Rudi's Sel De Mer

[BSR]

What is the current cost to dine here.  Thanks.

 

[oakridger]

$64.90 (Includes 18% gratuity) per @Crew News wonderful website!  Thanks Roger.

 

This website has excellent and regularly updated HAL information.  It's a great resource.

 

Roger Jett Photography - Digital Images in Time Roger Jett Photography (rogerjett-photography.com)

 

~Nancy

[BSR]

13 minutes ago, oakridger said:

$64.90 (Includes 18% gratuity) per @Crew News wonderful website!  Thanks Roger.

 

This website has excellent and regularly updated HAL information.  It's a great resource.

 

Roger Jett Photography - Digital Images in Time Roger Jett Photography (rogerjett-photography.com)

 

~Nancy

Thanks.

[electro]

15 minutes ago, oakridger said:

$64.90 (Includes 18% gratuity) per @Crew News wonderful website!  Thanks Roger.

 

This website has excellent and regularly updated HAL information.  It's a great resource.

 

Roger Jett Photography - Digital Images in Time Roger Jett Photography (rogerjett-photography.com)

 

~Nancy

Anyone else find that outrageously expensive for a cruise ship restaurant? That is $90 Cad. per person not including drinks.

[oakridger]

Yes, it's pretty expensive to me in US dollars as well!! The same menu with similar items in a land restaurant near me will cost much more though.  We all need to decide if the cost and quality is "worth it" to us.  When I ate at the pop-up Rudy's in the pre covid days (other than one disaster meal which was a management problem at the time), I thought the food was very, very good and I will choose to eat at Rudy's again if I sail on one of the three Pinnacle ships in the future.

 

~Nancy

[Torquer]

29 minutes ago, electro said:

Anyone else find that outrageously expensive for a cruise ship restaurant?

And don't forget the $30-40 worth of dinner that you could have had in the MDR, that your cruise fare implicitly paid for.  So the cost is really around $100 (US) when comparing the cost of going to eat at land restaurant.

 

Now that said, we did have an excellent and most memorable dinner at Rudi's Sel De Mer on our last cruise that was comped by our TA.  It was made more special because Rudi himself was sitting at the next table and talked to us after dinner.  He is quite a character.

[cbr663]

40 minutes ago, electro said:

Anyone else find that outrageously expensive for a cruise ship restaurant? That is $90 Cad. per person not including drinks.

 

Very expensive for us Canadians.  We tried it on our Alaskan cruise this past Spring.  Once and done for us.  The experience did not warrant the cost for us.

[Blackduck59]

My wife and I recently went to a land based restaurant here in our home town, The bill was close to $300.00 (CDN) of which $60.00 was the bar tab. For us with a beverage package the bar bill would not apply. If the service and food are very good at Rudi's then it is not any more expensive than any high end restaurant on land. One must decide if they are willing to pay the tariff, or dine in another venue.

[Caribbean Chris]

I could never get past the scary “food-face” china plates. I’m not crazy about anything on my plate looking back at me. Are they still using them?

[OlsSalt]

1 hour ago, Caribbean Chris said:

I could never get past the scary “food-face” china plates. I’m not crazy about anything on my plate looking back at me. Are they still using them?

 

Be glad they did not include similar whimsy paintings in the now revived HAL Libraries, as one scrolls down to The Librarian painting. Though my own feeling is rock on, 16th Century. 

 

16th Century artist: https://mymodernmet.com/giuseppe-arcimboldo-composite-heads/

[wdw1972]

2 hours ago, Caribbean Chris said:

I could never get past the scary “food-face” china plates. I’m not crazy about anything on my plate looking back at me. Are they still using them?

They don't serve the food on those plates.  They're at the table, but once you order they're removed.

 

Sue/WDW1972

[wdw1972]

2 minutes ago, BSR said:

Is that per person or for 2?

Per person - all specialty restaurant prices are per person.

 

Sue/WDW1972

[BSR]

5 minutes ago, wdw1972 said:

Per person - all specialty restaurant prices are per person.

 

Sue/WDW1972

Thanks.  I noticed is was for 2 after I asked.

[Caribbean Chris]

58 minutes ago, wdw1972 said:

They don't serve the food on those plates.  They're at the table, but once you order they're removed.

 

Sue/WDW1972

Thanks for explaining that, Sue. I had wondered how they possibly could be an appetizing background for anything added to the plate. 

[kazu]

10 hours ago, Caribbean Chris said:

Thanks for explaining that, Sue. I had wondered how they possibly could be an appetizing background for anything added to the plate. 

 

They are just meant to add a moment of fun, I think.  Still there on the Rotterdam but they were removed very quickly.  I have often wondered what the point was but they have been a moment of conversation on more than one occasion at Rudi’s 😉 

[Seasick Sailor]

1 hour ago, kazu said:

 

They are just meant to add a moment of fun, I think.  Still there on the Rotterdam but they were removed very quickly.  I have often wondered what the point was but they have been a moment of conversation on more than one occasion at Rudi’s 😉 

 

Our waiter told us they were put there as a selling point. They didn't want us to actually use the plates. 

[kazu]

11 minutes ago, Seasick Sailor said:

 

Our waiter told us they were put there as a selling point. They didn't want us to actually use the plates. 

 

they still do sell them on board.  My friends actually wanted to buy some but decided they were way too heavy for their suitcase/carry on.

[fairydustca]

On 10/25/2023 at 12:53 PM, electro said:

Anyone else find that outrageously expensive for a cruise ship restaurant? That is $90 Cad. per person not including drinks.

It is pricey, but we find it worth it.  The last couple of times we cruised, we were served 14 oz. impeccably prepared lobster tails along with all of the other delicious courses like foie gras and oysters. Lobster in our area is usually over $30/lb. if you want to prepare it yourself. Actually, every meal we've had there has been wonderful and the service is very personal and highly attentive. If you are 3 or 4 star Mariner you do get at 25% or 50% discount which does help make it more affordable. The biggest problem is trying to get a reservation. It always fills up early.

[81Zoomie]

We ate in Rudi’s on the Rotterdam this summer.  It was a big disappointment and we didn’t think it was worth the high price.  Caribbean instead of Maine lobster tails, not much atmosphere, no view, and the restaurant was rather empty.  Much prefer Tamarind and Pinnacle Grill. 

[OlsSalt]

Be forewarned, they serve paté au fois gras, a slab cut from a tin; not whole segments fois gras itself.  

 

Which even the HAL dining room used to serve whole. So ordering this menu item at Rudi's and getting only tinned paté was among the many menu surprises that night. 

[Cruisepucks]

DH and I dined in Rudi’s for the first time this past May on the Nieuw Statendam as we had OBC to use up.

One and done for us. In the first hour we’d only received a glass of water and one glass of wine each. All told, it took 2 1/2 hrs to complete our meal. Our server had only one other table for 2 so he wasn’t overly busy. I was so looking forward to the Dover Sole as I’d frequently read on cc about how good it was. It was ok but the fish dishes served in the mdr were far superior on this voyage. DH had the seafood grill. The scallops were raw in the centre and had a strong fishy taste to them. 
 

We did report our issues on the Navigator. The next day,  while having lunch in the pg, the manager approached us to discuss our experience and did offer a complimentary dinner at Rudi’s that evening, the last night of the voyage. We declined as we like to dine in the mdr on the last night to thank our wonderful servers. 

[POA1]

Charger plates are used at at a fair number of restaurants. I didn't even give them a second thought. Heck, we have a set here at home. They come out any time we're using our actual china - so maybe a few times a year.

[fairydustca]

3 hours ago, Cruisepucks said:

DH and I dined in Rudi’s for the first time this past May on the Nieuw Statendam as we had OBC to use up.

One and done for us. In the first hour we’d only received a glass of water and one glass of wine each. All told, it took 2 1/2 hrs to complete our meal. Our server had only one other table for 2 so he wasn’t overly busy. I was so looking forward to the Dover Sole as I’d frequently read on cc about how good it was. It was ok but the fish dishes served in the mdr were far superior on this voyage. DH had the seafood grill. The scallops were raw in the centre and had a strong fishy taste to them. 
 

We did report our issues on the Navigator. The next day,  while having lunch in the pg, the manager approached us to discuss our experience and did offer a complimentary dinner at Rudi’s that evening, the last night of the voyage. We declined as we like to dine in the mdr on the last night to thank our wonderful servers. 

That's so unfortunate! Maybe it depends on the ship and the management on that ship? We have usually cruised on the Koningsdam and have always had a wonderful experience. I hope things have not gone downhill since we were last on. We have Rudi's reservations on a cruise next week and again in December. Since HAL does not have a Chef's Table, we usually really enjoy Rudi's. If November is bad, we will probably cancel the December reservation.

 

[cruisemom42]

16 hours ago, OlsSalt said:

Be forewarned, they serve paté au fois gras, a slab cut from a tin; not whole segments fois gras itself.  

 

Which even the HAL dining room used to serve whole. So ordering this menu item at Rudi's and getting only tinned paté was among the many menu surprises that night. 

 

You know for certain that it is tinned?  (An honest question, not meant to provoke.)

 

My local place for gourmet goodies makes their own fois gras paté and it is delicious; I actually prefer it to the whole fois gras for an appetizer and usually get some for Thanksgiving.

 

[albingirl]

4 hours ago, fairydustca said:

That's so unfortunate! Maybe it depends on the ship and the management on that ship? We have usually cruised on the Koningsdam and have always had a wonderful experience. I hope things have not gone downhill since we were last on. We have Rudi's reservations on a cruise next week and again in December. Since HAL does not have a Chef's Table, we usually really enjoy Rudi's. If November is bad, we will probably cancel the December reservation.

 

We met Rudi once, not long ago. He posed for pictures with us. He was very kind. Worth every dime and more!!