Brittania Restaurant Dessert Ordering

[oursbrun]

I think I read somewhere that you have to order your dessert at the beginning of the meal in the Britannia Restaurant on QM2. Can anyone comment on this. If it's true is there any flexibility in this. I usually have no idea at the beginning of the meal whether I even want dessert- though anything chocolate is always welcome:)

[jenniwreni]

For us, we were only requested to order our dessert once we had finished our main meal.

 

hope this helps!

[bobnatt]

Never heard of this but the only thing that comes to mind is a special dessert that takes a long time to prepare like creme brullee.

[oursbrun]

Thanks all,, happy to hear we won't have to make such a difficult decision until the end of the meal

[Charles4515]

I think I read somewhere that you have to order your dessert at the beginning of the meal in the Britannia Restaurant on QM2. Can anyone comment on this. If it's true is there any flexibility in this. I usually have no idea at the beginning of the meal whether I even want dessert- though anything chocolate is always welcome:)

 

I don't know the answer because I have not been to Britannia yet, but usually when restaurants ask you for the dessert order when you order the meal it is because they make the dessert fresh to order. This would be considered a plus, not a minus.

[dougnewmanatsea]

I've never seen this on Cunard.

 

Occasionally I have been to a restaurant on land where certain desserts need to be ordered at the beginning of the meal (e.g. soufflés) but never in the dining room on a ship, where there are hundreds of people.

[KarenR_UK]

I've never seen this on Cunard.

 

Occasionally I have been to a restaurant on land where certain desserts need to be ordered at the beginning of the meal (e.g. soufflés) but never in the dining room on a ship, where there are hundreds of people.

 

I have unfortunately:( - I think it depends on your waiting staff - in Mauretania either in June 2007 or August 2006 we were ask to order dessert with the rest of the meal - a first for me - like the OP I didn't really like it, but no-one complained or suggested otherwise - it gets service over faster for the waiting staff, which is the only reason I can think it happens. I would like think that if you were firm enough they would respect your wishes and do things how you want.

 

On a similar note is the issue of ordering the last morning breakfast at the end of the last dinner which occurred in Nov 2007 - no menu was offered & as I hadn't attended breakfast in the restaurant I didn't know what was available.:(

[paul1959]

Of course you can order your dessert whenever you want. Yes, we ordered our dessert at the beginning of the meal, just so we would not have to stop the flow of the dinner to get a menu.

 

Britannia is amazingly flexible considering they are serving over a thousand people per sitting. We were offered seconds on dessert even - as well as a second entree since our 14 year old son eats an enormous amount.

 

Rest assured, you can arrange for just about anything within reason if you say please and thank you :D !

 

Paul

[QMCruise]

We didn't have to order dessert either when we ordered our dinner. We had great service each night of our cruise too.

[Chase Madison]

We were always asked after dinner for our dessert choice, but at lunch in the Britannia we were asked for our dessert at the beginning. Don't forget to have the Spotted Dick for dessert!!

[The Real PM]

:) We just arrived home yesterday and had a wonderful time on the Queen Mary 2. I sometimes ordered dessert when I ordered dinner at the beginning, but more often ordered after the entree. Our waiter told us it was our choice when I asked. Our table mates chose to order dessert at the beginning of the meal. I found the waiters to be very flexible and agreeable. Great service!

[sealegs9]

I don't know the answer because I have not been to Britannia yet, but usually when restaurants ask you for the dessert order when you order the meal it is because they make the dessert fresh to order. This would be considered a plus, not a minus.

Hi Charles,

Unfortunately that's not the case in Britannia. Our first cruise, we had a terrible waiter and he basically forced us to order dessert when ordering the main course (and appetizer, too). When he brought the wrong dessert- too bad. Did not get what I ordered. Another night, they offered a trio of three flavors of ice cream. I only wanted one. He said it only came that way. You've been on other cruise lines, as have I, and I was always able to get "special" orders- like no sauce, one flavor only...In fact at lunch the next day, had a great waiter in DR- he brought just one flavor of ice cream.

 

This last cruise, the waiter was friendly and sort of good. The first two nights, we ordered dessert after dinner. It took so long to get it, that every other table was already set for second seating. The next two nights, he took our dessert order with the main course order. We opted for that, but the dessert arrived late, again.

 

It really depends on the pecking order of your waiter/waitress.

 

As DS opined and I echoed- most desserts were gelatinous. Very few cakes.

[Charles4515]

It really depends on the pecking order of your waiter/waitress.

 

Is the crew international like on the other cruise lines?

[sealegs9]

Is the crew international like on the other cruise lines?

Yes. More like crew on Princess because it's the same hotel management. Skews toward Eastern European and Asian.

On RCCL, crew is world-wide, including more S.America and Caribbean.

 

It's more their attitude- or lack thereof than where they are from. Again, the service in the grills and Britannia club is what you think of when you hear Cunard. In Britannia, you get "the luck of the draw". Had more consistent very good to excellent service on RCCL and Princess.

 

We lucked out with excellent Stewards both times on QM2. Cabin service was a weak area on our two Princess voyages.

 

We still sail on Cunard; we just lowered our expectations in the dining room service area. QM2 is beautiful, great passenger mix, low key, great music in lounges in PM. A different experience from a cruise ship. Although you've sailed on Celebrity/Azamara and we haven't, so can't compare to that brand.

[GeorgeW]

If you have poor service, you do everyone a favor to have a word with the Maitre d'Hotel. Cunard takes great pride in their level of service, and they deserve every chance to make it right. For some, that's easier said than done, myself included (!)

 

Viorel, our splendid waiter in Brittania, always took dessert orders after the entree, and he remembered that I usually ordered the cheese course as well.

[Philipp]

I was on the Victoria at Xmas in Britannia and our waitress asked me for my order for dessert at the beginning of dinner .It rather took me back at first but as she was insistent I ordered. However the next night i just told her that i wasn't ready yet and i would order after my main course, the rest of the table followed suit , I subsequently discovered it was her rather than dining room procedure and after a complaint to the maitre'd over other aspects of her service matters were resolved.

 

I agree with what has been said ,Cunard do offer good service and my experience is that if you say you are not happy at the time it is addressed .

[sealegs9]

If you have poor service, you do everyone a favor to have a word with the Maitre d'Hotel. Cunard takes great pride in their level of service, and they deserve every chance to make it right. For some, that's easier said than done, myself included (!)

On our first cruise, we spoke with our head wait(ress), Jolanta. She apologized, but the waiter's service did not improve. We kept giving her feedback- no change. Jolanta is now the Maitre'D of Todd English.

 

On our last cruise, we did inform Maitre'D Jamie Firth that our waiter is friendly and tries to be accommodating, but the kitchen seems to be backed up. He thanked us for feedback on the waiter. I think the headwaiter suggested our waiter speed things up by taking dessert orders on the last two nights. Oh- it didn't help that our tablemates routinely arrived at 6:25PM. It threw off our waiter's schedule. He had to run to the kitchen twice.

[Bramcruiser]

On both of my QM2 and QE2 voyages I cannot recall a time where we had to order our desserts in advance. I always remember doing it after the main meal.

 

David

[smokey01]

I have been on QM2 6 times now and have always been asked for my dessert choice after the starters/main meal has been eaten.

 

Nicky

[pepperrn]

On both QM2 and QE2 I've only ever been asked if I wanted dessert after I'd eaten the entree.

 

As for service issues in Britannia. I've never received less than great service when travelling with Cunard. I am polite to the waiters, always treat them as I would wish to be treated. In return they have always looked after me very well.

[Jimsgirl]

On QM2 March 24, at lunch I was asked to order the desert at start of the meal, but at dinner, the whole table ordered desert after the entree was cleared, only then did we know if we had the appetite for more food.

 

There are areas where it is obvious that QM2 lost experienced staff to the Victoria and replaced them with less well trained people. My cabin stewardess can only be described as "scatterbrained", and she did not seem to know the meaning of the "do not disturb" sign.

Waiters:this is like the lottery. The dinner waiters were good, but there were times at breakfast and lunch when service went to "hell in a hand basket" At breakfast one morning the whole table just sat bemused. we never received juice, no rolls, no danish, no toast.there was no sugar or milk on the table. as for the orders every single order was "messed" up. My own order for one sausage, one grilled tomatoe and baked beans, came up as two sausages , two grilled tomatoes, two portions of scrambled eaggs but not a sign of baked beans.!Yes we did call over the head waiter, but he just seemed as though the whole situation was totally out of his control.

At lunch one day I asked for my entree to be served without cabbage , the waiter said "you have to have it as the kitchen serves it, if you don't want to eat it leave on the plate"! Never had that said to me ever in a cafe or dining room on any ship.

 

None of this spoilt my cruise, but service is spotty and it is a gamble. All you can do is report the event so that the ship can regain control over the new staff.

 

It helps to remember that on any ship, any cruise line, the staff changes with every cruise,

[sealegs9]

Spot on, Jimsgirl,

Service is spotty. Varies from excellent to bordering on unacceptable. We lucked out on our Feb voyage and had a friendly waiter for dinner, this go 'round. Wasn't his fault the kitchen was backed up. He kept apologizing. Poor fellow.

We also had good service in Britannia for breakfast, the two mornings we ate there. A pleasant surprise. Was more like you described in prior post on last July's voyage.

 

Did it ruin our cruise? - no! However, it doesn't stop us from cruising on Princess and RCCL. Their service is better, but other aspects of their product are not. So- we like all three. Depends on itinerary and departure point (and sometimes price).

 

Now- if the Cunard service blew us away, we'd probably opt to sail Cunard over the other two mass market.

[PianoManNYC]

On QM2, I was asked to order my dessert with the main meal which I found to be unpleasant. I did not comply, and they came back with menus at the end of the entree. On QE2, just back, there was NEVER such a request. But the server was so accomplished that he knew after day two that mine would be cheese and espresso. Thank you Raven!!! And bon chance on the next assignment.