Lunch in the MDR

[jlnprt]

Is the MDR only open for lunch on sea days? Our upcoming 12 day cruise only has 2 sea days.

[BarbarianPaul]

That was the case on our recent transatlantic on the Koningsdam. 

[MouseBerry]

Hi,

as we like the MDR for lunch very much and very rarely use the buffet I wondering if the MDR is not open for lunch every day. Are there any rules on HAL ships when MDR is not open? We used Oceania and MCS and except main embarkation day the MDR was always open for lunch.

 

MBerry

[Krazy Kruizers]

The main dining room is rarely open for lunch -- only on sea days -- and even then, one sea day it may be closed because of the Mariner's brunch.

[MouseBerry]

Thanks for the info.

As this is our first HAL cruise after the very lame HAL internet site the MDR not open for lunch will be the 2nd indication what they really mean by „premium“ cruise.

 

But we should not complain yet and give the Lido Buffet a try. And we booked our cruise at a mass-market rate (actually even cost wise at the lower end of mass-market). Thus we will make our final judgement after the cruise.

 

regards

MBerry

[terrydtx]

Most HAL ships MDR's are only open for lunch on sea days and if you only have 2 sea days one of them will be reserved for the Mariner only invitation lunch. This is more common than not in the cruise industry. Anyway the Lido Market offers so much more selection wise so you will not miss much with the MDR closed, plus it will hardly be crowded with the majority of passengers off the ship for excursions.

[Despegue]

On our recent 12 day  Koningsdam cruise, the only time that the MDR was open for lunch was on embarkation.

Even on the 2 sea days, it was closed, one day because of the Mariner’s Luncheon.

 

But do not fear, the Lido Market is excellent.

[quandrea]

That’s too bad. We almost always use the mdr for lunch and not for dinner when we travel Celebrity and Cunard. We prefer it to the chaos of the Lido and really don’t like the MDR at dinner. Will have to figure something else out. We are in a Neptune suite. Perhaps lunch on the verandah?  Any other quiet lunch venues?  We are on Nieuw Amsterdam. 

[MouseBerry]

Hi,

we doubt that majority of cruise industry doesn't serve lunch in the MDR. Actually MDR at dinner is much crowded enough and lunch in MDR, because of much less people are there, feels really like premium.

 

We will enjoy lunch in the Lido Buffet as well. A buffet, if well organised, can be good as well. But we heard that sometimes it is hard to place a beverage order as nobody immediately cares about you. That the finesse of a MDR. You will be seated, asked for drinks (often the waiter already knows your preference). Overall this is a good feeling which I never got in a cruise buffet.

But selection for sure is wider at a buffet.

 

But we will not complain upfront. We will use Lido buffet and see if it is premium (well organised).

What are the usuall opening hours at the Lido Buffet for lunch?

 

regards

MBerry 

[terrydtx]

11 minutes ago, quandrea said:

That’s too bad. We almost always use the mdr for lunch and not for dinner when we travel Celebrity and Cunard. We prefer it to the chaos of the Lido and really don’t like the MDR at dinner. Will have to figure something else out. We are in a Neptune suite. Perhaps lunch on the verandah?  Any other quiet lunch venues?  We are on Nieuw Amsterdam. 

The PG is open for lunch on sea days for a small fee. You will have plenty of room in your NS for lunch if the weather is not nice enough for the verandah.

[DaveOKC]

Do not forget that the Dive In is open for lunch everyday, even embarkation day.  Great hamburgers, hot dogs (Nathans) and fries (try the cheese fries)!

 

[*Miss G*]

The Pinnacle Grill for lunch is an excellent alternative to the MDR.  Also the Dive In is very popular, as well as the New York Deli, which have great menu choices at no additional surcharge.  If you are in a Neptune Suite then the Neptune Lounge is always an option.

[1025cruise]

Unfortunately, most of the mass market lines have chosen to close the MDR for lunch on port days, mainly due to lack of demand. 

 

I miss it.

[RuthC]

3 hours ago, MouseBerry said:

What are the usuall opening hours at the Lido Buffet for lunch?

The main line is open from 11:30 AM to 2:00 PM (sometimes 2:30). Limited stations are open longer.

[terrydtx]

1 hour ago, 1025cruise said:

Unfortunately, most of the mass market lines have chosen to close the MDR for lunch on port days, mainly due to lack of demand. 

 

I miss it.

I am sure the cruise lines would much prefer we have lunch ashore as they save a bundle on having to feed us for lunch. We have 3 shore days for our Alaska Cruise next month and not sure what our lunch plans will be, but we do have 3 sea days including cruising Glacier Bay so we will have more options.

 

The one and only time we made it to Half Moon Cay, most of the servers and crew were working stations on the island for the included BBQ lunch on the island. I heard that those who stayed on the ship had very limited Lido offers. The 2 other times we were scheduled for HMC the weather prohibited us from tendering so we sailed around in circles all day and the MDR was not open for lunch, which made many of us not too happy.

[sail7seas]

8 hours ago, MouseBerry said:

Thanks for the info.

As this is our first HAL cruise after the very lame HAL internet site the MDR not open for lunch will be the 2nd indication what they really mean by „premium“ cruise.

 

But we should not complain yet and give the Lido Buffet a try. And we booked our cruise at a mass-market rate (actually even cost wise at the lower end of mass-market). Thus we will make our final judgement after the cruise.

 

regards

MBerry

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