Main Dining Room (MDR), Buffet, Specialty Restaurants, Snacks, Out of the Way spots

• We enjoy the main dining room for most dinners.  As long as you budget 60-75 minutes, you can enjoy “eating out” without going out.  It’s nice to walk 5 minutes to your very own restaurant.  After a couple nights, the waiters know whether you want a drink right away.  We’ve begun to be served our chosen appetizer (the “dessert” cheese plate) even before we place our meal order.
  • Pro-tip:  Arriving early just to wait in line is becoming unnecessary.  You can usually arrive at the appointed meal time and walk directly to your seat - by yourself or with guidance.  If you show up 5 minutes After your scheduled time, you will decrease your wait time for ordering and receiving your meal.  Of course, this outcome varies by ship and cruise.
• Buffets are great.  Or terrible.  This is definitely something to be figured out.  To avoid the crowd and elbowing for a table, consider:
  • Figure out whether your cruise is an early or late breakfast/lunch crowd.  This may vary by port/sea days.
  • If your buffet area (Windjammer on RC) looks full, keep walking toward the back of the seating area.  On larger ships, we’ve found seating all the way back, often with crew seated in the area.
  • When crowds cannot be avoided, we grab a bowl of oatmeal or a made to order omelette, cover with a plate and walk back to our cabin to enjoy.
  • Alternate eating spots include the Solarium, Central Park Cafe, Sorrento’s pizza, and…
  • Room Service - note that breakfast can be ordered by placing a hang tag on the cabin door before you go to bed, or by 2am; just be sure to consider whether you want to be awakened that way.  Mostly, the kitchen will phone you in advance of knocking.
  • Pro-tip:  Sea days usually offer the MDR service for breakfast and lunch, neither of which are available on port days.
• Other venues - each ship has multiple choices, with varying schedules, so check your options (daily planner or ship app).