just eating the lido buffett or with room service

[Ms Belvedere]

you are right about eating in the dining room for some of the earlier meals. i am going to give it a try and see how i like it. i have never been unhappy with the buffett line and pizza/burgers.

 

i will let everyone know how it went for me when i get back. doing something different is a good thing once in awhile and this way i will know if i like the freestyle dining for any upcoming cruises on other lines.

 

i am only 11 days from being on the ship. i cant wait.

 

thanks for the replies and your opinions :)

 

Have a great cruise. Vacation is about relaxing and doing what you want to do on your own schedule. 11 days! :D :D :D

Ms B

[musicmansmom]

it sounds like this option is a popular one for those that have done it. i really do want a more relaxing schedule on this cruise and not have to be rushing to the cabin to get dressed for dinner. i will take a nice outfit in case i want to have something special one night but i am looking forward to making my own times for eating, getting back on the ship when i want too and being in more casual but nice clothes to lounge around the ship in.

 

i am going solo and i dont like to have photos taken of myself anyway so getting all dressed up is not a factor in my choice.

 

all of you have helped me make up my mind to give this a try on this cruise. i will let you know how i liked it when i get back. thanks for letting me know about your experiences with it. :)

[musicmansmom]

Do let the maitre'd for your assigned dining know what you are doing--he will love you for he will be able to use your unused seats for those who need to switch their dining assignments. He can also move table assignments around so your 'assigned' tablemates will not be left wondering who belongs to those empty chairs all cruise long.

 

great tip. i will do that. it will be the considerate thing to do like you said. thanks for the heads-up on this :) .

[logbook]

On one of our cruises, we didn't go to the dining room on two of the nights out of four. We were so relaxed and enjoying the pool - and everyone was leaving, that we just stayed, grabbed a burger, salad and a drink and stayed there. I could easily see myself not going into the dining room. Bring clothes for one night for the dining room in case you change your mind. Sounds great to me!!!

[osiebosie]

You need to dress for the alternative restaurant the same as you would for the dining room. That's what the capers on the Glory told us.

 

I would go for it if that's what was pushing my button, but I'd take a change of clothes in case you got tired of Lido. They have changed the menu somewhat, and something may tickle your fancy.

 

We always eat at the dining room, and have always enjoyed it. But we do check out the menu earlier in the day.

 

As for lunch in the dining room, there were only a couple of days it was available on the Glory. Breakfast, of course, always is.

 

Have fun eating wherever you choose,

 

Shay

[joie1016]

this cruise i just feel like doing something different and not be committed to a specific time for eating and not taking all the extra fancier clothes for the dining room. i have loved going to formal night and eating my meals in the dinning room in the past and meeting my wonderful table mates, but i am just in the mood this time to totally veg-out and not be on a schedule of any kind.

 

are there others of you who have done so and been satisfied with your choice? this is a much needed cruise for an all out layed-back experience with no fuss . lounging, reading, listening to my cd music and just looking out at the water and enjoying the ports are my main objective.

 

please tell me i wont be the only one who will at the lido deck for my meals each night.

 

thanks for any opinions on your experience doing this.

On our last 2 cruises we ate Lido everynight. The food has improved and most people that have a large dinner table me and my husband were the only ones. So, we left the formal wear at home and had a more enjoyable cruise. I dont think you will be missing anything especially if you are the only one that shows up at your dinner table. We enjoyed not looking at a watch for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Try it, you'll like it.

[musicmansmom]

thanks everyone for making me feel more at ease about my choice. and having the hot-tub more to myself sounds great also ;) .

[Cotton]

As for lunch in the dining room, there were only a couple of days it was available on the Glory. Breakfast, of course, always is.,

 

Shay, that seems odd. On each of my cruises, I've had all three meals in the dining room EVERY day, even on port days.

 

Are you sure both dining rooms were closed? There's usually only one open for lunch. Maybe you didn't check both of them?:confused:

[Wennfred]

GREAT Idea, I might just try this in Apirl and just relax in shorts and T-shirts. I have to see how the boss Wendy feels about this one :D NO MORE FORMAL PICTURES FOR ME !!! :confused:

 

Fred

[2BeagleLvr]

GREAT Idea, I might just try this in Apirl and just relax in shorts and T-shirts. I have to see how the boss Wendy feels about this one :D NO MORE FORMAL PICTURES FOR ME !!! :confused:

 

Fred

 

Well, we can negotiate that cruise and the deal would be that you will have to go on the excursion with me in La Paz for the NO FORMAL NIGHTS OR PICTURES. What do you say?

 

Your loving wife :p

 

Wendy

[musicmansmom]

you are too funny :D . i hope you work out a deal. im with you fred about the pictures. hopefully no more for me either :) .

 

let us know how your compromise is working out ;)

[finoky]

Hey Music, how did it work out with skipping the dining room? Inquiring minds wanna know!:D

[mjt2890]

I hope I get the chance to cruise NCL sometime, cause I really want to try freestyle cruising. Our next cruise is booked for an 8pm dinner, so we have time to clean up after our port days. I don't enjoy such a late dinner, going to bed stuffed :( Oh well, maybe CC will offer a freestyle type of thing in the future. I wouldn't want to live off the buffet and room service for 7 days though! :eek:

[Wennfred]

this cruise i just feel like doing something different and not be committed to a specific time for eating and not taking all the extra fancier clothes for the dining room.

 

On the Pride last week, we finally booked Late Seating which is 8:15pm, This turned out to be a great time because we were not Rushed from having returned from an excursion and by 8:15pm we were already hungry.

 

So I guess our new set dining time will be Late for now on, That reminds me I have to call Carnival tomorrow to get that changed on the Spirit.

 

Fred

[musicmansmom]

Hey Music, how did it work out with skipping the dining room? Inquiring minds wanna know!:D

 

well, i ate in the dining room each night after all. i had great tablemates and im so glad i went and was able to meet and chat with them. the lido was where i had my other meals and it was wonderful food there too.

 

so, i did the normal thing that a woman does and changed my mind about not eating at the pacific room each night. :D i had a great time.

[rreeyy]

Hello everyone

 

Is the food for Breakfest and lunch in the dinning room just as good as the dinner. I am thinking of not taking formal clothes myself, but I am still deciding what I want to do for Dinner.

 

Thank you'

Rey

[Wennfred]

Hello everyone

 

Is the food for Breakfest and lunch in the dinning room just as good as the dinner. I am thinking of not taking formal clothes myself, but I am still deciding what I want to do for Dinner.

 

Thank you'

Rey

 

I had lunch in the Dining room around 3 times and all 3 times was great, Tuesday for Lunch they have a nice rack of Baby Back Ribs and Fish and Chips, both extremely tasty. One other day I had the Mongolian Steak Salad, WOW Lots of steak and very good. Another day I had the Chinese something, forgot the rest of the name but that also was very good.

 

Fred

[rreeyy]

Hello

 

Well Fred thank you for letting me know that the food is good in the dinning room for lunch also. Sounds like there's good food no matter where you eat...

 

Thank you:) :)

Rey

[Wennfred]

Hello

 

Well Fred thank you for letting me know that the food is good in the dinning room for lunch also. Sounds like there's good food no matter where you eat...

 

Thank you:) :)

Rey

 

I sat with a 2 nice ladies for Lunch that day and she told me she would email me the picture she took of my Rack of Ribs, I hope I get them so I can post them. Those pictures will surely get everyone down to the Dining room on Tuesday LOL :D

[serene56]

Is the food for Breakfest and lunch in the dinning room just as good as the dinner. I am thinking of not taking formal clothes myself, but I am still deciding what I want to do for Dinner.Thank you'Rey

 

After Tuesday we ate every meal at the Lido buffet. This was the Destiny. Dinner took a total of maybe 40 minutes from start to finish. On this cruise its a port intensive one so taking 2 + hours for dinner was not good.. thats why we did the buffet area.

Not taking formal clothes you miss out on the Lobster or surf & Turf dinner.

[mom&me_cruising]

I think it is all up to you. My mom and I will be on our cruise next week. Mom had told me ahead of time that she really does not feel like dealing with packing dresses and stuff and wants to eat at Lido the whole cruise. I, on the other hand, will be checking out the menu before I make that decision. Of course we are on a very port intensive cruise so we might not even have energy to make it to the Lido for the buffet after all the touring. :rolleyes: This is what's so wonderful about being on a cruise; with all kinds of food options I know I won't have to worry about starving. ;)

[Mysticks1]

This is what's so wonderful about being on a cruise; with all kinds of food options I know I won't have to worry about starving. ;)

 

Room service is a great option after a tiring day in port. :)

[finoky]

After Tuesday we ate every meal at the Lido buffet.

 

Serene, did they happen to have any of the dining room items available on the buffet? I know there are different stations but just wondering what the options were and how you liked doing it that way. I am still contemplating doing this the entire cruise for the first time. It may be quite a shock seeing as we have always ate every dinner in the dining room before.

[bguppies]

After our cruise last week on the Sensation, I think on next year's cruise, we will probably eat most meals in the buffett, when we please.

 

We ate our first 2 dinners in the Dining Room.

The food was great, but I hated having to rush the first night to make dinner.

Then the 2nd night (9-11) they decided to have a tribute to the US in the Dining Room and stopped between dinner and desert courses to have everyone sings "God Bless America" .

Afterwards, our servers, who were doing so well before the break, took forever to get our Desert course to our table. (we were definitely the last on our entire side to get ours. Most people around us had gotten, theirs, eaten and had left or were leaving as ours was arriving at the table.)

This delay wound up making all 6 of us at our table late for the show in the main lounge that night.

Which on the Sensation, if you don't get a seat on the bottom floor or first row upstairs, you can barely see anything on stage.

 

The next day, after returning from Nassau, we decided to eat a little early and relax.

The buffett had a great selection and we much preferred eating when we wanted.

 

The final day we checked the menu on the wall in the afternoon and didn't see anything twisting our arm to make dinner that night, so we again chose the buffet on out time and the food was also good again.

 

Next year we will be on the Glory and we might try one formal night and another dinner if they have something we love.

 

But we were, for almost every meal we ate in the buffet, quite happy with the selection and always able to find something we wanted or able to get a great sandwich in the Deli.

 

I have to say the 2 days we ate when we wanted (either early or later) was much more relaxing.

 

Bill

[Wennfred]

The food was great, but I hated having to rush the first night to make dinner.

 

Bill

 

Hi Bill, I was just wondering, did you have an Earily seating like at 5:45pm or 6:15pm? We used to do this one and was always rushed, but last week on the Pride we finally booked the late seating at 8:15pm, this turned out to be the best time since we were not rushed at all and also by 8:15pm we were already hungry and could enjoy our meals better.

 

I'm on the Phone now with CVC and I just changed my Seating on the Spirit to the 8:15pm slot. Also checking on a Cat.9a upgrade.

 

Fred