10 Cruise Ship Main Dining Room Tips

Hey Cruisers!
It’s time for some NEW main dining room tips!
Let’ do this!
These 10 Cruise Ship Main Dining Room Tips were designed to help you get the most of your MDR experience!

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[loritiede]

On Princess, you may also ask for an entree-sized portion of an appetizer, or vice versa (an appetizer-sized portion) of an entree. Or, if you want to try a few entrees but don’t want so much food, you could also ask for no sides/starches (just the protein). It’s very customizable.

[kaiwildly]

Being in the hospitality industry for 45 years in my career as a chef and event management, one thing I noticed on cruises in MDR and any place on a cruise ship, is the way some of the passengers treat the crew members. Many passengers feel like they're entitled to have crew bend over backward to their every whim, just because they are on a cruise. It's rude and obnoxious. I have the utmost respect for these servers, runners, barback, chefs and cooks. In fact, all of the crew members from stewards to pool attendees should be treated respectfully and fairly. They work very hard and do not need rudeness as an add-on to their already hectic schedule. When you go on a cruise, the crew is there to serve you as best they can. They are crewmembers on a cruise ships, not personal slaves to obstinate jerk wads who don't know how to treat fellow human beings as they should be treated. Respect.

[AM-drqd]

***Tip- B nice with everyone all the time you are on vacation, relax. The best part is that being nice is free and you will receive back so much. Many blessings 🙏!

[captainstablemdr]

Hi Sheri, all great tips for the MDR. I liked your suggestion to " try new things"! In regard to decorum, a simple "please and thank you" goes a long way. The staff works so hard to make our dining experience memorable. Well Done CTTV!

[Barbie.]

Great run down of tips for the MDR. The one add I have is bring your patience. Feeding hundreds of people all at the same time is a challenge. This is relaxed dining experience, enjoy that you’re not eating in 15 minutes over the sink. If you want to go to a show, let them know. Being rude and impatient just brings down everyone around you.

[dpicker]

Choose anytime dining when allowed or offered! So nice to be on your own schedule and the service is often faster and better so it doesn't take up a lot of your evening!

[katd]

I love the main dinning room on Royal Cruises. One thing I think that people have let slide is dressing for dinner. I don't mean formals and tux's but put on a nice shirt and shoes not flip flops and a tank.

[willgaukler]

... I love the idea of enjoying at cocktail as you sit down then order a re-fill ... also board prior to the hour of close ... so you can have lunch first thing ...

[sherladixon]

We love ordering what we want and I always get 2 crème brûlée. Our waiter on our last cruise even brought me one for later in my room. He got a good tip.

[jeromep]

On our last cruise we had complimentary speciality dining on the first night, so we went to the steakhouse. It was both very calm, civilized and a great way to start a cruise. And like Cheri said, we avoided the crowds and confusion at the main dining rooms. Even if you have to pay the cover charge for speciality dining, it is worth it on the first night.

[beckyhopper]

One thing I like about NCL is at every dining experience they ask right off if you have any food allergies.

[andreas]

Hi Sherri, great tips! I agree, deal with any issue as directly as you can. We had open dining assigned on Holland America and we prefer early dining. (It was all that was on offer at time of booking-anytime). So…we tried it a few times, found it chaotic and unpleasant to have different wait staff and always reminding party of 2 only. So I decided to follow up on feedback on app in real time and we not only got an early dining time with assigned table for two with consistent staff, they sent chocolate covered strawberries to our room and that was “icing on the cake”. 😊

[valerie]

Hi Everyone! Doing anytime dinning! We have been bringing our own drink before we sit down...

[jackmortimer]

On Royal, the menus for the entire cruise are available in the app. Also, if the entrees are not appealing, you can order items from the kids menu. Some of those turn out pretty good.

[lboutard]

Best tips as always! Getting the drink ahead is super smart! Thank you ❤

[FraserAtSea]

That day 1 tip is SO useful. I just got off Coral Princess, and the Speciality restaurants and Main Dining rooms were fully staffed right through from embarkation up until dinner service - they were SO available to help, which was new to me!

[pam]

I had no idea you can go to the dining room on the first day and find out where your table is. I have been cruising for many many years lol thank you so much!

[francoisedunne]

My first cruise on Holland America line was in 2001 one of the things I really loved about the formal dining room was that they always had the menus posted out there for breakfast lunch and dinner it was an excellent idea to go down there and see if they were serving some thing that was really interesting ..of course the lunch is served we’re only on port days ..I thought that was a good idea. Too bad all Cruise Lines don’t do that.

[DavidWilliams-qryj]

I'd like an honest discussion on main dining room etiquette and dress code. One of the main reasons that my wife and I cruise, is the four star dining experience in the main dining room every night. We enjoy dressing up for dinner and then attending entertainment. Cruise lines have dress codes for the main dining room as well as special dress codes for elegant nights. It really puts a damper on our cruising experience to have people wanting to wear shorts and grungy casual clothes in the formal dining room. We understand it's their vacation. But if they want to dress that way for dinner. Why don't they please honor the dress code and go upstairs to the buffet and enjoy their shorts or so-called comfortable clothes at the buffet? I know it's their vacation but why do they want to break the rules. It's a low class no class Behavior. And there's one particular brand of cruise ship where this behavior is prevalent. I won't mention the brand but we all know which one it is.

[marinaward]

On our last 2 cruises on Royal, we chose my time dining. It was great. When we checked in on the first night, we asked if we could have a window seat each night, and they made it happen. Love sitting by the window and watching the sun set while eating.