Izumi $49.99 - No longer a la carte?

[twangster]

3 minutes ago, ILUVPOMS said:

Very confused by this change. We have Izumi booked for Christmas Eve on the Vision but if they no longer have hot rocks, we will need to make other arrangements. Neither my husband or I eat actual sushi but loved the hot rocks. Of course, Royal is now charging $80 per person for Christmas Eve dinners at the other specialty restaurants. Seems like the only addition to the regular menu is a glass of champagne. For the additional $100, I could buy a bottle of champagne. LOL.  May end up in the main dinning room for Christmas Eve. 

 

The sample menus have never displayed hot rocks because only a handful of ships offer them.  If they included hot rocks on the sample menus then someone went on a ship that doesn't offer them, they'd be upset so it's safer to not display hot rocks on the sample menus.

 

At any rate, it looks like this change has already been reversed by Royal and it's back to the old ways.  For now.  

[OCruisers]

3 minutes ago, ILUVPOMS said:

Very confused by this change. We have Izumi booked for Christmas Eve on the Vision but if they no longer have hot rocks, we will need to make other arrangements. Neither my husband or I eat actual sushi but loved the hot rocks. Of course, Royal is now charging $80 per person for Christmas Eve dinners at the other specialty restaurants. Seems like the only addition to the regular menu is a glass of champagne. For the additional $100, I could buy a bottle of champagne. LOL.  May end up in the main dinning room for Christmas Eve. 

 

Gosh, I missed the thread about Izumi no longer having hot rocks.

 ? It that really true -- no hot rocks!  

[twangster]

3 minutes ago, OCruisers said:

 

Gosh, I missed the thread about Izumi no longer having hot rocks.

 ? It that really true -- no hot rocks!  

 

No one said hot rocks are going away, that was an assumption projected because the new sample menus still don't display the hot rocks.  They never have.  Not all ships have hot rocks so they don't publish those else everyone will think it's standard at all the Izumi.  

[Clarea]

8 minutes ago, OCruisers said:

 

Gosh, I missed the thread about Izumi no longer having hot rocks.

 ? It that really true -- no hot rocks!  

 

Izumi has no hot rock on those ships that have hibachi.

 

Izumi is new on Adventure has no hot rock or hibachi.  This may be because that food venue on Adventure is not certified for hot food.

[ILUVPOMS]

Thanks everyone for your replies. I had no idea that there were different versions of Izumi on different ships. We have only eaten  at Izumi on the Seranade and the Navigator. Both of those had the hot rocks, so I have not bothered looking at the sample menus anymore. My bad!!  So this leads to the next question - does the Vision version of Izumi have hot rocks?  My cruise planner still shows the $49 special only. 

[later]

15 hours ago, crusinthrough said:

It's still $49 for my Harmony cruise in Jan.  It also shows available pre cruise only.  Does this mean onboard it's a la carte?

And when you add up what you can have  it only adds up to around $38

[OCruisers]

36 minutes ago, Host Clarea said:

 

Izumi has no hot rock on those ships that have hibachi.

 

Izumi is new on Adventure has no hot rock or hibachi.  This may be because that food venue on Adventure is not certified for hot food.

 

Bob, which does AnthemOTS have -- hot rock, hibachi, or none?

[Clarea]

3 minutes ago, OCruisers said:

 

Bob, which does AnthemOTS have -- hot rock, hibachi, or none?

 

Sorry, don't know for sure, but I don't see hibachi mentioned on the website.

[dswallow]

17 minutes ago, OCruisers said:

 

Bob, which does AnthemOTS have -- hot rock, hibachi, or none?

 

Never heard or seen "hot rock" mentioned with regard to Izumi, but Izumi on Anthem is definitely not the Hibachi variant.

 

This is Izumi on Anthem, from the entrance (there's a couple tables outside the entrance, too):

 

Edited November 28, 2018 by dswallow

[Clarea]

3 minutes ago, dswallow said:

 

Never heard or seen "hot rock" mentioned with regard to Izumi, but Izumi on Anthem is definitely not the Hibachi variant.

 

...

 

Looks like it is just like Adventure, just sushi.

[laumicmah]

From RC blog...

 

The hot rocks are available on all Vision, Radiance and most Voyager class of ships (with the exception of Adventure of the Seas) have hot rock and sushi. Quantum Class ships have sushi, hot appetizers and noodles. Oasis class have Hibachi and sushi. Mariner and Independence are the other 2 Izumis with mostly Hibachi.

 

posted in Oct 2018

 

Edited November 28, 2018 by laumicmah

[twangster]

My understanding for Adventure direct from a chat exchange I had with Chef Travis Kamiyana was that the space they converted had no kitchen before.  The ovens required to heat hot rocks could not be included in the conversion because it would have taken too much infrastructure work to create a kitchen with fire suppression and all the things that are required in order to place ovens there.  Consequently Adventure Izumi has no hot rocks.  

 

Mariner was AMPED with Hibachi so no hot rocks.  

[rubytue]

Well, the $49.99 price is back again.  This is so weird.

 

9 days ago, the prix-fixe price option was $0.00. The next day,  $49.99. Stayed there for 4 days. Then totally gone for 2 days. Now its back.

 

I guess Royal is testing it to see if people will buy it.  You can guess which of those prices I jumped on 

Edited November 29, 2018 by rubytue

[twangster]

OMG $50 is back! 

 

I was hoping that Royal stopped the "Bring the kids to work and let them mess up one thing today" program but it appears that's not the case.  

[spudman9]

Was speaking to my wife last night about our charges from the Nov 4 Oasis sailing.  We selected the Hibachi since my 16yr old craves fried rice EVERY day.  It was $50 p/p and we paid for our last night since it was a special birthday.  Total charges for the 3 of us was $172 as the 18% is not included in the posted price.  Was NOT worth that cost; I had to beg the cook for an extra lobster, could not get any extra fried rice or vegetables and desert was the 3 ice cream balls or whatever they are called.

 

Now don't get me started on Chops... they have the WORST crab cake ever.....  That's for a different thread soon to come.

[TeeRick]

It is hard to understand how sushi could possibly be fresh (not frozen and thawed) on a ship.  So it will never be worth the price compared to decent land-based places IMO.

[twangster]

21 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

It is hard to understand how sushi could possibly be fresh (not frozen and thawed) on a ship.  So it will never be worth the price compared to decent land-based places IMO.

 

Exactly.  I live in a land locked state.  Everyone knows you can't get great seafood in Colorado because none of it is fresh unless someone pays outrageous fees to fly it in the same day it's caught which is pretty rare.  

 

Cruise ships don't have crew hanging fishing lines off the back try to catch your sushi.  It's not going to be the best you've ever had.  

[orville99]

1 hour ago, TeeRick said:

It is hard to understand how sushi could possibly be fresh (not frozen and thawed) on a ship.  So it will never be worth the price compared to decent land-based places IMO.

Virtually all of the fish and seafood used in sushi restaurants in the U.S. is delivered to the restaurant frozen (flash frozen and stored at a very low temperature -20F or lower), and then thawed the day it is prepared. According to a top sushi chef in NYC, flash freezing actually improves the flavor and texture of the fish (it also kills any parasites that may be in the fish).The only fish that I've ever seen prepared fresh is mackerel (it is so oily that it doesn't freeze well), which is why you never see fresh mackerel sushi served, only saba, which is cured mackerel.

 

BTW, if you go to whole foods or fresh market and buy their sushi-grade tuna, what is in the display cases is always previously frozen. If you ask, they will go in the back and get you the frozen filets, so you don't have to use them the same day you buy them.

 

And that smoked salmon that everyone likes on the ship always starts out as deep frozen for at least a week before the smoking process can even begin.

Edited November 29, 2018 by orville99

[dswallow]

Sushi Fresh From the Deep . . . the Deep Freeze

https://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/08/nyregion/sushi-fresh-from-the-deep-the-deep-freeze.html

 

[orville99]

31 minutes ago, dswallow said:

Sushi Fresh From the Deep . . . the Deep Freeze

https://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/08/nyregion/sushi-fresh-from-the-deep-the-deep-freeze.html

 

Excellent article. Thanks for finding this.

[crusinthrough]

On 11/28/2018 at 12:11 PM, later said:

And when you add up what you can have  it only adds up to around $38

 

So you are paying more than the value?  I suppose most cruisers wouldn't know this and think it's a good deal. 

[c-leg5]

 

 

Any updates as to pricing on actual ships?

 

my cruise planner had the $49.99 price as pre-cruise, then it disappeared, now it is $49.99 including 20% discount!

 

Particularly interested in Vision.

Edited December 3, 2018 by c-leg5

[cot427]

Just checking in on Izumi...are people actually paying $49.99 to go there? Before Izumi disappeared in my cruise planner for Navigator, I booked it a la carte a while back. Now it reappeared with that absolutely ridiculous price tag. Just wondering if it is a website glitch, in trial run or being enforced on all ships. I'll wait til embarkation, but will be quickly canceling if that's the case. No way is one app, one nigiri, one roll/ramen and lousy dessert worth 50 bucks!

[cruisin4kicks]

On 11/22/2018 at 10:13 PM, cruisin4kicks said:

This is nuts. I'm wondering if Royal made a mistake on their website (wouldn't be the 1st time) and will make a correction when it's brought to their attention. One can only hope. We're going on the Oasis Jan 6 and I just checked the specialty restaurant prices...

 

Chop's:  $39.99

Giovanni's:  $39.99

Izumi Hibachi: $45.00

Izumi: &49.99

 

How in the world is Izumi more expensive than Chop's? Not 100% sure but based on the above, I think the Chop's price dropped around $10 as well on Oasis class ships. One last thing, my wife's favorite sushi roll (Champagne Lobster Roll) isn't even on the Izumi menu anymore. What's up with that?

 

Tim

 

Just checked our 2019 cruises. Can't speak for all the ships in Royal's fleet but every cruise we are booked on has Izumi back as a la carte again. This includes the following ships...

• Oasis
• Vision
• Jewel
• Ovation
• Adventure

Don't know when it changed and don't know how long it will stay this way but as of right this minute, the Cruise Planner for our cruises on the above ships is showing Izumi as a la carte.

 

Tim

Edited December 7, 2018 by cruisin4kicks

[rubytue]

I think they are clearly playing with things and trying to figure out what "takes."

 

On 11/23, my purchase history showed:

Say “Konnichiwa” to Asian dining with a prix-fixe menu — only available pre-cruise.

 

GUEST NAME	RESERVATION	PRICE
TOTAL		$0.00 USD
TOTAL PAID		$0.00 USD
XXXX	XXXX	$0.00 USD
XXXX	XXXX	$0.00 USD
*Service Charge		$0.00 USD

 

 

Today, it shows:

 

Say “Konnichiwa” to Asian dining with a prix-fixe menu — only available pre-cruise.

 

GUEST NAME	RESERVATION	PRICE
TOTAL		A LA CARTE PRICING
TOTAL PAID		A LA CARTE PRICING
XXXX	XXXXXX	A LA CARTE PRICING
XXXX	XXXXXX	A LA CARTE PRICING
*Service Charge		A LA CARTE PRICING