Does anyone NOT eat in the dining room? Celebrity vs RCCL

[enchilada72]

My hubs and I have always taken Royal Caribbean cruises. This worked well for us because we are not "dining room" eaters. We would eat at the Windjammer Cafe for the entire cruise. We just like the casual atmosphere and easy going schedule to eat when we want and to not have to get dressed up. We prefer t-shirts, shorts and flip flops. No long pants for the hubby, etc. My question is: is there is a "Windjammer" type casual buffet on the Eclipse? We decided to try Celebrity thinking it may be a little quieter than RCCL. It may be a little bit more refined than RCCL. Can anyone give advice and let me know if you agree/disagree? Any info would be highly appreciated. Thank you!

[kitty9]

No, there is not a buffet like on RCI. They have a very limited buffet at night.

[cruise kitty]

we ate in the buffet quite a few nights on the Solstice, the lunch buffet is bigger, but the night one was fine for us, there was always something good to have & it wasn't ever crowded, except for the night we left Florence.

[cb at sea]

I can't imagine eating at a buffet for an entire week....ugh! I'm just not a fan of buffets...period!

[cruise kitty]

I guess different people have different tastes, if the buffet had a better carving station, we'd probably eat there every night, we love the relaxed atmosphere & DH loved being able to wear his comfy shorts.

[SusieV]

I can't imagine eating at a buffet for an entire week....ugh! I'm just not a fan of buffets...period!

 

This x 1000! I can't imagine wanting to eat out of warming trays when I could have a delicious plated meal served to me by pleasant waitstaff.

 

The days we don't eat in the MDR, we do specialty dining.

[yayvacation!]

There is an Oceanview cafe or something that is buffet style for lunch and dinner. I haven't ever eaten in the buffets, but they smell pretty good, and lots of people have their dinner there because they don't want to dress for the dining room. I think there are some stations, pasta, pizza, salads. I have seen sandwich statinons and sushi. I'm sure you will find enough options for dinner on your cruise! Have a great time!!

[cruisestitch]

There will always be a contingent who do not eat in the MDR, some itineraries will have more, some fewer. When there are very long days (as someone mentioned Livorno/Florence) many people are too tired to go to the MDR. You will find room service (same menu as the MDR available there), pizza, pasta, salad, and some other options, but it will not be a full, extensive evening buffet. The poolside grill is not open in the evening. For the most part, evenings are "smart casual and above" in the public venues, such as the theater, bars and discos. Some pax will stay in shorts and flip flops, but you are right in thinking that Celebrity will be not as casual in the evenings as Royal. The quieter ambiance you are looking for generally goes along with a more dressy look. You'll enjoy your cruise whatever you choose.

[tally10]

The evening buffet offerings on the Eclipse were miniscule compared to RCCL's evening buffet. Pizza, pasta, sushi, a few salad offerings, and a few desserts. We were so disappointed because we do like the evening buffet on RCCL. We went up there on one of the 3 formal nights on our May baltic Eclipse cruise because we don't care to dress up for formal nights. Honestly, it was a shock to us. The lunch buffet is comparable to RCCL's, though. Bistro on 5 might be a decent alternative and there is also a $5pp cover charge but you only have a choice of crepes, panini, soup, and salad (all pretty good) and desserts. But in no way is it similar to RCCL's.

[lvcruiser]

We always hand pick our cabins to ensure they have large balconies. On our last cruise, we had room service breakfast several mornings and loved it so much, we decided on our next cruise in December, we will extend the idea to include one or two dinners served on our balcony watching the port of call disappear as we dine. You are able to order anything from the MDR menu during dining room hours for room service, so if the limited buffet and Bistro at 5 offer nothing to your liking, this may be a pleasant alternative to consider.

 

John

[sdbmd]

I did a solo sailing on the Solstice earlier this year and decided to avoid the main dining room. I had one dinner in Murano's (which was AMAZING) and the rest split between Bistro on 5, room service and Oceanview Cafe. I was quite happy with how it all went and never felt like I was wanting for selection in any setting. Being able to order from the main dining room menu via room service was a very nice touch.

[riandei]

I know someone who also likes to eat at the buffets so they love rccl...they will not go on celeb because of the lack of evening dining options...also...I think they prefer the buffet because the really don't want to tip so.....(IMO) ...

 

I think an option is to book aq class and order room service for dinner

[Eileen G]

We ate in the Oceanview three times for dinner this past month on the Solstice and really enjoyed it. There was the pasta station where they will put all kinds of things in your pasta and then choice of sauce. There is a little Indian and Asian (stur fry) food. I know at least one night they had a carving station. It was pork and was very good. There was always a minute steak with grilled onions, chicken, pork chop,baked potato, couple veggies and of course a salad bar. The problem was that it was almost the same every night. There was also a bar that looked like it had left over handbergers, hotdogs and salads. If you want to eat before 6 then you can go to the Mast grill.

[hcat]

not doing any dining on Celebrity seems odd since the dining experience is one of the best parts of their product.. It is not really known for it's buffet & is not really a t-shirt & flip flop type of cruise line at night unless you are not going to any shows. (smart casual is the dresscode for shows)..! We usually take one night off to be casual but stick to the outer decks & our stateroom..

 

you probably could manage with the limited buffert, room sevrice, Specialty restaurants & the crepe place... it would also be helpful if you could let the dining room know ahead of time so your prospective tablemates can be given other cruisers to dine with & your waiter taff can get the tips from the others.....

 

or you could sign up for select dining--just in case you decide to try the MDR one night..

[true45]

Tips are automatically added daily to our seapass account -- lately, people tend to hop around alot to specialty rest's, etc. I can understand why it is done this way although at 1st I was concerned the service would suffer, not so.

[dkjretired]

My hubs and I have always taken Royal Caribbean cruises. This worked well for us because we are not "dining room" eaters. We would eat at the Windjammer Cafe for the entire cruise. We just like the casual atmosphere and easy going schedule to eat when we want and to not have to get dressed up. We prefer t-shirts, shorts and flip flops. No long pants for the hubby, etc. My question is: is there is a "Windjammer" type casual buffet on the Eclipse? We decided to try Celebrity thinking it may be a little quieter than RCCL. It may be a little bit more refined than RCCL. Can anyone give advice and let me know if you agree/disagree? Any info would be highly appreciated. Thank you!

 

I just returned from the Solstice yesterday and you will definitely be out of place. Most people dress up but you will be sorely disappointed with the buffet if you are expecting to eat dinner there every evening. Celebrity has never had a full buffet for dinner on any of their ships, I could use it once for dinner but not every night. Also, don't expect to go to any of the shows, will not allow you in with the clothes you mentioned...

[DanManBob]

I have decided that most of the people here are members of Food Anonymous, if there is such a thing...lol. Wow, people do worry about food on these cruises.

 

So what is a "limited" buffet? I get that it means less food than a "full" buffet, but how limited is "limited?"

[Rick-n-MeMe]

Don't worry Enchilada72. It is your cruise and enjoy! We too just were off the Solstice yesterday and saw all manner of clothing in the evenings. I wondered why I worry about such things. I saw no clothing police at the evening shows. Enjoy your cruise!

[cruisestitch]

Limited buffet on M class ships in the evening means pasta, pizza, some salads, some desserts. No big carving station, for the most part. Also the Asian line which you will see at lunch is not available at dinner. At lunch, there are many options for entrees, usually a chicken dish, a fish dish, several side dishes, made to order sandwiches, etc. Not at dinner.

[dkjretired]

Don't worry Enchilada72. It is your cruise and enjoy! We too just were off the Solstice yesterday and saw all manner of clothing in the evenings. I wondered why I worry about such things. I saw no clothing police at the evening shows. Enjoy your cruise!

 

There were signs at the door, the cruise director mentioned it during the previous nights show and I saw people turned away in shorts and flip flops.....They do not have clothing police and as I stated the OP will be out of place except in the buffet area which is limited...

 

Enchilada:

 

To actually answer your question Does anyone eat in the buffet for dinner, the answer would be yes but I seriously doubt there would be many cruisers who would do it everynight since the food in the other restaurants is so good..

[cruisestitch]

riandei wrote:

 

"I know someone who also likes to eat at the buffets so they love rccl...they will not go on celeb because of the lack of evening dining options...also...I think they prefer the buffet because the really don't want to tip so.....(IMO) ..."

 

I know you can't speak for your friend, but I am wondering if they only have room service for every meal? Otherwise, if they are using the MDR or Aqua Spa or buffet for breakfast and lunch, who do they think is serving them and how can they feel it isn't appropriate to tip those servers? Even on the buffet, where I get my own food, someone often carries my tray to the table, offers to refill my coffee cup, buses the table when I am done. They are part of the tip pool, too!

[paulsang]

...I think they prefer the buffet because the really don't want to tip so.....(IMO) ...

 

THAT is so foriegn to me. On my last little get away (just last week), I did a 4 day on RCCL Majesty, (beautifully refurbished, BTW) and we went to the dining room on the 3rd night as a courtesy. After 5 minutes with our tablemates, we excused oursevles. (turns out, our other tablesmates disliked the one couple as well)

So essentaily we never ate in the dining room, but we still tipped!! I think itis low-class if you reserve a seat in the MDR, do not use it, and do not tip. The dining room seating is arranged so it is balanced. To be a no-show, then not tip is the height of poor taste.

[cruise kitty]

I have decided that most of the people here are members of Food Anonymous, if there is such a thing...lol. Wow, people do worry about food on these cruises.

 

So what is a "limited" buffet? I get that it means less food than a "full" buffet, but how limited is "limited?"

 

I have to agree with you Dan, I think that maybe it depends on why you're traveling, we take a ship because it's a great & affordable way to see the world, I suspect that most of the Carib type cruisers are more interested in the cruise itself, the dining, the entertainment, & dressing up, we'll do a night or two of the specialty if we are craving a really good meal, but otherwise the buffet & bistro are fine for us, there were always nice salads & some sort of soup to be had in the evenings... next cruise will have mostly 12 hour port days, & an overnight, can't imagine enduring a 2 hour dinner every night after that.

 

btw, the buffet had the usual bread assortments, salads, deserts, a stir fry area, usually a curry area, pizzas, a pasta area where you could choose all your own ingredients, & a meat area, chicken, steak some nights...you couldn't possibly go hungry, it worked for us.

[iancal]

If we decide not to take formal clothes then we eat in the buffet for those two or three nights. When we go to the show we always are dressed in casual attire, ie dockers and a shirt w/collar or sweater for me. After 10 days, we do not notice much difference between the food in the MDR and the buffet...it all starts to taste the same to us after a while.

[jg51]

We always hand pick our cabins to ensure they have large balconies. On our last cruise, we had room service breakfast several mornings and loved it so much, we decided on our next cruise in December, we will extend the idea to include one or two dinners served on our balcony ... . You are able to order anything from the MDR menu during dining room hours for room service, so if the limited buffet and Bistro at 5 offer nothing to your liking, this may be a pleasant alternative to consider.

Thanks, "lvcruiser" / John.

I want to emphasize your reply for the benefit of OP ("enchilada72"). If OP finds insufficient the combination of (1) the limited buffet (Oceanview) and (2) Bistro on 5, then ordering from the MDR menu, via room service, is an excellent option. But ...

 

What if "enchilada72" does not have a balcony or does want to eat on it? I assume -- please correct me if I am wrong, someone -- that room service delivers trays, with covers over the hot foods. If so, "enchilada72" could take these trays to various places on the ship -- including the buffet restaurant -- to consume the foods. I would recommend taking them to the buffet, for easy access to the beverages that are always available there.