Specialty Restaurants

[vaborn2cruise]

I searched this site but couldn’t find anything on this. How many times can you book a specialty restaurant on Viking Ocean cruises? We are cruising on Neptune from Oct 27-Nov 28. Thanks for your input. 

[duquephart]

20 minutes ago, vaborn2cruise said:

I searched this site but couldn’t find anything on this. How many times can you book a specialty restaurant on Viking Ocean cruises? We are cruising on Neptune from Oct 27-Nov 28. Thanks for your input. 

 

Depends on stateroom category. 

[SoCray4Cruz]

My Viking Journey under the dining/ship experiences tab will tell you how many early reservations you can make.

 

if you mean once on board, you can make additional reservations depending on how booked they are.

[CDNPolar]

There is no limit onboard the ship.  We don't pay for cabins that have advance reservations attached to them and we get as many specialty reservations as we want once on board.  We successfully book every menu at the Chef's Table.

[Peregrina651]

17 hours ago, vaborn2cruise said:

I searched this site but couldn’t find anything on this. How many times can you book a specialty restaurant on Viking Ocean cruises? We are cruising on Neptune from Oct 27-Nov 28. Thanks for your input. 

 

Viking allows x many advanced reservations depending on your room category. OS=4; ES, PS=3; PV=2; DV=1 and V=0. (If you are booked on a B2B(2B), you may get your quota for each leg of your booking; I have yet to figure out completely how that works but it has happened to me). I did try to look up how many reservations I was entitled to for our upcoming trip but that was not available to me at this time; I guess that info isn't available until booking opens.

 

N.B. Since Covid the number of reservations available for advanced booking has been reduced such that people in PV & DV cabins may find that by the time they get to book only the 8pm seatings are available.

 

Once on board, you can use Viking Voyager app or the TVs in our cabins to book tables in CT and Manfredi's; it one of the first things we do once on board. Download Viking Voyager to your phone before you leave home but note that you won't be able to see any of its true functionality until you board your ship. Using VV is a lot easier than standing in line to make reservations on embarkation day. If you already have VV, remember to update it before you leave home.

 

The last way to snag a table at one of the specialty venues is to show up at the podium just after the 6 pm reservations have been seated and ask about availability for the evening.

[JF - retired RRT]

20 hours ago, vaborn2cruise said:

I searched this site but couldn’t find anything on this. How many times can you book a specialty restaurant on Viking Ocean cruises? We are cruising on Neptune from Oct 27-Nov 28. Thanks for your input. 

I'm jealous. Love those long cruises and love the itinerary (we did it once on Princess). We board for HI the day you get off. Have a great cruise!

[Breckski]

9 hours ago, CDNPolar said:

There is no limit onboard the ship.  We don't pay for cabins that have advance reservations attached to them and we get as many specialty reservations as we want once on board.  We successfully book every menu at the Chef's Table.

This has always been the case with us as well.  Until our last cruise in May/June.  We were in a cabin with 3 allowable reservations for both restaurants.  Then someone at the restaurant deleted our 3rd reservation for both restaurants.  When we called and discussed with the restaurant reservation attendant, we were told only 2 max per cabin and that they were deleting any excess reservations.  We had to visit guest services to get the 3rd night reinstated. 

 

The cruise was at 75% capacity and the specialty restaurants were never completely full.  But we saw numerous guests arguing/discussing reservations the Viking staff.  Also overheard numerous guests complaining about not getting reservations.

 

We looked at the in-room reservation system after they deleted our 3rd night's reservations and there was zero availability for reservations.  This was on day 3 or 4 on a 15-day cruise.  Maybe a staffing shortage???

 

Point is: up until now, I would have completely agreed with your comment.

[Mich3554]

50 minutes ago, Breckski said:

This has always been the case with us as well.  Until our last cruise in May/June.  We were in a cabin with 3 allowable reservations for both restaurants.  Then someone at the restaurant deleted our 3rd reservation for both restaurants.  When we called and discussed with the restaurant reservation attendant, we were told only 2 max per cabin and that they were deleting any excess reservations.  We had to visit guest services to get the 3rd night reinstated. 

 

The cruise was at 75% capacity and the specialty restaurants were never completely full.  But we saw numerous guests arguing/discussing reservations the Viking staff.  Also overheard numerous guests complaining about not getting reservations.

 

We looked at the in-room reservation system after they deleted our 3rd night's reservations and there was zero availability for reservations.  This was on day 3 or 4 on a 15-day cruise.  Maybe a staffing shortage???

 

Point is: up until now, I would have completely agreed with your comment.

I know that for Chef’s Table, the number of reservations that are allowed is controlled by the menu, not the number of seats in the restaurant.  I asked about this when I went on a kitchen tour with the chef from CT.  The more time intensive menus had fewer reservations available than less time intensive.  
 

I did not ask about Manfredi’s, because I notice something similar there too.  However both share kitchen space so that might have something to do with it.  There is NOT a lot of kitchen space in the back (in fact, I’m amazed as to what gets out in that little space), so space is likely a limiting factor, not staff.

[longterm]

6 hours ago, Peregrina651 said:

Once on board, you can use Viking Voyager app or the TVs in our cabins to book tables in CT and Manfredi's; it one of the first things we do once on board. Download Viking Voyager to your phone before you leave home but note that you won't be able to see any of its true functionality until you board your ship. Using VV is a lot easier than standing in line to make reservations on embarkation day. If you already have VV, remember to update it before you leave home.

We were on the British Isles Explorer, which ended on July 18th in Bergen. I was able to get a single 6pm Manfredi's reservation at a 4-top, and the same for Chef's Table.

When we got on board, I tried to snag more reservations for Manfredi's, but the only available seatings were at 8pm, which didn't work for us.

We canceled our CT res because we didn't like the menu for that night; when we went to dinner on the single night we'd gotten, we were put at a 6-top, and at least 1/3 of the restaurant was empty. 

Service in Manfredi's was not good; one diner didn't get his first course, then his steak was overcooked; I ordered a steak and they brought me fish; desserts were all mixed up. I was truly disappointed at the service that night, although I will say that my steak was delicious when it finally arrived.

We ate at The Restaurant at least a dozen times, including a few breakfasts; in every instance we got excellent service and delicious meals. We also ate dinner in the World Cafe a couple of nights, and it was just fine--in fact, when they had prime rib it was delicious and we were glad to eat there.

The whole method for booking the 2 'specialty' restaurants is flawed, in my opinion; it shouldn't be so difficult to get in there at least a couple of times. Having fixed menus in the CT limits diners' options, which discourages people like us from eating there; it would be great if CT were changed to a different type of restaurant, with menu choices instead of fixed fare.

 

[CDNPolar]

2 hours ago, Breckski said:

This has always been the case with us as well.  Until our last cruise in May/June.  We were in a cabin with 3 allowable reservations for both restaurants.  Then someone at the restaurant deleted our 3rd reservation for both restaurants.  When we called and discussed with the restaurant reservation attendant, we were told only 2 max per cabin and that they were deleting any excess reservations.  We had to visit guest services to get the 3rd night reinstated. 

 

The cruise was at 75% capacity and the specialty restaurants were never completely full.  But we saw numerous guests arguing/discussing reservations the Viking staff.  Also overheard numerous guests complaining about not getting reservations.

 

We looked at the in-room reservation system after they deleted our 3rd night's reservations and there was zero availability for reservations.  This was on day 3 or 4 on a 15-day cruise.  Maybe a staffing shortage???

 

Point is: up until now, I would have completely agreed with your comment.

 

This is disappointing to hear.  We are on a TA from Barcelona to San Juan in October.  We will test it out then because we cannot book in advance.

 

I agree that the booking system for Viking specialty restaurants if flawed and should not be so difficult.

 

We are early to eat - mostly - but if we have to have later reservations we will go to Tea at 4pm and then delay our dinner.  This however does not normally work for us because we like to go to the show.

 

Frankly - in opposition to many - we could care less about Manfredi's and it would not bother me to not eat there ever again.  I find it one note most of the time, but then I am not a fan of Italian food.

 

We do really enjoy the Chef's Table and we have always made every menu during out cruises in the past.  If this is limited then I will be disappointed.

 

I understand that the Chef's Table operates at a capacity depending on the menu which is disappointing to the naked unknowing eye, because there are ALWAYS tables empty.  I always in the past put that down to the fact that it just was not a popular choice.

 

We can be quite happy with The Restaurant and WC for all our meals.  I am not going to let getting or not getting a specialty restaurant seat change my enjoyment of the cruise.

[Breckski]

Our bad experience didn't ruin our cruise by any means.  But that, along with a couple other things, have left us feeling that Viking has slipped a bit over the past couple of years.  

 

Unlike @longterm, we thoroughly enjoy the CT meal experience.  We've never had anything we didn't enjoy there.  Obviously, we like some menus more than others.  We also like the smaller portions, as we always feel bad at the amount of waste on a cruise. 

 

I think CT is running at capacity based on the discussions overheard while in line to enter so the demand is there.  Supply???  This format of restaurant may not be the best for ships with a 1k capacity.

[LindaS272]

And why is it that they can’t give you an idea of what the CT rotation will be? We had this when we did our VO cruises in 2019-2020.

[ReaderGirl57]

I would love it if the Chef’s Table had at least two choices for each course. We don’t eat seafood and every menu has at least one seafood course. I know they will sub in something from Manfredi’s if you don’t eat seafood, but that sort of defeats the purpose of eating at the Chef’s Table.

[millybess]

40 minutes ago, ReaderGirl57 said:

I know they will sub in something from Manfredi’s if you don’t eat seafood, but that sort of defeats the purpose of eating at the Chef’s Table.

Unless your DH really likes all the menus at Chef's Table.  So sometimes I ask for something from the Manfredi's menu.  

[CILCIANRQTS]

4 hours ago, longterm said:

 Having fixed menus in the CT limits diners' options, which discourages people like us from eating there; it would be great if CT were changed to a different type of restaurant, with menu choices instead of fixed fare.

 

Could not agree more with this.

My wife (can you even say “wife” on CC vs.DW??😉) does not eat seafood and neither of us eats veal or lamb, so we’re usually left with the 2 beef rotations, if they come up. 
CT was a great concept initially to offer a unique dining option, but it’s gotten a bit old. YMMV.

[Peregrina651]

1 hour ago, CILCIANRQTS said:

(can you even say “wife” on CC vs.DW??

 

You're the one who has to type all those extra letters so it's your choice. 😁

 

BTW, after years of skipping the duck menu, we finally gave it a try this past May. Reindeer however, not gonna happen.

 

 

[carolinetodd]

We would have enjoyed the reindeer menu, but it wasn't offered.  We ended up canceling our Chef's Table reservations once we saw the menus - I'm allergic to shellfish as well as mushrooms and truffles, and my husband isn't a fan of the whole "foam and granita" school, as he calls it.  

[abgo]

5 hours ago, CILCIANRQTS said:

Could not agree more with this.

My wife (can you even say “wife” on CC vs.DW??😉) does not eat seafood and neither of us eats veal or lamb, so we’re usually left with the 2 beef rotations, if they come up. 
CT was a great concept initially to offer a unique dining option, but it’s gotten a bit old. YMMV.

???

[Peregrina651]

7 hours ago, abgo said:

???

 

Happy to answer but we have no idea what you are asking.

[vaborn2cruise]

Thank you to everyone for your replies. I think we will forgo CT unless I see something on the menu I really want to try. I’ll make reservations for Manfredi and go from there. 

[LindaS272]

13 minutes ago, vaborn2cruise said:

Thank you to everyone for your replies. I think we will forgo CT unless I see something on the menu I really want to try. I’ll make reservations for Manfredi and go from there. 

If you are new to Viking, I suggest perusing the CT menus once you board and see if you can make a reservation or two then for something that you like the looks of. You should really try it at least once to get a better idea of the concept. (And don’t be afraid to try something new & unfamiliar). Good luck—and happy travels!

[duquephart]

14 hours ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

You're the one who has to type all those extra letters so it's your choice. 😁

 

BTW, after years of skipping the duck menu, we finally gave it a try this past May. Reindeer however, not gonna happen.

 

 

 

Have you tried Reindeer? Actually quite good. I can recommend a restaurant in Stockholm.

[lovetosew]

• I imagine reindeer is similar to bison. both bit of a gamey flavor but a very low fat meat.  I have had bison burgers and found them very good.

[SantaFe1]

5 minutes ago, lovetosew said:

• I imagine reindeer is similar to bison. both bit of a gamey flavor but a very low fat meat.  I have had bison burgers and found them very good.

Probably closer to venison. 

[Frenchberet]

12 minutes ago, SantaFe1 said:

Probably closer to venison. 

Agreed.  We had reindeer stew several times in Norway and it was very good.  Best was the meal on the optional excursion Lifestyle of the Sami on the Northern Lights cruise.