Anyone do Either Supper Club OR Buffet, but Skip the Dining Room?

[Leo Jay]

II know there are those who can't be bothered with the dress code or the 'singing and dancing', so they ONLY eat dinner at the buffet. And there are a very few who ONLY eat at the Supper Club. But is there anyone else who can imagine eating at either the Supper Club OR the Buffet, but never the dining room? Just curious, because we're almost headed that way.

 

Last year, we were in the Supper Club 2 nights (loved it), the Dining Room 2 or 3 nights, and the Buffet the other nights. We found we really loved the casualness, the relative emptiness and quiet, and the food options available in the Buffet Area, and were surprised to find that we preferred it quite a bit to the Dining Room, which was really fine, but sort of left us cold.

 

Except for the roast duck night, which is pretty darn compelling, I could easily imagine doing either the buffet or the supper club and not messing with 'Mr. In-Between'.

[CaptainEdwardJohnSmith]

.........

 

for a while I thought you were JAY LENO

 

lol

 

ps. our son knows him, meets him at a few car shows in the LA area.

[Glama]

Our last cruise was on the Freedom, 9 nights. We only ate in the DR 4 times, the rest of the time we ate at the buffet, and you know, we really enjoyed it! I love the salad bar, the entrees were good, and like you said, the quiet and the casualness is just what we needed after busy port days. I think had we ate at the supper club a couple of nights, we wouldn't have missed the DR at all. We had late seating, sometimes didn't even get seated until 8:50pm, not out of there until 10:30, that was just TOO late for us. We are taking a 4 night cruise in two weeks (whoohoo), and honestly, if we didnt make it to the DR, I don't think I'd care. For us, the thrill of the dining room isn't what it used to be.

[smarks]

I have tired of the dining rooms also. DH and I was on a 7 day cruise last month and ate at the buffet the whole time. We weren't rushed, the food was very good and went when we felt like it. Gotta love it. Happy sailing.

[cuyahoga11]

I have only visited the DR 2 times out of my cruises.

[carnivalkim]

The dining room takes up a lot of time....On a seven day cruise it takes away a whole day....:eek: ...We eat there only about half the time...I have to be there the night they have Seafood newburg(sp?)..

[BillnBobbi]

II know there are those who can't be bothered with the dress code or the 'singing and dancing', so they ONLY eat dinner at the buffet. And there are a very few who ONLY eat at the Supper Club. But is there anyone else who can imagine eating at either the Supper Club OR the Buffet, but never the dining room? Just curious, because we're almost headed that way.

 

Last year, we were in the Supper Club 2 nights (loved it), the Dining Room 2 or 3 nights, and the Buffet the other nights. We found we really loved the casualness, the relative emptiness and quiet, and the food options available in the Buffet Area, and were surprised to find that we preferred it quite a bit to the Dining Room, which was really fine, but sort of left us cold.

 

Except for the roast duck night, which is pretty darn compelling, I could easily imagine doing either the buffet or the supper club and not messing with 'Mr. In-Between'.

 

 

We've been to the different versions of the supper club on the Conquest, Glory, and Liberty. It is basically the same on all those classes of ships, and the food is certainly better (esp. the meat) than in the dining rooms. One of the reasons is that in the SCs the food is prepared to order, while in the dining rooms it is prepared banquet style. I only wish they would move a bit faster up there. I like leisurely dining but that is not the centerpiece of our day on a cruise ship. I wish they'd teach the wait staff that not EVERYONE who goes up there needs a primer on "this is a steak, this is a veal chop..."

We know all that, and last time I told the waitress,nicely, to get on with it, but they are instructed to go through this, and seem to be afraid they will lose their job up there (which is much better than downstairs) if they skip it.

 

We've never done the buffet for dinner. I don't know why, but it just seemed to us that the buffet choices were not that compelling. Maybe we'll reassess that on our next cruise. Two of the things we especially hate in the dining room (and we've filed those suggestion cards to that effect) are the PA announcements which are usually either inane or undeciferable coming from the maitre'd; and secondly THE IDIOTIC SINGING AND DANCING ON TABLES BY THE STAFF just before dessert or during dessert. We have found ourselves trying to finish dinner before that nonsense. Oh, and that "lets make believe we're kids back in camp color wars" whatever thats about.

To us it kills the entire ambience, and perhaps Carnival ought to reassess whether or not this is something the cruising public still desires.

I don't know any other cruise line that does this during dinner.

 

Our next cruise is two weeks and has A LOT of touring during the day involved, with one segment of four days without a day at sea. We just might grab something at the buffet, and go back to our cabin, rather than reddressing for dinner. Makes a lot of sense. Food is no longer the centerpiece of a cruise for us.

 

BnB

[jixjix6305]

Our last cruise we ate in the dining room once. There were 7 of us and we weren't that thrilled with the food and speed of the DR. We did the supper club one night and then buffet/room service/pizza the rest of the time. It's hard to sit through a full dinner when you have so much liquor filling up your stomach! I couldn't bear the thought of losing my buzz beacause I was stuck in the DR for 2 hours LOL

[Cruising_K]

We eat in the DR for every dinner. I usually travel with a group and find that dinner in the DR is a relaxing way to visit and share stories from our day.

We all love the singing and dancing and have never had a problem with the food. We are getting ready to leave on the Conquest and I have had several people requesting that we all eat together in the DR on this trip also.

Breakfast and lunch are usually in the buffet, Sur Mer, or Deli.

[cruisecastle]

Eat in the DR every night except for one night in the Supper Club. I would never and have never eaten the buffet for dinner. What a freegin waste to do that

[Fun~N~Sun]

We ate in the dining room once and that was enough for us. Don't like the seating times. One is too early the other too late. The whole process took too much time. I didn't like the singing and dancing. As much as Carnival tries to promote the dining room as being a formal setting we thought the singing and dancing was totally inappropriate and just down right weird. The food was not that great or even better than the buffet. The buffet we could go at our leisure. Not rushed or crowded. We could dress more comfortably and enjoy our meal on our own schedule.

[jdjaguar]

We eat at the DR each morning/night too...tried to do the Supper Club last time but it was booked.

 

One thing about the DR is you don't even half to sit there to eat there!

 

Our waiter got to know my older son pretty well, and by the 3rd night had 4 entrees already packaged up in to-go boxes for him to take back to his room. Younger son came for formal nights..but stuck w/ room service/pizza/buffet the rest of the time).

 

 

 

Never tried the buffet for dinner or breakfast.

[Glama]

Eat in the DR every night except for one night in the Supper Club. I would never and have never eaten the buffet for dinner. What a freegin waste to do that

 

Why a waste? You can get as much food, if not more, at the buffet. Sure, it's not served to you, but the time you save by not sitting there for two hours more than makes up for it. If the DR isn't people's "thing", then they don't consider it a waste, they consider it saving time and effort to spend on things they find more enjoyable. Since you haven't eaten at the buffet, you wouldn't know that the food is actually very good, with a nice variety, drinks at your disposal, good desserts, etc... It's not yucky like their breakfasts.

[serene56]

My last cruise we ate at the buffet every night but once.

But that was Princess and the dining experience in the buffet cant compare to the buffet on carnival. It was like eating dinner in the dining room except I serve myself.

 

Table cloths on the tables. Silverware at each place, cloth napkins, water glasses filled by waiters. Bar waiters asking for your drinks. Strolling musicians playing music depending on the theme of the buffet.

.. the whole experience made a very relaxing week of a cruise

 

We didnt have to stop what we were doing at the time to go get ready for dinner.

I didnt have to wait for a waiter to give me a menu and wait til people were ready to order. I didnt have to wait between each course for people to get done so we can get the next course.

a waste??? not at all-- since I didnt have to "waste" all that time waiting.. got what i wanted..and if i wanted more-- i got it without waiting.

 

cruisecastle-- what exactly is the waste by not going to the dining room?

[Glama]

My last cruise we ate at the buffet every night but once.

But that was Princess and the dining experience in the buffet cant compare to the buffet on carnival. It was like eating dinner in the dining room except I serve myself.

 

Table cloths on the tables. Silverware at each place, cloth napkins, water glasses filled by waiters. Bar waiters asking for your drinks. Strolling musicians playing music depending on the theme of the buffet.

.. the whole experience made a very relaxing week of a cruise

 

Exactly. It's just SO much more relaxing then having to get all ready for dinner at a very specific time, the DR can get noisy and crowded, etc... The buffet just has a certain ambiance about it (in the evening, definately not in the morning or afternoon!). For us, it's peaceful, which has become an important part of our vacation. Then again, there are times when we do enjoy meeting up with everyone for dinner. It depends on our mood, so I'm glad we have options.

[buddyjo143]

DH and I have already decided that our summer Victory cruise to Canada will be the cruise where we don't eat dinner in the dining room. We don't want to bring any fancy clothes, we want to have leisurely paced days, we want to eat when we choose or not. I can't wait.

 

This will be our 4th cruise in 2 years and already the dining room is a little old. Don't get me wrong, we will be there on our "Family Cruise Part Two" but for just the two of us on a summer get-away, we are going to try something different.

 

That said, we may eat most breakfasts in the dining room and I want to try at least one lunch in the dining room.

 

Will let you know what it was like around July 9th.

[Glama]

I'd love our next cruise to be "buffet only", we leave in two weeks, and it's just a short 4 nighter. The problem is, we are traveling with friends and family, and feel "obligated" to dine with them.

[KruznKel]

Why a waste? You can get as much food, if not more, at the buffet. Sure, it's not served to you, but the time you save by not sitting there for two hours more than makes up for it. If the DR isn't people's "thing", then they don't consider it a waste, they consider it saving time and effort to spend on things they find more enjoyable. Since you haven't eaten at the buffet, you wouldn't know that the food is actually very good, with a nice variety, drinks at your disposal, good desserts, etc... It's not yucky like their breakfasts.

 

I agree on our last 8 day cruise we had dinner in the dining room on the 1st formal night.. ate at the supper club one evening.. and the rest at the buffet.. No complaints the food is acceptable and the only reason I can see not enjoying it is the service factor.. as mentioned.

[msolberg]

We always cruise with a group of friends and it is the one time of the day that we are all together. We really enjoy the whole experience - dancing waiters and all - along with enjoying each others company.

 

Diane

[Kurbanfan]

Our last cruise we ate in the dining room 3 nights, buffet 2 nights and in port 2 nights. If it were up to me I would not mind eating at the buffet every night. In fact we planned on doing that on our cruise in August. Then we had some friends book with us. We will just play it by ear.....

Why in the world would it be a waste:confused:

[5String]

for a while I thought you were JAY LENO

 

I sometimes get lecticdys too Capt'n. I think it comes with our advanced age. :D

[wizard-of-roz]

Call me "old fashioned", part of the cruise experience is the dining!

I love traditional dining....the waiters...the service....the ambiance...the waiters getting to know your likes and dislikes..even calling you by name...the basket of rolls/butter...the choices....

I love the sense of being taken care of and feeling so special!

I also love the buffet but only for brunch! ;)

[5String]

Our first 2 cruises, we ate in the DR 1 time (Dinner). On our last cruise we ate in the DR 1 time (Lunch). I don't wear jeans, shorts, or tank tops in the DR :D but to be honest, it's more of a pain than it's worth.

 

Lunch was/is open seating. The one time we ate lunch there, the wait staff were just standing in a group off to the side chit chatting. You couldn't get their attention to assist you no matter how hard you tried.

 

I'm making an assumption here, but it seems logical that they couldn't care less because they weren't worried about their tips since it was open seating. No smiles, no assistance, not even an acknowledgment that we were even there. It made me view the DR staff from a new perspective.

 

We're content to just take care of ourselves at the buffet or grill and leave the DR for others that may enjoy the phony "we care" attitude. Not putting down those who like it, it's just not enjoyable for us. YMMV

[wizard-of-roz]

There's nothing phony about it.....I know they serve thousands; week to week...month to month....

But, there is the extra special cruiser (I'd like to think I'm one of them) who truly appreciates all their hard work and tells them so. Who calls them by name and who gives that extra tip, if treated very well!

I have to be honest; in all the cruising that we've done....I can only remember one instance where the server was rude and not attentive!

[BillnBobbi]

Eat in the DR every night except for one night in the Supper Club. I would never and have never eaten the buffet for dinner. What a freegin waste to do that

 

I can understand where people LIKE to get together, esp. if it is a family or close friends, for a sit-down "formal" dinner to discuss the day or whatever else in that setting. It serves as a slow down time, and in many households, during the remainder of the year, many families rarely get to sit down together because of all the scheduling conflicts juggling, jobs, after school activities, projects, music lessons, little league, religious school, and what not.

 

However, when two people are traveling alone, they may only want to be with each other. If a table for two is not available (and even if it is) they may not enjoy having to start up conversation with total strangers.

 

Moreover, in many folks current lifestyles, food is simply not a focal point three times in a day. People now graze all day, or skip meals, or fit them in around other activities deemed by them to be more important than sitting to eat. (In realilty sitting down to "share" a meal with someone is an ancient bonding ritual - not everyone needs to bond in that particular way anymore - there are many other ways.)

 

The ony way it could be as the poster states a "friggin waste", not to go to the dining room , is if what is deemed to be more "gourmet" is in one place and not the other and it would be a shame to miss it. Well, many simply don't care whether they eat tuna on whitebread, or a T-bone steak and shrimp cocktail. For these people food is simply "fuel".

 

We're going to check the menus from now on BEFORE we decide to go in. If nothing in the dining room intrigues us (and lately it frankly takes a lot to do that) then we'll just skip it.

 

I liked that idea of "takeout' from the dining room. Perhaps we'll do that or just order dinner from room service and eat on out balcony while looking over the Med.

 

BnB