Breakfast and lunch in Braemar

hi, this is our first cruise on Braemar, and with FO. Can anyone tell me whats best to do for breakfast and lunch please? Do you have to use the restaurant you are allocated for dinner, or can you use any one, does it depend on where you eat as to whether you have to pay, and if there are any recommendations, would be pleased to learn, thank you

hi, this is our first cruise on Braemar, and with FO. Can anyone tell me whats best to do for breakfast and lunch please? Do you have to use the restaurant you are allocated for dinner, or can you use any one, does it depend on where you eat as to whether you have to pay, and if there are any recommendations, would be pleased to learn, thank you

Hi Mabletown - I'm sure you will love the Braemar, she is my favourite ship:) We usually eat in Palms cafe for breakfast and lunch and sometimes for dinner, but you can also eat in either of the two dining rooms for breakfast and lunch (open sitting) Not sure if Braemar has a 'pay extra' restaurant now. She didn't last February. Sure someone will know.:)

We were onboard Nov/Dec and they were using the deck area just outside the Palms self service restaurant as a 'pay for it' dinner venue - called The Grill, I think and they were charging about £20. Not well frequented, I must add.

If you have booked a while ahead, you may be able to request The Grampian for dinner, which we really liked. It is a quieter venue, so not everyones cup of tea if you prefer really lively table at dinner. The Grampian was nice for breakfast and lunch with good views, but got busy and the walk through to the servery was not that easy as it has not been designed as a self service venue, so not the best place if you are in a hurry.

The ship is lovely with really big windows everywhere. It is not as old as the other Fred ships.

Hi there. Your fixed dining allocation in the evening has no referance to breakfast or lunch.

Just go where you want to at breakfast or lunch.

We found not much difference between the two restaurants, except in the Palms

You served yourself with coffee sometimes. Also the beans were better in Thistle. No joking.

We never saw anybody eating in the premium restaurent, but it's a good option for a celebration I think.

The Breamar is great have a great cruise.

thanks everyone - really helpful to know what to do - I like to be prepared. Tring - We have booked in Grampion and are very unlikely to use the Grill - we will not be in any hurry at all - why rush. Looking forward to enjoying our cruise.

Hi sorry to highjack the thread, but is it self service for breakfast in all restaurants for breakfast?

Hi lanky,

There is self service, but you can also order from a Waiter in the MDR. In Palms I think it's self service

Same at lunch, which has a nice menu in the Thistle.

Hi lanky,

There is self service, but you can also order from a Waiter in the MDR. In Palms I think it's self service

Same at lunch, which has a nice menu in the Thistle.

Thanks :)

Hi there. Your fixed dining allocation in the evening has no referance to breakfast or lunch.

Just go where you want to at breakfast or lunch.

We found not much difference between the two restaurants, except in the Palms

You served yourself with coffee sometimes. Also the beans were better in Thistle. No joking.

We never saw anybody eating in the premium restaurent, but it's a good option for a celebration I think.

The Breamar is great have a great cruise.

Does Braemar actually have a premium restaurant? I have seen it mentioned on these boards but can't seem to find any reference to it on the Fred Olsen website.

Hi yes it does.

Hi yes it does.

Many thanks for that, do you have any more info on it. From your previous post it doesn't seem like we'll have a lot of trouble making a reservation.

Mabletown - No problem at all with service in the Grampain for dinner. We just felt that popularity and design of that restaurant made it a bit slower for breakfast and lunch if you are in a hurry.

As mostly stated by others, there is self service buffet in all restaurants for breakfast and lunch and I would say most people used it for at least some items, but a menu is available if one wishes to order some, or all, their breakfast from the menu in both the Grampian or the MDR. Soup is only provided on a waiter service basis in the Grampian and MDR at lunch time, which is handy as it is not easy to carry a bowl of soup when at sea if the ship is moving a bit!! You carry your own soup in The Palms and everything is buffet at all times. I assume this is the same throughout Fred's fleet as it is what we have always experienced.

The 'premium' restaurant on Braemar is The Grill which I mentioned earlier on this thread (unless they have discontinued it). It is open air but with an overhead cover, so is only used in warm weather conditions. It is a part of what is the open air section of the self service (Palms) restaurant at breakfast and lunch - the bit just out side the rear doors from the Palms. It has only existed since the refurb last autumn. The other tables a bit further away from the doors can still be used by people using the Palms buffet, so bit of a strange set up really and not well used when we were on so reservation no prob.

Enjoy your cruises all,

Barbara

Many thanks for that, do you have any more info on it. From your previous post it doesn't seem like we'll have a lot of trouble making a reservation.

Tring gives a real good description of The Grill, I never saw anybody in it, and as Tring says its a bit odd, which I agree upon.

It's not really Premium in my mind. Not like on other lines that have the Premium dining totally separate. But I suppose the food may be better or more premium choice.

Never ever used Premium on any line as we always think the normal dining is very good.

On Fred we always pick the larger Main Dining room as we like the hustle and bustle of these. They also have more tables for 8 which we like.

Other people like the smaller Dining Rooms..

It's all what you like isn't it.

At least on Fred's forum you can disagree without getting a real earful from those that don't agree with you.

Happy cruising everybody.

Tring gives a real good description of The Grill, I never saw anybody in it, and as Tring says its a bit odd, which I agree upon.

It's not really Premium in my mind. Not like on other lines that have the Premium dining totally separate. But I suppose the food may be better or more premium choice.

Never ever used Premium on any line as we always think the normal dining is very good.

On Fred we always pick the larger Main Dining room as we like the hustle and bustle of these. They also have more tables for 8 which we like.

Other people like the smaller Dining Rooms..

It's all what you like isn't it.

At least on Fred's forum you can disagree without getting a real earful from those that don't agree with you.

Happy cruising everybody.

We have tried the premium restaurants on Celebrity Eclipse and found two of them well worth the extra but the other one was a complete waste of money. We also found the service in the MDR on Eclipse extremely slow which is one reason we used the other restaurants. On Braemar we have always been lucky enough to be put on a table for eight in the Grampian restaurant and have always had good table companions and excellent service from the waiters. We are really looking forward to cruising on Braemar again. Having spent some time monitoring the Celebrity forum I completely agree with your comment about the FO forum. Many thanks for your posts.