Serenade of the Seas Speciality Restaurants

[mcrcruiser]

I went on Serenade last month and ate in GT and Chops while on board. Chops was a pleasant experience as was GT although I liked the food at Chops better.

 

I have never tried Izumi on any ship. I'll stick to eating sushi on land. I also agree that Rita's is a waste. I guess RCCL was trying to revitalize a dead/under utilized space on board. However, poor tex-mex or cal-mex cuisine is something I can't see paying for on board a cruise ship.

 

BTW - I personally prefer the old Portofino over GT.

 

Yes We ate in the Portofino restaurant & loved it .They served a lot of food & it was really tasty & very well presented . Both my wife & I are 1/2 Italian & I worked with my first cousin who had owned a 5 star Italian restaurant in Palm springs 9He passed away last year ) .We do know good Italian food for it's preparation & flavors :D

 

apparently ,from comments on this thread the replacement Italian restaurant is not one to eat .Best is Chops ;)

[ryano]

The sad part is that the food quality of the specialty restaurants has declined along with the increase in price. I remember that they used to claim that all of the beef was USDA prime (I don't know if it really was, but they said so:rolleyes:).

 

I dont mind "Choice" cuts aka supermarket beef. Thats what I buy at home and Im perfectly ok with it. USDA Prime is nice but its out of my budget on land. I actually think RC's beef is Select grade. Even in Chops, unless of course you want to pay extra for the better steaks.

 

Im looking forward to trying Carnivals steakhouse. They DO serve USDA Prime cuts and dont charge 18-20 dollars more on top of the 35.00 pp surcharge for it :o

[mcrcruiser]

I would bet money the food budget is under 15.00 per person per day. Probably more like the $10-12 pp pd range budget.

 

How do you come up with such a low figure . Even at the volumes that the cruise line corporate office negotiates ,the wholesalers are not going to loose money supplying any cruise ship .

 

Knowing food costs from the restaurant business ,it is difficult to compute such a low figure . We bought from these wholesalers & that was ymany years ago .

 

Sbstandard foods are not only bad but can be unhealthful:eek:

[ryano]

 

apparently ,from comments on this thread the replacement Italian restaurant is not one to eat .Best is Chops ;)

 

I likely varies ship to ship. On Freedom of the Seas, Giovannis Table (Portofino replacement) was BY FAR the better specialty dining experience. Chops was "meh". Very underwhelming this go around.

[mcrcruiser]

I would bet money the food budget is under 15.00 per person per day. Probably more like the $10-12 pp pd range budget.

 

How do you come up with such a low figure . Even at the volumes that the cruise line corporate office negotiates ,the wholesalers are not going to loose money supplying any cruise ship .

 

Knowing food costs from the restaurant business ,it is difficult to compute such a low figure . We bought from these wholesalers & that was many years ago .

 

Sbstandard foods are not only bad but can be unhealthful:eek:

[ryano]

How do you come up with such a low figure . :

 

It was discussed not long ago. :) Its WAY under the 20.00 pp pd mark though. I recall that someone did the math based on financial statements and the best I remember, Royal was at about 12.00 pp pd for their food budget.

[Cruising-Snowbird]

Can recent serenade cruisers tell me the procedure for using the diamond plus buy one get one (second) coupon. Are you allowed to purchase the second coupon meal on the first or second night and use it later in the cruise or were you required to use the coupons on the first night and the second night? Many of our recent cruises permitted to use the coupon later in the cruise as long as the meal was purchased on the first or second night. I read on other threads that some ships are strict with the procedure and are not allowing this practice.

 

Thanks.

M

 

Soon after we boarded the Serenade, we reserved a time for Chops that evening (1st night for D+ coupon on my SeaPass). We paid $30 for both of us. We were told that we could reserve any night of the cruise for my DW's D+ SeaPass coupon. But, we must pay for it by the 2nd night ($30). We went back to Chops on the 2nd night to reserve dinner on Night #5. We paid ($30) for Night #5 on the 2nd night when we reserved the time.

[cruisegirl1]

Thanks. That is the process I am used to but I am reading that some ships no longer allow you to use the coupon on other evenings.

 

M

[ravensbad]

My wife and I are just off the Serenade and we ate at Chops the first night. It was $30 per person but if you reserve it before your cruise for the first night you get 20% back as OBC. We loved Chops and thought everything we tried was delicious. We also tried Giovanni's Table for lunch ($15 per person) and were very unimpressed with the food.

[mcrcruiser]

It was discussed not long ago. :) Its WAY under the 20.00 pp pd mark though. I recall that someone did the math based on financial statements and the best I remember, Royal was at about 12.00 pp pd for their food budget.

 

Yikes Someone doing the math ?? how could some one who never bought food for a restaurant do the math ? Even financial statements would not tell any one what the cost of eggs are currently or in the future ,ie It is endless because of the food variety pax consumes on each ships cruise. Then there are grades of beef etc to consider .

 

There is even more variables in buying & cooking foods than one can imagine when it is of great volume . Consider waste as a example. Many Many cost factors enter into meal cost per day per pax

[mcrcruiser]

My wife and I are just off the Serenade and we ate at Chops the first night. It was $30 per person but if you reserve it before your cruise for the first night you get 20% back as OBC. We loved Chops and thought everything we tried was delicious. We also tried Giovanni's Table for lunch ($15 per person) and were very unimpressed with the food.

 

Knowing excellent Italian food we would definitely not eat at GT . There are too many negatives by people who have eaten there .:eek:

 

Chops would be our only choice for a prime filet :D or just have that steak in the MDR ;)

[ravensbad]

Knowing excellent Italian food we would definitely not eat at GT . There are too many negatives by people who have eaten there .:eek:

 

Chops would be our only choice for a prime filet :D or just have that steak in the MDR ;)

 

I read a lot of the opposite actually right before our cruise and came very close to switching our reservation from Chops to Giovanni's. People almost unanimously said GT was excellent and that Chops had gone downhill and was no longer what it used to be. We ended up loving Chops and saw that GT was open for lunch for a lower price so thought that was a good opportunity to try it. I am so glad we didn't change our reservations around. I probably will give GT dinner a try on our next cruise but it's very unlikely we go back for lunch. I also noticed that GT was completely empty every time I walked by during lunch, and when we ate there they served 2 couples the entire time it was open (including us).

Edited December 15, 2015 by ravensbad

[ryano]

Yikes Someone doing the math ?? how could some one who never bought food for a restaurant do the math ? Even financial statements would not tell any one what the cost of eggs are currently or in the future ,ie It is endless because of the food variety pax consumes on each ships cruise. Then there are grades of beef etc to consider .

 

There is even more variables in buying & cooking foods than one can imagine when it is of great volume . Consider waste as a example. Many Many cost factors enter into meal cost per day per pax

 

Im trying to find the link now. There was also an article that was in discussion too. Basically, NO "mass market" cruise line is over 15.00 per person per day on their food budgets :) Most were around the 10 - 12 dollar pp pd mark at the time. :)

 

Ill keep looking.

[ryano]

Knowing excellent Italian food we would definitely not eat at GT . There are too many negatives by people who have eaten there .:eek:

 

Chops would be our only choice for a prime filet :D or just have that steak in the MDR ;)

 

Giovannis table has generally gotten excellent reviews. Most everyone here agrees that GT or Portofino filet is better than Chops. Yes, their italian venue serves up a much better filet than their signature steakhouse according to many :)

[mjldvlks]

Well I can add to the negativity about GT. Note that I am not a huge Italian food fan, so maybe take my comments with a grain of salt. We were on Serenade for the 2 week repo cruise in October and ate there twice [once would have been more than plenty but we got comped the second time because our Chef's table reservation was canceled]. The first time I got the filet and it was OK but not as good as I remember Portofino. One of our traveling companions got the filet and it was inedible. The rest of the entrees were maybe Olive Garden quality IMO. The second time my meal was so memorable I cannot recall what I got.

 

Desserts were not worth ordering. I tried the cake the first time and it was dry. In fact the second time the wait person recommended against the cake because he felt it was too dry. I tried the cannoli that time. It was OK but not great. I have not eaten enough cannoli to know what a good one really is, but, to me, the shell seemed to be really hard for a dessert. Kind of like a stale cookie. If I had it to do over, I would pass on dessert in GT and get cookies or something else at the Windjammer. Some people like the tiramisu. I have not tried that at GT or Portofino because I don't care for tiramisu as a general proposition.

 

The servers were great -- absolutely no complaints about service. Also had great time with or traveling companions. But I was not impressed with GT.

[mjldvlks]

Meant to add that we tried Rita's the last night. I agree it was not spectacular. Rita's on Serenade does not have a full menu -- essentially an appetizer type menu. It was OK, but once again I cannot even recall what I ordered. I probably would not pay an up charge for Rita's if I am ever back on Serenade. If you go during happy hour and get something like guacamole to go with a beer or two, that might be OK -- especially if you can use the comp drinks you get as diamond or above. I also noticed it was not well patronized. We were there shortly before closing, but we saw no other passengers the whole time we were there. We did see quite a few crew members there, however. For what it's worth, this was the night before we arrived in Ft Lauderdale and it was quite warm -- and not air conditioned.

[jerseygirl74]

We tried Giovanni's twice (Murder Mystery & regular reservation) and Chops twice. Very disappointed in Giovanni's but Chops was great! Be warned...they have cut back on staff so servers are usually scrambling. We used to love Portofinos...always the best service!

[squadron]

Interesting about Izumi's Asian Restaurant being able to enter from the outside especially if the cruise is in colder months & northern cities like in Canada during late September.:eek:

 

From what has been written on this thread ,we can still order the Chops steak in the MDR or go to that restaurant .;)

 

Even RCCL cruise ships have upped the prices of their specialty restaurants .Celebrity ,whom we have sailed over 40 cruises (70 total cruises ) has raised the prices of both the cruises & specialty restaurants through the roof . :o

 

I'm not surprised - in Canada anyway beef has more than doubled in price in the past year. Fillet is $58.00 per kilo (about 2 pounds).

[critterchick]

Can recent serenade cruisers tell me the procedure for using the diamond plus buy one get one (second) coupon. Are you allowed to purchase the second coupon meal on the first or second night and use it later in the cruise or were you required to use the coupons on the first night and the second night? Many of our recent cruises permitted to use the coupon later in the cruise as long as the meal was purchased on the first or second night. I read on other threads that some ships are strict with the procedure and are not allowing this practice.

 

Thanks.

M

 

In October we were allowed to use the coupon any night of the cruise as long as we paid for the second dinner by the second night. We did have a letter in our cabin telling us that we had to use them by the second night, but then somebody realized that, with 76 Pinnacles and 350 or so D+ onboard, that wasn't going to work.:eek:

 

I dont mind "Choice" cuts aka supermarket beef. Thats what I buy at home and Im perfectly ok with it. USDA Prime is nice but its out of my budget on land. I actually think RC's beef is Select grade. Even in Chops, unless of course you want to pay extra for the better steaks.

 

Im looking forward to trying Carnivals steakhouse. They DO serve USDA Prime cuts and dont charge 18-20 dollars more on top of the 35.00 pp surcharge for it :o

 

I'm fine with it, too, but my point was that they have raised the price while eliminating the prime cuts from the menu unless you pay even more than the cover charge. That I'm not fine with.:(

 

And I think that Giovanni's Table has it all over Chops these days, but doesn't measure up to Portofino (which on Jewel had a few noticeable cutbacks). I really enjoy GT at lunch time, when there's almost nobody there. IMO only the tiramisu is worth the calories at dessert time, though.

 

Jerseygirl, I didn't see fewer servers at Chops, but I did see more diners, and I think that's the problem - they aren't staffed to be full. But of course they want the revenue so are willing to degrade the dining experience as well.