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New menus to be rolled out in early 2023


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Our last cruise on Voyager in Oct I was not real impressed by the MDR food. However we did have a beverage waiter that after a couple days was right on top of things. I'm Diamond but we were traveling with extra family that I wanted to use my vouchers for since I had the DBP, last time I got that for $65. He did a terrific job handling the various drink orders by my family and using either my of my wife's vouchers to cover them, Dinners were longish, but we were a table of nine. I actually was served by the same beverage waiter in Windjammer, the Solarium, and the Royal theater. It was really nice having that personal server😀

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1 hour ago, Matt said:

season 5 episode 3 GIF

This is some good info in that podcast, thanks. If you can ever do a follow up, I'd be curious how they'll be able to continue to manage dietary restrictions with the more limited menu. Some of the classics have been fall back items when the night's rotation couldn't be adequately adapted for, in this case, gluten free.

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I had the new menus on Symphony this past week. I think they're actually a big improvement. Overall, there is a lot more selection on each menu that is not the classics, and it seems that each former classic appears at least three-four times per week on the new menus. Lot of new dishes and new selections, and they handle food allergies just as well as before (my wife is gluten free, dairy free, and soy free). Time to complete dinner was around 90 minutes or so each night, sometimes 75, sometimes 105. Felt reasonable always. We were at a two-top so service for four or six may take longer, but our wait staff was also serving two tables of six and they seemed to mirror our course timings throughout the week. 

Overall I love having more options! I always had more choices than I could order that sounded good each night, and even the classics that I love (escargot) I was still able to have them as many times as I would have them with the old menus. Definitely a welcome change. Also food quality was great!

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2 hours ago, nate91 said:

I had the new menus on Symphony this past week. I think they're actually a big improvement. Overall, there is a lot more selection on each menu that is not the classics, and it seems that each former classic appears at least three-four times per week on the new menus. Lot of new dishes and new selections, and they handle food allergies just as well as before (my wife is gluten free, dairy free, and soy free). Time to complete dinner was around 90 minutes or so each night, sometimes 75, sometimes 105. Felt reasonable always. We were at a two-top so service for four or six may take longer, but our wait staff was also serving two tables of six and they seemed to mirror our course timings throughout the week. 

Overall I love having more options! I always had more choices than I could order that sounded good each night, and even the classics that I love (escargot) I was still able to have them as many times as I would have them with the old menus. Definitely a welcome change. Also food quality was great!

Exactly, who wants to eat the same thing everyday of the week at home or on a cruise.

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4 hours ago, nate91 said:

I had the new menus on Symphony this past week. I think they're actually a big improvement. Overall, there is a lot more selection on each menu that is not the classics, and it seems that each former classic appears at least three-four times per week on the new menus. Lot of new dishes and new selections, and they handle food allergies just as well as before (my wife is gluten free, dairy free, and soy free). Time to complete dinner was around 90 minutes or so each night, sometimes 75, sometimes 105. Felt reasonable always. We were at a two-top so service for four or six may take longer, but our wait staff was also serving two tables of six and they seemed to mirror our course timings throughout the week. 

Overall I love having more options! I always had more choices than I could order that sounded good each night, and even the classics that I love (escargot) I was still able to have them as many times as I would have them with the old menus. Definitely a welcome change. Also food quality was great!

appreciate this insight!! we are sailing on symphony in february and are also cautiously optimistic about the new menus. thank you for your candor!

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Just off the Brilliance this morning. Had dinner all four nights in the MDR. Excellent service for our table of four. Ordered 2-3 rounds of drinks and they were delivered promptly. First time in @10 cruises that we ate in the MDR. Service 10/10, food 7/10. Average time to consume a meal @1 hour. Looking forward to the new menu.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I only did a quick perusal, but I didn't see any cream of mushroom soup on any of the menus and they have removed the lamb shank and replaced it with braised lamb.  Is there still a lobster night ?  I didn't see it.  We don't eat in the MDR anyway so it really won't affect us but it's a shame to see some of the old favorites pitched.

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On 12/14/2022 at 10:13 AM, Matt said:

I encourage everyone to listen to this week's podcast episode with Royal Caribbean's head of food and beverage to get a better sense of why and how Royal Caribbean is retooling the main dining room menu. 

I found some interesting insight into the change: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/podcast/episode-479-inside-look-the-new-main-dining-room-menus

Hi I'm new here. I am new to cruising, having done our first just last year, but liked it so much we have booked another.   

I really enjoyed this podcast, although the audio quality was a bit dim in places. 

I am not new to hospitality, having worked in hotels for many years.  What jumped out to me in this podcast was the special requests and what that really meant.  Special isn't just dietary, all kitchens are set up to deal with dietary.  But apparently special could mean requesting food that comes from a completely different restaurant on the ship!!!   That's over the top. What a mess it would make of the line and expo.   But Royal Caribbean would do it, and more and more people were asking for similar and it was out of control. 

 

 

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No matter what the menu is, Royal can’t win.  Some people complain that the menus never change, so Royal makes changes and then people complain about the change.

 

I’m personally excited about the new menus. We’re frequent cruisers and have rarely done any speciality dining.  We truly enjoy the MDR and as a party of two we’re in and out quickly without even rushing.  We tend to plan our dinner selections early so we don’t overlap during the day, no sense in eating chicken twice!  So when we sit down we already know what we’re ordering and it goes really smoothly.

i also hope these changes “get rid” of the “secret menu”, like the curry dishes since I mostly forget to ask about them and hopefully they are just on the menu so I can easily see them 🙂

im sure we will miss some of our favorites over time, but I bet we can find a new favorite!

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I'm excited about the new menu..almost bummed I don't have many longer cruises scheduled where I will be able to partake as I'm sailing with specialty dining fans.  There are several dishes each night that I'd be interested in trying. I am also an adventurous eater and I can see how those who aren't could have trouble with the menu.

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The food looks fine to me.  We were sad to see Lamb Shank disappear, but we'll see what Braised Lamb is all about.  For us, it's plenty of choice, I can certainly see for picky eaters how it will be more difficult, but I'm sure those folks will find their path as well.

The worst part of the whole affair to me is the BS about doing it to reduce the dining time.  This menu, alone, will have no impact on dining time.  Now if they add a little more staff, that might do it.  I suppose, if fewer people come to MDR because of the choice that would be like more staff per passenger.

I know that one of the functions of marketing during a change is to find and cling onto any positive you can find, but this one was a stretch.

The real MDR complaint is the time to get a drink.  That's practically universal.

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1 hour ago, TexanTwoStep said:

YES.  I usually stop at the bar on the way to dinner and grab drinks before we head to dinner.  It takes forever, especially if you're ordering alcohol.

we also do this and i thought it was just standard practice, honestly. where else can you stroll into a dining venue WITH a drink from legit anywhere 😆

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22 minutes ago, Matt said:

Mexican night has some intriguing options.

Though Mediterranean night amuses me. "We have to fit the turkey dinner in there somewhere!"  Turkeys are native to the Americas!

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2 hours ago, asquared17 said:

we also do this and i thought it was just standard practice, honestly. where else can you stroll into a dining venue WITH a drink from legit anywhere 😆

I honestly think this is the best part about cruising -- being able to eat and drink whenever (and wherever) I please! 😄

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1 hour ago, Matt said:

The Mexican night is.....depressing.

 

No elotes, spaghetti as a main course, and no chips and salsa 😞

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1 hour ago, Matt said:

Thanks for getting the kids menu up! I'm leaving in 3 weeks and was a little worried about my very picky (aka: pain the ass) eater. 

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1 hour ago, TexanTwoStep said:

The Mexican night is.....depressing.

 

No elotes, spaghetti as a main course, and no chips and salsa 😞

Yeah, I feel like a couple of these theme nights are a little half-assed, but I'm sure it'll change over time. Also a bit sad there's no Indian night.

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5 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

Mexican night has some intriguing options.

Though Mediterranean night amuses me. "We have to fit the turkey dinner in there somewhere!"  Turkeys are native to the Americas!

Frankly I’m glad they put the turkey that night.  It’s the only thing I think I would like. The rest of the menus look pretty good.  Looks like I will be eating a lot of fish/seafood.

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1 hour ago, Thorntor said:

Since when is tofu a Mexican dish?  The only Mexican dish on Mexican night is carne asada.  I think if I went into a Mexican restaurant and ordered tofu, I would be giggled out of the place.  Also, why are 17% of the MDR menu choices Indian cuisine?  Give me a break Mr. Bayley.

My favorite Mexican joint here has tofu fajitas 

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