Probably a very weird question...can you take your leftovers after meals?

[scrapperkimmydee]

i eat extremely small meals, 4 to 5 of them a day. If I don't finish a meal, can I take it back to my room for later?

 

[bumbershoot]

Probably.

I strongly recommend talking to your server on that first night and being very earnest with them that you are a small eater. Because our servers (and this is Disney and Royal) have continued to be offended that I don't eat very much at a sitting. None of us order soup/salad, appetizer, meal, and dessert. And I order less. And don't always finish what I was given. And it just seems to irk the servers.

I think it's because they are afraid you didn't like it and will reflect that in the survey at the end (saying that the food is bad does reflect poorly on the servers and THEY get in trouble for it, because the servers are supposed to notice it and remedy it...so if you still didn't like the food the cruiselines think it's because the servers didn't work hard enough...there is just no way to tell them that their menus are bad or the chefs are doing something wrong) (and it is what it is and we can't change that). So they freak out if you aren't eating much.

For me, it gets really REALLY old. I'm quite sure that few of the servers or assistants eat *that* much at their meals, but it's like they've gotten so used to the people that order two entrees and all the other parts of the meal that it just doesn't compute that some of us don't.

Stay strong with them.

And IMO the desserts aren't anywhere near great except for the souffle if they still have that. Maybe save room for that. Everything else, meh.

 

[scrapperkimmydee]

I'll be with 3 other adults. 2 are men who can really put it away, so I'll have to fight for any leftovers I want to take.

I'll probably order various things, because I want to taste it all. I'll let the big eaters finish up what I don't want to take with me.

I'm looking forward to some great meals!!

PS My favorite food is leftovers. My 2nd favorite food is Food Orher People Prepare. It's gonna be great!!!

 

[Dug720]

My only question would be where you plan to heat them up again as there are no microwaves and hot plates are not allowed.

 

[com_op_2000]

My experience:
We went to a Palo brunch, ordered hot items from the menu, went through the hot/cold buffet twice, and dessert buffet twice. Our waiter informed us that we had not eaten enough, so he went to the dessert table, loaded a plate with desserts, and asked us to take it back to the room. We then took the desserts and ate them during a movie that evening.

 

[jonslawiu]

With all of the food options- including room service- not sure I was ever inclined to take left overs

 

[jonslawiu]

Probably.

I strongly recommend talking to your server on that first night and being very earnest with them that you are a small eater. Because our servers (and this is Disney and Royal) have continued to be offended that I don't eat very much at a sitting. None of us order soup/salad, appetizer, meal, and dessert. And I order less. And don't always finish what I was given. And it just seems to irk the servers.

I think it's because they are afraid you didn't like it and will reflect that in the survey at the end (saying that the food is bad does reflect poorly on the servers and THEY get in trouble for it, because the servers are supposed to notice it and remedy it...so if you still didn't like the food the cruiselines think it's because the servers didn't work hard enough...there is just no way to tell them that their menus are bad or the chefs are doing something wrong) (and it is what it is and we can't change that). So they freak out if you aren't eating much.

For me, it gets really REALLY old. I'm quite sure that few of the servers or assistants eat *that* much at their meals, but it's like they've gotten so used to the people that order two entrees and all the other parts of the meal that it just doesn't compute that some of us don't.

Stay strong with them.

And IMO the desserts aren't anywhere near great except for the souffle if they still have that. Maybe save room for that. Everything else, meh.

Good advice. I do think they are very concerned about you liking your experience. DW is not much of an eater, she was clear about it the first night, aside from ensuring she was pleased, our severs were great each time, nearly. We did have one server after day 3 we just asked kindly to stop asking DW if she did or didn't like something- we assured him we'd let him know if she wanted something different and that he was good for his survey at the end of the week.

 

[arielmomma]

We've taken food from the dining rooms plenty of times, mostly dessert, but not always. A few times it was because our kids wanted something off the menu and b/c of scheduled activities they couldn't make it lunch in the dining room. The servers were always happy to oblige.

 

[mevelandry]

When it's possible to do so, I order 1/2 portions. Sometimes they can do it. That is what I would recommend.

Otherwise, unless it's something cold, you won't be able to heat it up.

 

[ImprovGal]

When it's possible to do so, I order 1/2 portions. Sometimes they can do it. That is what I would recommend.

Otherwise, unless it's something cold, you won't be able to heat it up.

Not only is the reheating not available, but the mini fridges in cabin aren't calibrated or reliable enough to store food at a safe temperature.

A possible option to getting a lot of different little tastes in a meal may be to consider ordering only appetizers and no full sized entree.

 

[Flossbolna]

We were told that the servers have orders to not let people take left overs out of the dining room in order to prevent food poisoning. They want to control the quality of the food and they don't know if you will store it properly in your room and when you will eat it. So, requesting it might put your server into the difficult situation of wanting to please you so that you give them the coveted "excellent" rating at the end of the cruise and a nice tip (or at least to avoid you downgrading the standard tip because your request was refused, some people might do that).

One workaround: at the buffet you can leave with full plates. So you can always just carry out your leftovers from there.

Also, there is plenty of food around during the day from the buffet, the little snacks in the cove cafe, room service, the fast food up at the pool deck, the late evening snacks in the bar. So, you can always supplement your sit down meals with food from other sources.

 

[Neptune's Fork]

With all of the food options- including room service- not sure I was ever inclined to take left overs

This. There's really no need to ever do that. The portion sizes are not that big and you can tell the servers you want smaller portions. Then you can always get small meals, or any size meal really, just about anytime you want at someplace on the ship. That's one of the great things about a DCL vacation, food is the least of your worries.

 

[bumbershoot]

Who needs to heat things up? (Ok ok we are vegetarian so we do play fast and loose with food things that meat eaters worry more about)

Good advice. I do think they are very concerned about you liking your experience. DW is not much of an eater, she was clear about it the first night, aside from ensuring she was pleased, our severs were great each time, nearly. We did have one server after day 3 we just asked kindly to stop asking DW if she did or didn't like something- we assured him we'd let him know if she wanted something different and that he was good for his survey at the end of the week.

If only we had had your servers. Instead we seem to get the one you had to get firm with.

The portion sizes are not that big and you can tell the servers you want smaller portions.

My stomach begs to differ. Portions might look small on the plate but they aren't. First dcl cruise first night I was looking at the risotto thinking "that's it?" and then couldn't even finish half of it.

And I've never had a request for a smaller portion fulfilled. Not once.

And the one time I asked for two of something (the salad at Dream AP because I like it and the potato celeriac dish) that was denied too. He said he would bring out a second plate IF I asked for it. Yeah I have food issues. I'm not capable of doing that most times. I wanted two salads dumped on one plate to eat at the same time. And he wouldn't do that or even bring out both plates at once.

 

[jdb in AZ]

When we had dinner at Remy on the Fantasy we were given a sampling of desserts to take back to our room with us. No reheating was involved. Other than that, I would recommend eating smaller portions in the main dining rooms, and if necessary, getting room service, or a late-night snack up on deck.

When we were in Palo the server actually recommended a half portion so we could try different dishes. In the main dining room our server brought out an extra plate with several lobsters on it so we could have seconds. Sounds like mileage varies from server to server.

 

[eskimoinparadise]

The short answers yes, you can. I have asked for entire meals to go on both RCL and DCL when DW's arthritis flares up and she can't make it to the dining room without a lot of pain, and when we're travelling with the grandkids (and they're really not hungry while we're at dinner), the waiters have been very gracious at packing up whatever they haven't eaten so we can take it back to the cabin.

 

[kgwoozle]

I had the same question as the OP but for a different reason, I'm not a huge fan of breakfast foods and I'm trying to stay away from lots of carbs and fats . I'm a bit worried about the breakfast options. I love a bit of cold steak or chicken in the morning it gives me the protein hit I need and dinner foods are better than breakfast foods imho. I was hoping to take some dinner home for a first breakfast.

 

[bumbershoot]

When we were in Palo the server actually recommended a half portion so we could try different dishes.

Ok yes at Palo they did this for us at dinner.

 

[cedricandsophie]

I had the same question as the OP but for a different reason, I'm not a huge fan of breakfast foods and I'm trying to stay away from lots of carbs and fats . I'm a bit worried about the breakfast options. I love a bit of cold steak or chicken in the morning it gives me the protein hit I need and dinner foods are better than breakfast foods imho. I was hoping to take some dinner home for a first breakfast.

I too like cold steak in the morning occasionally but as others have stated there isn't anywhere safe to keep it cold. The cooler in the room is just that, a cooler, not a fridge. Soda or milk barely stay cool. I would never put food that required really cold temps in there, especially chicken.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

The cooler in the room is just that, a cooler, not a fridge.

All the ships have actual refrigerators in the rooms now. Time was the Magic & Wonder had "cooling boxes", but they were switched out during their respective re-imagining dry docks. And the Dream and Fantasy always had refrigerators.

Now, there are times where the fridges don't seem to work as well. Most of the time it's due to the fact that they are contained in a cabinet and ventilation is poor. I find leaving the cabinet door open helps.

 

[scrapperkimmydee]

I had the same question as the OP but for a different reason, I'm not a huge fan of breakfast foods and I'm trying to stay away from lots of carbs and fats . I'm a bit worried about the breakfast options. I love a bit of cold steak or chicken in the morning it gives me the protein hit I need and dinner foods are better than breakfast foods imho. I was hoping to take some dinner home for a first breakfast.

This is part of my reason for asking. I concentrate on produce and protein. I don't really eat breads, rice, or pasta. And I don't eat pork products. So grabbing pizza or fries for a snack in between meals isn't an option.

I don't do much sugar, either, so I won't be doing a plate of desserts, either.

If they have turkey bacon or turkey sausage as a breakfast option, I'll be fine for breakfast protein, otherwise leftover cold chicken or steak works for me in the morning.

Last time I cruised, turkey bacon wasn't available. Anyone know if that's changed?