QM2 MDR always available items

[smokey01]

Hi,

 

Can someone remind me of the 'always available menu items' in the MDR please.

[MarkBearSF]

From my memory...

Starters
 - Shrimp Coctail
 - Caesar Salad (also available as a main)

Main Courses
 - Sirloin Steak
 - Chicken Breast
 - Salmon
 - Steamed Veggies

[kentchris]

 

[akmday10]

Just wondering, can you order the 'smoothie of the day' in the MDR?

 

When we miss breakfast and have to go to the Lido, I do like to get the smoothie, but have never seen it on the menu in MDR. I have seen it in the Grills restaurant though. 

[Calliope]

Last November my friend ERoller and I dined in the Britannia Restaurant during a crossing. He asked the waiter if he could have a shrimp cocktail as it wasn't on the menu. The waiter replied that he would have to get permission from his manager before he could serve that, and he wasn't sure if he could obtain permission. The waiter did bring out a shrimp cocktail in a timely manner, but the shrimp were few and  rather small.

[turnip eater]

Just to say, in the UK shrimp are small, very small.  It’s US English versus UK English. 🙂What you call shrimp, we call prawns. Then there are Dublin Bay prawns...also known as Langoustine. A type of lobster.🤔

[ToadOfToadHall]

I asked for a steak one evening in the MDR on the QM2 (as I'd read on here they were always available) and the waiter told me in no uncertain terms that that was not possible. I questioned him and was again told no.

 

To be fair he was most concerned that I did enjoy the main I chose in the end (I picked least worst option). It was actually fine as it turned out.

 

 

[Bell Boy]

Never heard of this  before,  unless you were requesting a Fillet Steak !  The 'always available' is a simple minute steak ...and It's always available .

 

You need to mention from The 'Always Available Menu'. 

[Bell Boy]

17 hours ago, Calliope said:

Last November my friend ERoller and I dined in the Britannia Restaurant during a crossing. He asked the waiter if he could have a shrimp cocktail as it wasn't on the menu. The waiter replied that he would have to get permission from his manager before he could serve that, and he wasn't sure if he could obtain permission. The waiter did bring out a shrimp cocktail in a timely manner, but the shrimp were few and  rather small.

Your waiter didn't need to go into those details explaining the procedure (to the guest)  However, this is the usual procedure as the station Head Waiter needs to authorise  ad-hock requests for Galley preparation.   

[Calliope]

3 hours ago, Bell Boy said:

Your waiter didn't need to go into those details explaining the procedure (to the guest)  However, this is the usual procedure as the station Head Waiter needs to authorise  ad-hock requests for Galley preparation.   

As shrimp cocktails are always on the ala carte menu for the Britannia Club and both restaurants use the same kitchen, I find it difficult to believe that any extra preparation was required.  Also as ToadofToadHall passed along about obtaining a steak perhaps the bean counters have limited those dining in the MDR to strictly what is printed on the menu. Quite sad really.

[Bell Boy]

7 hours ago, Calliope said:

As shrimp cocktails are always on the ala carte menu for the Britannia Club and both restaurants use the same kitchen, I find it difficult to believe that any extra preparation was required.  Also as ToadofToadHall passed along about obtaining a steak perhaps the bean counters have limited those dining in the MDR to strictly what is printed on the menu. Quite sad really.

Limiting to what is offered on the daily menu ( Britannia category ) has nothing to do with bean counters at work, it's common sense, we only get what we have paid for. The  preparation, 'style and the quality' of the shrimp cocktail offered in the Britannia Club ( ala carte menu) is completely different to that which is offered on the Britannia always available menu.   

[Host Hattie]

11 hours ago, Bell Boy said:

Never heard of this  before,  unless you were requesting a Fillet Steak !  The 'always available' is a simple minute steak ...and It's always available .

 

You need to mention from The 'Always Available Menu'. 

The menu in the thread posted above shows a sirloin steak.

[ToadOfToadHall]

I've wondered about what type of steak it is - when I asked for one (and failed to get one !) I just asked for a streak, I did not specify a cut.

 

But, some nights there is a steak on the menu, which strikes me as odd if you can always order one anyway - i.e. do you get the same thing if you order one from the "always available" menu as when there's one on the main menu anyway ?

 

Also, if they did but a steak/chicken/salmon on the menu, I reckon some people would order a steak every night. So maybe that's why it's not written on the menu ?

 

[Bell Boy]

1 hour ago, Host Hattie said:

The menu in the thread posted above shows a sirloin steak.

I suppose one could call it a sirloin steak , but in reality it's small and almost flattened a bit like a minute steak . 

[turnip eater]

Is that minute as in 60 seconds, or minute as in very small?😄

[MarkBearSF]

7 hours ago, ToadOfToadHall said:

I've wondered about what type of steak it is - when I asked for one (and failed to get one !) I just asked for a streak, I did not specify a cut.

 

But, some nights there is a steak on the menu, which strikes me as odd if you can always order one anyway - i.e. do you get the same thing if you order one from the "always available" menu as when there's one on the main menu anyway ?

 

Also, if they did but a steak/chicken/salmon on the menu, I reckon some people would order a steak every night. So maybe that's why it's not written on the menu? 

 

 

Pretty much every other line offers about the same items as always-available - and publishes them in the menu. They all should fit easily in the per-diem budget. The steaks aren't NY Strip or better - they're sirloin (no big deal).

I would assume that VERY few people would order from the always-available list when it's on that night's menu. (and if someone really wanted the different, usually inferior cut, they could probably have it)

My guesses are twofold why it has not been on the menu
 - The separate ala carte menu is a distinction of the Britannia Club class and they want to keep it as a perk.
- They haven't done it before and it's not the tradition.

[ToadOfToadHall]

Not being traditional could well be a reason. i.e. why do they think they need to ?

 

But it's not very fair on people that don't know about it; everyone should be treated the same, so if you don't know about it then that's hardly your fault.

[Calliope]

Years ago the always available menu was listed on the MDR menu, but no longer is. It seems to be an out dated notion on the Cunard boards here that there are still certain items available but not printed on the menu. Perhaps just what is the case needs to be ascertained by someone onboard a Cunarder in the near future.

 

I have been a passenger on Cunard ships since 1980 and have seen many changes. Many of those changes involve what is and is not available in the restaurants. Of course some changes were wonderful and others not. Who, for instance, remembers being able to order off menu in the Columbia Restaurant of the QE2?  Not only was the dining room's name changed several times over the years, but ordering off menu long since ceased even while serving as a Cunarder.

 

My guess is that it is indeed the bean-counters whom have deemed that only what is printed on the day's menu is available. And in my very humble opinion that this is a rather foolish way to save pennies when the competition such as Celebrity, Royal Caribbean, and American Queen Steamboat Co., all of which I've traveled on this year, have  certain ala carte options available each evening in their MDRs..

[Host Hattie]

7 hours ago, Calliope said:

Years ago the always available menu was listed on the MDR menu, but no longer is

I'm not sure when you last travelled but the items were listed earlier this year on QM2.

 

 

[Calliope]

On ‎4‎/‎30‎/‎2019 at 2:03 AM, Host Hattie said:

I'm not sure when you last travelled but the items were listed earlier this year on QM2.

That was last November on the QM2 with the new menu offerings.

 

 

[eroller]

On 4/27/2019 at 10:24 PM, Calliope said:

Last November my friend ERoller and I dined in the Britannia Restaurant during a crossing. He asked the waiter if he could have a shrimp cocktail as it wasn't on the menu. The waiter replied that he would have to get permission from his manager before he could serve that, and he wasn't sure if he could obtain permission. The waiter did bring out a shrimp cocktail in a timely manner, but the shrimp were few and  rather small.

 

 

Not a great experience overall.  Being that this was an Eastbound crossing and provisioned in NY, I would have expected the shrimp to be better and certainly not such an ordeal to get it.  Needless to say I never asked for anything off the menu again.  

 

The menus are already dumbed down (appetizers and salads combined) and offer less choice compared to other cruise lines (plus no always-available items on the menu), so it seems like a combination of cost cutting and penalizing the largest percentage of passengers so those in the Grills and Club feel like they are getting some sort of additional value for all the extra money they are spending.  Meanwhile pretty much every other cruise line, including mass-market lines like Carnival offer a more extensive menu and a nice selection of always available items.  

[Underwatr]

On 5/2/2019 at 10:24 PM, eroller said:

(plus no always-available items on the menu)

In fairness you suffered from bad service, not from having always-available items. "On the menu" is a different issue, one which I don't think needs to be fixed.

[eroller]

4 hours ago, Underwatr said:

In fairness you suffered from bad service, not from having always-available items. "On the menu" is a different issue, one which I don't think needs to be fixed.

 

Actually our waiter was quite good.  No complaints about him. I blame it more on the process.  On the menu is something I do think needs to be fixed.  People have no way of knowing these items are available and obviously Cunard wants it that way.  Based on my experience I would say “always available” is a stretch at best.  

[Underwatr]

The waiter didn't need to inform you of the process by which always-available items are delivered to you. You shouldn't be told that it's a burden. 

 

I've never known an "always available" item to be anything but that, and if a waiter hinted otherwise I'd mention it to the head waiter. 

[Chart Room Princess]

Do these always available items also apply to the QV and QE? My 12 year old niece is a picky eater but definitely would eat all of these items.