Dinner at the Lido buffet; who has gone?

[Lizzie68]

Does this pertain to all room categories / mariner status level?

 

Yes, all categories. HAL does not differentiate between them when it comes to room service meals.

[Lizzie68]

I prefer to eat in the MDR (I like the atmosphere better for my evening meal) but I did try the Lido a couple of nights during my April cruise. The food quality was about the same but I did feel like I had fewer choices (due to the "Always Available" items on the MDR menu). Dining times were geared more to early diners (the Lido was open 5:30-8) and I prefer main (second) sitting.

 

On that cruise we had the "old" menu, and the MDR manager told us it was because there were so many Mariners onboard. From what I have read here the "new" menu which combines the choices and does not have the "Always Available" side, and now has less choices overall, is in place. Too bad.

[jaxonboy]

We have yet to have a dinner in the Lido.

But have often talked about doing it.

Do you have to carry all of your dishes back to the table like at lunch time?

 

You don't have to. There is plenty of staff to carry it for you.

[TiogaCruiser]

I have eaten in the Lido all breakfasts, lunches (except mariners) and most dinners. ( just recently started doing dinner in the MDR). I really like the lido for most of the reasons already noted, plus the huge Windows and feeling of "openness", especially for scenic cruising. It was fabulous for the Chilean Fiords and Antarctica, when scenic cruising was from sun up to sundown.

 

The waiters served drinks and kept tables clean. There was more dessert variety and it was fun to see MDR diners stop by for dessert. They really stood out in their formal attire.

[jaxonboy]

We enjoy eating supper in the Lido. We love vegetables and salads. The same menu items are served on the Lido as in the MDR. We can design the meal to suit our taste. Our perfect setup is to eat Formal in the MDR and the rest of the time in Lido. Sometimes the MDR is too fussy, we need a break. The MDR feels like a banquet hall.

 

On sea days we take a few minutes to read the menu posted outside the MDR to see how the entrees are plated and decide where to eat.

 

The drinks steward on Lido can handle your wine package.

 

If there are friends on the cruise we will get a table during early seating. But we will still use the Lido occasionally. We all just meet in the Lido and eat together.

 

There is a wide range of dress up or down.

[BumperII]

Once we discovered dinner in the Lido, we stopped using the MDR completely.

 

Couple of reasons. Noon meal is usually our big meal, we like to eat a light supper.

 

Lido is particularly good on nights when prime rib is served. You go right up to the cutting station and it is carved to your order. If you want a cut an inch and a half thick, they will do it for you. And you get the degree of rare you like!

 

The table service seems to be much better. When you are finished with something, it gets cleard away quickly.

 

The choice between Lido and MDR is the difference between buffett and banquet meals.

 

For fine dining, the Pinnacle Grill is really something special.

[cabinluvn]

If one wanted to have room service on formal night to enjoy the lobster in the room, how far ahead of time do you have to put in your order? Can you look at the menu in front of the MDR and then call and order what you want? Is there a place you can look up the menus from your cabin via the tv? If you have the wine package can you order your bottle of wine to be delivered with your meal?

 

 

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[RocketMan275]

 

Does anyone here dine at the lido for dinner on HAL? Experiences? Opinions?

 

Thank you for starting this thread. Wife and I just booked our first HAL cruise. (Not counting the one we didn't get to take since HAL chartered that sailing.)

 

This will be our fifth cruise, two on Princess and two on Royal. We've found that we much prefer the buffet over the MDR on those two lines and we we're curious about the Lido on HAL. We tried the MDR on our first cruise. We found the buffet to be more to our liking. We preferred it's simplicity and wider selections. We could dine when we wanted. We found the view in the buffet areas to be superior. We could spend as little time or as much time as we wished. We also found it to be more private than the tables for two in the MDR.

 

Based upon the posts in this thread, it looks like we will enjoy the Lido, perhaps even more than Windjammer and Horizon Court. We just finished a cruise on Oasis where we had dinner three times in the Windjammer. We cancelled Allure because the more we cruise, the more we are beginning to perceive a preference for smaller, quieter, more relaxed ships. Can't wait for March.

 

FWIW, I'm seeing more and more posters stating a preference for the buffets over the MDRs.

[RuthC]

Much as I prefer to have dinner in the dining room, on my recent long cruise my friends and I just could not face the Gala Night dinner again. The choices are so poor.

 

So, on the spur of the moment we decided to eat at the Lido. It was quite lovely! There were so many more choices for the entrée that eating there became a serious consideration for the remaining Gala Nights.

 

The only problem was that we decided to eat there about 10 minutes before we thought it closed, so we raced around making our selections, and couldn't really relax with them.

Now I know better. ;)

[iancal]

We believe that we are seeing more people in the buffet on formal nights. And there are good reasons for it.

 

We started because we no longer wanted to pack and carry the clothes for formal evenings. But now, it is not only that. We find that the formal or gala night dinners are really nothing special any more...in fact we find them less appealing than normal evenings in the MDR.

 

The other reasons are noise and service. We find the noise level in some of the MDR's to be too loud for out taste. Combine that with a cut in service and wait personnel and a meal that is no longer special in any way and you have the reasons why we think more and more people will head to the buffet.

 

Would like to see HAL do what Princess and RCI do....have buffet table service for beverages..coffee, ice water, whatever.

[OBX-Cruisers]

RuthC.........I think you were on the NA for the Transatlantic in Oct.-Nov. the same time as we were.

Totally agree that the "Gala Nights" had typically horrible for choices and food quality. WHAT is HAL thinking not having the regular menu clearly printed as an alternative to the weird stuff that was available on their "special" menu? Some people still got items from the daily fixed menu but it sure wasn't clear that you could do that and some have commented that their waiters did not offer that option.

 

The Lido does and did have better choices and we also dined there a couple of times with no regrets. The slow service in the main DR at the noisy tables they kept assigning for us near the entrance/exit from the kitchen were objectionable and I often had to INSIST that we wanted a different table. HAL was trying its best to ruin this cruise but we finally ended up at a very nice table in the center of the DR and dining with our team trivia partners Mike and Marie......we really appreciated their offer to join them and it became a totally different cruise.

[Krazy Kruizers]

If one wanted to have room service on formal night to enjoy the lobster in the room, how far ahead of time do you have to put in your order? Can you look at the menu in front of the MDR and then call and order what you want? Is there a place you can look up the menus from your cabin via the tv? If you have the wine package can you order your bottle of wine to be delivered with your meal?

 

 

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Once you have looked at the menu in front of the dine room, take down notes. You can not see the menus on the TV.

You can place your dinner room service within the first hour of the main dining room opening for dinner -- open seating begins at 5:15 -- so judge from that.

You can order to have your dinner sent to your cabin any time before 9 PM.

You will have to get hold of your dining room wine steward to have a bottle of wine from your package sent to your cabin. If you know the night before that you are going to have dinner in your cabin, tell your wine steward then when you want the bottle delivered to your cabin.

[Krazy Kruizers]

You don't have to. There is plenty of staff to carry it for you.

 

 

There wasn't on our last few cruises at lunch time.

On our last cruises, the dining room was open for lunch only 2 times the first week and only once the second cruise.

[Krazy Kruizers]

I have never had dinner in the lido. From the comments, I am going to give it a try next time. That being said, I have had several breakfasts and lunches there and I have always seen a culinary "officer" (re: brass) walking the lines. I would ask them to get someone to help you. If there isn't culinary brass available, I would flag down any passing officer. I know they will get someone to get someone to help you. They aren't going to say "no."

 

There were a lot of changes on our October cruises. We didn't see any officers (i.e. brass) while we ate lunch in the Lido. They were not walking around anywhere.

We mentioned this in our survey's when we got home.

[cruz chic]

There were a lot of changes on our October cruises. We didn't see any officers (i.e. brass) while we ate lunch in the Lido. They were not walking around anywhere.

We mentioned this in our survey's when we got home.

 

Ok, that's odd. Because the MDR was pretty much closed at lunch the whole 2 weeks I ate in the lido way more than I wanted to. I noticed that the supervisors seemed to be walking back and forth a ton. It likely depends when you go. I was generally in there between 11:30 to 1 when I did eat there.

[JimnKaren]

BIG difference in the Lido between mid-day and evening meals. It is particularly crowded on port days as the MDR is not open for mid-day meal. And, yeah, trying to find someone to help you carry is often difficult.

 

However, the evening meal is much less crowded and there always seem to be enough staff to assist with getting food to a table. On a couple of cruises this year, we noticed that staff from Pinnacle were helping in the Lido as they did not have many dining in the Pinnacle.

 

My suggestion for those with difficulties getting food to the table is to make yourself known. Although the person in charge of Canaletto keeps things moving there, the position also has overall responsibility for the Lido area. Often you will see that Canaletto person working the room both day and evening.

 

Jim

[TiogaCruiser]

Much as I prefer to have dinner in the dining room, on my recent long cruise my friends and I just could not face the Gala Night dinner again. The choices are so poor.

 

So, on the spur of the moment we decided to eat at the Lido. It was quite lovely! There were so many more choices for the entrée that eating there became a serious consideration for the remaining Gala Nights.

 

Thanks For the Gala warning, Ruth. Will keep it in mind this week. Have not been impressed with the postings about the new menu. (Am writing from Amtrak now en route to board Veendam in San Diego.)😃 (And DH recently expressed interest and willingness to do Antarctica. And he should have the time on the books). :D

[MisterFidgetpants]

. Although the person in charge of Canaletto keeps things moving there, the position also has overall responsibility for the Lido area. Often you will see that Canaletto person working the room both day and evening.

 

Jim

 

 

That is good information to know as well.

[luv2travel06]

Once you have looked at the menu in front of the dine room, take down notes. You can not see the menus on the TV.

 

DH takes a photo of the dinner menus where they are posted outside the MDR and Lido and reviews the dinner options with DW wherever she is sunning on deck.

[earljr]

Steaks cooked to order -- DW has returned many in the main dining room but only once was she unhappy with her steak in the lido -- and that turned out to be a misunderstanding. We have not been in the dining room for several years now due to service and quality issues.

 

and probably my lack of patience (just one of probably many faults -- just ask DW:D:D)

[dfish]

We tend to mix it up between the dining room and the Lido for dinner. It all depends on the menu and what we feel like doing that day. We've enjoyed many meals in the Lido and had no problem getting drink service and coffee refills. The more you're there, the more they know you and they learned that they didn't need to ask to refill coffee.

[bjkrlk]

We've grown to love the lido in the evening. At our own pace. If they upscale it a bit it will be like Oceania who has lobster, steak and lamb each evening in their lido.

[travelnap]

I travel solo, so I usually dine more in the Lido than the MDR. I was on the Oosterdam in mid November on the 11 day portion and I think I only dined once in the MDR. As others have mentioned the menu is similar in both and you can choose the sides you wish. Service was always good in the Lido and it was never real busy for the evening meal. I never had a problem making it in and out for the early shows, and still dined at my leisure.

[TiogaCruiser]

Maybe a little OT but am in the Lido now and they have both pre are sandwiches and made to order. The station has been moved further down the line though, and a staff member who is serving the regular line steps over to the otherwise unmanned station to make your sandwich. Keep in mind we just boarded so there is no shortage of hungry pax.

[cbr663]

We just got off the NA this morning and can tell you that the Lido experience has been greatly improved. For evening meals now, all tables are set with cutlery, glasses, cloth napkins, and a place mat. There are plenty of staff assigned to each area to fill your water glass, clear your table and bring you coffee.

 

The morning service and noon service is similar, although the place mat is not used. The staff are quickly available to refill coffee and juice.

 

The greatest improvement is the service. I smiled one morning as I watched a server quickly move a chair and go fetch a high chair as soon as he saw a particular passenger. The Mom walked over with her 4 year old and infant and the server gently took the baby from the Mom's arms, supported the baby in his arms and gently slid the baby into the high chair. The server then started to play with the baby while Mom grabbed some breakfast. When Mom returned with a box of fruit loops for the older child, the server just automatically put the cereal in the bowl, added milk and passed the cereal to the older child. He then went back to entertaining the children while Mom got her breakfast.

 

As a lovely lady said before a show one evening, "they really do try so hard."