Dining etiquette questions

[TigerLaw]

Dining etiquette questions for the group. Can you tell the wait staff you do not want a slow meal/want to get the meal done as quickly as possible?

Relatedly, is it bad form to get up and leave as soon as you are done (thinking especially about the frozen dinner)

Thanks for the help!

 

[OKW Lover]

Yes, you can certainly request that the pace of the meal be sped up (to the extent possible) and your server will do their best.

 

[Marc D]

The only problem you might run into is if you are sharing your table with another group. Asking for a speedy meal might offset the pace for the rest of the table since the servers will have to do multiple trips per course to accommodate you. Some servers can manage, others must stick to the routine or else everything goes awry.

 

[meliscan]

There is no issue if you get up when you are finished. The great thing about Disney is there are so many kids and every understands not all people can sit for a long dinner. I know my son and I have left my husband at the table with our table mates before so he could get changed and go to the kids club. We have also been one of those couples still finishing our dessert and the lights have come up telling us to get along with it so they can get ready for the 2nd seating. They will try to honor the request but on our cruise is May they seemed shorthanded and I wasn't sure if they could go any faster than they did for service.

 

[Cheburashka]

Dining etiquette questions for the group. Can you tell the wait staff you do not want a slow meal/want to get the meal done as quickly as possible?

Relatedly, is it bad form to get up and leave as soon as you are done (thinking especially about the frozen dinner)

Thanks for the help!

I'm a quick eater and the MDR servers notice this (without commenting). Our meals never took very long, because it was just our party, and the servers pretty much kept pace with us. However, if you share a table with slower eaters, then you can't expect quick service. There's nothing rude about leaving right after you finish eating. It's a restaurant, after all.

 

[CaseyCruiser]

We always close out the restaurant but we were with another couple one cruise who would eat very fast. The wait staff accommodated them.

 

[lspst8]

We are quick eaters - only order 1 app/salad, a main course, and frequently skip dessert. I know some people live to linger at dinner, but on most of our cruises, the servers have seen that we like quick service and speed things up for us. It helps to not make special requests or order alcoholic drinks if you want a speedy dinner.

 

[tvguy]

We always close out the restaurant but we were with another couple one cruise who would eat very fast. The wait staff accommodated them.

We always have late seating and close out the restaurant. I understand that could be a problem if we had early seating as they need to prepare for second seating. My son was into magic tricks when we cruised Disney, and we always had a crowd of servers and other guests around our table as my son and various servers tried to "one up" each other with various tricks. Dinner usually took 2 hours. So nice compared to the normal rat race of eating quickly at home.

 

[Jack_Sparrow_NJ]

Obviously you can get up and leave any time you like; there is no check to wait for. You have to keep a few things in mind though. The kitchen is putting out the meal in sequence to everyone at the same time so while you may be done with your appetizer the line may not be ready to start sending up entrees. The meal at the Frozen show is paced with the show itself and when we were there it seemed the kitchen / servers were having trouble keeping up the pace. Obviously you can let your server know your desires and they will try to accommodate but it may be beyond their control.

 

[darnheather]

My kids often have their desserts to go and leave early. I love to linger. The wait staff is wonderful on both counts.

 

[lostprincess_danie]

Can you tell the wait staff you do not want a slow meal/want to get the meal done as quickly as possible?

As quick as possible would be subjective so you are best giving a specific timeframe you would like to be finished. We had 830p dining at Palo while kids were in oceanerrs club on Pirate Night. Told our server that we needed to be done by 10:00 to have time to get the kids and make it up for fireworks. He made it happen.

 

[auntlynne]

When dining solo, so no chitchat at the table, I am done fairly quickly - even in specialty restaurants. The servers are very good at watching the tables.

I’d just let them know that you are not interested in staying for the show. And advising them in advance that you prefer a quicker meal let’s them know you are not displeased with the service.

Not having a bill to settle makes leaving so much faster.

 

[n2mm]

THe servers do keep up with your pattern. Many times I’m getting desert while other tables are getting entrees. All with the same server. This is why we enjoy our own table. In the past, we always had to wait for table mates to catch up.