Jump to content
Cruise Critic Community

Steakhouse & Chefs table vs MDR

Tarahead

By Tarahead,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

 Share

Recommended Posts

Tarahead

Tarahead

Posted
Posted

We leave December 6th on the Pride and am already spending way too much time reading these boards! I appreciate everything I have read and am more than excited for my 5th Carnival cruise. I can see that there have been so many changes since I took my last cruise 18 years ago on the Sensation. I definately wont be waiting that long again!

 

I am reading so many changes such as past quest parties( I am gold so no more party for me), a FTTF service for a fee, cheers program, restaurant options, etc. i think I need to check out the " new cruisers" forum since things seem to have changed so much.

 

Sorry if I am asking questions that have already been posted and answered but I couldnt find a thread on this. I see many posters raving about the steakhouse. I would like to try this option. My questions are: do you reserve your day / time for the Steakhouse as soon as you are on board? I dont see the option to do this ahead of time. I have read you get a free bottle of wine and am wondering if that is on the first night of the cruise, or is for your first time dining there? Would the Steakhouse be a better option than the formal night in MDR as far as food goes?

 

I have also seen many good comments regarding the Chefs table. This sounds great as well but was a bit hesitant due to the $75 cost. Was anyone disappointed in this or is it worth the extra cost?

 

Thanks in advance for any input

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Halfpint012

Halfpint012

Posted
Posted

I'm doing steakhouse for the first time this October. I found a link with the mdr menus and chose the day that the mdr looked. Least appealing. It is $35 pp for steakhouse. We have done the $20 upgrade in the mdr for a steakhouse selection before so we are interested to see how the steakhouse experience compares to that. We have never done chefs table & probably won't because the end I've seen doesn't look appetizing to me (this is not the case for most people from what I've seen on here).

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Tarahead

Tarahead

Posted
  • Author
Posted
I'm doing steakhouse for the first time this October. I found a link with the mdr menus and chose the day that the mdr looked. Least appealing. It is $35 pp for steakhouse. We have done the $20 upgrade in the mdr for a steakhouse selection before so we are interested to see how the steakhouse experience compares to that. We have never done chefs table & probably won't because the end I've seen doesn't look appetizing to me (this is not the case for most people from what I've seen on here).

 

Where did you find the MDR menu? That would be fun to look at!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Rock712

Rock712

Posted
Posted

We've done the steakhouse on just about every cruise we've been on and definitely worth the extra $$$. Great food , service , and atmosphere.

 

The Chef's table I think is worth it if your a " foodie ". My wife loves it , I call it the " what the hell am I eating now " dinner. Not saying it's a bad thing , but just not for me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
lilmizz

lilmizz

Posted
Posted
I'm doing steakhouse for the first time this October. I found a link with the mdr menus and chose the day that the mdr looked. Least appealing. It is $35 pp for steakhouse. We have done the $20 upgrade in the mdr for a steakhouse selection before so we are interested to see how the steakhouse experience compares to that. We have never done chefs table & probably won't because the end I've seen doesn't look appetizing to me (this is not the case for most people from what I've seen on here).

 

I actually Do NOT recommend the Steak house on the first night. Free wine.Bla... Seriously. Eating steak house first night will ruin the rest of Cruise dining because the steak house is SOOOOOOO Good! Lol. we did this on last cruise and was disappointed at everything we had in MDR the rest of cruise.. not bad but just not the quality of Steak house... So we r doing it last day...cant wait til Feb 7th!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
JLee1973

JLee1973

Posted
Posted

I do the steakhouse every cruise. Free wine on the first night and first elegant night. If you dont want the wine they give, you can get a 50% discount on a bottle of your choice. My wife and I have actually booked two nights for our cruise at the end of the month.

 

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

Link to comment
Share on other sites
springs741

springs741

Posted
Posted (edited)

You are asking about very different levels of dining. The Chef table is very formal, elegant dining. Multiple courses and wine pairings. Takes about 3 hours and IMHO well worth the cost. I love the comment above with the "what the heck am I eating?"

 

The steakhouse is a 4 course meal. Also very nice and again worth the cost. Usually the first two nights include a bottle of wine. Wasn't to my taste and we were offered a 50% discount on a different bottle. Again, well worth the cost. We do at least one cruise per but usually more.

 

The main dining room is more like a nice chain restaurant. Nice, included in the cost of your cruise and you can order multiple items. (sometime I make a meal of appetizers.)

 

It might be difficult to find the menus on line as the OP is sailing on the Pride which changed over to the American Table. Those menus have changed so much as Carnival has tried to "tweak" then since introduction. The above link is to the old menus.

 

To assists other with making a steakhouse reservation: Manage my cruise/ cruise details/plan activities/steakhouse.

 

Welcome back to cruising. I would suggest you spend sometime on Carnivals FAQ to become familiar with items that are not allowed to be brought onboard. Not that we here on CC are not willing to assist but rather you will find answer to questions you didn't know you had. I don't want you to get to embarkation and be told you can't take something on board and have no option but to dispose of the item.

Edited by springs741
Link to comment
Share on other sites
FlaGrl4Evr

FlaGrl4Evr

Posted
Posted

OP, if you make your Steakhouse reservation and do not get a conformation back right away..... do not worry. It has taken us from 5 to 7 days to have it e-mailed to us. This seems to be the norm for receiving a conformation.

 

Just a tip.... print out your conformation. It is better to have this with you as I had read on one review where the reservation was somehow "lost" or not properly documented. From that point on , I have always made a habit of printing mine out and bringing it along. To date, I have never had reason to produce it but better safe than sorry.

 

 

Have a wonderful time.

 

 

.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
love my grandkids

love my grandkids

Posted
Posted

We finally did chefs table on our last cruise. We are not foodies and while we enjoyed it and glad we did it dont think we would do it again.

 

Certainly worth doing at least once.

 

Steakhouse is an excellent meal and we do it about every other cruise. The only time we did it the first night was before they offered 50% discount.

 

We both thought the free white wine was worth about what we paid for it. Our friends did like the red.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
OCruisers

OCruisers

Posted
Posted

Koboyashi ... Thank you so very much. :)

Our very dear friends are taking their four adults children with the five grandchildren on a Carnival cruise out of Charleston for five days because of the convenience of the port. They will be so happy to have this option for any who want it every night. :)

They have assigned dining at 6 o'clock. Am I understanding correctly that any who wish can just order from the Steak House menu?

LuLu

Link to comment
Share on other sites
chocolate melting cake

chocolate melting cake

Posted
Posted
Thank you so much for the information! I have been looking through many of the topics and forums and I see ALOT of changes to Carnival during my 18 year absence!

 

I can't help with the food choices, but if you'd like to see some of the life aboard the Pride----here's our "album" when we brought out granddaughter last month. If you'd like to see the pictures in a larger form, just click on them.

 

A WEEK ON THE CARNIVAL PRIDE

Link to comment
Share on other sites
skittl1321 Great Review Rare

skittl1321

Posted
Posted

We LOVE the Chef's table (though I've only done an older menu). I don't drink alcohol and still think it was one of the best values I've purchased on a vacation. Trying the different foods was amazing.

 

But it is SO MUCH food!

 

Sadly, I just canceled my reservations for our upcoming cruise. I'm pregnant, and the amount of food served in one night at the Chef's table is more than I eat in a week now! I just cannot get that much food down. So keep that in mind-if you plan on going to an AI at a port the day of or the day after the Chef's table, you may not have room left in your stomach!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing
  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Cruise Critic News & Features
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...