Learn 2 Cruise

When 2 Dine: Open Seating vs. Traditional Dining Now for the most important part of your cruise…the food! Here a few tips to make your dining experience more than just a meal. Most cruise lines are veering away from the traditional first or second and early or late seating and now give their guests a choice. Holland America offers “As You Wish Dining” and Celebrity made “Celebrity Select Dining” available to their entire fleet in early 2010.

These options I just listed are also referred to as “Open Seating”, allowing you to have dinner in the Main Dining Room any time you want. Open seating is perfect for active travelers who are running late because of shore excursions or for people who just want to be on their own schedule while cruising.

For those of you who remain on a strict schedule even on vacation “Traditional Dining” options are still available. For example Celebrity’s Traditional Dining allows you to make reservations for dinner anytime between 6:00pm-9:30pm. These reservations can be done so via their website up to 4 days prior to embarkation. If you are not sure what type of dining you like and once onboard feel that you would like to try traditional dining you can still make that happen. Once on board head straight to the Maitre d’ to ensure you get the time and the table you want for each day of your cruise.

From client feedback and personal experience I suggest the open seating option. This is great for families and travelers who like to do things at their leisure. For mature travelers or for those who like structure choose traditional dining. This means you will always have a table waiting for you at your requested time and often you will have the same server and sommelier which can make for a more flawless and enjoyable dining experience.

• L2C Tip – Go ahead, splurge and order a bottle of wine at dinner. If your worried about not being able to drink it all, worry no more. Your sommelier will save the leftover wine for your dinner the next evening.

Where 2 Dine: Main Dining Room, Specialty Restaurants, Al fresco & Room Service

“Try everything and try it everywhere” is my motto when advising fellow cruisers about cruise ship dining. Given the plethora of tasty cuisine combined with the many unique restaurants onboard be sure to take advantage and try it all.

Main Dining Room, Verandah and Cafe

Start with the Main Dining Room. It’s always open and offers full breakfast, lunch and dinner. If you’re in the mood for a lighter fair or a less formal meal try your ships café or verandah. These places are perfect for catching a quick bite before a shore excursion or to just have a cup of coffee and a pastry while enjoying a good book.

Specialty Restaurants

One of the best dining experiences can be found in the Specialty Restaurants that are on almost all major cruise ships. Specialty Restaurants are typically influenced by well known chefs and offer world class gastronomical fair and a variety of exquisite ethnic options. Some cruise lines charge a service fee (usually $20-$25 per person) but it is most definitely worth it. For example Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines offers dinner in Chops Grill for $25 per person and in their Italian restaurant, Portofino’s for $20 per person. Be prepared to dress up as these places are a bit fancier than the Main Dining Room. Aboard Regent Seven Seas Cruises guests can enjoy a steak dinner at Prime 7 or a truly French experience at the Le Cordon Bleu inspired Signatures for no additional charge. Luxury cruise lines do not charge extra to dine anywhere on their ships. Specialty Restaurants on most ships require reservations to be made before you set sail and are usually limited to one at each restaurant. Additional reservations can be made for these places once onboard you just need to see the Maître d’ for available times and days.

Al Fresco

Don’t forget to dine Al Fresco! This means, to eat outside, most common in Europe but rapidly coming to life in the US. It’s a great way to relax and meet people while enjoying the scenery. It’s not every day you can enjoy freshly grilled salmon while cruising the crisp Atlantic seas.

Room Service

This to some is considered the best option of all! Being able to enjoy breakfast on your balcony while cruising past an Alaskan glacier is truly a once in a lifetime experience. Cruise lines like Carnival, Regent Seven Seas, Crystal and Costa all offer 24 hour room service. So many cruise lines are making this a standard amenity. On a 2008 Regent cruise to Alaska my husband and I put the staff to the test and ordered anything from steak and pizza to ice cream sundaes and potato chips at all hours of the night. Not only were all our culinary wishes granted, our odd orders weren’t even questioned. It was nice to have the feeling that you can have what you want whenever you want it.

As I put my favorite topic to rest I remember that my father always told me variety is the spice of life and that holds true especially on a cruise ship. The variety of food available to you is almost endless! Be sure to take advantage of the unique and local favorites that the world class chefs cook up. If you order something and don’t like it, don’t worry about it. Just order something else. The cruise staff on most ships encourages you to try different things and to order more than one entrée if you like. I’m not saying be wasteful, but to use cruising as a chance to take your taste buds on a culinary journey throughout the world of flavors and dishes that you might not try at home.