clo Posted December 7, 2019 #101 Share Posted December 7, 2019 10 hours ago, Dixe Lee said: we can’t do all that we want to do on a cruise And now you refuse to say what. Okay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare cruisemom42 Posted December 7, 2019 #102 Share Posted December 7, 2019 14 hours ago, Dixe Lee said: DH and I often prefer the buffet because we are busy and have other things to do and don’t want to sit through the courses, don’t have time for a leisurely meal no matter where we are or where we go. Don’t care for tedium unless in the mood and have the time. Some don't consider it tedium. I find a well-prepared and well-paced evening meal, with several courses, paired with good wine and conversation, to be enjoyable in the extreme. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dixe Lee Posted December 7, 2019 #103 Share Posted December 7, 2019 2 hours ago, clo said: And now you refuse to say what. Okay. not sure what your point is 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dixe Lee Posted December 7, 2019 #104 Share Posted December 7, 2019 9 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said: Some don't consider it tedium. I find a well-prepared and well-paced evening meal, with several courses, paired with good wine and conversation, to be enjoyable in the extreme. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. We have enjoyed some wonderful meals and good company in the MDR, one of our best was to celebrate our 60th birthdays, both DH and mine at the same birthday celebration. All I am saying as well as some of the other posters is that our cruise does not revolve around meals in the MDR. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K32682 Posted December 7, 2019 #105 Share Posted December 7, 2019 13 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said: Some don't consider it tedium. I find a well-prepared and well-paced evening meal, with several courses, paired with good wine and conversation, to be enjoyable in the extreme. On a longer cruise the MDR quickly becomes same-old, same-old and if you frequently dine in better restaurants on land you soon realize the typical cruise ship dining room is more show than go. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare cruisemom42 Posted December 7, 2019 #106 Share Posted December 7, 2019 Just now, K32682 said: On a longer cruise the MDR quickly becomes same-old, same-old and if you frequently dine in better restaurants on land you soon realize the typical cruise ship dining room is more show than go. Perhaps it is different on the 350 passenger ship I have mostly sailed on in the last eight years.... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clo Posted December 7, 2019 #107 Share Posted December 7, 2019 13 hours ago, Dixe Lee said: we can’t do all that we want to do on a cruise This. What are some of those things? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dixe Lee Posted December 7, 2019 #108 Share Posted December 7, 2019 23 minutes ago, clo said: This. What are some of those things? The evening shows, the art auctions, Bingo, the trivia contests, the late night entertainment such as the comedy shows, scavenger hunts, shopping, maybe a few rounds in the casino, hanging out by the pool, relaxing in our room, visiting different lounges throughout the ship to enjoy music we like and to have a drink, the list goes on based on what is offered any particular day. And lets not forget the food 😊 Got to eat! We have found that we have been lucky to meet up with people who we "click" with, maybe close to our age, maybe not but have the same interests as us and tend to frequent the same venues and we often meet up with them and the atrium bar tends to be a particularly friendly spot where the music is what we all like and we will just hang out with them, have a couple of drinks and socialize without the demands of having to be somewhere at a certain time. Of course, to fully enjoy all that is offered, one has to follow a schedule, either closely or loosely and this is one of the reasons the buffet works for us because we can fit in our meal without having to be somewhere at a certain time just to eat. Sea days are more relaxed and those would be the days when, if we choose to, we would go to the MDR instead of the buffet and often we do, but more often than not, the buffet fits us and our own schedule. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K32682 Posted December 7, 2019 #109 Share Posted December 7, 2019 1 hour ago, cruisemom42 said: Perhaps it is different on the 350 passenger ship I have mostly sailed on in the last eight years.... The smallest ship I've cruised on is 800 passengers and it was with Princess. Meals in the MDRs on mass market cruise lines are more in keeping with the dining fare at a hotel convention or political fundraiser and they don't call it the rubber chicken circuit for no good reason. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aquahound Posted December 7, 2019 #110 Share Posted December 7, 2019 18 hours ago, mom says said: I don't want to put words in that posters mouth, but I think he's making the distinction between dining and just eating. There are times when one doesn't want a slowly paced multicourse meal, but just wants something quick. And the buffet certainly can provide that. Bingo. I do happen to enjoy eating in the MDR but there are times I just don't feel like it. DW and I enjoy active shore excursions and sometimes we're just too tired to get dressed up and deal with the MDR routine. Evening dining in the buffet can be very relaxing and its at our pace. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare c-boy Posted December 7, 2019 #111 Share Posted December 7, 2019 On 11/17/2019 at 1:48 PM, Firepath said: I am a new cruiser having only been on one in the past 15 yrs. We tried the buffet and it was not very good. On the other hand, the MDR was very good. We didn’t try any specialties. Even though the buffet on our cruise was poor, it will still busy most of the time. My question is, why do some people eat there mostly? Is the buffet good on most cruise lines? Do people not know there are other free options? Is it faster, more choices, do you like to see what you’re getting before you order? Buffets are great, and we will do them for breakfast and non port days. Dinner for us in an occasion, where we set and relax enjoy company and conversation. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRF Posted December 7, 2019 #112 Share Posted December 7, 2019 23 hours ago, K32682 said: Well, er, if you are young and in love there are more exciting things on the evening agenda than anything going on in the MDR. 😉 You don't need to be THAT young. 😄 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dixe Lee Posted December 8, 2019 #113 Share Posted December 8, 2019 27 minutes ago, SRF said: You don't need to be THAT young. 😄 Exactly 👍 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crzndeb Posted December 8, 2019 #114 Share Posted December 8, 2019 9 hours ago, clo said: This. What are some of those things? Why can’t other posters just make a statement? Why do you always have to question what they do, and why? Many have answered what the OP asked, and that should be it. 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ldubs Posted December 8, 2019 #115 Share Posted December 8, 2019 On 12/6/2019 at 3:11 PM, mom says said: There are times when one doesn't want a slowly paced multicourse meal, but just wants something quick. And the buffet certainly can provide that. This is true to be sure. But there are times when we spend a lengthy amount of time with a meal in the buffet. It isn't alway about a quick bite. Sometimes it is nice to kick back in a relaxed atmosphere. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George C Posted December 8, 2019 #116 Share Posted December 8, 2019 While I am anti buffet in general, we just got off msc seaside and I could make a meal from there pizza by far best at sea equal to really good nyc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ldubs Posted December 8, 2019 #117 Share Posted December 8, 2019 On 12/6/2019 at 4:13 PM, K32682 said: You captured my sentiments very well. There are times when all I want is sustenance and have no interest in the rigmarole of fine dining. I have nothing against a fine meal but particularly on a longer cruise the MDR becomes quite tiresome. What can become tiresome (or tedious) for me to the point of drumming my fingers on the table is waiting for someone to finish their 6th entree and suspecting there are multiple dessert courses to come! Speaking as a spectator, an eating marathon gets tiresome. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clo Posted December 8, 2019 #118 Share Posted December 8, 2019 43 minutes ago, ldubs said: What can become tiresome (or tedious) for me to the point of drumming my fingers on the table is waiting for someone to finish their 6th entree and suspecting there are multiple dessert courses to come! Speaking as a spectator, an eating marathon gets tiresome. So you bring up something I've meant to ask. If you're seated with people that/who you're not a party with, is the whole group served as one? We don't have big appetites so would likely share a couple of apps and a main and a dessert. Does that mean we'd have to sit there while all to course go along? We're on Oceania so I'm going to ask them specfically. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ldubs Posted December 8, 2019 #119 Share Posted December 8, 2019 36 minutes ago, clo said: So you bring up something I've meant to ask. If you're seated with people that/who you're not a party with, is the whole group served as one? We don't have big appetites so would likely share a couple of apps and a main and a dessert. Does that mean we'd have to sit there while all to course go along? We're on Oceania so I'm going to ask them specfically. Thanks. Well, in the case of joining a table in the MDR, I guess if you are seated with them then you are considered a party with them, so to speak. Anyway, I have no experience with Oceania. Other cruise lines serve the entire table by course. It would otherwise be difficult for the table staff as you can imagine. However, you do not have to sit there. We have excused ourselves "early" as in still during the entree course of our table mates. I suppose we were labeled as rude, but that is preferable to being held captive to someone's never ending food fest. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Lois R Posted December 8, 2019 #120 Share Posted December 8, 2019 On 12/7/2019 at 8:53 AM, cruisemom42 said: Some don't consider it tedium. I find a well-prepared and well-paced evening meal, with several courses, paired with good wine and conversation, to be enjoyable in the extreme. Maybe one day we will finally meet and have that meal together 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pris993 Posted December 9, 2019 #121 Share Posted December 9, 2019 We have been cruising since the l980s, well over 60 cruises on 9 different lines. Now day we cruise mostly Princess but have cruised HAL, Celebrity and Cunard in recent years. Until just a few years ago, we always did the MDR traditional dining. The MDR on most lines we have been on recently are not any better than the buffet. For that reason, we find it is just as nice for us to go to the buffet, we usually go early before it get busy, stake out a table for two, if early diner we usually have a view before the sunsets. We enjoy the Crown Grill special dining area on Princess and are willing to pay extra for a nice meal, on formal nights, we go to the Grill. In the morning we do room service for breakfast. Far cry from when we first started cruising, then it was the MDR for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Now many options and we enjoy them more often than the MDR. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pacruise804 Posted December 9, 2019 #122 Share Posted December 9, 2019 On 12/7/2019 at 8:53 AM, cruisemom42 said: Some don't consider it tedium. I find a well-prepared and well-paced evening meal, with several courses, paired with good wine and conversation, to be enjoyable in the extreme. What you describe is lovely (although even it I might not want every night of a cruise), however that is a different experience than most mainstream cruisers experience 😉 On 12/7/2019 at 9:11 AM, cruisemom42 said: Perhaps it is different on the 350 passenger ship I have mostly sailed on in the last eight years.... I suspect those cruises are vastly different from most mainstream cruises with 1,000-4,000 passengers on most sailings. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare cruisemom42 Posted December 9, 2019 #123 Share Posted December 9, 2019 50 minutes ago, pacruise804 said: What you describe is lovely (although even it I might not want every night of a cruise), however that is a different experience than most mainstream cruisers experience 😉 I suspect those cruises are vastly different from most mainstream cruises with 1,000-4,000 passengers on most sailings. Perhaps... But I have sailed with my son for the last several years on mass-market New Years Eve cruises (Celebrity Silhouette, Regal Princess). We have never been tempted to eat in the buffet for dinner. Even if I am not in the midst of a convivial dinner conversation, I enjoy reading and selecting from the menu and dining in courses as opposed to having to stalk the buffet line for choices and serve myself (or at the least get up and stand in line to be served). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarrenM Posted December 10, 2019 #124 Share Posted December 10, 2019 On 12/8/2019 at 9:37 PM, ldubs said: What can become tiresome (or tedious) for me to the point of drumming my fingers on the table is waiting for someone to finish their 6th entree and suspecting there are multiple dessert courses to come! Speaking as a spectator, an eating marathon gets tiresome. Surely you would just walk out when you have finished your meal? You dont wait for people you dont even know do you? Alternatively gett hammered drunk sat with them and then just ridcule them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare ontheweb Posted December 10, 2019 #125 Share Posted December 10, 2019 4 hours ago, DarrenM said: Surely you would just walk out when you have finished your meal? You dont wait for people you dont even know do you? Alternatively gett hammered drunk sat with them and then just ridcule them. On an NCL ship once when there was still appetizer and soup separate, DW did not order an appetizer. She had to wait for her salad as one of the others at our table ordered every single appetizer and was served them one at a time while she sat with no food yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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