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have you ever skipped MDR all week for dinners???

nannybeth

By nannybeth,
in Royal Caribbean International

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A&L_Ont "Live from...." Rare

A&L_Ont

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We have been on Oasis and Allure 14 times and have only ate in the MDR 1 time. We had MTD for those cruises. We were in a suite for those sailings and have ordered MDR food to our cabin. We also ate at other venues and have done our best to avoid the WJ.

Edited by A&L_Ont
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Sunkissed Mommy

Sunkissed Mommy

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Yup, I have!

 

Last year on the Brilliance of the Seas and this year on the Jewel of the Seas. It made the experience much more relaxing. I did not feel like I missed out on anything. I didn't have to get dressed up and I could eat at my own leisurely or speedy pace!

 

They have great options in the Windjammer for dinner. The wait staff brings and refills drinks for you. They even have a dessert cart each night featuring something special. Off the top of my head I can think of the hand scooped ice cream and the chocolate treats on two occasions from a few weeks ago.

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mcatmcat Great Review Rare

mcatmcat

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Never had and never will. I tend to dress at night like I do when I go out to a restaurant in my city so is not a big deal for me. I would never go in short to a restaurant in my city unless we are hungry and we don't have time to prepare for it. MDR is a ritual, it is a time for us to eat with my friend/family and talk about the day etc. At the windjammer we feel like in a marathon to eat and go to the next activity

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ryano

ryano

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I probably will not go back to the MDR again except "lobster night" (sorry but I like those little inferior "warm water" tails myself, even though I know they dont come close to comparing to yalls whole Maine Lobster :cool: ) and lamb shank night. So 2 nights out of 5.

 

I REALLY enjoyed the Windjammer for dinner on Freedom this past cruise. So much variety and we though the food was better than the MDR.

Edited by ryano
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Koohiichan Great Review Rare

Koohiichan

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I see you will be on the Oasis. Our experience, and it is just based on one time on Oasis, is that the WJ is more crowded on Oasis than Voyager or Freedom class. It seems smaller, but as with all of them, sometimes you just have to walk further back to find open tables. However, it did seem that the WJ was most crowded the first few days or first half of the cruise. I think first-timers on Oasis class still think there are two places to eat, the WJ and MDR. They don't consider the other places until later in the cruise. The last day or so the specialty restaurants seemed busy as everyone scrambled to try them. This is when we went to the WJ.

 

It was also not quite as nice as WJ on other classes. However, we did eat there as a family a couple of times for dinner during our last cruise, during the second half of the week. We went the 2nd formal night, for example. The first formal night we checked it out and they had lobster! However, on our cruise there were a lot of big groups that seemed to want to eat in the WJ together.

 

In any case, we like the food in the WJ fine, especially the Indian food, but we eat there more out of convenience since we have a teen. We'd rather spend time doing stuff than eating. However, if it were just dh and I, I'm not sure we'd even make it to the WJ.

 

If your kids like Mexican food, then Sabor is a great pic as a specialty. Delicious, inexpensive and ala-carte choices, casual and a quick-enough meal. Your kids would probably like Giovanni's table. Some of the others might be boring for them and better for date-nights. There are other places to eat quick meals like the Dog-house,etc.

 

We also liked the Solarium for breakfast and dinner as it was less crowded, more relaxed. They took good care of us there.

 

Enjoy!

Koohiican

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Summerknight

Summerknight

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Our cruise last winter was the first time skipped the MDR. We ate at Portofino twice, Johhny Rockets once and the WJ. It was something we wanted to try. Nothing to do with dressing, still wore sundresses or cocktail type to specialty.

 

We were just discussing if we are going to skip the MDR on Navigator in December. No decision yet.

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WineDown17

WineDown17

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Plan to skip it altogether in March...Coastal Kitchen, dinner en suite, or Specialty dining... I just do not enjoy the scale of the MDR, and prefer something more " intimate" (did I just say intimate in reference to Oasis?!?) for our meals... I avoid Windjammer altogether as the cattle call unnerves me... My 9 year old picked the ship... This is my way of working through it!! :cool:

Edited by WineDown17
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BigMikefromTexas

BigMikefromTexas

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We have a couple of times, but opposite of you.

 

Celebrity Solstice in Alaska - Specialty Restaurants or Chef/Wine dinners each night.

 

Enchantment OTS - Chop Grille was a great place to hide from the casual crowd.

 

But, our preferences aside, you just have to ask yourself what you want to do. It si your vacation. Normally we socialize at dinner/before and after too. You have kiddos, so do what is best for your family. It will likely be a better use of your time and be a higher quality experience.

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depplep

depplep

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On our last cruise in 2010 it was an 8 day and we didn't eat in the MDR at all. I have eaten in the WJ once for dinner, don't remember which cruise, and I didn't care for the quality. Also, my beef with the WJ is that the food is ice cold by the time you get back to the table. I'm not even a fan of breakfast in there.

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gammite

gammite

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i really appreciate that many of you can tolerate the windjammer. i can not. the food is passable (at times) but all of the aimless people drive me crazy in addition to seeing many people act like they have never eaten before.

 

not sure if it is a mix of cultures issue or what but i don't like people breathing down my neck as i am choosing/selecting the food for my plate or the many people just aimlessly in the way. there were some menu choices i liked in there but i couldn't deal with the people.

 

mdr or specialty dining all of the way for breakfast and dinner for us. my gf feels the same way.

Edited by gammite
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reallyitsmema

reallyitsmema

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On our last cruise in 2010 it was an 8 day and we didn't eat in the MDR at all. I have eaten in the WJ once for dinner, don't remember which cruise, and I didn't care for the quality. Also, my beef with the WJ is that the food is ice cold by the time you get back to the table. I'm not even a fan of breakfast in there.

 

How is your food ice cold if you have a stir fry made to order or a steak or a piece of fish cooked to order for you? The food is coming off the flat top and directly to your plate and then you walk a few yards to a table and eat it. Much fresher and hotter than anything you can get in the MDR. Even the dishes in the steam tables are hotter than the MDR.

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DebJ14

DebJ14

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We don't do the Windjammer for dinner, or any buffet on any ship for that matter. On the Navigator we had horrible food and service the first night of our cruise, so we never went back. We ate in each of the specialty restaurants twice (Chops, Giovanni's Table and Sabor). Sabor was definitely our favorite and we would have eaten there more often, but couldn't get reservations.

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