MDR food through room service?

[cruisejess58]

I'm sailing alone with my young son and thought it would be much easier to eat in our room on the balcony than in the dining room, but don't want to miss out on the better food options.  Is it possible to order food from the MDR through room service?  

 

Has anyone done this?  Appreciate hearing your experience.

[EDDY0827]

Yes you can order from the MDR menu and have it delivered to your room IF you are traveling in a FULL suite.

Otherwise, there is a room service menu available to all passengers.

[Cruiserkenn]

I agree MDR room service in a full suite.  Very nice.

 

In other rooms, only a few items available via room service.

What I do is both get room service and later go to the buffet, after the crowds have subsided.  Great!

[skynight]

As mentioned full suite passengers can order room service from the MDR menus, otherwise it's from the limited room service menu. A full pizza delivered to the cabin will cost you $3.

With youth there are other options depending on the ship. All ships have the buffet, open for all meals from 6am until 11pm, never closes during that time. With few exceptions Princess ships have a grill, pizza and soft ice cream by the Lido pool. These are open from 11am until mid evening. There is also an International Cafe, open 24/7. Royal Class ships have Alfredo's, no charge, sit down pizza & more restaurant open 11am until mid evening. The Grand also has a a pizza only Alfredo's.

You can probably find something in one of these that your son enjoys.

[Potstech]

I am sure you have very good reasons for eating in your room but wouldn't eating in the MDR provide a unique learning experience for him.  Also in the buffet he could have his choice of many different foods from different cultures to try.  Agan it is up to you.  Enjoy your cruise.

[Mike45LC]

The MDR menu is not available from Room Service (except for full suites).  And the MDR will not pack up a meal to go.  When my wife was sick and confined to quarters, we were very unhappy with these rules. 

 

I ended up making up a couple of plates for her from the buffet, and the buffet would NOT allow me to borrow a tray to make it easier for me to carry her food to the cabin.  

 

[NavyVeteran]

40 minutes ago, Mike45LC said:

The MDR menu is not available from Room Service (except for full suites).  And the MDR will not pack up a meal to go.  When my wife was sick and confined to quarters, we were very unhappy with these rules. 

 

I ended up making up a couple of plates for her from the buffet, and the buffet would NOT allow me to borrow a tray to make it easier for me to carry her food to the cabin.  

 

When my wife was quarantined in the cabin, Princess offered her room service from the full MDR menu (which we couldn't use since she was too sick to eat) and free laundry (before we were Elite) for the duration of the quarantine.

[NavyVeteran]

4 hours ago, cruisejess58 said:

I'm sailing alone with my young son and thought it would be much easier to eat in our room on the balcony than in the dining room, but don't want to miss out on the better food options.  Is it possible to order food from the MDR through room service?  

 

Has anyone done this?  Appreciate hearing your experience.

How old is your son? Would it really be easier to eat in the room where you have to handle all of the dishes than in the MDR where you have waiters to serve you. The waiters in the MDR are usually very attentive to young children and go out of the way to please them. Also he can order from the children's menu and also maybe something from the normal menu. I recommend you try the MDR and see how it works.

[grouchomarx]

I think it would be much nicer to go to the MDR and enjoy the atmosphere, service, people watching, etc. than to eat in your cabin every night and deal with piles of dishes sitting around.  Why not get out there and get your money's worth?  Enjoy the beauty of the ship.

[cruisejess58]

Thanks for all the feedback!  My son is 3 and has a really hard time sitting still for long periods of time, like required in the MDR.  I think I'll try it once and see how it goes.  Luckily we have other options if it doesn't work out!  

[JF - retired RRT]

If you decide to eat in your cabin, you can use the tray that's there with glasses, etc. OR bring your own tray. There are some that have been mentioned here that fold up.

[Coffeeluvr05]

38 minutes ago, cruisejess58 said:

Thanks for all the feedback!  My son is 3 and has a really hard time sitting still for long periods of time, like required in the MDR.  I think I'll try it once and see how it goes.  Luckily we have other options if it doesn't work out!  

I think that you will find that the severs will go their utmost to accommodate your knowing kids can't sit through a long dinner and they will make an effort to interact with your son to help keep his attention focused.  I think other passengers are generally understanding of little ones as well...at least they should be.  We have all been there!

[voljeep]

6 minutes ago, Coffeeluvr05 said:

I think that you will find that the severs will go their utmost to accommodate your knowing kids can't sit through a long dinner and they will make an effort to interact with your son to help keep his attention focused.  I think other passengers are generally understanding of little ones as well...at least they should be.  We have all been there!

a table for 2 - maybe as much as possible away from other tables - and inform the waiters/servers that you have plans for the evening ... should be out in under an hour ... we have, even on a 'formal' night

[Dani24]

Do you have Traditional or Anytime dining selected? You may be able to request a table for two at dinner, and then let the waitstaff know that you'd like to eat a quicker meal. It doesn't have to be a full 3-4 course affair. They'll certainly step that up for you so that you can enjoy the MDR foods, but also wrap up more quickly for your son.

You could also bring some things to keep him occupied. Are there some quiet activities your son might enjoy while you finish up your meal? Perhaps coloring books, wiki sticks, a mini Lego kit, audiobooks (with headphones), repositionable sticker activity books, busy books, lacing boards, threading beads onto string, felt boards (my daughter had one I bought on Amazon that had a bunch of felt shapes and a felt-lined folder), Water Wow books, travel pinball game, mini Etch a Sketch, etc. I have a bag of lots of things like this I've picked up for my daughter. We rotate them around for long car rides, plane rides, restaurants, waiting rooms, or anything else where she might get antsy. And they usually work very well! Rotating them keeps them fresher, so she doesn't get bored with them. We've had many enjoyable meals out while she occupies herself with these things. Don't shortchange yourself -- or your son! This is a good opportunity for him to learn important social skills. 🙂

[DRS/NC]

Dani24  is giving you EXCELLENT advice!

 

That's exactly how we handled our first cruise (10-days LA to Mexico) with our 2.5 yr. old DD (40 yrs. ago).  There was no alternative dining then -- just the MDR for all meals!  Our little Bella Bambini was delighted; the crew/staff loved her; we had a great cruise.

 

Your son (& you) might have a wonderful new experience.

[Micahs Grandad]

2 hours ago, Coffeeluvr05 said:

I think that you will find that the severs will go their utmost to accommodate your knowing kids can't sit through a long dinner and they will make an effort to interact with your son to help keep his attention focused.  I think other passengers are generally understanding of little ones as well...at least they should be.  We have all been there!

Agreed. We have taken our very young grandkids and have eaten in DR. Waitstaff understands that they will not sit for long periods of time and should give you quick service. Best to use same waitstaff so they get to know you and your little one and often they will keep them entertained

[LeeW]

A large number of the waiters have small kids at home and miss them.  They LOVE the passenger's kids and try very hard to keep them happy.

[Mike45LC]

@Dani24, your suggestions are wonderful!

[Mike45LC]

5 hours ago, NavyVeteran said:

When my wife was quarantined in the cabin, Princess offered her room service from the full MDR menu (which we couldn't use since she was too sick to eat) and free laundry (before we were Elite) for the duration of the quarantine.

I hope my letter to Jan Schwartz helped them change the policy, because we were very upset that we could not get the MDR food for my quarantined wife.  And the room service menu was NOT very good.

[caribill]

13 hours ago, Mike45LC said:

And the MDR will not pack up a meal to go.  When my wife was sick and confined to quarters, we were very unhappy with these rules. 

 

 

 

On one Princess cruise when I went to dinner and told our waiter that my spouse would not be there because of not feeling well, the waiter offered to send food the cabin. I declined the offer because spouse was not feeling well enough to eat.

[oskidunker]

I was able to get food delivered to a sick person but this was several years ago. The new Princess will not do anything out of the ordinary and will not make exceptions for the unusual. The Passenger is denied rather than accommodated . Less staff, rigid policies and no decision making for those working at the lower level due to fear of reprisals. Sad.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 4, 2019 by oskidunker

[Celeste_SM]

My five year old wiggle-worm had a tough time with MDR meals, but the waiters really do try to make easy on them. Ours quickly learned my son's two orders (picky eater) and would ask which one he wanted as soon as we sat down, and would bring his food quickly (while the rest of us were still on our soups/salads), which was key because waiting while hungry was NOT a good plan. Then the other suggestions about having stuff to do. I'll add that my son really loved the kid's club, so he'd come with us to dinner, eat his food (which we were usually either waiting for our main or just have gotten it by then) and then my husband or brother would run him back to the kid's club when it opened at 6pm leaving the adults to enjoy the rest of the dinner at our own pace, with less kid-management. 

[itf]

We've done MDR with a two year old and the wait staff made it as easy as they could for us - bringing her food before ours so that we could enjoy our meal, fussing over her and were just generally very accommodating. I'd give MDR a go.

[Dreamer115]

On 5/3/2019 at 2:36 PM, Dani24 said:

Do you have Traditional or Anytime dining selected? You may be able to request a table for two at dinner, and then let the waitstaff know that you'd like to eat a quicker meal. It doesn't have to be a full 3-4 course affair. They'll certainly step that up for you so that you can enjoy the MDR foods, but also wrap up more quickly for your son.

You could also bring some things to keep him occupied. Are there some quiet activities your son might enjoy while you finish up your meal? Perhaps coloring books, wiki sticks, a mini Lego kit, audiobooks (with headphones), repositionable sticker activity books, busy books, lacing boards, threading beads onto string, felt boards (my daughter had one I bought on Amazon that had a bunch of felt shapes and a felt-lined folder), Water Wow books, travel pinball game, mini Etch a Sketch, etc. I have a bag of lots of things like this I've picked up for my daughter. We rotate them around for long car rides, plane rides, restaurants, waiting rooms, or anything else where she might get antsy. And they usually work very well! Rotating them keeps them fresher, so she doesn't get bored with them. We've had many enjoyable meals out while she occupies herself with these things. Don't shortchange yourself -- or your son! This is a good opportunity for him to learn important social skills. 🙂

I think I want to come and play with your daughter.  What great ideas you have.

[capriccio]

19 hours ago, itf said:

We've done MDR with a two year old and the wait staff made it as easy as they could for us - bringing her food before ours so that we could enjoy our meal, fussing over her and were just generally very accommodating. I'd give MDR a go.

This was our experience on the Ruby Princess last summer with our 3 1/2 year old granddaughter.  Mom also brought stuff to keep her entertained but she seemed to have a great time people watching and being fawned over by the wait staff.