Odessey Specialty Dining

[mlbcruiser]

Which specialty restaurant did you enjoy the most and why?

 

Which was the most attractive of the specialty restaurants? 
 

Please comment on food, experience and anything else that might be helpful re Wonderland. 
 

If you reserve prior to sailing but once on board you decide you’d like to dine on a different night or in a different specialty restaurant, are you allowed to switch - assuming there is  availability?

 

Thanks for any replies. 

[Biker19]

8 hours ago, mlbcruiser said:

If you reserve prior to sailing but once on board you decide you’d like to dine on a different night or in a different specialty restaurant, are you allowed to switch - assuming there is  availability?

Switching to a different night shouldn't be an issue - a different venue might be if the cost is different.

[mlbcruiser]

My thanks  once more, Biker19. That’s what I am hoping. Didn’t get a chance to call today. Too much going on. I can’t see why it would be a problem to change. If there is a price difference you can just always pay if there is an additional mount charged for the venue. I appreciate getting this “sort of a gift card,”

But hate how it works. If I ever get one again, I hope it’s just a regular gift card. Use it as I see fit and when I see fit.

[Sianli]

We loved the food and service on all in January. But we ate the most often at Giovanni's and Tepanaki. Chops is the most formal. We are not partial to Wonderland but you should enjoy trying it for a special experience.

[Roybthered]

We had a 4 night and a 5 night cruise last year on Anthem of the seas around the UK (due to Covid) and we purchased the UDP for both as we thought the price for them was very good and we also wanted to have more intimate dining. Here is what we thought about the specialty restaurants.

 

Chops:- We had lunch and dinner during the cruises and found the experience to be great, on one night I had earlier taken a bottle of LPR down asking if they could bring it out during our meal as it was our anniversary. They brought it out during the meal, the waiter even having a chat about it was nice to open a good bottle of champagne. The meals themselves where very nice indeed and it is a restaurant we always visit.

Jamie’s Italian:- Had Lunch and dinner at Jamie’s and really enjoyed the food and atmosphere, worth the experience and the staff are very attentive even when my wife asked if the Prawn linguine could be made spicy. I would recommend the starter plank as it was outstanding.

Izzumi:- Our favourite restaurant, we went on a number of occasions and every time we did it was a great experience. We were helped with picking different items and each was explained to us, they brought us dishes to try and asked what we liked and catered items for us. The staff where attentive but left you alone to have your food in peace. The food was plentiful and you could take away any leftovers for later as there was quite a bit. Highly recommended.

Wonderland:- We enjoyed Wonderland and all that went with it, the food was good, the service was good and the experience was good. The staff explained all that was going to happen, explained the concept of the food and what they would recommend we had. Whilst the food was served and consumed they were attentive and asked if we wanted more of certain dishes we liked. A great experience and should be done at least once but I think only once a cruise to be honest.

 

We thought the UDP was worth the money we paid for both the 4 and 5 night cruises, it allowed us to have a more intimate eating experience that we enjoyed om those short holidays (we do like to eat in the MDR to meet others on most other cruises we have been on).

Hope this helps

Roy

[mlbcruiser]

Sianli, Thanks for replying. Giovannis is one that I thought would probably come up with anyone who replied because that seems to be very popular with lots of people. 
 

Roybtherd, Thank you muchly for going to the effort to post your thoughts on each restaurant. What else do they exactly do in wonderland? Some type of performance serving or something? Or does something happen in the dining room? 
 

So here is partly why I have asked this question. We have died at Giovanni‘s maybe 3 times. I think on one of the times it may have been called something else? On Voyager or an older class  ship of RC’s. For instance, while I love saltimbocca, I I don’t like Osso Buco. Go figure. They are both veal.  Had poor service once. Another time on Celebrity, a lady at our mdr table was solo and turning 40. She asked the table if anyone would like to join her in one of the specialty restaurants. I don’t even know which one it was. It was fun because there were about eight of us and we enjoyed the staff’s humor & watching as for each course the servers carried our plates to us in unison & set the plates down in perfect timing in front of us at at exactly the same time. However,  the dinner lasted 3 hrs. and we all missed at least the big headliner show! Many years ago we went to an Italian specialty restaurant on NCL. It was when they had just started doing these (cost $5!) and they were the first line at that time doing it. We went to a French restaurant that was highly touted on a new, large Carnival ship. our service was horrible. Our was so disinterested in serving us and bery rude until we were finished eating. 🙄  however the table next to us must have been known to be huge tippers because he hovered over them, smile a lot and was totally charming to them from what we could see. I think I’ve been to one on Princess, bot not other lines we’ve sailed with. 
 

Biggest reason we will only likely go to just one is generally we love having other people at our table. I have found that on Royal Caribbean at least, much of the flavoring, dressings and this and that tend to taste similar no matter what specialty restaurants we have dined in. Yes there are things that are definitely above the standard, but generally we are just as happy dining in the main dining room. Another issue is I don’t want to miss something I really like on the night it’s being served in the main dining room! Plus we’d be a bit more likely to eat in a specialty restaurant more often if we could make the choice last minute. However that’s not how it works.
 

We are not sushi lovers but we might dine in Teppanyaki. I was thinking Chops perhaps  because my husband likes steaks (even though I find steak isn’t high on my list of foods) I know they have a couple of other things.  (Probably end up with the shrimp.) All of the others are under consideration. Would never choose to dine in one every day. Would not care to dine in one at lunch because usually we are not that hungry at lunch and prefer hanging outside that time of day. So all the details you are sharing our very interesting to me.  Wonderland does sound fun. So now I have something to think about. Need to get with the program and make a reservation for the next couple days. Thanks so much for the input! (sorry I’m such a terrible editor!.)

[Roybthered]

16 hours ago, mlbcruiser said:

Sianli, Thanks for replying. Giovannis is one that I thought would probably come up with anyone who replied because that seems to be very popular with lots of people. 
 

Roybtherd, Thank you muchly for going to the effort to post your thoughts on each restaurant. What else do they exactly do in wonderland? Some type of performance serving or something? Or does something happen in the dining room? 
 

So here is partly why I have asked this question. We have died at Giovanni‘s maybe 3 times. I think on one of the times it may have been called something else? On Voyager or an older class  ship of RC’s. For instance, while I love saltimbocca, I I don’t like Osso Buco. Go figure. They are both veal.  Had poor service once. Another time on Celebrity, a lady at our mdr table was solo and turning 40. She asked the table if anyone would like to join her in one of the specialty restaurants. I don’t even know which one it was. It was fun because there were about eight of us and we enjoyed the staff’s humor & watching as for each course the servers carried our plates to us in unison & set the plates down in perfect timing in front of us at at exactly the same time. However,  the dinner lasted 3 hrs. and we all missed at least the big headliner show! Many years ago we went to an Italian specialty restaurant on NCL. It was when they had just started doing these (cost $5!) and they were the first line at that time doing it. We went to a French restaurant that was highly touted on a new, large Carnival ship. our service was horrible. Our was so disinterested in serving us and bery rude until we were finished eating. 🙄  however the table next to us must have been known to be huge tippers because he hovered over them, smile a lot and was totally charming to them from what we could see. I think I’ve been to one on Princess, bot not other lines we’ve sailed with. 
 

Biggest reason we will only likely go to just one is generally we love having other people at our table. I have found that on Royal Caribbean at least, much of the flavoring, dressings and this and that tend to taste similar no matter what specialty restaurants we have dined in. Yes there are things that are definitely above the standard, but generally we are just as happy dining in the main dining room. Another issue is I don’t want to miss something I really like on the night it’s being served in the main dining room! Plus we’d be a bit more likely to eat in a specialty restaurant more often if we could make the choice last minute. However that’s not how it works.
 

We are not sushi lovers but we might dine in Teppanyaki. I was thinking Chops perhaps  because my husband likes steaks (even though I find steak isn’t high on my list of foods) I know they have a couple of other things.  (Probably end up with the shrimp.) All of the others are under consideration. Would never choose to dine in one every day. Would not care to dine in one at lunch because usually we are not that hungry at lunch and prefer hanging outside that time of day. So all the details you are sharing our very interesting to me.  Wonderland does sound fun. So now I have something to think about. Need to get with the program and make a reservation for the next couple days. Thanks so much for the input! (sorry I’m such a terrible editor!.)

Wonderland is a theatrical experience and the food is centred around the food looking different to the taste. The staff are dressed up and talk you through the menu, offering you a selection that you might like. It is a meal that takes time to eat and is very visual, we likened it to a Heston Blumenthal meal (a UK Chef who is very well known for his food looking one way but tasting totally different). It is a venue that I think you should try at least once.

 

We have dined in the Teppanyaki on Indy and it again is a very good experience with the chef entertaining you throughout and the food is to die for! Am glad they have one on Odyssey so will visit a few times on our September cruise.

 

Hope this helps

 

Roy

[Roybthered]

Here are some of our food photos.

Roybthered - Cruise Critic Community.html

[vacationlover_mn]

We tried every specialty restaurant for dinner, and playmakers, Giovanni’s and Chops for lunch.  We loved every single one!  DH wanted to do Coastal Kitchen for dinner one night, so we didn’t end up doing any specialty restaurant for dinner.  If we would have doubled up for dinner, I think we would have done pizza at Giovanni’s 🙂

[TwinMamainMN]

We have the 3-night package coming up for our Odyssey cruise later this month. Based on the menus, we will try Wonderland, Giovanni's Italian Kitchen, and Chops Grille.

 

We have gone to Benihana several times near where we live and enjoy the food, but our preferences are for Italian and steakhouse dinners. Curious is the Teppanyaki on board is any different from Benihana which we have near home and eat at once a year or so.

[footeam]

We had Teppanyaki and Giovanni's last month on Odyssey. The food at both was fantastic, but you could not beat the sunset view at Teppanyaki. It was unexpected and made the experience my very favorite meal.

 

[shelpt]

Just off Odyssey and ate at Wonderland.  I tried to change my reservation while onboard, but they were fully booked. They are not using all of the tables for social distancing.  It was an awesome experience. The waitress was awesome. The food was incredible. My boyfriend was a professional chef so we didn't feel any of the other places were worth it because he cooks like that at home. But Wonderland was a totally different experience.  Let me know if I can answer any thing else. The ship was awesome!

[danoconnl]

when did you try to change your reservation?  We've got the udp and I'm wondering if all of the reservations are taken up before the cruise boards.

 

Dan

[John&LaLa]

7 hours ago, footeam said:

We had Teppanyaki and Giovanni's last month on Odyssey. The food at both was fantastic, but you could not beat the sunset view at Teppanyaki. It was unexpected and made the experience my very favorite meal.

 

 

We had that view as well, but it didn't last long.

 

Book early seating if cruising during winter

[Sianli]

We had Tepanaki two nights and 1 lunch, Chops one night, Playmakers one lunch and an extra dessert, Crown and Pub two lunches, and Giovanni's 3 nights and 2 lunches!!

[TwinMamainMN]

3 hours ago, danoconnl said:

when did you try to change your reservation?  We've got the udp and I'm wondering if all of the reservations are taken up before the cruise boards.

 

Dan

As far as I understand, you can't book them until you board.

[shelpt]

5 hours ago, danoconnl said:

when did you try to change your reservation?  We've got the udp and I'm wondering if all of the reservations are taken up before the cruise boards.

 

Dan

It was during the cruise. I booked it before we went, maybe 3 weeks out.

[shelpt]

1 hour ago, TwinMamainMN said:

As far as I understand, you can't book them until you board.

You book them when you pay.

[mlbcruiser]

I’m wondering if they aren’t using all tables in a specialty restaurant because of Covid? I have a feeling it’s not so much Covid. Maybe it’s a lack of servers? Otherwise there wouldn’t be reports of people in main dining rooms on various ships Bing seated really close together. But who knows?

 

We also have several Teppanyaki places here and have dined at others in various cities in the past.as well. So it’s not anything new to us, either. Still, sometimes you get lucky with great table mates and an extra special Teppanyaki chef and it can be fun. Of course, so often I have a craving for one type of food or another. Really, I’m terrible! I could see myself making a reservation and then not feeling like eating that type of food at all that evening! Then on another evening I might be dying for it. Not such s good affliction when you’re dealing with often hard to get reservations and specialty restaurants. 
 

[wikoffclan]

Considering UDP for my Odyssey cruise in April. But since I'm going solo, I thought maybe the Chef's Table would be more fun since it's a group experience. I'm curious to hear if any of you has participated and would appreciate hearing your thoughts on this option. Thanks! Ann

 

 

[Mikew0805]

In this order, in my opinion:

 

1. Teppanyaki 

2. Giovanni's Kitchen 

3. Chops

 

We have done these three on all of our Odyssey sailings so far, and plan on it again next month. They are all good, but Teppanyaki is amazing! (food, service, interaction, and view)

[vacationlover_mn]

22 hours ago, TwinMamainMN said:Curious is the Teppanyaki on board is any different from Benihana which we have near home and eat at once a year or so.

The view is way better, and we thought the steak was amazing!  Other than that, pretty similar to Benihana…

[crewsweeper]

17 hours ago, danoconnl said:

when did you try to change your reservation?  We've got the udp and I'm wondering if all of the reservations are taken up before the cruise boards.

 

Dan

When you embark there should be a kiosk/table for UDP reservations near guest services. Have an idea of which ones you want to go to and which nights and times, plus some alternatives before you board.   You'll be all set for the cruise in about 5 minutes.

[mlbcruiser]

Between reservations for specialty dining, and for doing some of the special activities on board like Ifly, and reserving shows, trying to get the stuff put away in our cabin so I don’t have to worry about it later, Attend a sailaway meet and greet, grab a bite and walk around the ship before sailaway, sure hope the lines for reservations aren’t long! Actually doubt I’ll get all of that in but, oh well I