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Disappointed over menu choices in MDR


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We are just off Harmony and had a wonderful time except for the menu in the dining room. The menu remains the same every night with the change of one or two items. Desserts were the same except for one (usually no sugar) dessert every night.

 

This became almost a joke for our group. It seems they want you to eat mostly in special restaurants.

 

We were on this same ship in December and had much more varied menus. Has anyone else noticed this change?

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Here's my take on this - having cruised with Rccl for well over a decade the dining room 'experience' is a major part of our cruise! There's one dish in particular that I've ordered every single night (aside from the odd, and I mean odd trip into a spec restaurant) and that is the escargot and we've generally found the food to be of a decent standard! We're on Lady H in a matter of weeks for our honeymoon B2B and as such we'll be venturing the 'odd' night into a spec restaurant, and will try a lunch or two over the 2 weeks.

What I will not allow to happen, is to feel 'bullied' into an All Inclusive Dining package effectively paying for my food twice, and having heard some of the plain ridiculous reasons why people have complained over the years and have received credit as such, I will simply complain to the restaurant manager at every occasion. They will tire of it well before I do and I've been told I can be very persuasive when i need to be! Let's face it, they do nothing but mither and are quick to criticise the waiters when things aren't up to scratch! May I also add I've yet to receive bad service from the table staff as they do a fantastic job.

They will simply have one choice left to them, pick it up or move us out at THEIR cost!

People, this is the ONLY way they will listen and more importantly learn that we can't be fobbed off with cheaper options!

Look at how Dynamic Dining went!

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We haven’t dined in the MDR in years....prefer Coastal Kitchen and tend to only book ships that have CKs. We will be doing a short Mariner cruise this year and will try the MDR a couple of the nights and may end up living off of escargot, shrimp, and Caesar salad.:rolleyes:

 

We were fond of Dynamic Dining the few times we used it.

 

Thanks for the review. My expectations for the Mariner MDR will not be high

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I have to respectfully disagree with the OP. Unless Harmony does something different with their menus, the standard RCCL menus, the items that change are more than one or two. I reviewed our Oasis menus from February and it seemed that there were 4 or 5 different entrees and 2 or 3 different starters each evening. True, there are popular standards (shrimp cocktail, French onion soup, Caesar salad, strip steak, spaghetti) that show up most evenings. But there are multiple different choices for starters and entrees each evening. Now maybe I don't normally frequent Michelin 5 star restaurants in New York City, but I enjoy the MDR on RCCL and am satisfied with the variety and choices.

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I was also just off of Harmony this month and we ate in the MDR every night, 15 of us. Respectfully disagree. While the menus were similar with some repeats I didn't feel the same way. The menus were not wildly different but it wasn't one or two things changed.

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I was also just off of Harmony this month and we ate in the MDR every night, 15 of us. Respectfully disagree. While the menus were similar with some repeats I didn't feel the same way. The menus were not wildly different but it wasn't one or two things changed.

 

You're making me feel better already with days to go ha ha

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Since my first cruise on Navigator in 2005, when I thought the food was good to now has significantly changed. The selections have changed quite drastically and while there are 4-5 entrees each night they are repetitive, they change the name so that it won't appear so.

 

On our last cruise in January the menu was so unappetizing that for the first time DH and I ate in WIndjammer 5 of the 9 nights. We went to the MDR 2 nights, 2 specialty restaurant and windjammer for dinner for the first time ever.

 

I love RCL but the MDR food and menu itself needs some work.

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We haven’t dined in the MDR in years....prefer Coastal Kitchen and tend to only book ships that have CKs. We will be doing a short Mariner cruise this year and will try the MDR a couple of the nights and may end up living off of escargot, shrimp, and Caesar salad.:rolleyes:

 

We were fond of Dynamic Dining the few times we used it.

 

Thanks for the review. My expectations for the Mariner MDR will not be high

Fine for you, but the other 95% of the ship can't
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We are just off Harmony and had a wonderful time except for the menu in the dining room. The menu remains the same every night with the change of one or two items. Desserts were the same except for one (usually no sugar) dessert every night.

 

This became almost a joke for our group. It seems they want you to eat mostly in special restaurants.

 

We were on this same ship in December and had much more varied menus. Has anyone else noticed this change?

You need to count better

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RCI fleetwide has changed their menus in the MDR. Not just the choices offered, but how the menu print looks (now reads with menu sideways...making it look like more filled out?) Less choices indeed.

 

On Oasis class we prefer specialty restaurants and the Solarium cafe (Oasis class is the one class we don't like the WJ)...and naturally we adore CK when we get the chance. :)

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IzznOll17

IMHO, Harmony MDR is fine. Don't worry.

I understand everyone's tastes & experiences are different.

I personally totally agree with ELLCEE & STARCARDS.

We were on Harmony 2 weeks ago & ate dinner in MDR every night.

First, our service was incredible! We had a fun section of the dining room that added to the evening along with a head waiter (Yigit) who was amazing & present every night.

The food selections were perfectly fine. Menu varied every night, of course along with some basic items & also items you could order not on menu.

one night my family of 4 all made the "mistake" of telling the waiter that we were deciding between 2 main meals, but then told him the one we wanted...he ended up bringing out both meals for each of us...I don't know if I am proud or embarrassed to say that we finished everything

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We were on HOS earlier this month, and I was very apprehensive about the MDR based on what I read here. Our experience was wonderful. Yes, there were some repeat items each night, but there were also new items. I think some of the complaints are due to selective eating habits. If you don't eat fish, or lamb, or pork, than yes, there wouldn't be a lot of choice. I eat everything, so had a lovely time. The only thing I didn't like was that our waiters were seriously overworked. I was almost at the point of not eating in the MDR because I wanted to give them at least one easier evening. It was crazy, the MDR was almost completely full every night, something I've never seen on the twelve cruises we've been on.

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OP - I also respectfully disagree. We just came off Anthem last Saturday - I assume the menu is similar to Harmony. We are long time cruisers, but this was our first RCL cruise and I enjoyed every meal I had in the MDR, and the service was excellent! The menu is varied each night and there are a few staple appetizers and entrees. These are necessary in case a person does not like the nightly offering. Our group of 16 had no complaints whatsoever.

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OP what were you expecting in the MDR?

 

I always think hotel banquet while in the MDR. A fish, chicken, beef and vegan entree. An occassional lamb, lobster or special cut meat from fish, chicken or beef. A potato, rice or pasta and some veggies.

 

Like some one else mentioned if all you eat is say chicken, yeah you might eat the same thing twice. But if you have a nice palette you will be fine.

 

Day 1 chicken

Day 2 seafood

Day 3 beef

Day 4 pasta

Day 5 Lamb

Day 6 pork

Day 7 special cut of beef prime rib

 

And the other thing is TRY SOMETHING NEW! My cuzn only eats steak and potatoes. He tried my lamb shank and loved it.

 

OP what do you eat at home for dinner on a typical 7 day week?

 

This week for me:

Sunday beans n cornbread

Monday Mexican food

Tuesday leftover Mexican

Wednesday smothered Turkey legs n rice

Thursday smothered Turkey leg n rice

Friday provably pizza night

Saturday bbq at BFFs

 

So yeah, I'm not complaining about the MDR.

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Forums mobile app

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We just got back from two weeks on Adventure. While the menus do have fewer options than before, I could have easily had a different main dish every night, if I had chosen to. I repeated a few dishes, because I really liked them, not because there weren't enough choices.

 

I do agree that the dessert options were much more repetitive.

 

If they really are trying to get more people to dine in the specialty restaurants, it isn't working, as far as I'm concerned. We've tried Jamie's, Giovanni's, and Sabor on previous cruises. The food was good, but we weren't blown away by it, and didn't find it to be all that different in quality from the MDR. Certainly not enough to justify the additional expense.

 

Johnny Rockets was the only pay venue we tried on Adventure. It too, was nice, but we wouldn't go out of our way to eat it again on board.

 

Anyway, if you weren't satisfied with the choices in main dining, you hopefully voiced that option both on board, and on your post cruise survey.

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I have to respectfully disagree with the OP. Unless Harmony does something different with their menus, the standard RCCL menus, the items that change are more than one or two. I reviewed our Oasis menus from February and it seemed that there were 4 or 5 different entrees and 2 or 3 different starters each evening. True, there are popular standards (shrimp cocktail, French onion soup, Caesar salad, strip steak, spaghetti) that show up most evenings. But there are multiple different choices for starters and entrees each evening. Now maybe I don't normally frequent Michelin 5 star restaurants in New York City, but I enjoy the MDR on RCCL and am satisfied with the variety and choices.

The most stars you can have via the Michelin rating system is 3.

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We are just off Harmony and had a wonderful time except for the menu in the dining room. The menu remains the same every night with the change of one or two items. Desserts were the same except for one (usually no sugar) dessert every night.

 

This became almost a joke for our group. It seems they want you to eat mostly in special restaurants.

 

Why do you need to eat at specialty restuarant when there is Lido buffet with theme nights at no extra charge?

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Food will always be touchy subject to most people due to the wide varrying pallets of people.

 

But those that say that the food is inedible.

What do you normally eat? Michelin 3 star restaurants 7 days a week?

Or are they expecting to be blown away like the people on cooking shows when the see the food and go "This is the best thing ever!" and totally flip out.. I hope people know they are paid to react like that.

 

I will be on HotS this Dec, and this will be my 3rd over all cruise and I am for one looking forward to it! Particularly the cheese tortellini. :3

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Food will always be touchy subject to most people due to the wide varrying pallets of people.

 

But those that say that the food is inedible.

What do you normally eat? Michelin 3 star restaurants 7 days a week?

Or are they expecting to be blown away like the people on cooking shows when the see the food and go "This is the best thing ever!" and totally flip out.. I hope people know they are paid to react like that.

 

I will be on HotS this Dec, and this will be my 3rd over all cruise and I am for one looking forward to it! Particularly the cheese tortellini. :3

 

I agree. We have been to several Michelin rated restaurants, we know good food. The idea that the MDR is almost inedible and terrible is kind of ridiculous to me. It's kind of like good banquet food. It's not spectacular but it's certainly "good" and I haven't noticed much difference since I started cruising 20 years ago. Specialty restaurants are better but I like the MDR experience (same waiter, etc.) enough that the somewhat better food in the specialty restaurants doesn't draw me away. Cruise dining is pretty unique, it's fun, embrace it. For those that don't like it, buy the dining package.

 

But yeah, this idea that the MDR is so terrible is obviously embellished.

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I agree. We have been to several Michelin rated restaurants, we know good food. The idea that the MDR is almost inedible and terrible is kind of ridiculous to me. It's kind of like good banquet food. It's not spectacular but it's certainly "good" and I haven't noticed much difference since I started cruising 20 years ago. Specialty restaurants are better but I like the MDR experience (same waiter, etc.) enough that the somewhat better food in the specialty restaurants doesn't draw me away. Cruise dining is pretty unique, it's fun, embrace it. For those that don't like it, buy the dining package.

 

But yeah, this idea that the MDR is so terrible is obviously embellished.

Looks like my wife and I will be the only two enjoying our meals in the MDR (ATD) on our B2B Caribbean cruise on the Freedom March 2019. ;)

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