Manfredi's or Chef's Table for birthday?

[ropomo]

Not chocolate, but this is what we received a few weeks ago in our cabin for our anniversary along with a bottle of bubbly.  About 6" square.  We each had cake two consecutive evenings, so at least 4 good size pieces.

Edited June 14, 2019 by ropomo

[Pushka]

Easily four people. We ended up at The Restaurant for my birthday as Manfredis on Orion had service issues. 

[zitsky]

8 hours ago, Pushka said:

Easily four people. We ended up at The Restaurant for my birthday as Manfredis on Orion had service issues. 

 

Thanks.  What kind of service issues?

[Pushka]

On 6/15/2019 at 5:55 AM, zitsky said:

 

Thanks.  What kind of service issues?

We could only get an 8pm booking which was fine and we arrived promptly and were seated. By 8.30pm we still had no drinks or food orders taken and it wasn’t particularly busy as it seemed that most diners had finished. We certainly made it look like we were ready to order but we seemed to be ignored. We called over someone who turned out to be the manager and he hurried off to find someone to take the order then a couple of minutes later he came over with pen and paper to do it himself. Things improved then it turned out my dessert wasn’t available so I ordered something else. The other person was served then we sat and waited for another 10 minutes with no show of my replacement so we gave up and walked out. I then cancelled my birthday night booking. 

[zitsky]

40 minutes ago, Pushka said:

We could only get an 8pm booking which was fine and we arrived promptly and were seated. By 8.30pm we still had no drinks or food orders taken and it wasn’t particularly busy as it seemed that most diners had finished. We certainly made it look like we were ready to order but we seemed to be ignored. We called over someone who turned out to be the manager and he hurried off to find someone to take the order then a couple of minutes later he came over with pen and paper to do it himself. Things improved then it turned out my dessert wasn’t available so I ordered something else. The other person was served then we sat and waited for another 10 minutes with no show of my replacement so we gave up and walked out. I then cancelled my birthday night booking. 

 

Ouch.  That's really bad.  Did you ever email tellus or give feedback on board?

[Pushka]

On 6/15/2019 at 4:34 PM, zitsky said:

 

Ouch.  That's really bad.  Did you ever email tellus or give feedback on board?

I certainly have given them lots of feedback about the entire trip organisation but haven’t heard anything back other than a “sorry”. It wasn’t a well organised trip at all from Vikings perspective although Alaska was stunning. But with a very delayed embarkation at 6pm, three tender ports of five visited plus a very poorly organised tender process delaying us getting off the ship for 2 hours after arrival then a short port time, it has put us off Viking completely to be honest. And I’ve also told them that. Everyone onboard kept saying “this is not the Viking we’ve come to love”. 

 

We loved Chefs Table. 

Edited June 16, 2019 by Pushka

[zitsky]

9 hours ago, Pushka said:

I certainly have given them lots of feedback about the entire trip organisation but haven’t heard anything back other than a “sorry”. It wasn’t a well organised trip at all from Vikings perspective although Alaska was stunning. But with a very delayed embarkation at 6pm, three tender ports of five visited plus a very poorly organised tender process delaying us getting off the ship for 2 hours after arrival then a short port time, it has put us off Viking completely to be honest. And I’ve also told them that. Everyone onboard kept saying “this is not the Viking we’ve come to love”. 

 

We loved Chefs Table. 

 

I'm sorry you had this experience but glad you shared it.  People need to know that Viking is not always good.

[Cienfuegos]

Alaska is a relatively new market for Viking, isn't it?

 

Perhaps Viking needs to follow up with all customers , or a good sized sample, after cruises.  Asking a few well chosen questions could identify areas where the company could do a better job.

 

I had the feeling on our Cuba trip that Viking was largely "winging it".  With little experience on the ground, and the government presenting them with packaged tours, Viking was accepting what was offered. 

 

Mass tourism is new for Cuba, and Cuba is new for Viking.

[sleepybobo]

13 minutes ago, Cienfuegos said:

Alaska is a relatively new market for Viking, isn't it?

 

Perhaps Viking needs to follow up with all customers , or a good sized sample, after cruises.  Asking a few well chosen questions could identify areas where the company could do a better job.

 

I had the feeling on our Cuba trip that Viking was largely "winging it".  With little experience on the ground, and the government presenting them with packaged tours, Viking was accepting what was offered. 

 

Mass tourism is new for Cuba, and Cuba is new for Viking.

 

I understand Viking has a steep learning curve on new markets, such as Alaska and Cuba. Viking still needs to fine tune onshore excursion arrangements. But why would dinning staff service on Orion be subpar? I’m quite puzzled. Orion is no longer a brand new ship. So the staff on the ship should already have plenty of experience working on the ship together. 

 

I was on the Sun’s maiden voyage in 2017 and came back from Jupiter in May. Both ships had fewer sailings than Orion now has when I cruised on them. I experienced no service issue. 

 

In general, Orion seems to have more average/negative reviews than her sister ships. I noted Orion tends to sail in “newer” markets, such as Asia and Alaska. Hopefully all the issues noted will get sorted out as Viking gets more experience in those markets. 

[Rawmac]

• "In general, Orion seems to have more average/negative reviews than her sister ships. I noted Orion tends to sail in “newer” markets, such as Asia and Alaska. "

We sailed on Orion from Hong Kong to Beijing last October.  The onboard experience was generally fine but where things fell down was where shoreside had total responsibility, in particular with excursions, guides and choice of ports.  Xaimen tours (2 days) were dire, and we wondered why we were in Quingdao and Dalien.  Had we not booked the expensive Viking post-cruise extension, we would have seen absolutely nothing of the city of Beijing (except the airport of course). Onboard had nothing to do with the choice of ports, the hiring of tour companies and guides, and the selection, vetting, pricing and quality of excursions, but had to work with what they were given, and then deal with all the dissatisfied pax.  These are home-office matters, in which home office personnel have singularly failed, and of course do not themselves have to face their failures in person. It would be interesting to know if the stream of criticism on this website has been noticed by Viking (Tell Us ????), acted on, . . . . . or even if they care.

 

I find it very disappointing to read a continuing stream of posts from Orion pax as they have sailed around the Pacific that tours and excursions have been a constant source of discontent and criticism,  the detail of which is similar time after time.  Has Viking been employing the same shore-side excursion team, personnel and supervision for all these months of failures and complaint?  It is people who put these things together, after all.  I have seen little sign of improvement.  I would be very wary of booking a Viking cruise to a new geographical area without using private tour companies which can be found and recommended elsewhere.

[just_dont]

I thought this thread was about specialty restaurant selection for birthday celebrations. [emoji848]

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

[Pushka]

On 6/16/2019 at 1:22 PM, just_dont said:

I thought this thread was about specialty restaurant selection for birthday celebrations.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
 

 

It was indeed. But poor service in a restaurant in Orion anyway seems to be a sign of the ship management of some issues and not just the restaurant. Orion failed in delivering proper tender service in Alaska and where we had three tender ports, including an awful embarkation process in Vancouver where we had no port, suggests systemic failure in some kinds of areas on this ship. 

[Dauntless]

9 minutes ago, Pushka said:

 

It was indeed. But poor service in a restaurant in Orion anyway seems to be a sign of the ship management of some issues and not just the restaurant. Orion failed in delivering proper tender service in Alaska and where we had three tender ports, including an awful embarkation process in Vancouver where we had no port, suggests systemic failure in some kinds of areas on this ship. 

 

Since it is about this ship (Orion)and that only accounts for about 17% of the fleet, maybe those who wish to air that laundry should start another thread and let this get back on topic..

[zitsky]

This thread does seem to be drifting a bit.  Going forward I think Orion deserves it's own thread.  It will make it much easier to find, later.

[Travelingwithstyle]

On 1/15/2019 at 8:24 PM, Jim Avery said:

Had mine last April in Manfredi's private room.  🍸

Jim,

 

There are 4 of us joining you on the Santiago to LA portion of the current Viking Sun world cruise. 

 

I could swear that in one of your prior posts you were going to try and reserve the private room in Manfredi's for one or all the different holiday dates (BUT I cant find the post).    Do you have the private room at Manfredi's reserved for Christmas Eve, Christmas, New Year's Eve?  The 4 of us would like to join you if you have room.  Let us know.  Thank you.  Vicki

 

[Jim Avery]

1 minute ago, Travelingwithstyle said:

Jim,

 

There are 4 of us joining you on the Santiago to LA portion of the current Viking Sun world cruise. 

 

I could swear that in one of your prior posts you were going to try and reserve the private room in Manfredi's for one or all the different holiday dates (BUT I cant find the post).    Do you have the private room at Manfredi's reserved for Christmas Eve, Christmas, New Year's Eve?  The 4 of us would like to join you if you have room.  Let us know.  Thank you.  Vicki

 

Hi Vicki,

No we don't have it booked at this time.  To be honest, this Chef has been, in our opinion, so good we have been enjoying the restaurant more.  We eat at Manfredi's fairly regularly but the regional specialties added in the restaurant and World Cafe have been very enjoyable.  DW has not decided what she wants to do for her Birthday dinner yet.  As you might guess, we don't really book meals far out.  Anyway it is all good onboard.  See y'all in Santiago.🍸

[Travelingwithstyle]

Thank Jim for the quick reply.  Keep enjoying the wonderful world cruise and we will see you at the M&M for the Santiago to LA portion.  Stay well and ENJOY!!!!  V

[geffric]

On 6/16/2019 at 1:54 PM, sleepybobo said:

 

I understand Viking has a steep learning curve on new markets, such as Alaska and Cuba. Viking still needs to fine tune onshore excursion arrangements. But why would dinning staff service on Orion be subpar? I’m quite puzzled. Orion is no longer a brand new ship. So the staff on the ship should already have plenty of experience working on the ship together. 

 

I was on the Sun’s maiden voyage in 2017 and came back from Jupiter in May. Both ships had fewer sailings than Orion now has when I cruised on them. I experienced no service issue. 

 

In general, Orion seems to have more average/negative reviews than her sister ships. I noted Orion tends to sail in “newer” markets, such as Asia and Alaska. Hopefully all the issues noted will get sorted out as Viking gets more experience in those markets. 

Oh I was on the Orion last August/September and experienced many problems.  I  had hoped the issues were resolved..I am so sorry to hear that even now things are not up to Viking standards. 

 

 

[Parsley Cruises]

We've not eaten at Chef's Table, our impression is that it's far too 'twee' for us - we go into dinner to eat, not to fusspot around with food.  

 

One important factor in a decision over where to eat for a birthday celebration on board would be the question of guests.  If you are going to include guests in the dining party, then for us the decision would be simple - either the MDR or Manfredi's, where there is a good selection of food, and no need to ask for alternative items, as they are already available (mainly).  I do like for each of us to be 'at ease' in a dining situation, which we don't feel would happen in the Chef's Table, but we do know from experience would happen in either the MDR or Manfredi's.  

 

I personally would 'back both horses', making a reservation for Manfredi's, seeing what the actual menu is going to be on the special day, and then checking the MDR menu for the day in question, and voting with your feet accordingly, but if you have booked Manfredi's, don't forget to let the staff know.

 

Have a lovely trip.

 

[zitsky]

6 hours ago, Parsley Cruises said:

We've not eaten at Chef's Table, our impression is that it's far too 'twee' for us - we go into dinner to eat, not to fusspot around with food.  

 

One important factor in a decision over where to eat for a birthday celebration on board would be the question of guests.  If you are going to include guests in the dining party, then for us the decision would be simple - either the MDR or Manfredi's, where there is a good selection of food, and no need to ask for alternative items, as they are already available (mainly).  I do like for each of us to be 'at ease' in a dining situation, which we don't feel would happen in the Chef's Table, but we do know from experience would happen in either the MDR or Manfredi's.  

 

I personally would 'back both horses', making a reservation for Manfredi's, seeing what the actual menu is going to be on the special day, and then checking the MDR menu for the day in question, and voting with your feet accordingly, but if you have booked Manfredi's, don't forget to let the staff know.

 

Have a lovely trip.

 

 

What is twee?

[Parsley Cruises]

Twee..... well it’s sort of fussy, prissy, overdone, pretentious. 

[sinned19]

On 1/16/2019 at 12:42 PM, canook1 said:

Hi, we just returned from 2 weeks on the Sky.  Manfredi's, in my opinion is hands down the best specialty restaurant, with attentive friendly waiters.  Food consistently fabulous.  We tried the Chef's kitchen twice, as you know it is a "fixed menu" and the menu changes every 2-3 nts. I believe, we tried both the Asian menu and the Indian food menu.  In both cases, they will definitely push the premium wine pkg. which was cheap at $25, one tasting to accompany each dish.   It is indeed a different experience, but I found the waiters to be robotic, they each have their descriptions to accompany each dish.  Found the service to be inconsistent and formal, plus tiny portions of food which did not appeal to our table at all.  My son and daughter in law accompanied us, they are definite foodies and they were not impressed, as were many of the other passengers we spoke with.  If you want a fun birthday, I would definitely do either The Restaurant (which is fabulous) or Manifredi's.  We loved our experience on the Viking Sky otherwise.

 

Canook,

How`s the wine in Manfredi`s? Is it  same as what is served in the dining room?

[haydn12]

Manfredi's was great everynight we ate there.  Chef's Table was an interesting experience.  I liked most of the dishes but my wife and the other couple we were with did not care for most of the food.  We did get pretty buzzed by all the wine though!

 

Jim

[Parsley Cruises]

We also really enjoyed the food in Manfredi's.  However, we didn't really appreciate the long drawn-out explanation of all the food on the menu given to us by the waiter.  We aren't exactly new to eating in a restaurant, and we can actually read; and for us the over-bearing waiter was an intrusion.  However, on the next cruise, we know what might happen (a repetition of this experience), and we are prepared for it.  Generally speaking when we are faced with a menu we have already made up our minds, they are not going to be changed by a waiter (unless we are being told that what we want is not available), and we can't abide wasting time.

 

It's going to be fine, we'll deal with it; the food is lovely, and we're already looking forward to it.

[zitsky]

I had to convince the waiter in CT that I was willing to pay extra for premium wines.  Food was ok but main course was salty.