dining room for lunch?

[Maineac]

We will be sailing on the Serenade.

I was wondering if the dining room will be open for lunch.:)

[Brad1185]

Only on sea days, with a nonchanging limited menu to discourage use. In other words, they want you at the buffet.

[glgolfer]

Correct that the dining room is only open now on sea days, but the menu is not too bad and they have a different appitizer, entree and dessert special each day. They also have creme brulee for dessert every day for lunch. How cah you go wrong with that. And the hamburgers are better than JRs.

[Maineac]

Thanks :)

[Ocean Boy]

If the dining room is only open for lunch on sea days then obviously Serenade can't possibly have a changing menu since she has only one sea day on her Southern Route. Of course, the other way to look at it is why bother even opening the dining room for lunch if it is going to be for just one day of the entire cruise?

[lorasmom]

Correct that the dining room is only open now on sea days, but the menu is not too bad and they have a different appitizer, entree and dessert special each day. They also have creme brulee for dessert every day for lunch. How cah you go wrong with that. And the hamburgers are better than JRs.

 

Is this true on every ship? If so, you just made this pregnant girl's day!! :D

[Seaside2358]

I did the dining room once on Jewel for lunch and don't think I'd ever do it again. On the other hand, I'd love to do breakfast in the dining room but it never quite works out that way...When there is a day at sea I always wake up too late for the dining room. :(

[glgolfer]

Lorasmom - the last 3 cruises we have been on with RCI since they went to the standard lunch menu, it has been true. I'm glad they don't have the dining room open for lunch every day as I would gain 20 lbs on the creme brulee alone.

[lorasmom]

Lorasmom - the last 3 cruises we have been on with RCI since they went to the standard lunch menu, it has been true. I'm glad they don't have the dining room open for lunch every day as I would gain 20 lbs on the creme brulee alone.

 

Y'know, every day I read something on this board that just makes my day. :)

[glgolfer]

lorasmom - Glad I could help.

IMHO, the lunches in the dining room are much better than the Windjammer and you have someone waiting on you instead of walking around to all the stations yourself.

After 17 RCI cruises and 23 total cruises, we've tried everything.

[bubbie617]

The dining room is not open every day for lunch, but I try to get there when it is. I'm always watching my diet and I'm thrilled to have the caesar salad with salmon. I request that they not use a lot of dressing, and it's always been perfect. I like the Windjammer too, but it's nice to be served sometimes.

[Schplinky]

I'm glad that some don't like the dining room because it makes it a quiet haven for the rest of us. :)

 

The dining room does have a set menu every day but there are also specials each day the room is open. The food comes quickly and you are not hunting for a table or jostling for positions in a buffet line. It's heaven.

 

Here is the menu, which another poster posted.

 

Entrees

 

Thai chicken lettuce wrap- Put your own twist on it! Thai chicken strips, carrots, bean sprouts, lettuce leaves, and two delcious sauces-peanut sauce and red sweet chili sauce

 

Calamari Fritti- Lightly fried, with lime-garlic mayonnaise

 

Today's soup- Prepared fresh every day; ask your waiter for today's special

 

Nicoise Salad- Tomatoes, crisp green beans, boiled potatoes, hard-cooked egg, anchovies and Nicoise olives, drizzled with lemon and extra virgin olive oil

 

Royal caesar salad- Have it your way: plain, or with grilled chicken or salmon

 

BBQ chicken salad- Magoes, bell peppers, red onions, scallions and green leaves, tossed with mango dressing

 

Sun-dried tomato tortilla wrap- basil spread, prosciutto and fresh mozzarella

 

Royal Caribbean Internation burger- old-fashioned chopped sirloin on a special bun with sauteed onions and french fries

 

Almond-crusted salmon trout- with sage sauce and sauteed seasonal vegetables

 

Honey-glazed baby back ribs- with crunchy sweet apple coleslaw and corn on the cob

 

Char-grilled minute steak sandwhich- on a French baguette with sauteed mushrooms, fried onions, and French fries

 

Orange chicken- in a spicy citrus sauce with white rice and snow peas

 

Vegetable pad Thai- traditional noodel dish with peanut sauce

 

Sweet Ending

 

Mango Cheesecake

Banana Caramel split

No-so-classic Chocolate creme brulee

Cherry pie with vanilla ice cream

Ice cream and sherbert selection

Sugar-free dessert- ask your server for today's special

[seattlelover]

Schplinky - That menu sounds good to me! It's 1.15 in the UK and right now I wish I had that choice on MY lunch menu! :D

 

Bev

[Schplinky]

I cannot vouch for many of the items because once we had the orange chicken, I had that every time we went there! Amazing.

 

I know the dining room is not open every day but it seems to me that it was open a few days on our Navigator cruise. There were two sea days and I believe that one day we got into port around lunch and the dining room opened early to feed folks before they got off.

 

I just think it's a better option than the hassle of the buffet lines. I'm not a hunter and gatherer. I'm more a sit and be served kind of vacationer.

[PSCruiser]

Don't know what ship Schplinky got the menu from, but it's correct for the Grandeur. Yes, choc. creme brulee every time. Love lunch at the dining room, so relaxing compared to the Windjammer - why not be served!

 

My ratings on items I've had:

 

Yummy!!!:

 

Calamari

Orange chicken

Pad Thai

BBQ Ribs

Chicken wrap

mango cheesecake

banana split

choc. creme brulee

 

Just OK:

 

Steak sandwich

burger

[Schplinky]

I believe they have made this the lunch menu accross the line, since the fall

[AlnzWife]

We just returned from cruise on Empress of the Sea on Friday. The dining room was not open for lunch every day. We managed to get there one time. The menu posted by Schplinky was the one featured. There was also a special of the day. Unfortunately, my one lunch experience in the dining room was not good. The char-broiled minute steak sandwich was not good. Although others in my group ordered the hamburger and said it was the best they every had!

 

But as I sit here in a return to Ohio winter, I would take the steak sandwich in the Dining room of the Empress in a second!

[wanda1101]

Schplinkey's menu is the same as what we had in the dining room on Voyager. Lunch offerings were generally very good and I much prefered eating in the dining room. On our 7 day cruise the lunch menu was repeated the last two days.

[Maineac]

With the recent outbreak of the stomach flu on some of the ships the thought of eating in the dining room is preferable.....I have read recently on this board of folks using the restroom and not washing their hands and heading right for the Windjammer.:eek: I know this can happen anywhere but what an awful thing to get sick on your vacation.

Oh well..... I'll bring lots of Purel.:)

[Nliedel]

I love the dining room for lunch! I always go there on sea days and I eat breakfast there every morning. I love the ambiance, the service and the food. I would happily eat their Salad Nicoise every day.

[39august]

I thought I had read somewhere that there is a daily pasta special as well. Is this correct?

[Schplinky]

Yes. You can shoose the sauce and additional ingredients.

[glgolfer]

I agree with the other poster in that the minute steak is not worth getting.

I've found the ham/cheeseburger in the dining room is much better than either JRs or the Windjammer. The chocolate creme brulee is very good and I get it every time, but I still prefer the reguler creme brulee.

They generally have a station just as you go into the dining room preparing the pasta dish of the day. The garlic smell really gets the taste buds ready.

[wrp96]

On Serenade now, dining room has not been opened for lunch at all this week. Might possibly be on the Sea Day!

 

Amazing cruise though!

[wrp96]

Oh, one other thing. On the Brilliance, they had two lunch menus that they alternated using. Both had a creme brulee - one was chocolate, one was coconut. They also had a banana caramel split that everybody raved about, but it was only on one of the two menus.