Slow dining in Main Dining Room

[ldubs]

5 hours ago, BlerkOne said:

Hate being rushed through dinner. If you want fast food, eat on Lido.

 

While I'm not looking for long drawn out dinner sessions, I would dislike being rushed even more.  In general I can say for our last two cruises this year (Princess and Carnival) the MDR service was pretty good.  Not too fast and not too slow.  In one case we were two tables for a group of 15 and the other was a private table for 3.  

[ldubs]

4 hours ago, Pyxie said:

An hour and a half is really not unheard of for a multi course dinner, especially in a nicer establishment (whether you consider the MDR "nice" is another question). It has rarely taken that long for us, however. The longest was on the Ecstasy's restart in March. For the first couple of days, the staff did not have their rhythm yet and it took close to an hour just to get appetizers. Now that is unacceptable, but they did listen to feedback and got better by mid-week.

 

When we are a large group, 1.5  hours wouldn't be terribly unusual.  If it is just us, I'm thinking, off the top of my head,  it might be an hour to an hour fifteen.  The main thing is we don't have lengthy finger tapping waits between courses.   Alcoholic beverages are not a big part of our dining, so that is no doubt a factor too.   Truth be told, MDR service has been terrific on our last two cruises.  Anyway,  it was those 2 hour marathons where we are delaying the set-up for the second seating that I didn't enjoy.  

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

For a 3 course meal, an hour fifteen to thirty is about right.  Sit at 6, order at 6:10, first course 6:15, 2nd course at 6:30, dessert at 7, out at 7:15. This would be the fastest.  

 

I remember 1 cruise we went on, for early dining, the table across from us always managed to have  all 3 courses and out by 6:30. Not sure how they managed to get such quick service, and not sure where they were constantly rushing off too, either.

[ALWAYS CRUZIN]

9 hours ago, groundloop said:

I just saw on facebook where someone had complained to John Heald about dinner in the Main Dining Room taking an hour and a half, so John did one of his polls and it appears that most folks (or at least the ones that bothered to respond) don't have an issue with that.  This has been our biggest gripe about cruises recently and several times had to miss shows because dinner took so long.  

 

I'm wondering what everyone here thinks about dinner that takes that long.  Is there something wrong with me for being annoyed by it?

That is the main reason we have not had dining in the MDR in years.

[cruisingguy007]

3 hours ago, PrincessArlena'sDad said:

For a 3 course meal, an hour fifteen to thirty is about right.  Sit at 6, order at 6:10, first course 6:15, 2nd course at 6:30, dessert at 7, out at 7:15. This would be the fastest.  

 

I remember 1 cruise we went on, for early dining, the table across from us always managed to have  all 3 courses and out by 6:30. Not sure how they managed to get such quick service, and not sure where they were constantly rushing off too, either.

 

Probably to a show. Most of the hurry up and eat folks are trying to make it to stand in line to get a decent seat. It would be nice if they had two shows per evening with a later show option. If you eat a bit later you can usually only catch the comedy show.  

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

11 hours ago, cruisingguy007 said:

 

Probably to a show. Most of the hurry up and eat folks are trying to make it to stand in line to get a decent seat. It would be nice if they had two shows per evening with a later show option. If you eat a bit later you can usually only catch the comedy show.  

Except we would leave dinner 30+minutes later and still be near the front of the line for a good seat.  It was very strange. 

[sparks1093]

22 hours ago, groundloop said:

I just saw on facebook where someone had complained to John Heald about dinner in the Main Dining Room taking an hour and a half, so John did one of his polls and it appears that most folks (or at least the ones that bothered to respond) don't have an issue with that.  This has been our biggest gripe about cruises recently and several times had to miss shows because dinner took so long.  

 

I'm wondering what everyone here thinks about dinner that takes that long.  Is there something wrong with me for being annoyed by it?

We went out to dinner a few nights ago and the restaurant was fairly busy. We were out in about an hour and twenty minutes or so. Ate in the same restaurant when it wasn't busy  and were done in a little under an hour. If things are flowing along an hour and a half wouldn't be that upsetting, although we are usually done before then.

[teknoge3k]

We always do Anytime Dining. We request the same wait staff each night. On night 1, I tell our wait team that we do not like some long drawn out process for dinner. They have always respected that for us. We can have our appetizers, meals and dessert and be out in less than 45 minutes. That's perfect for us. Tell your wait staff you don't want to spend the night in the MDR and want to be in and out, and they'll make it happen.

[kona_wahine]

1:5 hours is ridiculous. I remember one cruise where our server just seemed in way over her head. A guy from one of the other tables finally complained to the Maiter D and she sure hurried up then. But I don’t want to sit there for an hour and a half or two hours! There is absolutely no reason, as the food is already prepared, they just have to serve it. 

[pc_load_letter]

17 hours ago, ShakyBeef said:

 

Huh, I thought you were one of his fans.  Am I mistaken / misremembering?  If so, I humbly apologize for thinking it of you.

 

No need to apologize.

 

While I am sure he's a nice guy, I feel he is woefully inadequate at his position, and frankly, waaaayyyy overworked given the needs of customers.

 

I believe every ship class, at least for the Carnival brand itself, should have a public relations\brand ambassador. Sure, one could say that guests can email the hotel director etc etc but I feel that there are more guests let down by the brand as there are happy with the brand.

 

For our holiday cruise this year we are moving on from Carnival and taking Bliss out of southern CA. We've sailed NCL many times but this will be our first out of LA and our first on this class of ship. 

[Colorado Cruzer]

21 hours ago, BlerkOne said:

Hate being rushed through dinner. If you want fast food, eat on Lido.

If there were better, faster options for dinner on lido, we would definitely not take the time for a long, poor service dinner. 

 

One hour or less is an industry standard for dining, even if it is 3 courses as some have stated. 

I do not consider the dining room to be a nice restaurant, it's more like a banquet hall. 

 

We typically avoid it if possible when there are multiple specialty dining options.  On smaller ships like the Miracle coming up for us, only one steakhouse so we will likely give the MDR a try again but if it's slow and the food isn't good, we'll try to eat early dinner before all the places on lido close.

[momof4boys]

On 10/19/2022 at 11:03 AM, groundloop said:

I just saw on facebook where someone had complained to John Heald about dinner in the Main Dining Room taking an hour and a half, so John did one of his polls and it appears that most folks (or at least the ones that bothered to respond) don't have an issue with that.  This has been our biggest gripe about cruises recently and several times had to miss shows because dinner took so long.  

 

I'm wondering what everyone here thinks about dinner that takes that long.  Is there something wrong with me for being annoyed by it?

Like I, and many others said on FB.....eating in my family is an event.   We enjoy the conversation and slow pace of the good meal.   We don't like being rushed. It has always taken us about 90 minutes on the ship in the MDR.   Go to the buffet if you want a quick meal....or do ATD or early seating.....we always do early and miss nothing.   We have never had to rush back to the ship from our excursions and we have time to see every show and comedy club performance we want.

[ProgRockCruiser]

I don't mind if a meal takes well over an hour.  In fact, I mildly prefer it, as it allows me time to digest each course as we chat between ourselves and the others at the table (which we really do enjoy, as a related topic) - if I eat too quickly I find I don't have room for dessert, whereas a more relaxed pace can let that happen.  If you really are in a hurry, and want to streamline your appy/main/dessert consumption, the Lido buffet really the the best option.

[mom2tcdx2]

Rarely have I seen a meal be less than an hour, our experience with YTD was the meals took longer than when we had a set dining time.  I usually count on them being about an hour and a half.  Which to me is about the right length of time for a nice meal and just being able to talk with family, etc.  

 

If I want my meal under an hour then I would just go to the buffet where there is generally no wait in getting food.  

 

Longest cruise meal I have ever had was on Royal in Wonderland, meal was over 3 hours long.  

Edited October 20, 2022 by mom2tcdx2

[ChuckF]

We generally do late dining, and as long as we can make it to the late production show, we're good.  Last cruise on Miracle in March, service on first night was ridiculously slow. Said something to the Maitre'D on the way out that night and service picked up for rest of cruise. 

[PA Dutchman]

It always takes 1 to 1/1/2 hrs for diner its been that way since the 90 s sometimes it takes 20 min till they take or order depends on how many people at your table and around you. Lots of factors. We don't eat to much in the dining room anymore, we try the Lido so we don't need to change for the evening I can stay in shorts unless we go to the Steak house, we do that 2 times a cruise .

 

[Linguist208]

I don't mind a leisurely dinner in the MDR. But I can certainly do without the floor show. I know there are those who like it, but I can't imagine the staff REALLY enjoys the performances.

[Pellaz]

5 hours ago, Linguist208 said:

I don't mind a leisurely dinner in the MDR. But I can certainly do without the floor show. I know there are those who like it, but I can't imagine the staff REALLY enjoys the performances.

 

If what you're imagining were true, then all of those crew folk enthusiastically taking part in "Sssssshowtime" deserve Oscar Awards for their incredible acting prowess.    

[Guest BasicSailor]

People that eat in the MDR are looking for the dining experience. Which has switched over to the paid venues these days. However, if time is not an issue be prepared for slow service, while waiting for your table mates to gobble down all those double to triple appetizers.

[Rudyard]

On 10/19/2022 at 6:16 PM, ldubs said:

While I'm not looking for long drawn out dinner sessions, I would dislike being rushed even more.

 

I'm pretty much the same way. Only time I was truly felt rushed was at seaday brunch. One time when it still closed at 1:00, we got there around 12:40. Our server seemed agitated that we arrived "late" as most other guests had already left and I guess they wanted to start getting ready for the dinner service. Not exaggerating when I say they pushed us out of there in about 30 minutes. Soured us on brunch for a long time. 

[asalligo]

I am very annoyed by dinner taking so long. They know when the shows start and the events occurring in the evening. No reason it should take more than an hour. 

[asalligo]

4 hours ago, Pellaz said:

 

If what you're imagining were true, then all of those crew folk enthusiastically taking part in "Sssssshowtime" deserve Oscar Awards for their incredible acting prowess.    

You are either not paying attention or are bad at seeing the signs in human behavior. They hate this. Most are dying inside when they have to do this. Clearly it is being forced upon them and you cannot ask them if they are cool with it because saying they are not would be the end of their jobs. 

[sparks1093]

5 minutes ago, asalligo said:

You are either not paying attention or are bad at seeing the signs in human behavior. They hate this. Most are dying inside when they have to do this. Clearly it is being forced upon them and you cannot ask them if they are cool with it because saying they are not would be the end of their jobs. 

And your source for this information would be? I'm sure that there are some who do hate it, many more that dislike it or tolerate and others who don't mind it at all or even enjoy it. 

[shipgeeks]

We do late traditional dining. On the RC ships that we sail, show times are set to synch with the set dinner times, allowing dinner to take over an hour and a half and still easily attend the show before or after dinner.  Personally, I would consider a dinner taking less than that to be a failure.  We eat at the least an appetizer, a main course, and a dessert.  Our bodies would not appreciate doing all that in an hour or less.  And dinner, for us, is also a social occasion, with conversation among our tablemates.

[Bollycats]

I think dinner should be 45 minutes to an hour. Anything over that is just too long and there are many other things to do in the evening. Our breakfasts on the sunshine last week took a really long time whether it was a sea day or a regular day. I think they might have been a little understaffed.