Carnival Dream Steakhouse

[Mysticalbama]

How does one go about booking the steakhouse before boarding? And what day would be best to go on a 7 day cruise?

[coevan]

The day you don't like the MDR menu or the first day for the free wine. We always go twice a week.

[Mysticalbama]

ok great.  I didn't know if I would need reservations.

[chrislo]

You need to make a reservation.  You can do that online under your cruise manager.  Generally I have received confirmation of my reservation within 48 hours.

[Mysticalbama]

ok one says make reservations and one says no..  anyone else? I would like to just wait it out on a night the MDR was not pleasing to us. But don't want to hurt my chances on a steak night there.

[coevan]

Reservations are requested, not required, just like most restaurants. We eat 2 times a week, usually make a res for the first night, usually the busiest. We have always been seated just showing up, even better than calling ahead. We have NEVER seen the Steakhouse full.

 

 

[Saint Greg]

8 hours ago, Mysticalbama said:

ok one says make reservations and one says no..  anyone else? I would like to just wait it out on a night the MDR was not pleasing to us. But don't want to hurt my chances on a steak night there.

 

I don't know if they take walk-ins or if they're full every night. What I have done for my next cruise is find out which nights are elegant and book it for other nights. You can make a reservation in your my cruise manager under "specialty dining reservations."  You should get an email back within a week. I had one where I didn't receive an email confirmation..I resubmitted the request and received confirmation the next day.

[Allura_317]

19 hours ago, coevan said:

The day you don't like the MDR menu or the first day for the free wine. We always go twice a week.

I second.

[coevan]

16 hours ago, Saint Greg said:

I don't know if they take walk-ins

 

 

greg, I told you they take walk ins, have done it numerous times. We never have seen the Steak house full.

 

On a sidebar, are you going to the game? Good luck, Go Saints, taking the -3 1/2 and the over

[Saint Greg]

1 minute ago, coevan said:

 

 

greg, I told you they take walk ins, have done it numerous times. We never have seen the Steak house full.

 

On a sidebar, are you going to the game? Good luck, Go Saints, taking the -3 1/2 and the over

 

I didn't say they don't. I said I don't know. You definitely have more steakhouse experience than I do. 

 

Yep, I'm going. 13-year season ticket holder. There's a group you'll see behind the goal posts that turns around and waves to the camera after extra points..I'm one section over from them.

[not ice cream]

We made reservations for the first night and it was not crowded. The first night wine is half off of a bottle so a pretty good deal.

 

Greg and coevan, Who Dat! Tell Atlanta's mayor we're coming.

[ISHCruising]

It was totally empty the night we went, I would see no reason to make reservations.  That said, we found the service to be far worse than the MDR.  Food was delicious, but waiters weren't friendly at all--in fact they were downright rude and argumentative.  We would have gone a second night but the service put us off.

[Joebucks]

It seems to depend on a few things. It's often not completely booked. However, if you want a specific time, it wouldn't hurt to book asap. 

 

If you know when you want to go, I would make a reservation now.

[Swimware27]

I've always made reservations on the ship, usually the same day. Service and food has always been top notch in my experience.

[arkiesgirl]

On 1/17/2019 at 4:46 PM, Saint Greg said:

 

I don't know if they take walk-ins or if they're full every night. What I have done for my next cruise is find out which nights are elegant and book it for other nights. You can make a reservation in your my cruise manager under "specialty dining reservations."  You should get an email back within a week. I had one where I didn't receive an email confirmation..I resubmitted the request and received confirmation the next day.

I was wondering about this. I tried to make a reservation, but I'm not sure if the submission was received and haven't received a confirmation. Did you get a notification that they received your request? I resubmitted but I don't want it charged to my account twice.

[coevan]

They are not going to charge your account twice. Yes, you can go to the Steakhouse without reservations. Think of it as a restaurant. 

[bury me at sea]

No chance of being charged twice.  You pay with your S&S card after the meal.

[arkiesgirl]

Thank you. I just didn't receive any notification that request had been received, so I wasn't sure.

 

[coevan]

as Bury me says you apy after you eat, just like a restaurant. 

[moongal]

Maybe it depends on the ship, and the time of year you are sailing?  When we sailed on the Valor last July we tried to get into the steakhouse but it was full every night, we could not get a reservation... we did not try to make a reservation in advance before sailing but once we were on  board.   So when we sailed this past Jan (Jan 7-12) I made sure to make my reservations early when I booked the cruise.  We made them for the first night and literally there was only one other couple in the steakhouse.  I had been so excited to try it since I have read on these boards about how fabulous it was... but I was definitely underwhelmed.  The steak was good, but nothing to write home about... just average good steak.  I had the stuffed mushroom appetizer and also some of the onion soup, the cowboy steak and macaroni and cheese and the cheesecake.   The macaroni and cheese was the worst I have ever eaten.. it was dried out and flavorless.  The stuffed mushrooms were just meh... the steak was good, but like I said, not anything special.   The cheesecake however was super delicious.    The service seemed just ok.... servers did not seem very friendly really.  I don't know maybe since I had read such wonderful things about it, I had perhaps way too high of expectations.  But I certainly did not leave full.   I really only nibbled at the appetizer and soup was awful.  I did eat all of the steak, but none of the macaroni and about half the cheesecake since it was so rich, I figured I better not eat the whole thing...

 

I will give it another try for sure, maybe we just went on a bad night.  The dessert menu seemed quite lacking though.  The only choices seemed to be some kind of pear chocolate thing, the cheesecake and the art at the table.  (and of course the cheese and fruits)  one of my party ordered the chocolate pear thing... it was awful they said.  It came with like a chocolate sphere that they poured some hot chocolate sauce on which caused it to melt right away and she was left with a plate that looked like it was filled with just a bunch of chocolate water.  We never did see any pears in it.. there was a weird dried up berry or something... we thought maybe that was supposed to be the pear maybe???  Who knows but she was definitely not impressed.  Everyone else got the cheesecake.  The only other couple in the steakhouse got the "Art at the table" thing.. they seemed to enjoy watching it get made, but it did not seem like they were eating it.  Perhaps it is more just to watch than to eat?