Main dining room dessert

[maynovmom]

I just got back from my 18th Carnival cruise and it was wonderful. We sailed on the Conquest. I would like to hear what others think about this one new dining room twist that I’m not a fan of. Apparently two months ago Carnival started asking their waiters to have diners choose their appetizers and main course and dessert choice all at once. I don’t like deciding if I’m going to have dessert before I begin my meal. It also felt more rushed. Some waiters were fine when we asked to think about dessert after we had eaten the main course. Others were put off and argued slightly that we could order it and just not eat it later if we were too full. I like to take my time and enjoy my meal then see a dessert menu afterwards. I definitely plan to write that in my comments when my email comes. It didn’t ruin my cruise of course. I just don’t like the new policy or how some waiters don’t want to be more flexible even though the hostesses told us we can absolutely wait and decide after our main selection. 

[Flytko]

We just got off the Vista, and never were asked to order everything at once.  We always ordered the appetizers and the main course at the same time, then when we finished, we were handed the dessert menu.  

[pusywillow]

Many people are complaining that the meal takes too long.  This solves that problem.

 

If you are alone at the table you can tell them you want to linger over your meal.  If you are with others I would say you are selfish.

[jbethel11]

57 minutes ago, maynovmom said:

Others were put off and argued slightly that we could order it and just not eat it later if we were too full.

Yet Carnival cares so much about food waste! 

[CheersPkg4Us]

We're just off the Horizon and never encounted this. Dessert menu was given to us after the main course. 

[lennythenose]

We were on the Conquest in January. Had the same experience with being asked to order dessert at the beginning of the meal. We did not like it at all and definitely felt rushed. 

[Saint Greg]

Maybe a conquest issue. I’ve been on Breeze, Dream, Dream, Vista in the past 14 months and haven’t experienced that.

[FSHLOT]

Yeah, It's kind of hard to order dessert when you haven't finished the apps,and main course yet. I never had a problem with ordering everything at once, but dessert. It does sound like they were rushing you.

[sanmarcosman]

OP: were you handed the dessert menus with the dinner menus or were you given a new menu combining both? Either way if this is a trial balloon they should stick a pin in it. 

[Aplmac]

I don't mind being rushed...I'm not a dining lingerer

and am always conscious of how the system works

- there's another seating after we leave -

 

but I will need to see a separate Dessert Menu -after the main course

mainly because I often don't need a dessert (or will share one)

so pre-ordering would amount to wastage!

[sparks1093]

I recall ordering dessert at the same time as our other dinner items on all of our sailings. The dessert menu is part of the main menu so it just makes sense to do that. We've found the portions of the three courses combined to be just about right so nothing goes to waste (although when I order an extra app sometimes it goes to waist😀).

[sanmarcosman]

10 minutes ago, sparks1093 said:

I recall ordering dessert at the same time as our other dinner items on all of our sailings. The dessert menu is part of the main menu so it just makes sense to do that. We've found the portions of the three courses combined to be just about right so nothing goes to waste (although when I order an extra app sometimes it goes to waist😀).

This makes no sense. I've never ordered dessert from a main menu other than at Sunday Brunch on Carnival.

[Doggielover68]

I have been to land restaurants where this same thing happens, usually when the dessert is included with the meal as some sort of special. It doesn't bother me in the slightest bit. I'm a week away from my cruise and I already know what I want for dessert. 

 

I'm sure you could just not order dessert and if you decide you want it later, ask for it. 

[teknoge3k]

We're a family who doesn't like to spend our entire evening in the MDR for dinner. On our past 5-6 cruises we've been able to be out of the MDR in under 45 minutes by simply telling our wait staff we didn't like the long drawn out process and it worked perfectly. I am not sure how many other people do this, but in an instance like this I can see where the new system would be perfect and help them out a lot. 

[MistyRo76]

Just off the Paradise last Thursday and we were not asked or expected to order dessert at the same time as our apps/mains. I don’t even recall seeing the dessert items on the first menu we received. 

 

Im like most where often I bypass dessert cause I’m full from the rest of the meal. Or I may decide to share with a travel mate. But I won’t know that until after I eat the main course. 

[tandemcruzr]

We were on the Liberty this past November and did not experience this. As a matter of fact, we've never experienced this kind of service in the MDR on any Carnival ship. And, we've been on 45 Carnival cruises.

[PhillyFan33579]

I have sailed on Liberty, Miracle, Sunshine and Horizon over the last 5 months. On all of these cruises we were never asked to order deserts at the beginning of the meal.   We were always provided a desert menu after finishing our main courses. Sailing on Victory next week. will pay attention to this issue in the MDR. 

Edited April 22, 2019 by PhillyFan33579

[bury me at sea]

We sailed on the Freedom earlier this month.  Early seating and every night received a separate dessert menu as entree plates were being cleared from the table.

 

I haven't seen dessert on the same menu with appetizers and entrees on any Carnival cruise and wouldn't like such a change.

[schazzy]

7 minutes ago, teknoge3k said:

We're a family who doesn't like to spend our entire evening in the MDR for dinner.

 

Same here, and I personally don't like sitting at a dining table anywhere for anymore than an hour. We wouldn't have any issue with ordering dessert at the same time as the rest of the meal, in fact like @Doggielover68 said, we are less than a week from our cruise and I can already tell you exactly what will be ordered for dessert every night. (3 Chocolate Melting Cakes with 2 ice creams and 1 fruit plate, for those who are curious ) 

[sparks1093]

44 minutes ago, sanmarcosman said:

This makes no sense. I've never ordered dessert from a main menu other than at Sunday Brunch on Carnival.

It could be I'm juxtaposing our recent experience on Royal with CCL, it has been a while since I've looked at a CCL menu.

[Athankfulheart]

Menus were done in the traditional way on the Dream in February. Will let you know about Valor in May. I don't think it would bother me to choose dessert at the beginning. 

[ShakyBeef]

40 minutes ago, Doggielover68 said:

Ha. McDonalds is just about the last place I would go for a "fast" meal, and how does wanting to have a sit down meal that doesn't take forever make someone selfish? Are you serious? You want to waste space at a table for hours so that you can pretend you're dining at some posh 5 star restaurant. Let me break the news to you that the MDR is just a step above Applebee's if we are comparing ships to restaurants. 

 

An hour is more than enough time for a full meal. I am a slow eater and it is still enough time for me to have some bread, chat with my hubby, eat our meal, order dessert, and still spend time waiting around for things. Of course, I don't order 3 entrees like a lot of people do. I eat like a normal human and order one dish and one dessert. 

 

I think bigdog1958's point (with which I agree) in response to pusywillow's opinion, is that there are different perspectives on this issue.  A "rusher" might think the "lingerer" rude to make the meal take "too long" for the whole table, while the "lingerer" might see the "rusher" as rude for hurrying what the "lingerer" might want to be a relaxed, social, pleasant, unhurried meal with family / friends.  It's not about how fancy the venue or the meal are.  It is about how we as individuals like to spend our meal times.  Some want to eat fast and get on to the next thing.  Some want to relax and enjoy the present moment.  And that is all fine - we are all different.  But to call one out as being rude for taking longer over their meal than you might like them to is, well, rude.

 

Furthermore, taking longer than what you consider "more than enough time" doesn't mean we are eating any more than you.  Not all who take their time are multi-entree orderers.  To imply that more relaxed diners are gluttons is actually quite humorous in its fallacy.  Those that take more time over their meals statistically eats less than do gluttons.  You might want to consider how judgmental you are coming across.  Your version of "eating like a normal human" in what you arbitrarily proclaim to be "more than enough time" might be my version of "scarfing your food down as if you fear someone might steal it off your plate". 

 

Maybe none of us should try to tell any of the rest of us how long it should take us to eat.  And maybe we should keep the associated biases and judgements to ourselves.  Because there is no correct answer here.  Your opinion on this is no better than bigdog's or mine or any one else's.

 

51 minutes ago, bigdog1958 said:

Maybe the selfish one is a person that wants to eat fast like gong to mcdonalds….  The lido buffet is there for all you people who are selfish and want to speed through a meal.. I will continue to order at a nice pace for a sit down meal which normally takes and 1hr and a half... Please use the buffet if you enjoy  your nice dinner at fast food restaurants.

 

11 hours ago, pusywillow said:

Many people are complaining that the meal takes too long.  This solves that problem.

 

If you are alone at the table you can tell them you want to linger over your meal.  If you are with others I would say you are selfish.

 

[Butterbean1000]

We don't like a rushed meal.  It's our time to relax and decompress from the day's activities.  I would not like ordering dessert up front.

[WinstonsMom]

59 minutes ago, sparks1093 said:

It could be I'm juxtaposing our recent experience on Royal with CCL, it has been a while since I've looked at a CCL menu.

 Being presented with the dessert menu along with the app and entrée menu is standard on Royal now, so that could be the case.

[cdm289]

Just off of the Magic and we didn't experience this.  My sons were on the RCCL Adventure of the Seas in November and the MDR had the dessert listed on the main menu.  When they ordered their appetizer and entrees, they also ordered their dessert at the same time.  I am not opposed to doing this as I believe this would be more efficient for the wait team.  The desserts are little and I don't load up on that much for dinner so I don't think there would be any more waste than if it was ordered after dinner.  Years ago when you could dine at the MDR for lunch (not sea day brunch), you would order an appetizer, lunch and dessert all at once.  Anyway, if they change to ordering dessert the same time as the rest of the meal, I would be ok with it.