Lunch

[2SailingNomads]

After 17 cruises, I have never seen the MDR open for lunch on embarkation day.  Only rarely has it been closed for breakfast, however.  And we have seen that it is almost always open for breakfast on disembarkation, even if not listed in the Herald as has been the case multiple times.

 

Lunch depends on the individual cruise, although the last few years we have seen it open more for lunch even on port days.  We usually have lunch in the MDR as it is more relaxed but do not eat breakfast every day, will depend on various factors - except of course the last day before leaving the ship - and sometimes even if it is open for breakfast we miss the cutoff time.  I agree w/ Sunviking that the MDR being open for breakfast or lunch is not what determines for me a luxury line.  To each their own definition.

[brittany12]

Correction of my earlier. On disembarkation days, we have seen the MDR open for breakfast most of the time but not for lunch, since that will be some new passengers' embarkation day.. 

[SLSD]

We've been disappointed on our last two SB cruises that the MDR was not open for breakfast on disembarkation day.  On our first SB cruise, it WAS open for breakfast on disembarkation day and it made for a very pleasant last meal onboard.  

[freddie]

After many cruises on Regent, as well as a few on other luxury lines such as Silversea, Crystal, and Hapag Lloyd, we have enjoyed a couple of cruises on SB and are preparing to embark on another soon.  However, the MDR lunch situation is an unfortunate aspect of SB that will likely be a factor in our choice of luxury cruising going forward.

 

First, it seems quite bizarre that the matter is not uniform one way or the other across the line, but, rather, depends upon the whim of some officer on the ship (Hotel Manager or F&B Mgr.??) on a particular cruise.   It can be so odd as on our last cruise, when the MDR was closed at lunch one day because it was considered "a port day", even though we were not scheduled to dock and did not do so until 1:30 pm, well after lunch.  Hmm, the mysterious "MDR guru" decided that a "half-day" in port was equivalent to a "port day" for purposes of lunch service??  Geez, who makes up these rules?

 

While I would agree with previous posters who suggest that "the MDR being open for breakfast or lunch is not what determines for me a luxury line", I would respectfully suggest that SB's failure to do so differentiates the line quite negatively from other luxury lines in that aspect of the many elements of what does in fact define luxury cruising.

 

As for breakfast on disembarkation day, we have had the good fortune of having the MDR open for such on both of our recent SB cruises and certainly hope to do so on our upcoming B-2-B of 20 days.  Of all of the days that it is useful to have the MDR open for breakfast, that day is the most useful, since pax are asked to vacate their cabins early and await the time to leave the ship.  There is certainly not room in the Colonnade for everyone to have breakfast there.   Therefore, the MDR offers a welcome respite from the madhouse which is Colonnade at breakfast on disembarkation day.

Edited July 2, 2019 by freddie