Appetizers on Balcony for Sailaway

What is the best way to have some munchies on our balcony for sailaway from NY on Thursday?

I called the Funshops, and they said all the platters like the canapes, and cheese boards would have to be ordered from room service and that can take anywhere between 1-4 hours, and we would need to stay in the room to wait for it. So that's out, because our friends have never cruised and I am sure will want to spend the time before sailaway wandering the Sunshine.

So...what else is open around 4 pm (after muster obviously), where I can grab something for us to enjoy with a bottle of wine? Taste Bar? Havana bar snacks? If memory serves the Lido will be shut down, I don't want pizza or a sub and room service doesn't offer any trays except veggie. Should I grab some cheese and fruit from the Lido at lunch and put it in the fridge?

How has anyone else handled this?

Thanks in advance!

We take a plate of cheese/meats and crackers up to our room from the Lido. We always bring a couple of baggies from home to wrap things up and put in the refrigerator.

We will mix things up with some veggies from the salad bar along with some ranch dressing, olives, etc.

This is our favorite part of cruising - sitting on the balcony with a cocktail as we sail away.

We take a plate of cheese/meats and crackers up to our room from the Lido. We always bring a couple of baggies from home to wrap things up and put in the refrigerator.

 

We will mix things up with some veggies from the salad bar along with some ranch dressing, olives, etc.

 

This is our favorite part of cruising - sitting on the balcony with a cocktail as we sail away.

Thanks for confirming my fall back plan! Our own personalized snack tray!:D

I would liberate some snacks from lido and bring back to your cabin

So, it's too late to order from Bon Voyage?

They have trays, but I don't know if they have cheese/crackers/meat.

Lido should have you covered, just not sure about the crackers.......

Bring a box of Ritz in your carryon.:D:D

Agreed- you'll pretty much have to pack your own "picnic basket" with takings from the lunch buffet earlier in the day.

Load up - it's "free"! :D

What is the best way to have some munchies on our balcony for sailaway from NY on Thursday?

 

I called the Funshops, and they said all the platters like the canapes, and cheese boards would have to be ordered from room service and that can take anywhere between 1-4 hours, and we would need to stay in the room to wait for it. So that's out, because our friends have never cruised and I am sure will want to spend the time before sailaway wandering the Sunshine.

 

So...what else is open around 4 pm (after muster obviously), where I can grab something for us to enjoy with a bottle of wine? Taste Bar? Havana bar snacks? If memory serves the Lido will be shut down, I don't want pizza or a sub and room service doesn't offer any trays except veggie. Should I grab some cheese and fruit from the Lido at lunch and put it in the fridge?

 

How has anyone else handled this?

 

Thanks in advance!

You can preorder snacks online from Fun Shop:

https://www.carnival.com/FunShops/gourmet-sweets-and-more/party-trays

Great suggestions..

I am in aft. baloney on the Pride in Jan..

Will go to the Lido deck pack a nice cheese/fruit/veggie tray..

With a drink in one hand ... thank you for the post

The real sailway party ins on the lido deck , I watch it from Deck 11 or 12 , while at the rail watching the sights leaving port , but you can hear the music at the same time .... We always have a balcony room , but lido is much more fun

So, it's too late to order from Bon Voyage?

They have trays, but I don't know if they have cheese/crackers/meat.

 

Lido should have you covered, just not sure about the crackers.......

Bring a box of Ritz in your carryon.:D:D

I've never seen crackers on the Lido so bringing your own box of Ritz to go with cheese and meats from the Lido is the best solution.

I would liberate some snacks from lido and bring back to your cabin

Exactly what I was thinking!

Just grab a plate and fill it up with snack type items and take it back to your cabin

Great suggestions..

I am in aft. baloney on the Pride in Jan..

Sounds like you have half the battle won with snacks if you have an aft BALONEY....snicker.

Seriously though, the Lido should have a good selection snack types of foods such as cheeses, meats, along with cherub tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and ranch dressing from the salad bar, maybe rolls if they have them. A box or 2 of crackers and some tooth picks would do you fine. G'Luck.

I would bring a small Tupperware like container with a lid for the salad dressing dip!

The real sailway party ins on the lido deck , I watch it from Deck 11 or 12 , while at the rail watching the sights leaving port , but you can hear the music at the same time .... We always have a balcony room , but lido is much more fun

Yeah - the "official" sailaway is on the Lido, but we too always have a balcony, or even better, and AFT balcony, and we much prefer to be there. Something about decompressing (in this case with our friends), sitting with a glass of wine and just listening to the sounds, feeling the motion of the boat, and watching the world pass away that for us best signals the start of the vacation. We are more "relaxers" than "partiers" and prefer the quiet of our balcony over the deck parties. That's the joy of cruising - something for everyone!

Your sail away plans sound great! Snacks from Lido, crackers from home, nice chilled wine and friends.....enjoy it!

hahaha... see what happens when you finally get wifi.. lol

Sounds like you have half the battle won with snacks if you have an aft BALONEY....snicker.

 

Seriously though, the Lido should have a good selection snack types of foods such as cheeses, meats, along with cherub tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and ranch dressing from the salad bar, maybe rolls if they have them. A box or 2 of crackers and some tooth picks would do you fine. G'Luck.

I've never seen crackers on the Lido so bringing your own box of Ritz to go with cheese and meats from the Lido is the best solution.

Have seen the little 2 piece saltine packages by the soup or on the salad bar.

I make my own spiced nuts which are a big "hit" among family and friends. I always take some onboard to munch on while sitting on my balcony. They are "easy peasy" to make. :D:D

Your sail away plans sound great! Snacks from Lido, crackers from home, nice chilled wine and friends.....enjoy it!

The real sailway party ins on the lido deck , I watch it from Deck 11 or 12 , while at the rail watching the sights leaving port , but you can hear the music at the same time .... We always have a balcony room , but lido is much more fun

I agree. I can't imagine hibernating unless it's from some boring port.

How many people are going to be on your balcony?

We used to stay on the balcony too- Until we sailed the Splendor and joined the deck party for sail away. WOW what we have been missing for quite some time.

Great idea - I had never thought of this before!

Have seen the little 2 piece saltine packages by the soup or on the salad bar.

Never noticed them before. I'll have to look for them on the Vista. Thanks. :)

The penny-pincher in me would make some plates at Lido during lunch after you board, and bring them back to your room. This way it's exactly what you want, and the price is right.

I would liberate some snacks from lido and bring back to your cabin

One cruise we had a cocktail party (they smuggled on too much, lol) in a cruise friend's cabin. They went around and got cheese, cold cuts, olives etc from the buffet. Also some fruit. Toothpicks and paper napkins came from the bar. We brought dessert-cookies.

Just to let everyone know, the "snacks from the lido" worked perfectly! Lunch meat, 3 different types of cheese cubes, veggies, ranch and some olives. Never found crackers - but I think that keeping it "low carb - clearly not low fat!" kept us not feeling stuffed for dinner.

The only issue was that the fridge on the Sunshine was too small to hold the large plate from the lido and I had to put it on an angle! LOL

This was a perfect sail-away for us on their aft balcony as we had boarded by 12:15 and eaten and wandered the entire ship back and forth so they could get a feel for it. We had excellent views of Lady Liberty and Manhattan - and an unobstructed view straight up as we went under the bridge!

Magically, a couple of bottles of wine disappeared while we relaxed and got our cruise on!:D:D:D