Do you tend to order the same thing on each MDR menu?

[Eyeonhevn]

We have a cruise coming up in about 6 weeks and I’m browsing the app - looking at the menus for each day. Welcome Aboard menu, Taste of Caribbean, etc.

are you like me that you’ll order the same thing you order off each menu? 
 

what do you choose off the Welcome Aboard menu? 

[HeWhoWaits]

There are certain items both my wife and I are fairly sure to order when they appear (moreso her).

In general, I do not decide until sitting at the table based on what speaks to me at the time. Anytime lamb is an option, I will order it. Lamb one of the few foods I have found to (nearly) always be better on cruise ships than when I prepare something similar myself. The other thing cruise kitchens do better than I am capable of producing is Indian food (it helps greatly that many of the chefs are Indian) so often that is the menu option that jumps off the page for me.

[WAAAYTOOO]

I am a terrible creature of habit and am remarkably predictable with my food choices.  I like what I like and avoid what I don’t.  I almost always order the same choices meal after meal.  Not an adventurous eater AT ALL.

[TexanTwoStep]

Yes, I order the same thing every time.

The entire menu

[Eyeonhevn]

15 minutes ago, TexanTwoStep said:

Yes, I order the same thing every time.

The entire menu

 

43 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

I am a terrible creature of habit and am remarkably predictable with my food choices.  I like what I like and avoid what I don’t.  I almost always order the same choices meal after meal.  Not an adventurous eater AT ALL.

Creatures of habit unite!

 

[WAYNO]

Yep.  The same order every time.  Steak, prime rib, and lobster on lobster night.  If they are not available, then I adventure out... to the Windjammer.

 

[OCSC Mike]

43 minutes ago, Eyeonhevn said:

Creatures of habit unite!

Indeed! I don't know how many times I've called myself that on here.

We're not huge MDR fans but I mostly do order the same things there.

Specialty is another story. I have go to items but I like so many things on the menus of our favorite restaurants that I have to narrow it down a bit so I don't explode and that leads to some variety from one meal to the next.

[dustfsu]

Since the menus haven't changed in a while, I usually order the same stuff, but I tried other stuff and when I go on my next one I usually double up on some of the choices and take out the item that was just OK. But always get the Caesar!!! I usually skip the soups in the main dining.

[smokeybandit]

I've tried just about everything I'd want to try, and have settled on favorites, at least for entrees. I'll change up apps though.

[OCSC Mike]

36 minutes ago, dustfsu said:

always get the Caesar!

That's funny, one reason we avoid the MDR is b/c for over half the standard menus my picky wife would wind up ordering Caesar salad and grilled chicken... not b/c she loves them, she just won't eat anything else. Clearly you're a huge Caesar fan.

[FionaMG]

Yes this is me too. I know the standard menus off by heart and will know what I am going to eat on any given night months in advance.

I have a cruise coming up on MSC in July and it's driving me crazy that I don't have access to the menus!

My choices from the welcome aboard menu will be the crab cake or spinach and artichoke dip, followed by the fish fillet or the chicken saag depending on how hungry I am, and the Boston cream pie for dessert, potentially accompanied by a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Btw, has anyone else noticed that the MDR menus now have a different mocktail each day in the featured beverages section? I'm not sure how long those have been there. I didn’t notice them on my recent Allure cruise but that might just have been lack of attention on my part.

[dustfsu]

44 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said:

That's funny, one reason we avoid the MDR is b/c for over half the standard menus my picky wife would wind up ordering Caesar salad and grilled chicken... not b/c she loves them, she just won't eat anything else. Clearly you're a huge Caesar fan.

One of the best Caesar’s is at Outback!!!

[Ampurp85]

I am pretty much a tried and true type of gal. I order what I like, which is usually the same things. I'm a picky eater so if I can I try to avoid certain nights since the menu has been streamlined. Truthfully I only love Caribbean night in the MDR . 

[OCSC Mike]

22 minutes ago, dustfsu said:

One of the best Caesar’s is at Outback!!!

Haven't been there in a long time but I do remember loving theirs.

[FionaMG]

1 hour ago, Ampurp85 said:

I am pretty much a tried and true type of gal. I order what I like, which is usually the same things. I'm a picky eater so if I can I try to avoid certain nights since the menu has been streamlined. Truthfully I only love Caribbean night in the MDR . 

That's one of my favourites too. The one I like most of is the Asian night but that menu tends to only show up on cruises that 8 nights or longer.

[Pooch]

5 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

I am a terrible creature of habit and am remarkably predictable with my food choices.  I like what I like and avoid what I don’t.  I almost always order the same choices meal after meal.  Not an adventurous eater AT ALL.

Even when I tell you NOT to order the rubber chicken!!!

[Pooch]

23 minutes ago, FionaMG said:

That's one of my favourites too. The one I like most of is the Asian night but that menu tends to only show up on cruises that 8 nights or longer.

Asian night is our favorite too!  Will do anything to avoid Mexican & Caribbean night!

[smokeybandit]

I haven't had Asian night yet but based on recent menus for Vision, I'll get it on my July cruise. And there's like 3 apps I want.

[barjpoe]

Importunely a 7 night sailing to the Caribbean you don't get the Asian menu. 

[WAAAYTOOO]

I can tolerate Mexican night b/c I LOVE the tortilla soup...but Caribbean night ?  UGH.  NO.

[FionaMG]

1 hour ago, Pooch said:

Asian night is our favorite too!  Will do anything to avoid Mexican & Caribbean night!

I have only once had the misfortune to be confronted with the Mexican menu. I did make an effort but I really didn't like anything that I ordered. Curiously, DH who is the picky one loved everything he ordered. Go figure

[smokeybandit]

Caribbean night is my favorite. That chicken is fantastic and always ends up being a huge portion in an era where portions have gotten smaller.

[Eyeonhevn]

5 hours ago, Pooch said:

Asian night is our favorite too!  Will do anything to avoid Mexican & Caribbean night!

I don’t think I’ve had Asian …. Even on our 14 night Panama Canal cruise. But I do like Mexican and Caribbean menus! Weirdly - as I tend to be a picky eater aka I’m not an adventurous eater. 
 

Our next cruise is an eight nighter…. Maybe we will have an Asian night! 

[smokeybandit]

I haven't had Asian night on an 8 nighter. Looks like my 9 nighter does though, assuming the menu order is the same as other recent 9s on that ship.

[FionaMG]

5 hours ago, Eyeonhevn said:

I don’t think I’ve had Asian …. Even on our 14 night Panama Canal cruise. But I do like Mexican and Caribbean menus! Weirdly - as I tend to be a picky eater aka I’m not an adventurous eater. 
 

Our next cruise is an eight nighter…. Maybe we will have an Asian night! 

 

4 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

I haven't had Asian night on an 8 nighter. Looks like my 9 nighter does though, assuming the menu order is the same as other recent 9s on that ship.

We had it on an 8-nighter on Anthem out of Cape Liberty back in April 2023. I had the teriyaki salmon and it was delicious.

[OCSC Mike]

5 hours ago, FionaMG said:

I had the teriyaki salmon and it was delicious.

I’d love an Asian night & if they would be able to put teryaki sauce on a chicken breast my wife would eat that. Haven’t seen the menu in a while but I remember thinking it looked good.

[Eyeonhevn]

My eight night cruise is in about 45 days and although the app shows menus that I recognize- the menu calendar only shows seven days - 6 nights of menus. I’m hoping it’s a glitch otherwise we will be hungry coming home. 

[FionaMG]

1 minute ago, Eyeonhevn said:

My eight night cruise is in about 45 days and although the app shows menus that I recognize- the menu calendar only shows seven days - 6 nights of menus. I’m hoping it’s a glitch otherwise we will be hungry coming home. 

The menus in the app tend to reflect the current sailing of the ship in question. It sounds like your ship may be doing a 6/8 night rotation and is likely currently doing a 6-night cruise. That would explain why you're only seeing 6 nights of menus.

[Eyeonhevn]

1 minute ago, FionaMG said:

The menus in the app tend to reflect the current sailing of the ship in question. It sounds like your ship may be doing a 6/8 night rotation and is likely currently doing a 6-night cruise. That would explain why you're only seeing 6 nights of menus.

Very helpful! However every week I’ve looked it hasn’t ever been 8 nights…. Believe me I’ve been stalking the menus for a while.

and our cruise itinerary isn’t reflected in the recent months backward or forward that I can see. I even used Matt’s trick of switching cruises in the app and browsing by ship. 

but this helps me as I stalk the app! Thank you! 

[Eyeonhevn]

Ok I just checked. She’s currently on an eight night cruise and the extra menu is taste of UK. Itinerary is different from ours. Then I noticed for all of June she seems to have 7 nighters. 

[BR34]

15 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

Caribbean night is my favorite. That chicken is fantastic and always ends up being a huge portion in an era where portions have gotten smaller.

Maybe I just had a bad piece of chicken. I typically like jerk chicken, but when I ordered this it was really dry and not appetizing at all. I had written it off as a "won't order again", but I guess I might need to give it another try. Definitely right about the portion size. That thing was HUGE!

[OCSC Mike]

12 minutes ago, BR34 said:

Maybe I just had a bad piece of chicken.

That's definitely possible. I've ordered the same item multiple times on same ship a couple months apart before and had it come out great one time and inedible another. There will always be some inconsistency with banquet style dining.

[BR34]

13 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said:

There will always be some inconsistency with banquet style dining.

Fair point and the best part about cruise dining is the ability to get a different entree(s) no question asked.

[FionaMG]

Even in the speciality restaurants you get inconsistency. I remember raving about the banana split in Jamie's on Anthem so I ordered it in Jamie's on Symphony and it was a real disappointment. You win some, you lose some.

[OCSC Mike]

20 minutes ago, BR34 said:

Fair point and the best part about cruise dining is the ability to get a different entree(s) no question asked.

100%. That's why when I mention that I don't love the MDR I usually follow it up by saying I don't really care b/c I can order something else or just go find more food after. I like snacking off and on all day anyway so my main dinner isn't a huge deal, unless we're doing specialty, then I try to be good and stuff myself there.

[OCSC Mike]

7 minutes ago, FionaMG said:

Even in the speciality restaurants you get inconsistency. I remember raving about the banana split in Jamie's on Anthem so I ordered it in Jamie's on Symphony and it was a real disappointment. You win some, you lose some.

Agreed. I tried the osso buco at GK on Wonder last summer (not something I normally order but our server just about insisted I try it) and I loved it. Last month on Wonder it wasn't nearly as good (it had way too much of the sauce or whatever else is in the dish and the veal got lost in it). No biggie of course, I could order half the menu and everything else was excellent.

On the flip slide, the first time I ordered carbonara there I didn't like it at all and I love carbonara. The next tried I tried it, it was very good.

[melmar02]

4 hours ago, Eyeonhevn said:

Ok I just checked. She’s currently on an eight night cruise and the extra menu is taste of UK. Itinerary is different from ours. Then I noticed for all of June she seems to have 7 nighters. 

I loved the sticky toffee pudding on UK night on Explorer a couple months ago. Fish and chips were just ok, but DS enjoyed the chicken and mushroom pie.

Welcome night is out least favorite followed closely by Italian. If we eat in the MDR on night one I usually get the crab cake, prime rib, and DH and I also split the chicken saag. None of the desserts jump out at me either.

[Eyeonhevn]

2 hours ago, melmar02 said:

I loved the sticky toffee pudding on UK night on Explorer a couple months ago. Fish and chips were just ok, but DS enjoyed the chicken and mushroom pie.

Welcome night is out least favorite followed closely by Italian. If we eat in the MDR on night one I usually get the crab cake, prime rib, and DH and I also split the chicken saag. None of the desserts jump out at me either.

The last time I ordered prime rib on night one… it wasn’t very good. It was fatty, rubbery meat. I regretted my decision! Typically I’ll order the fried chicken and I’ll peel off the skin….

[smokeybandit]

Prime rib is always a hit or miss dish, even at onshore restaurants. 

[PPPJJ-GCVAB]

Just read through this post.  I, like so many of you, pretty much stick to the same menu items when in the MDR.  Sad to admit it but I am really beginning to get bored with the MDR offerings.  Uhhh, maybe it’s a little more than beginning!  For me, there is not enough choices which causes me to have to order the same thing each cruise.  Our last 2 cruises brought us a little reprieve because we reserved a few nights in the Solarium Bistro…I really love all the small appetizer plate choices near the salad.  As far as dinner choices…my tried and true lamb chops!  
We also enjoyed our first ever Chef’s Table!  Oh how awesome it was…

We are not big Specialty dining fans, although last month we did try Playmakers for the first time.

Anyway…with our TransAtlantic cruise coming up in October, I am already not looking forward to sooo many nights in the MDR!