Where do you usually eat for breakfast or lunch on the ship?

[Summertime]

Just wondering if most people eat in the horizon court for breakfast and lunch or is there a more formal dining area for PC dining guests? I rather like the idea of being able to eat most breakfasts in my suite, sitting on the balcony and watching the ocean go by. Will I have a poor selection because I'm dining in my room? Can I order something different like from the main dining room menu if i wanted to? Who addresses these issues? The concerige or our steward? I just see myself eating breakfasts out on the balcony most days and maybe lunches two? Do the stewards give out a menu each day for what we can order? Can you bring munchies or a bit of a lunch out of The Horizon Court buffet and take it back to your room or is that tacky? Come to think of it, what are the rules regarding taking food from one place to eat in another? Is this frowned apon or un-necessary. If you're by the pool and you're hungry is there a place to eat there or do you go to the Horizon court and fill up plates and bring it back to the pool or do you just sit there feeling hungry but with no place to go?

 

Thanks a bunch,

Summer

[legalslave]

Hi Summer, I'll answer as many of your questions as possible. You can have full breakfasts in the dinning room or buffet breakfast in Horizon Court. We have always eaten breakfast at the buffet but last cruise we ate breakfast in the dinning room every morning. The food was good and it was much more relaxing not getting up and down to get our food. Since you are in a suite, you will be able to order whatever food you want for breakfast, ask your cabin steward. Lunch is also served in the dinning room. You are completely free to take food out of Horizon Court to take to your cabin or eat by the pool. Many people do this. There are grills by some of the pools where you can get pizza, burgers, fries etc.. There is a charge for the ice cream at Hagen Daz. Every day for an hour in the afternoon, you can get ice cream in Horizon Court, not sure of the time. You can also order ice cream in the dinning room but it must stay there. There is a room service menu in your cabin that you can order from any time. Hope this helps. I see you are going on the Diamond Princess. We will be on her Feb 06. Hope you'll let us know how you like the ship. I'm sure you and your girls will have a great time!

 

Diane

[catmand]

Summer, it looks like Diane answered your questions but as for the "where do you eat" one............................................we always have breakfast in the buffet and have lunch wherever we feel like going at that time, I actually think we have skipped a lunch or two.. We did something last cruise I thought we would never do and that was a dinner or two in the buffet............:rolleyes:

[mii]

One other thing that we have done is around 4:00 p.m. we would sit around a table out by the pool near the entrance to the buffet go in and bring back some cheese and crackers and order a drink. It was quite pleasant there and always were able to chit-chat with people. It always made for a pleasant afternoon before going in and dressing for dinner.

 

Marilyn

[spongerob]

As long as you are in a full suite (not a mini) you can order whatever you like to be delivered to your cabin. Lunch and dinner menus will be delivered to you, breakfast is ordered using the card provided or just calling room service. There is no concierge for suite passengers, as might be found on other lines. Your cabin steward might not be able to take your food orders, since food service and hotel service are now separate departments - to the chagrin of the stewards. Some stewards are willing to take care of your orders, but it's hit and miss lately.

[cruzinchris]

Afternoon tea (3:30) in the dining room is also an option for a later lunch. This is especially nice if you have late seating dinner. Tea is served along with little sandwiches and pastries - some of the best offered on the ship.

 

DH and I have been in Lido deck staterooms on two Princess ships, and it was very convenient to carry plates to our cabin.

 

On our first Princess cruise, we were able to have hot breakfast items delivered for balcony breakfast, but they don't seem to offer this any more.

 

Bon Appetit and Bon Voyage!

Chris

[ScubaJim]

Some mornings we ate in the dining room, others we ate in the Horizion Court. Both times we got a table near the window. One morning we saw the end of the rainbow out in the ocean. What a view!

We never tried room service.

[cruisingfreak]

We eat breakfast & lunch in the Horizon Court. Want something fast to eat & then go out by the pool, for the rest of the day.

 

 

Minette

[cdnguy]

Always eat in the Horizon Court for breakfast and lunch. Occasionally might go for a pizza at lunch.

[geoherb]

We enjoy eating a leisurely breakfast and lunch in the dining room. It's nice to be waited on, meet new people, and eat good food. We've also enjoyed breakfast on our balcony. I write in smoked salmon and bagels and have always been able to get them.

 

When we miss lunch because we've been in port, we'll eat late in the Horizon Court, grab some pizza, or wait for afternoon tea. The good thing about Princess ships is that there's always something good to eat and it's readily available. Our most recent cruise was on Celebrity, and it was sometimes hard to find something good to eat when we came back to the ship midafternoon.

[TupeloHoney]

I've heard a number of people mention afternoon tea on Princess. Is this something that is only available in the dining room? Do they out out the same mini sandwiches and pastries in the Horizon Court? Just curious where I need to go to try this out. I love high tea.

[Druke I]

Wife and I usually eat breakfast and lunch in the Lido (Horizon Court or whatever), although I occasionally have breakfast in the dining room. We prefer the "grazing" method, picking and choosing.

 

We also usually go to tea-time in the afternoon.

[bjboothman]

We occasionally eat breakfast or lunch at the Horizon Court, but really prefer to eat in the dining room. I think the food is better, the tablemates are often interesting, and I'm really not all that thrilled about filling my own plate at a buffet - I can do that at home, I want someone to bring me my food ;) From my perspective the dining room offers quality over quantity. Sometimes we eat breakfast in the DR, skip lunch, and then just snack on cheese and veggies, etc late afternoon before going to a late dinner. Eating on the balcony is nice but the table is tiny and it sort of feels cramped to me. It's nice for coffee, fruit, and pastries in the a.m. though.

[Summertime]

Do you need to make reservations in the dining room for breakfast or lunch?

 

Summer

[cruisetoscrap]

just got off the diamond last week :( no RSVP needed. you will sit with anytime and traditional dinners.

 

Breakfast - got the continental breakfast in the room for the belcony then went and got some hot stuff for the HC. made it to the dinning room for breakfast on the last day and wish we would have just gone to the HC.

 

lunch - i grabed stuff from the HC then meet DH on the pool deck after he got pizza and a burger. enjoyed lunch at port on those days. got to lunch in in the dinning room once and it was nice.

 

*Tea - this is a must do. lovely service and a great time of the day for a snack at about 3:30 in Pacific Moon. they offered tea, little sanwiches, lovely little deserts and scones.

 

after a show at nite we'd get an evening snack and a bowl of mixed fruit for breakfast and carry it back to our room.

[cruzinchris]

I've heard a number of people mention afternoon tea on Princess. Is this something that is only available in the dining room? Do they out out the same mini sandwiches and pastries in the Horizon Court? Just curious where I need to go to try this out. I love high tea.

 

On Princess ships, afternoon tea is served in one of the dining rooms. Similar to breakfast and lunch, you are seated with others. Not sure if the sandwiches and/or pastries are served elsewhere on the ship, but the offerings are always delicious.

 

Tea is an elegant affair with waiters pouring tea, and serving the dainty sandwiches, cookies, scones with whipped cream and preserves, etc. from silver trays. I always try to attend on days at sea. Sometimes, I have to make a choice between tea and a wine tasting event.

Chris

[c-cruise]

Usually room service for breakfast or just skip it. Not generally up and about in time to make breakfast at the Horizon Court. The exception being if we have an early shore excursion then we might go up and grab some fruit or something.

 

For lunch we generally go to the Horizon Court and then take it back to our room and eat on the balcony.

[kryos]

I've heard a number of people mention afternoon tea on Princess. Is this something that is only available in the dining room? Do they out out the same mini sandwiches and pastries in the Horizon Court? Just curious where I need to go to try this out. I love high tea.

It's in one of the dining rooms. The Patter will tell you where and what time. Like someone else said, I use afternoon tea as a substitute for lunch. I also usually have breakfast in the dining room on most sea days. I never cared much for buffet-style meals, so I only use the Horizon Court when it's too late for a meal in the dining room and I'm hungry. I also go to the Horizon Court for breakfast on disembarkation day.

 

But afternoon tea is wonderful. You can eat sparingly ... enough to quench the hunger, but not too much as to spoil your appetite for dinner.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[cruiserforlife]

I eat anywhere food is being served...

[emmysmom]

We went to Horizon Court and filled up our plates, took them back to our room and sat out on our balcony enjoying the beautiful view while we ate our breakfast.....

[MauiLuvr]

On my first two cruises with a small group of friends, we always ate lunch and usually ate breakfast at Horizon Court. On one or two mornings, especially when we had a really early excursion, we might order room service for breakfast and eat on the balcony.

 

In 2003, when it was just my Mom and I, I told her I wanted to try the dining room for breakfast or lunch. We had breakfast there and it was quite good. I much preferred the quietness and personal service to the din that is Horizon Court. However, once you're used to the variety of HC, and esp. if you're a picky eater or trying to eat healthy, the dining room breakfast menu can seem quite restrictive by comparison.

 

In 2004, my friends and I tried lunch in the dining room for the first time (I think it was on embarkation day). The food was excellent but, again, the variety was not all that great. The offerings were by and large very heavy dinner-type meals. I ended up with a hamburger and subbed a salad for the fries and that was an excellent meal! On the last day of the cruise, we finally had the cornflake-encrusted French Toast we'd heard so much about (it's only served on the final morning and only in the dining room). It was divine and, my God, when you order bacon, you really get bacon. I swear one of my friends had about half a package of bacon on her plate! I thought it was pretty wasteful, considering I wouldn't think that most folks would eat much more than 3-4 slices.