MDR long waits for dinner service

[cabincop]

NCL I hope you are reading this. I was on Jewel last winter and also on many other of your ships. After reading many many reviews and also having first hand knowledge, why does it ake over 11/2 hours for dinner? Last year it became a joke with the rest of my table mates how long dinner is. Usually 2hrs, I started skipping dessert because of the long wait. It seems every ship has this problem. I am on the Breakaway in January and really hope this issue is resolved. Thank you:)

[Highboy90]

Did not experience this on the Breakaway last week though always dined around 5:30-6:00.

[98Charlie]

Likewise I've never had a problem with dinner on NCL. But, like Highboy, I'm an early diner.

 

What time do you normally dine? Do you check the various boards around the ship to see which dining rooms have the most available capacity?

 

Charlie

[BOS_CruiseGuy]

My sample size isn't as large as many others on this board, but I don't recall my MDR meals taking more than an hour. The timing was as fast as I would want, and it was easy to slow it down based on our desire that evening.

[vols_159]

average on the dawn was 30 to 45 minutes...

[roe2ship]

This was a problem for us on the Breakaway not only for dinner but breakfast in the dining rooms as well. Breakfast was always before 9:00 and dinner was anywhere between 6:00-7:15 the latest. For the most part it was never crowded yet service was slow. I expect an hour and a half for a larger table but we were only three every day. Service for the dinners was way too long either between appetizers and main entree or main entree and dessert. Then there were times where we finally would get our desserts but our expressos would arrive on the last couple of bites of the dessert.:rolleyes:

 

I hope it improves for you.

[rvsullivan]

Over several/many years now, we've never ever experienced the kind of delays I occasionally read about here. A quick meal is about 45 minutes and a long one about an hour and 15 minutes. Specialty restaurants might go 1 and a half hours at times depending on the venue. We found if you tell them you are in a hurry we can be in and out of the MDR in 30-40 minutes.

[cruzeluver]

Guess everyone is different, but I would feel I was being given the bum's rush if I was in and out in 45 minutes. On vacation we like "dining", not just "eating". 1.5 to 2 hours is about perfect.

[sparks1093]

On CCL dinner only took 90 minutes;). I have found on NCL that if you ask them to speed things up when you are first seated they will do their best to accomodate.

[jjikids]

In May on the Gem no longer than an hour. 30 minutes when we told them we had to make a function.

[kcwingwalker]

NCL I hope you are reading this. I was on Jewel last winter and also on many other of your ships. After reading many many reviews and also having first hand knowledge, why does it ake over 11/2 hours for dinner? Last year it became a joke with the rest of my table mates how long dinner is. Usually 2hrs, I started skipping dessert because of the long wait. It seems every ship has this problem. I am on the Breakaway in January and really hope this issue is resolved. Thank you:)

 

I've never had or remember having this problem with NCL. If it's a really good meal and we have a window table, I really have no concept of time.

Actually, I don't have any dining complaints. Well I do have one and that's when I get home and have to do the cooking!

[hladygirl]

Never had a problem on ncl. We are early eaters though. We like to arrive as the mdr open to eat and then start the nights activitys.

[butterflys]

Our dinners took a really long time. We were seated fairly quickly, however an extended amount of time of each portion of the meal to arrive. Water, bread, taking the order, appetizer, meal, coffee and dessert. I am far from picky nor was I in a hurry. However, the appetizers took so long we had finished the bread basket before it arrived. My dh thought they probably took a long time to encourage people to eat at the buffet. Dinner was always no less than 2 hours or more. If you told them you had a show they would try to speed it along a bit to an hour and half. I did not have the same experience on the other ships but the Breakaway is ran differently the other ships.

[cabincop]

Thanks for all the replies, I usually eat at 6:30-7. We get seated fast but after bread basket comes, it takes so long. Long times between courses too. I only see this on Caribbean cruises in Europe dinner seems to fly by, service is really fast.

[carribeansol]

In our experience on NCL if we went to dinner at peak times we had 1hour wait at least and dinner took 1 1/2 hours. We were fine with the length of dinner. The wait however I do not like. We have learned to send the men down to wait while the girls finish getting ready. They sit in the bar and wait and we show up just in time. If we avoid peak time then we usually just walk in.

[Demonyte]

I only see this on Caribbean cruises in Europe dinner seems to fly by, service is really fast.

 

I have to disagree, it was the same for us on Jade as her sister ships. But as said, the waiter can be told to speed things up and that has never been a problem. Especially when it's just the two of us, the normal pace seems a bit too slow for us as we tend to focus on eating and not chatting - we get that enough during all other times during the cruise. :D

[Hikini]

In 8 past cruises with NCL, we have rarely had a meal take what we felt might have been "too long". For the most part we are not in any hurry, and are glad to sit, relax and enjoy.

[karoo]

In 8 past cruises with NCL, we have rarely had a meal take what we felt might have been "too long". For the most part we are not in any hurry, and are glad to sit, relax and enjoy.

 

I'm with you-dining to me is a social experience. If I went to a restaurant on land for dinner that rushed me I would think they were trying to get rid of me so they could fit more customers in. Likewise on the ship. Sometimes if I feel we are being rushed I will leave the last few mouthfuls with my knife and fork indicating I haven't finished as they won't take your plate away and bring the next course until all diners have finished. The few times we have wanted a quick dinner due to a show or something we want to attend we just inform the waiter of the time we would like to be finished by and they have always obliged. Perhaps it's a matter of communicating with the waiter as it must be hard for them to always get it right as some diners do want a speedy dinner, whilst others prefer a more leisurely pace. :)

[mypleasure]

I see dinner as a relaxing and sociable occasion not something to get over as fast as I can. For me it is all about enjoying the company I am with. I would hate to feel the staff were rushing me to eat faster and putting the courses in front of me one after another with no space to breathe. Horses for courses but I am never in a rush for anything, anywhere. I see that others are not like me but I don't spend my life on a treadmill these days and would be very uncomfortable if I felt I was being pushed along.

[GUEST080219]

Just tell the wait staff how you prefer it. As I have dinner for myself they seem to guess correctly that I prefer quick service. You mentioned your table mates so the waiters may just think you prefer a more relaxed dining experience with lots of talking between the meals.

 

The few times I had something important for me planned shortly after dinner I just told them the time I had to leave and asked to get the dishes accordingly and it worked perfectly.

[butterflys]

I don't think the long waits are so much a concern of time but rather hunger. Dinner can be leisurely for me but unfortunately my stomach does not always agree with the pace. :)

 

 

 

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[tuscanraider]

Sailed the Gem 8/10 this year, and the wait times in both the Magenta and Grand Pacific were horrible! 1.5 hrs was about average, often longer. Didn't matter what time we entered either. To top it off, the wait staff was slow with the water & with the drinks. Half the time at least one person's drink at the table was forgotten completely. All around bad job in the MDRs lately.

[mypleasure]

Sailed the Gem 8/10 this year, and the wait times in both the Magenta and Grand Pacific were horrible! 1.5 hrs was about average, often longer. Didn't matter what time we entered either. To top it off, the wait staff was slow with the water & with the drinks. Half the time at least one person's drink at the table was forgotten completely. All around bad job in the MDRs lately.

 

This does seem to be what is coming across in many reviews recently. Service has suffered on all of the ships as they keep taking all of the experienced staff for the Breakaway and soon the Getaway. They need to leave a few behind in the hope they can bring the trainees up to a high standard.

[luddite]

It's the difference between dining and gittin' fed.

[trish1c]

NCL I hope you are reading this. I was on Jewel last winter and also on many other of your ships. After reading many many reviews and also having first hand knowledge, why does it ake over 11/2 hours for dinner? Last year it became a joke with the rest of my table mates how long dinner is. Usually 2hrs, I started skipping dessert because of the long wait. It seems every ship has this problem. I am on the Breakaway in January and really hope this issue is resolved. Thank you:)

 

Different strokes for different folks. If somebody tried to rush me through a sit down dinner in under 2 hours, I'd be furious!

If you want them to bring your food faster, tell them but let me dine at a leisurely pace.