Anyone done the bottomless galley brunch?

[RW20]

Has anyone done the bottemless galley brunch?

 

What type of food was on the menu? How long did it take?

[sdear]

I am interested in this too.   The last cruise on a smaller ship, they cancelled it due to lack of people signing up, so I am hoping I can do it on the next cruise in two weeks.  

[dolphingirl47]

I did this on Quantum last year and we are doing it again when we go back on Quantum in two weeks' time. All in all, it took about 2 hours and that included the galley tour. We got canapés with the first glass of prossecco and then everybody got the same soup and salad. For us that was a coconut seafood soup with ginger and lime and a Salad Nicoise. We then had a choice of 6 main courses. As this was an ex-China sailing, three of them were western dishes and three Chinese. The western dishes were Pork Normandine, Beef Tenderloin or duck. I had the pork and it was absolutely delicious. We were encouraged to try multiple main courses, but the portions were quite big so we just had one each. Dessert was the same for everybody again, which was a chocolate cake.

Corinna

[meandralph]

We did this on Oasis. The tour was really nice and informative.   The meal was amazing.  Steak, lobster, shrimp cocktail and some veggies and all of the wine and champagne you could drink.  It was about 2 1/2hours.  We did not pay due to being part of our package.  

Everyone shows up at the stated time and place.   You MUST wear closed toed shoes. And don’t be late.  We were escorted into an area of the dining room where the head chef came out and talked with us.  Then we were taken on the tour in groups of 15 or so but then everyone comes back together to eat.  A really good morning. 

[closecruiser]

We did it on the Oasis in September.   Really enjoyed it and will do it again in January.  I saw quite a few in open toe shoes.  Guess it varies.  The eggs Benedict were excellent.  

[not-enough-cruising]

We did it on Harmony this past year, unfortunately for us it was not at all enjoyable, the food was an afterthought and the service poor. We (and MANY others) were refunded our money. 

[jdg623]

We did it on Oasis awhile back, as part of our dining package. It was interesting and informative. There was quite a large group attending but they did split up into about 15 or so, as previously posted.  I always enjoy "backstage" tours and the crew really seemed to enjoy explaining what they do. It's always amazing to me how they put together so many meals every day. The lunch served afterwards was very good. I'm glad we did it, but probably wouldn't do again. 

[SRF]

We did it Aug 2017 on Grandeur.  The menu was a mix of lunch and breakfast items (it WAS a brunch 😄 ).

 

They had sparkling wine and OJ and mimosas.  They brought us mimosas faster than we were drinking them.  At one point, we each had 4 extras to the one we were actually drinking.

 

We arrived late, so had a private galley tour.  It was very interesting and enjoyable.

 

 

[2Long2NxtCrz]

We did it on Liberty in 2016 and enjoyed it.  It really is amazing how efficient the kitchens are.  I honestly don't remember much about the food.  There was champagne and a buffet type bar for appetizers and salad, but I can't remember if the entrees were served individually or not (maybe I had a few too many of the bottomless champagnes?).

 

I'd definitely do it once, but not sure I'd do it again.

 

[Envelope21]

I just got off Enchantment today. Our group of 4 did this tour. The tour of the galley was interesting, but the tour group was too large. It was difficult for everyone to hear the presenter. The brunch, sadly, turned out to be a major disappointment. The service was incredibly slow. It took a long time to even get our water, much less our food. There was a limited menu. Three of us chose the eggs benedict. The eggs were hard boiled, not poached and were cold and hard. The english muffin was so hard you couldn't even cut with a knife. Our 4th companion chose the french toast. It was also cold and hard. We didn't want to send it back because it took so long to get it. The mimosas were slow in coming.

 

I was surprised to see this thread because it looks fairly old. Our group had thought that this tour might be something new they are trying out because it was handled so badly. But it looks like it has been around for awhile. For us, we would not recommend.

 

I wish now we had asked for a refund. Live and learn.

 

[SmashatSea]

We did this on our Alaska trip in 2017. I cannot remember the ship. I want to say Explorer? The tour was great but the group seemed bigger than the space allowed. Very small parts of the galley at times but we really enjoyed the information.

 

The food was plentiful! Really did get bottomless champagne and the food was set up as a buffet for us. They had anything from steak, potatoes, veggies to breakfast stuff like poached eggs and pastries. I think they even had a whole fresh sushi section.

[HOSKI]

Be sure you ask about your specific ship because our family had two opposite experiences.  Hubby and daughter did it last summer on the Allure and loved it.  Full galley tour with food presentation, great menu choices for brunch with unlimited drinks served.  Brother, daughter and me did it on Navigator in December and it was awful.  I felt bad suggesting my brother spend his money on it.  They had a different time for our reservation verses what was on our tickets.  They were doing multiple times.  No food in the galley at all.  No one in there and working but 3 people who told us what they did.  Maybe 5 to 7 minutes.  Spent more time telling us how they enter the meal choices in the computer that wasn't working.  Then the meal was starters served for the table which was not enough for each table.  One beverage and never refilled our glasses.  Food took forever, was cold and very odd choices.  Some people just left.  Waiter never came back to offer dessert. 

 

I detailed this in my guest survey and never heard back.  I should have went to guest services and complained but I'm just not into confrontation.  I would love to try it again but don't know if I want to take a chance on wasting money again.  I probably would do it on the Allure in June if we didn't have the UDP.

[Canuker]

Seems a mixed bag of experiences so far on this thread.
From prosecco and mimosas to proper champagne ( a huge difference).

Food from hard-boiled egg to lobster!

It sounds like this 'excursion' is very much up to each ship's hotel staff how they structure it, rather than a common formula stipulated by HQ.
I am thinking of booking this as a birthday present for (with!) my wife. I don't want to disappoint her (or me).

I emailed RCCL for clarification and they have told me the dates & times this event will occur on our cruise (the RCCL website is regrettably silent on this info; I would not want to do it on a port day. And it isn't). They also stipulted "champagne". If I sign up, I'll be sure to take a copy of the email with me, in case it falls short and go to Guest Services, like others have, above.

[SDA1125]

For this tour it says on RC website you cannot wear shorts - is this true ?

Generally what time do the tours occur ? Brunch i am thinking maybe 10 am - 11am?

 

 

Edited February 11, 2020 by SDA1125
spelling

[HOSKI]

You cannot wear shorts for safety reasons, pants and closed toe shoes.

 

Ours started at 11 am.

 

[SpekiTrout]

On 4/5/2019 at 3:12 PM, Envelope21 said:

I just got off Enchantment today. Our group of 4 did this tour. The tour of the galley was interesting, but the tour group was too large. It was difficult for everyone to hear the presenter. The brunch, sadly, turned out to be a major disappointment. The service was incredibly slow. It took a long time to even get our water, much less our food. There was a limited menu. Three of us chose the eggs benedict. The eggs were hard boiled, not poached and were cold and hard. The english muffin was so hard you couldn't even cut with a knife. Our 4th companion chose the french toast. It was also cold and hard. We didn't want to send it back because it took so long to get it. The mimosas were slow in coming.

 

I was surprised to see this thread because it looks fairly old. Our group had thought that this tour might be something new they are trying out because it was handled so badly. But it looks like it has been around for awhile. For us, we would not recommend.

 

I wish now we had asked for a refund. Live and learn.

Agree ... we did it on the Anthem in December ... it was terrible and nothing of what we expected.   The ONLY thing "Bottomless' was the Mimosas !  What a waste of time and money!  We have been to many "Brunch's" .. they've always been a self serve buffet .. many choices of hot dinner type foods meats etc and also breakfast foods .. omelets .. waffles etc.  Refill one's plate as often as you wish.   We are D+ and  we could have had a FREE tour of galley .. the Brunch was the same food you could order in the dining room .. not a  buffet as I was expecting .... and  the food  was terrible!   I wish we had thought to ask for a refund . DON"T DO IT!

On 4/5/2019 at 3:12 PM, Envelope21 said: