Have any of you skipped the dining room altogether?

[Saint Greg]

Its sad people feel that entitled that they feel they should do whatever they want

 

That's why I don't go. I'm not going to dress up on vacation. And I certainly wouldn't want offend you and ruin your meal.

[jsglow]

Interesting how YMMV. We have never missed MDR on a single cruise evening ever with the exception of 1-2 specialty restaurant upgrades over the years.

 

I remember once when our kids were perhaps 15 and 13. One night my wife and I went off to the steakhouse while kids went by themselves to MDR. I had informed our waiter the previous night and slipped him an extra $20. They were totally excited to be doing 'fancy dining' all by themselves. And our trusted waiter treated them like royalty. All good.

[skrufy]

This past January on our 10 day cruise we ate in the buffett on 8 of the 10 nights.we have had times where one couple would make the dining experience not a good one, but this last cruise both parties were not our type of people, so we skipped the last six days. We will be trying anytime dining on our next cruise to see if we like it.

[SadieN]

We've done several cruises where we've never gone to the MDR.

[Doggielover68]

We are seriously considering forgoing the dining room on our upcoming trip. We just want to relax & possibly not dress up at all. I'm not sure yet if we will. I don't know what other food options there are on the Triumph. It doesn't look like they have a buffet style dining area anywhere.

 

 

Most nights the dress code, which is already relaxed, is simply a pair of khakis or nice shorts and a polo for men. I'm a woman and I usually wear a pair of black pants and plain, but nice looking t shirt and a cardigan in case it's chilly. I only spend a few minutes getting ready.

 

 

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[BNBR]

with that absurd wait staff "entertainment"...ugh.

 

Funny, seems like half the people are raving about the "entertainment" - the other half find it obnoxious. I'm in the "I can't stand it" crowd. I'd rather the wait staff focus on serving customers and acting professional. And I feel uncomfortable as they are paraded around the dining room like court jesters. It's awful. I put up with it though as I generally like the MDR.

[shof515]

Funny, seems like half the people are raving about the "entertainment" - the other half find it obnoxious. I'm in the "I can't stand it" crowd. I'd rather the wait staff focus on serving customers and acting professional. And I feel uncomfortable as they are paraded around the dining room like court jesters. It's awful. I put up with it though as I generally like the MDR.

 

i hate it because it makes the dinning room service very very slow. If i have to spend more then an hour and half to two hours in a restaurant, that just bad service i think.

[ScottsSweetie]

That's why I don't go. I'm not going to dress up on vacation. And I certainly wouldn't want offend you and ruin your meal.

 

Really? :rolleyes:

 

On every night BUT elegant, you can wear shorts. The only way you can wear less than that is if you are wearing swim trunks with no shirt (which you are not even allowed to do in the buffet).

 

And on elegant night, the only requirement is a pair of slacks with a shirt.

 

Neither of those could be considered "dressing up" by anyone.

[jsglow]

This past January on our 10 day cruise we ate in the buffett on 8 of the 10 nights.we have had times where one couple would make the dining experience not a good one, but this last cruise both parties were not our type of people, so we skipped the last six days. We will be trying anytime dining on our next cruise to see if we like it.

 

Interesting. To date we've always been seated as a family of 4 or, if my wife and I have cruised alone, at our own table for 2. With the exception of opening night in San Juan where our MDR table wasn't yet utilized as folks board there late, we've never had to experience the 'bad' tablemates. That would be an unfortunate situation as we really like the MDR experience.

[AZ Ocean Lover]

We visit specialty restaurants on each cruise but our last cruise we had one night where we didn't want to hassle with the MDR (it had been very hectic getting a two top each night) and we thoroughly enjoyed the buffet. It was quiet, relaxing and pretty good. I don't think we will give up the MDR all together but it opened our eyes to the buffet.

[Jenny in TX]

We skipped the MDR when we cruised the Glory about a year and a half ago. It was the first time that DH and I took a cruise by ourselves as we usually cruise with friends and family and we just wanted to relax. We don't need a 2 hour dinner. We laid out by the pool during the day and took drinks back to our balcony to watch sail away and many days had a late lunch. When we got hungry in the evening we would just run up to the lido and sit down for a quick bite before heading back out for a show, etc.

 

DH and I both agreed it was our favorite cruise to date because we had no set schedule. I did throw a couple of sun dresses in my luggage in case we decided to go to the MDR but I ended up in shorts & flip flops every night and on the lido for dinner and we had a wonderful time!

[dperki1]

We are a long ways off from our first cruise, but at this point we are planning not to go to the MDR. We don't want to have to dress up a bit and take 1 1/2 to 2 hours out of each night of our first cruise to go the the MDR.

 

I am not a big fan of the MDR myself, however for a first cruise, I would definitely not skip it at least one night. It is an experience for sure. just my humble opinion. My daughter-in-law is going on her first cruise with us in December and we will be going to at least the elegant night just for her to experience it. But have fun with whatever you do :D

[cruzinlisa]

I'm not a huge fan of the buffet and would rather eat in the MDR. I wear my capris and a top every evening except elegant night where I throw on a sun dress. DH wears shorts or jeans and a button down shirt every night and just switches to Khakis on elegant night. No need to spend hours to get all dressed up.

 

Me either. We took DD there a couple of times to eat before we went to dinner and the food choices were not appealing to me. Once on a semi formal night she was so incredibly grumpy that I thought we might have to skip the MDR. The food was so unappealing that neither DH or I wanted to eat it. Luckily DD was tolerable until dessert. Then I had to finish my dessert alone while DH took her for a walk.

[bransworld]

On our last cruise aboard Carnival Pride in March of this year we decided we wanted to relax more too. So we decided to skip the MDR on the elegant nights, but we went to the MDR the other nights. We wore nice shorts and polo shirts for those dinners.

 

I personally find the dining room more relaxing than the buffets.

 

But we have already decided on the Magic in January we are going to skip the MDR on elegant nights and eat at other areas of the ship.

[JimAOk1945]

We skipped the MDR on our first 2-3 cruises then decided to give it a try. We discovered we enjoyed it. It's nice to sit down and be waited on. :D

[wareaglefan]

We haven't been in the MDR for several years now. Don't miss it at all. I find everything I want on Lido. Salads and carving station are all I need. Plus sitting out enjoying the ocean and sunset is the best.

[DisneyDatknee]

We usually only go on embarkation day & sea days. Port days, we just want to sit down and relax. I wouldn't skip it having a mind set on it, but it's nice to enjoy if you prefer it. MDR is a must for me and others who have dietary needs.

 

 

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[golfb4cruzing]

We have in the past. I don't see the allure of a noisy dining room. Table behind us was throwing dinner rolls to a fellow table. The classiness of yesteryear is just that. So save on luggage space and spare the drawn out ritual. Serve yourself and get done in a flash.

[cruizergal70]

My next cruise is in two weeks. I plan on skipping the MDR for dinner. It's not worth the hassle. I'll be just fine with the buffet, Guy's, or room service.

 

I will go to the MDR for brunch & breakfast.

[BriBrizzle]

On my very 1st cruise two years ago I went my 1st night and the boat was really rocky everyone at our table felt sick the entire time. We all picked at our food and one of my table mates lost hers if ya know what I mean :eek: I'm considering not going at all on my next cruise just because Id rather not experience that again plus I feel like....tried it and Im good with that.

[fshstck]

No, the last cruise we took we never even ate from the buffet, except those damn Chocolate Chip Cookies- so good.

[poobears]

We skip it quite it bit. Totally skipped it on our last cruise and will also totally skip it on next months cruise. Honestly I'd be happy not going to the MDR again. The food for me is average, I do not enjoy the singing and dancing waiters, nothing wrong with them, just not something I would go to see and it takes way too long for service. IMO

 

So for me the MDR is just not my thing. I'd rather have an early dinner at one of the smaller places or the buffet, food is usually hotter there than at the MDR most of the time anyways and go do something else instead of sitting and waiting. That doesn't mean we always forgo dressing up for formal night though. If we want to dress up for pics we still do. You don't have to dine in the MDR to dress up for formal night and have pics done.

 

Our next cruise is during Halloween week so we'll probably skip formal wear since we'll be packing costumes.

[memoak]

This past January on our 10 day cruise we ate in the buffett on 8 of the 10 nights.we have had times where one couple would make the dining experience not a good one, but this last cruise both parties were not our type of people, so we skipped the last six days. We will be trying anytime dining on our next cruise to see if we like it.

 

Get a bad tablemate - ask for another table the rest of the cruise - easy peasy.

[makeda]

We enjoy the ambiance of the MDR and dress for dinner every night with extra special dressing on elegant night; we would never consider having dinner on lido

[coevan]

Eating and being swerved is one of the highlights of cruising. We don't ever eat buffets at home. If I want to wait in line I'll go back to high school. the only time we eat at the buffet is the omelet station, as we don't get up early enough for breakfast in the DR. The at sea brunches are very good, love the Eggs Benedict