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I look at dining in the Main Dining Room on a cruise ship, and the many watch outs, must knows, tips and tricks. It is not straight-forward as many cruisers think
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I was recently helping my friends Graham
0:02
and Pete who were looking to go on their
0:04
very first cruise but as I started
0:06
explaining dining in the main dining
0:08
room something struck me just how
0:11
different the main dining rooms are
0:13
between cruise lines now and how much
0:16
more complex it's actually become so
0:19
whether you're a first-time Cruiser
0:21
thinking of changing Cruise Lines or
0:23
even trying a different ship within a
0:25
cruise line the tips that I gave them
0:27
are definitely going to help you too
0:30
welcome aboard I'm Gary bembridge and
0:32
the first point I made to Graham and
0:34
Pete is there's two things they need to
0:36
know about the main dining room firstly
0:38
the main dining room food is included in
0:40
the fair and while most people use it
0:42
only for dinner it's usually open for
0:44
breakfast and at lunchtime too I also
0:47
recommend that they focus on the main
0:49
dining room for most of their meals
0:51
because Pete has food allergies and for
0:54
people with food allergies this is the
0:56
best option in my view firstly because
0:59
the main dining room kitchens have
1:01
dedicated sections to prepare food for
1:04
people with allergies or specific needs
1:06
like kosher food the other is they can
1:09
meet with the maitre d who will always
1:11
be there to discuss Pete's requirements
1:14
and we will also ensure that his food
1:15
allergies are addressed every time he
1:18
dines now once they get up to the buffet
1:21
I told them it becomes a little bit more
1:22
complicated because food is much more
1:24
mixed up here even though they might
1:26
have a gluten-free area and so on it
1:29
just seems so much more difficult to
1:31
control I told Pete and Graham that they
1:34
need to let whichever line they choose
1:37
know at the time of booking that they
1:39
have a dietary issue and be really clear
1:42
about exactly what it is by the way if
1:45
you're vegetarian you don't really need
1:47
to let the cruise line know they're very
1:49
used to that and there's always at least
1:52
one item on the menu at each of the
1:54
levels you know start a main course and
1:56
so on there's more that they're going to
1:57
need to get from the matrd that I'll
1:59
touch on a little bit later data but
2:00
before that there's an even bigger issue
2:03
to consider Graham Pete are talking
2:05
about going to Alaska
2:07
but they haven't locked down on which
2:09
Cruise Line yet so this threw up four
2:12
main dining room differences that they
2:14
need to know about because it could
2:15
affect the line they choose or certainly
2:17
what they do once they're on board so
2:19
first of all the most common option is
2:22
where a cruise line offers fixed dining
2:24
and anytime dining for example they were
2:27
interested in in Cunard Queen Elizabeth
2:29
because I was just back from that and
2:31
they were offered a first sitting at 5
2:33
45 PM a second sitting at 8 15 pm and
2:37
then there was open seated dining from 5
2:39
45 to 9pm they didn't know what all that
2:42
meant so here's what I told them fixed
2:45
dining means they'd go for dinner at the
2:47
same time every single evening so I
2:50
explained there's a couple of Pros with
2:52
that they'd have the same table
2:55
the same table Companions and the same
2:57
waiters so they'd get to know them and
3:00
this will definitely start I mean the
3:02
waiters would personalize their
3:03
experience for example Graham loves
3:05
spicy sauce with his food and it's
3:07
likely the waiters would always have
3:08
that ready on the table for him as
3:11
they'd also sit with the same people
3:12
they'd get to build friendships which is
3:14
another big plus now the cons are that
3:17
those people may actually start to annoy
3:19
them they may find it very regimented at
3:22
the same time and frustrating having no
3:24
flexibility if they went with any time
3:26
dining I told them they can go at any
3:28
time when it's open they won't have the
3:30
same table and they won't have the same
3:32
waiting staff each night now the pros of
3:34
flexibility and variety because they'd
3:36
be sitting with different people and
3:38
they can Flex with their plan day by day
3:41
on the downside the waiters won't get to
3:43
know them so well and they may also of
3:46
course have to wait for a tail if it's
3:47
busy now different cruise lines have
3:49
different approaches so if they weren't
3:51
on America sitting on my last trip I had
3:53
to call a number or go to a to book
3:56
there any time dining option or I have
3:59
to just simply go and queue most lines
4:01
now though provide an app where you can
4:03
book a time or you can join a virtual
4:05
queue like when I was on piano Britannia
4:07
and Princess Cruises Majestic princess
4:09
recently if they didn't want to do any
4:11
of those they didn't want a book you
4:13
could just pitch up but I suggested go
4:15
in it opens or go later because it gets
4:18
really busy doing the popular sort of 6
4:20
30 7 30 slot as I looked at the lines
4:22
they were thinking about I had to warn
4:24
them about another main dining room
4:26
permutation on some Cruise Lines they
4:28
don't have one main dining room so
4:29
they'd require them to or give them the
4:31
option to rotate around multiple main
4:34
dining rooms I explained for example
4:36
that on Celebrity Edge which I did
4:38
earlier this year which they're very
4:40
interested in that have four main dining
4:42
rooms Cosmopolitan Tuscan Cyprus and
4:46
Normandy and they'd have to choose which
4:48
one they wanted to go to each night
4:49
however if they went on celebrities
4:51
silhouette or ships of the solstice
4:53
class there was only that one main
4:55
dining
4:56
so even by ship within a line it can
4:58
differ the other thing I pointed out is
5:00
there may be a range of main dining
5:03
rooms based on what cabin grade they
5:05
eventually decided they were going to
5:07
book Cunard are probably best known for
5:10
this they have four main dining rooms
5:12
based on Kevin grade Britannia for
5:15
inside Ocean View and balcony cabins
5:17
botanic club for the highest balcony
5:19
cabin grades princess grill for mini
5:22
suites and queens grill for the bigger
5:24
suites but it's becoming more common
5:27
across many other cruise lines to
5:29
celebrity which I've already been
5:30
talking about for example they have
5:32
luminai for their sweets and blue for
5:35
their Aqua Spa cabins and the main
5:37
dining room for the others but I also
5:39
made the point that whatever they
5:40
decided they had to do one key thing
5:45
they have to make a friend of the maitre
5:47
d as well as the maitre d being key for
5:49
managing Pete's dietary issues they
5:52
could also make or break their trip
5:55
they decide where Graham and Pete will
5:57
be sitting how many people will be on
5:59
their table and are stressed that
6:01
although they should request their
6:03
preferred table fort too when booking it
6:06
was not guaranteed and it was really up
6:08
to the maitre d to decide so getting to
6:11
the maitre d early on as soon after
6:13
boarding as they possibly can or give
6:16
them a better chance of having a table
6:17
for two because they're they're earlier
6:19
and they can butter them up basically
6:21
the other point I made to them is if
6:23
they don't get a table for two and they
6:26
are sharing with people they mustn't
6:28
grin and bear it if they're not clicking
6:30
just go and speak to the maitre d and
6:33
ask to change there's always chopping
6:35
and changing on the first night so don't
6:37
feel bad it happens all the time now
6:40
Graham loves his food he has a huge
6:42
appetite whereas Pete probably pecks at
6:45
his food more like a little bird my
6:48
point of them is when they get the menu
6:50
it's going to imply a course-led meal
6:53
now when they're in a normal restaurant
6:55
I guess you're an inclination is to sort
6:57
of have one of every course but my point
6:59
to them was there's a couple of things
7:01
to consider when you look at a menu in
7:03
the main dining room firstly the menu
7:05
they get will be different to anything
7:07
they're normally used to
7:09
in the denim menu they will have a
7:11
section that changes every single day it
7:14
might often be linked to a region that
7:16
they might be selling in so it's kind of
7:18
dishes of the day so to speak but
7:19
there'll also be fixed items that are
7:21
always available like steak chicken or
7:23
fish now my point to them was not to
7:25
focus on those fixed items always start
7:27
by looking at the items that change
7:29
because they're only there for one day
7:31
but they always know that they've got
7:33
those fixed options as their backup
7:36
also they can skip a course there's no
7:38
rule that says You must have all of the
7:41
courses now they don't want to be
7:43
wasteful but I told them they could
7:44
order multiple items of every course
7:46
that they want so they could order
7:47
perhaps a couple of starters to share or
7:50
create a surf and turf as a main
7:51
whatever they want to do you can choose
7:55
more than one item at each of those
7:57
levels basically you can also even ask I
8:00
pointed out to them items to take away
8:02
not many people know that something they
8:05
were really worried about was dress
8:07
codes now people worry about this all
8:10
the time a lot of lines have dress codes
8:11
so my point is they need to think about
8:13
this when they're choosing their Cruise
8:15
Line because it varies a lot for example
8:17
on Disney Cruises even on formal nights
8:19
recently I could wear shorts and a
8:21
t-shirt if I wanted on Celebrity uh they
8:24
would be able to wear jeans and a
8:25
colored shirt but I'm Cunard on formal
8:27
nights they would have to wear a jacket
8:28
and tie or tuxedo before they could go
8:30
to the main dining room on those formal
8:33
nights so think about dress code and
8:34
main dining room is really important the
8:36
next thing I spoke to them about is some
8:38
of the etiquette tips some of the things
8:40
that they need to do in the main dining
8:42
room that are actually really important
8:44
never ever talk about politics or
8:47
religion when sharing a table I've been
8:49
on cruises during which this became a
8:51
really big problem for example one of
8:54
the more controversial U.S presidents
8:55
would always come up in conversation and
8:58
it would always cause a nightmare
9:00
sometimes it could even get a bit nasty
9:02
because people had very differing views
9:05
about it and it hijacked the whole table
9:06
and kind of put a dampton on the cruise
9:08
so please avoid politics and religion
9:11
also made the point to them of sharing
9:14
with people and how important it is to
9:16
not be late or if they're not going to
9:18
dinner let people know now usually the
9:20
waiters will wait until everyone who's
9:23
at an allocated table is there before
9:25
they start taking orders so if they're
9:27
late the whole table is going to be late
9:31
of course my point of them is good table
9:32
manners are always important now one of
9:35
the things that I said to them is
9:36
obviously I'm sensitive about it because
9:38
of what I do you know I take pictures
9:40
and videos of the food so always check
9:43
that the people that you're sharing with
9:45
are comfortable with that was my point
9:48
now do you have any other tips around
9:50
the main dining room that I've missed
9:52
out and but while you're thinking about
9:53
that and how all this could affect your
9:56
choice of Cruise Line why don't you
9:58
watch this video with what I think are
10:01
the best lines right now starting with a
10:03
surprise for many people in the big ship
10:05
area see you over there
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