Taking the Dessert Order Too Early

At each dinner in The Restsurant this week on the Viking

Ocean, the waiter, would ask us if we knew what we wanted for dessert yet, when taking the dinner order.

A new practice on cruises? But it’s hard to know 2 hours in advance which one I’d have a hankering for, or may decide later I’m too full to eat it.

At each dinner in The Restsurant this week on the Viking

Ocean, the waiter, would ask us if we knew what we wanted for dessert yet, when taking the dinner order.

A new practice on cruises? But it’s hard to know 2 hours in advance which one I’d have a hankering for, or may decide later I’m too full to eat it.

LOL, I would have replied," I have no idea, but I know you will tell me all about the wonderful dessert options when I am done with my meal. " Thanks so much.

Lol, we had different servers. They always brought the menu back to us at the end. Once in a while, I knew I was going to have a specific dessert, like the soufflé , so I went ahead and ordered it.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

At each dinner in The Restsurant this week on the Viking

Ocean, the waiter, would ask us if we knew what we wanted for dessert yet, when taking the dinner order.

A new practice on cruises? But it’s hard to know 2 hours in advance which one I’d have a hankering for, or may decide later I’m too full to eat it.

I keep seeing this 2 hour time frame for dinner. I'll be the first to admit I have no idea of what this would be like. Eating has never been an experience for me. If I go out, eating is a side to the main event. Once in my life I had a meal that took 2 hours. I was in high school, it was Easter Brunch at a restaurant and there was a new stepmother in residence. When we finally finished I could not believe I had wasted all that time. My current life is filled with a lot of things that happen after dinner or it's dinner on the run. If you have 2 hour dinners, you may not be able to fathom this but I have actually eaten in a cafeteria, a 'place your order at the counter' type establishment and yes, even on the run in the car after pulling through a drive thru. I'm certainly not experienced with cruising so maybe that's why this seems so unusual to me. My experience so far is busy days in port, a quick refresh, dinner, then some quiet relaxing before taking in the entertainment for the evening. But that's me and a 2 hour dinner maybe "you" but it seems as foriegn to me as Siberia. No judgement. They say cruising is an experience and this may be part of it. I'm learning, just not experiencing.

Well Dauntless, while we are experienced in cruising and a two hour meal is nothing that we prefer or want.

Personally, I would not mind it if the server asked for our dessert order early. I guess there are differing opinions on this matter and it would be hard for a server to know all of the guests preferences.

I like the evening meal to relax, have great food ,excellent service, interesting conversation. One hour and half is fine with me . I hate to be rushed during dinner, I can eat quickly for lunch or breakfast, but not dinner.

Enjoy the experience. Since no electronic devices are with us, 2 or 3 hours sounds just fine to us.

Most of our meals on Viking ocean or river have involved sitting with new acquaintances, or chatting with people seated at a close-by table if we were seated by ourselves. That's how our meals expanded to two hours. (Well, maybe that, along with the included wine at meals.) Getting to know people over a leisurely meal is how several of those acquaintances became people I now call friends.

If it’s been a very active day and I’m tired, the 2 hour dinner is not appealing, and I opt for casual dining.

Since we share tables in the MDR, good company makes the 2 hours breeze by...less chemistry can make time drag. I let fate take it’s course.

At each dinner in The Restsurant this week on the Viking

Ocean, the waiter, would ask us if we knew what we wanted for dessert yet, when taking the dinner order.

A new practice on cruises? But it’s hard to know 2 hours in advance which one I’d have a hankering for, or may decide later I’m too full to eat it.

It's a Viking peculiarity just like their practice of automatically not offering coffee or tea after a dinner. I don't mind. We have over two dozen cruises to our name and I am hard pressed to think of one dinner where I've passed up the dessert. ;p

FWIW - I’m fine with a 1.5 to 2 hour dinner. When we go out for dinner to local restaurants (not chains), that’s how long it usually takes. I thoroughly enjoy a good meal with great food, fine wine and interesting conversation.

Our Sunday dinners when I was growing up ran along those lines. I guess it’s what you are used to. I hate being rushed through a meal, but I didn’t have any problem with picking a dessert with the rest of the meal. It’s not the way I’m used to, but I can adapt [emoji41]

We haven’t sailed with Viking Ocean, yet only Viking River. We were offered coffee after the meal - when they brought dessert IIRC. If I want coffee, I’ll remember to ask!

Sent from my iPad using Forums

The only times I recall being asked to choose dessert at the beginning of dinner are rubber-chicken catered affairs -- so this is not a good 'Viking peculiarity' as they try to break into the luxury cruise market. There is no reason the waiter needs this info so early, except possibly if you are going to order a soufflé and they are so rarely ordered that it has to be made special for you [but on cruise ships nothing is made special for you, so scratch that...]

We just got off vIking Sea and Restaurant waiters pushed us to pre order dessert all but a couple nights. Only a couple waiters asked us if we wanted coffee or tea. I interpreted this as a push to turn over the table so they could seat new people. It didn’t bother me terribly but this service is not as polished as what we receive on other lines. We also noted little follow up after the main course was served. No follow up cracked pepper, etc. Only a couple of followup questions about whether the meat was cooked to our satisfaction. Most waiters did not ask our preference on how to cook the beef and on day 1 I forgot to tell him medium well, didn’t care for the medium rare steak I was served.

We were seated at two tops each night.

We thought meat portions were skimpy a few nights. Food was nicely prepared and seasoned.

We loved the specialties, especially Manfredi. Chef table West Indies menu was delicious. Each course was carefully explained and beautifully presented. The waiter offered a salad substitution for the tuna tartare course.

At each dinner in The Restsurant this week on the Viking

Ocean, the waiter, would ask us if we knew what we wanted for dessert yet, when taking the dinner order.

A new practice on cruises? But it’s hard to know 2 hours in advance which one I’d have a hankering for, or may decide later I’m too full to eat it.

Agree, that's not how it's supposed to work.

Personally, I find it strange to get desert and coffee at the same time but maybe that's an American thing.

Once on the QE2 I said that I didn't want anything for pudding. When the others at the table were served theirs I was brought a plate with 'nothing' written on it in chocolate sauce!

Once on the QE2 I said that I didn't want anything for pudding. When the others at the table were served theirs I was brought a plate with 'nothing' written on it in chocolate sauce!

I saw this also on a vlog for a Disney cruise.

We've usually traveled with a group of friends (6-8 of us) and tend to have the same serving crew for each dinner. They come to know our preference when taking our orders- some of us know our dessert choice, some not. We also appreciated when a server told us which desserts were popular so we could put in our order in advance and hopefully save one. As for the coffee, we would order it if we wanted it and I didn't notice whether they offered it or not.

We always had great service, though we might have "previewed" some of the folks early in the cruise at breakfast and lunch and then requested their station for dinner. We also let them know we appreciated any special services they provided.