Slow dining in Main Dining Room

[groundloop]

I just saw on facebook where someone had complained to John Heald about dinner in the Main Dining Room taking an hour and a half, so John did one of his polls and it appears that most folks (or at least the ones that bothered to respond) don't have an issue with that.  This has been our biggest gripe about cruises recently and several times had to miss shows because dinner took so long.  

 

I'm wondering what everyone here thinks about dinner that takes that long.  Is there something wrong with me for being annoyed by it?

[Schoifmom]

I've actually never experienced (in recent years) a dinner taking that long.  I would have to ask what factors played into their experience.  Did they have set time or YTD dining?  Were they at a shared table or alone?  How many people were at their table?  If set time, were their table-mates on time or late?  Were there people served multiple apps or entrees that weren't ordered at the beginning?  Was their dining time impacted by some other factor?

 

We normally have YTD and are seated just the two of us.  MDR waiters now take your entire order at the beginning (apps, entree, dessert).  We have always been in and out in less than an hour.

Edited October 19, 2022 by Schoifmom

[groundloop]

1 minute ago, Schoifmom said:

 

 

We normally have YTD and are seated just the two of us.  MDR waiters now take your entire order at the beginning (apps, entree, dessert).  We have always been in and out in less than an hour.

 

Yes, we've been on quite a few cruises since the restart.  It's normally just the two of us with YTD.  MOST of the time it's been around an hour or a bit less, but there have been those handful of occurrences where it's been an hour and a half.

 

 

[ray98]

Strange...I don't know of anyone in real life who wants to spend 1 1/2 hours in the dining room.  We had two nights on our July cruise that we left at the 1:15 mark sans dessert because we were tired of waiting.  I would say the average for us over the years for 2 people was under an hour with dessert and I thought that was a decent pace.

[ldubs]

 

I think a lot of folks view the dinner as a social activity and look forward to those long dinner sessions.  Nothing wrong with that if that is what you like.   However, because of that, we no longer opt for shared tables in the MDR.  

 

A potential problem with that poll is that it is likely not a random sample and skewed by responses from folks who prefer the old traditional dining experience.  

[1025cruise]

Back in the day, dinner was a social time that did take an hour plus. Nowadays, everyone just wants to eat and go. I miss the old days.

[Joe817]

Just now, 1025cruise said:

Back in the day, dinner was a social time that did take an hour plus. Nowadays, everyone just wants to eat and go. I miss the old days.

Agree 100%. As I get older, I find that assigned eating at 6:30 suits us perfectly. Plus, I enjoy having fellowship with our table mates. I enjoy a relaxing meal with good company. For us, it makes for a more enjoyable cruise experience. And I get it that the younger crowd wants to get in and get out as fast as they can, so they can go to the next show or whatever. That's fine to. Just not our style. 

[kdr69]

Dining in the MDR has always taken a long time.  Its a 3 course meal with drinks served 1 course at a time.  First cruise on Royal in 2007 i recall being 2 hours at least.  If we want to get out faster we tell our server to bring it all out at once or we go to the Buffet.  Rushing is not in my vocabulary when on Vacation. Only thing that could be faster at dinner IMO is the Bar Service person lol. 

[Colive18]

I was on the Valor in August, and it was by far the worst dining room service I've had in 8 cruises, 3 since the restart.  This was more of waiter/waitress issue than the kitchen though.  We went for 3 nights of the 5 night cruise.  Gave up on the 4th and 5th night.  Night one we had just gotten our main course when the show started.  The 2nd and 3rd night, several tables in the section next to us were eating their desert, and our entire section had just gotten their apps.  3rd night, we talked to the table next to us about how this section was even going to have enough time to clean tables before late dining was to come in. 

[cruisingguy007]

Order a few more drinks and kick back and relax. I'm generally on island time when I'm cruising lol. 

[SeaScout]

We have not set foot in the main dining room in at least our last 10 cruises. Long drawn out dinners is one of the reasons why. It's just not our thing.  We have other things to do with our limited vacation time. 

Edited October 19, 2022 by SeaScout

[BlerkOne]

Hate being rushed through dinner. If you want fast food, eat on Lido.

[Pyxie]

An hour and a half is really not unheard of for a multi course dinner, especially in a nicer establishment (whether you consider the MDR "nice" is another question). It has rarely taken that long for us, however. The longest was on the Ecstasy's restart in March. For the first couple of days, the staff did not have their rhythm yet and it took close to an hour just to get appetizers. Now that is unacceptable, but they did listen to feedback and got better by mid-week.

[Theosprey247]

Yeah, eating in the MDR is slow (on RCCL too). Plus, my wife is on that intermitted fasting, so the hours don't match up well for her.  We generally have a large lunch and something light later on. 

[Out of Iowa]

Maybe there should be a signal diners in the MDR could use to indicate they want 60-minute-or-less service or prefer a leisurely, 90+ minute meal?   The frustrations we've had in the MDR always revolve around too-slow service. 

Using a signal could help us get a quicker meal while not "rushing" BlerkOne and friends.

 

The signal could be where the diners place the bud-vase, for example.  Akin to turning coffee mugs upside down if you don't want a waiter to fill your coffee cup at a diner.

Edited October 19, 2022 by Out of Iowa
clarify

[Elaine5715]

4 hours ago, groundloop said:

I just saw on facebook where someone had complained to John Heald about dinner in the Main Dining Room taking an hour and a half, so John did one of his polls and it appears that most folks (or at least the ones that bothered to respond) don't have an issue with that.  This has been our biggest gripe about cruises recently and several times had to miss shows because dinner took so long.  

 

I'm wondering what everyone here thinks about dinner that takes that long.  Is there something wrong with me for being annoyed by it?

If you want to dine and dash, I would go to the buffet.  I like a measured meal, 90 minutes is good with me.

[Elaine5715]

15 minutes ago, Out of Iowa said:

Maybe there should be a signal diners in the MDR could use to indicate they want 60-minute-or-less service or prefer a leisurely, 90+ minute meal?   The frustrations we've had in the MDR always revolve around too-slow service. 

Using a signal could help us get a quicker meal while not "rushing" BlerkOne and friends.

 

The signal could be where the diners place the bud-vase, for example.  Akin to turning coffee mugs upside down if you don't want a waiter to fill your coffee cup at a diner.

Or they could eat on Lido that has many of the same dinner items.  

[thunderingherd11]

4 hours ago, groundloop said:

I just saw on facebook where someone had complained to John Heald about dinner in the Main Dining Room taking an hour and a half, so John did one of his polls and it appears that most folks (or at least the ones that bothered to respond) don't have an issue with that.  This has been our biggest gripe about cruises recently and several times had to miss shows because dinner took so long.  

 

I'm wondering what everyone here thinks about dinner that takes that long.  Is there something wrong with me for being annoyed by it?

This isn't applebys.  I think a nice dinner takes a while.  I will say the anytime dining is a lot faster that the set timing.  I actually complained to my wife a couple of times on this last cruise that the service was too fast.  

 

[thunderingherd11]

3 hours ago, 1025cruise said:

Back in the day, dinner was a social time that did take an hour plus. Nowadays, everyone just wants to eat and go. I miss the old days.

quit saying everyone.  Everyone doesn't want to do anything the same.  I don't want to rush my meal.  This isn't McDonalds.

[mz-s]

3 minutes ago, thunderingherd11 said:

This isn't applebys.  I think a nice dinner takes a while.  I will say the anytime dining is a lot faster that the set timing.  I actually complained to my wife a couple of times on this last cruise that the service was too fast.  

 

 

 

Carnival's dining rooms are not Applebee's? Could have fooled me. They weren't 10 years ago, but nowadays it's a dead ringer.

[BlerkOne]

Mass market is one size fits all. It isn't Burger King - you can't have it your way, except on Lido.

[pc_load_letter]

5 hours ago, groundloop said:

I just saw on facebook where someone had complained to John Heald about dinner in the Main Dining Room taking an hour and a half, so John did one of his polls and it appears that most folks (or at least the ones that bothered to respond) don't have an issue with that.  This has been our biggest gripe about cruises recently and several times had to miss shows because dinner took so long.  

 

I'm wondering what everyone here thinks about dinner that takes that long.  Is there something wrong with me for being annoyed by it?

 

I still can't figure out how that guy is the brand ambassador or whatever his title is.

[ShakyBeef]

6 minutes ago, pc_load_letter said:

 

I still can't figure out how that guy is the brand ambassador or whatever his title is.

 

Huh, I thought you were one of his fans.  Am I mistaken / misremembering?  If so, I humbly apologize for thinking it of you.

[ray98]

1 hour ago, thunderingherd11 said:

This isn't applebys.

 

You can say that again.  Applebee's has the upper hand right now.

[mz-s]

10 minutes ago, ray98 said:

You can say that again.  Applebee's has the upper hand right now.

 

After eating a Carnival "striploin" I will never complain about an Applebee's steak again.