whether you're a frequent Cruiser or a
new Cruiser you might be making some of
these main dining room mistakes and they
can definitely affect your cruise
hi there I'm Ilana from the website
lifewellcruise.com welcome or welcome
back to my channel now cruising is not
like other types of vacations and when
it comes to dining on a cruise it is not
like going to a restaurant at all and
especially over the last couple of years
we have seen some changes so I think it
really is worth going over some of the
things that you absolutely want to know
about dining on a cruise and some of the
mistakes that you absolutely want to
avoid now in this video I'm also going
to be sharing with you some tips and
suggestions to help you to make the most
out of your dining experience on your
cruise now before I get started I did
want to mention that if you like this
video if you find it helpful informative
or enjoyable in any way then please do
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already let's get started number one one
of the biggest mistakes that I see
Cruisers making right now in the dining
room is assuming that everything in the
main dining room is included now a few
years ago this was definitely true but
now not so much now really In fairness
most is included however be prepared for
some things to have an additional charge
now you don't have to order them but
expect it so some things that you might
see that have an additional charge are
things like a steakhouse restaurant in
some cases you're going to see that a
lobster tail is an extra charge now you
might also see some specialty items or
special appetizers that the cruise line
is going to try to entice you to pay an
additional charge to eat that in the
main dining room now that being said
don't be afraid to order what you want
and give some new things a try cruising
is a great time to try some things that
you normally don't eat at a restaurant
at home or maybe that you don't cook at
home this is the time to do it and even
if you see a couple of appetizers that
you'd like to try even a couple of
entrees that you would like to try maybe
you'd like more than one dessert or
you'd like to share that with somebody
at the table just go ahead and ask your
waiter on most Cruise Lines this is not
a problem at all number two not making
dining reservations in particular when
you have have open dining now if you
don't want to make a reservation that's
okay but you do have to be prepared that
if you just show up at the main dining
room that you will have a little bit of
a weight now what you can do is you can
actually make some reservations usually
before your cruise or otherwise when you
do get on the cruise and I do really
suggest that you do that in particular
try to make your reservations so that
they match the shows that you might go
to now if you do want to play it by ear
of course you can always go to the
buffet or just be prepared to wait a
little bit you do have to be a little
bit flexible now for those that say I do
not want to wait I want to eat in the
main dining room maybe every night the
same time then what you're best off
doing is actually just choosing the
traditional dining you can usually eat
early so that oftentimes is at about six
o'clock P.M or late which is usually
about 8 or 8 30 p.m but at least that
way you know that you have a set dining
reservation and sometimes it does make
it actually a little bit easier to plan
now please let me know what you prefer
if you prefer for traditional dining and
traditional dining time or if you prefer
the flexibility of open dining being
honest I kind of prefer traditional
dining in terms of having the same
waiter every night but I do also like
the flexibility of open dining so I tend
to reserve open dining most of the time
number three not planning enough time to
eat in the main dining room now in
particular what I am talking about is if
you do have a show or if you have a
little something that you need to do is
you do have to plan enough time to be
able to eat in the main dining room now
typically it should take you about 90
minutes to eat in the main dining room
it can be done a little bit quicker
sometimes we've actually been in and out
in as little as 60 minutes but not
usually less than that and even at that
sometimes we're actually skipping
dessert in the main dining room which I
don't think is really the worst thing we
can have dessert like after a show
however if you do have a show if you
have a specific reason that you need to
leave a little bit more quickly do not
be afraid to let your waiter know you
actually should let your waiter know
that you'd like an expedited service
they definitely can do this for you and
of course if you do have a show and if
you have a reason that maybe you're not
going to be able to sit as long in the
main dining room it's okay to go to the
buffet or even to go to a casual
restaurant there are definitely other
options on a cruise number four I feel
like this might rile people up a little
bit but it's not dressing appropriately
for the main dining room now don't get
very upset with me what I mean is there
is a cruise line dress code however it
really is much less formal than it was
in the past now some people would like
it to be a little bit more formal other
people would like it to be a little bit
more casual however there kind of are a
few ground rules so some of the things
that you really just need to know
because you can actually be turned away
from the dining room they can ask you to
go back to your cabin and to change is a
few things well firstly on some Cruise
Lines you're not allowed to wear shorts
to the main dining room some cruise
lines that are particularly strict about
this can be celebrity and even Holland
America and of course there are a few
you others as well please let me know
your experience in the comments below if
you've had any experience either way
with this something else to note is some
items of clothing well it's likely that
you'll be turned away or asked to go
back to your cabin to change so some of
those things are tank tops for men uh
bathing suits and any pool wear
flip-flops cover up so all of those
things just aren't really great dining
room attire so something that does
surprise a lot of people is you can wear
jeans in the main dining room so just
make sure that they're clean that
they're nice jeans but that usually is
not a problem at all and one more thing
always bring I think at least one pair
of pants so jeans are fine and at least
one for men like collared shirts so
something like a polo style shirt in
some cases for some specialty dining
restaurants you sometimes can be asked
to wear a collared shirt rather than a
plain or a graphic t-shirt now I feel
like dress codes have changed so much
that a lot of people do have some
questions about this if you'd like to
see a video about dress codes that we go
into like water of the dress codes like
right now please let me know in the
comments below number five not checking
out where your table is in the main
dining room on embarkation day now if
you have traditional dining this is very
important if you have open dining this
is probably not relevant to you but if
you have traditional dining it's a good
idea on the very first day of the cruise
to go to the main dining room in the
afternoon so usually at around three
o'clock or so you can go see the Mater D
and you can ask where your table is
located they'll usually point that table
out so if you'd like to sit near the
window for instance this is a good time
to ask for that if you see you're
sitting at a table that's very close
maybe to the waiter station and you
don't like that you can ask for that to
be changed as well number seven this is
a really important one if you're on a
group Cruise or if you're cruising with
other people and you're a large party
don't assume that you can always sit
together actually most of the time this
is going to be a little bit difficult
now you can still sit at the same time
but you may not be able to sit in the
same section of the restaurant in
particular if you do not have
traditional dining traditional dining is
really the best way to try to get tables
that are near each other however
otherwise what I suggest you do is you
sort of split up into smaller groups so
maybe if you're a total of 20 people for
instance you do separate into groups of
six and eight and four and you can sit
at Separate Tables in the dining room
usually the largest table that a main
dining room will have will be for 10 or
for 12 people but they won't have many
tables like that so this is a reason to
just be a little bit flexible if you are
a large group and consider booking
traditional dining number seven if you
have allergies or food restrictions a
big mistake to make is not to let the
cruise line know in advance now this is
something that you can note on your
booking so you can do this with your
travel agent or you might be able to do
this on the app as well this is really
something very important in particular
if you do have food allergies or even if
you have a food dietary restriction for
instance if you're a kosher you do
really want to let the cruise line know
in advance however once you are on the
cruise you'll want to let the Mater D
know as well oftentimes what they can do
in particular let's say you do have a
food allergy is the chef or the Mater D
can go over the menu with you sometimes
what they'll ask you to do is to choose
a menu item in advance so maybe the day
before you can actually choose what
you're going to eat the next day this
way they can make sure that they do
prepare that safely for you and if you
are vegan or a vegetarian or gluten-free
this is something important to note as
well and to talk with the Mater D as
well now on the main dining room menu if
you're vegan or vegetarian there usually
is at least one menu option for you but
I have heard of some Cruise Lines having
an alternate menu for vegetarians please
let me know if you've ever seen this
before please let me know your
experience in the comments below number
eight a big mistake not to make
especially if you want the absolute best
food in the main dining room is to not
ask your waiter or server for their
suggestions now honestly even sometimes
what I do is I ask them for their honest
suggestions because sometimes they're
told to push certain items but ask them
what do you really think what are people
really liking what are people returning
what are people not eating as much and
they'll usually give you the honest
truth so they will know if the stake is
quite tough for instance and if a lot of
people are giving that feedback they
also know if a particular soup is just
absolutely amazing we were on a cruise
once and our waiter had told us that
that particular Chef their specialty was
the mushroom soup and it was absolutely
to die for and we should definitely
order it and he was right and of course
if you try the server suggestions and
it's not to your liking and you want to
order something else you definitely can
do so now I have two more and then I
have a little bit of a bonus that I
think you're going to like number nine
not going to the specialty restaurants
because you've already paid for the food
now I know when we book a cruise we've
already paid in a way for the food in
the main dining room in the buffet in
those casual restaurants that are
included and sometimes well we might
feel like do we really want to pay extra
for that specialty restaurant however in
many cases that specialty restaurant
that you might be paying maybe between
25 and sometimes 45 or even fifty
dollars for would be much more expensive
if you were eating that same food at a
restaurant on land and in our experience
most of the time those specialty
restaurants have been well worth the
cost in addition to the food being
really good it is usually a more
intimate atmosphere it's a little bit of
a special service you'll find I think
especially if you are celebrating a
special occasion that going to that
specialty restaurant can be well worth
the money number 10 never eating in the
main dining room for breakfast or for
lunch now a lot of times people only
think of the main dining room in terms
of eating for dinner however the main
dining room is open I think it's every
day usually for breakfast and for lunch
sometimes it may be open only on sea
days depending on your cruise line but
those lunches oftentimes they're really
good and we've been on some cruises
where they have sort of a fast lunch
almost a pub style lunch that you can be
in and out in 30 minutes to you know 45
minutes or so really really good meals
great service and the breakfast in
particular just think about sitting down
in a dining room maybe having a Mimosa a
nice specialty coffee while you have
your breakfast served to you and you get
to avoid all of that chaos that you have
at the buffet it is a really nice start
to the day okay here's the bonus one and
this could really add something extra to
your meals in the main dining room is
don't assume there aren't some off menu
items that you can order and what I mean
is there are just a few things it
doesn't have to be complicated items but
there are a few things that may not be
on the main dining room menu but you can
order some of those things are fruit
plates so don't assume that for dessert
you have to only order these like sweet
decadent desserts although those are
really good but if you want to make it a
little bit healthy order a fruit plate
with it we do that every night when
we're on a cruise and you might want to
order a cheese plate so that makes a
really nice appetizer or maybe instead
of a dessert you may prefer to have a
cheese plate and another fun tip is
consider ordering off the children's
menu sometimes there are some really
decadent desserts I think ice cream
sundae Banana Split decadent cookies
those can all be on the children's menu
so why not take a look now please let me
know some of your main dining room tips
and tricks and even mistakes to avoid
please let me know down in the comments
below now I'm going to leave a video
right after this one all about the main
dining room secrets and tips that you'll
also want to know so that is coming up
next I hope that you enjoyed this video
if you did please do give it a big
thumbs up I really do appreciate it and
please subscribe if you haven't done so
already bye for now and happy cruising