When is formal night?

[Heather White]

On a 14 day cruise, which nights are usually formal? I'd prefer to book TK on a different night.

[princeton123211]

1 hour ago, Heather White said:

On a 14 day cruise, which nights are usually formal? I'd prefer to book TK on a different night.

At very least it will be posted in the Herald and can be dependent on the itinerary-- usually on a sea day. That being said the days of tuxedos are a bit behind us. While a few people do still dress up, the only requirement of the dress code is that men wear a sport coat (vs jacket optional on elegant casual nights). How fancy things get also will depend on your itinerary-- Caribbean and more expedition type itineraries tend to be much more casual overall. 

 

Also, the formal dress code does not apply to TK or any other dining venue-- only in the main restaurant. 

[ibnoland]

As I recall, formal night is often the 2nd or 3rd night of the cruise, then again on the next to last night, or the night before. It may depend on where the ship is docked on those days, and when passengers are expected to return from tours, etc. It’s never on the first or last night. Sorry I can’t tell you more specifically.  Maybe someone else has a better fix on it.

[alidor]

Kind of thinking that you if expect to have a special “formal” night like so many of the big ships do, you will be disappointed,   There really isn’t a special “formal” night that I know of.

[Heather White]

1 hour ago, alidor said:

Kind of thinking that you if expect to have a special “formal” night like so many of the big ships do, you will be disappointed,   There really isn’t a special “formal” night that I know of.

No, I'm not expecting anthing too dressy. Just would prefer to do TK on a less formal night.

[SLSD]

3 hours ago, Heather White said:

No, I'm not expecting anthing too dressy. Just would prefer to do TK on a less formal night.

Some wear their formal wear to the TK Grill.   

[dalliowner]

If you ask Seabourn they will tell you on what nights will be formal.

[florisdekort]

We do the exact opposite.  We go to TKG on formal nights to avoid the formal dress code.

[Fletcher]

On my last Seabourn cruise I didn't even take a jacket.  And the TK Grill is totally off the radar as far as we are concerned.  Dreadful food and laughably pretentious. However, lots of people seem to like it.  A marmite sort of place.

Edited January 30, 2020 by Fletcher

[frantic36]

24 minutes ago, Fletcher said:

On my last Seabourn cruise I didn't even take a jacket.  And the TK Grill is totally off the radar as far as we are concerned.  Dreadful food and laughably pretentious. However, lots of people seem to like it.  A marmite sort of place.

 

Well I like vegemite but haven't tried marmite 😊. Some TK menu items are very nice and it is pleasant to have a different venue to dine in. I find the ambience nice which is why I was disappointed on my Ovation sailing when I couldn't get an extra booking there whereas others seemed to have no problem.

 

Julie

[margbem]

49 minutes ago, Fletcher said:

On my last Seabourn cruise I didn't even take a jacket.  And the TK Grill is totally off the radar as far as we are concerned.  Dreadful food and laughably pretentious. However, lots of people seem to like it.  A marmite sort of place.

I totally agree with you, Markham, but my husband really likes it. I am looking forward to the Chef’s Special in the Restaurant now that they have done away with the TK special of the day. Seabourn chefs are talented people - they should be allowed to show off their skills.

[Mauzac]

I really like the TK Grill but maybe I'm just a pleb and easily impressed!  

 

I think the food is good,  I love the ambience and it almost has a sense of theatre about it.  But that is probably pretentious, sometimes I enjoy pretentious, it amuses me.  😄

[Mahogany]

Pretentious is all in the eye of the beholder/diner. I look forward to my evenings in TK, dining solo, usually, people-watching of course.

[SLSD]

On 1/30/2020 at 4:55 PM, Mahogany said:

Pretentious is all in the eye of the beholder/diner. I look forward to my evenings in TK, dining solo, usually, people-watching of course.

I agree Mahogany.  We have dined in the TK Grill probably 10 or 12 times on three different ships.  Only one time did I observe anything even approaching pretension.  

 

I also think it is important to recognize that the TK Grill is supposed to represent a classic American steak house.  These are not fancy restaurants--and their menus are down to earth and include American comfort food.  Not all SB cruisers are Americans--and come from different countries with different tastes.  I would not expect the TK Grill to suit everyone.  It is what it is.  

[CLOU]

Here is my example of pretension at the TK Grill. We were all handed the menus opened to the reserve wine list page instead of the food menu. This corresponds to the attitude we have had there in the past that it is expected that we order a better wine, since the complimentary wines are not good enough. 

[Fletcher]

38 minutes ago, CLOU said:

Here is my example of pretension at the TK Grill. We were all handed the menus opened to the reserve wine list page instead of the food menu. This corresponds to the attitude we have had there in the past that it is expected that we order a better wine, since the complimentary wines are not good enough. 

 That's been my experience on the two occasions we have been at TK's - once on the Quest, once on the Ovation.  Lots of other examples as well as this.  From my blog on the Ovation cruise to Norway -

 

"The Thomas Keller Grill . . .  was not an experience I want to repeat.  It was as bad as I remember it from the Quest nearly three years ago. We sat for a full 50 minutes and were offered only raw carrot and bread.  When they realised we didn’t want to buy expensive wine they lost interest in us.  Eventually we ate a nicely timed dover sole, skilfully filleted at our table, but not a coherent dish.  It was just a slab of protein.  We left without eating desserts as we wanted to see the show at 8.45 and had run out of time and patience."

 

And from my blog of a Quest trip to the Caribbean -

 

"Until last night we had eaten every single meal at The Colonnade.  Then last night, which was our last night, we went to The Grill for dinner.  Oh dear, what a mistake that turned out to be.  The only good thing about it was that Seabourn didn’t charge a supplement to eat there, though they clearly want you to buy some fancy wines to go with their awful food. My starter was consommé and it tasted like a Knorr beef stock cube.  My wife’s starter was clam chowder but it seemed like a bowl of cream with two or three lumps of something indiscernible.  For our mains we both chose lobster thermidor and we both had about three mouthfuls and left the rest.  Of course, this wasn’t lobster thermidor at all. Lobster thermidor is served in the shell, with mashed potato, béchamel sauce, mustard, brandy and a cheese topping chucked under the salamander.  It’s not a classic for nothing.  But this lobster thermidor was deconstructed and re-imagined by Thomas Keller who is far too clever to simply offer a dish that has taken maybe a century to perfect.  His lobster thermidor was basically nicely poached lobster meat drowning in a half pound of melted butter.  Writing this a day later at our hotel in Barbados, my stomach still heaves with the curdled memory of it.  That really was a most heavy, old-fashioned, disgusting dish.  We passed on desserts and left the room which, by the way, was as cold as a morgue."

Edited February 1, 2020 by Fletcher

[frantic36]

36 minutes ago, CLOU said:

Here is my example of pretension at the TK Grill. We were all handed the menus opened to the reserve wine list page instead of the food menu. This corresponds to the attitude we have had there in the past that it is expected that we order a better wine, since the complimentary wines are not good enough. 

 

 

Okay, maybe we don't look special enough but we didn't experience this. But I have learnt over many years on cruise critic things will vary. We have to ask for special wine lists. 

 

I will add after just spending 24 hours in emergency with my husband in Cardiac emergency I find some of the "problems"  regarding wine lists trivial. And we enjoy good wine.  I know this flies against my any question is okay but so be it.

 

Julie

 

I will be back to usual tomorrow 🙂.

Edited February 1, 2020 by frantic36

[JPH814]

This thread has strayed far off the original topic.  Let me give a few comments

 

I love Seabourn. But i find it obnoxious that Seabourn can not tell you in advance what nights are formal nights. I like to plan things - spa appointments, dining reservations, excursions.  If a given evening is a formal Night, it will influence those plans 

 

I enjoy TK Grill.  It adds variety to our cruise dinners. The food is of a similar quality (at least!) to the main dining room and well above the casual experience Of the colonade.  The chicken was wonderful.
 

I have never felt pressure to buy up the wine.   But since the TKGrill is often a highlight of our dinning week, we often do. 
 

I enjoy scheduling TKGrill on the embarkation evening.  I find the main dining room can be a bit disorganized with new guests and often new staff.  The Grill is A consistently Relaxing experience 

 

we did the Grill one formal night, With another couple. I had a formal dinner jacket, my wife a long dress and similar attire by our companions.  It was lovely. We left the Grill before dessert and had dessert and coffee in the man dining room.   An idea I heartily recommend and plan to do again.  

 

 

Edited February 1, 2020 by JPH814

[Mauzac]

It's a good job we're all different, or life would be boring!

 

I've never felt under pressure to buy the more expensive wines, in fact I don't think I've even seen the wine list for them.  And I enjoyed the Lobster!  

I enjoy dining there with new found friends, and on our own, either way we enjoy it.  

[Chairsin]

We like to dress up (white dinner jacket or tux for my DH and long gown or dressy cocktail dress for me) and always try to get into the aTK Grill on formal night. We have been fortunate on our many cruises in the last few years since TK was introduced a few years ago  to dine there over 20 times and not once have we been asked if we wanted to order premium wine nor had the suggestion even been intimated by the waiter or sommelier. However as with others we do occasionally purchase wine from the TK list as there a few nice options. We have also ordered wine in TK Grill from the regular premium wine list. As to some not seeing the list this is surprising as it is included in the TK Grill menu unlike the restaurant where it is in a separate folio.
 

Furthermore, regarding the wine service, we have generally found the staff in the Grill quite approachable and friendly rather than snooty or pretentious as others have observed. Our request for large glasses, even when ordering house wine has  always cheerfully fulfilled. In fact on some nights, when again we did not order from the premium list, the wine service went above and beyond our expectation. On one cruise the sommelier knew there was a house red we often favored depending and not only made sure there was always a bottle or two already in the Grill when we arrived and but even went so far as to decant a bottle of it for us. 

 

[Mauzac]

Chairsin... you are correct... the wine list is part of the TK Grill menu, I stand corrected.  We just don't particularly look at it nor have we felt pressurised to order from it.  🙂

[Mr Luxury]

On 2/1/2020 at 2:08 PM, frantic36 said:

 

 

Okay, maybe we don't look special enough but we didn't experience this. But I have learnt over many years on cruise critic things will vary. We have to ask for special wine lists. 

 

I will add after just spending 24 hours in emergency with my husband in Cardiac emergency I find some of the "problems"  regarding wine lists trivial. And we enjoy good wine.  I know this flies against my any question is okay but so be it.

 

Julie

 

I will be back to usual tomorrow 🙂.

Hi Julie,

I hope that Keith is ok 

[frantic36]

4 hours ago, Mr Luxury said:

Hi Julie,

I hope that Keith is ok 

 

Hi John,

He's home now and much better thanks. Though he needs to have a couple more tests and see the specialist to confirm it was just a scare and not the real thing. I hope you're well? Maybe we'll catch up one Christmas cruise sometime. 🙂

 

Julie

[Mr Luxury]

11 minutes ago, frantic36 said:

 

Hi John,

He's home now and much better thanks. Though he needs to have a couple more tests and see the specialist to confirm it was just a scare and not the real thing. I hope you're well? Maybe we'll catch up one Christmas cruise sometime. 🙂

 

Julie

Good to hear that Julie.

I'm well thank you and it would be lovely to see you both again.

Thinking of Allan at this time also.

 

[frantic36]

1 minute ago, Mr Luxury said:

Good to hear that Julie.

I'm well thank you and it would be lovely to see you both again.

Thinking of Allan at this time also.

 

 

Okay now I'm worried, I haven't spoken to them in awhile as we have been travelling a lot. Could you email me please regarding this...juliezmarshall at icloud dot com

 

Julie