What's the thinking on ordering extra dishes to try at the Main Dining room restaurants?

[Kennywood]

The only rule I would follow would be one of my dad's mantras:

"Get what you want, but eat what you get."

 

[tvguy]

15? 15 a day limit is a bad thing? Who can drink 15 alcoholic drink a day!? Explains some the behavior & fights we've observed...

No, it isn't a bad thing. Apparently enough people can drink 15 alcoholic beverages a day to make the rule necessary.

 

[mjkacmom]

I believe NCL already limits to 15.

Always experienced the staff to be happy to accommodate. But I've also seen signs at the buffet encouraging guests to only take as much as they can eat and if it is not enough to come back for more to reduce waste.

I am going on a cruise in 2 days, already looked through the menus each night. Some nights the meal is going to be 3 appetizers, other nights it is going to be nothing but 2 mains.

And I find it so funny that across multiple lines there is a hidden food menu. I went to the main dining room once, did not like a thing on the menu and was just going to have wine and desert before I hit the buffet for pizza. Well out comes some stew with jollof rice. Still one of the best cruise meals ever.

Actually NCL doesn’t have a daily limit, you can get two at a time, no waiting period in between drinks, and most only pay $20 a day for the gratuity on the package.

 

[Sarah Fallon]

I habitually order multiple items and have never had anyone be annoyed by it. I usually get 2 starters, a soup and then 2 entrees. It comes out when it comes out and thats fine with me and we dont monopolize the staff's time. We ask for everything up front (ketchup/ranch for the kids, etc)

 

[Carohs]

I'm also in the camp of trying to order less food or only taking a few bites before deciding I don't really like it enough to stuff myself before dessert. The servers insist on bringing you something else if there's even the smallest hint that you may not have fully enjoyed something.

 

[auntlynne]

 

[Sillysox]

Have we convinced you it will be okay to just order whatever / however much you want?

YEs! Thank you!! hahahaha!! and...tbh I'm not really a dessert person--there's a rare dessert I really will enjoy. Savory food is where it's at for me so I'm excited to try a couple things <3

 

[NAB]

YEs! Thank you!! hahahaha!! and...tbh I'm not really a dessert person--there's a rare dessert I really will enjoy. Savory food is where it's at for me so I'm excited to try a couple things <3

My husband isn’t a dessert person either he gets a Mickey bar every night for dessert….lol

 

[nancipants]

YEs! Thank you!! hahahaha!! and...tbh I'm not really a dessert person--there's a rare dessert I really will enjoy. Savory food is where it's at for me so I'm excited to try a couple things <3

I’m not big on desserts, either, other than plain cakes and cookies. So I order a bowl of vanilla ice cream most nights. One night they even put sprinkles on it.

 

[MomOTwins]

15? 15 a day limit is a bad thing? Who can drink 15 alcoholic drink a day!? Explains some the behavior & fights we've observed...

Well I also suspect some people used to cheat, eg buy the package for one stateroom and give half the drinks to friends in another room to split the cost of the drink package.

 

[DCLMP]

I recall when we went on a Royal Caribbean cruise (many moons ago) our servers were very encouraging for us to try multiple things on the menu in particular if we had trouble deciding (I'm TERRIBLE for deciding!) Typically we didn't that much because we were so disinclined to waste food--even though our server kept saying "Don't worry! we just feed the fishies with anything you can't eat!"

Lately I've been looking through some of the menus (historical menus) on the Disney cruise and I can see my family and I are likely going to have issues deciding again. How is it received to order one or two extra items off of the menu for our group to all try? Now our oldest two children are adults (and my son could eat a horse!) I could definitely see this being something we might be interested in doing if it isn't frowned upon. (Not to extreme excess, and not with a view to be wasteful!)

Not at all go for it.

 

[DCLMP]

No, it isn't a bad thing. Apparently enough people can drink 15 alcoholic beverages a day to make the rule necessary.

My liver would need a detox vacation if I did that.

 

[cmph]

I've started to keep up a little on the NCL board on CC, b/c we're going on an NCL Baltic this summer. There is an eye-opening thread on use of the premium plus drinks package. So - there is NO limit. (That 15-limit bit is Carnival, which was lamented by one cruiser.) The OP later clarified that their total drinks expenditure also included upcharge things like Starbucks drinks, sodas, and the like BUT in the interim multiple people piped in to say that it was not that ridiculous to drink that much on vacation. DH and I were floored. Apparently they start with multiple bloody marys, move on to beer for lunch, cocktails by the pool, wine at dinner, whiskey after dinner. Meanwhile, I declined the 'free at sea' drink package b/c I don't think I'll drink enough to warrant the $22/day gratuities. (It's a very port-intensive itinerary, which is why we chose it, literally a new port each day for 10 days. I feel like a glass of wine at dinner is about all I'll be able to handle haha!)

 

[cmph]

I recall when we went on a Royal Caribbean cruise (many moons ago) our servers were very encouraging for us to try multiple things on the menu in particular if we had trouble deciding (I'm TERRIBLE for deciding!) Typically we didn't that much because we were so disinclined to waste food--even though our server kept saying "Don't worry! we just feed the fishies with anything you can't eat!"

Lately I've been looking through some of the menus (historical menus) on the Disney cruise and I can see my family and I are likely going to have issues deciding again. How is it received to order one or two extra items off of the menu for our group to all try? Now our oldest two children are adults (and my son could eat a horse!) I could definitely see this being something we might be interested in doing if it isn't frowned upon. (Not to extreme excess, and not with a view to be wasteful!)

This aspect of cruising hasn't changed since I was a kid in the 90s - the servers definitely don't care if you order extras! Also, just a heads-up that the portion sizes are probably a little small for your young adult son, so that might also be wise to order extra if he's hungry and hasn't had a pre-dinner pool snack.

 

[mmouse37]

On my last cruise (non Disney), I asked my server which of the two dishes he recommended (I want to say it was pasta vs fish). He said, "both!" so that's exactly what I had.

Yep, whenever I can't decide onboard the waiter also says to get both!

MJ

 

[DCLMP]

I've started to keep up a little on the NCL board on CC, b/c we're going on an NCL Baltic this summer. There is an eye-opening thread on use of the premium plus drinks package. So - there is NO limit. (That 15-limit bit is Carnival, which was lamented by one cruiser.) The OP later clarified that their total drinks expenditure also included upcharge things like Starbucks drinks, sodas, and the like BUT in the interim multiple people piped in to say that it was not that ridiculous to drink that much on vacation. DH and I were floored. Apparently they start with multiple bloody marys, move on to beer for lunch, cocktails by the pool, wine at dinner, whiskey after dinner. Meanwhile, I declined the 'free at sea' drink package b/c I don't think I'll drink enough to warrant the $22/day gratuities. (It's a very port-intensive itinerary, which is why we chose it, literally a new port each day for 10 days. I feel like a glass of wine at dinner is about all I'll be able to handle haha!)

The drink packages also include coffee drinks, bottled water, juices, milkshakes. I'm trying to decide if I would get my moneys worth out of it on Royal. I certainly couldn't drink enough alcohol to make it worth it. Drink prices have also gone up on the ship. I couple glasses of wine would probably run around 30 dollars with tips included. I was surprised at the drink prices on the Wish last week. I did bring my own beer and wine onboard.

 

[Sillysox]

The drink packages also include coffee drinks, bottled water, juices, milkshakes. I'm trying to decide if I would get my moneys worth out of it on Royal. I certainly couldn't drink enough alcohol to make it worth it. Drink prices have also gone up on the ship. I couple glasses of wine would probably run around 30 dollars with tips included. I was surprised at the drink prices on the Wish last week. I did bring my own beer and wine onboard.

Am I right there's no drink packages on DCL though are there? (not looking for 15 a day LOL but $XX for Y drinks would be good to know about....) Wouldn't a stamp card be great, to get a discount, or buy 10 get one free on any alcoholic drinks on the ship, not just for Cove Cafe. haha #wishfulthinking

 

[Mommb]

Am I right there's no drink packages on DCL though are there? (not looking for 15 a day LOL but $XX for Y drinks would be good to know about....) Wouldn't a stamp card be great, to get a discount, or buy 10 get one free on any alcoholic drinks on the ship, not just for Cove Cafe. haha #wishfulthinking

Correct. There is no drink package on DCL, beyond the wine and beer packages discussed here: https://www.disboards.com/threads/talk-to-me-about-beer-wine-packages.3909081/#post-64592622

As you mentioned, Cove Coffee does have a "buy 5 drinks, get 1 free" card. I haven't tried using it for alcoholic drinks.

 

[anjuan]

I've started to keep up a little on the NCL board on CC, b/c we're going on an NCL Baltic this summer. There is an eye-opening thread on use of the premium plus drinks package. So - there is NO limit. (That 15-limit bit is Carnival, which was lamented by one cruiser.) The OP later clarified that their total drinks expenditure also included upcharge things like Starbucks drinks, sodas, and the like BUT in the interim multiple people piped in to say that it was not that ridiculous to drink that much on vacation. DH and I were floored. Apparently they start with multiple bloody marys, move on to beer for lunch, cocktails by the pool, wine at dinner, whiskey after dinner. Meanwhile, I declined the 'free at sea' drink package b/c I don't think I'll drink enough to warrant the $22/day gratuities. (It's a very port-intensive itinerary, which is why we chose it, literally a new port each day for 10 days. I feel like a glass of wine at dinner is about all I'll be able to handle haha!)

I've been watching the NCL board also for our upcoming cruise and saw that thread as well. I was surprised at how much some people can drink. I also don't drink a lot but decided to go ahead and pay the gratuities for the free at sea package. I know I'll be drinking more on that ship than I usually would. But I also thought I'd take it as an opportunity to try new drinks.

 

[auntlynne]