Embarkation - where do you go?

[TikiThunderPirates]

Are tastings just alcohol or would there also be food tastings?

The tastings you currently sign up for are alcohol only with the exception of one combined with alcohol and chocolate! On longer sailings (like the transatlantic) they do offer cheese and olive oil and vinegar tastings. These are a "fun" tasting, nothing to serious or hard core (you can find all of it in your speciality grocery) but they are free and do not require signing up. You just show up at the time and place listed in the navigator. We were worried they would run out of places if we were late, but they ended up having so many places already pre-set that they encouraged us to sample extras from the empty places.

 

[Santa Cecilia]

@Santa Cecilia
This was the MDR embarkation lunch menu at Lumiere's on the Magic last summer:

Thanks for this! If it’s the same/similar, I will be happy with that. I’ll be on the Wonder (my guess is Tritons), so I think i’ll stick with my MDR for lunch plan.

 

[barbarossa_hoosier]

We are neither Platinum or Concierge and have successfully booked Palo brunch prior to embarkation for all three of our cruises. Good luck and happy sailing!!

Admittedly, I'm working from a sample size of 1. We've got our TA keeping an eye out when our Silver booking window opens, so we'll see if we have any better luck this time. I'm not sweating it too much; with 3 sea days on the Eastern itinerary, I'm sure I can book something once onboard.

 

[barbarossa_hoosier]

I wish we could do this, have a quiet lunch at MDR, sipping a nice cold mimosa while waiting for our room and planning the cruise ahead... my DD13 refuses to go to MDR bc she says 'going to cabanas is a tradition'... smh.... so I'm stuck with dealing with the cabanas stampede every cruise we've been on...
Is there a time when that zoo is less busy on embarkation day?

At 13, maybe she could just go to Cabana's on her own, while you two enjoy a relaxing MDR lunch?

 

[jalapeno_pretzel]

We ate lunch before going to the port because I didn't want to deal with hungry kids in lines. So we were able to go directly to the room, unpack our carry-ons, and open a couple of drinks. And the kids went up to get ice cream. It was very relaxing to do it that way.

 

[ludari]

I wish we could do this, have a quiet lunch at MDR, sipping a nice cold mimosa while waiting for our room and planning the cruise ahead... my DD13 refuses to go to MDR bc she says 'going to cabanas is a tradition'... smh.... so I'm stuck with dealing with the cabanas stampede every cruise we've been on...
Is there a time when that zoo is less busy on embarkation day?

I tried Cabanas a few times on embarkation day and it's just too busy for me but being a solo cruiser I have the flexibility to do what I want without having to consider anyone else. I agree with one of the posts that suggested you tell your DD that you want to try something different and see how it goes. I couldn't comment on if there is a time when cabanas is less busy on embarkation day.