Chops Grille and Portofino on Mariner

[Caymanbride]

Hello everyone,

 

This is our first cruise on RCI. For those of you who have eaten at either of the specialty restaurants, what do you think is the maximum capacity of people that they can hold? We are looking to book it for our group but I am concerned that we may have more people than the restaurant can hold.

 

Any help is greatly appreciated:)

[Silvery Seas Cruiser]

While I'm not an expert at judging room capacity, a conservative guess would be that Portofinos and Chops can each accommodate about one hundred guests at one time. It may actually be somewhat less. The restaurants are very intimate, not at all like the main dining room.

 

Another impediment to having a large group might be that even though the capacity may be enough, parties make their reservations on a piecemeal basis, so if tables are already reserved on the night of your choice, you may not be able to fit your entire group, even though the capacity is there when the restaurant is empty.

 

If your travel agent doesn't know the capacity, go to the restaurants right after you board and speak with the maitre d'. Reservations fill up fast, so you need to make haste to book a large party.

[cb at sea]

Why not call RCI and ask them? The capacity may vary according to ship--

 

On another note: Both restaurants will take "walk-ins"--so if you neglect to make a reservation, and decide at the last minute that you'd like to dine in one of the specialty restaurants, just walk up to the hostess, and they will seat you as soon as a table becomes avail! Very nice!

[JanineM]

If I recall correctly, they both have a capacity of about 85, but they only seat a maximum of 60 each evening. Their kitchens have a limited capacity, and they also provide a much higher level of service so they don't fill the place up. There will always be empty tables, but that does not mean there are tables available. On our last cruise on Mariner in September, they were full every night. Our dining room tablemates wanted to eat there and were told it was fully booked when they tried to make a reservation on Monday. They wound up joining us at our table for 4.

 

You could contact RCCI in advance to request a group booking. I have heard of people doing this for weddings, but I think it has to be a pretty special occasion for them to close it off to other guests. They don't take reservations prior to boarding, so if you have to rely on that, you'd better be first in line at Port Canaveral at about 10 am.

 

Hope this helps.