Following the menus for YOUR cruise

[POA1]

This may be a well known tip, but in case you didn't know....

 

If you have an upcoming cruise, the Navigator app (belovef by all 😉) will show you the menus for the ship you are booked on - in the weeks leading up to your cruise. The MDR and Lido menus update daily in the app. You can follow along and see what's served each day.

 

This can be helpful if you - for example - want to know when wiener schnitzel night is. There are menu cycles for sailings in each market. They vary by ship and itinerary.

 

We were watching the Nieuw Statendam's menus in anticipation of our upcoming cruise in December. The NS is in Europe, so the menu cycles are different from what we'll see in the Caribbean. But, we are a planning people, so the more we know, the better. DW noticed that the menus stopped updating on the 8th for us. This makes sense because the NS went into drydock at Fincanteri in Italy the next day.

 

That leaves us all sad and without updates for a couple of weeks. If you have an upcoming voyage, you may want to follow your ship's meals.

 

@Huskerchick

 

 

8_nov_-_m14-day14-_mdr_south_europe_2023.pdf

Edited November 10, 2023 by POA1

[Caribbean Chris]

Good tip!

[SilvertoGold]

Thanks, POA. Good, useful info and much appreciated.  One question:  the rotation you were watching was for the current cruise I gather. How does this work for the different lengths of HAL cruises? We have seen 7 day rotations for Alaska, but wondering how long the HAL rotations are and how they would fit into a 21 day cruise, for example.

Edited November 10, 2023 by SilvertoGold

[Banditswife]

We will be on a 10 day "sea of Cortez," boarding 11/25 on Koningsdam.  So will our menus be similar to the current 7 day west coastal cruises that K is doing now?

[canadarocks]

@Crew News explained it all perfectly in the sticky thread "HAL for Dummies" not long ago...

 

Edited November 10, 2023 by canadarocks

[Crew News]

2 hours ago, SilvertoGold said:

Thanks, POA. Good, useful info and much appreciated.  One question:  the rotation you were watching was for the current cruise I gather. How does this work for the different lengths of HAL cruises? We have seen 7 day rotations for Alaska, but wondering how long the HAL rotations are and how they would fit into a 21 day cruise, for example.

If the 21-Day cruise is a collector cruise (B2B 10-Day followed by an 11-Day, or vice versa), the menus will be served in the same sequence as each segment.

[SilvertoGold]

1 minute ago, Crew News said:

If the 21-Day cruise is a collector cruise (B2B 10-Day followed by an 11-Day, or vice versa), the menus will be served in the same sequence as each segment.

Actually, what I need is info for menus for a 22 or 20 day, non-Collector, Panama.

[Crew News]

2 hours ago, Banditswife said:

We will be on a 10 day "sea of Cortez," boarding 11/25 on Koningsdam.  So will our menus be similar to the current 7 day west coastal cruises that K is doing now?

The silver (first) and gold (second) Gala Night menus will be the same if you know, or can figure out, what nights are Gala Nights.

[Crew News]

Just now, SilvertoGold said:

Actually, what I need is info for menus for a 22 or 20 day, non-Collector, Panama.

If you are the first on any HAL ship to experience that itinerary in a season, menus will not be available.  If you are on a subsequent cruise (same itinerary on any HAL ship), others may have posted the menus or you can download them via Navigator if your cruise will be your next.

[POA1]

1 hour ago, Crew News said:

If you are the first on any HAL ship to experience that itinerary in a season, menus will not be available.  If you are on a subsequent cruise (same itinerary on any HAL ship), others may have posted the menus or you can download them via Navigator if your cruise will be your next.

That's the "boat" we will be in. Ours is the first Caribbean sailing after the NS returns from Europe.

 

We are looking for a general idea of what we'll see on embarkation day, formal / gala /dressy / how about long pants? days.

 

I wanted to point out how you could see your upcoming menus in the (world-class, highly respected 🤔) Navigator app prior to sailing.

 

Roger probably knows more about menu rotations than anyone I've ever met. However, he can't be everywhere, so the "preview" menus in the (5 ⭐, 2 👍 up) Navigator app is a big help.

 

🌟,

Edited November 10, 2023 by POA1

[wdw1972]

Checking the navigator for the menu is entertaining, but not meaningful until the ship is doing YOUR itinerary.  In my case I'm on the Eurodam 11-night leaving 11/18/23.  Once the first sailing of that itinerary started in late October I made sure to check daily and made a few notes on where/when favorites were listed.  I haven't bothered with the MDR in probably close to 20 years, and do mostly specialty dining and a little Lido (and Grand Dutch Cafe snacks when on Pinnacle class ships).  I love Tamarind but don't like any of their desserts.  If there's something fabulous in the Lido I'll make a note to pick up dessert there. Yes, I can wait until I'm onboard to see that but it's fun to pre-plan - sort like living the cruise before it's actually started.  If the menus end up different that night, no big deal.  

 

One thing I did notice is weiner schnitzel (but pork, not veal) will be on the MDR menu but not in the Lido during my cruise.  MAYBE I'll actually set foot in the MDR - but if not I'll order it via room service 😉

 

Sue/WDW1972

[kazu]

4 hours ago, SilvertoGold said:

Actually, what I need is info for menus for a 22 or 20 day, non-Collector, Panama.

 

There will be some minor repeats but HAL does a pretty good job of concocting different menus IMO.

 

 

Gala meals are the same.