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3 night special dinning plan


jenna lee

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4 hours ago, PatsFanBrian said:

You shouldn't have any issue.  I'd suggest that you book the other two nights as soon as you get on board so you'll have more times to choose from.

 

Second this.  As soon as you board, visit a specialty restaurant and inquire about your night 1 (or 2, depending) reservation.  You can change that if you wish and also reserve the other two nights.  We have never had problems getting our venues and time of choice following this approach.

 

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Never had a problem.  Actually when we were on Adventure in July, we had 4 specialties (TA comped one, plus our 3 nights).  We actually booked 1 restaurant 2 nights, (Giovannis).  After eating at Chops, than Giovannis, we decided we wanted to switch the 2nd reservation from Giovannis to Chops.  This was day 4 on our 8 night cruise.  No problem whatsoever.  Our times were also peak times (6:30)

I would say to actually think about Wonderland on Anthem for 1 of the 3 nights.   I think of Wonderland more like a dinner with the food being the show.  Not that the food is OMG amazing, but due to presentation.  We enjoy good food, but Wonderland to us was like the Bionic Bar.  It is in my eyes,  check the box, did it, but have no desire to repeat. (Caveat except for The World dessert).  I am not a sushi fan at all, but I would do Izumi over Wonderland any day of the week and twice on Sunday. Anthem does not have a teppyanaki (grill) so for me that I would do Izumi over Wonderland says a lot.

  •  Izumi is different from how it works.  They give you an allowance per person.  Trust me,  it is hard to go over the allowance. Their selection is huge too.

I would also do some research regarding how many formal nights and which night they hold it on your cruise.  Longer cruises typically have 2 formal nights.  We go to the MDR for formal nights, hence when we got on board we knew which nights we would be in the MDR.

Off topic, but if you are someone that wants the top notch dinner, and your wallet can handle it, do the Chefs table.  It is very unique, very limited and a long dinner.  We paid 85 pp.  

  •  The table is maybe 12 people.   
  •  There is only 1 seating.  You meet up with the maitre'd at a specific bar for a champagne cocktail.  They than walk you into the secluded area for the dinner.  It starts @6:30 and lasts until 9 - 9:30.  I would not suggest bringing any child to this.
  •  Nothing on our menu was offered on the ship.  I want to say it was 6 courses, maybe 7.  Each course is paired with a wine.  The chef will come out right before they serve the course and discuss what it is.  The maitre'd is also a sommelier so they discuss why they selected that wine for that course.  Funny thing is they have salt and pepper shakers on the table, but they are empty.  It is to prove if the food is season right, and paired with the right wine you have no need to salt or pepper your food.
  •  I am from NJ, but live now in No. VA.  A dinner like this would run you @200+ per person.  Think about just the wine, 6 glasses top notch = @80.  Add in the courses, you are at 200 pp.  Our menu included things like : smoked tomato basil soup, scallop carpaccio micro green salad,  fish entree was branzino, followed by the meat course of filet mignon.  The dessert is the only thing I have seen on any ship, which was The World.  The presentation is amazing, but not showy like Wonderland.  There was not 1 item that came out that I didn't enjoy.  When I read scallop carpaccio, I was oh I am going to pass on this one...I was wrong, it was insane.  When I read Branzino my fears went up, because fish can be nasty if it is not served at the proper temp.  It was perfect.  I knew what The World was, and I told those in our group, get out your cameras now and set it on video.  

If the wallet cannot do the Chefs than there would be 2 other options I would think about with doing the 3 night, so you can get even more bang for your buck from specialty dining.

  1.  The galley bottomless champagne brunch tour, I think we usually pay $30 pp.  It is a great thing to do on a sea day.  The brunch menu is also different than what you will see if you just go to the MDR.  It truly is brunch.  They have both breakfast and lunch options.  Like specialty restaurants you can order multiple starters and desserts.  We have done this multiple times, because each ship is a little different.  You will see pics of their famous escargot being prepped for the dinner that night, or the breads, but we have yet to see that. I will say that I do have a better appreciation of why their mushroom soup is so delicious, hint the stock used as a base is made daily starting with using beef bones, it is truly like you would make at home, no pouring in commercial cans of beef stock. 
  2.  Since you are on Anthem.  You could do Wonderland, and again on a sea day do the sushi class.  (@$30 pp), this way you are getting in another specialty.  The thing with the class is you make soooo much sushi and they know this, you can have other people join you to enjoy what you made at the end of the class.  You are not allowed to leave with anything you made due to health and safety issues.  This is a great option if anyone in your group likes sushi, especially if you have kids that aren't wanting to be in the Adventure Ocean programs.  I don't know anyone that didn't have a 2nd person assist them in eating what they made.  Hence, if you think about it, you got to do Izumi, limited menu for 15 pp.

Hope that helps in your planning which restaurants

 

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As if my previous post was not long enough.

We typically cruise longer cruises (2 formal nights).  We always go to the MDR night 1 and 2 (1st formal night), with our last night in the MDR the 2nd formal.  The 1st night we tell them the nights we will be there.  I love RCCL's wedge salad.  It is only offered on formal nights, but they offer it in Chops every night.  I ask on night 1 to please for the remaining nights bring me the wedge salad, even if it is not on the menu.  They always have delivered.

Going the 1st night, talk to your waitstaff about how you booked specialty, and if it was them what would they order.  They will tell you some insight, such as, Izumi has an off menu item.  That means unless you specifically ask for it, you will not know it exists.  Our last cruise we went with family that either never cruised or not with RCL.  They did not know this little secret.

  •  My SIL only cruises NCL, dragging her on an RCCL cruise was not her happy place, but by then end she is not an RCL convert.  When I asked the waitstaff the 1st night for wedge salad for the next night, she was taken a back, never happened for her on NCL.  2nd night they did not have wedge on the menu, but I got it.  
  •  My husband said we are going to Izumi the next night.  What is the off menu item, they told us, and described what it was.  Again, there was doubt.  Got there and said we want the off menu, and they did it. 

Just saying there are a lot of complaints about the slow service on the 1st night, but use it towards your advantage to gain insight.

 

 

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On ‎9‎/‎28‎/‎2019 at 6:48 PM, jenna lee said:

Has anyone had this before if so was it hard to change/book the other 2 dining nights  once on board the ship? 

Zero issues. We got onboard and went straight to Chops and they mad ALL the reservation. Do it first thing.  People get all excited and for to do it first thing.

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