Asking the chef for special requests

[Mauzac]

9 hours ago, SLSD said:

We've never asked for a special meal on any of our previous Seabourn cruises.  We are considering asking for one special meal next summer (28 day cruise) to celebrate our 48th wedding anniversary. We will be on the ship on the day of our anniversary.  I would be very disappointed if we were turned down because we are not in one of the more expensive suites.  We plan to ask for slow roasted lamb shanks which is a dish we have enjoyed on Seabourn.  We would not dream of asking for something exotic or something the chef did not have experience with.  Hopefully, our request will be accepted.  This will be the first time we have EVER asked for anything special.  I'll be sure to report back on whether or our request is fulfilled.  

 

 I can't imagine for one moment you will be turned down!

 

We also asked for a special meal (both our birthdays are days apart and for once, we were on a cruise for that!) and we had a few people for a special Indian banquet in the Restaurant.  SB could not have been more helpful and someone in Guest Services designed a really fun invitation.  We did start to arrange this over a week in advance though.  The person to speak to was the man in charge of Restaurant (sorry I am not good at knowing titles!)

We were on a long cruise so the Executive Chef chatted to us about the sort of dishes we wanted... it was a great evening, and I am sure you will have the same!   We also have never asked for any special request at all, as we are go with the flow people and we only did it this time as it was an occasion for us... I can't imagine it will happen again.

 

I have seen the most labour intensive requests imaginable, better not say what, but it caused disruption to three restaurants on one night!  

Edited December 7, 2023 by Mauzac

[Mr Luxury]

7 hours ago, SLSD said:

  I don't think you can generalize about Americans.  We would never request an Indian meal.  

Most of my American friends go wild for a curry.

Different strokes and all that

[HotRoot]

Anybody ever request egg yolk ravioli?

[cruiseej]

22 hours ago, SLSD said:

Hopefully, our request will be accepted. 

 

I think the only reason they might not deliver on your special request is if your requested date falls on an evening when it would be difficult for the kitchen to execute special requests, such as a Chef's dinner, or following a Galley Market lunch. In the worst case, you might have to celebrate your anniversary a second time on the next night!

 

22 hours ago, SLSD said:

We plan to ask for slow roasted lamb shanks which is a dish we have enjoyed on Seabourn.

 

A special request for something you already know is in the kitchen's repertoire makes it much more likely they can execute your request. We talked with the Executive chef on one cruise, and he said there are some things which are just not feasible to prepare for one person — beef Wellington, for instance — but most things could be made for two people. We asked if the goat cheese soufflé we had enjoyed on a prior cruise would be on the menu while we were aboard, and when he determined it wouldn't, he offered to prepare it for us.

[SDuckers]

On 12/6/2023 at 4:45 PM, Mr Luxury said:

Although living in London I find that an Indian meal is the last thing I want on a ship.

Americans generally love an Indian meal on the ship

I hate Indian food.

[hoya68]

3 minutes ago, SDuckers said:

I hate Indian food.

You are vastly outnumbered. Well over a billion people eat it every day.

[CalTexCruiser]

I believe @SDuckers was merely pointing out he is an exception to the statement that "Americans generally love an Indian meal".

 

I on the other hand would fall into the group of Americans that love an Indian meal, as well as well prepared meals of any other cuisine.

[hoya68]

I didn't mean to be critical. Just stating a fact

 I am with you CalTex. I rarely turn down any cuisine. As Anthony Bourdain once said he wouldn't turn down dog if it was offered by a host, and anyway he explained puppy has to be better than kale.

[USN59-79]

1 hour ago, CalTexCruiser said:

I believe @SDuckers was merely pointing out he is an exception to the statement that "Americans generally love an Indian meal".

 

I on the other hand would fall into the group of Americans that love an Indian meal, as well as well prepared meals of any other cuisine.

This comment is why I feel so comfortable posting on Cruise Critic.  A thoughtful and kind response to a comment you may not agree with.

Ray

[christraveller]

Indian foods are as varied, if not more so, than European foods. 
sorry to hear that your experience was so poor. 
 

peace. 

[SDuckers]

On 12/8/2023 at 2:48 PM, hoya68 said:

You are vastly outnumbered. Well over a billion people eat it every day.

Duh.  But it still counters the Brit's contention that Americans love Indian food.  Not necessarily so.

[alli.j]

We went on our first Seabourn cruise this year for our 20th wedding anniversary and as we were having a day in the Retreat asked for cold seafood to be served for lunch. A beautiful platter arrived on the day along with accompanying sauces, all washed down with Cattier champagne!  N.B. we were in a V2 suite.

Edited December 11, 2023 by alli.j
Spelling

[SLSD]

2 hours ago, alli.j said:

We went on our first Seabourn cruise this year for our 20th wedding anniversary and as we were having a day in the Retreat asked for cold seafood to be served for lunch. A beautiful platter arrived on the day along with accompanying sauces, all washed down with Cattier champagne!  N.B. we were in a V2 suite.

I don't seriously think it matters what kind of suite you are in .  We are in different suites on various cruises depending on price and what is available.  We are not happy with our suite on our upcoming cruise, but, according to our TA, it was the best available.  I have no idea if she is correct, that it is what it is.  

[whystayhome]

We just asked for pigs in the blanket for tomorrow’s hors d’oeuvres and were told it couldn’t be done.  In the past, that has never been a problem.

 

Linda

[Sunprince]

52 minutes ago, SLSD said:

We are not happy with our suite on our upcoming cruise, but, according to our TA, it was the best available.  I have no idea if she is correct, that it is what it is.

Although off topic for this thread, I will respond in case SLSD, you are not aware that you can check suite availability online for your cruise. I’m pretty sure you are savvy with the Seabourn website, but in case you are not aware…Just try to book your cruise online and then use “select my suite”. It will show what is available for each category.  I recently did this for a Seabourn cruise booking with an agent I had not used before.  The suites available online matched exactly what the TA advised me personally.  We could not get the penthouse we wanted so we waitlisted for it, but we were able to secure a nice V3 midship. 

[SLSD]

12 minutes ago, Sunprince said:

Although off topic for this thread, I will respond in case SLSD, you are not aware that you can check suite availability online for your cruise. I’m pretty sure you are savvy with the Seabourn website, but in case you are not aware…Just try to book your cruise online and then use “select my suite”. It will show what is available for each category.  I recently did this for a Seabourn cruise booking with an agent I had not used before.  The suites available online matched exactly what the TA advised me personally.  We could not get the penthouse we wanted so we waitlisted for it, but we were able to secure a nice V3 midship. 

I should do that.  This is the first time we have used this TA and have not been happy.  

[nancygp]

55 minutes ago, SLSD said:

I should do that.  This is the first time we have used this TA and have not been happy.  

susan,

 

the second half of your cruise has been sold out for some time.  I do find the search function for suites when making a booking is very accurate.

 

Nancy

[SLSD]

6 minutes ago, nancygp said:

susan,

 

the second half of your cruise has been sold out for some time.  I do find the search function for suites when making a booking is very accurate.

 

Nancy

I think the issue was finding a suite for both halves of our back to back cruise.  We've been booked for months now.  There were some opportunities to upgrade our suite, but at a ridiculously high price compared to the original price.  We decided to stay where we are which is on deck five.  We have loved deck six, seven, eight  and nine, but this will be our first time on deck five.  We'll try to love it.  

[stan01]

On 12/11/2023 at 5:08 PM, SLSD said:

We decided to stay where we are which is on deck five.  We have loved deck six, seven, eight  and nine, but this will be our first time on deck five.  We'll try to love it.  

 

 

Well look at it this way you ca turn on your stair counter on your watches and see how many you can get each day, some good exercise to get up topside.

 

 

[hoya68]

8 hours ago, stan01 said:

 

 

Well look at it this way you ca turn on your stair counter on your watches and see how many you can get each day, some good exercise to get up topside.

 

 

Even more from deck 4.

[Mauzac]

On 12/12/2023 at 12:02 AM, SLSD said:

I should do that.  This is the first time we have used this TA and have not been happy.  

 

Good luck.

 

However.... trying to check on our guest registration for our upcoming cruise is impossible!  I know they have changed the website, but its unworkable at the moment. 

[SLSD]

2 hours ago, Mauzac said:

 

Good luck.

 

However.... trying to check on our guest registration for our upcoming cruise is impossible!  I know they have changed the website, but its unworkable at the moment. 

I've given up on the idea of changing anything.  We will be fine.  I tried early on.  

[jenidallas]

On 12/6/2023 at 6:23 PM, SLSD said:

  I don't think you can generalize about Americans.  We would never request an Indian meal.  

This American enjoyed a specially prepared Indian dinner on Odyssey following our ceremony officiated by the captain.
 

Different strokes for different folks, but this American loves great Indian food which is very hard to come by where I live.

[2SailingNomads]

First off category of suite nor days sailed will influence a request for a special meal.  That post made no sense to me, that is not what Seabourn is.

 

We have ordered many special meals over the years, sometimes for 2 up to 12. One cruise with a lot of sea days a group of 8 of us had special lunches almost every day with each couple taking turns deciding on the selection. Never had a request denied.  Have had Indian multiple times, need to insure enough protein vs. starch, so be specific when ordering Indian. Have had special Italian and seafood, a couple we met on last Seabourn ordered a duck special for the 4 of us.  If they have the ingredients and not a special event that day they will be happy to accommodate your wish.

[PRMinx]

On 12/13/2023 at 2:33 PM, jenidallas said:

This American enjoyed a specially prepared Indian dinner on Odyssey following our ceremony officiated by the captain.
 

Different strokes for different folks, but this American loves great Indian food which is very hard to come by where I live.

American here. I love Indian food - the spicier the better - and will pretty much do anything for a great batch of naan. I will literally eat my weight in naan and then roll myself back to the cabin for the food coma. LOL. We are traveling with family that doesn’t like Indian, but I’m hopeful that maybe there’s a lunch or dinner special dish I can try…

 

Edited December 15, 2023 by PRMinx