Why choose buffet vs. MDR?

[Cruisin' Chick]

We had about half of our dinners in the Horizon and half in the dining room on our last cruise, which was 14 days. We had anytime for the first time (booked the cruise just weeks before the sailing and never cleared the waitlist for td), and it just wasn't the same as traditional for us. We did have the three formal dinners in the MDR.

 

Compare that to the cruise before when we ate 14 out of 15 nights in the traditional dining room. And that one time in the buffet was because our daughter was feeling a bit too iffy to go to the kids' area.

[Saruman]

I'm puzzled by the concept of line "jumping" at HC. There is no real fixed point, A to Z traffic flow once inside, past the plate stack. (Yes, we politely stand in line outside the serving area, if there IS a line there.) The salad bar and other things are in a center island....soup and/or sushi at one end, cheese and sausage nibbles at the other....I don't see standing in a line past all the side dishes and entrees just to get to the soup or salad bar for my first course.

And in the mornings, there is always a bottle neck waiting for the darn toaster, when I don't want toast. Am I annoying folks waiting for the toaster if I just bypass the whole area and go straight for the eggs and sausages? I'd never butt in front of someone standing in front of a particular item, but if nobody is serving themselves from that area, what is the harm? And since they allow pax to come in BOTH ends, people seem to move BOTH directions or just wander.

I don't see the problem. I'm puzzled. I try not to be inconsiderate of others. I just don't see any attempt on the part of HC's design to direct an A to Z line.:confused:

[1 HappyCruiser]

I'm puzzled by the concept of line "jumping" at HC. There is no real fixed point, A to Z traffic flow once inside, past the plate stack. (Yes, we politely stand in line outside the serving area, if there IS a line there.) The salad bar and other things are in a center island....soup and/or sushi at one end, cheese and sausage nibbles at the other....I don't see standing in a line past all the side dishes and entrees just to get to the soup or salad bar for my first course.

And in the mornings, there is always a bottle neck waiting for the darn toaster, when I don't want toast. Am I annoying folks waiting for the toaster if I just bypass the whole area and go straight for the eggs and sausages? I'd never butt in front of someone standing in front of a particular item, but if nobody is serving themselves from that area, what is the harm? And since they allow pax to come in BOTH ends, people seem to move BOTH directions or just wander.

I don't see the problem. I'm puzzled. I try not to be inconsiderate of others. I just don't see any attempt on the part of HC's design to direct an A to Z line.:confused:

 

They way you do it is the way most folks handle the situation. Why wait at the end of a long line if you don't want anything from that section? Most people just take what they want from a particular section & go to the next area. You don't to have to butt in line but simply wait for an opening & slip in which works very well.

[maxxedout2]

Just an added thought....and nothing to due with food quality,

table mates or wait staff.

 

Our first cruise we (DW/DH) were put on the MDR late seating.

 

Being from the East Coast and NEVER eating late at night when home

(going to sleep with a full stomach is not healthy) we immediately

tried to change to early seating. No good.

 

So, we ended up booking specialty restaurants for 6PM and also were

among the first in line at the buffet. Still do. See more shows that way

too.

 

I swear it's an East Coast Bio Rhythm thing....when we go to

Vegas we are up early and eating breakfast when the whole city is still asleep.

[regnig]

I'm puzzled by the concept of line "jumping" at HC. There is no real fixed point, A to Z traffic flow once inside, past the plate stack. (Yes, we politely stand in line outside the serving area, if there IS a line there.) The salad bar and other things are in a center island....soup and/or sushi at one end, cheese and sausage nibbles at the other....I don't see standing in a line past all the side dishes and entrees just to get to the soup or salad bar for my first course.

And in the mornings, there is always a bottle neck waiting for the darn toaster, when I don't want toast. Am I annoying folks waiting for the toaster if I just bypass the whole area and go straight for the eggs and sausages? I'd never butt in front of someone standing in front of a particular item, but if nobody is serving themselves from that area, what is the harm? And since they allow pax to come in BOTH ends, people seem to move BOTH directions or just wander.

I don't see the problem. I'm puzzled. I try not to be inconsiderate of others. I just don't see any attempt on the part of HC's design to direct an A to Z line.:confused:

 

The discussion that mentioned the "line jumping" was with respect to the Caribe Cafe not the Horizon. Your description is a good one but only applies to the Horizon. The Caribe has just one long one way U shaped counter for everything except the desserts. The isle isn't too very wide but if one keeps to the left they can "cruise" the entire line without appearing to be cutting in line. We always wait to pick up our plates until we have done that 1st pass through.

[Katie333]

If it's your first cruise, you shouldn't choose one over the other. It's very easy to do both, mix it up. All 3 meals (and the in-between meals I seem to only eat while cruising) can be eaten at either venue, and you've got room service, and the burger and pizza places on top of those.

 

For us, particularly in warm weather destinations where we just want to 'get away' the buffet fits our wishes quite nicely. We do tend to avoid formal nights regardless, and when we hit the MDR it's usually a small % of the trip.

 

You can also check out the menus for the dining room, sometimes they might offer something you love and cannot get at the buffet (souffles for us).

[1025cruise]

I hit the buffet when nothing on the MDR menu appeals to me.

Unfortunately, being a picky eater, it happens at least a couple of nights. Though there was one night that the MDR menu didn't appeal to me, and neither did the offerings on the buffet.

[Woobstr112G]

If you like your hot food hot, I'd choose the MDR. I've always found the food in the buffet never warm enough for my personal tastes.

 

Bob

[avalong]

I'm puzzled by the concept of line "jumping" at HC. There is no real fixed point, A to Z traffic flow once inside, past the plate stack. (Yes, we politely stand in line outside the serving area, if there IS a line there.) The salad bar and other things are in a center island....soup and/or sushi at one end, cheese and sausage nibbles at the other....I don't see standing in a line past all the side dishes and entrees just to get to the soup or salad bar for my first course.

And in the mornings, there is always a bottle neck waiting for the darn toaster, when I don't want toast. Am I annoying folks waiting for the toaster if I just bypass the whole area and go straight for the eggs and sausages? I'd never butt in front of someone standing in front of a particular item, but if nobody is serving themselves from that area, what is the harm? And since they allow pax to come in BOTH ends, people seem to move BOTH directions or just wander.

I don't see the problem. I'm puzzled. I try not to be inconsiderate of others. I just don't see any attempt on the part of HC's design to direct an A to Z line.:confused:

We handle it just the way you do -- and so does everyone else. Of note: on the Sapphire last month they were not allowing entrance from both sides. One side was marked "entrance," the other "exit." Not sure if this helped the situation or not....

[1 HappyCruiser]

We handle it just the way you do -- and so does everyone else. Of note: on the Sapphire last month they were not allowing entrance from both sides. One side was marked "entrance," the other "exit." Not sure if this helped the situation or not....

 

I noticed the same thing on the Grand Princess. It serves a purpose when the place is jammed but sort of dumb when the place is totally empty & they force you to go in the entrance.

[Jasperdo]

We handle it just the way you do -- and so does everyone else. Of note: on the Sapphire last month they were not allowing entrance from both sides. One side was marked "entrance," the other "exit." Not sure if this helped the situation or not....

They did the same thing on the Golden last month as well. I didn't notice a line forming outside the buffet on that cruise. On the Star and Sapphire, at times, there would be a long line just to enter the buffet area. One thing I did notice on the Golden with the new set up, is that you enter on the side that has the dessert. This tends to scatter the people more, since most people are after the salad and hot food items.

[cb at sea]

I'm not a fan of buffets. It's ok for a quick sandwich or snack while at the pool, but for dinner it's ALWAYS the dining room or a specialty restaurant....I enjoy NOT having to "help myself"!!!!

[Bucky3]

We find Anytime Dining works best for us. We generally check the dinner menu posted outside the dining room sometime in the afternoon, and then decide whether it will be the dining room or Horizon Court or a speciality restaurant for us that evening.

 

The Horizon Court on cruises especially during daylight savings time allows for beautiful views from up there, and it is usually quiet and peaceful! It also makes it easy to get a good seat for the early show!

 

We also always choose our table before we enter the buffet area, so we are never carrying around our hot food looking for a place to sit. It took a few cruises to remember to do this! Just leaving a sweater, book, or something has always worked to reserve our space.

 

We love the flexibility of dining this way especially on long cruises which are generally what we take now that we are retired. We are early diners, so I think that helps in always being seated promptly regardless of the venu we choose on any given night.

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

It blows my mind when people say how good the buffet food is as compared to other cruise ships. That means their food must be just awful! I can go on a ten day cruise on a super grand class ship and never eat at the buffet and be just fine.

 

I understand that different people like different things and that great about cruising. To each his own. But that Princess buffet is of high standard when compared against other cruise line. Yikes! There's must be just bad!

[lusitanica]

Four days away from our first cruise! I was hoping to generate some discussion of the pros and cons of both MDR anytime dining and buffet dining. I know the obvious ones (choice, speed..) but thought there might be other factors on a cruise. We'll be on the Ruby. Thanks in advance!

 

We prefered 1 seating in MDR, same time in specialties - it's not healthy to eat late. We had plenty of time to attend all shows.

Although the buffet on Ruby was simply excellent for breakfast and lunch, it couldn't substitute the MDR experience for dinner.

[sultan_sfo]

I love these kind of comments. So authoritatively stated!

 

 

- it's not healthy to eat late.

...

[1 HappyCruiser]

They did the same thing on the Golden last month as well. I didn't notice a line forming outside the buffet on that cruise. On the Star and Sapphire, at times, there would be a long line just to enter the buffet area. One thing I did notice on the Golden with the new set up, is that you enter on the side that has the dessert. This tends to scatter the people more, since most people are after the salad and hot food items.

 

On most of the ships the big jam up starts at the entrance because people are waiting to get salad. Just grab a plate & walk by them to the main food stations & it eliminates a lot of waiting. For some reason the people will stand behind each other waiting in line even if there not interested in a particular item for that section.

[S.O.C.I.O.C.A.T.s]

When we first started cruising a decade ago, yes we did it all: the MDR with the fine china and the attentive waiters, dressing up for Formal Night, many photos.

But as we became experienced and aged, a few items dawned on us.

1) The two plus hours dining experience was overblown. The five course meal with huge entrees was just too much and eating it all added fifteen pounds and a permanently bloated feeling.

2) With the buffet, you can get the portions you want, you can get small samples of many dishes and you can eat when you want. I think we are well past the impress others stage and go on cruises to relax, see places, and have a good time

paul and rachel

[Happy ks]

I've never been fond of buffet food on land or sea. While I do have to say the first day buffet was more impressive on Sapphire than we had experienced on other lines, that was it, the rest of the cruise is was just buffet food.

 

We happen to enjoy a leisurely dinner. Only one time have we gone to the buffet, since we were tired and didn't want to clean up a lot. That was a big disappointment for us. I had read the food was the same as the dining room, I just found buffet food. From now on we'll make the effort unless we are so tired, then we will order room service. I know RCI makes the dining room food available for room service, does anyone know if Princess also does this?

 

Food is always subjective and I have to agree that breakfast and lunch in the dining room is on par with the buffet. The good part is you're not battling the lines and juggling a plate, only to have to then fetch a drink. We cruise for the ocean and the service, so for us serving yourself is not a wonderful option.

 

I also think that eating in the buffet leads a lot of people to overeat, they take a whole lot more than they really need and/or go back for seconds. I'm glad there is the availability and option and have always loved the fact we could go to the buffet in the afternoon for a cookie.

[cruisenuts4life]

We enjoy going to MDR,food is always better than buffet.I must say that on the Ruby we ate in buffet half of the time the food in buffet was the best I have ever had on a cruise ship.I can only compare to RC,Celebrity and Carnival,which was the worst.

[Wecruise8]

I'm a die hard late traditional diner BUT on our next cruise I think we'll switch to anytime for the convenience. It seems that the way they schedule nighttime activities they are encouraging anytime dining. We can still dress up if we want but can also take dinner from a buffet to our balcony if that suites us. The old dog is willing to learn a new trick and, frankly, the buffet food we had during the day was pretty good.

[cruzmax]

We go to the buffet the first night for the lobster claws and shrimp....and bananas foster - yum!! After 18 cruises, we switched to Anytime Dining on our last two and love choosing our own dining time.

Pam in KY

[lovingretirement]

We always check out the menu during the day for the MDR, and if we don't see something that we really want, we just plan to dine in HC. We can always find something we like to eat there, and we enjoy casual dining most of the time. We especially like the fresh salad fixings and fruit. We're looking forward to the IC on our next cruise. We haven't experienced it yet.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Only for the first night

[Liza j]

My hubby and I always do the MDR for dinner and breakfast. Like sitting down and being served and not scouting for a table. Love talking to the people at our table also. We use the buffet for lunch, and for a quick snack. Like the other posters have said it is your first cruise so do both so you will find out for yourself which you like better. Have a great cruise.:)