Dinners in Lido

[jankn]

I've read posts in the past saying that the evening meals in Lido are nearly the same as served in the dining room, does anyone know if this is indeed still a fact ? We have always gone to the dining rooms in the evenings but may want this cruise to be a little more relaxed, so I'm just curious... Thanks....

[CruiserBruce]

"Nearly" is a stretch. The cuts of beef aren't usually as good. There is no lobster. I haven't compared the fish generally. I say this based on regularly going to the Lido after our early seating and comparing.

Edited January 21, 2014 by CruiserBruce

[sail7seas]

We never have our dinner in Lido but I've read here time and again that much of the MDR menu is served in Lido and most people are very happy with their meal there.

 

[northernphoenix]

Chose to dine in the Lido for the first time on our Canada/NE onboard the Eurodam this past October. I very much enjoyed the variety, and the opportunity to chose as much( or as little) of a side as you wished. The last evening there was a huge variety. We likely chose have dinner in the Lido three times. I never compared to the MDR since I believe it is apples to oranges in many ways.

Marilyn

[cbr663]

If you compare the menu in the MDR to the menu posted in the Lido, you will definitely see many of the same items. It just makes sense for HAL to do things this way.

 

One of the most noticeable differences between the MDR and the Lido will be with the plating of the food. In the MDR, the person plating the food has your food order in front of him/her and is able to make the best decision regarding how to plate the food. The LIDO staff do not have this luxury as they are adding your food choices as you select them.

 

We have also found that sometimes the serving size in the Lido tends to be smaller than that in the MDR. All you have to do is request a larger portion.

 

We do not enjoy the MDR at all. We find it very noisy, over-crowded and have been disappointed time and again with the poor quality of the food served. I have read elsewhere describing the MDR as the ultimate food factory, and that about sums it up for us.

 

During our last cruise we swore off the MDR, but I was talked into attending the Mariner's Lunch. Sadly, things hadn't improved at all and we did not visit the MDR for the rest of the cruise. To be perfectly honest with you, I would rather order room service than visit the MDR.

 

I would recommend that you visit the speciality restaurants. Service is much more improved, the food quality is higher, the atmosphere much more akin to great dining and the overall experience far above the MDR, IMO.

[pris993]

If you compare the menu in the MDR to the menu posted in the Lido, you will definitely see many of the same items. It just makes sense for HAL to do things this way.

 

One of the most noticeable differences between the MDR and the Lido will be with the plating of the food. In the MDR, the person plating the food has your food order in front of him/her and is able to make the best decision regarding how to plate the food. The LIDO staff do not have this luxury as they are adding your food choices as you select them.

 

We have also found that sometimes the serving size in the Lido tends to be smaller than that in the MDR. All you have to do is request a larger portion.

 

We do not enjoy the MDR at all. We find it very noisy, over-crowded and have been disappointed time and again with the poor quality of the food served. I have read elsewhere describing the MDR as the ultimate food factory, and that about sums it up for us.

 

During our last cruise we swore off the MDR, but I was talked into attending the Mariner's Lunch. Sadly, things hadn't improved at all and we did not visit the MDR for the rest of the cruise. To be perfectly honest with you, I would rather order room service than visit the MDR.

 

I would recommend that you visit the speciality restaurants. Service is much more improved, the food quality is higher, the atmosphere much more akin to great dining and the overall experience far above the MDR, IMO.

 

Interesting, on some ships, some cruise lines we have elected to skip the MDR because it was too noisy, service and food quality a hit and miss. We often find we can pick up a a good lunch from the Lido, we prepare a plate and take it back to our cabin, enjoy on our balcony if we are in port. We have satisfactory meal and the peace and quiet we enjoy. We do only 2 meals a day at home, so breakfast and a late lunch works for us.

[TraelorMex]

We have cruised with HAL on many different ships. We have observed that on SOME HAL ships, the lido/mdr items are almost identical...on others, there were many differences i.e. roast beef instead of prime rib. It really pays to check out both menus (posted in advance at the venue) prior to making a decision.

[Windsailer]

We only eat in the Lido on HAL ships. We've never had a problem with the quality or quanity of the food there...but sometimes you might run across the food only being lukewarm. If it is, it's easy to go back and get something else.

[Bethany Beach]

In 2013 we were on the NA for a B2B for East and West Caribbean cruises. I mistakenly didn't pay attention and one of the weeks was Easter week. After a few cruises of dressing up, we now about 90% of the time eat in whatever the ship's buffet is called. The first week, we just couldn't get over how good the buffet food was - prime rib (excellent), lots of veggies, etc. I almost insisted that we dress up and go to the MDR for lobster but then just didn't feel like bothering. To my surprise there was lobster in the buffet and plenty of it. THEN the second week started - Easter. All of sudden the demographics of the ship radically changed - definitely a feel of many more people onboard and lots of kids. The food in the buffet was horrible. No prime rib. No lobster. The meat was tough and stringy. Terrible selection of veggies, etc., etc. We kept commenting on how it was just like being on an entirely different ship. We are going on the Noordam in about a month and hope that the 10-day itinerary and no holiday means we will have food like we remember from that first week :)

[cbr663]

Also keep in mind that it is my understanding that if you enjoy the food in the MDR but dislike other aspects of the MDR, you can order anything that is available in the MDR through room service. You just have to wait until the MDR is opened to place your order.

 

We have ordered breakfast numerous times through room service (and it can't be beat, IMO) and have ordered from the room service menu, but have never tried ordering from the MDR menu. I am planning to try it on our upcoming Alaska cruise though, as we don't enjoy formal night at all and would much rather have an intimate meal between the 2 of us on our balcony than partake in the MDR.

 

That's one of the advantages of Holland - they do offer lots of options.

Edited January 21, 2014 by cbr663

[Krazy Kruizers]

We are actually thinking about trying the Lido just once for dinner to see how it is.

[WisRiver]

We have done four HAL cruises in the past five years. All were lengthy repositioning cruises. On our first cruise I would estimate we ate ⅔ of our dinners in the MDR. By the time of our last cruise (34 days-Buenos Aires to Boston) we were seldom using the MDR. It was taking too long for dinner, so we wound up eating four times in the MDR. I do not miss chance for lobster since I am allergic to shellfish. The soups, appetizers and desserts seem to be same in the Lido as in the MDR. On the Lido's plus side, if I want a steak, I can order it rare, watch it being cooked and get it to my liking. The same with the nights they have rib roast. We can have a pleasant meal with wine in an hour or so, and linger over dessert and coffee. If I want two appetizers, no problem (although this can also be done in the MDR) On the negative side for Lido, the Lido does not serve the onion soup available at any time in the MDR.

[mamaofami]

If you require a no salt diet, as I do, it's not possible to get that in the Lido. We've only eaten there once for dinner, years ago, when we were just too tired to go to the main dining room.

[Aruba]

There are several things I've liked about Lido...but the one thing I definitely do NOT like is that the table cloths are not changed throughout the evening. When I've gone to Lido on the later side, say 7:30-8:00, there's no problem finding a vacant table but often there IS a problem finding a table that doesn't look as if more food and drinks were spilled on the table than actually consumed. :eek:

The thought of eating on someone's spills and stains is not exactly appetizing.

[Katie333]

The menus have alot of the same items, maybe not everything identical but a lot of the same plus there is a big salad bar where you can make up your own salad.

 

We've only been on HAL once but eat primarily at the Lido whenever we cruise. In addition to the complete flexibility and more casual nature of this dining, we have never had an issue finding selections to our liking. We especially enjoyed the late night Lido offerings (10:30?) and would often head up there once we discovered this.

 

The only downside is the sometimes less than hot temperatures. :rolleyes: HAL does a good job of keeping their portions reasonable, but we still had a couple items that were not piping hot. I think this is the case with buffets everywhere you go.

[Nghthawke]

We enjoy the food in both the MDR and the Lido. Personally I prefer the Lido because I like sitting next to the window. If I could luck into a window seat in the MDR I would eat there more often.

[Typhoon1]

Similar to the MDR is probably a better description. I hate dinner in the Lido, running back and forth to get your food.

 

In the MDR, you can sit back, relax and enjoy a leisurely meal.

[Koali]

On our first cruise in Alaska we noticed they served very similar items on the MDR and Lido on the first night. After that we just ate in the Lido. It was convenient but we always felt like we were overeating. So we decided that we were going to try the MDR on our next cruise.

 

As someone commented earlier about the tablecloths in the Lido, the Zaandam didn't have tablecloths. They just wiped the tables after collecting the plates.

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Crew News]

I have scanned all of the menus for both lunch and dinner for both the MDR and the Lido Restaurant for all 7-day Caribbean cruises this 2014 Spring season.

 

Select a day and compare the menus (MDR comes first) and you will see the level of similarity between them.

 

 

http://www.rogerjett-photography.com/?page_id=309

[POA1]

Thank you!

[jankn]

thank you for scanning the menus for comparison.....Ir will be easy to answer my own question this way....... thanks again.......

[buckirj1]

To me, whether to eat in the MDR or Lido has less to do with the food than with timing and service. I don't eat at the same time every night at home, and don't see why I should do so on vacation. Similarly, I might want to stay home some nights, go out somewhere casual other nights, and go to a fancy place occasionally.

 

I think dining service should be on par with a normal restaurant experience on land. I'm low maintenance. All the MDR staff needs to do is take my order, fulfill the few special requests I might have (dressing on the side, etc), and deliver my food. I'd rather get up and get my food myself than have a waiter fawning over me. Different strokes.

[AZgolfergal]

We took an Alaska cruise on the Statendam this past May and thought the food service in the main dining room had changed quite a bit from our previous HAL cruise. With all their famous chefs, I was disappointed when the turkey gravy was overwhelmed with rosemary to the point of sending it back, which I had never done before. The "Hot Fudge" sundae was simply chocolate syrup....I can make a Hot Fudge sauce at home so I know they can. There were parts of the dining room that had very cold breezes blowing and we noticed that people constantly asked to be moved. We did eat in the Lido some nights and it was good, but you lose the ambiance of the Main Dining room. We miss the string quartet playing, the Yum-Yum man at the door as you leave and other nice touches. We felt it was not the HAL we knew and don't know if we will take another cruise with them.

[lcand1923]

I have some friends who are just back from a partial Panama Canal transit. They are 4 Star Mariners who hadn't been on HAL for about a year. They ate two dinners in the MDR then switched to the Lido for the rest of the cruise. I had been on a HAL cruise last year at this time. Most of my dinners were in the Lido or one of the Specialty Restaurants. The staff reductions in the MDR have negatively impacted the service in my estimation. The ambiance in the MDR is better than in the Lido, but you can GET your food in the Lido.