New MDR menus yet?

[orville99]

2 minutes ago, island lady said:

 

Hit and miss.....but usually, with so many food allergies...they will go to check on it for you.  

Yep, they will check, and usually come back with bogus answers (if they come back at all). Last week DW ordered the salmon cooked medium with no "herb crust" with celery root puree, and asked whether they were still substituting mashed potatoes for the puree. The waiter came back and confirmed that it was definitely the celery root puree and the salmon would be cooked medium with no herb topping. What they delivered was salmon buried under a heap of breadcrumbs and overcooked almost to combustible over a mound of cold mashed potatoes. We avoided the MDR after that.

[njkruzer]

10 minutes ago, orville99 said:

Lobster night is now called "Royal" night on the app menus, and it is always the second (last) "formal" night, so it would never be on day 4 of an 11 night cruise. My guess is either that the app doesn't have all of the 11 night menus loaded yet, so the poster can't see Royal night, or lobster is not offered on south pacific sailings.

On our 9nt 2nd formal night was not night 8 but an earlier night.  This was based on sea day instead of a late port day.

[njkruzer]

5 minutes ago, orville99 said:

Yep, they will check, and usually come back with bogus answers (if they come back at all). Last week DW ordered the salmon cooked medium with no "herb crust" with celery root puree, and asked whether they were still substituting mashed potatoes for the puree. The waiter came back and confirmed that it was definitely the celery root puree and the salmon would be cooked medium with no herb topping. What they delivered was salmon buried under a heap of breadcrumbs and overcooked almost to combustible over a mound of cold mashed potatoes. We avoided the MDR after that.

That's when we deal with head waiter who always then checked things out for me.

[island lady]

10 minutes ago, orville99 said:

Yep, they will check, and usually come back with bogus answers (if they come back at all). Last week DW ordered the salmon cooked medium with no "herb crust" with celery root puree, and asked whether they were still substituting mashed potatoes for the puree. The waiter came back and confirmed that it was definitely the celery root puree and the salmon would be cooked medium with no herb topping. What they delivered was salmon buried under a heap of breadcrumbs and overcooked almost to combustible over a mound of cold mashed potatoes. We avoided the MDR after that.

 

Bummer.   As I said...hit and miss.   Obviously you had a miss...with a bad waiter.  😞 

 

We had a wonderful wait staff team on both Serenade last month, and Jewel this month for both B2Bs.   They bent over backwards to give us good service.  No complaints there.  I guess we got lucky with "hits".   

 

Yes, we had some good servings, some "eh", and a few bad (which I simply did not eat).  Waiter immediately offered to replace, but I declined.  I was on the "new menu tasting adventure".  😉 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 23, 2023 by island lady

[orville99]

3 hours ago, island lady said:

 

Bummer.   As I said...hit and miss.   Obviously you had a miss...with a bad waiter.  😞 

 

We had a wonderful wait staff team on both Serenade last month, and Jewel this month for both B2Bs.   They bent over backwards to give us good service.  No complaints there.  I guess we got lucky with "hits".   

 

Yes, we had some good servings, some "eh", and a few bad (which I simply did not eat).  Waiter immediately offered to replace, but I declined.  I was on the "new menu tasting adventure".  😉 

 

Your key phrase is highlighted.

 

We have always had much more success in the MDR on smaller ships. We were on Jewel last month and the service was great - smaller ship, more intimate MDR environment, 70% fewer passengers than an Oasis class ship, and staff that likes working where they are.

 

On Wonder for two weeks (just got off yesterday) and the waitstaff clearly did not want to be there - saw more frowns and blank expressions than anywhere else on the ship; the head waiter could hear, but he did not know how to listen - he started telling us we were mistaken even before we had completed the first sentence, and made us feel like it was our fault that we did not understand the menu and did not know what we ordered.. The restaurant manager was no better - he got a glazed over look on his face as soon as we were introduced to him, and would not even look at my wife when she was talking.

 

An individual passenger who is not getting the service and quality they paid for is merely a rounding error and completely irrelevant to staff on the mega ships. They know you will go somewhere else for your next meal and they will never have to deal with you again, so you are invisible to them.

Edited January 23, 2023 by orville99

[Liverpoolfan181]

Was just on Wonder, where new menus were launched. We dined only twice in MDR, however both nights for us were mediocre at best. While the election in the menu seemed a most refreshing change to the past few tested repetitive menus, the quality control in making the new dishes will definitely take time to roll out. 
 

if you ordered 2 appetizers, they brought both out simultaneously which could be ok for cold dishes, but who wants soup and escargots at the same time? A polite request, ensured each app was brought on its own.

 

again menus have potential- just need to get the quality/taste on par 
 

 

Edited January 23, 2023 by Liverpoolfan181

[nelblu]

2 minutes ago, orville99 said:

Your key phrase is highlighted.

 

We have always had much more success in the MDR on smaller ships. We were on Jewel last month and the service was great - smaller ship, more intimate MDR environment, 70% fewer passengers than an Oasis class ship, and staff that likes working where they are.

 

On Wonder for two weeks (just got off yesterday) and the waitstaff clearly did not want to be there - saw more frowns and blank expressions than anywhere else on the ship; the head waiter could hear, but he did not know how to listen - he started telling us we were mistaken even before we had completed the first sentence, and made us feel like it was our fault that we did not understand the menu and did not know what we ordered.. The restaurant manager was no better - he got a glazed over look on his face as soon as we were introduced to him, and would not even look at my wife when she was talking.

 

An individual passenger who is not getting the service and quality they paid for is merely a rounding error and completely irrelevant to staff on the mega ships. They know you will go somewhere else for your next meal and they will never have to deal with you again, so you are invisible to them.

Not necessarily.  I sailed with my son and family on Oasis in October and my granddaughter has a lactaid problem.  Other than the 1st night, the HW & staff was so good and understanding.  Went over the next night menu and advised/made changes accordingly.  He was so good that my granddaughter felt very special.  He even got her the pretzel bread/rolls from Chop's as that was one of her wishes.

 

I guess it depends on the ship and complement of staff.

[orville99]

2 minutes ago, Liverpoolfan181 said:

again menus have potential- just need to get the quality/taste on par

They switched to the new menus on the 1/7 cruise, and the quality of what we were served over the two weeks has not improved. In fact, menu items that they got right the first week were totally screwed up the second week that we gave up even going there after the second night. The $7.95 room service dinner menu was actually orders of magnitude better than anything we were served in the MDR on either leg.

[Ret MP]

8 minutes ago, Liverpoolfan181 said:

if you ordered 2 appetizers, they brought both out simultaneously which could be ok for cold dishes, but who wants soup and escargots at the same time? A polite request, ensured each app was brought on its own.

I'm a little skeptical about that "polite" request being honored as requested.  I have a feeling that if you politely ask that your escargots not be brought until you complete the soup (or vice versa), the escargots will just be sitting on the Server's work station until you are ready for it.  Just a thought!  

 

I hope that is not what you experienced.  

Edited January 23, 2023 by Ret MP

[Donsyb]

3 hours ago, njkruzer said:

On our 9nt 2nd formal night was not night 8 but an earlier night.  This was based on sea day instead of a late port day.

I think they meant on the 2nd formal I.e the last formal night, not the second last night of the cruise

[ksuyen]

4 hours ago, Donsyb said:

Are you sure that’s formal (I.e lobster night? Normally it would be later in the cruise in my experience.

I didn’t include the photo for all night, but yeah no complimentary lobster at any nights. My apps already has all the menu loaded, I am sailing today. 

Edited January 23, 2023 by ksuyen

[orville99]

2 minutes ago, ksuyen said:

I didn’t include the photo for all night, but yeah no lobster at any nights. My apps already has all the menu loaded, I am sailing today. 

Probably because of where the ship is sailing. They typically don’t offer lobster on European cruises either. I don’t know whether lack of lobster is a supply logistics reason or a cultural reason.

[ksuyen]

1 minute ago, orville99 said:

Probably because of where the ship is sailing. They typically don’t offer lobster on European cruises either. I don’t know whether lack of lobster is a supply logistics reason or a cultural reason.

Probably although it doesn’t makes sense that they offer Lobster Tail in the menu every night but with premium price.

[island lady]

48 minutes ago, orville99 said:

Your key phrase is highlighted.

 

We have always had much more success in the MDR on smaller ships. We were on Jewel last month and the service was great - smaller ship, more intimate MDR environment, 70% fewer passengers than an Oasis class ship, and staff that likes working where they are.

 

On Wonder for two weeks (just got off yesterday) and the waitstaff clearly did not want to be there - saw more frowns and blank expressions than anywhere else on the ship; the head waiter could hear, but he did not know how to listen - he started telling us we were mistaken even before we had completed the first sentence, and made us feel like it was our fault that we did not understand the menu and did not know what we ordered.. The restaurant manager was no better - he got a glazed over look on his face as soon as we were introduced to him, and would not even look at my wife when she was talking.

 

An individual passenger who is not getting the service and quality they paid for is merely a rounding error and completely irrelevant to staff on the mega ships. They know you will go somewhere else for your next meal and they will never have to deal with you again, so you are invisible to them.

 

Oh no...that's not good either!   We did try the MDR one night on our 4 week Wonder cruise a couple of months ago.   The service was good, but we were seated next to a family with 3 screaming (and uncontrolled) young boys.   Did not go back.  We kept to CK the rest of the cruise,  except for one attempt at Chops (total fail).   

 

Actually it's not really the food in CK, which most times we find to be edible for us...it's the quieter and more relaxed experience we appreciate.  When we book a ship that has CK, we are GS and above.  Otherwise the JS on the smaller ships, with having dinner in the MDR works for us.   

[island lady]

Anyone currently on Voyager?   We board next Sunday for B2B2B.   Not sure if the new menus have shown up on that ship yet.   The menu on my app shows the old menu.  

[The Fun Researcher]

24 minutes ago, ksuyen said:

Probably although it doesn’t makes sense that they offer Lobster Tail in the menu every night but with premium price.

Lobster, shellfish, etc is fairly common in French cooking and some other European cuisines so I'm not surprised that at least they offer it at a premium.  I've never sailed from ports outside the US, but I was always under the impression that the lobster night was a North American thing with Royal Caribbean.

[njkruzer]

22 minutes ago, island lady said:

Anyone currently on Voyager?   We board next Sunday for B2B2B.   Not sure if the new menus have shown up on that ship yet.   The menu on my app shows the old menu.  

Head of F&B refused to say when. 

[island lady]

7 minutes ago, njkruzer said:

Head of F&B refused to say when. 

 

Ahh...thanks!   

 

We board on the 29th....so I am wondering if they might come out next week, with the time line going into February.  

 

But no matter....we like both the old and new menus.  🙂 

 

 

[volk904]

They need to bring the classics back.  Maybe not the steak since there is some kind of steak option most nights.  

[Liverpoolfan181]

2 hours ago, Ret MP said:

I'm a little skeptical about that "polite" request being honored as requested.  I have a feeling that if you politely ask that your escargots not be brought until you complete the soup (or vice versa), the escargots will just be sitting on the Server's work station until you are ready for it.  Just a thought!  

 

I hope that is not what you experienced.  

Unfortunately that was the first meal experience and had both escargots and soup delivered at same time. Was caught off guard and ended up keeping the apps- but the request was made for remaining MDR meals moving forward. 

[Liverpoolfan181]

3 hours ago, orville99 said:

They switched to the new menus on the 1/7 cruise, and the quality of what we were served over the two weeks has not improved. In fact, menu items that they got right the first week were totally screwed up the second week that we gave up even going there after the second night. The $7.95 room service dinner menu was actually orders of magnitude better than anything we were served in the MDR on either leg.

We were on Same Jan 7 cruise! We ended up booking remaining 6 nights at specialty restaurants which were delicious. 
 

that’s so Unfortunate to hear but get it. the head waiter for our section was mentioning how stressful it was for culinary and servers to launch this new menu, especially to almost sold out sailings. We ended up ordering (when in MDR) the classic items (spaghetti, etc) Mexican night was the last time we were there… nice menu… just couldn’t execute 

 

I imagine with practice they will get there, will take some time for consistency for sure. 

[orville99]

26 minutes ago, Liverpoolfan181 said:

I imagine with practice they will get there, will take some time for consistency for sure.

The unfortunate reality is that the major changes to the menus was IMHO more of a cut down of the number of offerings from the old menu and a reshuffling of the days on which they were offered (i.e. the salmon from the classic menu became a feature item on on night; the classic chicken popped up another night; the steak popped up somewhere else). They couldn't even execute the menu items consistently that survived the reshuffle let alone deliver the new items that were scattered amongst them. 

[flahagan]

On 1/2/2023 at 11:52 AM, Momto3girlsintheCarolinas said:

I am not sure how I feel about this change.  There have been several times when nothing about the  menu appealed to me,  and I ordered from the standard (every night) menu.  I am not happy to hear that these will go away and the menu will always vary.  I am concerned that I will run into the problem of not liking anything.  Not a fan of strip steak or anything Bolognese.  I hope I can still order 2-3 appetizers instead.

 

I am pretty sure no one ever starved on a cruise ship.

I just got off the Harmony on Saturday and I can tell you the new menu and the MDR food are garbage.  The food was so below average that we dreaded going to dinner - some things were downright inedible.  You are not allowed to request any item that isn't on that night's menu unless you have dietary restrictions that were addressed pre-cruise.  We would have gone to the jam-packed Windjammer except our dining companions were so nice that we enjoyed their company.  However, all of us were extremely disappointed in the food.  First time I was ever happy to get off a ship in over 30 cruises on various lines. 

[flahagan]

On 1/9/2023 at 9:12 AM, HappyTexan44 said:

I know but it looked so like blood.  
(Note I deleted my post because the menus look better on second glance)   Seems like Shrimp cocktail is there most nights and shrimp is enough to make pleased with even a *meh* meal.  
Also, at first glance I hadn't noticed that the Chef's row had different things than below.  I had thought that they were just recommending a combination.  There are some interesting things in the Chef's row.  

ETA: Although I stick by my original comment that 'white fish' is code for 'random trash fish.'  

Just off Harmony and shrimp cocktail was only offered twice in the MDR, couldn't get it any other time.  Also, we were told by our waiter that beef could only be ordered cooked two ways - well done and medium rare (which came out raw).

[HappyTexan44]

1 hour ago, flahagan said:

Also, we were told by our waiter that beef could only be ordered cooked two ways - well done and medium rare (which came out raw).

Worse and worse.