing away with Bonsai Sushi and replacing it with Mongolian Wok. That's an excellent idea - I don't know how crowded it is in the evening but I rarely see anyone there at lunch, if they are even open then.

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ALWAYS CRUZIN

ALWAYS CRUZIN

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4 hours ago, nlktx49 said:

My husband and I really like the Mongolian Wok. It was especially enjoyable on the Vista because they had JiJi's so at lunch we could sit down and order. Ships without JiJi's we just made sure to be there when they first opened to avoid the long lines.

 

Earlier in this post someone suggested doing away with Bonsai Sushi and replacing it with Mongolian Wok. That's an excellent idea - I don't know how crowded it is in the evening but I rarely see anyone there at lunch, if they are even open then.

I agree. But now some ships have restaurants dedicated to Sushi. Why? I have no idea. Even in the dedicated restaurant there are only a few in there. never a lot. 

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sfaaa

sfaaa

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Posted

Part of the problems is that some people would order an extra bowl of Mongolian stir fry for whoever he/she was with instead of just for himself/herself. So the wait time suddenly becomes twice as long.

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JT1962

JT1962

Posted
Posted
18 minutes ago, sfaaa said:

Part of the problems is that some people would order an extra bowl of Mongolian stir fry for whoever he/she was with instead of just for himself/herself. So the wait time suddenly becomes twice as long.


🤔. If the person they ordered for just stood in line and ordered for themselves,  wouldn’t the line be longer and take the same amount of time as one person ordering for two?

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sfaaa

sfaaa

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2 minutes ago, JT1962 said:


🤔. If the person they ordered for just stood in line and ordered for themselves,  wouldn’t the line be longer and take the same amount of time as one person ordering for two?

Not if you picked the shorter of the two lines thinking it would be faster but it actually turned out to be the opposite.

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CruisingFromLA

CruisingFromLA

Posted
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For the ships that have a Jiji's or ChiBang, the wait isn't as bad as you are at least able to fill out the form, have a seat and wait for your food. For ships that do not have these restaurants, I think they should repurpose the steakhouse during lunch and utilize it for the Mongolian Wok. This way the wait for the food isn't as bad and you can also spread people out as the buffet area gets extremely busy during lunch on sea days.

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vwrestler171

vwrestler171

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11 hours ago, JimmyTheSaint said:

I've just finished a cruise on Carnival Pride and one of the things I really missed was not having the Mongolian Wok. If I had the authority to do so I would shut down the Bonsai Sushi place on Pride and turn it in to JiJi's and then it could be used as Mongolian Wok at lunch time.

 

Two benefits for Carnival;

one, more revenue from that floorspace, there was never more than one or two people in Bonsai and I'm willing to bet they were using OBC,  JiJi's is the best $ restaurant Carnival have and is always busy 

two, by having a Mongolian Wok for lunchtime they can close Chopsticks in the Lido Buffet and use the space for something new like Shaq's Big Chicken.

 

I like that idea.  Have you sent it to John Heald?

 

36 minutes ago, CruisingFromLA said:

For the ships that have a Jiji's or ChiBang, the wait isn't as bad as you are at least able to fill out the form, have a seat and wait for your food. For ships that do not have these restaurants, I think they should repurpose the steakhouse during lunch and utilize it for the Mongolian Wok. This way the wait for the food isn't as bad and you can also spread people out as the buffet area gets extremely busy during lunch on sea days.

 

They are starting to try out using the steakhouse for lunch for a fee on 1 ship right now.

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Joebucks

Joebucks

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Posted

Mongolian Wok should turn into a mall Chinese sort of stand. Have some premade meats, noodles, rice, etc. As much as everyone loves to feel special with a cooked-to-order meal, it's honestly not as important here if you really think about it.

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ALWAYS CRUZIN

ALWAYS CRUZIN

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Well, looks like I was incorrect. These ships ahve the Wok. About half of the fleet. However mostly older ships.

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ontheweb

Posted
Posted
15 minutes ago, ALWAYS CRUZIN said:

Well, looks like I was incorrect. These ships ahve the Wok. About half of the fleet. However mostly older ships.

Mostly older, but the Mardi Gras is their newest ship, correct?

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vwrestler171

vwrestler171

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6 hours ago, ALWAYS CRUZIN said:

Well, looks like I was incorrect. These ships ahve the Wok. About half of the fleet. However mostly older ships.

Thats a little misleading.  Horizon, Vista, Panorama, and Mardi Gras have a Wok substitute for lunch in wither Jijis or Chibang.

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mz-s

mz-s

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17 minutes ago, vwrestler171 said:

Thats a little misleading.  Horizon, Vista, Panorama, and Mardi Gras have a Wok substitute for lunch in wither Jijis or Chibang.

 

Sunshine as well - Jijis serves Mongolian Wok for lunch, included.

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