Specialty Dining or MDR for formal nights?

[MTNest93]

On 3/18/2023 at 11:35 AM, RedIguana said:

I have an 8 1/2 by 11 laminated Red Iguana picture I hang on my cabin door with 4 thumbnail size magnets (1 in each corner). Makes it simple to find cabin regardless of wine intake. It is not unusual for the surrounding cabin occupants to let us know they also use it as a reference point for their cabin 😁.

No worries about messing up the cabin door with the magnets. As long as they keep making the cabins out of a magnetic metal I am golden. If they ever switch to carbon fiber I am screwed......

Our oldest daughter (who is also our TA) made us a magnetic door sign.  However being in a window suite, there are only 6 other cabins in the hallway so it won't be seen much, lol.  We'll use it regardless because it will bring a smile to my face every time I see it 🙂

[a.madruga]

a good laugh to have but still pool or chair stewards should do something about the chair elite club

[MissP22]

1 hour ago, a.madruga said:

a good laugh to have but still pool or chair stewards should do something about the chair elite club

?????????

[SiliconCruiser]

On 3/15/2023 at 9:16 AM, BamaVol said:

I lied about our anniversary. We got a special dessert in the MDR and a group of servers sang “happy anniversary”.  The surrounding tables applauded.

I always ask them to refrain from singing.  I got caught off-guard on our first cruise and didn't welcome the attention.

[sammyjoanne]

On 3/15/2023 at 3:22 PM, MTNest93 said:

We are 1st time cruisers and will be celebrating our 30th anniversary on the 1st of 2 formal nights.  I made reservations for the Crown Grill thinking it would be more "special" for our big night.  However, I'm seeing comments about going to specialty dining venues if you don't want to dress up and the MDR having better options on formal nights.  We will be dressing up for both formal nights and really don't care what others are wearing, but in your opinion, would the MDR or Crown Grill be better for an anniversary dinner? Thanks in advance for your input!

Congratulations on your 30th 🙂 I was our 25th last April and was first time cruising. We did both. We had a formal at the crown grill and also a formal in Da vincis MDR on the Ruby. I felt great doing both and thought it was rather nice to have two different settings for formal. We did do the crown grill on the anniversary and it did feel more special and intimate

[SiliconCruiser]

On 3/18/2023 at 3:21 AM, MissP22 said:

The door decorations are a thing of the past unless you bring your own.

On the last cruise they were far and few to be seen unless the screen display counted as one.

And yes, those special desserts are nothing to get excited about either along with the singing. 

:Ya mean having a group of waiters singing off key with Happy [insert occasion] to the tune of Happy Birthday.  And yeah, I don't like the desserts 'cause I'm not much of a cake eater.

[sammyjoanne]

On 3/20/2023 at 6:37 PM, MTNest93 said:

Our oldest daughter (who is also our TA) made us a magnetic door sign.  However being in a window suite, there are only 6 other cabins in the hallway so it won't be seen much, lol.  We'll use it regardless because it will bring a smile to my face every time I see it 🙂

On the medalion app (you can also do it on laptop on ocean ready) you can add in your anniversary. when you do that, the door changes on your special day ( thats me taking a photo of it in the reflection with a mask on lol. Ship was still half full back then. I thought it was a lovely touch)

Edited March 22, 2023 by sammyjoanne
added a bit

[MTNest93]

19 minutes ago, sammyjoanne said:

Congratulations on your 30th 🙂 I was our 25th last April and was first time cruising. We did both. We had a formal at the crown grill and also a formal in Da vincis MDR on the Ruby. I felt great doing both and thought it was rather nice to have two different settings for formal. We did do the crown grill on the anniversary and it did feel more special and intimate

Thank you and congrats to you too!  I think we are going to do the same. Crown Grill on our anniversary and MDR on the 2nd formal night.  We’re also booked for Sabatini’s on embarkation night, so we’ll get to sample it all. ❤️

[MTNest93]

11 minutes ago, sammyjoanne said:

On the medalion app (you can also do it on laptop on ocean ready) you can add in your anniversary. when you do that, the door changes on your special day ( thats me taking a photo of it in the reflection with a mask on lol. Ship was still half full back then. I thought it was a lovely touch)

That’s so cool!  Our TA/daughter added it to our profile when we booked but I do see where you can do it yourself. Must have been nice having a half full ship! 

[newportbeachgirl]

On 3/15/2023 at 8:22 AM, MTNest93 said:

We are 1st time cruisers and will be celebrating our 30th anniversary on the 1st of 2 formal nights.  I made reservations for the Crown Grill thinking it would be more "special" for our big night.  However, I'm seeing comments about going to specialty dining venues if you don't want to dress up and the MDR having better options on formal nights.  We will be dressing up for both formal nights and really don't care what others are wearing, but in your opinion, would the MDR or Crown Grill be better for an anniversary dinner? Thanks in advance for your input!

Crown Grill, no contest. You won’t be disappointed! The food quality was more consistent and it feels very elevated. And happy anniversary! There was a mix of people more casually dressed but just as many wore cocktail dresses and a sports coat on the more formal nights. And you will be glad you dressed up a little for the formal photo backgrounds which were fun. The MDR was very fun on the last night where they had a big deal of making it interactive. Make 2 reservations for Crown Grill if you can. You can always cancel one if you decide to change nights but you won’t get the opportunity to book dining there once you’re onboard. It’s booked solid. Happy cruising! 

Edited March 22, 2023 by newportbeachgirl

[MTNest93]

14 hours ago, newportbeachgirl said:

Crown Grill, no contest. You won’t be disappointed! The food quality was more consistent and it feels very elevated. And happy anniversary! There was a mix of people more casually dressed but just as many wore cocktail dresses and a sports coat on the more formal nights. And you will be glad you dressed up a little for the formal photo backgrounds which were fun. The MDR was very fun on the last night where they had a big deal of making it interactive. Make 2 reservations for Crown Grill if you can. You can always cancel one if you decide to change nights but you won’t get the opportunity to book dining there once you’re onboard. It’s booked solid. Happy cruising! 

Thanks so much!  We actually have 3 SD reservations right now.  Sabatini's on embarkation day and Crown Grill on the 1st sea day and the 2nd to last sea day.  My assumption is that the CG days will be the formal nights and I may switch the 2nd CG to the last night of the cruise to see what formal night is like in the MDR.  I agree that it's better to book now and cancel later if we change our minds.  I truly appreciate your input 😄