secret1122

Thank you for the review. We are planning to do this on the Oasis in May. Did you make reservations ahead of time or just walked in?

You can't make reservations for lunch. :(

That is incorrect, you can make reservations for lunch, and that's exactly what I did. I booked 3 (I think) reservations a few weeks before boarding, and Giovanni's Lunch on boarding day was one of them. After lunch, I went to speak with someone to reserve the rest of the week's meals at specialty restaurants. That night I had an OBC for the reservations I booked at home before the trip ($30% of the price I paid for the 3 prior booked restaurants), and every meal thereafter was discounted by 30% at the time of payment after the meal.

In light of the positive responses I got for my Chef's Table review, I decided to share my most recent review of another Royal Caribbean venue, Giovanni's Table. I had lunch during embarkation for my Allure cruise this past may.

I'm currently working on a 150 Central Park review which I hope to have posted in about a week.

Here is the link to the Giovanni's table review: http://kleenplate.net/2014/09/12/giovannis-table/

Thank you so much for the review. I didn't realize that the cookbook was included. Are many (any) of the recipes in there?

I don't think the cookbook had any recipes from this dinner, as I'm sure those meals might change often. I'll try to check later to see for sure. It was a recipe book of combined dishes from all of Royal's ships, and did include many dishes I have tried while cruising. The book itself changes as well, and I believe it is usually the current cookbook that the ships are selling at any given time (you know, it's the one displayed as you walk into certain specialty restaurants). The last time I attended Chef's Table two years ago I received a different cookbook. Go to the dinner for the food and experience, count the cookbook as a bonus. The meal is worth the price without the book.

Thanks for the review. We will be on the Allure on 8/31 and I was looking forward to this amazing dinner. My heart sank when you said that from the Concierge Lounge you went up a flight of steps to get to the dinner... I am in a wheelchair. Do you think there may have been an alternate way to get into the dining area?

I didn't see for my own eyes, but folks on the internet claim you can get up there from a service elevator that the staff use. I would advise contacting Royal Caribbean before you leave for the cruise to confirm this. It makes sense, as I believe any passenger location would have to have access for anyone in a wheelchair. Hope that helps.

There are so many wonderful reviews on this site having to do with every aspect of cruising. Normally, I don't feel I can add anything in a review that hasn't been said or shown (through some fantastic photos from some of you) by someone else already. I personally like doing food reviews, and love the food porn often seen here at Cruise Critic. One thing I've realized however, is that I have yet to see a detailed review of Chef's Table, especially one with any photos of the food. I recently sailed Allure of the Seas and did such a review. I thought I'd share it with everyone. I apologize for the lack of interior photos of the dining area. I just didn't want to disrupt anyone's dining experience.

http://kleenplate.net/2014/07/24/royal-caribbeans-allure-of-the-seas-chefs-table/

SUNSET AT THE SOLARIUM OASIS

Caneguy, I'm curious about the lighting in this photo, as it seems perfect. Was this a double exposure that was overlayed, or were the lighting conditions just perfect enough to get a good exposure both inside and out? Was a flash used? It doesn't look like it was, but if so, well done on keeping the shadows out of play. Would you mind sharing your settings on this shot?

I just paid $349 on board the Allure last month. I'm interested in the fact that others are commenting on the boarders and templates being added to the photos. I'm currently dealing with the company that does the photos because mine had the same thing. My 8x10 photos on the ship had nothing added to them. I purchased the CD, and once I got it home and downloaded the photos, they all had the name of the ship imprinted across them, and the photos from the dining venues had huge boarders around them to where the actual photo only covered about half of the full frame of the shot.

I am asking the company that produces the photos to allow me access to my unaltered photos as I saw them on the ship. They claim that the signage tells us that the photos may have boarders or templates as seen in the gallery or on the computer kiosk, but the problem is mine didn't show any of these versions on the ship, whether electronically, or in print. We have been going back and forth for about a month now.

As mentioned, the image sizes are fairly small now, and even the paperwork with the CD says you'll only be able to get a quality 8x10 out of them. Basically we are now getting lower quality prints, with advertising printed right on the photos, and we're paying hundreds of dollars for these. I don't think this is right.

Ok, one more comment. I know some of you think tipping up front is a bribe, so be it. I think that is absurd. These people live off their tips. Their families live off their tips. Is "pre-paid" tips a "bribe?" They are certainly paid up front, and the crew has a list of who has pre-paid. So they know that you have already tipped them. Maybe a small tip up front is a "bribe," but it sure doesn't seem to insult.

This brought up a thought for me. For those that consider a tip in the beginning to be a "bribe", wouldn't everyone on MTD who were required to pre-pay tips essentially have been forced to bribe the crew? How are Royal's required pre-paid tips any different than a passengers choice to do so with cash?

For me personally, I usually give $20 the first day, $10 half way through the week, and another $20 on the last day (on top of my pre-paid gratuities). I don't expect anything extra, but just like to tip extra and feel it's a nice gesture to offer some up front so they don't have to wait until the end of the week to start spending their money.

Photo #52, what a lucky shot (or amazingly well planned) creating the "fish head lady." Seems like a one in a million shot.

What does "Number of Reservations" mean? I have a family of 4, kids are 15 and 19, so I know they are adults. Does this mean if I book a reservation for 4, I get 25% off the reservation? Meaning it would cost me

 

* WAS * Family of 4 = $35+35+35+35 = $140

 

* IS NOW * Family of 4 = $26.25+26.25+26.25+26.25 = $105

A "reservation" is a meal experience, regardless of the number of people present. One dinner with four people still counts as one. Your example would still cost $140, until one or more of you attend at least three meals, at which time you'd be given OBC in the amount of at least 20% for all meals.

I bring home a paper bill since I collect money from countries I visit (I hate the euro since I only get one to count for multiple countries).

 

Looking forward to my Baltic cruise since I'll be visiting a bunch of new countries.

I bring home a paper bill from the ship itself. I get one every cruise. I don't want one, but the ship's staff always manage to slip one under my door on the last day, so I have no choice. Those can be pricy "souvenirs" sometimes. I don't put them on my fridge though, that would be just weird.

The Fisherman's Platter (lobster) will be on the second sea day, which is Thursday.

And to think, all these years I've been keeping things plugged in permanently. ;)

I was really angry when I bought my last cell phone and plugged it in the first day to charge it. I then found out it was not unpluggable. So for the last year I've had to have my head about 2 feet from the wall just to make a phone call. Don't worry, just last month I came up with an ingenious solution. I now unscrew the outlet from the wall whenever I go out, so I can bring my phone with me. People look at me funny when I walk around with a phone to my ear, and a power cord with in-wall outlet attached to the end dangling near my feet, but I don't worry about what others think.

Will RC allow me to remove one of their wall outlets and attach my own? I plan on bringing my cell phone with me.

Maybe I'm one of those long time members that doesn't know how to use the search feature and I consider myself to be more tech savvy than most. I get tired of running searches just to have to sort through hundreds of threads or posts, many of which are very old. It's not always easy to sort out when a policy may have changed either.

Gina

I'm having the opposite problem. Ever since about a year ago, when I run searches, I usually get zero results. I even just did a search using the keyword "smoking" in post titles, and clicked the Royal Caribbean tab to see how many smoking threads come up for this cruise line. It came up with one. I don't know what's going on. I have everything maxed out, such as showing all posts with 0 replies or more, all posts and newer, etc. Is there a setting somewhere that I missed?

$25pp seems extremely high to me for Mexican food. Being from Texas, we have tons of Tex-Mex restaurants and even the nicest ones charge no where near $25 for the most expensive items on the menus. I realize this includes tip but I'm going to have to hear some rave reviews before I'd pay $50/couple for Mexican food.

I'm from the East coast, and know nothing about Mexican food in Texas and other parts of the Southwestern U.S. However, around here it's common for my wife and I to spend $40-$50 for the two of us at the "cheap" Mexican places like La Hacienda, La Parilla, and other similar low end places. We recently went to a bigger chain called Pappasito's Cantina (I think they started in Texas), and while the service and food quality didn't seem that much higher, our total bill including tax and tip was over $100. So it's not unusual to spend near or over $50 for two people, at least on the Atlantic side. I can easily see a more upscale Mexican restaurant charging $25 pp including tax and tip and considering that a great deal.

I always order a couple appetizers, and usually two or three desserts. I still hear mixed comments on how many entrées you can order, so up to this point I've always ordered just one. The food is amazing, and can't be beat for the price you pay.

Yes, we do. It is exactly 11:03 here now. My last post had a time mark of 9:16 which showed on the top of the post. This one has the correct 11:04 time.\

Now I see where the error was, it was the time stamp on CC being incorrect. Your first post where you mention the time as 10:14, exactly matched the time stamp on my page (set to ET). This post that you show having the correct 11:04 time is matching with my 12:04 time (again, set to ET). CC seems to have time stamp issues quite often.

Like you, I've been following this thread as it happens. It's neat to read about someone's trip and know they're experiencing it as you're reading about it. About a day or two before your "wakey wakey" post, I had noticed ace saying her alarm was set for 6:15, and I realized she was waking up 3 minutes after I read the post.

I'm hoping to do an Alaskan cruise in 2015 and will be saving this review for reference. I already read NE/Canada version since that is my planned trip for 2014.

The current time and date right now in Alaska, United States is

6:14 AM

Thursday, June 06, 2013

 

 

It is 10:14 in Texas....wakey wakey ya'll. Time to get rollin for another great day of fun!!:D;)

Your town must not observe DST. I was initially confused since I'm in GA and the time here was the same as you posted. I chalked it up to you possibly not observing DST? I can't see how else we are seeing the same time on our clocks.

I imagine there could of been people that booked it and not know it...but I had to book this 14mths ahead of time to get it...how about you?

I booked mine about 2 months out.

I was in this "sweet" on my November cruise on Liberty. No noise whatsoever. I had a great time and no complaints about the room. I read about the noise issue before traveling and figured I would just deal with it. It ended up not being a problem for me, quiet as can be.

We have it booked for our T/A on October 27, Liberty of the Seas. We also have it booked for Our T/A November 2013 Independence. The key to getting it, book early. We had it also booked for Freedom for March 2013, but switched that cruise to the T/A on Liberty. We paid the same price as our Mom did a few cabins down. :)

I don't think you necessarily have to book far in advance. I booked it on the Liberty just a few weeks before final payment was due for my trip this November.

Thank You so much for putting the time and effort into this!! Understanding it might be tweaked and changed a bit for each ship, I am glad to see what it is!! 134 days to lose 25 pounds, then I can get on the ship and gain a few back!

Happy Cruising!

Wow, I feel for you. I gained 20 pounds on my Allure cruise back in May. It was worth every bite. I'm obviously not a picky eater and enjoyed everything on the ship. I'm glad it didn't take me 4 and a half months to drop those pounds or I would have seriously regretted eating so much. Good luck on hitting your goal, make sure you reward yourself on the cruise with a few goodies.

Can you tell me what the room number is for Liberty of the Seas?

Liberty is also #6305. We just booked it for our November 15th sailing. Downgraded from our GS since it's cheaper but still offers essentially the same benefits (at least the ones that we care about and feel have the most value).

In addition to the sodium, if you carb loaded and were on a low carb diet before, you likely gained 10 pounds just from the excess glycogen and all the water required to store it.

That could very well be true also. I'd say I went excess on everything, including carbs :D

Disappointing that no one is addressing the original purpose of my post and it's digressing into something else. Argue elsewhere. I'm just trying to find out how many calories are in certain items- I'm not looking for diet advice.

As quoted to you above by another poster, you'll have to estimate based on typical items. If you have a pizza, compare it to whatever type of pizza it most appears to be (frozen, chain, homemade), or a burger based on its size and shape (Wendy's, McDonalds, Applebee's, etc.). Most food items will be comparable to other items somewhere in the real world. Estimate to the best of your knowledge the calorie counts of common foods. I personally wouldn't advise just winging it and eating what you want. You'd be surprised how much you might actually eat. I'd keep a mental tally (or write it down each day) of what you've eaten to stay within reason.