Please tell me about the "free" basic food on cruises...

[mjkacmom]

Different strokes. We've done three NCL cruises, two before Freestyle, one with. WHAT A DISASTER. Ever spend 90 minutes waiting for a table with hungry children? That was our first night. We quickly learned you can make a reservation for the next night in the MDR. You can only make reservations 24 hours in advance in the MDR. So when we got there for dinner each night the rest of the cruise we made our reservation for the NEXT night with the SAME server team. So you can Un-freestyle Freestyle with a little work. And apparently having guests ask for the same server team puts them in good standing with the Head Server and the cruise line. The last night our server and assistant server made a point of telling us how much they appreciated that we made a point of requesting their table with our reservation.

We are a family of 7, never made reservations, never waited for a table. We ended up with mostly the same servers, maybe due to my daughter and celiac. Sailed on DCL when the kids were little, trying to get 5 kids ready for an early seating was a nightmare, especially on port days.

 

[tvguy]

We are a family of 7, never made reservations, never waited for a table. We ended up with mostly the same servers, maybe due to my daughter and celiac. Sailed on DCL when the kids were little, trying to get 5 kids ready for an early seating was a nightmare, especially on port days.

Yeah, when our kids were....well...kids, we always were in the 4 pm snack, late dining schedule. Early seating would have never worked.

 

[bwilcox]

The two lines we sail on (Carnival and Royal Caribbean) will let you carry on a 12-pack of soda per stateroom. That has always been enough for our two kids to have one soda per day without having to pay for any. Also, we never pay for specialty dining and are always happy with the free options. My husband has to eat gluten-free, and both cruise lines have been excellent at accommodating him.

 

[goofyernmost]

not anymore. For the most part if you want a table with just your party, you can get it.

Could be, I haven't been on a cruise for about 8 years. I would think it depends on the number in your party. I would also guess that they will charge you extra for that or recommend that you go to one of the upcharge restaurants.

 

[sam_gordon]

Could be, I haven't been on a cruise for about 8 years. I would think it depends on the number in your party. I would also guess that they will charge you extra for that or recommend that you go to one of the upcharge restaurants.

You would guess wrong. Even when DW & I took our first cruise in 2013 on RCI's Oasis, we had the option of "shared table" vs "private" (not really, more in a moment) table in the MDR. We tried the shared table a couple of nights, but since neither one of us is good w/small talk, we went for the private table for the rest of the cruise.

Regarding the private table, there were times our two top was separated from the next two top by about two feet.

When we cruised with family (group of five once, group of six, and group of seven), we always had our own table.

What other lines do, I don't know, I'm just speaking about our experiences on RCI.

 

[goofyernmost]

You would guess wrong. Even when DW & I took our first cruise in 2013 on RCI's Oasis, we had the option of "shared table" vs "private" (not really, more in a moment) table in the MDR. We tried the shared table a couple of nights, but since neither one of us is good w/small talk, we went for the private table for the rest of the cruise.

Regarding the private table, there were times our two top was separated from the next two top by about two feet.

When we cruised with family (group of five once, group of six, and group of seven), we always had our own table.

What other lines do, I don't know, I'm just speaking about our experiences on RCI.

I was just expressing my thoughts on it. Perhaps it has always been that way and I have only been on two Cruises, In 1998 on Carnival to the Bahama's and in 2015 on a Celebrity Trans-Atlantic cruise and neither one offered a choice like that, however, I never asked about it. I was perfectly happy with making small talk that became very friendly by the time that the 10 day Celebrity cruise was completed.

What I did know was that I wasn't going to pay extra for a meal that I had already paid for with the package. As far as the food was concerned, I'm not sure how the cuisine would have been a lot better than the Lobster, Prime Rib, Shrimp Cocktail, Crème brûlée and assorted other things that I had both there and the buffet. The menu might have been slightly more limited in the dining room, but I never went out of the dining room hungry or disappointed.

 

[mjkacmom]

Could be, I haven't been on a cruise for about 8 years. I would think it depends on the number in your party. I would also guess that they will charge you extra for that or recommend that you go to one of the upcharge restaurants.

On NCL it’s almost impossible to share a table, it’s the same as land based restaurants. There aren’t set dining times.

 

[goofyernmost]

On NCL it’s almost impossible to share a table, it’s the same as land based restaurants. There aren’t set dining times.

I'm sure Covid influenced all that, not sure it is going to be that way forever though. I might, it just doesn't seem like a profitable or simply space feasible on a cruise. On some of those ships they would need dining rooms the size of New Jersey and a nightmare for the serving staff.

 

[tasha99]

I've only been on a couple cruises, but we enjoyed the free buffet and the extra charge restaurants. I'm not a fan of the main dining room because to me, it always seemed too crowded. We usually went to the buffet with one premium restaurant for lunch or dinner per day. For the free buffet, we found on our last cruise (Celebrity) that the Indian food and the made to order stuff was best. It took us a few days to discover them, but the made to order stations we found were eggs, minute steaks, and for some dinners, fresh fish (it was an Alaska cruise). Not sure, but it wouldn't surprise me if most cruiselines have some short order stations on the buffet.

 

[bakerworld]

We've only cruised DCL. At first their food wasn't all that good. Our last 3 cruises post pandemic DCL has improved the food. DCL's buffet closes at 3 however they have QS areas are open until late. Room service is also available until late and is a basic inclusion, along with soda. DCL does have a beer offer which is good if you want a 20 ounce beer at a time. They also have wine offerings but personally they're not to my liking as I change the wine I am drinking.

 

[sam_gordon]

I was just expressing my thoughts on it. Perhaps it has always been that way and I have only been on two Cruises, In 1998 on Carnival to the Bahama's and in 2015 on a Celebrity Trans-Atlantic cruise and neither one offered a choice like that, however, I never asked about it. I was perfectly happy with making small talk that became very friendly by the time that the 10 day Celebrity cruise was completed.

I'm not going to say this "right", and I apologize in advance... I didn't read your previous post as "expressing your thoughts", I was reading it more as "here's what happens", which is dangerous (not quite the right word) when giving advice. Especially when it's based on eight year old knowledge.

I know I've gotten burned a couple times when I try to give some Disney knowledge on here based on our last trip (years ago) and the "facts" have changed.

What I did know was that I wasn't going to pay extra for a meal that I had already paid for with the package. As far as the food was concerned, I'm not sure how the cuisine would have been a lot better than the Lobster, Prime Rib, Shrimp Cocktail, Crème brûlée and assorted other things that I had both there and the buffet. The menu might have been slightly more limited in the dining room, but I never went out of the dining room hungry or disappointed.

I don't think I've ever had a bad meal in the Royal MDR. But I'm not particular about my food. If you read Cruise Critic's Royal forum, you'd see all the posts lamenting the "downfall" of the food quality.

 

[NYCgrrl]

Among the cruise lines discussed in this thread, I’ve been perfectly content eating the “free” food on Celebrity and RCL with Celebrity winning between the two even they are run by the same company. Never been on the other lines discussed in this thread.

ETA both lines offer add on restaurants and serve both buffet and main dining sit down meals through out the day.

 

[Deb]

I'm sure Covid influenced all that, not sure it is going to be that way forever though. I might, it just doesn't seem like a profitable or simply space feasible on a cruise. On some of those ships they would need dining rooms the size of New Jersey and a nightmare for the serving staff.

sorry (really) but wrong again. My only NCL cruise was 12 years ago. Party of two, we never shared a table. My more recent cruises have been RC and a table with just your party is pretty much expected if you choose my time dining and available with early or late dining upon request. My only other line, Celebrity, it's been several years so I have no recent first hand experience. Back then it was most common to have a shared table, but I think that has changed as well.

 

[mjkacmom]

I'm sure Covid influenced all that, not sure it is going to be that way forever though. I might, it just doesn't seem like a profitable or simply space feasible on a cruise. On some of those ships they would need dining rooms the size of New Jersey and a nightmare for the serving staff.

Our first ncl cruise was about 20 years ago, no set dining times. Other mainstream cruise lines have added my time dining, and this was before COVID. We did have our own table of DCL 17 years ago, but we were a party of 9.

 

[NYCgrrl]

I forgot to mention that Celebrity offered a roast beef carving station somewhere around midnight. Too busy partying on the RCL cruises to eat in the middle of the night although one evening we ordered room service around two in the morning.

No bone to pick in the who ya gonna sit with skirmish, lol.
We sat where we were assigned and met some interesting people: the NYC Comptroller before he was convicted of fraud (snert), a psychiatrist, who in confidence, told me the man really loved me (whadda secret!) and those were just the ones who stuck out,

We opted out on the drink packages as we rarely drink sodas and paid a corkage fee to imbibe our own libations.

 

[dpswift]

not anymore. For the most part if you want a table with just your party, you can get it.

Agree since Covid when we have had early or late dining we have had a table to ourselves (both RCI and Disney) we did my time on Carnival and were either seated with others or had 6 inches between us

 

[disykat]

Coming back on to say we went on NCL in August and never shared a table or waited more than a minute or two as a party of two. We only had trouble finding a table once at the buffet and I think that was disembarkation day. That said, we tend to eat earlier than many people so we weren't there at peak times. We loved freestyle dining and never paid for anything. We didn't have the "free at sea" promo.

I drink mostly water and my husband mostly drinks tea with meals, so no problems there. We thought we would pay for a few random drinks, but never did because we were just so satiated.

We have another cruise booked with the free at sea promo so we'll at least use that. We specifically took the drink package off though so we wouldn't have to pay those gratuities. Next time I'm determined to save enough room to at least get a Mudslide! Much cheaper just to pay that and tip out of pocket.

 

[cedricandsophie]

You might consider one of the all inclusive cruises like silver sea or regency. Tips, drinks, food at all restaurants included. It’s not that much more when you consider add ons.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

You might consider one of the all inclusive cruises like silver sea or regency. Tips, drinks, food at all restaurants included. It’s not that much more when you consider add ons.

The company we went with was Seabourn (same category as Silver Sea, Regent, Explora, etc). That said you are paying quite a premium but it was very nice not worrying about stuff. They even provide free sunscreen on the decks by the pools oftentimes at lease with Seabourn. Pop, water, alcohol, caviar, etc is no issue nor cost. We just booked a 12 day cruise for next year on the sister ship to the one we sailed.

 

[ronandannette]

Could be, I haven't been on a cruise for about 8 years. I would think it depends on the number in your party. I would also guess that they will charge you extra for that or recommend that you go to one of the upcharge restaurants.

Every cruise line has some version of "your way" dining where you can choose what time to eat and have a private table. We generally take "traditional" early-seating and on every cruise since Covid, we've been at our own table, without sharing, even though we never requested it. I think that's just much more how they try to do it now.