Chef's table - info appreciated from anyone who's done it

[losfp]

Hi all,

 

We have our first RCI cruises coming up in October, and we're looking forward to experiencing a new line!

We did the chef's table on Majestic Princess a few weeks ago and really enjoyed it so I was looking into the Chef's table option for RCI. We are going on Explorer and Odyssey, but will likely have the fancier dining options on Odyssey, if that makes a difference.

 

1. Has anyone done Chef's Table on a dining package, or would you recommend booking it separately? My understanding is that you cannot book dining package meals ahead of time. I am aware that CT is a smaller seating so I wasn't sure if it's likely to book out.

2. Does anyone know if they offer a CT without the wine pairings as my wife and I both do not really drink wine. On Majestic, they were happy to just bring us mocktails instead

3. Any other thoughts on Chef's Table?

 

Thanks for any opinions anyone can offer 🙂

 

[njkruzer]

There is a recent thread on Chef's Table you might want to look at.  We've done it a few times and love it.  As far as I know isn't part of a dining package. Set menu but will accommodate food allergies but best to advise them well in advance.  Wine pairings are part of the experience but again if given advance notice they will likely accommodate.   Understand this is not a short dinner.  Can run 2-4 hours.  At most 16 people. 

[fenton04]

You might want to check before you book chefs table about mocktails.  We have been on chefs table when diners indicated they were not wine drinkers at dinner time. There was no special accommodation made.  

[Seville2Cabo]

1 hour ago, losfp said:

Hi all,

 

We have our first RCI cruises coming up in October, and we're looking forward to experiencing a new line!

We did the chef's table on Majestic Princess a few weeks ago and really enjoyed it so I was looking into the Chef's table option for RCI. We are going on Explorer and Odyssey, but will likely have the fancier dining options on Odyssey, if that makes a difference.

 

1. Has anyone done Chef's Table on a dining package, or would you recommend booking it separately? My understanding is that you cannot book dining package meals ahead of time. I am aware that CT is a smaller seating so I wasn't sure if it's likely to book out.

2. Does anyone know if they offer a CT without the wine pairings as my wife and I both do not really drink wine. On Majestic, they were happy to just bring us mocktails instead

3. Any other thoughts on Chef's Table?

 

Thanks for any opinions anyone can offer 🙂

 

they call it Chef’s Table, but it’s really a wine pairing dinner. Not sure there is much value if you don’t drink wine 

[xpcdoojk]

19 minutes ago, Seville2Cabo said:

they call it Chef’s Table, but it’s really a wine pairing dinner. Not sure there is much value if you don’t drink wine 

Exactly this.  It is a wine pairing dinner with Chops menu.  If you get with the wrong group it could be a 5 hour, mess.  We did it one time on the Anthem out of NY City, and there was a family of 8 with the Godfather who was a boring  attention hog, who drug the whole process out way way too long.  We were two couples of the 16 and the wife’s left before the main courses were served, the men soldiered on until the end 5 hours in… the food was good, the wine was copious and the event was so bad, I wouldn’t do it again if they offered it to me for free.  

 

I know I am an outlier on this, but if you get the wrong table mates, it will or at least can be the worst dinner of your life.

 

JMHO and YMMV

 

jc

[losfp]

Thanks all for your honest opinions.

We really enjoyed the chef's table we did on Majestic but we got that for a pretty good price for a 10 course meal. Will think about doing it on Odyssey, but we might just opt for other specialty dining if the value just isn't there for this.

[crazyank]

5 hours ago, xpcdoojk said:

Exactly this.  It is a wine pairing dinner with Chops menu.  If you get with the wrong group it could be a 5 hour, mess.  We did it one time on the Anthem out of NY City, and there was a family of 8 with the Godfather who was a boring  attention hog, who drug the whole process out way way too long.  We were two couples of the 16 and the wife’s left before the main courses were served, the men soldiered on until the end 5 hours in… the food was good, the wine was copious and the event was so bad, I wouldn’t do it again if they offered it to me for free.  

 

I know I am an outlier on this, but if you get the wrong table mates, it will or at least can be the worst dinner of your life.

 

JMHO and YMMV

 

jc

Totally agree with this. The one time we did Chef's Table it was ruined by an elderly Pinnacle who arrived late and seemed to think she was queen of the ship.  She just wouldn't shut up, even talking during the descriptions of the wines.

[hmorrow]

15 hours ago, losfp said:

Hi all,

 

We have our first RCI cruises coming up in October, and we're looking forward to experiencing a new line!

We did the chef's table on Majestic Princess a few weeks ago and really enjoyed it so I was looking into the Chef's table option for RCI. We are going on Explorer and Odyssey, but will likely have the fancier dining options on Odyssey, if that makes a difference.

 

1. Has anyone done Chef's Table on a dining package, or would you recommend booking it separately? My understanding is that you cannot book dining package meals ahead of time. I am aware that CT is a smaller seating so I wasn't sure if it's likely to book out.

2. Does anyone know if they offer a CT without the wine pairings as my wife and I both do not really drink wine. On Majestic, they were happy to just bring us mocktails instead

3. Any other thoughts on Chef's Table?

 

Thanks for any opinions anyone can offer 🙂

 

You can't use the dining package for the chef's table.  It's a separate cost. We've always enjoyed the chef's table....

[Broken07]

You can use the dining package with chefs table. Instead of the full fee you pay a prorated upcharge of 49.99 or so. 

[Seville2Cabo]

54 minutes ago, Broken07 said:

You can use the dining package with chefs table. Instead of the full fee you pay a prorated upcharge of 49.99 or so. 

Yes, but you can only book it on board.  So if you want a certain night, you have to book and pay full price

[Magicat]

Check to see where the venue for Chef's table is on the Explorer.  I know on the Adventure and Voyager, it was set up on the staircase between deck 4 and 5 in the dining room.  Not in a separate room like on the Serenade.  I think on the Navigator they had it in a section of the Windjammer.  Had a few curious patrons wander over to see where we got the lobster salad. LOL

[njkruzer]

29 minutes ago, Magicat said:

Check to see where the venue for Chef's table is on the Explorer.  I know on the Adventure and Voyager, it was set up on the staircase between deck 4 and 5 in the dining room.  Not in a separate room like on the Serenade.  I think on the Navigator they had it in a section of the Windjammer.  Had a few curious patrons wander over to see where we got the lobster salad. LOL

We only do it when it's in a private room, i.e., Radiance class and Quantum class.  Don't know where it is on Oasis class.

[Rogueperson]

1 hour ago, Magicat said:

Check to see where the venue for Chef's table is on the Explorer.  I know on the Adventure and Voyager, it was set up on the staircase between deck 4 and 5 in the dining room.  Not in a separate room like on the Serenade.  I think on the Navigator they had it in a section of the Windjammer.  Had a few curious patrons wander over to see where we got the lobster salad. LOL

 

When i did it on the Navigator, it too was between deck 4 and 5.

 

52 minutes ago, njkruzer said:

We only do it when it's in a private room, i.e., Radiance class and Quantum class.  Don't know where it is on Oasis class.

 

On Allure, they  had it on the 2nd floor of the Diamond Lounge, however, some of the other Oasis Classes do not have the same Diamond Lounge setup, so i'm not sure where they hold Chef's Table.

[Seville2Cabo]

2 hours ago, Magicat said:

I think on the Navigator they had it in a section of the Windjammer. 

Navigator is on the landing between floors of MDR

[RedIguana]

On Explorer it was pretty much a real nice wine flight with some nice food thrown in. Preceded by a cocktail of course. They pretty much let you know at the beginning that you will probably be just a little flighty by the time you leave. You can see where in the dining room it is. August of 2022 ABC cruise out of Port Everglades. Grand Cayman ended up being switch for Bonaire

Edited February 8, 2023 by RedIguana
Added cruise info.

[RedIguana]

And the aftermath.......

[Stealthdog]

5 hours ago, Seville2Cabo said:

Yes, but you can only book it on board.  So if you want a certain night, you have to book and pay full price

No you dont.  We booked on board the Odyssey and had the UDP.  When they brought us the bill, it was discounted because of the dining package.

 

 

[losfp]

Thank you everyone for the feedback.

 

It sounds like if we're not really into wines (we're not), we are simply not going to get value out of this experience.  That's a real shame as we have enjoyed all the chefs tables we have done previously.

 

We will look into maybe done one of the other specialty restaurants for our special occasion.

[Seville2Cabo]

1 hour ago, Stealthdog said:

No you dont.  We booked on board the Odyssey and had the UDP.  When they brought us the bill, it was discounted because of the dining package.

 

 

That’s what I said. If you book on board, you get discount. Can’t get discount booking on line 

Edited February 9, 2023 by Seville2Cabo

[Guest phd1003]

1 hour ago, Seville2Cabo said:

That’s what I said. If you book on board, you get discount. Can’t get discount booking on line 

So your saying if I book online to reserve a spot and I have a dining package they will NOT adjust the price onboard? That goes against everything I have previously heard. 

[losfp]

1 hour ago, phd1003 said:

So your saying if I book online to reserve a spot and I have a dining package they will NOT adjust the price onboard? That goes against everything I have previously heard. 

 

My understanding is that is the trade-off. With the package, you get a good price, but you cannot make reservations until you are on board.

[lovetocruise/diamond]

We have done the Chef’s Table 5 times all on different ships. 4 times it was great, recently we did it on the Harmony and it was not good. The chef would come out and tell us about each dish. There was only 1 server serving 12 people and pouring the wine, he was definitely stressed and overwhelmed. The food was not good, it’s always the same menu so we knew how it should taste. The scallops were very fishy in smell and taste. Most people ordered their filet medium to medium rare when everyone cut into it was well done, and definitely smaller than 6 months ago. The wines served can be bought in the grocery store for $12-15./bottle. The sea salt caramel martini was room temperature, not cold as we had in the past. I think it was premade in a pitcher instead of each made individually and shaken at the table.There have definitely been cut backs. It probably depends on the ship but it will be a while before we try it again. A few months ago we did it on the Enchantment and it was a fabulous meal and there were 12 people. It all depends on the ship on your experience.

[Stealthdog]

21 hours ago, Seville2Cabo said:

That’s what I said. If you book on board, you get discount. Can’t get discount booking on line 

 

I misread what you wrote.  I thought you were saying that the only way you could select the night you wanted was booking prior to the sailing without the UDP discount and paying full price.  When we got on board, we were able to select the night we wanted because every night was available (except for 1 that only had one seat available, and we needed two).  I guess its a gamble, but if there was availability every night on a new ship that was at about 100% capacity.......

 

Off topic (kind of) but we never have a hard time getting good times (6-730) at the restaurants we want to dine in on the days we want.  First thing we do when we get onboard is go straight to a restaurant to make the reservations before the rest of the masses.  

[nimbex1970]

you CAN book ahead of time, our group just booked for a May Wonder of the Seas cruise. We enjoy it and have been lucky to not have horrible table mates, which is a crap shoot anywhere. The wines are standard, and not "must tries" anyway.  Since chefs table is not on cruise day 1, go see the Maitr de, and let them know your preference of mocktails so they can anticipate it.  Staffing seems tight these cruising days and I want you to have the best experience.