Seating in speciality restaurants

Hi all

I am thinking of taking our first cruise on Cunard. We don’t like to share a table (please don’t judge, it is what it is). Also we are very much foodies and like spicy/international food having lived in Asia. For these reasons we are thinking of booking Britannia and going to the Asian/India/Mexican etc most evenings as we would enjoy that more than Britannia Club etc.. So my question is, can you get a table for two easily at those ‘speciality’ restaurants?

TIA

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Hello

I have never had a problem getting a table for two in the specialty dining room on deck 7. I have sailed on the Queen Mary countless times. And of course, if you are going to be a regular in this space on the ship the staff will get to know you and take particularly good care of you. (especially If you treat them well.)

You don't say where you'll be cruising (transatlantic or regular cruise) but unless I'm mistaken the specialty restaurants often aren't open on port days.

You can request a table for two in Britannia, and use your approach as a fallback.

You should be aware that tables for two are usually only about six inches from the next table so not really private. We have always ended up talking to the next table as if we were a table for four (or six)

We were just on the QV and used the specialty restaurant, table's for two were the norm. Nothing to worry about there.

In the MDR we've had table's for two that were by themselves and others that were closer as the other OP described . Either is fine , even if you're just a few inches away you have to remember that they requested a table for two as well. They might not be looking to chitchat either .

I doubt that the meals will be particularly authentic or spicy.

Toned down for whimpy western taste buds.

On the QV last year we were chatting to the chefs and they sent us Currys from the staff canteen. Now there was some heat.

I doubt that the meals will be particularly authentic or spicy.

 

Toned down for whimpy western taste buds.

 

On the QV last year we were chatting to the chefs and they sent us Currys from the staff canteen. Now there was some heat.

Yes I very much doubt it too, however could be better than standard Western fare in a pinch. However the curry from the crew canteen sounds extremely exciting. Did you speak to IndIndian chefs secifically, and was this done on the sneak? I’m very very interested in this option!

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Yes I very much doubt it too, however could be better than standard Western fare in a pinch. However the curry from the crew canteen sounds extremely exciting. Did you speak to IndIndian chefs secifically, and was this done on the sneak? I’m very very interested in this option!

 

 

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Yes a guy working the buffet during the graveyard shift.

We were chatting about a few particular dishes and I said that Indian food in Oman (where I lived) was excellent but in Australia less so.

Authenticity is not there unless you know the secret places or go with an Indian who can order in the right language. So I asked what this thought on the authenticity of the meals for passengers were. "Oh verrry verrry gut, Sir", with head bobbing. You know what that means.

Indian food better for the crew? Oh, more like home.

Supervisor shows up and we chat some more, ending up with suggestion to come back tomorrow, and we get SPECIAL meal. Nudge nudge wink wink.

Similar experience on one of the HAL ships, where in the surcharge restaurant we didn't finish our "creamed spinach ". Very concerned induan chef asked if everything was Ok, looking at the spinach. We said the taste is lovely, we just didn't fancy the consistency. We were imagining it to be more like a palak paneer.

Ohhhh, you like palak paneer??? Let me make some for you.

As we were full, we rebooted for a few days later and we got the full shebang, much to the envy of other diners. And they didn't charge us for that meal.

Food unites people.

Read / watch " The 100 foot journey "

On our last 2 cruises we have taken this approach: booking a balcony Britannia cabin and utilising the speciality restaurants. We love the Verandah (exquisite food and service, but not spicy) and the premium dining in the Lido we also found to be very good. We did not partake in the American nights. No problems at all with a table for 2, and we really enjoyed the variety.

We did not totally forsake the MDR, and had some excellent meals therein.

We do love the Grills, but this option still gave us a lot of flexibility. In the Caribbean there are some interesting restaurants to be found, and eating lunch out, gave us more flavours to appreciate.

To the OP, I hope you try Cunard.

Yes a guy working the buffet during the graveyard shift.

 

We were chatting about a few particular dishes and I said that Indian food in Oman (where I lived) was excellent but in Australia less so.

 

Authenticity is not there unless you know the secret places or go with an Indian who can order in the right language. So I asked what this thought on the authenticity of the meals for passengers were. "Oh verrry verrry gut, Sir", with head bobbing. You know what that means.

 

Indian food better for the crew? Oh, more like home.

 

Supervisor shows up and we chat some more, ending up with suggestion to come back tomorrow, and we get SPECIAL meal. Nudge nudge wink wink.

 

 

 

Similar experience on one of the HAL ships, where in the surcharge restaurant we didn't finish our "creamed spinach ". Very concerned induan chef asked if everything was Ok, looking at the spinach. We said the taste is lovely, we just didn't fancy the consistency. We were imagining it to be more like a palak paneer.

 

Ohhhh, you like palak paneer??? Let me make some for you.

 

As we were full, we rebooted for a few days later and we got the full shebang, much to the envy of other diners. And they didn't charge us for that meal.

 

Food unites people.

 

Read / watch " The 100 foot journey "

Hi, well you and I share a brain. Yes, of course I’ve seen the 100 ft journey, a great movie :). Secondly, Oman, wow, such a beautiful country. We’ve been there a couple of times and I also had a group of delegates from there for a couple of months at the uni I teach at. Great people.

I have always found it difficult to get food even approaching decent on the cruise ships (in terms of authenticity), so I think next time I might be more assertive/enthusiastic. On Oceania once when we were in India I talked the head chef into letting the local chefs get off and buy some local fare to feed to us in the buffet (believe it or not that had not done so before then), and it was great. I think that has since become regular occurrence. I do think it’s sad when food is ‘dumbed down’; it’s actually not a fare assumption that everyone on a ship likes bland food, but I guess it’s the LCD effect.

Cheers, Lyn

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On our last 2 cruises we have taken this approach: booking a balcony Britannia cabin and utilising the speciality restaurants. We love the Verandah (exquisite food and service, but not spicy) and the premium dining in the Lido we also found to be very good. We did not partake in the American nights. No problems at all with a table for 2, and we really enjoyed the variety.

 

We did not totally forsake the MDR, and had some excellent meals therein.

 

We do love the Grills, but this option still gave us a lot of flexibility. In the Caribbean there are some interesting restaurants to be found, and eating lunch out, gave us more flavours to appreciate.

 

To the OP, I hope you try Cunard.

Great, yes that’s entirely our intention. Thank you :). We very frequently eat off the ship, in fact wherever possible. The food of a country is a massive part of the experience for us.

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We very much like these specialty restaurants that are set up in Kings Court at night. Most of the time we have booked a table for 2 with no problems. There have been a few times when we were a group of 4, and that also was not problem.

Lahore, please note the following regarding your desire for spicy food: We love spicy food. While the menus in these specialties are interesting and well-executed, the food is far from hot and spicy. It is very flavorful, but very much lacking in heat. We have expressly asked the servers and maitre 'd to request more spice from chef, but were told that was impossible as the food was pre-prepared and could not be altered. One time the chef actually came out and spoke with us and told us that the heat level could not be amped up. One time they brought out a little bowl of sambal and asked us to add our spice ourselves. So, not completely to our challenging tastes, but we still enjoy the departure from the standard cuisine in Britannia and the Grills. And we will do this again, assuredly.

We had a wonderful, but not very spicy, Indian meal on board QM2 during a December 2016 crossing; we even had wine from India, a first for me.

Last November we wanted to do it again, but sadly Indian food was not in the rotation of various cuisines. Hopefully you will have better luck than we did.

Incidentally, the seating for the two of us was at a table for 4 next to a window, but angled in such a way that we both faced out to the sea view. Very thoughtful.

I doubt that the meals will be particularly authentic or spicy.

Toned down for whimpy western taste buds.

On the QV last year we were chatting to the chefs and they sent us Currys from the staff canteen. Now there was some heat.