ugaalumni2001 Posted September 5, 2023 Report Share Posted September 5, 2023 My wife and I just returned from a cruise to Alaska on Radiance of the Seas. While onboard, we dined at Samba Grill. We have eaten at Brazilian steakhouses before and heard that Samba Grill was very similar. However, once there we learned that they have done away with the red/green colored cards indicating whether or not they should bring you more meat. Instead, they bring out one serving of each meat one at a time in a predetermined order. Of course, they wait to bring out the best meats at the end, hoping you are too full. It isn't until you have gone through the entire meat list that you can request a second serving of a particular meat and even then, they acted a little bothered that you were even asking. So, if you are looking forward to filet mignon, you have to sit through appetizers and six other meats until you get to it. The food was delicious, but I was disappointed that it was not the traditional Brazilian steakhouse format. Kata 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAAAYTOOO Posted September 5, 2023 Report Share Posted September 5, 2023 Yes, the Samba Grill is one of the huge disappointments in the Royal specialty dining line-up. When they first opened this venue it was awesome ! They decorated and covered the tables and chairs and had live Carnivale entertainment. It is a sad shadow of its former self. We never bother anymore. Just an OBTW, the Brazilian restaurants we have been to in the past also hold the best cuts until last, so Samba isn't unique in this aspect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OCSC Mike Posted September 5, 2023 Report Share Posted September 5, 2023 That doesn't sound fun at all. Our go to local Churrascaria (although we haven't been in a long time) has every type of meat out and about at once (or at least rotated randomly). They even ask if there's something particular we'd like so they can send the gaucho with that meat our way. PPPJJ-GCVAB and cdixon22 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Last Lion Posted September 5, 2023 Report Share Posted September 5, 2023 Only ate at Samba once but at the start of the meal I told them that I didn’t want two or three of the meat cuts. They had no problem shortening the rounds to what I wanted. Another tip is to just graze at the salad bar at the start. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ampurp85 Posted September 5, 2023 Report Share Posted September 5, 2023 This is sad news, I am planning to do it on Allure next month and there are a lot of meats I might not want. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rackham Posted September 5, 2023 Report Share Posted September 5, 2023 3 hours ago, Ampurp85 said: This is sad news, I am planning to do it on Allure next month and there are a lot of meats I might not want. At Samba on Allure last month the filet was the third meat brought out. I couldn't really figure out what was determining the order presented. Lamb was towards the end, but so was the pork. Staff was excellent and I probably could've asked for only certain meats without issue. In fact, they brought back by several of the more expensive beef cuts trying to get me to take more. My only issue during the meal was the dessert buffet wasn't being replensished quickly. Though having a slight delay in dessert after all that meat wasn't a bad thing. Ampurp85 and CruiseGus 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ampurp85 Posted September 5, 2023 Report Share Posted September 5, 2023 24 minutes ago, Rackham said: At Samba on Allure last month the filet was the third meat brought out. I couldn't really figure out what was determining the order presented. Lamb was towards the end, but so was the pork. Staff was excellent and I probably could've asked for only certain meats without issue. In fact, they brought back by several of the more expensive beef cuts trying to get me to take more. My only issue during the meal was the dessert buffet wasn't being replensished quickly. Though having a slight delay in dessert after all that meat wasn't a bad thing. How long would you say the meal took? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rackham Posted September 5, 2023 Report Share Posted September 5, 2023 45 minutes ago, Ampurp85 said: How long would you say the meal took? From what I recall, about 90 minutes from seating to leaving. cdixon22, CruiseGus and Ampurp85 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
USCG Teacher Posted September 5, 2023 Report Share Posted September 5, 2023 1 hour ago, Rackham said: At Samba on Allure last month the filet was the third meat brought out. I couldn't really figure out what was determining the order presented. Lamb was towards the end, but so was the pork. Staff was excellent and I probably could've asked for only certain meats without issue. In fact, they brought back by several of the more expensive beef cuts trying to get me to take more. My only issue during the meal was the dessert buffet wasn't being replensished quickly. Though having a slight delay in dessert after all that meat wasn't a bad thing. I was on two weeks ago and had the same experience. Filet and tenderloin were fairly early on, we absolutely had the red/green disc, and the servers had no issue at all if any of us wanted to skip a particular meat. Our experience was somewhere between 90 mins. to 2 hours, but that was definitely more of an us issue than a them one. It was only about 60% full and still a long ways to closing, so we didn't feel rude lingering and enjoying a few glasses of wine... Ampurp85, Mike n Ky, WAAAYTOOO and 3 others 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrimsonCruiser Posted September 6, 2023 Report Share Posted September 6, 2023 My experience is over a year old at this point, but in regards to the meat order, they served beef, chicken, lamb, pork in that order. I remember that the sausages were last and it was the weakest option IMO. PPPJJ-GCVAB and Ampurp85 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PPPJJ-GCVAB Posted September 7, 2023 Report Share Posted September 7, 2023 My experience also was just a year ago and exactly how @CrimsonCruiser described. What I did not like about the night was how sticky/hot and humid it was in the restaurant the night we dined! We really couldn’t enjoy our meal as we were desperately trying to finish up to find a cool area! CrimsonCruiser and OCSC Mike 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrimsonCruiser Posted September 7, 2023 Report Share Posted September 7, 2023 4 hours ago, PPPJJ-GCVAB said: My experience also was just a year ago and exactly how @CrimsonCruiser described. What I did not like about the night was how sticky/hot and humid it was in the restaurant the night we dined! We really couldn’t enjoy our meal as we were desperately trying to finish up to find a cool area! Yeah it is a very interesting idea to have it in the Solarium on Allure. Even with the temperature control, pool areas are always humid. Then you add in the caribbean sea and it's certainly an interesting experience. Our wine glasses were covered in condensation mere minutes after being filled asquared17 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottD Posted September 9, 2023 Report Share Posted September 9, 2023 I just saw a pic in the live blogs section that was from last week and it showed a picture of the red/green disc. WAAAYTOOO 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CruiseGus Posted September 12, 2023 Report Share Posted September 12, 2023 OP's experience is not typical on either Allure or Radiance from experience on both all within last 8 months. I will say if you're looking for a 5 Star experience, this is not it, but then neither in my opinion is the reasonable Royals price for this restaurant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike n Ky Posted September 16, 2023 Report Share Posted September 16, 2023 On 9/5/2023 at 5:51 PM, USCG Teacher said: I was on two weeks ago and had the same experience. Filet and tenderloin were fairly early on, we absolutely had the red/green disc, and the servers had no issue at all if any of us wanted to skip a particular meat. Our experience was somewhere between 90 mins. to 2 hours, but that was definitely more of an us issue than a them one. It was only about 60% full and still a long ways to closing, so we didn't feel rude lingering and enjoying a few glasses of wine... Allure last week and we had the disc and it was about 90 minutes for us. However, it was a bit more difficult to get the sequence changed but I believe I was in part just a language barrier thing and frankly since you can refuse a serving I should not have tried to change the order. lol Food was great and we dined there because it was a specialty restaurant we hadn't tried before even though we had been on the Allure 4 times before this sailing. USCG Teacher 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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