MARINER-EASTERN..Best nights for Portofino or Chops???

[JoeO]

[img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_confused.gif[/img] We'll be on the Mariner 7/11/2004 and are wondering which night(s) may be better (or worse) to dine in the specialty restaurants rather than doing regular dining.

Comments would be appreciated.

Joe O

8 Celebrity Cruises
5 Princess Cruises
3 Royal Caribbean Cruises
2 NCL Cruises
2 HAL Cruises
Plus Mariner to come.

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'til the Mariner sails with us.
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'til Mariner goes western Caribbean with us!

[beachchick]

If you don't care about lobster night, go the second formal night. We did and loved it. The service and food were great. It wasn't crowded so we got lots of personal service.

The other night I would do would be the last night. (Yes, I know there are those who are shocked by such a thing--we do tip our dining room waiters and, if we can, we let them know when we won't be in the dining room.) I thought the selections in the dining room on the last night were the most boring menu items of the cruise.

[img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_cool.gif[/img]beachchick

[JoeO]

Thx for the ideas Beachchick. Very novel but I'm too much of a fan to forego the lobster.

Doing it the last night is not a bad idea.

Joe O

8 Celebrity Cruises
5 Princess Cruises
3 Royal Caribbean Cruises
2 NCL Cruises
2 HAL Cruises
Plus Mariner to come.

[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=000080&cdt=2004;07;11;16;30;00&timezone=GMT-0500[/img]
'til the Mariner sails with us.
[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=0000ff&cdt=2005;3;13;17;0;00&timezone=GMT-0500[/img]
'til Mariner goes western Caribbean with us!

[skyking]

JoeO- We ate at CHOPS on Thursday night and I must say I was most impressed. The food in CHOPS is amaaazing and meat was sooo good and big. I was not impressed with Portifinos at all, this was my second time eating there ( once before on Explorer) Chops seemed more elegant and more personal to me. Just my food for thought[img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img]

Tim

Carnival Tropicale 10-7-00
Sovereign Of The Seas 5-6-01
Carnival Triumph 9-1-01
Explorer Of The Seas 8-31-2002
Carnival Pride 4-12-2003
Mariner Of The Seas 11-16-2003 (Innagural Cruise)
Carnival Fantasy 1-29-2004
Mariner Of The Seas 3-28-2004

community.webshots.com/user/skyking518

[cprincess]

We did them on Tuesday & Thursday nights.

[img]http://www.agll06.ukgateway.net/ConnieKDWitchTransp.gif[/img]

Viking Serenade 7/91
Enchantment of the Seas - Eastern 9/02
Enchantment of the Seas - Western 9/02
Voyager of the Seas 11/03
Brilliance of the Seas 11/03
Mariner of the Seas 5/04
Radiance of the Seas 11/04

[cruise'n]

We had dinner at Portofino's the first night of the cruise. Dinner the first night was a little later than normal (9:00 for late seating). There were very few people there that night and we were given a table for 2 by the window. We ate at 7:00 and we had the perfect view of the sunset. [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img]

Lynn

Meridian 1991 (Celebrity)
Splendour of the Seas '96
Horizon '99
Legend of the Seas '01
Monarch of the Seas '02
Galaxy '03
Mariner of the Seas '04

[CrimsonCruiser]

My advice would be to do this on the first night of the cruise for the following reasons:

1. Not the best menu in the main dining room (personal opinion)

2. No reservations required

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HAL Zandaam 06/2000
RCCL Voyager 07/2002
RCCL Mariner 05/2004

[jezzdogg]

Also. I believe it is Tuesday night that they have the Caribbean food night in the dining room. Not a food I could eat, Jerk Chicken, Beef, Jamaician Pot Pies, etc so that is the night we go to either Portafino's or Chops. If you were to go to only one I would go to Chops. Food was wondeful. We did the iterenary you did and had a ball--enjoy. Say hello to Kirk for us, he is a great cruise director and do not miss the rocking thru the decades, he puts on a great show

norm

[Shoreline23]

On the 5/30 Mariner cruise Caribbean night was Wednesday - the night we chose to go to Chops. Please go hungry. The meal and service was a wonderful experience for us. As a side note, we enjoyed the meals in the main dining room so much and felt afterwards not to fret if you miss going to the specialty restaurants. Don't get me wrong. Our meal in Chops was top notch but we thought our meals in the dining room were very good.

My DW mentioned that going to a specialty restaurant very early in the week might be best to get the most out of your experience. Later in the week you might be too full to fully enjoy your special dining experience.

George

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[paylady]

Has anyone ever eaten at Chops or Portofino's during early seating and then joined your table mates at late seating?

We have second seating. I was thinking we'd go to one of the specialty restaurants the first night around 6 and then join our table mates at second seating. I don't want to miss the experience of meeting and talking with others at our table, but do want to try Chops at least.

[JoeO]

Great ideas everybody.

Thanks for the responses.

Joe O

8 Celebrity Cruises
5 Princess Cruises
3 Royal Caribbean Cruises
2 NCL Cruises
2 HAL Cruises
Plus Mariner to come.

[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=000080&cdt=2004;07;11;16;30;00&timezone=GMT-0500[/img]
'til the Mariner sails with us.
[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=0000ff&cdt=2005;3;13;17;0;00&timezone=GMT-0500[/img]
'til Mariner goes western Caribbean with us!

[TBRay]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by paylady:
Has anyone ever eaten at Chops or Portofino's during early seating and then joined your table mates at late seating?

We have second seating. I was thinking we'd go to one of the specialty restaurants the first night around 6 and then join our table mates at second seating. I don't want to miss the experience of meeting and talking with others at our table, but do want to try Chops at least.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I fully understand your comment, but I wouldn't want to spend 4-5 hours at a dinner table when there are so many other activities to enjoy.

We told our tablemates we were doing Chops one evening so everybody took a night off (they did the Windjammer) and then we reunited the next evening. We also got to enjoy the ice skating performance so we maximized our time away.

Plus I was so 'full' after Chops I think we walked the decks for awhile.

But to each his own. I'd have a tough time watching another whole meal after that "foodfest" [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_cool.gif[/img]

JOEO: We picked Thursday night for Chops (I think). It was the Italian night and my DW does not do Pasta anymore (I still love it though). So I just had to make due with the PRIME RIB. Yum!!!

The Caribbean Night a lot of people select just happens to be one of my favorite nights for 'regular' dining. Even with the RCI recipe book I still can't get a Caribbean Strip Steak like they do on board. Awesome meal IMHO.