When did they stop "American" night and the Baked Alaska parade in the MDR?

[Kay S]

Remember "American night"?  The waiters dressed in red, white and blue?  Meatloaf on the menu?  Remember the end of the evening when the "junior waiters" paraded through the dining room, each carrying a Baked Alaska with a candle (once a real one with a flame, then a fake one)?  The staff would be introduced (head waiters, chef, etc.) and thanked with applause?  Lights down, loud music, guests twirling their napkins? This was, in my experience, the ubiquitous final goodbye on last night of every cruise, regardless of itinerary.

 

Now, I must clarify that I was always in the traditional dining room at the late seating, but I was under the impression (at the time) that this was repeated in the Anytime rooms and also the TD early seating.  I suppose Anytime diners who dined and left earlier would not have seen the production.

 

Apparently this is no longer a "universal" experience.  So when did it stop? ( I found a YouTube video as late as 2018.)  I imagine with covid restrictions, it wasn't a good idea to wait dirty napkins around in the air and send the staff all over the dining room, up and down and around the aisles, but was the practice discontinued before that?  It was cheesy and fun and just another silly cruise tradition (and practiced on cruise lines other than Princess.)  Lots of people hated it (DH among them) but I thought it was harmless fun.  Is it gone for good?

[travellingnana]

3 minutes ago, Kay S said:

Remember "American night"?  The waiters dressed in red, white and blue?  Meatloaf on the menu?  Remember the end of the evening when the "junior waiters" paraded through the dining room, each carrying a Baked Alaska with a candle (once a real one with a flame, then a fake one)?  The staff would be introduced (head waiters, chef, etc.) and thanked with applause?  Lights down, loud music, guests twirling their napkins? This was, in my experience, the ubiquitous final goodbye on last night of every cruise, regardless of itinerary.

 

Now, I must clarify that I was always in the traditional dining room at the late seating, but I was under the impression (at the time) that this was repeated in the Anytime rooms and also the TD early seating.  I suppose Anytime diners who dined and left earlier would not have seen the production.

 

Apparently this is no longer a "universal" experience.  So when did it stop? ( I found a YouTube video as late as 2018.)  I imagine with covid restrictions, it wasn't a good idea to wait dirty napkins around in the air and send the staff all over the dining room, up and down and around the aisles, but was the practice discontinued before that?  It was cheesy and fun and just another silly cruise tradition (and practiced on cruise lines other than Princess.)  Lots of people hated it (DH among them) but I thought it was harmless fun.  Is it gone for good?

Had the parade on the Ruby in May and the Royal just last week. All the same  (waving napkins/introductions/music and poem at the end) as before except they didn’t carry around the baked Alaska. 

[cruzin4us]

I just got off the Discovery and there was the Baked Alaska Parade with fake candles.   They introduced the staff, chefs, etc.   Everyone was waving napkins.    Did not see the red, white and blue night.

[sloopsailor]

The last time I cruised on Princess was to Alaska in 2017. There was a parade of chefs and servers, but not a loud, noisy celebration with wild napkin twirling. I wouldn't call it an "American Night" event. I don't remember red, white and blue uniforms. And it was during last TD seating since it was still available at the time.

 

Ironically, they did not serve the baked Alaska desert on that cruise. Perhaps because by the end of that cruise everyone already had their fill of Alaska? 😇

Edited October 26, 2022 by sloopsailor

[partybarbie]

I am just off the Ruby. We did have the Baked Alaska Parade, complete with the napkin waving, waiters carrying desserts (with the battery candle on top), and marching music. Meatloaf, turkey, and surf and turf were on the menu. It was pretty much like the old days.

[Essiesmom]

I remember when it wasn’t just a candle burning…the meringue on top was burning. But I’m old…. EM

[Kay S]

I guess the title printed on the menu "American Night" and the red, white and blue uniforms are gone, but it's nice to know they are still doing something festive.  Is this happening in every dining room on the last night?

[Shippy]

Safety, I am sure is one reason it has been scaled down.

MANY decades ago,  the baked Alaska was balanced on their heads with the meringue on fire ! 

[wowzz]

Not on Regal this summer,  thank goodness.  

It sounds gross! 

[mom says]

1 hour ago, wowzz said:

Not on Regal this summer,  thank goodness.  

It sounds gross! 

I think it's gross too. And tasteless, cheesy, and highly unsanitary. And there is no way I'm eating anything that has been paraded, unprotected, past hundreds of dirty, microbe laden napkins flailing about

Edited October 26, 2022 by mom says

[CruisingGrandmaW]

25 minutes ago, mom says said:

I think it's gross too. And tasteless, cheesy, and highly unsanitary. And there is no way I'm eating anything that has been paraded, unprotected, past hundreds of dirty, microbe laden napkins flailing about

ROFLOL  🤣🤣🤣

[Kay S]

30 minutes ago, mom says said:

I think it's gross too. And tasteless, cheesy, and highly unsanitary. And there is no way I'm eating anything that has been paraded, unprotected, past hundreds of dirty, microbe laden napkins flailing about

Fortunately for experienced cruisers who know it was coming, they could vacate the dining room before the festivities started. 🙂

[Senga]

Always had this on every Celebrity cruise we were on but it definitely wasn’t called “American Night”!

[Kay S]

1 minute ago, Senga said:

Always had this on every Celebrity cruise we were on but it definitely wasn’t called “American Night”!

No, I'm sure that was a Princess thing.  They used to have themes like Italian Night and French Night, etc.  The wait staff had silly little uniforms for each.  Anyone remember the red or green stiped T shirts and the red bandanas?

[Rick&Jeannie]

3 hours ago, cruzin4us said:

I just got off the Discovery and there was the Baked Alaska Parade with fake candles.   They introduced the staff, chefs, etc.   Everyone was waving napkins.    Did not see the red, white and blue night.

Same here on an August (this year) sailing to Alaska on Discovery.  "Parade" was much smaller than in the past; maybe 25 max.  Same "fake" Baked Alaska...but we were with a first time cruising couple; they really got a kick out of it.

[partybarbie]

FYI, the Baked Alaskas that are paraded around the room aren’t real and the passengers are served individual ones direct from the kitchen. 

[Rick&Jeannie]

1 hour ago, mom says said:

I think it's gross too. And tasteless, cheesy, and highly unsanitary. And there is no way I'm eating anything that has been paraded, unprotected, past hundreds of dirty, microbe laden napkins flailing about

The "Baked Alaskas" that are used in the parade are fake!  They are not the real thing!

[Coral]

We didn't have it in December. We were talking about it with our wait staff and they said how difficult it was timing wise to take the Asst Waiters away to do this with the timing of the food. He was relieved they were not doing it then.

 

I agreed it felt cheesy.

Edited October 27, 2022 by Coral

[c-boy]

11 minutes ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

The "Baked Alaskas" that are used in the parade are fake!  They are not the real thing!

awww that's some of that good ol'  below freezing canuck humor 

[billco]

On our Enchanted Princess cruise last Summer we had a running joke with our server centered around “We don’t do that anymore.”

[Kay S]

48 minutes ago, partybarbie said:

FYI, the Baked Alaskas that are paraded around the room aren’t real and the passengers are served individual ones direct from the kitchen. 

Yes, they look fake.  I guess in the olden days they did use real ones.  It has been a very long time since I was served a "wedge" rather than a "slice." 

[travellingnana]

1 hour ago, Kay S said:

No, I'm sure that was a Princess thing.  They used to have themes like Italian Night and French Night, etc.  The wait staff had silly little uniforms for each.  Anyone remember the red or green stiped T shirts and the red bandanas?

There was an Italian menu one night, but no Italian outfits to go with it. 
Maybe the baked Alaska parade depends upon the ship’s capacity. First half of our cruise was maybe 2/3 full, and the second half was 1/2 full so we got it both times.  Apparently I’m in the minority… I like it. 🤷🏻‍♀️
 

[Cruzinnana47]

1 hour ago, Kay S said:

No, I'm sure that was a Princess thing.  They used to have themes like Italian Night and French Night, etc.  The wait staff had silly little uniforms for each.  Anyone remember the red or green stiped T shirts and the red bandanas?

Nope--not just a Princess thing, as we experienced this also on NCL & RCI cruises back in the 90's and into the early 2000's.  There were "theme nights" in the main dining room with often an Italian Night, French Night, International Night, also.   And the wait staff did wear special attire for those specific themes.   We remember the dining room crew standing on the stairs of the main dining room of the grand old Blue Lady, the SS Norway, singing "We are the World" (we have on an old video of that) which was really nice to see & hear.  Also back then, the maitre d' or head waiter would come around to the tables and prepare chef salad, cherries jubilee, banana flambe at your table and the Baked Alaska Parade featured flaming Baked Alaskas on the waiters' heads.  Quite a production.  

 

Looks like most of these traditions went the way of the Midnight Buffets...

[travelin.sisters]

7 hours ago, Kay S said:

Yes, they look fake.  I guess in the olden days they did use real ones.  It has been a very long time since I was served a "wedge" rather than a "slice." 

on the Sapphire they served mini baked Alaska domes rather than the slices that they used to ...thought that was a nice change even though I never order it

[Steelers36]

17 hours ago, wowzz said:

Not on Regal this summer,  thank goodness.  

It sounds gross! 

Right.  No US-themed menu nights in the Med.  It would have been nice to have an American menu night during some voyage since Americans are the largest group of guests on board.  Not necessary to have Baked Alaska and napkin waving - just another set of food choices would be nice. 

 

Regal will most certainly bring it back the last night before reaching PE this November/December.

 

One thing though.  As part of American night (the final dinner of the voyage when returning to US ports), they do have a speech and such to recognize the chefs and dining staff.  That's nice, so IDK why they don't find a way to do that in other parts of the world.