I have a theory about MDR

Please don't flame. My theory is that many people overeat during the day and don't enjoy the select offerings in the MDR at night. They may or may not be outstanding. All I am saying is that you have to be hungary for a good meal.

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Hungry

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Could be - because they sure can whine about the MDR. When I read the many whiny comments, I always think about what wonderful cooks they must have at home that prepare great three course meals each night for them.

Could be - because they sure can whine about the MDR. When I read the many whiny comments, I always think about what wonderful cooks they must have at home that prepare great three course meals each night for them.

This

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Could be - because they sure can whine about the MDR. When I read the many whiny comments, I always think about what wonderful cooks they must have at home that prepare great three course meals each night for them.

But as I have said many times some would whine if they won lotto, because they'd need to take care of the money.

I don't get it. I have had a couple of complaints on cruises, but strewth when there are multiple places to get a feed, most with multiple options, hard not to find something that suits.

I'll freely admit that I like plain food, way too much garlic used in many dishes, but if I do to the MDR and can't see something that I like, I can wander off to the buffet, or get pizza or order room service. At home I consider myself lucky if I get baked beans on toast or similar.

Could be - because they sure can whine about the MDR. When I read the many whiny comments, I always think about what wonderful cooks they must have at home that prepare great three course meals each night for them.

In an affluent household the ingredients used to prepare the daily meals will normally be considerably superior to those typically used in the MDR. And, those superior ingredients combined with a normal level of cooking skill result in better meals. When these same affluent households dine out they select restaurants that will deliver a meal that is special relative to what they enjoy at home. Against this type of benchmark the food in the MDR is terrible.

RCL is low cost cruise line and you need to remember that this means there is quite a diversity of people on each cruise; some have barely paid $50 a head per night and some are paying more than twenty times that amount. There is a considerably gradient of expectation in terms of what will be received but RCL needs to make a profit from even those who have hardly paid anything - the "free" food thus needs to be super low cost to provide.

The negative reviews of the MDR are completely valid for the demographic they represent. RCL has other options for these folk and by and large they should be happy with them; they may still complain for example that Chops isn't a great streak house but on the other hand it's not a truly terrible one either - it's broadly acceptable when taken as a whole with everything else RCL offers.

The only issue I see is that RCL advertises in a manner that tries to create an expectation of fine dining and those who are sucked into believing that they'll get this (at such a low price point it's not really a believable claim) probably do have cause to complain.

But as I have said many times some would whine if they won lotto, because they'd need to take care of the money.

 

 

 

I don't get it. I have had a couple of complaints on cruises, but strewth when there are multiple places to get a feed, most with multiple options, hard not to find something that suits.

 

 

 

I'll freely admit that I like plain food, way too much garlic used in many dishes, but if I do to the MDR and can't see something that I like, I can wander off to the buffet, or get pizza or order room service. At home I consider myself lucky if I get baked beans on toast or similar.

This

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But as I have said many times some would whine if they won lotto, because they'd need to take care of the money.

 

 

 

I don't get it. I have had a couple of complaints on cruises, but strewth when there are multiple places to get a feed, most with multiple options, hard not to find something that suits.

 

 

 

I'll freely admit that I like plain food, way too much garlic used in many dishes, but if I do to the MDR and can't see something that I like, I can wander off to the buffet, or get pizza or order room service. At home I consider myself lucky if I get baked beans on toast or similar.

This

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True, some people expect very high quality food.....but for $150 each for a seven night cruise I can eat every night in a superior place like Chops, Jamie's, Central Park, Wonderland and more.

They need t make a choice - pay the minimum and have decent food. Pay a bit more and have super food.

The choice is ours.

Especially if some people are paying $50 a head per night. Super cheap holiday with brilliant food.

From reading multiple forums on here I strongly believe that there appears to be a distinct co-relation between someone wearing shorts in the MDR and the food not tasting great.

from reading multiple forums on here i strongly believe that there appears to be a distinct co-relation between someone wearing shorts in the mdr and the food not tasting great.

best!

best!

We rarely have had anything we don't like and the waiters are happy to bring you something else so instead of complaining just ask your waiter for something else.

Often we don't have a desert but get 2 starters instead.

43 cruises and counting.

We enjoy a good breakfast, and don't often eat lunch, when dinner comes around, I am looking forward to it.

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We enjoy a good breakfast, and don't often eat lunch, when dinner comes around, I am looking forward to it.

 

 

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Even going to the gym i still put on 7 pounds on 7 day cruises,food is to nice lol.

43 cruises and counting.

Could be - because they sure can whine about the MDR. When I read the many whiny comments, I always think about what wonderful cooks they must have at home that prepare great three course meals each night for them.

+1

We rarely have lunch on-board so that we can enjoy dinner relatively guilt free. We usually have a 3 night dining package on longer cruises (9 days and up) but still enjoy the MDR.

I think the flavours (not necessarily the skill) varies a bit by ship and region. Our last cruise on Voyager out of Aus was the best food we've ever had on a ship and I wondered if it was because for us the produce was Australian and therefore familiar. Then we were told that Voyager currently has the best marks for any RCI ship for the MDR food - I wasn't surprised.

+1

 

We rarely have lunch on-board so that we can enjoy dinner relatively guilt free. We usually have a 3 night dining package on longer cruises (9 days and up) but still enjoy the MDR.

 

I think the flavours (not necessarily the skill) varies a bit by ship and region. Our last cruise on Voyager out of Aus was the best food we've ever had on a ship and I wondered if it was because for us the produce was Australian and therefore familiar. Then we were told that Voyager currently has the best marks for any RCI ship for the MDR food - I wasn't surprised.

When you think of the thousands of meals made every day i think they are amazing.

43 cruises and counting.

My theory is they have reduced the quality and service standards to have a bigger difference to the extra cost options. The MDR is frequently quite good, but rarely excellent, and our last few trips the service could best be described as chaotic; some nights fast, some nights agonizingly slow, no personality from the servers. They worked hard for sure, it was all they could do to keep up. This is no mistake or one off fluke.

Please don't flame. My theory is that many people overeat during the day and don't enjoy the select offerings in the MDR at night. They may or may not be outstanding. All I am saying is that you have to be hungary for a good meal. Sent from my iPhone using Forums

My grandmother always said, "Hunger is the best sauce!" :)

My theory is they have reduced the quality and service standards to have a bigger difference to the extra cost options. The MDR is frequently quite good, but rarely excellent, and our last few trips the service could best be described as chaotic; some nights fast, some nights agonizingly slow, no personality from the servers. They worked hard for sure, it was all they could do to keep up. This is no mistake or one off fluke.

We use MTD or speciality restaurants and never been disappointed.If there was something that wasn't nice i ask our waiter to bring something else but TBH the waiters usually ask us if we haven't eaten something.

43 cruises and counting.

We use MTD or speciality restaurants and never been disappointed.If there was something that wasn't nice i ask our waiter to bring something else but TBH the waiters usually ask us if we haven't eaten something.

 

43 cruises and counting.

My experiences with MTD have been very hit or miss. When we do get good staff we ask to be in their section again, even if this means a short wait; am OK with that. For our next cruise we are going back to fixed time dining in hopes of a more consistent experience. The chaotic service is more frustrating than the food quality, which as I have said, is usually good.

But it is very obvious to me that the MDR has been cut back in terms of quality and service levels; could be reduced demand warrants these cuts, but also the cruise line can't put their best foot forward in the MDR otherwise it would discourage some from specialty dining.

My experiences with MTD have been very hit or miss. When we do get good staff we ask to be in their section again, even if this means a short wait; am OK with that. For our next cruise we are going back to fixed time dining in hopes of a more consistent experience. The chaotic service is more frustrating than the food quality, which as I have said, is usually good.

 

But it is very obvious to me that the MDR has been cut back in terms of quality and service levels; could be reduced demand warrants these cuts, but also the cruise line can't put their best foot forward in the MDR otherwise it would discourage some from specialty dining.

Very true points.

On the Vision in Dubai in February our Head Waiter was the hardest working waiter in the restaurant.

43 cruises and counting.

Could be - because they sure can whine about the MDR. When I read the many whiny comments, I always think about what wonderful cooks they must have at home that prepare great three course meals each night for them.

My fiancee has a wonderful term for cruise ship passengers who complain about everything: she calls them "People who complain that the water is too blue."

My fiancee has a wonderful term for cruise ship passengers who complain about everything: she calls them "People who complain that the water is too blue."

I just think how lucky we are to do 3 cruises a year and all the hard working crew doing their best to make our cruises special.

43 cruises and counting.

My theory is that in an effort to scale down the crew overhead, the main dining room experience will go away to a slightly upscale buffet. Those who want a dining room experience with a wait staff will pay for it in specialty dining. Royal is pretty close to that dining style already and the posts in this thread supports it's acceptance.

Burt

I'm just thrilled that I don't have to cook or do the dishes.