Pug Lady

I'm sorry I don't have the answers for you, I am a newbie as well. But we travel on the Freedom on May 29th, with an eastern itinerary. Hopefully by bumping we will get some answers! :)

Also, some people's seating arrangements work out better than others. That is a big part of the evening. From the comments I have read, it seems a round table would be more conducive to social interaction for all participants.

I agree with this. There was another person who ended up being from the same town as me. All the ladies were seated on one side of the table, and she and I were each on the ends, so in order to speak we had to basically talk over all the ladies seated in the middle of the table. Just a little awkward.

BTW, we diid not have Chef Allan Gomes that evening. We were handed a menu with his name on it, but the head chef that evening was a guy from india. I can't remember his name. He has very good and I have no complaints about him or the service.

Was it Diago? He was the 2nd in command during our Chef's Table and I talked to him more than Chef Gomes. He was super friendly and willing to answer any questions our table threw at him. He even called me by name during the little champagne reception in the galley at the beginning of the evening, and I asked him how he knew it already. He just said "oh, it's all part of the magic of the Chef's Table!" They really went out of their way to make everyone feel special and make sure we all had a great experience.

I'm sorry you didn't enjoy it. My experiences with the event on the Triumph were the best of the 4, so far, that I've done. Most recent was with Chef Allan Gomes onboard Triumph's June 25th cruise. I thought it was great. I did not notice the cookbook situation since they've been giving them only to the ladies. Btw, the cookbook is WAY out of date anyway.

 

To me, the $75.00 is well worth the trip into the galley during meal service. For some reason, I find that fascinating especially when something falls and breaks :D!! I like the Library venue, though you do feel sort of like a Zoo animal on display for people to gaze at as they walk by seeing all those chefs, etc.

 

We just went on the Triumph June 11th, and we also had Chef Gomes! (Love him ;)) We thoroughly enjoyed the entire experience. I had decided beforehand that I would try whatever food was brought out to me, and I am so glad I did! Everything was delicious, but I didn't clean my plate at each course, which helped me pace myself for the evening. The Chef and his team were so excited about the meal and sharing the "how they do it" information. Their enthusiasm made everyone else just as excited as they were. They really made everyone feel special. We also got a cookbook and photo. It really was the highlight of our cruise!