Dining options when MDR is crowded/booked?

[axelskater]

Hello!

 

First of all, thank you for the great advice, etc., I received from seasoned HAL cruisers when I posted my Alaskan voyage questions a few weeks ago. We (my husband, myself & my mom) are so excited to go, that we invited another couple we sometimes travel with (one is a TA pilot so they travel a great deal!) and it was on their "bucket list" so they booked too! Their 1st cruise EVER, not just HAL.

 

I have read the "groups" threads thoroughly today (at work :rolleyes:) and I was wondering, if this does happen and a charter overtakes our voyage, what options do people like to utilize when they don't want to eat in the MDR?

 

We were already thinking of trying the "add-on" options anyway -

We want to try the "LeCirque" dinner, Tamarind (we were even thinking of having an Asian group "dinner party" in one of our staterooms one evening), I understand there is a Salmon Bake one night in the Lido, and we want try Canaletto as a group too, plus at least one dinner alone for myself and my husband.

With all of these options, and being in port almost every day, is the MDR even that popular anymore?

Does anyone have opinions on the best of these special dining options? I would love feedback if anyone has tried any/all. Do you generally book them before you board?

Thank you again everyone - and thanks for the warm HAL welcome. I barely even felt a qualm the other day when I cancelled my QM2 fall foliage voyage so I could do this Alaskan one!!!:D

[Crew News]

Tamarind is our favorite. LeCirque is only one night per cruise.

 

Here is a link to all of the menus just to tickle your tastebuds:

 

http://www.rogerjett-photography.com/specialty-2/hal-regular-and-specialty-restaurants/hal-specialty-restaurant-menus/

[Krazy Kruizers]

Tamarind is also our favorite.

I just read a report on another thread where a group of 6 are traveling together and ate at the Canaletto. They got only 5 Raviolis for 6 of them, only 1 fish was delivered for all 6 to share and they had to order 2 pastas to get enough of that to share.

We do pre-book our specialty restaurant dinners in order to get the day and time we want.

The dining room is still popular for many people.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Le Cirque on the Eurodam is offered every other week.

[muffin]

Just read the menus....glad I just ate lunch! Look delicious. How much is the Tamarind dinner, and the cabana club dinner? Those prices were not noted. We are on the NA, so they are apparently available to us. Will sure try a couple of special meals. Thanks for any info.

[Fouremco]

Another vote for Tamarind! We had two dinners on our last HAL cruise and two more booked for our next in November.

[RuthC]

How much is the Tamarind dinner, ....

$20 per person, minus any applicable Mariner discounts.

[axelskater]

I will be disappointed if the Le Cirque dinner isn't offered, but I just looked at the HAL website dining page and it reads "once per cruise" for le Cirque, and also something called De Librije which sounds interesting in itself!

 

 

Being new to HAL, should I really not believe the website...

 

I am guessing with all the food on offer at Tamarind and it looks so good - we might try it twice!

I will be perusing the menus tonight!

[taxmantoo]

...They got only 5 Raviolis for 6 of them, only 1 fish was delivered for all 6 to share and they had to order 2 pastas to get enough of that to share...

 

These folks got what they ordered! The Canaletto waiters, as do the Pinnacle Grill and Tamarind waiters, have a policy of repeating your order to you to confirm before leaving your table. You can get whatever quantity of whatever item you want to share or not. All you have to do is ask ;)

[RocketMan275]

Hello!

 

First of all, thank you for the great advice, etc., I received from seasoned HAL cruisers when I posted my Alaskan voyage questions a few weeks ago. We (my husband, myself & my mom) are so excited to go, that we invited another couple we sometimes travel with (one is a TA pilot so they travel a great deal!) and it was on their "bucket list" so they booked too! Their 1st cruise EVER, not just HAL.

 

We have only had one cruise on Westerdam. We tried the Pinnacle and loved it. Tamarind wasn't an option on this ship. We had a wonderful aft wrap neptune suite. We had two dinners there from room service and that was very enjoyable. We brought items back to our room from the Lido twice. There was also a "deck party" around the aft pool which was nice.

 

HAL is great in that anyone in any class of cabin can order any item off the MDR menu delivered to their room.

 

We're in the minority in that we are just not into the MDR. I know this sounds strange, but quite frankly we find the MDR to be too loud and too noisy. We did go a couple of times and it was fine. The food was very good but we found we enjoyed the peace and quiet of our balcony along with a nice bottle of wine. We're on Oosterdam next spring and I doubt we will go to the MDR.

[Crew News]

Just read the menus....glad I just ate lunch! Look delicious. How much is the Tamarind dinner, and the cabana club dinner? Those prices were not noted. We are on the NA, so they are apparently available to us. Will sure try a couple of special meals. Thanks for any info.

 

I have updated my website with the current prices for Tamarind ($20) and Cabana Club ($129). Note the latter is subject to change by the ship per HAL Ship's Services (7/11/16).

[Copper10-8]

These folks got what they ordered! The Canaletto waiters, as do the Pinnacle Grill and Tamarind waiters, have a policy of repeating your order to you to confirm before leaving your table. You can get whatever quantity of whatever item you want to share or not. All you have to do is ask ;)

 

Thanks! Amazing, ain't it ;)

[Fouremco]

These folks got what they ordered! The Canaletto waiters, as do the Pinnacle Grill and Tamarind waiters, have a policy of repeating your order to you to confirm before leaving your table. You can get whatever quantity of whatever item you want to share or not. All you have to do is ask ;)

You might want to look at the original post: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=50459091&postcount=121

[taxmantoo]

These folks got what they ordered! The Canaletto waiters, as do the Pinnacle Grill and Tamarind waiters, have a policy of repeating your order to you to confirm before leaving your table. You can get whatever quantity of whatever item you want to share or not. All you have to do is ask ;)

 

You might want to look at the original post: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=50459091&postcount=121

 

I did read the post. They still got what they agreed to with the waiter.

[Fouremco]

I did read the post. They still got what they agreed to with the waiter.

Not really. They ordered for six and didn't get anywhere near the appropriate amount.

[Florida_gal_50]

Not really. They ordered for six and didn't get anywhere near the appropriate amount.

 

I tend to believe there was a lack of understanding on the part of the cruiser and wait staff. Generally speaking you seem to get a lot of food at Canaletto. It's hard to believe things have changed so much but maybe they have.

[axelskater]

Has anyone tried "De Librije"

My goodness it looks good!

 

 

As for the MDR - I haven't eaten in a MDR for while, but I would like to try it if it's not taken over by a large group! I will not like being forced to eat at 5:45 though! The Disney MDR food is only barely passable so we eat in adult restaurants or the lounge. I don't mind because they excel in every other category. On QM2 it has been a few cruises since I have eaten in the MDR, but I really want to try the breakfast on HAL every morning - I saw Dutch, American, Full English, Japanese, & Scandinavian on the menu, and I intend to try a different one each day. I just like quiet in the mornings though. My friends with whom we are traveling booked a Neptune stern wrap around - nice big verandah!

[Copper10-8]

I tend to believe there was a lack of understanding on the part of the cruiser and wait staff. Generally speaking you seem to get a lot of food at Canaletto. It's hard to believe things have changed so much but maybe they have.

 

We were a party of four in Canaletto last Tue on VEDM and there was most definitely no lack of food. We shared and had left overs

[axelskater]

We were a party of four in Canaletto last Tue on VEDM and there was most definitely no lack of food. We shared and had left overs

 

Can you tell me if you liked it? I have heard excellent things on Tamarind and the Pinnacle Grill but I think a night of Italian tapas for the 5 of us sounds great! Any favorite dishes/desserts?

[dakrewser]

Can you tell me if you liked it? I have heard excellent things on Tamarind and the Pinnacle Grill but I think a night of Italian tapas for the 5 of us sounds great! Any favorite dishes/desserts?

 

Canaletto is Olive Garden with better service (and better views). If you like OG, you'll like Canaletto.

[Copper10-8]

Can you tell me if you liked it? I have heard excellent things on Tamarind and the Pinnacle Grill but I think a night of Italian tapas for the 5 of us sounds great! Any favorite dishes/desserts?

 

There are some offerings in there that I personally don't care for; the Zuppa di Pesce/seafood soup or the Pappardelle, for instance but that's just weird me since the couple we dined with both had the soup and liked it.

 

We all liked the Salumi, the Veal & Sage Polpettine, the Rigatoni, the Potato Gnocchi, the Veal Milanese (excellent), and the Spaghetti since we shared those. For dessert, my wife had the Tiramisu and I had the Gelato. The other couple had the Limoncello. Oh yeah, for cocktails, my wife had the "Godmother" and I had a "Godfather" ;) Overall, a nice experience in VEDM's Canaletto

[axelskater]

Thank you!

 

That sounds fun for a group of 5.

 

Someone said it is like Olive Garden...I have never been to an Olive Garden though. It doesn't look appetizing in the commercials.

[cbr663]

We had been avoiding the Canaletto due to the mixed reviews. On our cruise this past Dec on the NA we decided to try it and am glad we did. The food was excellent. We had a wonderful evening and we are looking forward to trying it several times on our up coming K cruise.

 

We also enjoy the Tamarind. We may try it several times again on the K.

 

We have found the PG to be hit or miss. Not that there is anything wrong, per se, it just seems to lose its shine the more that we dine there.

 

Doni't forget that on HAL you can also order through room service anything from the MDR menu and have it deli reed to your cabin. This is a wonderful option for those with balconies. We always take advantage of this option, usually for one of the formal nights.

 

We are the same as an earlier poster in that we don't enjoy the MDR. We also find it too noises hand too busy to be enjoyable. We have also experienced some of the worst service ever in the MDR in the past, so we try and avoid it whenever we can. It's surprisingly easy to avoid.

 

BTW we never found the Canalettoo to be like the Olive Garnden. Our experience was. Much better than any Olive Garden.

Edited July 12, 2016 by cbr663