MDR dinners -- long? or are expectations mismatched?

[cruisemom42]

I have read a number of reviews recently where folks have complained about the amount of time that dinner in the MDR takes. Many have said the time is too long and they preferred to eat in the the Lido or elsewhere.

 

I am trying to get more subjective info about MDR dinners for upcoming Westerdam cruise. I generally consider dinner one of the focal points of the day and enjoy a good meal. Dining in the Lido is not for me; I prefer to sit and enjoy a multi-course meal that I do not need for forage for.

 

For those who've recently been on a HAL ship, can you give some idea of how long dinners in the MDR are really taking?  And why is the perception that it is "too long"?  Are there long, long pauses between courses?  

 

Considering that many say there is not much to do in the evenings, it just seems a little strange that so many complain about the dining times -- to me, anyway, it seems there is not so much out there to rush off for...

 

As a baseline: on recent Celebrity cruise of 19 days, I did not eat in the equivalent of the Lido once for dinner. Each night I went to the MDR between 7:00 and 7:30 with the goal of being done eating with sufficient time to go to the 9:30 evening show. All nights except one that expectation was met, but most nights I did spend about 2 hours over dinner. It never seemed too long except the one time I didn't get my post-dessert coffee in time.

 

So -- share with me. What time frame did you normally show up to the MDR for dinner; how many courses did you order; and how long did it take until you were finished?  How long did you wait, in general, between courses?

 

[LMaxwell]

1 minute ago, cruisemom42 said:

Dining in the Lido is not for me; I prefer to sit and enjoy a multi-course meal that I do not need for forage for.

 

 

Everyone can have preferences, but that is a gross mischaracterization of dinner time in Lido and you should really try it to see for yourself if you have not; the different theme nights offer significantly more choice than the MDR along with the entire MDR menu. There is wait staff service for drinks, and if you order something at a station to be prepared they will deliver to you. It is a very different atmosphere to lunch time.  Celebrity, likewise, has amazing themed Lido dinners and many Greek specialties nightly as is their own heritage. You are missing out on much on both lines. 

 

Our MDR dinner for app and main, no dessert, so two courses, was about 75 minutes which is just too long for a bowl of soup and a small portion of salmon. I can appreciate liking "being served" but there's better service upstairs and somehow even quieter than the MDR which was chaotic. Honestly, for dinner time the MDR seemed understaffed. We went to dinner around 6 or 6:15, there was a short wait of a few minutes. Kind of strange though, there's no place to "be" while waiting. Other ships have a lobby or an adjacent bar to wait at; this was a vestibule by the elevators and filled up fast. 

 

I would expect a 3 course meal to take 90+ minutes, possibly 2 hours in the dining room, unless you ask them to expedite.   You are certainly well aware this isn't like past days of 4 and 5 course dinners with sorbet and table side service. There's no piano or violin to set the atmosphere. If you're sat near a service door you will hear a lot of clanging and banging. I'd be willing to spend an hour for 3 courses, no more. Everything is plated and ready, there just isn't enough staff. 

 

2 hours for dinner in a somewhat frenetic environment is not something I can do every night. 

 

While there isn't a ton of entertainment, there are often select musical performances, game shows/games, and other shorter 30 minute events staggered around from 7pm-9pm. 

 

I hope the tone wasn't harsh, just pointing out there are some things in that 7-9 timeframe you may like, and honestly, you're missing out on a lot not trying Lido. 

[DaveOKC]

The amount of time dinner takes in the MDR really depends on several factors:

1. How many people are at the table (the fewer the faster I have found).

2. How many courses you order.  Plus how many others at your table order.

3. The time you arrive for dinner.  If you are seated at the time that Open dining starts, the meal seems to go quicker.

4. Open vs Fixed dining

5. Are people at your table ordering wine or other drinks?

 

When we are at a two top we generally get done in about an hour.  Table for 6-8 it is more like 1.5 hours, but sometimes as much as 2 hours.

 

[cruisemom42]

2 minutes ago, LMaxwell said:

I hope the tone wasn't harsh, just pointing out there are some things in that 7-9 timeframe you may like, and honestly, you're missing out on a lot not trying Lido. 

 

Never did I not enjoy my dinner in the MDR, nor did I find it frenetic, chaotic or any of the other adjectives that have been applied. I have not been on HAL since pre-COVID, hence the reason I'm trying to get a clearer picture. 

 

Celebrity's MDR food is worth a trip to the MDR. I am not as sure about HAL's, but again, I know what I like and eating in the buffet for dinner is not "it". After long days ashore I STRONGLY prefer not to have get up multiple times and "graze".  If I get all courses at once, the entree is cold by the time I get to it.

[Florida_gal_50]

I don’t go on cruises to eat in a cafeteria.  I’ve spent enough time in Canaletto to see there is nothing special going on in the lido.  It’s right there.  While I haven’t eaten dinner in the mdr for a while I have eaten in club orange and specialty restaurants.  I would say the meals take 90 minutes plus in all venues.  There has always been a lull in the mdr between courses when I’ve eaten there previously.  I don’t think this is anything new.  Maybe people are more impatient.

Edited December 18, 2022 by Florida_gal_50

[cruisemom42]

9 minutes ago, DaveOKC said:

The amount of time dinner takes in the MDR really depends on several factors:

1. How many people are at the table (the fewer the faster I have found).

2. How many courses you order.  Plus how many others at your table order.

3. The time you arrive for dinner.  If you are seated at the time that Open dining starts, the meal seems to go quicker.

4. Open vs Fixed dining

5. Are people at your table ordering wine or other drinks?

 

When we are at a two top we generally get done in about an hour.  Table for 6-8 it is more like 1.5 hours, but sometimes as much as 2 hours.

 

 

Thanks -- appreciate the good estimates. 

 

I have open seating and expect to eat sometimes with others and sometimes alone.

[cruisemom42]

4 minutes ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

There has always been a lull in the mdr between courses when I’ve eaten there previously.  I don’t think this is anything new.  Maybe people are more impatient.

 

Sort of what I was thinking, but then again, there have been numerous mentions recently.

 

I'm wondering if part of the "mismatch" is that fewer people share tables now and converse with others, so perhaps the pause between courses seems longer...

 

[Wakepatrol]

I have a solution for those who are in a hurry when eating

[Hlitner]

We are a lot like CruiseMom in that we prefer a sit down dinner in a restaurant and also enjoy the socialization.   As to the Lido, it is always true that when you go to a buffet you will have a bigger choice than in the MDR.  But if that is a criteria we wonder why anyone would ever dine in a real restaurant as opposed to going to Ponderosa or perhaps a Chinese restaurant with a 110 item buffet.

 

In more than 1300 nights on cruise ships we have only had a buffet dinner one time, when we returned to the ship very late and missed MDR dinner.  If the food and service is so bad in HAL's MDRs that we feel forced to dine in the Lido it will certainly be our last HAL cruise.  

 

Speaking of Cruisemom, we hope to meet her on the Westy and perhaps we can get together for a long MDR dinner :).

 

Hank

[Navybikermom]

I also prefer to eat in the MDR. I always get early fixed seating at a large table. Sometimes service is slow and sometimes they are very quick to bring out each course. Sometimes both situations occur on the same cruise, so I can’t say that it’s particular to any one ship.
 

However, I am usually chatting with my table mates and don’t really care how long they take. I do like to have the coffee at the same time as dessert, and sometimes that doesn’t happen. Annoying, but I usually let my dessert sit until the coffee arrives. 
 

I’d say that it’s been sometimes as short as an hour, sometimes as long as two hours. 

[ECCruise]

I definitely think that there needs to be some distinction between "pre-Covid" and "after-Covid," mainly due to staffing levels I'm afraid.

 

We did 5 sailings B2B n October/November on 3 different cruise lines, a total of 53 days.  In the MDR on all, there was a decidedly different feel to MDR dining.  Took longer than ever on our previous 100+ sailings.  Often long waits, even with confirmed reservations.  Very slow service, and that was dining at a 2-top, generally 2 courses.  Can't even imagine timing at shared tables with people working their way through multiple courses.

 

So you know what we did?  More than on those 1000+ nights of dining combined, we made our way to the Lido (or other buffet venues) where we could be in control of our own timing.  After always saying "WHY would you eat in a buffet when you can be served in the MDR?" we found that, at least in the current frequently understaffed scenario, it now made sense.

 

Of course, YMMV. 

[LMaxwell]

46 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

Never did I not enjoy my dinner in the MDR, nor did I find it frenetic, chaotic or any of the other adjectives that have been applied. I have not been on HAL since pre-COVID, hence the reason I'm trying to get a clearer picture. 

 

My impression was the MDR was understaffed.  That's just MY observation from some different week than you on a different ship, so take w a grain of salt. 

[LMaxwell]

42 minutes ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

I don’t go on cruises to eat in a cafeteria.  I’ve spent enough time in Canaletto to see there is nothing special going on in the lido.  It’s right there.  While I haven’t eaten dinner in the mdr for a while I have eaten in club orange and specialty restaurants.  I would say the meals take 90 minutes plus in all venues.  There has always been a lull in the mdr between courses when I’ve eaten there previously.  I don’t think this is anything new.  Maybe people are more impatient.

Well it's got the entire MDR menu and more, so what's that say about things in that case? 

[12cruise2]

We got off the Nieuw Amsterdam a week ago; we are in open seating and arrive at the opening time and sit at the same table each night.  Three out of the four weeks, we got 2-3 courses and were finished by 6-6:15 (from the 5:10 opening time).  The fourth week (they changed waiters every WEEK!), the waiter would hold back, hold back before getting courses and leave us sitting for 15 mins. between courses; somehow the other three waiters did it seamlessly, and we were in the far corner, farthest from the galley, aft at the window.  Needless to say, we like to be able to keep on eating to the finish, not sit for a long time between courses.  My initial impression the first three weeks was that they'd really gotten their act together to serve the meal more quickly.

The one thing that really messed everything up was there was one table for 10, or 11 with a baby/high chair, among our group of several two-top tables.  The asst. maitre d' even got involved to help with the large table.  And of course the large table wanted pictures taken of themselves, a few drinks, all sorts of extra things.  Thankfully, that fourth week, that happened only one night.

[FlaMariner]

We were on the Nieuw Statendam from 11/19 thru 12/3 (two B2B) and we ate at the MDR every evening.

 

We had early fixed seating.  Table for 6 the first week and then table for 4 the second week.

 

We arrived around 5:15 to 5:30pm and we were done by 6:45pm or so every evening (except for Thanksgiving).

 

The timing was perfect for us.  We enjoyed the menu selections, the wine, the waiters and the 5 courses.  Coffee with dessert.  Not rushed.  Efficient and what we would except for an evening out at a "nice" table cloth restaurant.

 

Thanksgiving evening was an exception.  Dinner did not end until 7:30pm because they were slammed with everyone onboard choosing to eat Thanksgiving Dinner in the MDR.  But we enjoyed it, nevertheless.  

 

 

 

 

[RuthC]

1 hour ago, DaveOKC said:

The amount of time dinner takes in the MDR really depends on several factors:

1. How many people are at the table (the fewer the faster I have found).

2. How many courses you order.  Plus how many others at your table order.

3. The time you arrive for dinner.  If you are seated at the time that Open dining starts, the meal seems to go quicker.

4. Open vs Fixed dining

5. Are people at your table ordering wine or other drinks?

 

When we are at a two top we generally get done in about an hour.  Table for 6-8 it is more like 1.5 hours, but sometimes as much as 2 hours.

 

I agree with this, and would add the factor of how good is the conversation. When you have a table of good conversationalists, then the meal can go longer---and be delightful. 

Personally, I like to 'dine', not 'eat' at dinner time, so a meal lasting 1 1/2 or an hour and 45 minutes is usually just about right. I do remember holding a table in a Pinnacle one night for 3 hours! We were just having so much fun no one wanted to leave. 

[Hlitner]

Reading this thread has further educated me on the attitude of some HAL passengers.  The idea of going to the MDR for a "fast food" experience is just not in my DNA.  We truly enjoy "dining" and dinner on a cruise ship has always been, for us, a social event to be savored.  We also cannot get into the 5:30 dinners (we still like to dine no earlier than 7:30) although we have spent enough time in Florida to understand the "Early Bird" attitude that goes with the territory. 

 

The funny thing is that DW reminded me of our last Princess cruise (Enchanted Princess) when we had to ask our waiters to please "slow down" since we did not want a fast food experience.  In fact, we generally refuse to even order our meals until we have been served our wine (otherwise you might not get your wine until dessert).  

 

So now I am feeling somewhat sorry for the waiters.  How can they possibly get it right?  Some folks want to be in and out in an hour and others prefer 2 hours!  And on HAL, my goodness, some of these folks want to be rushed through dinner so they can go see a BBC documentary.  Go figure.

 

Hank

 

 

[rodndonna]

On a recent NS (which was full capacity we were told),  we took "anytime" dining and dined as 2, always arriving between 7:45 and 8:15. We never waited to be seated.

 

We are leisurely  diners and our meals were typically 1 - 1.5 hours .

 

For our personal preference we find they can be a little 'too' quick sometimes, but that is the tradeoff we pay when we choose "anytime" .   Less of an issue with Fixed when they figure us out, but we wanted the dining flexibility on our last cruise. Oddly, we still ended up dining at a regular time every day and could have went Fixed.

[idiebabe]

We do Late Fixed and have never eaten Dinner in Lido.  If it’s just the two - four of us, depending on what we order it’s a 1 - 1 1/2 hr experience.  When we Sailed in May and were a Group of 8 it was usually 1 1/2 hrs.  No complaints here and find it no different with timing than when we go to a nice Restaurant on Land.  

[kazu]

1 hour ago, LMaxwell said:

Well it's got the entire MDR menu and more, so what's that say about things in that case? 

 

No, it doesn’t.  If you want escargots, you need to go to the dining room.  Friends of mine use the LIdo a lot but go to the MDR when there are escargots as they are not in the LIdo.  Not everything is there - most is - but not all.

[cruisemom42]

1 hour ago, ECCruise said:

Took longer than ever on our previous 100+ sailings.  Often long waits, even with confirmed reservations.  Very slow service, and that was dining at a 2-top, generally 2 courses.  Can't even imagine timing at shared tables with people working their way through multiple courses.

 

Thanks for the detailed report. Definitely something to take into account....

[Seasick Sailor]

11 minutes ago, kazu said:

 

No, it doesn’t.  If you want escargots, you need to go to the dining room.  Friends of mine use the LIdo a lot but go to the MDR when there are escargots as they are not in the LIdo.  Not everything is there - most is - but not all.

 

Jacqui as always, correct. We are currently on Rotterdam for 6 weeks. You can't get the wonderful onion soup in Lido. There's quite a few things actually that MDR has over Lido.

[Seasick Sailor]

We are on week 1 of a 6 week Rotterdam cruise. The MDR has been great as far as drinks, food and service. We have not experienced slow service at all.

[cruisemom42]

59 minutes ago, 12cruise2 said:

the waiter would hold back, hold back before getting courses and leave us sitting for 15 mins. between courses; somehow the other three waiters did it seamlessly, and we were in the far corner, farthest from the galley, aft at the window.  Needless to say, we like to be able to keep on eating to the finish, not sit for a long time between courses. 

 

I was always under the impression that there are supposed to be at least short pauses between courses.  Just looked it up now and various sources say servers should allow a pause, ranging (depending on the source) from 7 to 12 minutes.

 

[AKJonesy]

Since I don't eat lunch, I am usually famished by dinner, but I don't like the LIDO for lunch or dinner.  It's just too crowded.  Saying that, we opt for a table for two unless the staff asks if we will join.  We will join if the table is already seated.  I've had plenty of conversation by dinner, so I admit, I'm hungry and am there for a little bit nicer dinner than the Lido, and not there for conversation.  Right after dinner, my husband and I always stroll on the Promenade as it is very quiet.

Up vote for #3.