MDR Etiquette

From having a glance at the menus others have posted I am a bit confused (doesn't take much!)

The menus show 'appetizers' and 'soups and salad'. Is it OK to order one of each or would 'normal' behaviour be to order just one. I appreciate the answer may well be do what ever you want but was wondering what the majority would do.

Thanks

You can order anything you like from the menu! Sometimes I will have an appetizer and soup before my entree, sometimes an appetizer and a salad, and sometimes all three! I find the portion sizes reasonable so you can enjoy more choices!

Based on my 13 cruises (Carnival, Cunard, Princess, and RCCL) most people I have eaten with ordered one from each.

 

I, for one, may order something from each or two from one and none from the other. It entirely depends on what is offered.

 

It truly is order whatever you want and as much as you want.

 

Enjoy!

We have often made a meal of just appetizers....it's all about what you are in the mood for!!!

Add to that, if you want a double order of anything you can do that as well. On a cruise, there is almost total freedom to have as much as you want of almost anything you can think of. There is food available 24 hours a day.

Used to be soups and salads were separate courses....now, they just lump them together. You certainly may order both!!!

From having a glance at the menus others have posted I am a bit confused (doesn't take much!)

The menus show 'appetizers' and 'soups and salad'. Is it OK to order one of each or would 'normal' behaviour be to order just one. I appreciate the answer may well be do what ever you want but was wondering what the majority would do.

Thanks

If you are in the mood for a relaxed extended dinner then you most certainly can order appetizer, soup, salad, main entree, and dessert. That would be considered normal for fine dining. The intervals between courses can be used for conversation with tablemates.

 

We tend to drop one of the first three depending on the menu and what we've had to eat that day. We will also (in Anytime main dining room) just get a table for two when we want a short meal (e.g. salad/entree/dessert) and don't want to wait for others to have their 5 courses. We do that when we particularly want to see a show.

Sometimes the appetizers are better than the entrees so I order 3 or 4 apps and no entree at all. And on one cruise, we watched a nearby couple order 7 lobster dinners, each! So do what makes you happy.

On a previous cruise I quite often ordered a starter then a salad to be served with my main course as found there wasn't enough vegetables or sccompaniments for my taste.

Totally agree you can order what you like when you like.

Gillian,

sometimes the appetizers are better than the entrees so i order 3 or 4 apps and no entree at all. And on one cruise, we watched a nearby couple order 7 lobster dinners, each! So do what makes you happy.

 

7!!!!!

Per ALL above ...

 

You can order everything on the menu you wish and as much of it as you please! :D

 

Don't worry ... it won't all be served to you at once ... you'll be able to finish one thing before they bring the next.

Hi There,

 

For OP the menu is set out in an American style compared to an English one, in that salad comes as a course by itself rather than as veg to a meal, however have seen folks request salad served same time as their main dish, your waiter will do what ever you want.

 

Soup the choice is between a hot one or a cold one.

 

Should you find yourself with more forks, spoons etc than you know what do with, just watch what others do, or ask a waiter one night to explain

now if you have four glasses waiting for you do not worry as your table mates will not know what each one is for either.

 

yours Shogun

We usually get an assortment of appetizers to pass around the table, especially as we have 4 children and we like them to try new things. The kids especially like the smoothies made from fruit. Sometimes I order a salad (never soup) and a main course. Dessert is usually a fruit plate. We also have a standing order for a huge bowl of steamed broccoli at each dinner as we find there are never enough vegetables for us. Frankly, the last cruise I lost weight from the healthy eating and walking!

Order whatevery you want.

 

Also, if you find two entres of interest, order both.

 

We do it all of the time.

 

Bring it on.

Should you find yourself with more forks, spoons etc than you know what do with, just watch what others do, or ask a waiter one night to explain

 

That should not be a problem on Princess. You are only given the proper utensils to use with the food item you are being served. Never more than one fork or one knife (besides the butter knife). You might have two spoons at the end of the meal, one for coffee/tea and one (if appropriate) for dessert.

As with everyone else, eat what you want, when you want...try to finish what you've ordered though. :p

From having a glance at the menus others have posted I am a bit confused (doesn't take much!)

The menus show 'appetizers' and 'soups and salad'. Is it OK to order one of each or would 'normal' behaviour be to order just one. I appreciate the answer may well be do what ever you want but was wondering what the majority would do.

Thanks

If you want & can eat all of them go for it ;)

If you want 2 appetizers order them

 

Friends of ours order 2 of everything.....we do not cruise with them :rolleyes:

Sometimes there are two entrees that I can not choose between so I order one of them as my appetizer.

 

ChipQ http://luv2cruise.blogspot.com

We usually order an appetizer and then request salad with the meal (my DD loves salads so she gets one with her kids meal also). Last cruise I ordered the sushi with crab cakes as a back up. To my surprise, the sushi was wonderful and the crab cakes, not edible :eek:. We always order an entree for each of us (Dh and I) then order 1 more for the 3 kids to share (they also order their comfort food off the kids menu but we want them to try new things, therefore the extra entree). Some nights we skip desert because we are already to full to eat more. On one cruise we were seated with 3 other couples and we each ordered an entree and passed them around for everyone to take a sample so we each got to taste everything. These were the best tablemates we ever had and we also took turns ordering a bottle of wine for the table each night.

If I may suggest.......

 

By all means order what you want but don't order so much you waste most of it.

Sometimes the extreme food waste on a ship is incredible.

No one minds anyone eating all they want but some hate to see the awful waste. :o

 

JMO....

 

We sail on NCL a lot. They offer a cheese array as a dessert. I usually want it as an appetizer. The cruise line doesn't care. I have also asked for half portions of pasta entrees as appetizers. They really will work with you.

From having a glance at the menus others have posted I am a bit confused (doesn't take much!)

The menus show 'appetizers' and 'soups and salad'. Is it OK to order one of each or would 'normal' behaviour be to order just one. I appreciate the answer may well be do what ever you want but was wondering what the majority would do.

Thanks

There is not the slightest need for concern about what the majority would do because your personal preferences may be different from the majority.

Also, majority preferences and habits can differ depending on nationality or region, or even vary from cruise to cruise.

 

As others have stated, just order whatever appeals to you.

A cruise provides a great opportunity to try new foods. If you try something and don't like it, don't let anyone intimidate you into believing that you must finish it because that simply is not true.

 

In fact, the reverse is true. If something does not taste good to you, or you have had enough and don't care to finish it, then it would be a very bad idea to stuff yourself with it.

 

If you order something and find you don't like it, inform your waiter who will be happy to bring you something else.

 

If you see something with an unfamiliar name on the menu, just ask about it and your waiter will be happy to describe it to you and will make recommendations if you let him/her know what kinds of foods you like or dislike.

You can always ask your waiter/waitress to turn an appertizer into an entree' and it will be the perfect size.

You can always ask your waiter/waitress to turn an appertizer into an entree' and it will be the perfect size.

 

Or even the other way around! I wanted to try the mushroom risotto, but wanted another entree so I asked for an appetizer sized risotto. They didn't bat an eye. I've also asked for a plate of steamed veggies on several lines because I don't eat enought veggies at dinner unless I do that. That worked out just fine and was enough to share.

Hi There,

 

For OP the menu is set out in an American style compared to an English one, in that salad comes as a course by itself rather than as veg to a meal, however have seen folks request salad served same time as their main dish, your waiter will do what ever you want.

 

Soup the choice is between a hot one or a cold one.

 

Should you find yourself with more forks, spoons etc than you know what do with, just watch what others do, or ask a waiter one night to explain

now if you have four glasses waiting for you do not worry as your table mates will not know what each one is for either.

 

yours Shogun

Our waiter usually takes away unneeded utensils as the various courses are served.