Rudy’s Seafood Grill reviews, please

[MagnoliaBlossom]

 

We will be on the Jubilee in two weeks and the menu for the seafood restaurant has me drooling.  Anyone who has eaten there, can you describe your experience, please?

Edited April 17 by MagnoliaBlossom

[weezal]

search for rudi's seagrill

[ninjacat123]

I had dinner at Rudi's with my mom on MG Oct 2021.  I enjoyed it but would I do it again?  Probably not with my mom (we would rather have Bonsai Teppanyaki or Emeril's for that upcharge) but if I was cruising with my DH we probably would go there once so he could check it out. 

[Frank12]

I have friends who love it.  I wasn't that impressed. When it comes to food it usually boils down to personal taste.  The lobster I had at Rudi's wasn't as good as the one I had in the MDR on Elegant night.

[MagnoliaBlossom]

1 hour ago, weezal said:

search for rudi's seagrill

Yes, I have the menus, I was hoping for personal experience .

[MagnoliaBlossom]

We are Louisiana natives and accustomed to good seafood, although lobster and scallops are outside our area of local product,  hope what is offered is well prepared.

[StephPS79]

We had Rudi's on Celebration, that's the only ship we've ever had it, and have heard from a few that it wasn't quite as good as other ships.  So for our first and only experience, we don't have anything to compare it to.  We both enjoyed it though, we both got the Lobster Imperial or something like that, which was quite good.  I will say though, we got dinner comped by the casino, and I'm not sure that I would pay the upcharge, at least on Celebration, since there were SO many other food options on that ship.  And I just prefer steak.  😄  No complaints about the dinner though.

[UGACamper]

We thought it was excellent, surprisingly so. My steak was better than the steakhouse. Our meal was also comped and I would pay for it. 

[LAKingsFan]

Had Rudy's on the Celebration a few months back. Based on that experience I would not return. We often do the specialty restaurants and typically feel it's well worth the extra spend. Rudy's not so much. Maybe just a bad day.

[80sGal]

It doesn't look like you're getting many good vibes here.  Maybe you need some positive news which I can report.  We've only tried it once on Celebration in late 2022 but it was excellent.   We had the lobster mac n cheese appetizer which was delicious, and to be honest I'm not even much of a Mac n cheese person to begin with.  I would have had that dish every night of the cruise if I could have!   The seafood was also very good -- I prefer scallops and crabmeat or crab cakes, but DH prefers steak and "suffered" thru the seafood restaurant like a good sport.  Happily,  he said the steak that night was as good or better than the steakhouse.   I'm sure we ordered dessert but I don't recall which and I was likely too full to have more than a bite or two anyway.   I wish Rudy's would be added on more ships.  Compared to Emerils, which we tried on Celebration and from the MDR favorites menu on Horizon, it was a hands-down winner.    Enjoy! 

[jimbo5544]

Have been to Rudi’s 5 times on two ships.  Very upscale meal excellent seafood, I can give suggestions on the food, butt highly recommend the experience.  Def the best meal(s) we have had on a Carnival ship.  Great service, great atmosphere and great food.  Do it.

[jimbo5544]

I can post pics if it would help

[kwokpot]

I've eaten at Rudi's multiple times on both the Mardi Gras and Celebration and definitely recommend it. The Cioppino is outstanding. The Dover Sole was very good. The bread pudding was excellent. The decor is beautiful as is the table settings. Fried calamari was the only miss.

While all the times we gave eaten there was on casino comps,I would pay the cover outright.

Edited April 18 by kwokpot

[lesters]

We always start out cruises with a night in the upcharge restaurant. On our Celebration sailing we booked Rudi’s and really enjoyed it.  Food was great service as well until they did the oddest thing… the dining room was quite empty when we were there but near the end of our meal - but before our dessert - they sat another couple in the table directly next to us when there was empty tables everywhere.   
 

We were seated along the long banquette with two tops side by side Mina’s space between tables.  If the room had been packed I get it but when the entire row was empty to put us so close was strange.  
 

We are heading back to the Celebration in February and I already have our cruising starting with another night at Rudi’s 

[marshalltp]

Just got back from the Jubilee, and finished our cruise out with a dinner at Rudi's.  We have been twice before, and our last time on the Celebration a year ago was not great (we did have a group of 9 for dinner and I think that may have impacted service).

 

Our meal on the Jubilee was one of the best I have ever had.  The pre dinner bread was incredible.  I would go back in an instant.....

[pirate4me2]

We have done Rudi's 3 times on MG. First time was meh, and I wasn't sure about returning, but decided to give it a second shot on a different sailing....and it was delish! So much so that we booked another night there on that same sailing. I would go again in the future! 

[bar1068]

7 minutes ago, pirate4me2 said:

We have done Rudi's 3 times on MG. First time was meh, and I wasn't sure about returning, but decided to give it a second shot on a different sailing....and it was delish! So much so that we booked another night there on that same sailing. I would go again in the future! 

We did Rudi's on the Celebration last May. We were curious going in having read about Rudi'ls prior to the cruise, sounded like a nice addition to their new ships. Once we boarded we decided to try Rudi's the first night of the cruise...free bottle of wine drew us in!! Unfortunately we were disappointed. Probably mostly due to poor service, our server was just not that attentive. I think that set a bad tone for the rest of the meal, at one point I wanted to leave but my wife wanted to stay. Our menu selections disappointed as well, certainly aided by less than expected service.

We just chalked it up to a "bad night", probably not the norm. But, we laugh at this. While we didn't feel what we experienced was really indicative of dining at Rudi's, we've since been on Mardi Gras and Jubilee several times since Celebration, and cant' bring ourselves to try Rudi's again, even telling each other we should!! Oh well, maybe next cruise on an Excel ship.

[jimbo5544]

2 hours ago, kwokpot said:

I've eaten at Rudi's multiple times on both the Mardi Gras and Celebration and definitely recommend it. The Cioppino is outstanding. The Dover Sole was very good. The bread pudding was excellent. The decor is beautiful as is the table settings. Fried calamari was the only miss.

While all the times we gave eaten there was on casino comps,I would pay the cover outright.

Absolutely agree on ciopino, almost a meal in and of itself. 

[kwokpot]

20 minutes ago, jimbo5544 said:

Absolutely agree on ciopino, almost a meal in and of itself. 

The photo above was from one meal. This was our 3rd time at Rudi's and the last night of the cruise and I had never had the Cioppino and I really wanted to try it. Agreed it was so filling but so tasty! That was my 2nd starter since I already had the shrimp thing to start. After the Cioppino and dover Sole I barely had enough room for the bread pudding (plus I had 2 glasses of Sauvignon Blanc,lol) and I probably only had two spoonfuls before I called it a night!

My husband's friend calamari was disappointing since the coating wasn't crispy at all!

Edited April 18 by kwokpot

[jimbo5544]

16 minutes ago, kwokpot said:

The photo above was from one meal. This was our 3rd time at Rudi's and the last night of the cruise and I had never had the Cioppino and I really wanted to try it. Agreed it was so filling but so tasty! That was my 2nd starter since I already had the shrimp thing to start. After the Cioppino and dover Sole I barely had enough room for the bread pudding (plus I had 2 glasses of Sauvignon Blanc,lol) and I probably only had two spoonfuls before I called it a night!

My husband's friend calamari was disappointing since the coating wasn't crispy at all!

The downside with Cioppino is two fold, so filling and I undoubtably wear a badge of courage at the end of the expereince.

[tropicaledrink]

Another vote for the cioppino! It large, so definitely take that in to consideration with the rest of your order. I also like the wild caught tuna (it is served raw, so your mileage may vary) and my partner likes the oysters. For entrees - I personally have found the lobster to be just okay (especially the stuffed one - it gets tough because it's essentially cooked twice), but I do really enjoy both the crab cake and the Dover sole. I've only had the Key Lime Pie for dessert (it's the only safe nut free option - I am allergic), but I usually can only eat a bite or two!

[tdggal1980]

DH & I had it on the Celebration in January 2023.  We loved it; so much so when we did our family cruise in July 2023 on the Mardi Gras we had everyone in our group (about 9 people) join us.  It was nowhere near as good as it was in January.  It was down right disappointing.  So I am on the fence about going back; maybe if the mood hits.

Edited April 19 by tdggal1980

[jimbo5544]

Some pics from one of our visits

[jimbo5544]

[jimbo5544]