Manfredis

[MarkCruises]

On 5/29/2023 at 9:34 PM, DrKoob said:

We did 21 nights in the Med last fall on Viking Sky and not a single night could we have not gotten into Manfredis just by going down and asking. We might have had to wait 10 minutes or so but there was usually an empty table to be had. To be honest, we were totally underwhelmed. Steaks were thin and not cooked well, the Italian food was better than Olive Garden but not by a whole lot.

Are you saying just show up at Manfredi's and ask about a table even if you don't have a reservation - and sometimes be admitted?

[Hockeyump]

Absolutely, if you don't ask you'll never know.

[Peregrina651]

46 minutes ago, MarkCruises said:

Are you saying just show up at Manfredi's and ask about a table even if you don't have a reservation - and sometimes be admitted?

 

Yup. People change their minds and don't show up. A table finishes a lot more quickly than expected. All sorts of reasons.

[DrKoob]

44 minutes ago, MarkCruises said:

Are you saying just show up at Manfredi's and ask about a table even if you don't have a reservation - and sometimes be admitted?

We could have done that every single night on our 21-night cruise except the first night without a problem. You shouldn't be "sometimes admitted," but pretty much every time. Our experience was that since there was nothing special about the food or the experience compared to the rest of the dining venues on board, people just went once, and that was it. And unlike other cruise lines who charge for their specialty restaurants, Viking does not care where you eat, so they don't try and find folks to fill the seats when someone does not show up. We had reservations for Manfredi's on four nights and canceled three of them. The buffet was better and had more interesting food. When you get back from your cruise, please come back and let us know if you had problems getting in. We are booked on a 14-night Norwegian Fjords cruise and we aren't going to bother making reservations. I got up really early to do it for our first cruise. Never again. We were in a PV so we got pretty early access to reservations. What a waste of time.

[deec]

I think it really depends on the passengers on different cruises....sometimes it is difficult to get in unless you are willing to wait until 8pm sometimes walk in...chef's table is the same.

[MarkCruises]

On 6/6/2023 at 3:50 PM, DrKoob said:

We could have done that every single night on our 21-night cruise except the first night without a problem. You shouldn't be "sometimes admitted," but pretty much every time. Our experience was that since there was nothing special about the food or the experience compared to the rest of the dining venues on board, people just went once, and that was it. And unlike other cruise lines who charge for their specialty restaurants, Viking does not care where you eat, so they don't try and find folks to fill the seats when someone does not show up. We had reservations for Manfredi's on four nights and canceled three of them. The buffet was better and had more interesting food. When you get back from your cruise, please come back and let us know if you had problems getting in. We are booked on a 14-night Norwegian Fjords cruise and we aren't going to bother making reservations. I got up really early to do it for our first cruise. Never again. We were in a PV so we got pretty early access to reservations. What a waste of time.

Thanks for your input.  We like the food at Manfredi's very much and enjoy being waited on, so we never dine at the buffet.  Everyone's likes are different. Been on three Viking Ocean cruises and have gotten an extra admission or two to Manfredi's (other than the guaranteed two or three), but never really tried that hard.  Not willing to dine too late.  Enjoy!

 

[MarkCruises]

Just now, MarkCruises said:

Thanks for your input.  We like the food at Manfredi's very much and enjoy being waited on, so we never dine at the buffet.  Everyone's likes are different. Been on three Viking Ocean cruises and have gotten an extra admission or two to Manfredi's (other than the guaranteed two or three), but never really tried that hard.  Not willing to dine too late.  Enjoy!

 

P.S.  We are doing the 14 day Norway on August 2 from Bergen.

[JeffElizabeth]

On 5/30/2023 at 9:43 AM, CCWineLover said:

Yes you are very correct.

In the pre-COVID days the Manfredi's stead was a good steak in the first place.

I have to believe they are now not getting or not choosing to buy the good cut of beef.  I've noticed the distinct difference between 2019 and 2022-23

I really believe pre-Covid was the Golden Age of cruising. Do not like the changes being made. If the food back home at chains is just as good, why buy a ticket? 

[MarkCruises]

1 hour ago, JeffElizabeth said:

I really believe pre-Covid was the Golden Age of cruising. Do not like the changes being made. If the food back home at chains is just as good, why buy a ticket? 

We were on Viking Sea in March 2023 (in the Amazon) and on the first night we had one of the best cruise ship steaks ever the first night in The Restaurant.  The cuisine was very good the entire trip, as was the crew and entertainment.

[duquephart]

5 hours ago, MarkCruises said:

We were on Viking Sea in March 2023 (in the Amazon) and on the first night we had one of the best cruise ship steaks ever the first night in The Restaurant.  The cuisine was very good the entire trip, as was the crew and entertainment.

 

How did it compare to a non cruise ship steak?

[vslparis]

On 6/9/2023 at 3:53 PM, MarkCruises said:

P.S.  We are doing the 14 day Norway on August 2 from Bergen.

We are on the same ship doing the 28 day to NYC and have not found it a problem to get reservations at Manfredis’  on board  or the Main dining room if flexible ( the key word here being flexible😉)

Edited June 11, 2023 by vslparis

[BlairsvilleCruiseGirl]

On 6/1/2023 at 11:18 AM, CILCIANRQTS said:

And you can make special requests - I ask for shrimp, oil and garlic and linguini. Yum!

Just got off the Viking Sea and Manfredi's has a couple of new menu items, including Cappellini e Scampi Avvolti Nelle Zucchine: Tiger shrimp wrapped in a little see-through strip of zucchini in a lemon sauce over angel hair pasta.  It was REALLY good!  Definitely would get it again.

[MikeyB]

19 minutes ago, BlairsvilleCruiseGirl said:

Just got off the Viking Sea and Manfredi's has a couple of new menu items, including Cappellini e Scampi Avvolti Nelle Zucchine: Tiger shrimp wrapped in a little see-through strip of zucchini in a lemon sauce over angel hair pasta.  It was REALLY good!  Definitely would get it again.

I just have to post, and it's not meant as a criticism of the prior review.

I just got off the Neptune, last week.  I have had probably two dozen meals at Manfredi's.  The last one was the worst.  Our table for two was ignored until I was served tiger shrimp with zucchini.  It was still the old menu.  The tiger shrimp was raw.  Maybe someone can tell me how it made it's way out of the kitchen?  The "chief" apologized and the waiter apologized later to me at the Living Room bar.

Now, I will cruise Viking and eat at Manfredi's again but Viking does have some serious issues with quality control. 

[JeffElizabeth]

21 hours ago, MarkCruises said:

We were on Viking Sea in March 2023 (in the Amazon) and on the first night we had one of the best cruise ship steaks ever the first night in The Restaurant.  The cuisine was very good the entire trip, as was the crew and entertainment.

Great news! I hope things will be back to normal next Autumn when we visit Canada to see the colors on Viking. 

[MELSMOM47]

1 hour ago, MikeyB said:

I just have to post, and it's not meant as a criticism of the prior review.

I just got off the Neptune, last week.  I have had probably two dozen meals at Manfredi's.  The last one was the worst.  Our table for two was ignored until I was served tiger shrimp with zucchini.  It was still the old menu.  The tiger shrimp was raw.  Maybe someone can tell me how it made it's way out of the kitchen?  The "chief" apologized and the waiter apologized later to me at the Living Room bar.

Now, I will cruise Viking and eat at Manfredi's again but Viking does have some serious issues with quality control. 

We were on the Neptune for the BIE cruise in May.  We found the food to be inconsistent. There was quite a bit of turnover following the world cruise and we suspect there was a lot of training of new staff. 🤷🏼‍♀️

[MarkCruises]

18 hours ago, duquephart said:

 

How did it compare to a non cruise ship steak?

Good question - and it compared quite favorably.  We were pleasantly surprised because, as others have stated, we have all endured some tough cruise line steaks along life's journey.

 

18 hours ago, duquephart said:

 

How did it compare to a non cruise ship steak?

 

[May B]

3 hours ago, MikeyB said:

I just have to post, and it's not meant as a criticism of the prior review.

I just got off the Neptune, last week.  I have had probably two dozen meals at Manfredi's.  The last one was the worst.  Our table for two was ignored until I was served tiger shrimp with zucchini.  It was still the old menu.  The tiger shrimp was raw.  Maybe someone can tell me how it made it's way out of the kitchen?  The "chief" apologized and the waiter apologized later to me at the Living Room bar.

Now, I will cruise Viking and eat at Manfredi's again but Viking does have some serious issues with quality control. 

This must’ve felt so frustrating for you. Of course we’re glad it’s not across all the ships, but none of us wants to find ourselves on the one ship that’s undergoing a kitchen/serving problem!

[Snowcat1]

We just got off the Homeland cruise and dined at Manfredi’s twice. We were not impressed with the food. Lasagna was the worst. I make better Italian than anything at Manfredi’s. Very bland, no garlic or other Italian spices.

[OneSixtyToOne]

56 minutes ago, Snowcat1 said:

Lasagna was the worst.

On our last cruise I couldn’t eat the lasagna and left it on the plate. When the waiter asked me how it was, I was honest with him (to DW’s dismay). A few minutes later the chef came out and we had a long discussion. I told him it was the worst lasagna I’ve ever had and they needed a new recipe. I asked where the ricotta was and he told me they didn’t have any and there was none in the recipe. They also served ricotta filled cannoli so I don’t know where the disconnect is. He told me he has no flexibility in cooking and he has to make it according to corporate’s recipe. This must be a Norwegian’s idea of Italian food. It looked like it was burnt by the heat element. Being Italian, I offered to cook him a real Italian meal.

Edited June 14, 2023 by OneSixtyToOne

[cmmaxwell03]

5 minutes ago, OneSixtyToOne said:

On our last cruise I couldn’t eat the lasagna and left it on the plate. When the waiter asked me how it was, I was honest with him (to DW’s dismay). A few minutes the chef came out and we had a long discussion. I told it was the worst lasagna I’ve ever had and they needed a new recipe. I asked where the ricotta was and he told me they didn’t have any and there was none in the recipe. They also served ricotta filled cannoli so I don’t know where the disconnect is. He told me he has no flexibility in cooking and he has to make it according to corporate’s recipe. This must be a Norwegian’s idea of Italian food. It looked like it was burnt by the heat element. Being Italian, I offered to cook him a real Italian meal.

OYE!!!  So sorry to hear that.  I almost want to get the lasagna when we cruise in Sept just to see if they are still making mistakes. 

[duquephart]

How can they call it lasagne, or Italian for that matter? Shades of what they call a Mai Tai.

[Jim Avery]

I'm with you Duque.  At best it is "Italian Fusion".  First time I ordered Veal Saltimbocca I was presented this breaded cutlet topped with prosciutto and broiled to within an inch of flames.  Not like any veal saltimbocca I have had anywhere on earth and inedibly dry and crispy.  We have had many pleasant dinners in Manfredi's but don't choose to go there for the food.  We like the ambience and service.  The wine ain't bad either if you get the list.🍷

[Cattom]

We were on the Viking Jupiter in May and the ship was almost full (880+).  Their advance reservation system wasn't working properly and all advance ones were lost which we found out on board as they didn't show on our calendar.  However, they were able to accomodate us for both venues.  Also, as stated above, one can make reservations fairly easily which we were able to do. Can call during certain hours from your room, at The Restaurant during certain hours and at the desk near the hand-washing station in the World Cafe.  We found the latter to be the easiest.  Do it fairly early like we did and we were able to get our first choices for both restaurants and our preferred times.  On our cruise, the Chef's Table was not as popular as Manfredi's.  Have a fun time!

[formernuke]

We had good luck just using the voyager app to book manfredis. Once we see all the menus we decide what days to do manfredis. 

[Clay Clayton]

1 hour ago, formernuke said:

We had good luck just using the voyager app to book manfredis. Once we see all the menus we decide what days to do manfredis. 

Good to hear that the app again has all the menus for the entire cruise. Some had said that wasn’t the case post Covid.