Thread: Name Your Favourite(s) Free Dining Venue on Any Cruise Line

We stick with the MDR;as for who has the best food I do not know its all been good,service in the MDR that goes to RCCL

Carnival definitely does not have the same foods at both places. I had to eat supper at the buffet the last day because the MDR was closed. I think Carnival should have opened the MDR even though it was debarkation day because some passengers stayed overnight. The ship did not dock until 7:30 p.m., 12 hours late.

I think that was a rare case Andrea where they did not have everything set up for dinner in the MDR. As you said, the ship was very late in arriving.

Originally Posted by nealberk

I think that was a rare case Andrea where they did not have everything set up for dinner in the MDR. As you said, the ship was very late in arriving.

They had all day to set up a dining room because the captain announced that morning arrival time at Port Canaveral would be 5-6 p.m., then pushed it back further to 7:30. Couldn't they at least set up one dining room so there would not be so many people at the buffet?

Part of it is logistics. Do they have enough of each item to put it on a specially prepared menu? For the buffet all they have to do is prepare whatever rhey have till it runs out.

Originally Posted by nealberk

Part of it is logistics. Do they have enough of each item to put it on a specially prepared menu? For the buffet all they have to do is prepare whatever rhey have till it runs out.

Good point Neal. I was just thinking it could have been easier to find a table at the buffet if that was not the only dining option.

They would not set up the MDR because late dining doesn't start until around 8:30, so there's no way to get everyone seated and served if they're arriving at 7:30pm. So it would make perfect sense to simply set up the buffet and let everyone come and go as they please. But as Neal said, this was a very unusual situation and definitely not indicative of what normally occurs 99% of the time.

Pete

I recall one Celebrity cruise a few years back where the retuen port was clised two days so the seven day cruise became a nine day cruise. The ship stocked up on supplies at the last port so they were okay but the MDR menues were not typical!

Originally Posted by nealberk

I recall one Celebrity cruise a few years back where the retuen port was closed two days so the seven day cruise became a nine day cruise. The ship stocked up on supplies at the last port so they were okay but the MDR menus were not typical!

So there was an extra port of call? I bet a lot of passengers loved that.

I was worried we would dock in Miami instead of Port Canaveral, which would have been bad because we drove to PC.

Who cares if the menus are not typical as long as you love the food you ordered?

I stick with the MDR...however, I do use the speciality restaurant once per cruise since it is a freebie at the loyalty scheme level that I have reached.

I have used speciality restaurants in the past...Cagney's on NCL....very good but since the MDR food is of a good standard, I now only use the speciality restaurant for special occasions or as I have said, one time in a cruise gratis.