Steak upcharge in Main Dining Room....does it still exist?

[rudeney]

As much as I love a good steak, and have spend literally hundreds of dollars on a single hunk of meat (on expense account, thank goodness!), I am happy with most any steak that's juicy and not too tough to chew. I will pay extra to eat in Chops for the ambiance and service, but I would not pay extra for the Chops steak in the MDR.

[ryano]

I will try to find out what cut RCI uses in the MDR.

 

 

Select if I was guessing.

[ryano]

 

Do you mean the premium selection for that extra fee is not USDA prime?

 

.

 

The 14.95 Chops filet (I see its now 16.95) offered in the MDR is definitely NOT USDA Prime. If you want a USDA Prime cut, you have to go to Chops and pay 18-20 more on top of the 35.00 pp.

Edited October 5, 2015 by ryano

[jacketwatch]

The 14.95 Chops filet (I see its now 16.95) offered in the MDR is definitely NOT USDA Prime. If you want a USDA Prime cut, you have to go to Chops and pay 18-20 more on top of the 35.00 pp.

Wow. That's a rip. :mad:

[janrey1234]

We were on Allure in September and my husband enjoyed the steak and prime rib off the MDR menu. He thought they were better than many restaurants. I had mostly fish which was good.

[ccotting]

The additional cost steak, steak and Lobster and filet was available on our recent cruise on Explorer. While we did go to Chops we didn't do the pay extra in the main dining.

 

The meat was excellent on this cruise, perfectly cooked and tender every time. Best I've ever had on an RCI ship. The Exec chef is German and he has a precise method for the meat, you choose medium well or medium rare. He did do some speciality for folks but I think keeping the number of variations down improves the ability of staff to deliver. The chef noted that to achieve full delivery of the mains in the MDR he had 20 minutes for each main meal set. A huge achievement given about 700 or more diners each set.

 

Another point is where they source. This cruise had british beef and it was excellent. We have been in some tropical climes where sourcing has been more problematic and so you get food that has been frozen longer (dehydrating and not the best for tender meat) or generally tougher beef.

 

It's so disappointing when the food is not good quality. We have had some cruises like that too. I had one where the fish actually was off when I ordered it. Should never happen. So my sympathies but, take heart, it isn't all the ships. Give another ship a go.

[truffles2]

Tough and chewy.;)

 

You forgot "dry"!

[truffles2]

It was not a matter of the Steak not coming to the table in a timely matter... They would not take the order without scanning my card which took a long wait to get the scanner to us. The delay was placing and accepting the order!

 

I have ordered that steak several times on several different ships and they have never asked for the card in advance:confused:

[Merion_Mom]

I can't see the point of spending an extra 15-16.00 for a steak in the MDR banquet/chaos atmosphere. Would make more sense to go to speciality dining.

 

Many people say this. But there are several reasons that it doesn't work for some people.

 

Here are some of them:

 

1. They have small children and don't want to go to Chops.

 

2. Only one person is interested in the steak, so they don't want to pay for everyone to go to Chops.

 

3. One or more people in the group are vegetarians and don't want to go to Chops

 

and the list goes on.

 

It's fine if YOU would rather go to Chops. But not everyone does. If they weren't selling these dishes, they wouldn't stay on the menu.

 

Be prepared to wait to place your order while they find someone with a scanner to scan your card. Took 15 min and I never would have let DH hold up the meal if I realized they needed payment in advance! A real pain in the Tosh :(

 

tosh =

 

tush =

 

 

:D

[cruisinfanatic]

I have ordered that steak several times on several different ships and they have never asked for the card in advance:confused:

me either

[jacketwatch]

OK so I am back and yes I did try the steak in the MDR, the one w/o an extra fee and overall it wasn't bad. The steak at Giovannis was better but neither were as good as one I had recently at a nice restaurant in Chicago. Now that one, at a place called Formentos on Randolph St. was wonderful!:D All were filets BTW.

Edited November 2, 2015 by jacketwatch

[Cruzin-K]

I ordered the Chops filet one night on the Serenade last week. It was delicious :D The total with the gratuity added was an even $20.

 

We also ate in Giovanni's one night where I also ordered the filet. It was delicious too and the only reason I'd say it was better than the MDR was the sauce that came with it. Both steaks were cooked to perfection.

 

My Mom had the free strip steak one night and she could only manage to eat a few bites because it was so chewy and full of gristle :(

[Merion_Mom]

I ordered the Chops filet one night on the Serenade last week. It was delicious :D The total with the gratuity added was an even $20.

 

We also ate in Giovanni's one night where I also ordered the filet. It was delicious too and the only reason I'd say it was better than the MDR was the sauce that came with it. Both steaks were cooked to perfection.

 

My Mom had the free strip steak one night and she could only manage to eat a few bites because it was so chewy and full of gristle :(

 

Karen, we ate in Giovanni's Table on Night #1 and my friend's filet was inedible.

 

:(

[tiggyfrank]

How is the whole lobster in MDR? Worth extra $?

[Cruzin-K]

Karen, we ate in Giovanni's Table on Night #1 and my friend's filet was inedible.

 

:(

 

:(

 

That's too bad.

 

This was the fourth time I've ordered the Chops filet in the MDR (on four different cruises) and two of the four were wonderful. One was just OK, and one was just not worth the money at all - very tough. It really shouldn't be "luck of the draw", but that's how it seems to be sometimes.

[tiggyfrank]

How is the upcharge whole lobster? Worth extra $?

[derbygirl520]

We have a cruise coming up shortly, and I was really bummed about the new cost of Chops (and not including the steaks that I enjoy, without an up charge). After reading the lack-luster reviews, I passed on making Chops reservations ahead of time.

 

I am all game for trying the Chops steak in the dining room (my husband couldn't care less about having a Chops steak). I rather pay $20 than close to $100 after tip--especially if my husband isn't interested.

 

I'll report back. :-)

DG

[rudeney]

As much as I love a good steak, and have spend literally hundreds of dollars on a single hunk of meat (on expense account, thank goodness!), I am happy with most any steak that's juicy and not too tough to chew. I will pay extra to eat in Chops for the ambiance and service, but I would not pay extra for the Chops steak in the MDR.

 

Well, I have to eat my words on this one! I had the Chops filet in Chops on Sunday night. It was very good. On lobster night, our MDR waiter offered it as an upcharge, but with a 20% discount to make it "surf and turf". Well, i was s sucker for the discount! It was very good, as good in the MDR as in Chops.

 

As for the filet in Giovanni's, it was VERY good, too. I'd say just slightly better than Chops.

[Thetrail]

Is it really good? Worth the $?

It is well worth it IMHO and was lucky enough to get a "special on the special" went from 16.95 to 9.95 one night on Grandeur this past August!....:)

[bobgp]

I was on the Independence last week and ordered the Chops filet in the main dining room. Tough and chewy. Never again.

[Thetrail]

Be prepared to wait to place your order while they find someone with a scanner to scan your card. Took 15 min and I never would have let DH hold up the meal if I realized they needed payment in advance! A real pain in the Tosh :(

Took my chops steak order the same time that everyone else at my table ordered their meal, came back for my seapass card after dinner, no wait, no fuss, very easy....:)

[Thetrail]

Many people say this. But there are several reasons that it doesn't work for some people.

 

Here are some of them:

 

1. They have small children and don't want to go to Chops.

 

2. Only one person is interested in the steak, so they don't want to pay for everyone to go to Chops.

 

3. One or more people in the group are vegetarians and don't want to go to Chops

 

and the list goes on.

 

It's fine if YOU would rather go to Chops. But not everyone does. If they weren't selling these dishes, they wouldn't stay on the menu.

 

 

 

tosh =

 

tush =

 

 

:D

Always order the Chops 9oz. filet from the MDR once a week every cruise. Love the cut of mean with a little bernaise sauce, and the baked potato is huge! Also the special that says 15 0r 16 something always has a one nite "super special for 9.95 or 10.95 depending on which ship you sail, and that is a great price....K.O.:)

[redlobster]

Many people say this. But there are several reasons that it doesn't work for some people.

 

Here are some of them:

 

1. They have small children and don't want to go to Chops.

 

2. Only one person is interested in the steak, so they don't want to pay for everyone to go to Chops.

 

3. One or more people in the group are vegetarians and don't want to go to Chops

 

and the list goes on.

 

It's fine if YOU would rather go to Chops. But not everyone does. If they weren't selling these dishes, they wouldn't stay on the menu.

 

 

 

tosh =

 

tush =

 

 

:D

 

 

I have had the steak in the MDR on Allure and was very satisfied. But these reasons are why I have it in the MDR and not in CHOPS.