I love opinions! Steakhouse or Cucina for Birthday Dinner??

[Rach257]

Hi All!

 

We (my husband, 8 year old son and myself) will be sailing on the Sunrise in August. While it's not a cruise FOR my birthday, my birthday happens to fall on day 2 - a sea day. I was thinking it would be nice to do something a little special...food is my jam and i love it all, so I don't really have a preference for one over the other food-wise, but what do you guys think? Feel free to post pictures of your meals from both as well! Thanks!!!!

[EllaDuChien]

Well I love both of them, but the Steakhouse is a bit more "special" as far as atmosphere and that upscale feeling.  Cuchina feels like a fun night at my Nonny's.  That being said, the Carbonara is my  favorite dish at any restaurant anywhere.  But if it was my "Birthday" dinner, probably Steakhouse gets my vote.  

Steakhouse pics:

Edited February 15, 2019 by EllaDuChien
Add Pictures

[shannonsherbine]

I haven't been to the steakhouse yet, we are scheduled to go next month though.  I have heard it's excellent!  BUT...I have been to  Cucina on the Vista, and if you are big into Italian, I thought it was excellent!  Next month we are on the Valor, which doesn't have Cucina, so we set up for the steakhouse, otherwise I would have gone back.  I guess it depends on what you are more into.  I don't like lobster and steak is OK with me, but not a priority, but I LOVE pasta!  My husband and boys LOVE lobster and steak, so steakhouse it is! Also, the steakhouse is considerably more expensive, so I guess it depends how much you want to spend.  Either one will be great I'm sure! 

[EllaDuChien]

And Cuchina Pics:

[Rach257]

9 minutes ago, EllaDuChien said:

And Cuchina Pics:

Oh my goodness that Carbonara looks out of this world!!!! But so did the filet from the steakhouse! Thank you for sharing these!! Right before lunch time... now I'm starving! YUM!

[BeachLoverstoo]

We actually cancelled Cucina for hubby's birthday because they changed the menu, Nona's meatballs is now one not so great meatball and the carbonara is totally gone. I've heard you can ask in advance for the carbonara, but there is no guarantee. The new menu has been disappointing to us and we always dined there at least once for dinner each cruise.

[ProgRockCruiser]

We enjoyed both on our cruise on Sunshine in December, but Steakhouse for sure!  And you should be offered the free bottle of house wine (or half off any other bottle), since it is Day 2 of cruise - go for the half-off bottle, some good selections available, and the half-off brings the price back down to something close to retail.

[crewsweeper]

We like them both.  But for any "special occasion", the Steakhouse, if ordered correctly, would be the slightly better choice.

The Art d'Table dessert is way better than a birthday candle stuck on a brownie.  Order the smoked oysters for a great start.

Skip the Waygu steak for other cuts or go with lamb chops.

[Rach257]

57 minutes ago, BeachLoverstoo said:

We actually cancelled Cucina for hubby's birthday because they changed the menu, Nona's meatballs is now one not so great meatball and the carbonara is totally gone. I've heard you can ask in advance for the carbonara, but there is no guarantee. The new menu has been disappointing to us and we always dined there at least once for dinner each cruise.

 

Oh no!!!!! What a total bummer!!! Thank you for that info!!!

[Rach257]

52 minutes ago, ProgRockCruiser said:

We enjoyed both on our cruise on Sunshine in December, but Steakhouse for sure!  And you should be offered the free bottle of house wine (or half off any other bottle), since it is Day 2 of cruise - go for the half-off bottle, some good selections available, and the half-off brings the price back down to something close to retail.

 

LOVE this info!!! Thank you!!!!!

[bakersdozen12]

If you are planning on taking your son, I think he will enjoy Cucina much more. The Steakhouse is more of a fine dining experience for adults. Cucina is served family-style, so you can order multiple dishes and try a bit of everything. 

[Rach257]

1 hour ago, bakersdozen12 said:

If you are planning on taking your son, I think he will enjoy Cucina much more. The Steakhouse is more of a fine dining experience for adults. Cucina is served family-style, so you can order multiple dishes and try a bit of everything. 

 

That's kind of what I was thinking. Thank you!!

[ddloml]

4 hours ago, crewsweeper said:

 

The Art d'Table dessert is way better than a birthday candle stuck on a brownie.  Order the smoked oysters for a great start.

Skip the Waygu steak for other cuts or go with lamb chops.

We just got off the Horizon and went to the steakhouse on our DD's birthday.  Of course we mentioned it to our servers, and we saw other tables ordering the Art d'Table dessert.  We had to partake in the show ourselves, and our chef incorporated a birthday wish for our daughter in his creation.  

 

DS ordered the Australian Waygu steak entrée and was not impressed.  It was good, he said, but he's had much better Waygu than what was offered on Carnival.

[MainerRN92]

I'd definitely say the steakhouse for a fancier feel. We went there on Vista and had my 12 and 14 year old step siblings with us and they loved it the most of any night on the ship, but they're both also big on steak so of course they were fans. I'm not sure if Sunrise does it, but the Vista on sea days had Cucina open for lunch for a pasta bar only, included in your cruise fare. So, you could always do both, just one would have a limited menu. Create your own pasta bar, salad and breadsticks. Also on Vista, Jiji Asian Kitchen was open for lunch on sea days for a build your own Mongolian wok, also included in the cruise fare. But I'm not sure if Sunrise has Jiji's.

Edited February 15, 2019 by MainerRN92
Misspelling

[JimmyTheSaint]

For something a little special it has to be the Steakhouse in my opinion. It costs more but you will get that special feeling compared to Cucina. Personally I was underwhelmed by Cucina on the Horizon and for me pasta just isn't a special meal. You can dine for free at lunchtime in Cucina. 

[mvaughn11]

You can’t go wrong with either one but if you have to choose, then I would have to recommend the Steakhouse. The steaks are really good!

[Drazil65]

Steakhouse...we would never pay an up charge for pasta!  The steakhouse is worth it (per DH & DS as they eat at the steakhouse a couple times each cruise ).   

[Jerseygirl1416]

I love love loved the steakhouse on the Pride. The room was elegant and the food and service were top notch. The chef even came to our table with a small plate of something she had just created and wanted us to try it. Just a really nice upscale feel. Fast forward to the Breeze steakhouse and I was totally underwhelmed. The room was blah, the food was just ok and the service equivalent to the MDR. We were actually surprised by how good the food was in Cucina. Coming from the NE our bar for Italian food is set high and this food was delicious. We ended up canceling our second steakhouse reservation and going to Cucina again.