When you order multiple entrees or appetizers

[AMAC86]

...in the MDR, do the staff and/or other passengers give you a strange look? I would hate to have to choose between lobster and chateaubriand!

Is this practice pretty commonplace on Celebrity? On our Carnival cruise last August, I didn't notice a single person at our 8 person table do this. I don't want to be the only one!

[kitty9]

You can order as much as you want. No problem.

[AlanAllyn]

I've ordered two main courses and no appetizer and other times three appetizers and two desserts (no entree). No one has ever given me a hard time.

[ghstudio]

We have often ordered an extra "vegetarian" dish for more interesting vegetables. Many just automatically order two shrimp cocktails to get one normal size portion.

[Ma Bell]

You must be hungry. Never post unless you've had a snack.

[AMAC86]

Hahaha, just had a snack--after I posted.

[Oville]

Originally Posted by Ma Bell

You must be hungry. Never post unless you've had a snack.

Excellent post, we don't have room for one complete meal, two, I think not.

I went grocery shopping today hungry. Amazing how many things looked good to me so I bought them. Had I just eaten, my cart would have been a bit more empty.

[JAMESFALLETTA]

I am similarly conscientious about holding other diners up as I usually order 2-3 appetizers/salads each night. Simple solution: table for the exact size of your party. Less fun to some as no interaction with other cruisers, but I think it limits the downside of potential disruptions and aggrivations.

When I cruise I always have a table for just my party, whether it be my spouse and I or my entire family/in laws. We usually check out the menu prior to dinner, and almost always agree on ordering an equal number of courses per person, so that everyone eats, or at least is served, at the same pace. If my wife wants 4 items and I want 2, we order all 6 items, 3 apiece, to expediate dinner.

Communicate with your waiter team. If I order 2 entrees, I request that they be served simltaneously so I stay on pace. I don't think ordering a second appetizer or salad necessarily slows the service down as entrees are not immediately available for the wait team to serve. Each menu item is held at a specific station in the kitchen, and entrees aren't released until the appetizer service rush has died down. For example, if you ordered nothing but entrees, expect to sit idle for awhile until you'll be served anything more than bread.

I always do late seating and never feel rushed. Some nights it's 5 courses and others it's 2 or 3 and a dessert in the Buffet or Gelateria. Another great reason to get a table the exact size of your party is that you wo't have to worry about being exactly on time for dinner as X still allows you to be sat 15-30 mins. past your scheduled time. The one time my wife and I shared a table with other passengers, they were constantly alternating between MDR, buffet, and specialty restaurants without alerting us or the waitstaff in advance. This led us to wait for them on nights they would not show, and on nights we didn't wait they would arrive and be sat with menus after we had eaten our appetizers. Too disruptive for my taste, especially on vacation.

To each, his or her own!

[AMAC86]

Hmmm... we are less than 2 weeks out from our cruise now. Is it too late to call Celebrity and request a table for 2 for the late seating? My travel partner is impartial as to whether or not we sit with others, but I think this issue of slowing others down to get my 12 lobsters might push me to choose a table for 2.

[Denny01]

Originally Posted by AMAC86

Hmmm... we are less than 2 weeks out from our cruise now. Is it too late to call Celebrity and request a table for 2 for the late seating? My travel partner is impartial as to whether or not we sit with others, but I think this issue of slowing others down to get my 12 lobsters might push me to choose a table for 2.

No, don't get a table for 2. Your other table mates would love for you to order 12 lobsters and then try to sneak some for themselves!

I don't really think it slows up the serving that much. Personally, I sometimes order 2 appetizers or such, or an extra entree for my wife and I to try something different.

Funny, when I first joined CC, I mentioned how nice it was on a cruise to be able to order an extra appetizer or meal to just try it. I used the word 'sample it'. Boy did I get the nasty posts from a couple of others accusing me of wasting food and driving the cost of a cruise up by over-ordering. One lady told me I should be ashamed not cleaning my plate every meal (and I guess every plate). The Host had to remove their posts after they got very nasty and one of them started a new thread about how selfish I was for wasting food. That one was removed and I didn't see him post again so I think he was banned at least for a while.

At first I was shocked at their reaction then realized that some people on these annonymous threads love to go crazy over the darndest things. I tried to lighten it up by pointing out one of the reasons I wasn't overweight (at least then!) was maybe because I didn't clean every plate put in front of me.....that didn't work out too well when they thought I was calling them fat (I guess I was).

Lesson learned. Roll with it on his forum. Enjoy your extra dish, and enjoy those 12 lobsters.

Den

[bplazo]

I have never seen anyone order more than one and I never have either.

[thespiritmovesme]

I was on a recent NCL cruise in a specialty Asian restaurant, at a table for 2, with my DH & I ordered 3 appetizers as my entire dinner. I told the waitress she could bring them separately, together on the same plate or whatever was easiest for her. She brought them all at the same time on separate plates but asked me to be sure to tell her boss that that was what I requested. My DH got his single entree shortly after. When the hostess came by she asked if every thing was to my liking & I said it was exactly to my liking. She smiled & walked away. I ate & enjoyed every bite and was not stuffed.

[terigo]

My son-in-law, who can and will eat anything not nailed down, ordered every entree on the menu on the first night, to the amazement of the waiter. He smiled graciously and asked him in what order he would like to have them.
My son-in-law said "surprise me"... and subsequently got every entree on the menu, which he polished off.
Nobody at the table got put off by this... they just smiled and marvelled at his skinny body being able to down all that food!
After that, the waiter asked if he again would like to have all the entrees, and mostly he just selected 2 or 3... never a problem.

[vtcruising]

Reminds me of an RCI cruise a few years ago when we were seated with just one other couple we had never met. The guy was in his 60's and had a tiny, much younger wife. On lobster night, we watched in awe as she put away 5 good-sized lobster tails, one after another - the waiter just kept bringing them until she couldn't eat another one. I must say we never resented her slowing down the dinner - it was very entertaining and makes for a great cruise story!

[gymjudge55]

This as a first time cruiser....I will probably order just appetizers and salad some nights for dinner as I often prefer appetizers over dinners. Depending on the size of the appetizers I may order more than one. I love tapas and probably would love Qsine, but not at the extra cost.

[Shippy]

There is just the 2 of us. We always ask for early dining with the biggest table possible.
I cannot remember a cruise where someone did not order extras !
My biggest nightmare would be to sit with people on Weight Watchers !
I usually get 2 desserts :O)

Never a problem with the staff...

[JRarey]

It is very common at a larger seating to see people order extras. We see it all the time and we participate too. DW will often order more that one appetizer, sometimes we will share an extra entree or an extra dessert. It is not uncommon for me to order two deserts on my own.

IMO if anyone is in such a hurry to get through dinner that tablemates ordering extras would upset them they should be at a private table. Dinner on a cruise is as much about socializing as it is eating. Often these days the socializing trumps the food! I can remember far more about our tablemates and waitstaff over our cruises than I can remember about the food. And I love me some good food!

I agree food should not be wasted. We will always eat what we order unless it is just plain bad. Even then, we will do our best.

Even if it does upset someone, too bad. It's cruising and enjoying and exploring food is on of the perks....relax and enjoy the ride.

[TLCOhio]

Yes, we were able to order more of what we liked most. Like having that added flexibility. It's good to be a little creative in this way.

To feed the food junkies, below are a couple of my dining pictures from our Solstice cruise. It was good there were lots of places for walking around on the ship, plus in the ports to work off those added and enjoyable calories.

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

Did a June 7-19, 2011, Solstice cruise from Barcelona that had stops in Villefranche, ports near Pisa and Rome, Naples, Kotor, Venice and Dubrovnik. Enjoyed great weather and a wonderful trip. Dozens of wonderful visuals with key highlights, tips, comments, etc., on these postings. We are now at 71,160 views for this live/blog re-cap on our first sailing with Celebrity and much on wonderful Barcelona. Check these postings and added info at:
http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/s....php?t=1426474


From the Main Dining Room on the Solstice in June, here is one of the dishes that I enjoyed on this cruise. As I recall, it is a veal beef shank.:




In front of where the desserts were offered at the brunch buffet in the Main Dining Room, there were three ice carvings. Nice to look at, plus sampling these treats!:

[Kellie Poodle]

I have "mechanical" problems with some foods, having lost the left side of my tongue to cancer 5+ years ago and continual, life-long side effects of radiation. I do "taste and waste" quite often.

Sometimes I order a dish thinking it will be fine and then realize I can't eat it at all so I order something else. Many times, I can only taste 'sweet' on the first bite, so I'll take one enjoyable bite of dessert and leave the rest unless the texture is enjoyable, then Ill eat a little more.

Everyone at my table usually knows about my problems to a small extent because there are 3 to 4 Diet Cokes lined up waiting for me every evening after the first evening as I need a lot of liquids to swallow food.

I will apologize in advance to my table mates and ask that if they feel uncomfortable with my eating habits to please let me know and we'll try to change tables. No one has ever objected. People are much nicer than you'd expect.

[travelberlin]

Originally Posted by AMAC86

...in the MDR, do the staff and/or other passengers give you a strange look? I would hate to have to choose between lobster and chateaubriand!

Is this practice pretty commonplace on Celebrity? On our Carnival cruise last August, I didn't notice a single person at our 8 person table do this. I don't want to be the only one!

It is possible to do this. On my last cruise there was a couple doing this. I was not even seating at their table, however, I had to wait for them to finish one starter after the other before getting my main dish. Waiter would wait for his table or area before serving every body. Very annoying for us who just eat normal.