Dining reservations at The Restaurant

[jmfdr]

I know this topic has been covered but---once again please!  Is it necessary to book dining times at The Restaurant?  I know this can't be done prior to a cruise on MVJ but should we do this once on the ship?  Is it even possible to book specific dining times or is it just walk in? Thanks.

[ropomo]

Not needed or possible on Ocean ships. Required on Expedition ships

Edited October 11, 2023 by ropomo

[Peregrina651]

For large parties (8 or more) traveling together, VO is willing to make a standing reservation for one of the larger tables.

[OnTheJourney]

3 hours ago, ropomo said:

Required on Expedition ships

Interesting. How come?

[janetcbl]

21 minutes ago, OnTheJourney said:

Interesting. How come?

Smaller size of the ship and restaurant, and there is only one additional “special” restaurant, (no Chefs Table), so not as many seats available. Having stated that, we never had trouble just showing up….we maybe had to wait a few minutes to be seated

[ropomo]

2 hours ago, OnTheJourney said:

Interesting. How come?

Additionally, the WC on an expedition ship is significantly larger with larger selection than Ocean ships. The WC also includes the "Grill" which has cooked to order steaks and lobster and a dedicated sushi and cold seafood area that has a wide selection of crab, shrimp, mussels, etc. Other than no table service, it offers a very good dining alternative.

[jmfdr]

Thanks everyone!

[OnTheJourney]

57 minutes ago, ropomo said:

Additionally, the WC on an expedition ship is significantly larger with larger selection than Ocean ships. The WC also includes the "Grill" which has cooked to order steaks and lobster and a dedicated sushi and cold seafood area that has a wide selection of crab, shrimp, mussels, etc. Other than no table service, it offers a very good dining alternative.

I suspect the grill you’re referring to is much like the aft part of the cafe on the MS where they grill several different things every evening. Unfortunately none of what they do is listed on the daily menus so unless walking back to check it out you wouldn’t know. Thanks for the info!

 

Your description though sounds like much more variety and so likely a larger area. 

Edited October 11, 2023 by OnTheJourney

[OneSixtyToOne]

1 hour ago, OnTheJourney said:

I suspect the grill you’re referring to is much like the aft part of the cafe on the MS where they grill several different things every evening. Unfortunately none of what they do is listed on the daily menus so unless walking back to check it out you wouldn’t know. Thanks for the info!

 

Your description though sounds like much more variety and so likely a larger area. 

The grill on the Expedition ships is not like that. It is essentially a steak house with cuts of aged meat on display in a case that you can chooses from. They also grill burgers and lobster tails. I plan to thoroughly investigate it next week and will report back to you. 😋

Edited October 11, 2023 by OneSixtyToOne

[OnTheJourney]

17 minutes ago, OneSixtyToOne said:

The grill on the Expedition ships is not like that. It is essentially a steak house with cuts of aged meat on display in a case that you can chooses from. They also grill burgers and lobster tails. I plan to thoroughly investigate it next week and will report back to you. 😋

Sounds (and looks) great!  Makes the Great Lakes cruise sound like a really nice option for using whatever vouchers or other reimbursement we might be getting from this MS cruise that has sort of derailed in terms of originally planned itinerary. Long story - can find it all on the MS river thread. 

Edited October 11, 2023 by OnTheJourney

[rmalbers]

55 minutes ago, OneSixtyToOne said:

The grill on the Expedition ships is not like that. It is essentially a steak house with cuts of aged meat on display in a case that you can chooses from. They also grill burgers and lobster tails. I plan to thoroughly investigate it next week and will report back to you. 😋

On the last day of the Great Lakes cruise I was standing by the 'meats' and a guy came up and asked how it worked.  I told him and he had the biggest look of disappointment on his face.  He hadn't 'used' it the whole cruise.  Anyway, I think they had a great chicken sandwich there also, on the GL cruise a little over a year ago. 

[ropomo]

I had steak many nights (filet, strip, etc.) and many lobster tails. All cooked to order and absolutely no complaints. Depending on if a wait staff was present, they would let you know that they would bring it to you when it was ready if you pointed to where you were seated. The burgers at lunch from the Grill were excellent. Also the cooked to order onion rings...........

[1985rz1]

On 10/11/2023 at 8:54 AM, OnTheJourney said:

Interesting. How come?

The Restaurant is a small venue on the Expedition ships and is treated as a specialty, like Manfredis.  The World Cafe, with the Grill, is treated as the main restaurant on board.

Edited October 12, 2023 by 1985rz1

[OnTheJourney]

1 hour ago, 1985rz1 said:

The Restaurant is a small venue on the Expedition ships and is treated as a specialty, like Manfredis.  The World Cafe, with the Grill, is treated as the main restaurant on board.

Works for me. Thanks for the info!

[OnTheJourney]

On 10/11/2023 at 4:17 PM, rmalbers said:

On the last day of the Great Lakes cruise I was standing by the 'meats' and a guy came up and asked how it worked.  I told him and he had the biggest look of disappointment on his face.  He hadn't 'used' it the whole cruise.  Anyway, I think they had a great chicken sandwich there also, on the GL cruise a little over a year ago. 

That’s most unfortunate, and seems odd given what 1985 said about the cafe being the main eating venue. You’d think that most pax would quickly discover the grill section. 

[1985rz1]

On 10/12/2023 at 3:29 PM, OnTheJourney said:

That’s most unfortunate, and seems odd given what 1985 said about the cafe being the main eating venue. You’d think that most pax would quickly discover the grill section. 

Well, the Grill is on the other side (starboard side, I think) of the ship from the main buffet with the carving station (port side),  so if you don't walk around both sides of the WC, you won't see it 😉.   Same, if you don’t walk to the port side aft of the ship, you'll miss the cold crab legs, shrimp, and other crustacean delicacies, as well as the Sushi Bar 😋. At least that was our experience on the Octantis on the Canadian Discovery cruise.

[ropomo]

Actually, the expedition ships have identical buffet lines with carving stations on both port and starboard. The Grill however is on the starboard side and about 50 ft aft of the buffet/salad lines and unless you walk back there, you might never know it's there. Same with the sushi/cold seafood areas on the port side. There are also mirrored salad stations on each side. Forward of the buffet areas in the center of the ship is the bakery with a wide variety of breads, etc. and a pizza station beside it. Across from those stations is the dessert area with a vast variety of offerings, including gelato and a cold stone style station where you can get mix ins for your gelato

[JDincalif]

On 10/11/2023 at 11:07 AM, ropomo said:

Additionally, the WC on an expedition ship is significantly larger with larger selection than Ocean ships. The WC also includes the "Grill" which has cooked to order steaks and lobster and a dedicated sushi and cold seafood area that has a wide selection of crab, shrimp, mussels, etc. Other than no table service, it offers a very good dining alternative.

Thanks for this information - it'll be useful to us as we plan for our Great Lakes cruise on Octantis next May. Have to confess though  that the 'World Cafe' wasn't the first thing to come to mind when we saw 'WC' 🤭

[1985rz1]

4 hours ago, ropomo said:

Actually, the expedition ships have identical buffet lines with carving stations on both port and starboard.

I remembered that after I posted, so thanks for the correction.  Your description of where the Grill 🍔 and Sushi/Cold seafood 🦀🦐 stations are clearer than mine.  I tried to suppress the dessert 🍦🍰 🧁and bakery 🍩🍪stations 😁.

[1985rz1]

3 hours ago, JDincalif said:

Thanks for this information - it'll be useful to us as we plan for our Great Lakes cruise on Octantis next May. Have to confess though  that the 'World Cafe' wasn't the first thing to come to mind when we saw 'WC' 🤭

Your face probably flushed when you realized what it means on the Viking.

[FionaHB]

Could someone give me an idea of how many tables for two in the main dining area are available , and other restaurants. The picture looks like tables are very close to each other too?  Are there any two tables with a window view?  Many thanks!

 

PS we are going on the Jupiter 

[Peregrina651]

1 hour ago, FionaHB said:

Could someone give me an idea of how many tables for two in the main dining area are available , and other restaurants. The picture looks like tables are very close to each other too?  Are there any two tables with a window view?  Many thanks!

 

PS we are going on the Jupiter 

 

Plenty of them. The dining rooms are designed so that tables can be moved to accommodate whatever configurations are needed.

 

Check out https://www.vikingcruises.com/oceans/content/oceans-360/start.html -- Viking's 360° panoramas view of the interior spaces.

[FionaHB]

Thank you so much!

 

[Clay Clayton]

On 10/15/2023 at 4:39 PM, FionaHB said:

Could someone give me an idea of how many tables for two in the main dining area are available , and other restaurants. The picture looks like tables are very close to each other too?  Are there any two tables with a window view?  Many thanks!

 

PS we are going on the Jupiter 

If you're concerned about being too close to others, just mention that to the Maitre d' when you check in.  Table 1 is very private. Don't know what the number of the table on the port side. 

[LindaS272]

41 minutes ago, Clay Clayton said:

If you're concerned about being too close to others, just mention that to the Maitre d' when you check in.  Table 1 is very private. Don't know what the number of the table on the port side. 

It’s 101 on the other side. 😎