Rogueperson's **Live** Scarlet Lady 4/21/2024 Transatlantic

[Rogueperson]

Are you kidding me?!?!?!  I had this entire thing posted and it disappeared!!!!  Here I go again.

 

Can I say I LOVE LOVE LOVE Test Kitchen.

This is easily equivalent to Chef’s Table on Royal Caribbean without the wine pairing.  I have to say the wine pairing at Chef’s table is far superior as they give a presentation of the wines and the pairing and the pairings actually does work.

 

Here, the wine pairing is an additional 40 and was not memorable.  I probably will not do the wine pairing at my next visit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Menu.  Simple as can be.

 

 

Mushroom.  This was like a mousse or pate.  Decadent.  The little mushrooms you can barely see were marinated.

 

 

with bread.

 

 

Egg

 

 

This should have been label peas, not Egg.  It was still good but I felt the peas had way more of an impact than the egg.

 

Scallops.  This was amazing.  Buttery and delicious, melt in your mouth.

 

 

 

Venison.  This was yummy too.  It normally comes medium, but i got it medium rare.

 

 

Potato side

 

Heres where they made a serious error.  My wife is gluten free. See the sauce on top?  Thats thicken with flour.  She took one bite and noticed it.  They missed it.  Fortunately she was able to mitigate the effect.  Not good.

 

 

Blue Cheese.  I thought this was dessert but it is not.  Excellent dish.

 

Chocolate. This is the only wine pairing that had an impact on the meal.  The rest were forgettable but this pairing hit hard. 

 

This was my wife’s dessert as she’s gluten free.  It was an orange sherbet or cream.  It was yummy too.

 

When i made this reservation, it was the only one i made before 6.  All my other reservations were after 8 or closer to 9.  The rep said that Test Kitchen maybe light and I would be hungry later quicker and this timing would allow me to get additional food before most of the Galley closed.  I also did not know that the diner is open 24/7 and the burger place opened late.  After the third course, I was still hungry but the remaining courses filled me up sufficiently.  That and the wine pairing knocked me out for the night.  I’m a lightweight so this was way more than enough to take me out.

[Jamesv281117]

Very interesting reading through details of your transatlantic, I'm on Resilient Lady currently on what is a very similar sailing to yours heading north from Cape Town. I'm also very much enjoying the food and relaxation! 

[Rogueperson]

I have two gripes so far and its mostly ship design.  

 

1.  I have a love/hate feeling for the Manor.  70s party and club venue.  This place is awesome!!!  so much room!!!  This reminds me of how the Freedom Class ships on Royal Caribbean had their nightclub on 4.  It was the Raven on Indy and I loved that.  It was similar to this.  But they tore it down for more revenue space 🤨.  As a venue for performances.  Hate.  So much wasted space as there are only limited views in most of the area and even less seats.

 

2.  Major flaw in my opinion.  Unless you have access to Richard’s rooftop, there are no public spaces that look out over the front of the ship.  As I’m up this early on a cruise for the first time ever, I thought i could actually catch a sunrise.  Nope.  No access.

 

Okay, I lied, i caught a sunrise in Panama in 2015.

 

 

Edited April 24 by Rogueperson

[Rogueperson]

Ramen!!!  On a cruise!!!

 

 

Verdict.  Not the worst Ramen I’ve had and totally passable.  Still, its on a cruise and that makes it incredible.

[Rogueperson]

Poke too!!!

 

 

This is solid.  The only issue is that its not exactly customizable like i’m used to.

[laurieal]

Food is still looking good! Is everything included or are they specialty restaurants?

 

The Test Kitchen seems right up my alley. I think I would have loved the mushroom and scallops dishes. 

Edited April 24 by laurieal

[CineGraphic]

27 minutes ago, laurieal said:

Food is still looking good! Is everything included or are they specialty restaurants?

 

All dining venues are included in your fare, however most,if not all of the sit-down venues offer extra dishes with an up-charge, with examples being a Tomahawk Steak, or a seafood tower.

https://vvinsider.com/restaurant-menus/

 

[Rogueperson]

3 hours ago, laurieal said:

Food is still looking good! Is everything included or are they specialty restaurants?

 

The Test Kitchen seems right up my alley. I think I would have loved the mushroom and scallops dishes. 

 

All food included!!  EVERYTHING I’ve had here, I would put as specialty restaurant quality food or at the very least top end MDR.  

 

If you liked Test Kitchen idea.  Book a spot with Chef’s Table.  If you’ve never done that, its amazing.  Its in the same vein as Test Kitchen.  Its a six course meal and runs about 105/person including gratuity.  This price does include wine pairing.  A different one for each course.

 

Here’s a sample menu but i don’t believe its changed.  It hadn’t as of last October when we were on Jewel.  This menu was the last time we did it on Adventure in 2022.  We’ve had the same menu mostly since 2017.  We asked on Jewel if the menu changed and when it hadn’t, we skipped it for the first time since 2012.

 

Edited April 24 by Rogueperson

[jaxcruisinguy]

It’s disappointing to see they’re still doing the mushroom, egg etc menu in the test kitchen. I’m surprised they haven’t made a 3rd/4th menu yet. 

[Rogueperson]

2 hours ago, jaxcruisinguy said:

It’s disappointing to see they’re still doing the mushroom, egg etc menu in the test kitchen. I’m surprised they haven’t made a 3rd/4th menu yet. 

 

Yeah, I heard the menu hasn’t changed in a couple years.  Considering this cruise line only started in 2021.  Our table mates, one got the vegan menu, which is not advertised.  The Tangerine sherbet is on that menu.  My wife got it because of her allergy restrictions 

Edited April 24 by Rogueperson

[jaxcruisinguy]

10 minutes ago, Rogueperson said:

 

Yeah, I heard the menu hasn’t changed in a couple years.  Considering this cruise line only started in 2021.  Our table mates, one got the vegan menu, which is not advertised.  The Tangerine sherbet is on that menu.  My wife got it because of her allergy restrictions 

I would think with the length of the TA your next visit you should get the other menu (I would hope). Corn, Salmon, Shrimp, Lamb, Avacado and Strawberry. 

[laurieal]

7 hours ago, Rogueperson said:

 

All food included!!  EVERYTHING I’ve had here, I would put as specialty restaurant quality food or at the very least top end MDR.  

 

If you liked Test Kitchen idea.  Book a spot with Chef’s Table.  If you’ve never done that, its amazing.  Its in the same vein as Test Kitchen.  Its a six course meal and runs about 105/person including gratuity.  This price does include wine pairing.  A different one for each course.

 

Here’s a sample menu but i don’t believe its changed.  It hadn’t as of last October when we were on Jewel.  This menu was the last time we did it on Adventure in 2022.  We’ve had the same menu mostly since 2017.  We asked on Jewel if the menu changed and when it hadn’t, we skipped it for the first time since 2012.

 

I was offered to book the Chef’s Table at 50% off on Anthem in 2022 and I jumped on the opportunity. I had an amazing meal with amazing company. 
 

I’m not doing it this time, but I’d be interested in doing it again in the future, especially if it’s on sale. 
 

All the food pictures you have posted from Virgin make me thing I could justify the higher price of the cruise if I’m going to be eating that well the whole time. 

[ZsaZsa2019]

34 minutes ago, jaxcruisinguy said:

I would think with the length of the TA your next visit you should get the other menu (I would hope). Corn, Salmon, Shrimp, Lamb, Avacado and Strawberry. 

 

Do you know which menu you are getting when you book Test Kitchen?  I'd be disappointed in the egg and blue cheese, for example.  That brings me to another question about dining..........Do ALL restaurants require a reservation that you make prior to sailing?  Or are some walk ups? 

[FionaMG]

Oh my, Rogue, you're going to be in a total food coma long before you reach this side of the pond! 😂

It all looks amazing! 😋

[CineGraphic]

43 minutes ago, jaxcruisinguy said:

Corn, Salmon, Shrimp, Lamb, Avacado and Strawberry. 

 

It's asparagus, not avocado.

[CineGraphic]

9 minutes ago, ZsaZsa2019 said:

Do ALL restaurants require a reservation that you make prior to sailing?  Or are some walk ups? 

 

The fuller the ships are, the harder it will be to do a walk-up unless you're sailing solo and don't mind sitting at the bar. If you like eating around 9pm, you shouldn't have a problem compared to everyone who wants to eat between 5:30 and 8:00.

[Rogueperson]

2 hours ago, ZsaZsa2019 said:

 

Do you know which menu you are getting when you book Test Kitchen?  I'd be disappointed in the egg and blue cheese, for example.  That brings me to another question about dining..........Do ALL restaurants require a reservation that you make prior to sailing?  Or are some walk ups? 

You can ask.  I know for a fact that my next Test Kitchen has a different menu.  They say they change it up every 3 days.

 

I am fairly positive you can walk up and depending on how busy, you’d have to wait.  However, I made reservations when they popped 60 days ago.  I think some are more popular than others.

[jaxcruisinguy]

6 minutes ago, CineGraphic said:

 

It's asparagus, not avocado.

that’s right… all I had were pics of the dishes lol. 

[Rogueperson]

2 hours ago, laurieal said:

I was offered to book the Chef’s Table at 50% off on Anthem in 2022 and I jumped on the opportunity. I had an amazing meal with amazing company. 
 

I’m not doing it this time, but I’d be interested in doing it again in the future, especially if it’s on sale. 
 

All the food pictures you have posted from Virgin make me thing I could justify the higher price of the cruise if I’m going to be eating that well the whole time. 

 

No if.  This is the general food quality on Virgin.  

 

Also, you’re going to hate this.  I only paid 1850 for this trip for 2 for an interior.  It included gratuities plus i got a total of 800 bar tab plus another 50 Sailer loot from my TA.  If you book far enough in advanced, you might get a good deal.  They also gave you a 10% discount if you paid 180 days before sailing.  I didn’t get a chance to take that offer because 6 months was me just coming back from Greenland last year and had a bill for that month.

[Rogueperson]

2 hours ago, FionaMG said:

Oh my, Rogue, you're going to be in a total food coma long before you reach this side of the pond! 😂

It all looks amazing! 😋

 

I’m in food coma now…

[Rogueperson]

Oh, I neglected to post the Glances here.

 

Monday

 

 

 

Tuesday

 

 

 

And Today’s

 

 

[Rogueperson]

There is another plus in Virgin.  There is not all the sales pitches from staff standing around.  

 

Even the schedule is straight and to the point without advertisements and such.

 

Its quite refreshing.

[scaught]

10 hours ago, Rogueperson said:

Poke too!!!

 

 

This is solid.  The only issue is that its not exactly customizable like i’m used to.

Ive been on 2 VV cruises and somehow either never found this place (1st cruise) or didn't find it when it was open (poor planning on 2nd cruise). #3 this July - will i get to eat there?

[Rogueperson]

2 hours ago, scaught said:

Ive been on 2 VV cruises and somehow either never found this place (1st cruise) or didn't find it when it was open (poor planning on 2nd cruise). #3 this July - will i get to eat there?

 

Deck 16.  This morning, I was wandering all over the Galley going “where is the Poke, I KNOW I saw it on boarding day and now I can’t find it.”. I had to do a google search to realize its at the Sun Cafe and only opened 12:00-5:00.  Also they have this spicy caramel popcorn thats amazing.

 

Edited April 25 by Rogueperson

[scaught]

ooh that looks awesome. I will make it happen this time.