Lido Buffet vs MDR

[OmarOak]

Political division, "culture wars", and the breakdown of civil discourse have made the prospect of dining with strangers potentially unpleasant. We avoid it - the risk is not with the potential benefit.

 

Likewise, I wish passengers would leave behind their political t-shirts, hats, etc. 

 

[Florida_gal_50]

I manage to meet plenty of people just randomly.  Don’t need to dine with others to meet people.

[Mary229]

23 minutes ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

I manage to meet plenty of people just randomly.  Don’t need to dine with others to meet people.

We do too and those are the people we invite to dinner.  It is a pleasant way to enjoy new found friend’s company.   Then again we are happy to enjoy dinner alone.  

[Mary229]

31 minutes ago, OmarOak said:

Political division, "culture wars", and the breakdown of civil discourse have made the prospect of dining with strangers potentially unpleasant. We avoid it - the risk is not with the potential benefit.

 

Likewise, I wish passengers would leave behind their political t-shirts, hats, etc. 

 

We were having a lovely breakfast with a group of 7 and when the 8th was seated he was a bit of a boor.  6 of us twitched uncomfortably when at last a rather quiet woman of our original group piped up and said “we don’t want to talk about that”. Perfect.  Assertive, subject changed and no one challenged on their own political perspective.

[Florida_gal_50]

Just now, Mary229 said:

We do too and those are the people we invite to dinner.  It is a pleasant way to enjoy new found friend’s company.   Then again we are happy to enjoy dinner alone.  

I went to the pinnacle one night and there were two lovely ladies next to me.  I really enjoyed talking to them.  Maybe a half hour later 2 world cruisers were sat on the right of me.  I recognized their names from a thread on cruise critic that they were mentioned on.  We all got to chatting.  It was one of the most enjoyable dinners I’ve had in recent times.  Also meet a lot of people in the cabanas.  I met some fellow Canadians on my last cruise from the next province over that I looked forward to talking to daily.

[rodndonna]

20 hours ago, OmarOak said:

 

Likewise, I wish passengers would leave behind their political t-shirts, hats, etc. 

 

 

The good thing about the political shirts and hats is, for us, we have been warned to just avoid the wearer. 

[LMaxwell]

I have met people onboard at the pool or a bar, and ended up sharing a table for a meal later on in the cruise with them. That's fine if both parties are getting along and wand the fun to continue.   On our last cruise we met people we dined with a couple of times, and the cruise before that a handful of people that we dined with on separate occasions. Sharing a meal with some fast friends is nice though; otherwise prefer to keep it just to our party.

 

However I have zero interest in being paired with complete strangers; my last few experiences with that method were poor - after we do the where do you live/what do you do routine people seem to gravitate towards cruise status/airline status/hotel status at best, and that all bores me to death, or politics which I am completely sick of and don't want to discuss.   If the table is larger than 6, you either shout across or simply never speak to some of the group. 

[dwc13]

My wife and I enjoy buffets. Alas, most of the local casinos have done away with their buffets, either because of the pandemic or to rid themselves of a loss leader. So a cruise remains somewhere we can still enjoy a decent buffet without traveling to Las Vegas or Lancaster.

 

We prefer checking out what is available at Lido and then picking out what we want. Looking at a menu in MDR and reading descriptions doesn't stimulate the senses the same way. We also prefer pouring our own beverages. Refills when we want without having to wait for the server. I love the ice coming from the machines in Lido on HAL -- fantastic ice. Can't get enough of the stuff, so self-serve is awesome. Finally, if we want to bring a few items back to the room for a late night snack, we can easily accomplish that in Lido. 

 

We try and make it to MDR a few times during the cruise for a change of pace, usually when there is something on the menu that we're interested in trying.  

[albingirl]

On 11/6/2022 at 12:07 PM, OmarOak said:

Political division, "culture wars", and the breakdown of civil discourse have made the prospect of dining with strangers potentially unpleasant. We avoid it - the risk is not with the potential benefit.

 

Likewise, I wish passengers would leave behind their political t-shirts, hats, etc. 

 

And I  really don't like people who ask stupid questions like how much did you pay for this cruise. Rude.

[soccermom4]

We are also going to be on a long cruise (31 day) for the first time in March.  May end up trying the buffet for dinner just for a change.  My husband and I are now vegan (but will probably flex to include some vegetarian items for ease).  How accommodating is the buffet to dietary preferences?  I know that the MDR menu marks vegan and vegetarian dishes.  Is the same thing true in the buffet?

 

[LMaxwell]

17 minutes ago, soccermom4 said:

We are also going to be on a long cruise (31 day) for the first time in March.  May end up trying the buffet for dinner just for a change.  My husband and I are now vegan (but will probably flex to include some vegetarian items for ease).  How accommodating is the buffet to dietary preferences?  I know that the MDR menu marks vegan and vegetarian dishes.  Is the same thing true in the buffet?

 

Yes, even more so