Specialty dining on my own?

[MrFunInTheSun]

I've often cruised solo and do really enjoy it, but I've only ever gone to the specialty restaurants when I've had a traveling companion. I'm contemplating purchasing the Chef's Table or maybe the Chef's Table Dining package for my upcoming cruise on Brilliance of the Seas. I am interested in hearing from any solo cruisers who have gone to the Chef's Table or specialty restaurants and are willing to share their opinions of the experience as a solo diner.

 

I've done a Chef's Table traveling solo last November. My experience was great. Had lots of great food and met a lot of nice people. A few of the folks were on my roll call too. Had not met them prior to that as I didn't attend any roll call events.

 

Well worth it and I wouldn't hold back any reservations in attending solo.

[Yenom]

If you prefer not to dine alone, one idea is to check your roll call to see if anyone would like to join you. Some folks on our upcoming roll call are doing that very thing by linking reservations so I wouldn't be surprised if there was something similar on yours.

 

I've done the Chef's Table as a solo and thoroughly enjoyed it, especially my dinner companions. I was the only solo but none of the other couples knew each other but we were all there for the same purpose so had plenty to talk about...enjoying great food and great wine...wonderful experience!:)

 

 

GREAT IDEA! The last 2 cruises my Mom, Step-father, and I went on was sort of awkward in the MDR. In the past we have enjoyed meeting new people at one of the big tables, so we always request them. The cruise before last, we started with a nice family at our table for 10. However, the next night they were a few tables away. It was awkward enough that the father came over and said they just wanted to sit by themselves (We sort of suspected that they didn't really like us ordering wine and after dinner drinks with our dinner). We ended up be at a table for 10 for the rest of the 9 night cruise. The last cruise, I requested to be sat at a big table with lots of people. We ended up getting a table for 8 for our group of 3 people all 9 nights. We tried to look at it in a positive light and thought we might get better than unusual service, since we were only a table for 3.We were wrong on that. Maybe my worst service ever. However, I did complain and RCCL did some things to make it up. The highlight was when they kept putting escargot on the digital menus and compass and then not to have them available (one of my favorite foods on the cruise). After talking to a few people, I got to meet one of the chefs and asked him if he would try something special. I was able to get him to substitute the snails with mushrooms and cook them the same way. Not exactly the same thing, but got us most of the flavors we were looking for.

 

Sorry for all the extra. I felt like I had to get some of the last experience out. A lot of little things happened on the last cruise that added up to an overall bad experience (1st time I ever had to deal with lost luggage on a cruise (not just 1 piece, but 5 pieces - overall crazy cruise)). Anyway, we are doing a redo in November for Thanksgiving and pretending that our January 2013 cruise didn't really happen.

 

BTW - I still love RCCL and feel that my great experiences far outnumber the few bad situations. I can't wait until our next cruise in a few months.

[lacruiser]

I'm glad to hear that a single diner was no problem at Chef's Table. We just did that on the Oasis and it was definitely the highlight of our dining experiences. I had wondered when I started this thread if a single would have an issue since it is a limited venue, and taking a single might knock out a couple. Nice to know that wasn't an issue.:)

[MrFunInTheSun]

I'm glad to hear that a single diner was no problem at Chef's Table. We just did that on the Oasis and it was definitely the highlight of our dining experiences. I had wondered when I started this thread if a single would have an issue since it is a limited venue, and taking a single might knock out a couple. Nice to know that wasn't an issue.:)

 

I'm cruising on the Allure of the Seas in November solo and plan on doing the Allure Choice Dining package which includes dinner at four of the ship's most spectacular venues: Samba Grill, Chops Grille, Giovanni's Table and Izum.

 

Reading on some solo reviews I've seen others do this without issue, so you should be set. :D