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Lunch on embarkation day

blondietoo

By blondietoo,
in Holland America Line

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Alberta Quilter

Alberta Quilter

Posted
Posted

Just try the MDR. They may have stopped calling it the Mariner's Embarkation Lunch and now allow anyone to dine there. There's been a recent discussion on another thread about it. It sounds like it's inconsistent from ship to ship. Even if it was considered a "Mariner" lunch, I doubt you'd be kicked out if it was your first time on a Carnival brand ship.

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Krazy Kruizers

Krazy Kruizers

Posted
Posted
Nothing wrong with the lunch on the Lido

Happy days

 

 

Except some of us do not like crowds.

And as I have a partial handicap and use a walker, Lido is way too crowded for me. And DH can't help me as he has Parkinson's which has gotten worse so he has his own problems. That is why we prefer to sit down in the main dining room.

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Krazy Kruizers

Krazy Kruizers

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Will be boarding the Noordam next week...1st time on HAL . Is there another option other than the Lido buffet for lunch on embarkation day?

 

Thanks

 

When you get on the ship, you should be able to take your carry-ons to your cabin so that you do not have to carry them around.

Then just go down to the lower level of the dining around Noon and see if the main dining is open for lunch.

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RuthC

RuthC

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Posted

Don't forget that on embarkation day the Lido is open and serving from late morning until 15 minutes before muster.

 

If you've had a late breakfast, and especially if you go to a later dinner, you can go to your cabin, unpack your carry-ons, read through the paperwork that is sure to greet you, and get a little organized. You can even get those bookings for specialty restaurants, spa and salon appointments, and confirmations of shore excursions out of the way---then go to the Lido for lunch.

 

By then, the crowds have disappeared. :D

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cruz chic

cruz chic

Posted
Posted
Except some of us do not like crowds.

And as I have a partial handicap and use a walker, Lido is way too crowded for me. And DH can't help me as he has Parkinson's which has gotten worse so he has his own problems. That is why we prefer to sit down in the main dining room.

 

Exactly. I really don't understand the joy of eating in a cafeteria. I'll pick the MDR over the lido in a second. I'm not sure why whenever someone asks about lunch in the MDR someone pipes up about eating in the lido.

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Tights

Tights

Posted
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Except some of us do not like crowds.

And as I have a partial handicap and use a walker, Lido is way too crowded for me. And DH can't help me as he has Parkinson's which has gotten worse so he has his own problems. That is why we prefer to sit down in the main dining room.

 

Sorry,did not mean to be thoughtless,we embarked early on the Noordam and it was not at all crowded on that day, hope you enjoy the Noordam as much as we did on our first ever cruise,

Happy travels

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Krazy Kruizers

Krazy Kruizers

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Posted
Don't forget that on embarkation day the Lido is open and serving from late morning until 15 minutes before muster.

 

If you've had a late breakfast, and especially if you go to a later dinner, you can go to your cabin, unpack your carry-ons, read through the paperwork that is sure to greet you, and get a little organized. You can even get those bookings for specialty restaurants, spa and salon appointments, and confirmations of shore excursions out of the way---then go to the Lido for lunch.

 

By then, the crowds have disappeared. :D

 

 

That may work for you.

But my DH has many medications to take and needs to have an early breakfast to start with his first 9 medications. He takes medications 5 times throughout the day.

Once in a while we will do a late dinner -- and we work hard in adjusting his medications.

We are early bird people -- our work schedules (before we retired) required us to be up at 4:30 AM -- on the road at 5:30 -- as a result we still are used to getting up early. Good habits are hard to break.

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Krazy Kruizers

Krazy Kruizers

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Sorry,did not mean to be thoughtless,we embarked early on the Noordam and it was not at all crowded on that day, hope you enjoy the Noordam as much as we did on our first ever cruise,

Happy travels

 

Of the three times we sailed on the Noordam -- all 21 days -- we only had one bad cruise on her.

Our Last cruise on her (November 2014) was really great. Even had friends join us for part of the cruise.

But now that she will not be in the Caribbean any time soon, we will miss being on her.

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Krazy Kruizers

Krazy Kruizers

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Exactly. I really don't understand the joy of eating in a cafeteria. I'll pick the MDR over the lido in a second. I'm not sure why whenever someone asks about lunch in the MDR someone pipes up about eating in the lido.

 

 

We try to afford the Lido as much as possible. We also do not like cafeterias.

Buffets turn us off.

But we do handle the breakfast buffet at the Embassy Suites quite well. :D:D

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Crew News "Live from...." Rare

Crew News

Posted
Posted
Will be boarding the Noordam next week...1st time on HAL . Is there another option other than the Lido buffet for lunch on embarkation day?

 

Thanks

 

There is also a Taco Bar by the indoor pool where you can make your own nachos, tacos, taco salad, etc. In addition, the Explorations Cafe on Deck 3 has free pre-made sandwiches.

 

Here is my photographic tour of the Noordam to help you get oriented:

 

http://www.rogerjett-photography.com/travel-2/ms-noordam-on-board-images/

 

Since you will be on the Noordam for Alaska, here are our On Locations (daily activities) that should be very close to what you will experience:

 

http://www.rogerjett-photography.com/travel-2/alaska-2015-noordam-on-location-daily-activities/

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SJSULIBRARIAN

SJSULIBRARIAN

Posted
Posted
When you get on the ship, you should be able to take your carry-ons to your cabin so that you do not have to carry them around.

Then just go down to the lower level of the dining around Noon and see if the main dining is open for lunch.

 

I second this advice about just going to the lower dining room for lunch. Last week on the Amsterdam, there were very few people there so I don't think everyone knows about it. All they do is ask for your Cabin number and I suspect no one is turned away as that would be very poor PR.

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RuthC

RuthC

Posted
Posted (edited)
That may work for you

But my ...

We are ...

Others were commenting about crowding in the Lido. I thought it might be nice to let them know the Lido isn't always crowded on embarkation day. :rolleyes:

Edited by RuthC
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bonvoyagebites

bonvoyagebites

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Our trip may have been different because we joined a cruise in progress (It came through the Panama Canal, then we joined in San Diego to go to Vancouver)... but we just went to the MDR and they fed us, no questions asked. We had sailed Carnival previously and were counted as 1-star ... but no one asked for cards or anything.

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