Giovannis

Just got off the Allure. Had the worst meal of my life in Giovannis. What is with the new menu. There is nothing remotely Italian about it. Just had to vent. No bashing please.

Just got off the Allure. Had the worst meal of my life in Giovannis. What is with the new menu. There is nothing remotely Italian about it. Just had to vent. No bashing please.

Sorry for your Giovanni’s experience on the Allure. We have never had a bad meal at Giovanni’s Table. Earlier this month, we completed a 12 day cruise on the Grandeur. Two of the nights we had dinner in Giovanni’s. Both meals were outstanding and our waiter was excellent. We were pleased with the selection. We are looking forward to our next cruise, where we will most definitely go to Giovanni’s.

Just got off the Allure. Had the worst meal of my life in Giovannis. What is with the new menu. There is nothing remotely Italian about it. Just had to vent. No bashing please.

What did you order?

Only problem with Giovannis is that you cannot order a small plate of pasta , asked for a small side dish and got a dish large enough to feed a family of 10 as a main dish

Our table of 5 felt bad leaving that much food on the table

Would also like to know what you ordered. Have been to Giovanni's on several ships, and found it to be fairly consistent. Enjoyed it very much.

Was it the new menu or the old?

I also just got off Allure and thoroughly enjoyed our meal at Giovanni’s. There were 6 of us. Our waiter brought out a selection of appetizers. We enjoyed mozzarella and tomato, pork belly, grilled octopus, who tuna, and an antipasto plate. All were delicious. I had veal osso bucco for my main course and our waiter brought us a selection of pastas to enjoy. There was fettuccine carbonara, linguini bologna session, gnocchi, and mushroom risotto. Each dish was fabulous. I can’t recall what I had for dessert, but definitely delicious as well. It was definitely one of the best meals I have ever had, at sea or on land.

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Only problem with Giovannis is that you cannot order a small plate of pasta , asked for a small side dish and got a dish large enough to feed a family of 10 as a main dish

Our table of 5 felt bad leaving that much food on the table

Interesting, on Jewel last week we were able to get half-orders of pasta.

There is nothing remotely Italian about it.

I am really confused by this report.

We were on Oasis last month and dined twice at Giovani's. The menu had several pasta dishes, a risotto, osso bucco etc. Are you saying none of these items are still on the menu? No pasta at all? If it is no longer an Italian menu, what is it?

We had the ultimate dining package and had three reservations to Giovanni's on the Oasis three weeks ago, we dined there the first time and cancelled the other two evenings, totally agree with you OP.

Never had a bad meal there but miss old menu, liked it so much last year on Brilliance we had 6 dinners there on 12 day cruise, this year Liberty was not as good, will have dinner there in a few days on Navigator

Really hoping the OP comes back to explain what the menu offerings were. The entire menu was Italian less than a month ago, now its something else?

We have reservations at Giovanni's on the Vision in a couple of weeks. Can't wait! :hearteyes:

We have found Giovanni's to be very inconsistent. We have had excellent food and service and terrible food and service on the same ship but different cruises.

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Just got off the Allure. Had the worst meal of my life in Giovanni's. What is with the new menu. There is nothing remotely Italian about it. Just had to vent. No bashing please.

HI,

I have sailed on both the Allure and the Oasis about 7 times. While I have never eaten at Giovanni's I am considering it for my next sailing (I have been to portofinos on other ships many times and enjoyed it), I would be curious to know what is different about the new menu vs the old menu? Does anyone have the new menu they can post? "Worst meal of my life" what was so awful?

HI,

I have sailed on both the Allure and the Oasis about 7 times. While I have never eaten at Giovanni's I am considering it for my next sailing (I have been to portofinos on other ships many times and enjoyed it), I would be curious to know what is different about the new menu vs the old menu? Does anyone have the new menu they can post? "Worst meal of my life" what was so awful?

I don't have a copy of the new menu, but I do know that lasagna is no longer available.

I don't have a copy of the new menu, but when we went on Allure in July, the scallops appetizer was gone. There were 4 of us and three ordered the steak and liked it, but not as much as the rib eye in Chops.

I didn't pay attention to the menu as closely as I should have as I had heard that the pasta carbonara was sooooo good. I tried it, but was not a fan of having an egg on top of it. I am used to having the egg mixed in with the cheese when the sauce was made. It totally changed the taste of the dish. I wouldn't order it again.

I don't have a copy of the new menu, but I do know that lasagna is no longer available.

Bob, their lasagna is great, but like you mention, it is no longer on the dinner menu.

It is however on the LUNCH menu. We stop by Giovanni's during the day(the day of our dinner reservations) and ask the host to save us some for a portion to be served as part of our dinner. Has worked every time. Host always seems glad to make this happen for us.

Interesting, on Jewel last week we were able to get half-orders of pasta.

We asked and were told no. All directions apparently come from Miami (so they said). Too much food. They should allow 1/2 and full portions for pasta and main course.

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It's been a couple of years since I last cruised, so the menu was obviously the old one, but I really loved my meal at Giovannis on Explorer.

I am going to go back when on Radiance in December.

Sorry for your Giovanni’s experience on the Allure. We have never had a bad meal at Giovanni’s Table. Earlier this month, we completed a 12 day cruise on the Grandeur. Two of the nights we had dinner in Giovanni’s. Both meals were outstanding and our waiter was excellent. We were pleased with the selection. We are looking forward to our next cruise, where we will most definitely go to Giovanni’s.

We ate in Giovanni’s on the Grandeur on that cruise too. Loved it. Will be doing it again in a little over 2 weeks. Guess it depends on the ship and food is very subjective anyway.....

Gwen [emoji3]

We had the ultimate dining package and had three reservations to Giovanni's on the Oasis three weeks ago, we dined there the first time and cancelled the other two evenings, totally agree with you OP.

Same experience on Explorer.

[yquote=rncruiser;54608249]I also just got off Allure and thoroughly enjoyed our meal at Giovanni’s. There were 6 of us. Our waiter brought out a selection of appetizers. We enjoyed mozzarella and tomato, pork belly, grilled octopus, who tuna, and an antipasto plate. All were delicious. I had veal osso bucco for my main course and our waiter brought us a selection of pastas to enjoy. There was fettuccine carbonara, linguini bologna session, gnocchi, and mushroom risotto. Each dish was fabulous. I can’t recall what I had for dessert, but definitely delicious as well. It was definitely one of the best meals I have ever had, at sea or on land.

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Food is subjective, none of the items listed in your post remind me of Italian food. Don’t like any of them. Had to get two approvals to get Mom chicken parm. Then it came with mashed potatos. Too gourmet for me. I ordered steak and it was fatty. Couldn’t get a baked potato either. I can’t remember what my friend ate but she said the sauce tasted like Ragu. Old menu had much better choices. Ate there twice last year on my cruise and loved it. Had dishes off the menu too. I got the steak because I didn’t like anything on the menu. Just my opinion but I’ll never go back again unless they change the menu back.

Had an awesome experience in Giovanni's on Allure several years ago. I couldn't nit pick a single thing. Then had a very disappointing experience in Giovanni's on Freedom a few years ago. Terrible service, poor quality for 2 of our 4 main courses, royally screwed up a special occasion (see what I did there :D). Royal Caribbean is consistently inconsistent for many things. I can't speak to the new menu.

Food is subjective, none of the items listed in your post remind me of Italian food. Don’t like any of them. Had to get two approvals to get Mom chicken parm. Then it came with mashed potatos. Too gourmet for me. I ordered steak and it was fatty. Couldn’t get a baked potato either. I can’t remember what my friend ate but she said the sauce tasted like Ragu. Old menu had much better choices. Ate there twice last year on my cruise and loved it. Had dishes off the menu too. I got the steak because I didn’t like anything on the menu. Just my opinion but I’ll never go back again unless they change the menu back.

Seems to me the new menu is TOO Italian now? Because the dishes you disdain are what my Italian friend talks about having when she visits her family in Italy. She wouldn’t touch chicken parmigiana.

Not sure how mashed potatoes are too gourmet but you wanted a baked potato. (Baked potatoes take upwards of an hour to cook, so going off menu for it isn’t simple)

I haven’t eaten steak since the 80s but I know that sometimes fat happens. Did you talk to them about it?

I get that it’s sad when beloved menus change, but I’m not sure that it’s accurate to say that the new menu as mentioned by another poster is NOT Italian...