Ordering Multiple Plates in Dining Room

[SadieN]

............

 

C. The waiter gets paid a flat fee through my tips to bring me whatever I ask for, one more plate shouldn't make a difference either way to him/ her. :mad:

 

 

The cruise lines limit the number of plates ax waiter can carry at any one time. On Carnival the limit is 12 plates. At times you'll see waiters going over by one or two plates. Extra plates, mean extra trips into the galley. On some ships the galley is two decks down.

 

 

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[slidergirl]

Having never been on a cruise, I haven't yet experienced this dilemma. I would hope that I would never have a rude remark made by a waiter or a fellow passenger give a squinty eye if I decide to order a pasta or risotto entree for my husband and I to split along with our steak entrees.

 

I really feel that too many people nowadays are in other people's business, yet don't appreciate other people being in theirs. :confused:

 

My take is, if you want an extra plate of food, order it:

A. I am on vacation, I certainly don't do this everyday and could see myself wanting to try something new on vacation that I wouldn't want to pay extra for at home (in case I didn't like it)

B. Even if I did eat like that everyday, so what? How is that anyone else's business? And

C. The waiter gets paid a flat fee through my tips to bring me whatever I ask for, one more plate shouldn't make a difference either way to him/ her. :mad:

 

You may want to have a table to yourself and your travel partners instead of sharing with others. The others you are sitting with for dinner may not appreciate having to wait the extra time necessary for you to order what you want and as much as you want. That is why is may be anyone else's business - they may have come to dinner expecting a normal dinner of an appetizer, an entree, a dessert and heading off to another activity. Then, they have to wait for a stranger at their table to have multiple appetizers, try a couple of entrees and maybe a few desserts...

As for the flat fee through tips, they are not your slaves - they have others to serve. ;)

[$hip$hape]

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Which ships are you writing about?Order whatever you want.

 

I hear tell, that on NCL, the food in the Haven is much better.:p

[cbr663]

Having never been on a cruise, I haven't yet experienced this dilemma. I would hope that I would never have a rude remark made by a waiter or a fellow passenger give a squinty eye if I decide to order a pasta or risotto entree for my husband and I to split along with our steak entrees.

 

I hope that you never hear a rude remark from a waiter either. You must realize though that if you choose to dine with strangers that your manners will be observed by your fellow table mates?

[LMaxwell]

You may want to have a table to yourself and your travel partners instead of sharing with others. The others you are sitting with for dinner may not appreciate having to wait the extra time necessary for you to order what you want and as much as you want. That is why is may be anyone else's business - they may have come to dinner expecting a normal dinner of an appetizer, an entree, a dessert and heading off to another activity. Then, they have to wait for a stranger at their table to have multiple appetizers, try a couple of entrees and maybe a few desserts...

As for the flat fee through tips, they are not your slaves - they have others to serve. ;)

 

Just ask for the additional dish to be served at the same time and tell them you want to eat family style . Had never been a problem for me. If someone is very pressed for time they won't dine with others and select lido or anytime dining. This is not a problem in the real world at all.

 

The attempts at pax shaming in here are ludicrous and laughable. The entire cruise industry ad model is based on gluttony. Too much food. Too much gambling. Too much sun. Too much alcohol. Too much you name it.

[VennDiagram]

Thanks for the tip about ordering a senior portion. I will mention this to my wife. I have a big appetite while my wife is easily satisfied with small portions.

 

You may have a mixed level of success when ordering small portions. Sometimes the "whatever" doesn't lend itself to being down sized. One example that comes to mind is prime rib. At least that has been my experience. I often request a half portion of my entree, and sometimes it can be accommodated and sometimes not.

 

(More room for extra dessert ;) )

[$hip$hape]

You may have a mixed level of success when ordering small portions. Sometimes the "whatever" doesn't lend itself to being down sized. One example that comes to mind is prime rib. At least that has been my experience. I often request a half portion of my entree, and sometimes it can be accommodated and sometimes not.

 

(More room for extra dessert ;) )

 

Oliver Twist( asked for more after supper)

What would NCL Frank say?

Edited July 10, 2016 by $hip$hape

[sherilyn70]

You may want to have a table to yourself and your travel partners instead of sharing with others. The others you are sitting with for dinner may not appreciate having to wait the extra time necessary for you to order what you want and as much as you want. That is why is may be anyone else's business - they may have come to dinner expecting a normal dinner of an appetizer, an entree, a dessert and heading off to another activity. Then, they have to wait for a stranger at their table to have multiple appetizers, try a couple of entrees and maybe a few desserts...

As for the flat fee through tips, they are not your slaves - they have others to serve. ;)

If people are bothered by this then they should not sit with others. This is a fairly common practice and you should expect it. I was rarely the only one ordering an extra something at dinner. If someone is in a hurry they can tell the waiter or simply cut out early as well.

 

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Edited July 10, 2016 by sherilyn70

[VennDiagram]

If people are bothered by this then they should not sit with others. This is a fairly common practice and you should expect it. I was rarely the only one ordering an extra something at dinner. If someone is in a hurry they can tell the waiter or simply cut out early as well.

 

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A fairly common practice? Really? We've had a few experiences of two appetizers, two desserts. However, I cannot remember anyone ordering two entrees. Maybe it is common practice for you, but that doesn't mean it is for the majority of people. Perhaps it is the people who consider this to be common practice who should sit by themselves.

Edited July 10, 2016 by VennDiagram

[sherilyn70]

A fairly common practice? Really? We've had a few experiences of two appetizers, two desserts. However, I cannot remember anyone ordering two entrees. Maybe it is common practice for you, but that doesn't mean it is for the majority of people. Perhaps it is the people who consider this to be common practice who should sit by themselves.

I'm saying that in open dining on multiple cruises and multiple lines I have had others at my table almost every night order at least one extra something. That's a lot of other people doing it considering our group was different every night. Most of the people ordering extras were in an older demographic than us with no weight issues as well. So you can't say we just happened to me seated with a few gluttonous people. This happened especially on HAL. the majority of the table almost always ordered 2 appetizers because it's more like how it used to be... having both a soup/salad and a starter.

 

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[LMaxwell]

Have to agree with Sherilyn; it is pretty common. We've even had waiters offer to bring an extra dish for us to share (that no one ordered) because it was a specialty or something they considered very good and wanted us to try. The portions are not usually that big, enough for everyone to try a bite. This has never slowed down service. If anyone has an issue with it, all they have to do is ask the maitre D to be sat elsewhere on a following evening. Usually if people are in fixed time dining the schedule is around evening entertainment; those in a rush usually will take anytime dining or dine elsewhere.

 

Order whatever you want; no staff should ever make a rude comment. If they do that's their career at risk.

[CupcakeSusie]

Coming from a different POV - I'm counting the days (sooo many) until my first cruise and in the meantime I'm reading everything I can get my hands on. I came across this within the first week of reading:

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com.au/articles.cfm?ID=1485

 

The first tip is that you can order more than one plate.

 

I personally don't know whether I could do it (I don't have a huge appetite and my husband can't often share my meals because he has celiac disease), but I would do it if I was having a lot of trouble choosing between two.

Edited July 10, 2016 by CupcakeSusie
Typo

[alexadeparis]

You may want to have a table to yourself and your travel partners instead of sharing with others. The others you are sitting with for dinner may not appreciate having to wait the extra time necessary for you to order what you want and as much as you want. That is why is may be anyone else's business - they may have come to dinner expecting a normal dinner of an appetizer, an entree, a dessert and heading off to another activity. Then, they have to wait for a stranger at their table to have multiple appetizers, try a couple of entrees and maybe a few desserts...

As for the flat fee through tips, they are not your slaves - they have others to serve. ;)

 

Asking for one extra plate of pasta between two people means I am taking up so much extra time that the waiter has become my slave?! Really?! I never said anything in my post about ordering extra appetizers AND desserts as well as entrees. Don't exaggerate.

 

I hope that you never hear a rude remark from a waiter either. You must realize though that if you choose to dine with strangers that your manners will be observed by your fellow table mates?

 

Again, ordering one extra plate of whatever (app, entree or dessert) =to you that I have no manners?! I guess I better make sure to get my own table then.

Edited July 11, 2016 by alexadeparis

[ithaca gal]

A fairly common practice? Really? We've had a few experiences of two appetizers, two desserts. However, I cannot remember anyone ordering two entrees. Maybe it is common practice for you, but that doesn't mean it is for the majority of people. Perhaps it is the people who consider this to be common practice who should sit by themselves.

 

It is not unheard of for me to order more than one entree -- I might not be sure if I'll like one of them, or maybe I just can't choose between two selections. This does not mean I should sit at a table by myself. Really?

[slidergirl]

Asking for one extra plate of pasta between two people means I am taking up so much extra time that the waiter has become my slave?! Really?! I never said anything in my post about ordering extra appetizers AND desserts as well as entrees. Don't exaggerate.

 

 

 

Again, ordering one extra plate of whatever (app, entree or dessert) =to you that I have no manners?! I guess I better make sure to get my own table then.

 

it was the poster who said they would eat what they wanted, as much as they wanted. And others have said they would eat multiple appetizers and extra desserts.

Plus, I've been told that it was impolite to leave the table before others finished. Has that changed that I may leave the table as soon as I'm finished? Am I allowed to tell my server to bring my food in courses when I am finished and not to wait for everyone at the table to finish that course? That is why I do not like sitting with strangers...

[dd likes to cruise]

I've only been on 3 cruises, all differnt cruise lines. On each, probably everynight someone or more (usually more), ordered multiples of a few things. Never did we feel like it slowed the dinner down. Nor did any of the staff act like it was a problem. 2 of those cruises were tables for 8, and one was table of 4.

 

I was even one of those people. Usually because I wasn't sure I'd like something and wanted a safe dish too. Or in the case of the shrimp cocktails, everyone at the table ordered two when we saw the small size.

 

If dessert looked questionable, I'd order sherbet too! Always room for sherbet.

 

On none of those cruises did I come home weighing more than before.

[ExpatBride]

I just cruised in January and no issues with ordering multiples.

 

I'm pretty much a lifelong vegetarian, but I love shrimp and only have them when I'm on a cruise. If there's shrimp on the menu, I order the vegetarian entree with shrimp on the side. Sometimes I get a little dish of shrimp or sometimes they bring me two full entrees.

 

I also order half portions of pasta dishes and have never had a problem.

 

And for the snob(s) on this thread, let it be known that I'm a tiny 5'2" woman who weights 110lbs soaking wet. I dine regularly at places like the Reform Club and Lansdowne Club when I'm in London. So, I'm hardly an overweight peasant.

[cbr663]

...Again, ordering one extra plate of whatever (app, entree or dessert) =to you that I have no manners?! I guess I better make sure to get my own table then.

 

No, that is not what I wrote. I was simply trying to provide an explanation to the original OP for the rude comments that they received. I didn't state that over-indulging equals no manners, bu that some do see it as poor manners.

 

I have several family members who are known to "eat you out of house and home" and cannot seem to exercise the slightest amount of self control around food. I am not naive enough to think that this behavior does not bother others, as some have been quite vocal about how they feel about it.