Ordering more than one entree at a meal

[lbgraves]

Out of 7 serving teams only one has given us a hard time when one of us has ordered a second appetizer, entree or desert. He would always forget to bring one or both of them out. It became the joke between us and our friends to guess what he was going to actually bring us each night. We did talk to the HS about this and it was reflected in his tip at the end of the cruise.

 

[Fleury]

This is great to know. I'm a huge appetizer fan but not so much with the soup/salad course so I'm glad I won't get too much hassle if I want 2 apps instead.

 

[sandraalexander]

Try it out the first day to get a feel for it. Usually okay as long as you eat it all!

 

[Meghatron]

We had one server tell us that DH could only have one lobster tail as they had to make sure there were enough for everyone in the dining room!

On our MR cruise last month, during an Art of Entertainment presentation, Chef Matthew said that the night before, 3000 lobster tail entrees had been ordered on a ship of 2600 guests. And that 2600 total includes all the kids onboard (KSF cruise) and the adults who don't eat lobster. He was quite amused and gave absolutely no indication that it had been a problem to cook them all or that they had been even close to running out.

 

[socakitty]

On our last cruise our servers brought us what we ordered plus almost 1 of each dish that wasn't ordered because they wanted FIL and DH to try everything.. and we got 1 of almost every dessert too! This only lasted a couple days because the boys were eating too much food!

 

[fast43]

Our servers would always bring additonal entree's and appetizers if we showed some interest in his description. Never wasted.....................................

 

[ppiew]

Here is my NCL experience: two couples sitting next to us ordered doubles of EVERY course on the menu. They ate like birds just picking and tasting each portion- this went on for 6 nites!!. Come the final night of the cruise (tip night) voila!!! they were no where to be found! disappeared into thin air - after 6 days of the wait staff bowing and kowtowing to their every whim. I asked our server about this and he said 'it happens and shrugged his shoulders. Personal opinion - order what you will eat and tip accordingly.

 

[PrincessTrisha]

Most nights I ordered two entrees - the fish entree and the vegetable entree. I didn't find either of those exceptionally large.

The night I ordered the beef entree I ordered only that.

 

[BoosGram]

Here is my NCL experience: two couples sitting next to us ordered doubles of EVERY course on the menu. They ate like birds just picking and tasting each portion- this went on for 6 nites!!. Come the final night of the cruise (tip night) voila!!! they were no where to be found! disappeared into thin air - after 6 days of the wait staff bowing and kowtowing to their every whim. I asked our server about this and he said 'it happens and shrugged his shoulders. Personal opinion - order what you will eat and tip accordingly.

One lunchtime after an excursion, we ended up having lunch w/one of the other people on the excursion. She ordered almost one of everything and took one or two bites off of each plate. I was honestly appalled! How people can do that w/a clear conscience beats me! (And, yes, we avoided her for the rest of the cruise!) At any rate, I agree w/PPs: order whatever you want, but not more than you can eat. And if your servers have been good to you, return the favor. Those folks work their bunnies off!

Last year on the TA, our servers must have overheard us saying that we liked Indian food, because lo and behold, out came huge plates of delicious Indian food IN ADDITION to our orders. We have found as a general rule, the CMs will bend over backwards to make you happy. (I have to shout out to Wira, our head waiter, for taking such good care of us...it was the only time we've ever even been aware of the head waiters! We made sure to let DCL know how good he is.)

 

[figmentfan84]

I once made the mistake of telling our server how much I loved the escargot. Before I knew it, he was placing another serving of it in front of me! I didn't really *need* another serving, but I happily ate it all the same. Now I know to be careful in what I say!

 

[taswira]

Here is my NCL experience: two couples sitting next to us ordered doubles of EVERY course on the menu. They ate like birds just picking and tasting each portion- this went on for 6 nites!!. Come the final night of the cruise (tip night) voila!!! they were no where to be found! disappeared into thin air - after 6 days of the wait staff bowing and kowtowing to their every whim. I asked our server about this and he said 'it happens and shrugged his shoulders. Personal opinion - order what you will eat and tip accordingly.

 

[sayhello]

One trick that someone turned me on to is to order a second entree "as a side". They'll bring out a relatively smaller portion of that entree on a smaller plate. I did that with one of the risottos, I think it was, since I knew I didn't want an entire portion, but really wanted to taste it. Absolutely no problem with the servers.

Then I found that later in the cruise, when I had a hard time deciding between two entrees, my server *suggested* I do the "as a side" trick.

Sayhello

 

[RedSox68]

One cruise we made the mistake (after a suggestion from previous cruisers) to tell the wait staff how much my daughter liked the banana bread. Every single night after that they brought a basket of banana bread, in addition to the regular breads of the evening! We were banana-breaded out by the end of that cruise

 

[Zandy595]

After looking at the RP menu, I want all the appetizers. We decided (my family of 3) that we will order all 4 for the table (we requested a table just for us). That way there shouldn't be any waste and we will all get to try a little of everything.

 

[riatees]

We often order more than one entree and we have had waiters who have even brought out food that we didn't order because they wanted us to try it. They think nothing of you ordering multiple entrees. Sometimes I order more than one appetizer also. I am not big on desserts where as some people order every dessert on the menu.

 

[Kewz1]

One trick that someone turned me on to is to order a second entree "as a side". They'll bring out a relatively smaller portion of that entree on a smaller plate. I did that with one of the risottos, I think it was, since I knew I didn't want an entire portion, but really wanted to taste it. Absolutely no problem with the servers.

Then I found that later in the cruise, when I had a hard time deciding between two entrees, my server *suggested* I do the "as a side" trick.

Sayhello

Thank you for this advice! I really love to try different things but don't want to waste a lot of food. That's a real pet peeve of mine. I will definitely be using this suggestion.

Kristen

 

[ibouncetoo]

I sometimes order the vegetarian entree along with my regulare entree, just because I think you don't get enough veggies! (Really, on most of the entrees they are more like a garnish!) I've also ordered side dishes of asparagus when available.

And at Animator's I ALWAYS get two servings of the Tuna Tatar appetiszer!

.

 

[MouseMomx2]

I sometimes order the vegetarian entree along with my regulare entree, just because I think you don't get enough veggies! (Really, on most of the entrees they are more like a garnish!).

I agree about the lack of vegetables. We always ask our server to bring a large dish of vegetables for the table. We usually get a lovely plate of broccoli, cauliflower, carrots and green beans...and sometimes asparagus.

 

[ImprovGal]

I sometimes order the vegetarian entree along with my regulare entree, just because I think you don't get enough veggies! (Really, on most of the entrees they are more like a garnish!) I've also ordered side dishes of asparagus when available.

And at Animator's I ALWAYS get two servings of the Tuna Tatar appetiszer!

.

Quite frequently even the vegetarian entree skimps on the vegetables, too. I know there were at least a few nights on the Wonder's PC cruise in which I had a lovely serving of tofu or risotto with a few vegetable pieces as garnish.

 

[mmmears]

I agree about the lack of vegetables. We always ask our server to bring a large dish of vegetables for the table. We usually get a lovely plate of broccoli, cauliflower, carrots and green beans...and sometimes asparagus.

That's a wonderful idea -- thank you for sharing it! It never even occurred to me that we could do this (even though I ordered a fruit plate for the table at breakfast). I think we'll have to try it on our upcoming cruise!