Would you like to eat in the M.D.R. in half the time.

I was at work today and my boss comes over and says ''we just booked a Med cruise on H.A.L ''(he knows I am a cruiser ) .So I start asking him the details, I ask him about his seating and he says table for two every night I look at him like whaaaat (they are experienced Med. cruisers) and he says I know it is kind of weird but with long days in port and early wake up's going to dinner for two hours plus is just interminable on a port intensive cruise . So I told him this would make a good C.C. thread . Here it goes:Would you be more likley to go to the M.D.R. if you could eat in less time (half the time might be a bit short) I know this is hearsay to those that like full service but I must admit on some nights we would like to get the M.D.R. experience in less time . More and more people are skiping the M.D.R. ( I know there are many reasons) but I think it would keep many in the M.D.R. who are now not showing up. Most people who cruise have the M.D.R. experience many,many times and might like a new choice like freestyle, mytime etc.Would you be up for this, not every night but on nights were you have had a long day I think a new choice might be a nice alternative. What do you think.

I prefer the longer dinners in the MDR.

There is a difference between dining and gittin' fed.

That might be heresy to some........

IMO the only way to have a faster meal in the MDR would be to sit at a table for two. Apart from that there is always the buffet, or dinner in your own room.

While we enjoy a slower paced meal, odd time we might ask the waiter to bring desert as early as possible, if we need to leave at a certain time.

john

Our dinners have never been 2 hours in the MDR.

My late DH and I always had table to ourselves unless we invited someone to join us when we had a four top they would set for two each night. We never wanted our dinner to be faster than two hours. We loved to dine leisurely, relax, enjoy our wine and each other.

We enjoy tablemates! What's the rush? You're on vacation...you've had a long day ashore...eat at leisure, chat with the others at your table, and call it a night! Why does everyone want to wolf down their food in 15 mins??

No thanks! We love long dinners at a large table. Much prefer "dining" to just "eating".

We do MTD on RCCL, have Select booked on Celebrity, table for two. I am in full agreement with your boss. :)

An hour for dinner in the MDR is long enough for me. MDR's have such a banquet feel to me. They are noisy and quite frankly I would rather spend my time listening to live music.

Because we get to dine with just each other most nights, we find joining a large table for dinners on a cruise to be part of the change of pace. We have always been fortunate in our table mates, and find that sometimes our dinner conversations have been so engrossing that we adjourn to a convenient bar to conclude. Of course, on one occasion we were initially seated with six French Canadians who were so totally involved with each other that they never even made eye contact. At the end of dinner when we met with the maître d' to request a change, our waiter was already there with the same suggestion. For the next ten evenings we had our usual delightful dinners.

Yes, taking an hour and a half, or more, may be seen as an inefficient way to fuel your belly, but the very word "dinner" - as perhaps opposed to "chow" suggests that more than simple eating might be involved.

There is a difference between dining and gittin' fed.That might be heresy to some........

:D True!

Actually, we don't like being rushed. Agree, it's normally about an hour and a half for dinner in the MDR.

LuLu

A nice, sit-down civilized dinner at the end of a busy day used to be seen as one of life's little pleasures. Now a dinner table is regarded as an adversary.

Please let this NOT happen. We are rushed through so much already in our daily lives. What are we rushing FOR?

I enjoy a leisurely dinner experience, and most of the time I really enjoy meeting and talking to others. I'm not saying there should be long, unexplained pauses (that's bad service), but it shouldn't be rushed and should be paced to the rhythm of the diners. Good waiters do this.

Waiters in the MDR used to have the time to pay close attention to their tables and really get this part down. Now that they seem to have twice as many tables, it's less easy. Still, I much prefer it to the alternative.

The MDR serves multi-course meals and that takes time. Take the time and meet the people about you. Eat a bit and talk more. If I have had a very busy day ashore, why not sit a while to eat.

There are other dining options on the ship for faster food and when I want to get to a show or such I will go there.

pHEEWW....for a moment I thought the post related to the world cup football and would you like to dine during half time......you are allowed to guess my answer.

Dinner should be an event..............food (and I have known people who call any eating event 'food')is just what it states. Take time and perhaps follow by a drink or some entertainment perhaps

I know there is a whole crowd of super-casual cruisers who don't like to dress up. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that they like casual, quick meals in the MDR too.

I prefer evening dining to just getting fed, as an earlier poster pointed out.

Sometimes the pay for restaurants on board can be longer even for two. My husband and have been eating together for 52 years (eloped as teens!) so want to eat with others on a cruise. A few times our table has been having so much fun, we are the last to leave the dining room. We met our 'cruise buddies' as tablemates in 2006 and have cruised together every year since then, they have driven from MI to our NC coast house 3 times to drive to cruise together. When we tell our waiter we want to be out by a certain time, we always are. If we aren't going to eat in the MDR we let our waiter know so they will not wait for us.

Some times yes ...

We always get a table for 2. We gave up the larger tables for several reasons -- one being that some people would arrive 14 and 20 minutes late and the wait staff would not take orders until everyone was there. Two -- some people would eat a bite or two and then just sit and talk. Some of the dinners ended up being 3 hours -- way too long for us.

Eating in about 1 1/2 hours works for us.

We usually get a table for two at traditional seating/late. If we are in a bit of a hurry, we let our waiter know. Like others have said, I can't remember ever sitting in MDR for two hours. However, I do think it's ok to excuse yourself after the main meal and before dessert when dining at a larger table with others. You might say something like, we have plans to meet some friends or we don't want to miss the start of the show.

We always have a table for two. Our lives are very busy and we don't have dinner together every night at home. Our cruise dinners are romantic 'date' dinners. We never rush through an evening meal in the MDR (or specialty restaurant).

Maybe after we have retired and do start to share more evening meals at home we will enjoy larger tables on a cruise.

We enjoy the slower paced MDR dinners. With few exceptions, "the ship has sailed" and you're no longer in port, so it's not like you have the need to chow down quickly to get off the ship to do more exploring. And after what could be a port/site seeing intensive day, a nice leisurely dinner is a perfect way to end the day. But for breakfast and lunch, we pretty much always choose the buffet, pizza, taco bar, hot dogs/hamburgers etc. No...breakfast and lunch......we don't want to spend a good chunk of time in the MDR.

We enjoy the dinners with others. Perhaps a compromise for them would be for them to do the anytime option. Some nights they could request a table for two and ask their waiters to expedite service. Other nights they could request to eat with others and not worry that someone is ordering every course.

The first night is the slowest ..