Breakfast and lunch in MDR

[SilveryRiver]

We'll be taking a 10 day cruise to Alaska in July on Carnival Miracle.  I thought you had to eat breakfast and lunch in the buffet.  Now I'm reading you can eat them in the MDR.  What do they typically serve for each of those?  Is there a menu provided to you when you board of what the meals will be each day in the MDR?  Are there other restaurants that are included in the cruising fare that serve breakfast?

[Stacie.]

I haven’t been on an Alaskan cruise but on my Caribbean cruises I’ve had breakfast in the MDR on port days but the MDR is not open for lunch. On sea days they have the sea day brunch in the MDR so theoretically you could do both breakfast and lunch on those days as there are breakfasty items and things like burgers and pasta on the brunch menu. 
 

You can find the menu for the cruise on the Hub app. I don’t think they are listed anywhere else, besides outside the dining room and that is usually just the menu for that evening. 

Edited February 5, 2020 by Stacie.

[Essiesmom]

MDR is open for breakfast daily, lunch only on sea days.  EM

[skrufy]

1 hour ago, SilveryRiver said:

We'll be taking a 10 day cruise to Alaska in July on Carnival Miracle.  I thought you had to eat breakfast and lunch in the buffet.  Now I'm reading you can eat them in the MDR.  What do they typically serve for each of those?  Is there a menu provided to you when you board of what the meals will be each day in the MDR?  Are there other restaurants that are included in the cruising fare that serve breakfast?

Yes, you can have breakfast and brunch on sea days in the main dining room. A menu is provided at each sitting. It’s the same menu each day. The only other places to eat breakfast are the buffet,The Blue Iguana Burrito Bar, being added in dry dock this month, and if you like a pizza, pizza

[LandlockedCruiser01]

1 hour ago, Essiesmom said:

MDR is open for breakfast daily, lunch only on sea days.  EM

 

That's not entirely correct.  Your statement is true only on Journeys cruises. 

 

On regular cruises, the MDR is open for breakfast on port days and for brunch on sea days.  That it.  There hasn't been a true lunch in the MDR since 2014.  (With a possible exception of port days when the ship arrives in the afternoon.)

[SilveryRiver]

Thanks.  So a brunch on sea days but no lunch in MDR beyond that, makes sense.  The last cruise I took was on Princess 20 years ago.  I'm sure we'll try room service for breakfast and eat out on the balcony at least one day as well. 

[Cruiseman38]

We prefer the sit down breakfast in the MDR everyday.  Not a fan of buffets.

[meatloafsfan]

Sometimes on the longer cruises (Journey cruises of 9 days or more), they vary between the brunch menu and the separate breakfast/lunch menus. On longer cruises, it pays to check out the hub app (or funtimes) to see what's up (again, doesn't apply to regular 3-4-5-7 day cruises but since yours is 10 days, it might).

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

Do they ever have the MDR open for lunch on embarkation day?

 

Disney cruise does this, and we loved it.  Upon boarding, we went right to the MDR, and didn't have to worry about getting food and getting a table while keeping rack of our carry ons.

[buckeyefrank]

25 minutes ago, PrincessArlena'sDad said:

Do they ever have the MDR open for lunch on embarkation day?

 

Disney cruise does this, and we loved it.  Upon boarding, we went right to the MDR, and didn't have to worry about getting food and getting a table while keeping rack of our carry ons.

Never seen it open for embarkation day.  NCL does though.

[teknoge3k]

Just to clarify, there's breakfast in the MDR every day. Port days, and sea days. 🙂 

[coevan]

I believe the MDR breakfast ends at 8:30, we are not up yet. On sea days is the breakfast served in a different dining room?

[pacruise804]

2 hours ago, PrincessArlena'sDad said:

Do they ever have the MDR open for lunch on embarkation day?

 

Disney cruise does this, and we loved it.  Upon boarding, we went right to the MDR, and didn't have to worry about getting food and getting a table while keeping rack of our carry ons.

 

I am not aware of MDR ever being open for lunch (including embarkation), but if your ship has La Cucina I think lunch has table service.

 

NCL has O'Sheehans and Princess has Alfredos for table service.  I much prefer it to the crowds of buffet and buffet offshoots (like Guys) for embarkation day.

 

29 minutes ago, teknoge3k said:

Just to clarify, there's breakfast in the MDR every day. Port days, and sea days. 🙂 

 

I don't think so.  I've only seen MDR breakfast on port days and brunch on sea days.  They are different menus, but perhaps you can request the breakfast menu at brunch.

[Sparky2]

On our Journey's cruises, the MDR is open for breakfast every morning.  If it's a sea day it'll be a brunch menu.  If there are 7 sea days (Journey's cruise) there may be 3 or 4 of those days that it's breakfast and then later the MDR is open for lunch.  The other sea days it's open for brunch.

[pacruise804]

Thank you for the correction.  I haven't taken a Journey's cruise (yet) and forgot they can be different for dining options.

[Joebucks]

Lunch is all about Guy's, BlueIguana, the Deli, and when you have it BBQ, wok, etc.

[SilveryRiver]

What restaurant has BBQ?

 

Edited February 6, 2020 by SilveryRiver

[Essiesmom]

Guy's Pig & Anchor on ships that have it.  EM

[MT_Sea_Cruisers]

On 2/5/2020 at 6:13 AM, meatloafsfan said:

Sometimes on the longer cruises (Journey cruises of 9 days or more), they vary between the brunch menu and the separate breakfast/lunch menus. On longer cruises, it pays to check out the hub app (or funtimes) to see what's up (again, doesn't apply to regular 3-4-5-7 day cruises but since yours is 10 days, it might).

We just returned from a Journey cruise last week and found this to be true.  The sea-day brunch alternated and days when it was not served the MDR was open for a breakfast seating and a lunch seating.

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

11 hours ago, Essiesmom said:

Guy's Pig & Anchor on ships that have it.  EM

Is pig and anchor open for embarkation day lunch? I've read conflicting reports on this. 

[ABQrobin]

3 minutes ago, PrincessArlena'sDad said:

Is pig and anchor open for embarkation day lunch? I've read conflicting reports on this. 

 

On the ships that have it.... yes, it is NOW open on embarkation day.  Didn't used to be, but changed last year I think.  

 

MDR is never open on embarkation day for lunch.  Give those poor workers a break.  They have had to serve breakfast for the group leaving the ship, then turn around immediately to lunch for boarding people who are all starving.  Its easier for them to just have the Lido open to everyone.  I always feel so bad for the entire staff for debark/embark day on every ship...the whole crew looks exhausted!  

 

[Schoifmom]

20 hours ago, coevan said:

I believe the MDR breakfast ends at 8:30, we are not up yet. On sea days is the breakfast served in a different dining room?

 

MDR breakfast (port days) will end at the posted time.  You are correct in that it could be 8:30, I've seen it as late as 9:00.  On sea days brunch is normally served until around 1:00 in the MDR.  No, not a different dining room.  Just different menus on different days, depending on if it is a sea day or a port day.

[lindsay0526]

I just looked at the FUN TIMES that @Ohsnapitsbonka just posted from a few months ago for the Paradise, and the MDR is closed on embarkation day. Boo 😞 I loved this about the Disney cruise, especially when we were traveling with a group of 14, it made finding sitting close together much easier than in the buffet, and it was much more relaxing.

 

And no actual lunch served in the MDR on Sea Days NBD- the brunch menu has plenty of "lunch" items on there if you've already had breakfast and plenty of "breakfast" items if you have slept in late.