Ruby Princess-Dining

Hi everybody! I'm going to be sailing on the Ruby Princess next month on her first cruise to the Mexican Riviera and I have never sailed Princess before so I'm excited!! I want to know what the dining is like and how the food is! Planning on eating breakfast and dinner in the MDR! Anyone have some sample menus? Hows the food in the MDR? Please let me know!

Hi everybody! I'm going to be sailing on the Ruby Princess next month on her first cruise to the Mexican Riviera and I have never sailed Princess before so I'm excited!! I want to know what the dining is like and how the food is! Planning on eating breakfast and dinner in the MDR! Anyone have some sample menus? Hows the food in the MDR? Please let me know!

I don't have sample menus except the 50th Anniversary one but I have dozens of food photos in my current review in my signature.

The food was excellent in the MDR and very good in the Buffet.

Norris

We eat breakfast and dinner in the regularly. We often eat lunch there as well.

The only time we'll go to the buffet for breakfast is if we have an early excursion and need to eat early and fast. We think the food in the MDR is great. I will say that Princess has adopted portion control, which we like. The food is excellent and no overwhelming.Some people complain that they cut back on the portions but, you can order as much as you want.

One time at lunch my wife ordered the muscles and they were great. She told the waiter and he said "Do you want more"? And he brought more.

Service in the MDR is traditional- it can take 2 hours to have a full dinner-but that is what fine dining is all about. Having a good meal, engaging in good conversation between courses and no being in a rush.

So, if you like that kind of dining you will love the MDR in Princess!

We tend to be "late risers" so very seldom have breakfast in the MDR.

On At Sea days we love having lunch in the MDR! :)

LuLu

We were on Ruby 1/3/15. For us the food was great.

Food is a very subjective subject. For me who is not terrible picky the food on Princess has always been great. I can only compare it to Carnival, RCI and HAL and feel it is better than what I had on those ships. Lunch in the MDR on sea days (not open on port days) is usually really good. What we do is look at the posted menu outside the MDR before each meal we are thinking about in the MDR and then decide. One of the three MDRs will be open for breakfast and lunch, so we go there before it opens to see the posted menu for the coming meal. The other two MDRs are only open for dinner and they post the dinner menu early in the morning.

We will be sailing the Ruby to Alaska in July.

We signed up for the Anytime Dining for the first time. Any suggestions?

Most of the posts we see are a couple years old.

Suggestions, dos & don'ts would be appreciated.

We will be sailing the Ruby to Alaska in July.

We signed up for the Anytime Dining for the first time. Any suggestions?

Most of the posts we see are a couple years old.

Suggestions, dos & don'ts would be appreciated.

We were on Ruby in January with Anytime Dining! No problems for us but we were happy to share at any sized table with any waiter. :)

For steaks consider going to a $pecialty Restaurant. Otherwise, the MDR food and service was very good. ;)

Ruby is a great ship! Look forward to having a WONDERFUL cruise! :D

LuLu

We will be sailing the Ruby to Alaska in July.

 

We signed up for the Anytime Dining for the first time. Any suggestions?

 

Most of the posts we see are a couple years old.

 

Suggestions, dos & don'ts would be appreciated.

Ruby is such an amazing ship, I sailed on her in March! I'm so jealous you will be sailing on her! You are going to have the time of your life! The food is amazing, just don't eat too much before dinner or else you'll be so full you won't be able to enjoy any of the delicious food in the MDR! We had traditional dinning but I did notice there would sometimes be a line for those doing anytime dinning. Oh and try the cheesecake and the New York steak that they have! And the fettuccine Alfredo, so yummy! Enjoy your cruise!

We will be sailing the Ruby to Alaska in July.

We signed up for the Anytime Dining for the first time. Any suggestions?

Most of the posts we see are a couple years old.

Suggestions, dos & don'ts would be appreciated.

We have sailed the Ruby many times. Just go relax and enjoy yourselves. :)

This is our second sailing on the Ruby, first to Alaska.

We have never chosen Anytime Dining before.

What are some of the dos and don'ts for Anytime Dining?

Best times to go without waiting very long, etc.

This is our second sailing on the Ruby, first to Alaska.

We have never chosen Anytime Dining before.

What are some of the dos and don'ts for Anytime Dining?

Best times to go without waiting very long, etc.

Here's the wrinkle with ATD: there are three MDRs (Botticelli, 6 aft; DaVinci, 6 mid; Michelangelo, 5 mid). Botticelli is traditional dining early and late, so that's a given. On most sailings, if more than perhaps 38% of the passengers request traditional dining (or more than 19% request EARLY traditional), Princess will do a "second early" seating, at/around 5:30 in DaVinci.

Here's the rub: if they do that, the only ATD dining room from when the doors open until about 7:15 or 7:45 (depending on the menu/meal) is Michelangelo. After that point, there are two ATD rooms as they add DaVinci to their capacity. So...if you want a reservation with ATD, you can only do it at the very beginning of ATD, or after 7:30 or so. 6:00, 6:30, 7:00 reservations are not an option. Also, once Michelangelo fills up, ATD is on a wait until people leave Michelangelo, or until DaVinci converts to ATD around 7:30.

My thought is if you board the ship with that understanding and those expectations, you'll be happy, or at least not as disappointed if you encounter a wait. :)

We have never chosen Anytime Dining before.

Best times to go without waiting very long, etc.

There will be on the larger Princess ships at least 1500 passengers who are in Anytime.

It is impossible to predict in advance when all these passengers will decide their anytime time is. Ideally, they select times spaced out throughout the evening and there would rarely be a wait.

That could happen on your cruise.

Or, hundreds of your new best friends could decide their anytime is the same time as the time you pick and there could be a wait every time you go to dine.

5:30 One ATD Dining Room Open

7:30..7:45 Two ATD Dining Room Open

Best time to go is after 7:45 or 8 PM

for not waiting..Earlier times you will/could wait.

Depends on port times, peoples activties, shows ect.

Each night it could vary. Just plan your dinner

around what you want to do that night. Give

yourself time.

We like ATD and go after 8pm ..no waiting.

Sometimes if go earlier, then maybe wait, other times not.

Doesn't matter..we're on vacation. Just enjoy!

we like atd.. we go when they open havent had any issues