Meal times

[lincslady]

A lot depends on how hot the weather is -  here it is normally quite acceptable to have the evening meal at 7 or even a bit earlier, as even in high summer is not often hot.  But when it is, we eat later and more likely bbq or salads.

 

Our restaurants and pubs generally serve evening meals from 7, and in my neck of the woods most of us have our meal around then.  But I live in the midland countryside, not in cosmopolitan London, of course.  I am surprised if those living in the southern States want to eat early, when it is very hot in summer - is that the norm?

[kjbacon]

It’s not all about what time Europeans eat or that if I’m hungry I can snag a cucumber sandwich at tea time. Or that I should take a nap or something. My guess is that you don’t want to join us for breakfast at 6am anymore than we want to wait till 7pm for dinner.

 

We are learning that the meal times are late and quite limited on this line.

 

At least we will have a coffee maker in our suite and can make ourselves coffee in the morning.

 

Curious to hear the answer on Lobster Thermidor at TK Grill.

[lincslady]

I am sorry that you have obviously found some of the answers a bit on the snarky side - though mostly people have been trying to be helpful.

 

In spite of this, I hope that you will arrive at the ship hoping and expecting that you will enjoy your cruise, and that you will do so.  

 

Maybe someone will know about the lobster situation, and post here.

[SLSD]

51 minutes ago, kjbacon said:

 My guess is that you don’t want to join us for breakfast at 6am anymore than we want to wait till 7pm for dinner.

 

I have found myself in the Observation Bar many days at 6am having a cup or tea and a pastry. There are plenty of early risers on the ship!  I think your issue is that you just want what you want! I get it!  We don't do buffets--ever---and we don't eat sushi--ever---and we like to have lunch in the MDR--which is often closed.  We like breakfast there too.  And it is often closed.   But--we still manage to eat very well on the ships and have a great time.  We just have to adapt to what is available--and it is usually quite good. I don't see having breakfast at 6am and dinner at 7pm an odd combination.  Perhaps the issue is that you want to go to bed by 8pm?Not trying to be snarky--just trying to figure out what the real issue is.  

Edited July 4, 2022 by SLSD

[kjbacon]

1 hour ago, lincslady said:

I am sorry that you have obviously found some of the answers a bit on the snarky side - though mostly people have been trying to be helpful.

 

In spite of this, I hope that you will arrive at the ship hoping and expecting that you will enjoy your cruise, and that you will do so.  

 

Maybe someone will know about the lobster situation, and post here.

It’s not that so much. I think we are just realizing that SB doesn’t sound like it’s going to be a good fit for us and we have spent quite a bit on a very long cruise. We always have a good time and will certainly enjoy our trip but I think we will stick with Regent and Oceania moving forward. But anything is possible!

[Hlitner]

Interesting thread and not too surprising since we have seen folks lining up at the door for 5:00 dinner on some Princess cruises.  At that hour we are usually just coming inside (wearing swim suits) thinking about showering and heading out for some pre-dinner cocktails.   But having relatives in Florida has taught us about "early birds" Pa(which we consider lunch/tea time).   And no, we are not Europeans but simply Americans who generally eat dinner around 7:30 (even at home) or later when we are traveling in Europe, New York, etc.

 

When we take a cruise on SB (or any other line) or travel in other parts of the world we quickly adjust our own schedules to fit the local mores.  In fact, when we are in Europe (where we spend a lot of time on independent driving trips) we will always ask at our hotel about the normal dining times.  In some parts of Spain it is very common for folks to sit down to dinner around 10pm while in other parts of Europe locals will eat as early as 6:30.  We travel/and cruise to enjoy new experiences and find it adventageous to adjust to local "mores" rather than playing the Ugly American and exporting all our habits to the world and expecting them to jump to our demands.  It is no different than a person who wears a backwards ball cap at home, walking into a decent French restaurant (in France) wearing that silly cap.  As to dining early, when we see folks dining at 6pm in many parts of the world we normally assume they are from Florida or Arizona (and it is often true).  In case some folks wonder how they can dine in Spain at 10pm (or even later) it is just part of their culture.  In many parts of Spain folks will enjoy an early cocktail and wonderful tapas around the 6-8 pm hours and than later head off to dinner.  We were once surprised to see families dining after 11pm with school children on school nights.  When we asked a family about how they manage to pull this off we were told they put their children to sleep around 6 for a pre-dinner nap, take them out to late dinner.  Interesting.

 

My suggestion to some others is "lighten up" expand your horizons and just go with the flow.  You may actually find it is fun.  Perhaps you can even stay awake until 11 pm (oh the horror) and enjoy the later evening entertainment and socialization.  Then, instead of waking up at 5am perhaps you can sleep in until 7 or 8 :).   When we cruise on longer HAL cruises, we often find ourselves going to dinner by 7pm because we know that if we wait until 8 the MDR will be pretty empty.  On SB it is nice to go to dinner at 8 and find plenty of good company :).

 

As to the TK Grill, yes, they have always had Lobster Thermidor on all of our cruises.  Sometimes I have enjoyed that entree even though I am not a big fan of warm water lobster tail and prefer a full Maine type lobster (with its amazing claw meat) which is generally not found on cruise ships (Oceania is apparently one exception).  Our favorite TK item has always been the grilled Dover Sole with the lamb chops coming in 2nd place.  And I am also a big fan of their marinated mushrooms (it turned me into a true mushroom lover).   As I previously posted, on our recent cruises on the Ovation and Odyssey I believe that TK did not open until 6:30 (and it was generally pretty empty until around 7)

 

Hank

 

 

[Mr Luxury]

3 hours ago, lincslady said:

A lot depends on how hot the weather is -  here it is normally quite acceptable to have the evening meal at 7 or even a bit earlier, as even in high summer is not often hot.  But when it is, we eat later and more likely bbq or salads.

 

Our restaurants and pubs generally serve evening meals from 7, and in my neck of the woods most of us have our meal around then.  But I live in the midland countryside, not in cosmopolitan London, of course.  I am surprised if those living in the southern States want to eat early, when it is very hot in summer - is that the norm?

I think age also plays its part in what time people eat.

[Mr Luxury]

1 hour ago, SLSD said:

I have found myself in the Observation Bar many days at 6am having a cup or tea and a pastry. There are plenty of early risers on the ship!  I think your issue is that you just want what you want! I get it!  We don't do buffets--ever---and we don't eat sushi--ever---and we like to have lunch in the MDR--which is often closed.  We like breakfast there too.  And it is often closed.   But--we still manage to eat very well on the ships and have a great time.  We just have to adapt to what is available--and it is usually quite good. 

I think all one can do is make the best if what is available 

7.00pm is not an unusual time to have dinner on most ships

Edited July 4, 2022 by Mr Luxury

[lincslady]

Maybe - and it has just struck me that they will all probably have aircon in their houses, so if not venturing outside will not feel overhot.  My young relatives in Tennessee live in a comparatively inexpensive house, but do have aircon. 

[Mr Luxury]

1 hour ago, kjbacon said:

It’s not that so much. I think we are just realizing that SB doesn’t sound like it’s going to be a good fit for us and we have spent quite a bit on a very long cruise. We always have a good time and will certainly enjoy our trip but I think we will stick with Regent and Oceania moving forward. But anything is possible!

You'll be fine,it's good to try new things.

Go with a positive attitude.

[SLSD]

4 minutes ago, lincslady said:

Maybe - and it has just struck me that they will all probably have aircon in their houses, so if not venturing outside will not feel overhot.  My young relatives in Tennessee live in a comparatively inexpensive house, but do have aircon. 

Most everyone who lives in a southern or western state in the United States has air conditioning and increasingly, most people in other parts of the country as well.  I lived without air conditioning in Texas until the age of about seven (in the 1950s).  At that time, we were acclimated to the heat.  But, it is even hotter now, and people actually die from the heat if they don't have a way to keep cool.  Now, we are  very acclimated to air conditioning and keep our house quite cool in the summer.  So, the heat has little to do with when we dine.  

[lincslady]

Yes, most of us here are underprivileged - but it is not often we need aircon.  That may change of course in the years to come.

 

I have a couple of fans, which do the job, but not as efficiently.

[SLSD]

14 minutes ago, lincslady said:

Yes, most of us here are underprivileged - but it is not often we need aircon.  That may change of course in the years to come.

 

I have a couple of fans, which do the job, but not as efficiently.

It's all a matter of climate--you just haven't needed it until recently perhaps.  We need air-conditioning for almost 8 months a year.  I do remember not having it as a child, but the house my parents built was ducted for it, as they knew they would want it.  We originally had window units for air-conditioning before changing over to the more efficient central air conditioning.  But, I don't remember eating our meals later due to the heat even before we had it.  

 

This has been an interesting thread.  One things that is apparent is that one needs to be flexible when traveling.  The only cruise lines we have ever tried are Seabourn and Silversea, so I haven't experienced the early dining on Holland America or Princess.  When do they start? 5pm?  I would say that Seabourn and lines like Silversea are going more for an elegant dining experience which 5pm dining is not.  But, as kjbacon says, they are not cruising for the food.  We don't cruise for the food either, but I am convinced that some people do!  

[M&M@409]

Regarding the lobster thermador, we were on Odyssey last week.  I asked the server in the TK Grill why was there no lobster.  She said that the only lobster available for the past several weeks was not up to TK’s standards and he would not allow it to be served.  Apparently he holds tight reigns on the food that bears the TK name.  For instance, if the potato bun is not availablee at the patio, they can’t serve the Napa burger or the Yountville Wurst. Here’s a tip. If you order a regular burger or Hot Dog at the patio, ask for it to be served on a potato bun.  The regular buns are not very good.

[kjbacon]

Unfortunately, I am hard pressed to see the appeal to SB at this point. We are still looking forward to our cruise and we will have our usual terrific time.

 

Just read on a different thread that cruise critic was banned on the poster’s recent cruise! That says it all.

 

While we love Regent and Oceania, we’ve been on many different lines and I’ve never seen breakfast unavailable before 8am and dinner at 7pm. And a pastry in the bar at 6am is a junk food snack, not breakfast.

 

Earlier in this thread someone said that one has to adapt and change to make do on a SB cruise but we have not had to make do on other luxury lines.

[lincslady]

I did think breakfast was on earlier than 8, more like 7 or 7.30, especially on port days with early excursions, but have not been on Seabourn for about 4 years, so might be wrong.

[Isklaar]

40 minutes ago, lincslady said:

I did think breakfast was on earlier than 8, more like 7 or 7.30, especially on port days with early excursions, but have not been on Seabourn for about 4 years, so might be wrong.

 

I agree, although it's now coming up to two and a half years since we were last onboard. 

 

[kjbacon]

47 minutes ago, lincslady said:

I did think breakfast was on earlier than 8, more like 7 or 7.30, especially on port days with early excursions, but have not been on Seabourn for about 4 years, so might be wrong.

I hope you’re right!! Dinner at 7 is annoying but breakfast at 8 would really be tough. We are early risers who love breakfast and prefer to go out over getting room service.

[lincslady]

Whenever it is, the Colonnade is likely to be open earlier than the Restaurant, and for longer.  There is everything you might want for a full breakfast, and you can either choose it at the buffet or order it from wait staff.

[Isklaar]

I just checked in the Heralds from cruise in December 2019-January 2020.The Colonnade opened at 7,30am except on turnaround days when it opened at 6.30am .

I can't remember for sure room service breakfast times but I do know in the past we have ordered it for 6.30am if we had an early departure excursion.

 

The Restaurant opened  at 8am and was open every day but that depends on cruise length and itinerary. 

 

It would be helpful to hear from those who have cruised recently.

[SLSD]

1 hour ago, kjbacon said:

I hope you’re right!! Dinner at 7 is annoying but breakfast at 8 would really be tough. We are early risers who love breakfast and prefer to go out over getting room service.

Some off the ship excursions leave around 8am, so I am certain that breakfast often starts before 8 on the ship.  

 

There is a lot that is very appealing about Seabourn or so many of us would not have made it our cruise line of choice.  

[kjbacon]

54 minutes ago, SLSD said:

Some off the ship excursions leave around 8am, so I am certain that breakfast often starts before 8 on the ship.  

 

There is a lot that is very appealing about Seabourn or so many of us would not have made it our cruise line of choice.  

I appreciate that, thank you and I ask in earnest to please help me understand that appeal. We are really struggling to see it.

[tjcox9]

Sorry to ask this, but since the OP seems so unhappy pre-cruise, I'm wondering (didn't see when the booked cruise is or which one) if the cruise is paid in full. If not, perhaps it can be cancelled and they can move on to one of their preferred lines with food service times more to their liking.

[kjbacon]

13 minutes ago, tjcox9 said:

Sorry to ask this, but since the OP seems so unhappy pre-cruise, I'm wondering (didn't see when the booked cruise is or which one) if the cruise is paid in full. If not, perhaps it can be cancelled and they can move on to one of their preferred lines with food service times more to their liking.

Don’t be sorry, it’s a fair question. If we weren’t paid in full and leaving in a couple weeks, we probably would cancel. Originally, we were drawn to the itinerary and that it was a 6* line. I am serious and not being sarcastic when I’m asking what the draw is.

[margbem]

On our recent (May) cruise on the Quest I seem to remember that the restaurant was not open for breakfast or lunch on any of the 14 days we sailed. The Colonnade opened at 7.30am apart from disembarkation day when it was earlier.  I may have remembered wrongly about the restaurant but no doubt someone will correct me if that is the case!