Diamond Princess...Breakfast Question

[Bushido]

Cruising the Diamond Princess to Alaska on July 16, 2005. I was wondering if anyone had an idea of the breakfast and lunch menus in the traditional dining rooms. All I have read is that the Horizon Court buffet is a zoo. I wanted to get some information regarding the traditional dining room to make a better decision when I arrive. I have cruised Carnival in the past and never ate in the dining rooms for breakfast and lunch. Any help would be appreciated.

[Druke I]

Breakfast menu in dining rooms is fairly extensive, includes lox, various egg dishes, French toast, waffles, fruit, etc. You can order ala carte.

 

I sometimes eat breakfast in the dining room, refreshing change, and I like the service.

 

I never eat lunch in the dining room - meals too heavy and dinner-like for my taste. I much prefer to "graze" at the buffet, or go to the grill out by the pool.

[Colo Cruiser]

I almost always eat breakfast and lunch in the International dining room. The other specialty resturants are usually not open. I hate to fight for a table in the Horizon Court. Especially in Alaska because people will get a table there and stay all day for the view so that people that want to eat have no where to sit. It is very rude. The tables have a small card on them asking when you are done eating to vacate the table. :)

[Bushido]

Thanks for the information. What might be some good sites for menus from the breakfast and lunch and other sites that might tell me more about the Diamond Princess. I know about the cruise clues site but am still looking for the most information. Any menu, patter, or sites like those would be greatly appreciated.

[mummsie]

We were on the Sapphire in January. The International Dining room isn't open for breakfast. You have to go to 2 of the specialty restaurants. We used them all but the first day when we weren't sure of what was going on around the ship. The food is much better than the Horizon as its cooked fresh and its served so you don't have to fight with the buffet people. They give you a menu with a large range of eggs, juices and sides. They also have a 'special of the day' every day. If there is nothing on the menu you like, you can order something else. They will do their best to accommodate you. We didn't eat there at lunch time, preferring to just snack on the burgers out by the pool.

 

Breakfast in the dining room is also a great way of meeting new people as every day you are seated with different people. We had so many great conversations with people from all over. :) Gayle

[LMCAT123]

On our cruise last month (Sun Princess) we never ate at the buffet and found the dining room menus quite extensive for both lunch and dinner. I would assume they are nearly, if not all, the same on all the ships. For breakfast you are given a breakfast menu with a number of selections: eggs/various styles, bacon, ham, sausages, fruit selections, juice selections, french toast, pancakes, cereals (hot and cold), etc. A server also walks around with a selection of breakfast pastries. You can have as much of anything (or everything) as you care to ask for. There seemed to be a "special of the day" as well, I remember my husband having the Mexican Omelet one day.

 

As for lunch, again a different luncheon menu each day with various fish, pasta, meat dishes offered as well as salads, soups, fruit, desserts, etc. Hamburgers and fries were always available if you wanted them as well.

 

While I am sure the Horizon Court food is fine there is just something more relaxing to be seated in a dining room and being waited on. Whenever we walked near the buffet it seemed to us people were always "looking for tables" while carrying around plates of food. Not a lot of fun in my opinion. I imagine "off hours" it is fine and one can always go into the buffet area and get a snack/salad/whatever since they are never closed.

[Colo Cruiser]

I agree, 100% LMCAT123. ;)

[Hate 2 W8t]

lmcat,

 

Thanks for the info. We will be on the Sun in August too. Can't wait, "hate 2" in fact. :p

 

Anyway, just wondering how long it took to be seated/served in the dining room for breakfast and lunch. In a couple of ports we will be zipping back to the ship for lunch (gotta save a few bucks somewhere) and heading back out for an excursion. Also, we have some mornings where we have a little time before our first outing and would like to have breakfast away from the buffet hoardes, even if it means no view for a little while.

 

Is the dining room much busier on sea days or do you find folks are pretty well spaced out to account for those sleeping in and such?

 

Thanks for the info. This is our first cruise! :D

[where next?]

Hi Hate 2 W8t,

 

We ate in the dining room for all of our breakfasts and a few lunches on the Diamond Princess. We never had to wait to be seated whether it was a sea day or a port day. I like having my meals served but we did eat most of our lunches in either Horizon Court or the pool area because the kids enjoy the variety. I like how Princess has the stations set up in Horizon Court. It's certainly not like a cafeteria line!

 

Take care....

[LMCAT123]

Hate 2 W8t:

We never had to wait at all when we went to breakfast or lunch. We walked up, asked for a table for 2 (alone, not shared .. sometimes, depending on who was at the desk you had to be more specific in your request for table for 2) and were seated right away. We normally ate breakfast about 8-ish, altho one morning (in Martinique) it was 7:30. We ate lunch about 1-1:15 usually. On port days we normally were off ship in the morning, came back to freshen up and have lunch and went off again. It worked out very well. I know you did not ask about dinner, but we had Personal Choice dining and it worked out great too. The only time we had to wait at all was the first night and that was only about 10 min. They gave us a beeper and we were free to wander about. You can always make a reservation for a specific time for dinner if you do not want to wait.

 

Another good place to eat on the Sun is Verdi's - during luncheon hours it is a pizza place (they serve you, you do not have to get it yourself and then go sit down). At dinner they also serve pizza as well as soup, salad, several Italian entrees, dessert .. very nice actually and if you do not want to go to the dining room it makes for a good alternative (there is NO additional cost). We ate there on formal night as my husband is not into taking formal clothes on vacation and it was a great choice.

[ladydreamchaser]

I sure can't wait to leave out this Sat! I coming in from GA. I am so excited!

There are 10 of us cruising together.:)

[judyjudy56]

ladydreamchaser,

We'll be getting on the Diamond on the 4th. Take good care of the ship for us and have a great time.