First cruise - questions about dining in the MDR

[MeTarzanYouJane]

My partner and I have just booked our first ever cruise, on the MSC Virtuosa, and having browsed various parts of this forum I have questions about eating in the MDR. I understand that we may well not be on a table for 2, rather we could be on a table for 4,6 or 8. We're both introverts so it's not ideal for us to be on a shared table trying to chat to the others, but we will manage. 

 

However I've been reading about general etiquette in cruise MDRs and have questions please! 

Have i understood correctly that they won't start serving until all people at the table have arrived? So you are treated like a group of friends at a restaurant would be? 

 

I read somewhere that it is etiquette to take turns buying a bottle of wine for the table each evening - I assume/hope we can opt out of this and just order our own non alcoholic drink, or single glass of wine? 

 

Apparently if we won't be eating in the MDR the next evening we must let our table mates know so they aren't waiting for us to arrive, but what if we don't know at that point that we won't be there the next day? What if we decide during the day that we'll eat at the buffet that evening? From watching cruise vlogs I had the impression that people happily move between eating at the MDR and buffet on different nights, making the decision on the day about where to eat, but it now seems you need to know in advance so you can tell your table? 

 

Are there shared tables for breakfast and lunch? And if so do you get given a fixed time to arrive and have the same rule about waiting for all the table to arrive before any orders are taken? 

 

Thank you so much for any answers, and apologies if they are very basic questions! 

[TheOldBear]

26 minutes ago, MeTarzanYouJane said:

My partner and I have just booked our first ever cruise, on the MSC Virtuosa, and having browsed various parts of this forum I have questions about eating in the MDR. I understand that we may well not be on a table for 2, rather we could be on a table for 4,6 or 8. We're both introverts so it's not ideal for us to be on a shared table trying to chat to the others, but we will manage. 

I would suggest visiting the MSC section of the forums for cruse line and ship specific advice [might vary between the older/smaller ships and the larger current generation ships]

 

Cruise lines generally divide between assigned seat dining and 'anytime' open seat dining. From what I recall seeing of MSC reviews the main dining is open seating - you can likely request different table sizes. For their extra cost specialty restaurants you likely will use their 'app' to reserve a table/

26 minutes ago, MeTarzanYouJane said:

However I've been reading about general etiquette in cruise MDRs and have questions please! 

Have i understood correctly that they won't start serving until all people at the table have arrived? So you are treated like a group of friends at a restaurant would be? 

We opt for assigned seating, and generally that is the case. When we or our table mates are dining elsewhere we tell the matre d so he knows we will be elsewhere [and our open wine bottle can find us]. 

26 minutes ago, MeTarzanYouJane said:

 

I read somewhere that it is etiquette to take turns buying a bottle of wine for the table each evening - I assume/hope we can opt out of this and just order our own non alcoholic drink, or single glass of wine? 

I am not familiar with that bit of etiquette - not even on longer or more traditional voyages. 

26 minutes ago, MeTarzanYouJane said:

 

Apparently if we won't be eating in the MDR the next evening we must let our table mates know so they aren't waiting for us to arrive, but what if we don't know at that point that we won't be there the next day? What if we decide during the day that we'll eat at the buffet that evening? From watching cruise vlogs I had the impression that people happily move between eating at the MDR and buffet on different nights, making the decision on the day about where to eat, but it now seems you need to know in advance so you can tell your table? 

If you are on assigned seating you likely will want to give some notice.

If you are on open seating / anytime dining there is no one to tell [different wait staff & table mates for each of your seatings anyway]

26 minutes ago, MeTarzanYouJane said:

 

Are there shared tables for breakfast and lunch? And if so do you get given a fixed time to arrive and have the same rule about waiting for all the table to arrive before any orders are taken? 

That varies, for example on Cunard's QM2 some guests in the higher price points (Queen's Grill, Princess Grill, Britannia Club] have the same table and seat waiting from them for all meal service in their assigned 'main dining room'. The large Britannia dining room serves breakfast and lunch [available for all passengers] without reserved seating - we usually request a mid sized table. 

26 minutes ago, MeTarzanYouJane said:

 

Thank you so much for any answers, and apologies if they are very basic questions! 

 

[MeTarzanYouJane]

Thank you so much for the quick reply. We chose late dining when we booked, and there is a recent discussion about dining which says your allocated table is on your cruise card, and I am sure I saw mention of having a reserved table in the MDR on the MSC website.

 

It's a 4 night cruise, and we'd probably want to do a speciality restaurant on one night, which we can only book when get on board, and we'd want to try the buffet one evening, so may only be in the MDR on 2 nights. I was assuming we'd decide on the day which night to try the buffet, depending on how the day went and what we want to do in the evening, but if we are expected to tell the table or maitre d' the day before, maybe we need to decide before the cruise. Unless it's possible to pop to our dining room in the evening, before our dining time and tell them we won't be there? 

[Essiesmom]

There is some confusion here…the MDR is open seating for breakfast and lunch, and you can ask for a two top.  Your dinner assignment depends on the ‘experience’ you booked.  If you booked Bella, you will have fixed, assigned dining.  If Fantastica, you can request early or late, but might not get it.  But Aurea has any time dining, open seating.  It may be in a separate part of the MDR, or a separate dining room.  If you are unhappy with your dining assignment, there will be a time and place after boarding to speak with MDR staff about a change.  EM

[MeTarzanYouJane]

Thank you for the confirmation about breakfast and lunch. We have Fantastica so requested late but aware we may not get it. It's good to know there will be an opportunity to talk to someone about making a change. 

[If_this_is_tuesday]

It isn't as confusing as it first seems. Some people don't go to dinner. Many tables would never be served if there was a rule everyone must go to the MDR.  Just tell your tablemates the first time you are with them you may not come every night. The dining room should stop allowing walk ins 30 minutes after it opened but is often not followed or the first night or two the place is a fiasco and a longer time is fair. And the waiters should start taking orders a few minutes after people have come and take the orders of stragglers as they come in. Buying drinks for the table isn't common now imho. With the drink packages and all inclusive cruise lines now this is outdated. 

 

 

[showingdiva]

30 minutes ago, MeTarzanYouJane said:

Thank you for the confirmation about breakfast and lunch. We have Fantastica so requested late but aware we may not get it. It's good to know there will be an opportunity to talk to someone about making a change. 

 

It sounds like you would really prefer a table for 2.   If you go to your allocated restaurant (which will be on your cruise card on embarkation), speak to the restaurant manager / maitre d', they will do everything they can to find you one.   It may not necessarily be the time you originally chose.   Do, though, bear in mind that the tables for 2 are positioned very close together.   Explain you would prefer somewhere quiet if at all possible.  I am sure they will do the best they can.

 

I've never been coerced into buying drinks for a table on rotation, not even on the QM2.   However, if you do find yourself on a larger table, then it would only be good manners to let the restaurant know if you aren't arriving, for whatever reason.   Do try Hola! if you get the chance on Virtuosa (tables for 2 are available).

Edited May 6 by showingdiva

[dbrown84]

so glad I found this post.  It never occurred to me that I should let someone know if I'm not coming to dinner.  But my upcoming MSC cruise will be my first with assigned dining.  Although I'm going to have the same problem of not only not knowing tonight what I'm going to do tomorrow for dinner, I probably won't actually make the decision until the last minute.  Freestyle dinning has spoiled me 🙂 

[MeTarzanYouJane]

21 minutes ago, If_this_is_tuesday said:

It isn't as confusing as it first seems. Some people don't go to dinner. Many tables would never be served if there was a rule everyone must go to the MDR.  Just tell your tablemates the first time you are with them you may not come every night. The dining room should stop allowing walk ins 30 minutes after it opened but is often not followed or the first night or two the place is a fiasco and a longer time is fair. And the waiters should start taking orders a few minutes after people have come and take the orders of stragglers as they come in. Buying drinks for the table isn't common now imho. With the drink packages and all inclusive cruise lines now this is outdated. 

 

 

Thank you, this is helpful and does make it seem somewhat less confusing. 

[MeTarzanYouJane]

21 minutes ago, showingdiva said:

 

It sounds like you would really prefer a table for 2.   If you go to your allocated restaurant (which will be on your cruise card on embarkation), speak to the restaurant manager / maitre d', they will do everything they can to find you one.   It may not necessarily be the time you originally chose.   Do, though, bear in mind that the tables for 2 are positioned very close together.   Explain you would prefer somewhere quiet if at all possible.  I am sure they will do the best they can.

 

I've never been coerced into buying drinks for a table on rotation, not even on the QM2.   However, if you do find yourself on a larger table, then it would only be good manners to let the restaurant know if you aren't arriving, for whatever reason.   Do try Hola! if you get the chance on Virtuosa (tables for 2 are available).

Thank you so much. We did see some photos of tables for 2 placed within inches of each other so that's not a surprise. We would I think feel more comfortable on a table for 2, so will probably see if it's possible to be moved, but if it's not possible we'll let the rest of the table and the restaurant know we may not be there every night, and if the restaurant says they need to know which specific nights we won't be there we'll pop in and tell them on the day. 

 

I like the sound of Hola! and I think it's likely to be the speciality place which we try it book a table at. 

[epanchenko]

11 hours ago, MeTarzanYouJane said:

My partner and I have just booked our first ever cruise, on the MSC Virtuosa, and having browsed various parts of this forum I have questions about eating in the MDR. I understand that we may well not be on a table for 2, rather we could be on a table for 4,6 or 8. We're both introverts so it's not ideal for us to be on a shared table trying to chat to the others, but we will manage. 

 

However I've been reading about general etiquette in cruise MDRs and have questions please! 

Have i understood correctly that they won't start serving until all people at the table have arrived? So you are treated like a group of friends at a restaurant would be? 

 

I read somewhere that it is etiquette to take turns buying a bottle of wine for the table each evening - I assume/hope we can opt out of this and just order our own non alcoholic drink, or single glass of wine? 

 

Apparently if we won't be eating in the MDR the next evening we must let our table mates know so they aren't waiting for us to arrive, but what if we don't know at that point that we won't be there the next day? What if we decide during the day that we'll eat at the buffet that evening? From watching cruise vlogs I had the impression that people happily move between eating at the MDR and buffet on different nights, making the decision on the day about where to eat, but it now seems you need to know in advance so you can tell your table? 

 

Are there shared tables for breakfast and lunch? And if so do you get given a fixed time to arrive and have the same rule about waiting for all the table to arrive before any orders are taken? 

 

Thank you so much for any answers, and apologies if they are very basic questions! 

 

I just travelled solo, and was put at a table of eight with other solo travelers.  I am an introvert as well, but I enjoyed the conversations I had with the other people.  I will answer what I saw.

 

They will wait until everyone comes, but you can tell the waiter after a reasonable amount of time to begin the ordering of the food if everyone does not show up (which did happen, no advance warning either).  I never heard of buying wine for the table, everyone got their own drinks.

 

I disagree about having to tell the restaurant you are not coming.  No one told me when they didn't show up.  You may at the last minute not feel like eating in the MDR, for instance.  It is your vacation, you shouldn't feel like you have to be worried about your tablemates.  It is pretty apparent if you don't show up in 15 minutes, you are likely not coming, or you are coming so late you shouldn't disrupt everyone else's ordering of dinner (they supposedly close the door at a certain point as well).

 

If you really don't want to sit with other people, I would go to the restaurant ahead of time and tell them you want a table for two.

[gizfish]

Your key card will have your assigned time and table number on it.  The embarkation day daily schedule will tell you where and when the maitre'd is available for dining changes.  If you go at that time, they will be able to tell you if you are at a two top and if not, will try to accommodate a change.  

[cublet]

12 hours ago, MeTarzanYouJane said:

My partner and I have just booked our first ever cruise, on the MSC Virtuosa, and having browsed various parts of this forum I have questions about eating in the MDR. I understand that we may well not be on a table for 2, rather we could be on a table for 4,6 or 8. We're both introverts so it's not ideal for us to be on a shared table trying to chat to the others, but we will manage. Go and see the Maitre d' in either Blue Danube (deck 5) or Minuetto (deck 6) ASAP and he will do his best to accommodate you.

 

However I've been reading about general etiquette in cruise MDRs and have questions please! 

Have i understood correctly that they won't start serving until all people at the table have arrived? So you are treated like a group of friends at a restaurant would be? Correct

 

I read somewhere that it is etiquette to take turns buying a bottle of wine for the table each evening - I assume/hope we can opt out of this and just order our own non alcoholic drink, or single glass of wine? Never heard of that one before - probably started by someone that wanted somebody else to buy the drink!

 

Apparently if we won't be eating in the MDR the next evening we must [must, no - should yes for the reason stated above] let our table mates know so they aren't waiting for us to arrive, but what if we don't know at that point that we won't be there the next day? What if we decide during the day that we'll eat at the buffet that evening? From watching cruise vlogs I had the impression that people happily move between eating at the MDR and buffet on different nights, making the decision on the day about where to eat, but it now seems you need to know in advance so you can tell your table? No, don't worry about it just do it. After about 15 minutes the waiter will have stopped waiting and take the orders from whoever's there.

 

Are there shared tables for breakfast and lunch? And if so do you get given a fixed time to arrive and have the same rule about waiting for all the table to arrive before any orders are taken? Breakfast and lunch are open seating (a free-for-all) and you will most probably be at a table for 2 anyway.

 

Thank you so much for any answers, and apologies if they are very basic questions! 

Hello,

 

See above in BLUE.

 

Regards,

 

Cublet

[perakcruiser]

2 hours ago, epanchenko said:

I disagree about having to tell the restaurant you are not coming.  No one told me when they didn't show up.  You may at the last minute not feel like eating in the MDR, for instance.  It is your vacation, you shouldn't feel like you have to be worried about your tablemates. 

You are right. Actually there is absolutely no need to tell anyone you are not coming the next day. But one can make the life of the waiter a little bit more easy if telling him that you will not be here next evening. 

[Illbcruzn4life]

11 hours ago, perakcruiser said:

You are right. Actually there is absolutely no need to tell anyone you are not coming the next day. But one can make the life of the waiter a little bit more easy if telling him that you will not be here next evening. 

Most times we don't know the day before. How can we handle that with notifying the waiter? If we are exhausted from a day at the beach or something we may just opt for the buffet.

[perakcruiser]

49 minutes ago, Illbcruzn4life said:

Most times we don't know the day before. How can we handle that with notifying the waiter? If we are exhausted from a day at the beach or something we may just opt for the buffet.

Sure, that is the norm. Before one also did not know the menu of the next day, so how to know if opting for MDR or buffet? Now with the app and the menu for the whole week this has changed, so a few times I could tell the waiter. Which he appreciated.