Allure specialty restaurants worthwhile?

[twopats]

We are new to the huge ships like Oasis and Allure and are sailing on the Allure for the first time in April. We would appreciate any comments on the specialty restaurants that cost extra and whether it is worthwhile to book them? How does everyone feel the My Time Dining is working on this ship? Trish :cool:

[Janet524]

We are new to the huge ships like Oasis and Allure and are sailing on the Allure for the first time in April. We would appreciate any comments on the specialty restaurants that cost extra and whether it is worthwhile to book them? How does everyone feel the My Time Dining is working on this ship? Trish :cool:

 

We have done the Chef's Table on both Allure and Oasis and found the dining experience outstanding. There are no more than 12 people and each course is presented by the chef with a wine pairing presented by the sommalier. It is pricey, but we think it is worth the price.

 

We also did 150 Central Park on Allure twice. The first time it was very disappointing. We tried it again in June of this year and it was excellent! If you dine there the first night of the cruise it is a "2 for 1", which makes it a very good deal.

 

IMO, Chops is a steak house and I can get a good steak anywhere.

 

Giovanni's was excellent on Allure (didn't try it on Oasis). Word of warning -- LOTS of food! Pace yourself or you'll need a crane to lift you out of your seat after dinner.

 

Of course, whether the cost is "worth it" is truly a personal and subjective matter. For us Chef's Table, 150 Central Park and Giovanni's gave us meals that met or exceeded our expectations.

 

Personally, we do not like My Time dining. We prefer late seating with the same tablemates and wait staff. Plus, the show times are geared toward the traditional dining times, so unless you eat at about the same time you can miss out on the shows. Don't miss the shows....They are fantastic!

 

Hope this information is helpful.

Edited November 2, 2013 by Janet524

[Lionesss]

We are also looking at booking a specialty restuarant on Allure.

Having sailed Freedom and the Mariner, we had truly enjoyed our dining experience at Chops. The service was tops. We will probably give it a shot on the Allure this upcoming July.

I know we should probably try something new, but, we are tradionalist and want to experience this venue again.

Sea Ya

[peteukmcr]

We sailed Allure in May and of course as food is subjective, this is my view.

 

If you can get a speciality restaurant deal then it can be good value. We had the Central Park Package which we had to choose Giovanni's on either day 1 or 2 in advance then book 150 Central Park and Chops Grille once onboard.

 

We booked Giovanni's for day 2 and Chops Grille with friends later in the week once onboard. We reviewed both menus for 150 Central Park and opted for the menu that is for the second part of the week (it is a set menu that changes once during the week). We booked this for later in the week but on day 1 not long after we embarked.

 

We also booked Rita's Fiesta for $20 pp which is the alcoholic package and included 3 Margaritas.

 

We decided to try Samba Grill on the last evening too.

 

So even though we had MTD we only ate in the MDR on 2 out of the 7 evenings. As far as MTD on Allure it was far too rushed at the time we chose of 8:30 pm and so we would be hesitant to do it again on this class of ship. On 2nd formal night we were in and out within 45 minutes even though we said we wanted a leisurely dinner.

 

As for the speciality restaurants here's my thoughts.

 

150 Central Park - fantastic and well worth it, just pick the menu that you prefer

Giovanni's Table - not as good as Portofino's and service was bad and the food so so

Chops Grille - fantastic as ever (we don't get that many good steakhouses in the UK)

Rita's Cantina - the fiesta was great fun and I believe well worth the $20 pp, food and atmosphere great

Samba Grill - just OK and personally not worth the $30 pp, if it was $20 like Giovanni's then maybe, food nothing spectacular

Edited November 2, 2013 by peteukmcr

[petel]

We are new to the huge ships like Oasis and Allure and are sailing on the Allure for the first time in April. We would appreciate any comments on the specialty restaurants that cost extra and whether it is worthwhile to book them? How does everyone feel the My Time Dining is working on this ship? Trish :cool:

 

MTD is the only way to enjoy everything the Big ships have to offer and it is easy and works great, IMHO.

 

Try all that interests you. They were all worth the price, again, IMHO!

 

If you don't try them you will never know what you missed. Just like your Mom taught you, just try it, you might like it. Only here I think you will love it! :)

 

Please give them a chance if you think you might like them. My recommendation comes from 3 weeks on each and I would do it all again anytime!

[maureencruiser]

I had never done any specialty restaurants before my recent Allure trip. I LOVED Rita's Fiesta - I have pics of the party and the menu in my review in my sig if you would like to see that. I would do that again in a heartbeat, probably do it twice, once alcoholic and once non-alcoholic.

 

I loved Giovanni's, I plan on eating there on the first day of my upcoming Grandeur cruise to get the discount.

 

I also did not feel Samba's was worth the money. It was the most expensive one I did and the one I enjoyed least. I wouldn't have tried it if I hadn't read MADQ's review - she LOVED it. Goes to show you, everybody likes different things.

 

If you consider Johnny Rockets speciality, I did go here, too. It was good, a nice burger and fries. Breakfast is free (oops, included), so, this is a nicer option if you don't want to use the WJ,

[royalcruz]

Here are the ones we tried:

Rita's Fiesta- average Mexican chain food

Izumu- very good

Chops- very good

Giovanni's- excellent so we went twice

wine bar on Central Park- very good for tapas lunch on embarkation day when everywhere is packed

 

MTD-didn't work for us last December. I hope it is better now. We went twice, with reservations pre-booked. One night the service was very slow and they brought the wrong food. Another night (second formal night) we showed up early for 8:30 reservation and after 9 we still hadn't been called into the dining room, so we left. We later found out that they posted the wrong menu on the tv and there wasn't anything we wanted to eat anyway.

[Gratefullawyer]

I am about to embark on my second Allure sailing and I have sailed the Oasis too.

 

we sail to eat the speciality restaurants and have found the dining expereices outstanding. Food and dining is always subjective.

 

My favorite is Chefs Table...a great way to combine dining and entertainment. Again you have to have the right crowd with you. The food was excellant but it is more foody then filling. I do not usually drink wine and still found the experience well worth it. if you are able to get the package that combines the Chefs Table with two other speciality restuarants it is an excellant bargain.

 

Each of the restaurants were very good and I can wait till next week to try them all again.

[Cruisegirl6]

I would love to do Chef's table but I don't eat seafood and I have to be gluten free, pretty much the menu's I have seen include both so I won't be able to experience it.

[Ricky Chan]

We have done the Chef's Table on both Allure and Oasis and found the dining experience outstanding. There are no more than 12 people and each course is presented by the chef with a wine pairing presented by the sommalier. It is pricey, but we think it is worth the price.

 

We also did 150 Central Park on Allure twice. The first time it was very disappointing. We tried it again in June of this year and it was excellent! If you dine there the first night of the cruise it is a "2 for 1", which makes it a very good deal.

 

IMO, Chops is a steak house and I can get a good steak anywhere.

 

Giovanni's was excellent on Allure (didn't try it on Oasis). Word of warning -- LOTS of food! Pace yourself or you'll need a crane to lift you out of your seat after dinner.

 

Of course, whether the cost is "worth it" is truly a personal and subjective matter. For us Chef's Table, 150 Central Park and Giovanni's gave us meals that met or exceeded our expectations.

 

Personally, we do not like My Time dining. We prefer late seating with the same tablemates and wait staff. Plus, the show times are geared toward the traditional dining times, so unless you eat at about the same time you can miss out on the shows. Don't miss the shows....They are fantastic!

 

Hope this information is helpful.

 

How did you find out 2 for 1 deal on 150 Central Park on first night? Wish they can offer 2 for 1 deal at Giovanni on first night. I really like to have our party of 6 trying it.

 

Ricky

[maureencruiser]

How did you find out 2 for 1 deal on 150 Central Park on first night? Wish they can offer 2 for 1 deal at Giovanni on first night. I really like to have our party of 6 trying it.

 

Ricky

 

Not 2 for 1, but, my understanding is they do offer a discount the first night, $15 instead of $20. Also, lunch at Giovanni's is $10.

[calimn]

We wonder up eating in speciality restaturants 6 of 7 nights. We got the pkg with chefs+150 CP and Chops before boarding. Had to do chefs table on night 1 or 2 (we chose 2). Our view:

 

Chef's Table - Very good and good deal if you like food+wine

150 CP - did first night and then returned last night (hubby didn't want main dining room again as tried and was only OK). Overall we thought the 2nd night was better. But at 115/person with wine paring not sure it is worth it.

Chops - really liked this - I had veal chop which was excellent, hubby had mixed grill. Everything was excellent. Would definetly do again

Samba Grill- was just OK, went late (9pm), but was not full, meat was good to very good, and yes could get medium rare. But salad buffet and side dish were disappointing(did this on NCL and this just did not compare)

Giovanni's - Really liked the food here, but it was really LOUD and that made it hard to hear the waiter and enjoy the atmospher

[Artemis]

Here's a link to my detailed review of Chef's Table and 150 Central Park (with brief mention of Chops, Giovanni's and Samba) as we experienced them on Allure in August: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1908540

 

-->> lyndamr, I am posting this primarily for you, as my husband has food allergies/preferences that can make dining challenging, but all culinary teams were well-equipped to meet his needs. Don't let your issues stand in the way if you'd like to try a particular venue! And throughout your cruise week, be sure to let all waiters know, regardless of venue, as they can advise you on appropriate selections and available adjustments.

[Erik101]

Here's my take:

 

Chef's Table - definite yes

150 Central Park - definite yes

Chops - No! Steak on land is much better

Izumi - No! I've had better sushi on land

Samba Grill - definite no!

 

Reason why I didn't like the last 3 is because I can find all 3 types of restaurant in my hometown and I have yet to experience the same caliber of presentation and taste on the RCI ships.

Edited November 3, 2013 by Erik101

[Cruisegirl6]

Artemis thank you!

[Lionesss]

Here's a link to my detailed review of Chef's Table and 150 Central Park (with brief mention of Chops, Giovanni's and Samba) as we experienced them on Allure in August: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1908540

 

-->> lyndamr, I am posting this primarily for you, as my husband has food allergies/preferences that can make dining challenging, but all culinary teams were well-equipped to meet his needs. Don't let your issues stand in the way if you'd like to try a particular venue! And throughout your cruise week, be sure to let all waiters know, regardless of venue, as they can advise you on appropriate selections and available adjustments.

 

Thanks for taking the time to post.

Appreciate this.

Sea Ya

[vondofife]

We booked Giovanni's for our embarkation day lunch - wow ... what a fantastic start to our cruise.

 

We arrived at the terminal building at 10:50am and had checked in and were waiting in the embarkation lounge by 11am. We were onboard Allure by 11:30am and spent some time having a look around. We reserved Giovanni's for 12:30pm and had an absolutely fantastic lunch. As many others have posted, the food is amazing, and you get loads of it. By the time we had finished eating, our cabin was ready.

 

We never tried any other speciality restaurants. We had the 6:30pm sitting for our evening meal in the MDR. We chose the earlier time as we were cruising with our 7 year old son. It worked out fine for us. One night we did not eat there but instead ordered room service.

[Ricky Chan]

Not 2 for 1, but, my understanding is they do offer a discount the first night, $15 instead of $20. Also, lunch at Giovanni's is $10.

 

 

Thanks. I think they raised lunch charge to $15 per person from $10.

 

Ricky

[Ricky Chan]

We booked Giovanni's for our embarkation day lunch - wow ... what a fantastic start to our cruise.

 

We arrived at the terminal building at 10:50am and had checked in and were waiting in the embarkation lounge by 11am. We were onboard Allure by 11:30am and spent some time having a look around. We reserved Giovanni's for 12:30pm and had an absolutely fantastic lunch. As many others have posted, the food is amazing, and you get loads of it. By the time we had finished eating, our cabin was ready.

 

We never tried any other speciality restaurants. We had the 6:30pm sitting for our evening meal in the MDR. We chose the earlier time as we were cruising with our 7 year old son. It worked out fine for us. One night we did not eat there but instead ordered room service.

 

 

Was it $15 per person?

 

Ricky

[vondofife]

I can't remember - sorry. All I can remember is that is was cheaper than the evening meal. Our cruise on Allure was October 2012.

[maureencruiser]

Thanks. I think they raised lunch charge to $15 per person from $10.

 

Ricky

 

Ricky, Thanks! As soon as I posted that, I started wondering if that was correct, I need to write these things down! :)

[grandgeezer]

Again, food is based on an individual's taste, which will get you reviews all over the place. Here is ours.

 

Week of October 12 on the Oasis. Seafood Shack-- Shrimp good, fish OK. Chops-- Disappointing, food ok at best.

Week of October 20 on Allure. Samba Grill--- Excellant. Giovanni"s--- Very good.

Don't laugh...... Johnny Rocket's--- Excellant. All you can eat for $5. Burgers and onion rings to die for.