Breakfast on HA

[Linda&Vern]

I dislike room service. My idea of enjoying a meal while on holiday is sitting down at a proper table, in a comfortable chair and being waited on. We found this service on Holland America very limited.

Exactly. That's how we love to start our day! ;) It is also why I prefer my soda in a glass with ice and not in a a can thrown in front of me.

[Thebes]

I dislike room service. My idea of enjoying a meal while on holiday is sitting down at a proper table, in a comfortable chair and being waited on. We found this service on Holland America very limited.

 

Do u mean the room service ?

If so explain what u mean by limited. Maybe less choices ?

[Pearlbill]

Do u mean the room service ?

If so explain what u mean by limited. Maybe less choices ?

 

I found the choice of sitting down in a proper dining room limited. The MDR did not offer lunch service and the breakfast service had very limited hours. The MDR seemed to be unused for a large part of the day.

[trvlcrzy]

We just did the Eurodam October 12-27. Generally it was a good cruise. However, in my opinion, the breakfast buffet was horrible. In fact, any dining in the Lido was horrible. Who wants to eat cafeteria style ever, never mind while on holiday? We had breakfast most mornings in the MDR. Our only problem was that it was open for breakfast only until 9 (9:30 some mornings.) We found the MDR very under utilized. It didn't open for lunch on a daily basis. We felt it was a waste of a wonderful facility.

 

This was our first Holland America cruise. We usually cruise Princess. There were some things we loved about HAL but the dining options, horrible evening entertainment and poorly configured staterooms were deal breakers for us.

 

Pearl

 

I respectfully disagree. My experience with Princess requires that I am in a mini-suite to have anything beyond a chair to sit comfortably in my cabin. Also, the beds on my last Princess cruise were very uncomfortable (as has been true for the other three as well, but I was hoping they'd improve). We've done a min-suite once on Emerald Princess when the deal was too good to pass. The room was great, but Emerald Princess was our most recent cruise with Princess due to not feeling satisfied with the product in so many other ways.

 

The breakfast buffet (which I understand is not your preference) is terrible on Princess with food sitting for periods of time instead of being freshly prepared (French toast and fried eggs come to mind here). I am a big breakfast fan, and DH is a late-sleeping fan... hence the need for the Lido. The service is also slower in the dining room on most ships, resulting in food that is less than correct in serving temperature (cold eggs, warm juice).

 

To each his own, certainly, and I am truly glad that we don't all like the same things: 1) crowds, 2) supply & demand's impact on price.

[Pearlbill]

I respectfully disagree. My experience with Princess requires that I am in a mini-suite to have anything beyond a chair to sit comfortably in my cabin. Also, the beds on my last Princess cruise were very uncomfortable (as has been true for the other three as well, but I was hoping they'd improve). We've done a min-suite once on Emerald Princess when the deal was too good to pass. The room was great, but Emerald Princess was our most recent cruise with Princess due to not feeling satisfied with the product in so many other ways.

 

The breakfast buffet (which I understand is not your preference) is terrible on Princess with food sitting for periods of time instead of being freshly prepared (French toast and fried eggs come to mind here). I am a big breakfast fan, and DH is a late-sleeping fan... hence the need for the Lido. The service is also slower in the dining room on most ships, resulting in food that is less than correct in serving temperature (cold eggs, warm juice).

 

To each his own, certainly, and I am truly glad that we don't all like the same things: 1) crowds, 2) supply & demand's impact on price.

 

I loved the beds on Holland America. I loved the shampoo etc. in dispensers. What I didn't like about the HAL stateroom was the configuration. The door, the bathroom door and the closet space all converged into one area. The full length mirror was inside a closet door, that when open, blocked out the overhead light. The overall lighting in the room was poor. The breakfast buffet on Princess is terrible, but so was the one on the Eurodam. Like I said, I don't want to do cafeteria style dining while on holiday. At least on Princess, the MDR is available for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

The other thing that gives Princess a slight edge over HAL (in my opinion) is that the swimming pool stays open after 10PM. Why does HAL cover the pool at 10PM?

[Lisah101]

I loved both option, dining room and lido. We did room service once but I agree, I'd rather have breakfast at a table. LIdo is nice because you can try so many different things. If you try that in the dinning room, you have tons of dishes and a lack of space not to mention each one is a full serving instead of just a 'taste"

 

I took tons of pictures of the breakfast buffet on my last cruise I was so impressed.

[iancal]

We don't like buffet breakfasts on any cruise line. I don't enjoy eating cold eggs,etc or at least cold by the time you find a table. Nor do we like jumping up and down for items that we may have forgotten. And least of all, we do not like any egg dishes that have been sitting in a steam table.

 

We also find them very noisy in the morning-too much clanging and banging....and people pushing past trying to find a CLEAN table.

 

 

Just a personal preference.

[cruz chic]

I loved the beds on Holland America. I loved the shampoo etc. in dispensers. What I didn't like about the HAL stateroom was the configuration. The door, the bathroom door and the closet space all converged into one area. The full length mirror was inside a closet door, that when open, blocked out the overhead light. The overall lighting in the room was poor. The breakfast buffet on Princess is terrible, but so was the one on the Eurodam. Like I said, I don't want to do cafeteria style dining while on holiday. At least on Princess, the MDR is available for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

The other thing that gives Princess a slight edge over HAL (in my opinion) is that the swimming pool stays open after 10PM. Why does HAL cover the pool at 10PM?

 

Have you sailed on Princess lately? The MDR is closed every port day. The showers are stupid small as well but the rooms do have a better layout. My last cruise on Princess was the sapphire in apr 2013.

[Lisah101]

We don't like buffet breakfasts on any cruise line. I don't enjoy eating cold eggs,etc or at least cold by the time you find a table. Nor do we like jumping up and down for items that we may have forgotten. And least of all, we do not like any egg dishes that have been sitting in a steam table.

 

We also find them very noisy in the morning-too much clanging and banging....and people pushing past trying to find a CLEAN table.

 

 

Just a personal preference.

 

The eggs we had on Lido were all from the made to order stations, either omelets or eggs benedict, we didn't eat eggs from steam tables on the buffet. Is this something older that changed recently? I loved the egg benedict station and the variety they offered. They were actually hotter than the ones we ordered in the MDR by the time the staff served them to the table.

[RuthC]

And everything gets cold while you go from one place to the next to get all the various things you want. Toast always seems to be a 'hang up' spot.

I do my hunting & gathering while the main dish is cooking. Usually it all comes out at just about the same time. The stations on the smaller ships are close enough that the extra walking isn't a problem. Thank goodness.

[RK88]

We usually order some croissants, juice, tea etc for room service.

Once we are dressed for the day we go to the lido to enjoy the full breakfast buffet.

 

My question is, what is served for breakfast in the MDR?

[Pearlbill]

Have you sailed on Princess lately? The MDR is closed every port day. The showers are stupid small as well but the rooms do have a better layout. My last cruise on Princess was the sapphire in apr 2013.

 

I am not a regular cruiser. It is not my preferred method of travel and quickly becoming not an option at all. My last cruise on Princess was on the Coral 15 day Panama 2010. Prior to that it was a 15 day on the Island Princess to Hawaii. I am only reporting what I experienced. It is a shame that passengers do not have more choices in dining throughout the day. Lido dining is not relaxing.

 

I assume then that the MDR on the Princess ships are at least open for lunch on sea days?

 

I did not mind the small bathrooms on Princess because at least the stateroom had a better layout. On HAL I always had to seek out a public washroom to get a good look at myself in a full length mirror.

 

My personal experience was better on Princess than on HAL. Maybe things have changed.

[cruz chic]

I am not a regular cruiser. It is not my preferred method of travel and quickly becoming not an option at all. My last cruise on Princess was on the Coral 15 day Panama 2010. Prior to that it was a 15 day on the Island Princess to Hawaii. I am only reporting what I experienced. It is a shame that passengers do not have more choices in dining throughout the day. Lido dining is not relaxing.

 

I assume then that the MDR on the Princess ships are at least open for lunch on sea days?

 

I did not mind the small bathrooms on Princess because at least the stateroom had a better layout. On HAL I always had to seek out a public washroom to get a good look at myself in a full length mirror.

 

My personal experience was better on Princess than on HAL. Maybe things have changed.

 

Princess started closing the MDR on port days a couple of years ago. For some reason I don't find the lido as bad on Princess. I like the fact you can serve yourself everything and they are very good about bringing water etc to you. I find on Hal ships they would rather stand around talking. I find the lido servers on Hal to be rude although they weren't that way on the Eurodam. Princess does have toe MDR open on sea days. One other thing that annoyed me on the Eurodam was the ability to get into the pinnacle when the MDR was closed at lunch. I got told it was full and there was maybe 20 people in there. They graced me with a reservation when we were in port canaveral. They said they were full and again there was only about 20 people. There was probably 5 waiters in there so I don't get it.

[Pearlbill]

We usually order some croissants, juice, tea etc for room service.

Once we are dressed for the day we go to the lido to enjoy the full breakfast buffet.

 

My question is, what is served for breakfast in the MDR?

 

You can get anything in the MDR that you can get at the Lido. All you have to do is ask. The difference being is that in the MDR you don't have to hunt for a table, your food is brought to you, it is quieter, more relaxing and my idea of a holiday. To me it's what I pay for. The MDR on every ship, every line, is listed as an "amenity" and should be readily available for customers who prefer that kind of dining….breakfast, lunch and dinner.

[OlsSalt]

The best thing about breakfast or lunch in the MDR is to take advantage of all those lovely 2-teir open windows and views, which you don't get at night unless you are cruising the Lands of the Midnight Suns.

 

I love the look of the MDR on all the smaller HAL ships; not so much on the larger ones. But the smaller ships have the most beautiful ones I have seen so far -- from our perch along the railing of the upper dining room. Hope we get a table there again or by the windows.

 

Some ships on other cruise lines have more cramped looking dining rooms, but grander atriums. The same square footage has to get allocated some way for public rooms, so this is one difference to explore between the different brands.

[Typhoon1]

If you like the Lido, you'll LOVE the MDR breakfasts.

[pris993]

[quote name='Pearlbill']I am not a regular cruiser. It is not my preferred method of travel and quickly becoming not an option at all. My last cruise on Princess was on the Coral 15 day Panama 2010. Prior to that it was a 15 day on the Island Princess to Hawaii. I am only reporting what I experienced. It is a shame that passengers do not have more choices in dining throughout the day. Lido dining is not relaxing.

I assume then that the MDR on the Princess ships are at least open for lunch on sea days?

I did not mind the small bathrooms on Princess because at least the stateroom had a better layout. On HAL I always had to seek out a public washroom to get a good look at myself in a full length mirror.

My personal experience was better on Princess than on HAL. Maybe things have changed.[/quote]

I think your comments regarding lighting on HAL are right on, we cruised both HAL and Princess. Especially your comment about the mirror int he closest.

[B]Both lines are similar. [/B]

[summersigh]

On sea days and private island days we normally breakfast in the MDR, taking our time and getting to meet and chat with new folks. (One of the things we enjoy most about cruising is dining with a wide variety of other people)
On port days we enjoy room service - a pastry, fresh fruit, yogurt, juice and double coffee. We tend to eat more lightly those mornings and have a "heavier" lunch while we're ashore. I adore having my wake-up call be the waiter with the breakfast tray and the smell of fresh brewed coffee. :D

[cwd79]

My husband and I really enjoyed the Lido breakfast buffet. So many choices. We had the opportunity to do the Pinnacle Breakfast, but didn't get around to it... That will be next time as I hear it's wonderful.

[SeaBands]

chipped beef and corned beef hash. Like both on a vacation.

[regnig]

In our experience (see below) HAL's Lido breakfast far exceeds the Horizon on Princess. On HAL, or at least the Westerdam & Noordam, all eggs were cooked to order. The Lido linear arrangement was much more managable by far than than the circular serving area in the Horizon (yep I know the Royal layout is different). DH claims HAL makes the BEST omlets ever! Table service always took care of our coffee & tea request too.

[Pearlbill]

[quote name='Typhoon1']If you like the Lido, you'll LOVE the MDR breakfasts.[/QUOTE]

Absolutely!