Any Recent Samba Experiences?

[DoomSlayer]

I just bought and made reservations for Samba for dinner one night on Allure.  I understand it is like a Brazilian steak house and am familiar with what that is.  All I could find on the forum are older reviews and threads on Samba that date to pre-covid times.  Has anyone had a recent experience eating here and did you enjoy it?  It seems to be priced cheap compared to other specialty restaurants, should I be worried?

[ScooterScott22]

We went last September and it was a nice change from some of the "standard" cruise dining experiences.  The food is pretty decent and there will likely be some hit or misses for everyone.  Some of that can be due to personal tastes and some of that can be due to how well certain dishes are executed that particular day. 

You will have a salad option at the buffet area of the Solaruim.  They will bring some vegetables and sides to the table family style but you can get more if you find something you like.  Then they will round with the meats.  Everything tasted fine from my viewpoint.  We would likely do it again if sailing in Star or have the UDP on the Allure.  If you are happy with that type of restaurant on land, it should be pretty similar so don't worry. 

[CruiseGus]

Did Samba Feb 2023 on Allure both weeks we were onboard.  Are the Brazilian's on land better, sure, but it is unique and we enjoyed it thoroughly or we would not have repeated the 2nd week.  Lots of food and some of the meats better than others.  For us well well worth the price, lots of fun and a super atmosphere. Great staff, say hi to Sami.

[billdauterive]

Experienced it last month.  As others have said it was good, but land based options are better (just like all the specialty dining imo).  I would absolutely do it again as the food was good and we loved the ambiance of the solarium bistro without many people inside or outside in the solarium.  I suggest everyone at least try it once if they get a chance since it's so different from the other specialty dining and it's only on 2 ships in the fleet.

[DoomSlayer]

6 hours ago, CruiseGus said:

Did Samba Feb 2023 on Allure both weeks we were onboard.  Are the Brazilian's on land better, sure, but it is unique and we enjoyed it thoroughly or we would not have repeated the 2nd week.  Lots of food and some of the meats better than others.  For us well well worth the price, lots of fun and a super atmosphere. Great staff, say hi to Sami.

I'll keep an eye out for Sami!

[barjpoe]

We're doing it on Radiance next month. On Radiance its at the back of the ship, above the WJ. Did on Allure a couple of years ago. Yes, its good & of course way too much food, but pace yourselves.

[WAAAYTOOO]

The only advice I can add....pace yourself and don't let them fill you up with the lower quality meats, which are served early in the meal.  They save the best (picanha) cut for last.  I am not a huge red meat eater to begin with, but by the time I got to the picanha, I was totally stuffed....which I'm sure is their design.  I will say though....that I had only heard the term "melt in your mouth" but never experienced it....until I had that picanha.  It literally melted in my mouth.  I didn't eat much, but what I had was really good.

The presentation has changed remarkably since the beginning.  We sailed on Allure's second ever sailing...and back then, they covered the tables and chairs to make them elegant and there was live entertainment during the meal.  They had Carnivale dancers and live music.  That is all gone now.  Bare tables and chairs and more of a buffet atmosphere except for the tableside delivery of the various grilled meats.  It was much more fun back in "the day" but at least it's something different.  I still enjoyed it, many years later, but it wasn't the same...

[CrimsonCruiser]

We did it on Allure last year and I still say it was the best specialty dining we've done (that's not the highest bar because we've only done a handful but still....)

I loved the beef most and the sides are basically unlimited.The staff was really great too, patient, funny, nice etc. I'm actually very sad to hear Samba is only a couple ships and I saw in a FB group that the one on Radiance will be going away at her dry dock.

On Allure Solarium Bistro turns into Samba at night so it was a little weird being in this kinda classy, candlelit area with people in bikinis walking right by the window but as it got later the number of bathers dwindled and instead we got a lovely sunset through the windows.

[DoomSlayer]

3 hours ago, CrimsonCruiser said:

On Allure Solarium Bistro turns into Samba at night so it was a little weird being in this kinda classy, candlelit area with people in bikinis walking right by the window but as it got later the number of bathers dwindled and instead we got a lovely sunset through the windows.

The swimmers / bathers don't bother me so much... it is a cruise vacation after all.  Sunset would be fun to watch in the background though!

[Pattycruise]

Had my first ever experience on Radiance yesterday.  I have nothing to compare it to as I’ve never been to a Brazilian steakhouse.  I did not copy the menu so I’m unsure which meats I am referencing.  I felt most of the food tasted the same.  It was the spices that were the same on practically everything served.  It was a turnoff to me.  One cut of meat was inedible, very chewy.  Lamb, something I’ve never tried, was not my thing.  Service was incredibly slow, the 2 people at my table had eaten at Samba on a different ship and also commented how slow it was. They forgot to bring us the final meat which they had previously skipped over.   We were seated at 6 and walked out at 8:30.  There is no salad bar on Radiance but the appetizers were delicious.  The grilled pineapple at dessert was fantastic. Overall I would consider to do this again, perhaps on another ship, to see if it’s any better. Having the D+ BOGO was great as I technically only paid half of the cost, so it took the sting out of the repetitive taste of the spice and the delay in service. 

[CruiseGus]

Based on others comments, it proves my long held belief, that when it comes to cruises on Royal Caribbean specifically, that much is dependent on the ship and its staff at that specific time.  It can actually very from week to week as they rotate staff.

Currently on a b2b and same item in the MDR has been different each time, 2 good one not so.  Still I'm not cooking, cleaning or working at all

[DoomSlayer]

19 hours ago, Pattycruise said:

Had my first ever experience on Radiance yesterday.  I have nothing to compare it to as I’ve never been to a Brazilian steakhouse.  I did not copy the menu so I’m unsure which meats I am referencing.  I felt most of the food tasted the same.  It was the spices that were the same on practically everything served.  It was a turnoff to me.  One cut of meat was inedible, very chewy.  Lamb, something I’ve never tried, was not my thing.  Service was incredibly slow, the 2 people at my table had eaten at Samba on a different ship and also commented how slow it was. They forgot to bring us the final meat which they had previously skipped over.   We were seated at 6 and walked out at 8:30.  There is no salad bar on Radiance but the appetizers were delicious.  The grilled pineapple at dessert was fantastic. Overall I would consider to do this again, perhaps on another ship, to see if it’s any better. Having the D+ BOGO was great as I technically only paid half of the cost, so it took the sting out of the repetitive taste of the spice and the delay in service. 

I'll have to let you know it works out on Allure when I go in May.  I picked it up when it was on sale in the cruise planner, so based on what you and others have said, probably worth the cost I paid for something different.

[Bmac]

We did Samba on Radiance last week 3/22/23. Having been to Brazilian Churrascaria's before so we decided to give Samba a try. On Radiance you need to walk outside on deck 12 to get to Samba which if it is windy and you did your hair it would not survive the walk to the restaurant, or if it's raining you'll absolutely get wet. With that little gripe out of the way we enjoyed Samba. It is not like a traditional Churrasacaria but overall was good. Like mentioned pace yourself because it is a lot of food. Try to pick and choose the things you like most. For us the Pichana and the Filet Mignon were our favorites. We thought the seasoning on the meat was better than some of the churrascarias we have eaten at on land.

We usually do the three night dining package when we cruise just for some variety and the experience.

Just a heads up for anyone on Radiance right now thinking of going to Giovanni's, we did Giovanni's the second night and our waiter was the same waiter we had for Chef's Table last June on Allure and remembered the service, he sat us down and created an abbreviated version of Chef's Table for us and it was excellent! So if you're on Radiance right now and considering Giovanni's ask for Christian as your waiter you won't regret it.

[barjpoe]

14 hours ago, Bmac said:

or anyone on Radiance right now thinking of going to Giovanni's, we did Giovanni's the second night and our waiter was the same waiter we had for Chef's Table last June on Allure and remembered the service, he sat us down and created an abbreviated version of Chef's Table for us and it was excellent! So if you're on Radiance right now and considering Giovanni's ask for Christian as your waiter you won't regret it.

Thanks for the tip. We'll be on her in a few weeks.