First Night Done Right + Samba = Awful

When I purchased the First Night Done Right pre-cruise the information made it seem that I could change the restaurant to anyone I wanted once on board. This is not correct. I am on the Allure of the Seas and once aboard yesterday I immediately went to the Speciality Restaurant desk to see what I was given. I was given Samba (Brazillian Restaurant) and was told for the First Night Done Right the only choices were Giovanni's or Samba.

We kept our Samba reservation as we had not tried it before and it was awful. It is located in the Solarium Restaurant. When we went inside, the first thing we noticed was the buffet. I felt like we were in the Windjammer. We were seated at a table and was told that the appetizers and the side dishes were in the buffet and when we were ready for meat to turn the paper disc on the table from red to green and they would bring it to us.

I have been to a Brazillian Restaurant in Portland, Oregon before so I knew what to expect. The first meat that was brought to us was what we were told was the best meat they had there, the Prime Top Sirloin. Being from Nebraska, I knew that Top Sirloin was nothing special and I was right. It was so fatty and gristly, that I could not chew it and had to spit it out in my napkin. Next, we were brought a piece of chicken wrapped in a piece of bacon which was tasteless. The next meat we were brought was "brisket" which tasted like pot roast and not brisket. By this time, we had enough. The side dishes were all cold and were not good and the bread was stale.

The manager came over and asked us how it was and my husband said fine and I said "okay". He asked me to expand on that, so I told him the above and he apologized and refunded our money.

I will not buy the First Night Done Right again. I would rather not go to a specialty restaurant or pay the full price and go to a better one.

I am sorry that you did not enjoy Samba on the Allure. I have not tried it there, but I ate multiple times at Samba on the Radiance and enjoyed it each time.

It is true that some of the meats are better than others. I stick to the filet mignon and the lamb. The sausage is good, too, but I would rather fill up on the other two.

Radiance's Samba, and every land-based churrascaria that I have been to in the U.S., has a salad bar set up for salads and appetizers. I liked them.

It is a shame that Allure has restricted FNDR to just two restaurants. That would not make me happy.

It's nice that you got the price refunded.

It is a shame that Allure has restricted FNDR to just two restaurants. That would not make me happy.

I think that is the case on all Oasis class ships. On Oasis, FNDR is limited to Giovanni's or Sabor. If you want another, they will refund the FNDR charge as OBC and give you 50% off other venues. Limiting FNDR choices was a recent change I think that was done without much fanfare... :mad:

The next meat we were brought was "brisket" which tasted like pot roast and not brisket.

By the way, to me (and I daresay to many many many people), pot roast IS brisket and brisket IS pot roast.

:)

By the way, to me (and I daresay to many many many people), pot roast IS brisket and brisket IS pot roast.

 

:)

Not in Texas!

Not in Texas!

Thank you! :D

By the way, to me (and I daresay to many many many people), pot roast IS brisket and brisket IS pot roast.

 

:)

My bubbe will climb out right through the dirt if she catches a glimpse of that...

Thanks for the information. I'm going to speak to the Diamond Club host tomorrow to see if we can get 50% off at Chops instead of FNDR on next week's cruise. Is there someone else I should be talking to instead of the Diamond Club host?

My bubbe will climb out right through the dirt if she catches a glimpse of that...

Are you kidding me? I AM your Bubbe, and that's what pot roast is: Brisket.

Not in Texas!

Not only NOT in Texas.

Are you kidding me? I AM your Bubbe, and that's what pot roast is: Brisket.

There are different cuts and what you find at the store as pot roast isn't traditional brisket cut.

You can definitely be forum den mom! I'd vote for that.

It is always good to be honest with someone who asks you about the food in a restaurant IMO.

Thanks for the information. I'm going to speak to the Diamond Club host tomorrow to see if we can get 50% off at Chops instead of FNDR on next week's cruise. Is there someone else I should be talking to instead of the Diamond Club host?

We made the change to 150 Central as soon as we boarded. Just went to the reception desk at 150C and asked to alter the reservation.

We ate at Samba on Allure & thought it was very good.

My bubbe will climb out right through the dirt if she catches a glimpse of that...

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We've eaten at Brazilian steakhouses on multiple occasions and all served the appetizers and salad buffet style. We've also eaten twice in Samba on Allure and found they do a nice job transforming the Solarium Bistro into Samba Grill. It's a nice atmosphere that no one could mistake for the Windjammer. While the food varied between the two, it was at the least pretty good and I never had to spit anything into my napkin.

As for the lack of choice, that would annoy me if I couldn't get to pick the restaurant I wanted.

I have to agree with that. The cut my mom uses to make her brisket is NOT the same cut that most people would use if they were making pot roast.

It's much, much better.

We also did FNDR on Allure in April and got Samba. We kept it as we were going to try it anyway.

We liked it. I can't say we loved it, but it was decent. I thought some of the meat choices were better than others, enjoyed the bread and liked the salad and appetizers.

After dining there, my mom was completely "meated" out. She doesn't usually eat a lot of red meat, so it was a lot for her.

I liked the atmosphere and thought it was a decent option for $15/pp. That said, I don't think we'd do it again (at least with mom). Maybe if it was just me and my 2 boys we'd try it.

Was Samba serving picanha as a choice of meat? A normal top sirloin is not picanha.

Interesting. On our Allure Cruise we only ate in specialty restaurants and Samba was by far our favorite night!

Any land based churascarria we’ve been to also had the salads and appetizers buffet style.

I am sorry that you did not enjoy Samba on the Allure. I have not tried it there, but I ate multiple times at Samba on the Radiance and enjoyed it each time. ~snip~

We found Samba on Radiance to be excellent also, Carol. Other ships--not so....and especially Allure. Especially don't care for the Solarium location.

Not only NOT in Texas.

Not in Chicago either.

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Brisket

Pot roast

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Cooked pot roast

Smoked brisket

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