Devinly Decadence on Anthem is No More

With total credit to poster "dustball" for breaking this news on their review of the Anthem's Dec. 19 cruise (link below), I wanted to pull this out into a separate thread because it's big news that might get overlooked in dustball's long (and excellent) review, and I haven't seen it mentioned elsewhere so far. Dustball reports that Devinly Decadence on Anthem has now been replaced by the Solarium Bistro, menu unknown. The December 19 sailing was DD's last.

Anyone have any more info about this? It will be a shame if the menu changes, as Devinly Decadence was (surprisingly to us) one of the better "included" dining venues on Anthem. Really well flavored and delicious food, all three meals. We were disappointed that we'd waited until so late in our cruise to try it.

For those who may not know, Devinly Decadence started out on Quantum as an upcharge specialty venue, but early this year was switched to an included venue (perhaps to ease some of the crowding in the four orginal included venues, or maybe because not enough people were paying for DD, who knows). And now it's gone. I can only guess that RCI's deal with Devin Alexander ended, no idea why.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2292420

That's a shame. Never got to experience it for dinner since it was a for fee venue on our sailing, but really enjoyed Breakfast there. So many great favors. In general the food was much stronger and flavorful than the bland traditional Windjammer breakfast food. Hopefully the Solarium Bistro will feature similar offerings.

I liked Solarium Bistro on Oasis and am interested to see if it becomes a pay venue again for dinner. Was just a buffet for breakfast and lunch, I believe, but had a healthier menu for dinner. I'm fine with the change.

When I went for dinner, it was not crowded at all. I assume Devinely Decadence was similarly not busy (hence making it complimentary - and without the revenue, why bother paying for a name?). Yes, I'm stereotyping, but I'm going to assume the usual cruiser doesn't actively seek out healthy eating options.

Wow, this is pretty shocking, since I am going to be on Anthem next week and have (had?) dinner reservations at DD and had planned to have embarkation lunch there as well. Given the reviews of the other free places, this was the one place I was actually still looking forward to trying.

I would not be disappointed if they switched to the menu they had at Solarium Bistro On Oasis -- I thought their lunches were excellent, especially the vegetarian salads and I'd read that the salads at DD were rarely vegetarian. I never had dinner there because of the cost but the menu looked good. If they're going to start charging for dinner, hopefully they will honor the existing free reservations.

I just tried to login to check my reservations, and the RCCL site seems to be on its usual (of late) vacation.

I only had dinner at DD once and was not that thrilled. My husband liked it more than I did. However, it definitely was so much emptier than other restaurants.... and we were there at what I would consider a prime time.... 7pm.

Let us know what you find out, MisterBill. And have a great cruise.

I only had dinner at DD once and was not that thrilled. My husband liked it more than I did. However, it definitely was so much emptier than other restaurants.... and we were there at what I would consider a prime time.... 7pm.

 

Let us know what you find out, MisterBill. And have a great cruise.

It's still showing as DD on the website. I posted on this week's Roll Call thread and asked if someone could check it out. Not sure how successful that will be.

I tried to change one of my Silk reservations to DD and was only able to get a 9:30 reservation, which is crazy since others report it's always empty. I wonder if lot of people were making reservations and then not keeping them (maybe going to WJ), but figured they had to make a reservation and nothing else was available.

DD seemed to be a love it or hate it sort of place. As opposed to Silk, which seems to be a mostly hate it place.

If I find out that they're actually charging on board, then I might make a reservation for a later time so I have it in the books as free, and change it while on the ship.

It's still showing as DD on the website. I posted on this week's Roll Call thread and asked if someone could check it out. Not sure how successful that will be.

 

I tried to change one of my Silk reservations to DD and was only able to get a 9:30 reservation, which is crazy since others report it's always empty. I wonder if lot of people were making reservations and then not keeping them (maybe going to WJ), but figured they had to make a reservation and nothing else was available.

 

DD seemed to be a love it or hate it sort of place. As opposed to Silk, which seems to be a mostly hate it place.

 

If I find out that they're actually charging on board, then I might make a reservation for a later time so I have it in the books as free, and change it while on the ship.

It was definitely not empty on our TA.

On our last night, we decided to bag the reservation we had for dinner at American Icon Grill and try Devinly Decadence (I really enjoyed breakfast and lunch there). We could not get a reservation, so we just showed up (maybe around 7 or so, I can't recall). It was pretty busy and in fact the host told us they were fully booked, but then he spent a few minutes, worked some magic, and we were seated!

I hope you get in, and I strongly recommend the enchiladas -- breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Also the brownies. :)

Enjoy your cruise, and let us know how it goes!

Hi

Here is all the info I have..... My husband and I regularly ate breakfast and lunch at Devinly Decadence on this past Dec 19 cruise. We enjoyed the food and the staff and became friendly with the manager. One day they were scraping the decals off of the doors (and they were then "taped" back in a temporary way. The manager said that they would be switching on the Dec 27 cruise to Solarium Bistro. He had no idea what the menu would be but guessed it would be similar. The second to last day of the cruise, the video of Devin Alexander stopped playing at the entrance of the restaurant and a video on shore excursions replaced it. I hope someone can confirm that is now on the boat....

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Devinly was excellent for dinner on the November 10th sailing, and we ate there twice and enjoyed the delicious surf and turf both times. It was not empty, and, in fact, once word quickly got out about how good it was it became difficult to get in for the rest of the cruise.

This news is very disappointing. I wonder if it will remain as an included venue for dinner...

I was on the 12/12 sailing and went there one night for dinner. It was by far the worst meal we had. My boyfriends food was inedible and I had asked for a medium rare filet. First time it was blue, second time well done. I ate the well done and gave up. We let the manager know that the food was really bad (politely). Apparently many other tables had the same experience that night. He sent a bottle of champagne to make up for it. The desserts were the best part of the menu.

We ate their for lunch a couple times due to its proximity to the solarium. Lunch menu was always the same. The so called speciality salads were barely anything to write home about and the food was so/so (edible though!!)

With all the issues they have with service on the ship I'm not surprised to see this to be the first to go.

Devinly was excellent for dinner on the November 10th sailing, and we ate there twice and enjoyed the delicious surf and turf both times. It was not empty, and, in fact, once word quickly got out about how good it was it became difficult to get in for the rest of the cruise.

 

This news is very disappointing. I wonder if it will remain as an included venue for dinner...

Hi Dave, we actually were on the same sailing as you, so who knows. Just shows how people can have such different experiences with a restaurant on the same cruise! We did love Anthem and the cruise overall.

It's still showing as DD on the website. I posted on this week's Roll Call thread and asked if someone could check it out. Not sure how successful that will be.

 

I tried to change one of my Silk reservations to DD and was only able to get a 9:30 reservation, which is crazy since others report it's always empty. I wonder if lot of people were making reservations and then not keeping them (maybe going to WJ), but figured they had to make a reservation and nothing else was available.

 

DD seemed to be a love it or hate it sort of place. As opposed to Silk, which seems to be a mostly hate it place.

 

If I find out that they're actually charging on board, then I might make a reservation for a later time so I have it in the books as free, and change it while on the ship.

Silk info. - my table mate did not like the Silk menu at all and told that to our waiter (classic dining 8:30). On the last night of our 12 day cruise we were scheduled for Silk. Our waiter checked with the head waiter and he was able to bring us the American Icon menu since it was on the same floor and kitchen. Might be an option for those folks who don't like Silk type of food. Katherine

Devinly was excellent for dinner on the November 10th sailing, and we ate there twice and enjoyed the delicious surf and turf both times. It was not empty, and, in fact, once word quickly got out about how good it was it became difficult to get in for the rest of the cruise.

 

This news is very disappointing. I wonder if it will remain as an included venue for dinner...

The surf and turf was inedible by the 12/12 sailing. The "lobster tails" (I use quotes because they were more like prawns they were so tiny) were so over cooked they were like rubber. The beef was just gross and they covered it with brown gravy to hide the fact that it sucked

Silk info. - my table mate did not like the Silk menu at all and told that to our waiter (classic dining 8:30). On the last night of our 12 day cruise we were scheduled for Silk. Our waiter checked with the head waiter and he was able to bring us the American Icon menu since it was on the same floor and kitchen. Might be an option for those folks who don't like Silk type of food. Katherine

The problem with Silk for us was not that we don't like "Silk type of food." We love Asian food. The problem with Silk for us was that the food was just really bad; it didn't taste good. And we tried plenty of it.

The surf and turf was inedible by the 12/12 sailing. The "lobster tails" (I use quotes because they were more like prawns they were so tiny) were so over cooked they were like rubber. The beef was just gross and they covered it with brown gravy to hide the fact that it sucked

Interesting, sounds like a completely different dish. The filet wasn't covered in anything on our sailing! The tails were cooked properly and were usual cruise sized tails.

We had an issue with gross overcooked lobster tails in The Grande though. Not good.

This news is very disappointing. I wonder if it will remain as an included venue for dinner...

Well, given that they dropped the charge to have additional non-specialty dining capacity, it would be foolish for them to start charging, but this is RCCL we're talking about, and they've already done stuff way beyond foolish, like charging for WOW Bands and the new nonsense on Quantum, so I wouldn't put anything past them.

I was just able to make a reservation for our January 25 cruise

I was just able to make a reservation for our January 25 cruise

From what I can tell from reading these posts it is not going away but is changing its name and menu - but the website has not caught up with the changes. So I assume reservations should still be good unless it is turning into an up charge restaurant which in that case - who knows what will happen.

Seems to be a lot a drama in cruising lately. Kind just want to go cruise and get what was advertised and no drama. Hopefully just a name and menu change. - New year cruisers can fill us in.

From what I can tell from reading these posts it is not going away but is changing its name and menu - but the website has not caught up with the changes. So I assume reservations should still be good unless it is turning into an up charge restaurant which in that case - who knows what will happen.

They'd better not start charging people who have already made reservations when it was free (assuming they start charging, which is far from given)! They didn't when they started charging for the character breakfasts.

Does anyone know if it will still be complimentary?

Does anyone know if it will still be complimentary?

So word from the current cruise is that there is no charge for dinner. It's not clear how much has changed. One person said they still have the lobster tail on the dinner menu. No mention of 500 calories but that was likely part of the Devin change since it's her "thing".

I have not been able to find anything changed as far menu goes. Web site still shows everything same except name

I have not been able to find anything changed as far menu goes. Web site still shows everything same except name

The website is still showing a combination of the DD and SB names when I go to my Cruise Planner (and I think it was always that way, since the official name seems to have been DD at SB). When I clicked on DD on their dining info page, I got a dead link. The SB link shows the menu from Oasis.

Also, as for changing the website, the menu in the Cruise Planner still shows the old one with Tuna Tacos on the dinner menu, something I know is no longer offered. So I would not expect the website to have the latest info.

So I would not expect the website to have the latest info.

That's a good way to proceed. Cruise line web sites often lag far behind reality, sad to say.