eponym

copy the entire URL and paste into a new tab or window. It comes up for me.

We have never done a Chef's Table.. not because we aren't adventurous eaters, but because we have been concerned about the atmosphere of the evening. Meaning... we are very casual people (not so casual that we would wear shorts or tank tops to the dining room), but we don't like to get super dressed up either (more like slacks/polo for DH and a sundress for me). We are on vacation and want to be comfy. :)

 

Please don't flame me on this, but we were concerned about the other passengers at the table, as we don't like to be around shall we say "stuffy" people. When we are on vacation we want to relax and not have any pretenses or awkwardness at dinner.

 

Can anyone share their experiences with the other passengers at the Chef's Table?

 

Is there set menu on each ship or does it vary? Is wine included in the dinner? Does anyone have any recent menus that that can share?

 

Thanks,

Angie

Chef's table is great experience at a fraction of the price of anything comparable on land in a major city in U.S. On the people part, absolutely no way on knowing what personalities or state of drunkenness anyone might be at any time on a cruise, so no way to guide you there. Would say we have never had an issue, most people upbeat and having a good time.

Cuisine changes. It has been different from time to time, and you may find some unique offering pioneered by the team on your ship for that evening. The mystery makes it all the more entertaining.

Enjoy it, We always do.

Hello Cruisers!

 

I am actually a newbie, I went on my first cruise on a 3 day Ensenada from Long Beach cruise on September 28th and I absolutely loved it. I loved it so much that I promised for my friend's birthday in January that we would take him and some of our friends on the Imagination for a 5 day Catalina and Ensenada on the 21st. Just recently I found out that carnival doesn't allow anyone under 21 to travel without an adult who's 25 or older. The 6 of us are 19 and 20 years old, so we're very close but not quite.

 

I called Carnival to ask about if there's any way around this dumb rule and they told me that as long as anyone on the ship is 25 or older and they can cross reference the bookings, we'll be good to go. Now I am wondering if anyone would be willing to help us out with that one, if anyone's going on that specific cruise and is willing to cross reference bookings so we are allowed to go it would be absolutely great and it would make my friend's birthday.

 

It's very simple, they're not asking for credit card numbers, or anything private, they're not asking for you to watch us, or for us to be near each other or anything. We will be in our separate rooms, our room will be connected to our credit cards/dinners/activities and will have nothing to do with your room or any of your personal info or anything. There's no responsibility that comes with it, it's really as simple as "Yes I am allowing these underage people to have me as their 25 year old guardian on the ship."

 

It would be very appreciated if someone is willing to do this for us. Thank you so much in advance!

LOL! Well, in America, we can figure anything out for a price. You and the team have an extra $100k laying around, I might consider it.

Eponym, it will work if you copy and paste the whole link. I did it that way.

Yes, it did, but took me to fun times not menus. Thank you, and have a great holiday.

Here's a link to the Imagination menus which are the same as the Inspirations.

 

http://www.cruisetipstv.com/carnival-imagination-menus-download/

Thank you!

Here they are, I couldnt get them in the right order though.

https://klmb318.imgur.com

Sorry to say but that link is not working. Still looking for current MDR menus for Inspiration 4 day out of Long Beach, if anyone has please.

My favorite are BOB'S BIG BOY we have been going there for years. I think they are only out here around the LA area.

Thought that was a great combo. Big Boy, salad with Blu and fries with seasoning salt.

Try sending an email to the Maitre D'. You can also send an email to the Steak House. They usually know the dates and times. However, the resv's can change, cancellations...etc... Sometimes they schedule 2 or more CT's. Then, cancel one, and re-arrange the nights the CT is held.

 

Sorry, I don't have email Addr's for the Maitre D' for each ship, hopefully someone can post them here.

MCmaitred@carnival.com

BR Breeze

CQ Conquest

DR Dream

EC Ecstacy

EL Elation

FA Fantasy

FD Freedom

FS Fascination

GL Glory

IM Imagination

IS Inspiration

LE Legend

LI Liberty

MC Magic

MI Miracle

PA Paradise

PR Pride

SE Sensation

SL Splendor

SP Spirit

SH Sunshine

TI Triumph

VA Valor

VI Victory

Nice to hear you had a good cruise. Are you suggesting they are not coming in the evenings to do turn downs, when they clean and reset the cabin in morning after overnight?

I'm not sure they ever fully cleaned our cabins a second time each day anyway. But they turned down and replaced towels and Ice as needed along with leaving announcements and paperwork for the next day each evening during dinner.

We just got off the Imagination yesterday morning for the three night Ensenada run. We were a group of eight friends just enjoying time together. Embarkation was easy, Guy's burgers made a great first meal, and the Mexican place next to it made good breakfast burritos too. Overall food was quite good all over the ship, we're not crazy about the cabin cleaning policy now of only once per day. We chose mornings, he would usually get there around noon. We only asked for an ice bucket and never received one, he was over worked I would guess. Entertainment was great, two good comedians and the production shows were very good too. Alex the young cruise director was a lot of energy and fun. The ship is in good overall condition for what it is....1995 built. Good water temp but no pressure, we were in Main deck 163 inside cabin.

This thread isn't about tipping...but if it was, tipping is a personal choice and has nothing to do with "families with children".

Try to focus on the topic....Chef's Table.

Literally. GFY.

I responded to their post in PART talked about tip.

GFY= Good for you. Right?

my favorite burger was from?

 

Everyone sings the praises of guys, and I am going on a cruise in 29 days that has a guys on it-what am I expecting-and what was your favorite burger before you tried a guys?

The Habit. Double Char no cheese, loaded. Ask for side of Teriyaki and add right before eating. Also order with side of Tempura Green Beans. The best tasting/flavor combo at the best value price (under $10) I have ever had.

I have done in excess of 20 premiers.. here goes

 

you will board the ship priority, Premier guests.

Your room will not be ready because of the premier itself, meaning the premier gives you priority boarding but no other perks of diamond platinum etc.

 

When you arrive in your room, there will be a black bag. In it there will be two tumblers ( only once did we receive other than tumblers, and that was two pairs of slippers) They will be specifically marked with the Carnival Players Club logo.

 

In the bag will also be a drink on us card for two people, lanyards, the casino schedule for the week ( games etc) and a folded card holding two playing cards. These two playing cards are used later in the week for a game.. basically if your card is chosen, the face value of cards do not matter, if you have 2 Hearts and that is turned over during the game, anyone holding that will pick a bag with a check and other gifts in it.

 

day one at 5pm, there will be a cocktail party for the premier group. I have seem these groups between 25 people and 125 people approx. There you receive free drinks, going around with trays or you can order specific wine or drink of your choice. Also the food that you see at past guest parties, diamond gatherings etc. They do have chicken wings always, which is not normally at the past guest party.

 

During this cocktail party they explain how the week will go, and also do the first snowball raffle ( draw for money which happens every day or night of the cruise, and snowballs if the winner is not there. It often reaches 700 to 1500 dollars)

 

As mentioned throughout the week, there will be various games. Snowball raffle is simply drawing for money. Other games include fill my bag, matilta the cash cow, take it or leave it ( like deal or no deal pick a box that contains 1 to 1000 dollars) cash pong, bouncing balls in games of various amounts etc.

 

to play these games your names must be picked frm the drum with all other premier players names in the drum. only premiers get to play these games.

 

if you accumulate 2000 points throughout the week, you get to play in a free slot tournament, again only for premiers. the last 8 will all receive a prize, usually a premier towel, tshirt, and cash. first place 500 , second 400, third 250, 4 5 67 8 goes down in value.

 

Finally, the gifts.

You will receive chocolate covered strawberries one evening, champagne another, box of dozen fresh cookies another, and on the second to last night, the larger of the gifts.

 

for the larger gifts we have received two towels similar to serenity but engraved with Players club logo, or the small throws which are actually quite nice, or magonogy cases which include two packs of playing cards, each card having a different casino staff member throughout the fleet on it, picture, name position etc. the box also included dice game and a silver pen or travel bags, laptop cases, etc. The last gift is always the larger of them all.

 

throughout the week, anything you receive over and above this, will be totally dependant upon your play in the casino.

 

depending on your points, and if you accumulate couple thousand, they will offer you a steakhouse dinner for two with wine to value of 65.00, or, you will enter the dining room to be told there is a bottle of wine from the casino and you get to choose from a list of wines, they will offer spa treatments to the value of 250.00 ( i always ask them to give it to me in product rather than treatments, and get many oils and creams, hair products instead of massage etc.)

 

last night of the cruise they draw for a free cruise for two, only premier members.

 

i think i have covered quite a bit, i may have left out some details but thats it in a nutshell.

Wow, you explained that very well. Thank you too. Our first Premier comes up in Jan.

i would first visit guest services about getting twice a day service and if they don't accommodate, my steward would be getting half the tips for sure.

 

Enjoy Oasis but just a warning. Our steward routinely ignored the bunk bed my boys slept in in a Family OV cabin on Allure. Made the beds maybe twice in 7 days. We asked about it but nothing changed. He never left us ice (even though we kept asking) and routinely brought in three clean towels for the five of us.

I hate to say it, but that is where I might make a trip near end of cruise and pull all tips from cabin stewards for the cruise from my account. They essentially went out of their way not to provide a reasonable and expected level of service and I would go out of my way to ensure none of my money would go them in return.

I'm sure the purser/ship hotel manager frowns on this from happening, but I am pretty sure you can pull the tips if you go out of your way to do so. The likely way it would end up happening is that the purser or hotel manager can credit my account for the portion of tips automatically taken for the steward's piece. Stewards will probably still get their piece, but the purser/hotel manager has to justify, at some level, the value of the credit placed back onto my account and why. If occurred enough times, they would be able to get an attitude adjustment out of the steward or cut them loose.

Our recommended guideline to what is appropriate is $12.95 USD per person, per day for guests in standard stateroom accommodations and $13.95 USD per person, per day for guests booked in suites. The majority of the tipping amount goes to employees such as stateroom stewards, assistant stewards, dining room waiters and assistant waiters. A small portion goes to a mix of other personnel who are in guest-facing customer service positions within areas such as culinary and hotel services, along with certain key positions in entertainment and guest services.

Here is the breakdown, per day:

Housekeeping Team: $4.05 ($5.05 for suites)

Dining Team: $6.40

Alternative Services: $2.50

OP, your review was spot on. We're on the Inspiration right now.

 

Cabin steward just dropped by to ask whether we would prefer morning or evening cabin service.

 

What the??? My 6th cruise on Carnival and this is a first for me. He said it's because they've been given "many more" cabins to clean. Well, I don't want to be a jerk but why am I not charged less in tips?

I love Carnival. But we're booked on the Oasis of the Seas for next summer to see what, if anything, we're missing.

You are being tricked by the stewards. This is a trend that I am seeing and hearing about too often from general labor staff especially in hospitality whether on-board or land based.

And, as a consumer/customer only you have the power to stop it.

It was our tip. My daughter is a waitress and we tip 20% of the bill.

Others say it is all ready included some say not but we tip. Been over discussed before.

I don't know about other cruise lines, but Carnival serves alcoholic drinks and often, like under all you can drink option, the gratuities are included in the daily price. However, they also include a tip line on each receipt you are asked to sign for each drink served. So, they are in fact soliciting, quietly, double tipping.

We don't double tip as a matter of routine practice and would hope families with children don't routinely double tip either. Exception for us is when/where a server or tender does some exceptional job or fulfills an extraordinary request for something we make to them.

I agree with Firefly. I bring a 12' ext cord in my CPAP bag.

 

Have not had an issue yet.

 

Oh, and I use tap water for the humidifier when I'm on a cruise. No need for distilled water since it's only a week.

I think that tap water on an old Carnival ship is actually distilled water that comes from their distilling system for potable water.

Check that, but I am pretty sure I was told that by Captain staff long ago.

You can buy distilled water on board if you want assurance.

Great value, wonderful dining experience on board. Prefer this atmosphere rather than steakhouse selection (entrees) available in dining room. After 20 years of sailing Carnival, and becoming a lot older myself, I find the regular dining room too loud and too busy for my total dining enjoyment. We definitely prefer the steakhouse and the alternative dining options available on some Carnival ships and don't mind the moderate price lift to dine at them.

Try them if you haven't. I believe you will be pleasantly surprised.

I haven't been on a Carnival ship for 3 years due mostly to unrelated health problems. Back to sailing in January, and trying to catch up with any/all the changes from 3 years sabbatical.

The menu below reads really good though IMO! Wish they had it on all Carnival ships.

John Heald live stream this morning released some details on the new Steakhouse Menu...

On the Dream Class currently (Dream, Breeze, Magic and also the Vista) to start and then making it's way across.

 

Starters

Smoked and Ice Fresh Oysters served with apple mignonette, butter

Stuffed Mushroom Caps - spinach, four cheese, mushroom and Parmesan pearl

Hand Cut Beef Tartare served with shallot salad on country toast

Berkshire Pork Belly served with apple and walnut preserves

Crab and Mushroom Risotto

Tuna Tartare served with avocado

Jumbo Shrimp Cocktail

Lobster Bisque

Onion Soup

 

(Didn't go through Salads of course...)

 

Entrees

Prime New York Strip Loin Steak 14oz

Grilled Cowboy Steak

Spice Rubbed Ribeye

Filet Minon 9oz

(NEW) A5 Wagyu Beef 10oz

Surf Turf

Lobster Tail

Chicken

Lamb Chops

10 Jumbo Shrimp

 

Sauces

3 Mustard, BBQ, Bearnaise, Chimichurri

 

Sides

Baked Potatoes with Trimmings, Sautéed Medley of Fresh Mushrooms, Yukon Gold Mash with Wasabe Horseradish, Onion Rings, Garlic Rapini, Mac and Cheese, French Fries and Bourbon Smoked (he said paprika...)

 

Desserts

Chocolate Sphere

Apple Tartare with elder flower cream

Abstract in presentation and a focus in flavor (New Cook at Table Desert)

Fresh Fruit

 

Also mentioned the dress code with Jeans being OK except on elegant night, but no ripped jeans, t-shirts since there is always discuss on this one.

 

Looking forward to it - I would hope it would roll out to all before Thanksgiving when we're cruising on the Pride!

We were on that sailing too. Look forward to reading your trip/experiences.

I found it interesting that they now refer to them as "Requirements" not suggested dress. I discovered this while doing online check in and clicking on all the links.

https://help.carnival.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1093/kw/Dining%20room%20dress%20requirements

 

They also have a link for the Steakhouse Dress requirements

https://help.carnival.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1115/kw/Dining%20room%20dress%20requirements/related/1

 

The Steakhouse specifically prohibits shorts on casual nights, contrary to what many people on CC say.

 

Maybe by being explicit about them being "Requirements" they might actually start enforcing them. But how is that going to work if JH is at a table with a bunch of guys wearing baseball caps and says nothing?

 

The link also says the dress pertains to children!

That is an interesting observation at the links. I don't recall Carnival using the word REQUIREMENTS. Perhaps it has been modified to read requirements just after the foray of recent posts on this board and John Heald's posts to his FB page relating to dress code(s). I'm not sure.

I know many folks don't like to get dressed up at all, but for those of you who still enjoy it,

In 2015, what will you wear on formal night?

Does anyone wear actual evening gowns? Does anyone still wear a tux? Do you stay "dressed" all night?

 

I'm curious to how formal nights on Carnival 7 day or longer cruises may have changed over the years....

Evening gowns or dresses. Hubby over the years went from renting a tux on board (now they don't offer) to full suit and tie, to now no tie ever on Carnival ships.

We get out of formal wear as soon as dinner is over and we get the photos done we are interested in...

I was told that all the staterooms on Sunshine, even the inside cabins, had refrigerators. Is this not true?

Not true.

I'll try and help if you'd like!!

 

We've sailed Sunshine twice, and though we're not "foodies", we don't get all caught up in the MDR hype, we very much enjoyed the alternate, though for a fee, dining options of JiJi's Asian Kitchen, Cucina del Capitano, Bonsai Sushi and the Steakhouse. Our last cruise on Sunshine was an 11 day cruise, I think we ate in the MDR twice that cruise, all other nights was the specialty restaurants, 1-2 Lido nights, and our personal favorite, pizza and beer nights. We even had an "early dinner" of Guys burgers!!

Completely agree with your recommendations. OP will be spoiled forever!

Go forward on the lido (deck 9) on the Triumph down the port side hallway, go all the way to the end and turn left.

 

Exit through the wooden door and discover an observation area that few ever find.

 

.

The one marked "Crew only"?

Since vacation is time to let go what drinks do you recommend. I usually drink Scotch but on vacation I will go with some "Boat drinks" to quote Jimmy Buffett.

Oh, I'm rolling with responding to your thread title in my reply:

You should drink some Funship Specials for the drinks that pack the most punch. Ask for them by name, "Funship Specials" on any Carnival ship.

There are at least a couple of more CD's that are American Jamie D for one.

I swear Jamie D is extraterrestrial.