Chef's Table or Ultimate Balcony Dinner?

[vakamalua]

Is the UBD always served at the same time or can you pick the time?  Same question for the UB Breakfast...

[RocketMan275]

One thing, I understand they only do four UBD per night due to the intensive manpower required.

[XBGuy]

15 hours ago, dogdoc2002 said:

For those that have done the UBD, if someone has a food allergy, do they give you options on substitutions, or just wing it on their end?  We've done the Chef's table once (amazing btw) and they did a great job of accommodating my wife's shellfish allergy as well as another passenger's food allergy, asking them the sorts of things they liked and tailored it to them. I'm thinking of surprising my wife with the UBD on our upcoming cruise, but want to make sure she'll enjoy what she gets (the turf of surf and turf would be a bad thing 😞 )

Thanks all!

 

I have never strayed from the standard UBD offering, but there have been numerous reports that the Room Service staff has worked with them to accommodate food allergies.  Surf 'n' Turf is an entree option that can easily be avoided.  She can, certainly, avoid any problem by ordering the Filet Mignon for her entree.  I think one  problem that you would have to avoid is that standard starter dish is a Lobster Cake.  I have to believe that an acceptable substitute could be arranged for that.  I'm also sure that on the plate of Canapes that is presented. one will have a shrimp on it.  I assume your wife is not so sensitive that she can't even be in the same room that shellfish are being served--I know people who are that sensitive.  If that is the case, you could, eat the one with shrimp and she can have another choice.

 

I'm glad to hear that they were able to accommodate your wife for the Chef's Table.  The Chef's Table policy regarding food allergies seems to vary between different ships' management teams.  For our first Chef's Table event, we were required to sign a waiver indicating that we had no allergies.  I tell people when they ask whether allergies will be accommodated to go ahead and sign up, then, if you are selected, bring up the question.

 

Have a great cruise.

Edited November 24, 2019 by XBGuy

[XBGuy]

3 hours ago, vakamalua said:

Is the UBD always served at the same time or can you pick the time?  Same question for the UB Breakfast...

 

For both the UBD and the UBB we've been asked our preferred time.  In one request for the UBB we were told they could not accommodate our requested time and suggested an alternate time 30 minutes later which was fine for us.

 

As a previos poster has indicated, the opinion here on Cruise Critic is they only do four UBDs per evening.  So, if you pick a particularly popular evening--and port days seem to be more popular than sea days--you may encounter some sort of conflict.

[TheRabbit]

49 minutes ago, XBGuy said:

 

For both the UBD and the UBB we've been asked our preferred time.  In one request for the UBB we were told they could not accommodate our requested time and suggested an alternate time 30 minutes later which was fine for us.

 

As a previos poster has indicated, the opinion here on Cruise Critic is they only do four UBDs per evening.  So, if you pick a particularly popular evening--and port days seem to be more popular than sea days--you may encounter some sort of conflict.

In San Francisco, they added an extra team for doing the dinners. Not sure how many were done, but I know there were three teams. I do know times are staggered, so it is possible each team did two UBDs.

[TheRabbit]

16 hours ago, dogdoc2002 said:

For those that have done the UBD, if someone has a food allergy, do they give you options on substitutions, or just wing it on their end?  We've done the Chef's table once (amazing btw) and they did a great job of accommodating my wife's shellfish allergy as well as another passenger's food allergy, asking them the sorts of things they liked and tailored it to them. I'm thinking of surprising my wife with the UBD on our upcoming cruise, but want to make sure she'll enjoy what she gets (the turf of surf and turf would be a bad thing 😞 )

Thanks all!

Princess very good at managing each persons Allergies. They usually have a person from the food staff meet with the person each night to determine the next evenings food. If Shellfish is one of the allergies they do this for, all you will need to do is advise the staff member assigned to your wife.

 

FYI, if you buy this ahead of the cruise as I have done, there will be a card in the room with info on scheduling the dinner. Make sure to get to it first! LOL My advice would to do it when in port. Also, in bad weather, they are know to move it inside.

 

If you are trying to keep it secret to the end, just make sure to also let the person you are scheduling with your DW's allergy.

[XBGuy]

11 minutes ago, TheRabbit said:

In San Francisco, they added an extra team for doing the dinners. Not sure how many were done, but I know there were three teams. I do know times are staggered, so it is possible each team did two UBDs.

 

 

I'm not surprised.  For our 40th wedding anniversary, we booked a California Coastal cruise on the Ruby Princess (most ladies will understand that choice but I doubt that many men will).  I booked the UBD prior to leaving on the cruise personalizer.  Before we even left the port in Los Angeles, the Room Service manager called and asked if he could come to our cabin to discuss the arrangements for the UBD.  Since we'd been through the drill a few times before, that was completed quite quickly.  So, he came to the time and date questions--this was before you could specify the date in the cruise personalizer.  We knew we wanted it the very next night (our anniversary date) which was a sea day.

 

"Oh good," he responded.  "We always get too many requests to have it in port in San Francisco."

 

I might mention, that in four UBDs that we have had, three of them were, actually, in the cabin.  We, often, have them on sea days, and, not surprisingly, when at sea it can be very windy and bumpy.  So, our attitude is that we would rather be comfortable in our (standard balcony) cabin.  The service is just as good, and the food is the same.

 

We did have a UBD on a rear-facing balcony as we were departing Mazatlan, last December.  Having a rear-facing balcony mitigates the wind.  So, in January on the Star Princess we plan to have our next UBD as we are leaving Lahaina, Maui on another rear-facing balcony.

 

 

[TheRabbit]

2 minutes ago, XBGuy said:

We did have a UBD on a rear-facing balcony as we were departing Mazatlan, last December.  Having a rear-facing balcony mitigates the wind.  So, in January on the Star Princess we plan to have our next UBD as we are leaving Lahaina, Maui on another rear-facing balcony.

We did one in port in Honolulu in November. Temps will be great, have fun!!😉

 

I have put a date on the personalizer each time I have booked one. However, each time there was a card in the room to call to set up a time. Both times have been in the last year.

[RocketMan275]

On 11/22/2019 at 2:03 PM, c-boy said:

Romance and forgiveness for past transgression  UBD 

looking for presentation and quality ...... Chefs Table

One other consideration: if your wife feels pampered, you might receive some 'pampering' too.

[XBGuy]

2 hours ago, RocketMan275 said:

One other consideration: if your wife feels pampered, you might receive some 'pampering' too.

 

 

HWHL

 

😉

[TheRabbit]

28 minutes ago, XBGuy said:

HWHL

 

😉

Amen!!!!!😀

[Ginnyfyr]

On 11/24/2019 at 1:45 PM, XBGuy said:

I'm glad to hear that they were able to accommodate your wife for the Chef's Table.  The Chef's Table policy regarding food allergies seems to vary between different ships' management teams.  For our first Chef's Table event, we were required to sign a waiver indicating that we had no allergies.  I tell people when they ask whether allergies will be accommodated to go ahead and sign up, then, if you are selected, bring up the question.

 

I can't remember if we had to sign a waiver when we did Chef's Table a few years ago, but I do recall when submitting our names to do it, the maitre'd said there would be no substitutions for allergies. I was quite surprised to hear that. Personally I can't eat cheese but can have dairy, and I didn't want to get excluded because of that so I just didn't mention it and then avoided the dishes that had cheese in them. We are sailing again over New Year's with friends and we're all hoping to get chosen again - it was a fantastic experience the first time around (but yes, SO MUCH FOOD). 

Edited November 27, 2019 by Ginnyfyr

[Dive Girl]

Thanks all! I really appreciated the videos!

[gotta cruise again]

6 hours ago, Ginnyfyr said:

I can't remember if we had to sign a waiver when we did Chef's Table a few years ago, but I do recall when submitting our names to do it, the maitre'd said there would be no substitutions for allergies. I was quite surprised to hear that. Personally I can't eat cheese but can have dairy, and I didn't want to get excluded because of that so I just didn't mention it and then avoided the dishes that had cheese in them. We are sailing again over New Year's with friends and we're all hoping to get chosen again - it was a fantastic experience the first time around (but yes, SO MUCH FOOD). 

Hey J!!!

I used you (the allergy) as an example when suggesting to my RC of some of us doing the Chef’s Table this New Years Cruise.

That CT was just the most fun ever! I’m hoping several on my current RC will want to do it this year too. DH and I are looking forward to seeing y’all for a few minutes before you sail this year...see you in about a month...

L

[keithm]

On ‎11‎/‎22‎/‎2019 at 1:08 AM, Dive Girl said:

Hi all! We are cruising on the Crown Princess 10 day Southern Caribbean Cruise Dec 7. I was thinking of booking the Ultimate Balcony Dinner, but don't know when to reserve it. Then, I thought hmmm, maybe the Chef's Table...

 

I'd appreciate your thoughts....

We booked the Ultimate balcony dinner as well. It's $100 for the meal. The Chef's table is about $100pp(with wine pairing, somewhat less if you skip the wine)You're guaranteed the Balcony dinner. The Chef's table can be hit or miss: If there's a lot of interest, you might get passed over. If there's little interest, they may cancel it. We're going to try for the Chef's table as well. Reserve it as soon as you board! We're trying it, to compare it to La Reserve, which we've done a number of times on Oceania.

[keithm]

On ‎11‎/‎24‎/‎2019 at 3:19 PM, XBGuy said:

 

 

I'm not surprised.  For our 40th wedding anniversary, we booked a California Coastal cruise on the Ruby Princess (most ladies will understand that choice but I doubt that many men will).  I booked the UBD prior to leaving on the cruise personalizer.  Before we even left the port in Los Angeles, the Room Service manager called and asked if he could come to our cabin to discuss the arrangements for the UBD.  Since we'd been through the drill a few times before, that was completed quite quickly.  So, he came to the time and date questions--this was before you could specify the date in the cruise personalizer.  We knew we wanted it the very next night (our anniversary date) which was a sea day.

 

"Oh good," he responded.  "We always get too many requests to have it in port in San Francisco."

 

I might mention, that in four UBDs that we have had, three of them were, actually, in the cabin.  We, often, have them on sea days, and, not surprisingly, when at sea it can be very windy and bumpy.  So, our attitude is that we would rather be comfortable in our (standard balcony) cabin.  The service is just as good, and the food is the same.

 

We did have a UBD on a rear-facing balcony as we were departing Mazatlan, last December.  Having a rear-facing balcony mitigates the wind.  So, in January on the Star Princess we plan to have our next UBD as we are leaving Lahaina, Maui on another rear-facing balcony.

 

 

I think we'll be on that same Hawaii trip  as you. We've booked the UBD as well & hope to try the Chef's table. We're in a Club Balcony mini suite, so hopefully the balcony is big enough.

[Ginnyfyr]

On 11/27/2019 at 9:09 PM, gotta cruise again said:

Hey J!!!

I used you (the allergy) as an example when suggesting to my RC of some of us doing the Chef’s Table this New Years Cruise.

That CT was just the most fun ever! I’m hoping several on my current RC will want to do it this year too. DH and I are looking forward to seeing y’all for a few minutes before you sail this year...see you in about a month...

L

Hey lady! I really hope we are able to make a quick visit happen as well! Linda and I are constantly plotting on how to make it happen, lol. Fingers crossed that we'll see you soon! (and that we all get chosen for CT this time around, even if we are on different ships!)