Main dining room vs lido buffet

[Astromaid]

Recently sailed on the Vista and especially on the Pride, we were very disappointed in the service in the main dining room, long delays between courses, wrong food brought. We have never done the lido for dinner. Our favorite parts of the sit down dinner are the soups and all the different appetizers to try. Does the buffet offer the same items as what is in the main dining room?

[Theosprey247]

The buffet  has most of the items from the MDR. 

[Sailin_Pirate]

Some of the same , but not all MDR items.

[ray98]

• It will have some of the dishes that are on the MDR menu but as with all buffets, quality will be hit or miss.  With the trend Carnival is on that has only got worse.  They are simply struggling on the Lido is what I have found on my last few cruises.

[havanadaydreaming]

i have never had an issue in the MDR.  that said, i really like going to the buffet about half the time for dinner.  

 

sure, it's kinda sorta hit or miss.  but....i wear a suit for work and i looooooooove dressing casual when on vacation.  tshirt and shorts in the Caribbean - so that's buffet gear.  

 

last sailing we went to the buffet for each of the 4 nt.  it was, at best, passable.  a couple dishes were pretty solid but many were blah.  a solid option is hitting the deli for an entree or the sushi stand.  the sides were more than ok in the lido.  

 

pizza pirate is an option too.  

[mz-s]

You're not going to be able to get food cooked to order on the Lido. No medium rare strip loin for example and no melting cake. But many of the other dishes will be served. The carved meats on Lido sometimes are delicious - I love the roast beef and turkey.

[bikerjohn1]

Just off the Horizon yesterday.  We ate dinner at the lido a few times and I did not like it.  The MDR was pretty good.  The Italian and the Steak House were excellent.

[simplelife]

We usually do fixed dining in the MDR and find that service is better than when we do YTD.  We rarely do buffet for dinner - we have done so a few times when we were traveling with a party that was doing YTD. We much prefer sitting down and being served, Juggling plates and waiting in line is not my idea of a relaxing dinner. My opinion only - worth no more than anyone else's - but offered with the aim of presenting scenarios to consider when making dining choices.

[SERK]

We were on the Dream for Thanksgiving and the service and food was very good in the MDR.  The Mongolian Wok was great too.

[sgttami]

I've always preferred MDR.

 

With the exception of grabbing a deli sandwich or Guy's Burger at some point, I never eat at the buffet for any meal.

[AtSeaWithChris]

On 12/1/2022 at 7:43 AM, Astromaid said:

Recently sailed on the Vista and especially on the Pride, we were very disappointed in the service in the main dining room, long delays between courses, wrong food brought. We have never done the lido for dinner. Our favorite parts of the sit down dinner are the soups and all the different appetizers to try. Does the buffet offer the same items as what is in the main dining room?

The lido food has really suffered badly over the last 8-10 years and since Covid restart is abysmal. Only the soup they offer is tolerable. MDR food quality has suffered as well but if you know what to order you can come out good. Most times. 

[Pellaz]

On 12/10/2022 at 8:25 PM, SERK said:

We were on the Dream for Thanksgiving and the service and food was very good in the MDR.  The Mongolian Wok was great too.

 

Whew, if they offered the Mongolian Wok (or, y'know, any Asian stir-fry) for dinner I'd be ALLLLLL over that.  

[2wheelin]

On 12/1/2022 at 11:23 AM, mz-s said:

You're not going to be able to get food cooked to order on the Lido. No medium rare strip loin for example and no melting cake. But many of the other dishes will be served. The carved meats on Lido sometimes are delicious - I love the roast beef and turkey.

Can’t get it med rare in the MDR either. Even when you order rare. Even if red in the center, it is tough. 

[EngIceDave]

4 minutes ago, 2wheelin said:

Can’t get it med rare in the MDR either. Even when you order rare. Even if red in the center, it is tough. 

MDR steaks are likely not cooked to order. More than likely, it's sous vide to a lower hold temp, then unbagged and seared off on a griddle top for color. Known as a "reverse sear."  Also helps make a little lesser grade meat more tender and moist.

Too hard and too much time with so many orders to really do true cooked to order for every customer.

 

Steakhouse will cook to specs from fresh.

[aml3679]

We were on the Freedom and ate breakfast in the main dining room which was great. Dinner was hit and miss. The Lido buffet was terrible and had very little selection

[mz-s]

54 minutes ago, 2wheelin said:

Can’t get it med rare in the MDR either. Even when you order rare. Even if red in the center, it is tough. 

 

One time I ordered the strip loin medium rare and the inside was completely raw. One other time it was well done. The cut is too thin to be accurate with the cook. I've had a few good ones (well, good for what it is...) so I order it at least once a cruise.

[bandjwayne]

On the formal nights does the buffet have prime rib and lobster like the dining room serves?

 

[AtSeaWithChris]

55 minutes ago, bandjwayne said:

On the formal nights does the buffet have prime rib and lobster like the dining room serves?

 

No lobster and the prime rib is very fatty. 

[Gamecock_Cruiser]

We typically chose late dinner in the Dining Room, but often browse the buffet before dinner to see what it there. I will say about half the menu will be on the Lido. As someone else mentioned, we have had YTD twice (not by choice) and found service to be slower. 

[serene56]

On 12/10/2022 at 8:25 PM, SERK said:

The Mongolian Wok was great too.

the Mongolian Grill was only opened for lunch   12:00- 2:30   

[Joebucks]

People think their MDR meal is personally prepared by a Michelin chef and the Lido buffet is microwaved in a giant trough. Some people would be very disappointed to know that they foods are all produced in mass-quantities then sit until they are prepared. 

 

Each has pros and cons. While the buffet isn't my preference, it gets more hate than it deserves. The carving station is an unsung hero. 

[SERK]

6 hours ago, serene56 said:

the Mongolian Grill was only opened for lunch   12:00- 2:30   

I know.  I was only talking about the food in general on our cruise regardless if it was breakfast, lunch or dinner.  Both MDR and Mongolian Grill were good.  The Blue Iguana breakfast burrito with mexican eggs was the bomb! 

[ABQrobin]

We had the same issue on the Vista last month.  After 2 horrible nights in the main dining, we did the Lido buffet a couple of nights, JiJi's one night, and Bonsai sushi the other.  No kidding, the main dining room was horrible, 1 waiter trying to do too many tables and waiting half an hour for an appetizer then another half hour for main course, etc.  Never did get dessert the 2nd night, we just left.  

And we found the Lido buffet had many of the same items, and you could see it so you knew if it was worth getting.  I had "stuffed mushroom" appetizer in the main dining room that was a puddle of tomato soup with 4 slices of mushroom floating in it.  Really?  That is NOT stuffed mushrooms!  

This is just an example of how bad things were.  Hubby had a steak that was a ball of fat.

[CajunOyster]

On 12/1/2022 at 11:23 AM, havanadaydreaming said:

looooooooove dressing casual when on vacation.  tshirt and shorts in the Caribbean - so that's buffet gear.  

 

 

 

Nonsense!  It's Carnival!  Wear that T-shirt and shorts to the MDR with pride!  On our Spirit cruise earlier this month we actually had a couple of guys wear those ridiculous tuxedo T-shirts on both elegant nights.

[hillbillycruisers]

We were on the Vista in early November, and the MDR service was the worst I've seen in ten cruises. Very slow...some nights very VERY slow...and brought my order wrong on three nights. It was still a good experience and we had great table mates...but it seems to be going down hill. I am guessing the staff is overworked. They tried and were as always very friendly.