Questions about the Chef's Table on the Freedom of the Seas

[Russ Lomas]

I am considering trying the Chef's Table on the Freedom of the Seas next month but have some questions that hopefully some people can answer for me based on having personally tried it on the Freedom.

 

1- Is it offered on only certain nights of the cruise or every evening?

2- Where is it held?

3- How many people can sign up for each of these seatings?

4- I know it is a fixed menu for the evening, but some of our group are glutten-free. Just wondering if they can accommodate this for these individuals or should these people just not bother dining there (I love glutten, so this is not an issue for me!)

5- What kind of items were on the menu when you attended? (Any photos you could share would be great too)

6 - Finally, what were your overall thoughts of this experience on the Freedom?

 

Thanks in advance for any responses.

[queenL]

We ate at the Chef's Table on FOS in November. It was an AWESOME meal. I don't know about the gluten thing but they accommodated my nut allergies and aversion to chocolate. I don't know why they couldn't do the same for gluten, particularly if you tell them in advance. It was a set menu. I kept it for my scrapbook. We had the following courses: Hearts of Palm (salad), Sweet Pea Soup, Braised Short Rib Ravioli, Butter Poached Lobster, Prime Beef Tenderloin and Chocolate Mousse, Ganache and Lava Cake (a desert medley). They brought red velvet cake for me of course. The chef told us it changes every 6 months. I believe he also said it was the same fleetwide. It was in the Windjammer, yeah I know. They totally lost points on the ambience. They sectioned off an area for the 15-20 people who signed up that night. I don't think it was every evening but it definitely was offered more than one night.

 

I really liked FOS. I had previously sailed on LOS and it was a comparable experience.

Edited February 19, 2016 by queenL

[John&LaLa]

Sail Freedom a lot, and have enjoyed Chef's table on other ships. Never on Freedom because I can't get past doing it in WJ.

[Clarea]

Sail Freedom a lot, and have enjoyed Chef's table on other ships. Never on Freedom because I can't get past doing it in WJ.

Good one John.:)

[John&LaLa]

Good one John.:)

 

I have two more chances till she leaves. I'll try and give it a shot. Thanks

[silvermcs]

We are on FOS April 3. Booked CT on pre planner. It was offered on most nights. Description said it was in Chops. :) now I can say I've had dinner in the WJ; that is an unexpected check off on the bucket list.

We have done other CT on Oasis and Allure.

[Orlandocruiser]

Sail Freedom a lot, and have enjoyed Chef's table on other ships. Never on Freedom because I can't get past doing it in WJ.

I hate to tell you this but on the Dec 13 FOS we met in the Windjammer bar for bubbly and then moved to Giovanni's for the meal.

 

Sue

[Beardface]

I sail on the 28th and we are booked for Chef's Table on one of the nights. I'll let you know how it goes when we get back.

 

From the description when we booked, you meet in Chops, and then they bring you to a private area where it all happens. It was available for every night of the cruise to book, but didn't come up in the Cruise Planner until about 3 or 4 weeks before sailing. It was only very recently that I saw it available.

[John&LaLa]

I sail on the 28th and we are booked for Chef's Table on one of the nights. I'll let you know how it goes when we get back.

 

From the description when we booked, you meet in Chops, and then they bring you to a private area where it all happens. It was available for every night of the cruise to book, but didn't come up in the Cruise Planner until about 3 or 4 weeks before sailing. It was only very recently that I saw it available.

 

Could be that they had capacity in Chops and negative feedback about WJ I guess. That would make it more interesting to us

[Russ Lomas]

Thanks for the replies. I think we will give it a try. Now if I could just figure out which menu is on which night in the MDR so that I can figure out which is the least appealing evening in the MDR, then we will book for that night. I do not want to pre-book it before boarding since we have a lot of OBC and I want to use that to pay for the meal. I wish RCCL would let people use their OBC that is already on their account to pay for making reservations in advance and not requiring them to pay cash up front prior to boarding.

[queenL]

Could be that they had capacity in Chops and negative feedback about WJ I guess. That would make it more interesting to us

 

I hope so. I know I added to that negative feedback. :) On the cruise survey I ripped them for having it in the WJ. Zero ambience.

[Mark-Sheffield]

Is the Chef's Table offered on Indy ?

[Clarea]

Is the Chef's Table offered on Indy ?

This indicates it's coming after revitalization:

 

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/statichtmlpage.do?pagename=brochure_dining_guide_options

 

[Mark-Sheffield]

Hiya Bob, the RCI website link takes me to the UK website which is blank ?

[Clarea]

Hiya Bob, the RCI website link takes me to the UK website which is blank ?

Sorry about that.

 

There is a PDF link on the site, and I did create a PDF, but it's over 9MB and is too large to atatch here.

 

I don't have a solution, except to try to look through the UK site for fleet dining guide.

[Mark-Sheffield]

Many thanks for your help

[Russ Lomas]

For anybody who has done the Chef's table lately on the Freedom, I was wondering if you could tell me what the cost was. I saw an online copy of the Cruise Compass for the Freedom from January and the cost was $60 US per person. I just looked online to see about booking it for my upcoming cruise in March and they are charging $119 Canadian. Either the cost has gone way up since that Compass I saw, it was a special deal in that compass I saw because it was not selling well, or RCCL is charging a 100% premium to use Canadian dollars to pay (I know our dollar sucks right now, but I cannot imagine the exchange is double).

[silvermcs]

On our April3rd sailing on Freedom, the Chef Table price is $85 US.

[CanadaCathi]

For anybody who has done the Chef's table lately on the Freedom, I was wondering if you could tell me what the cost was. I saw an online copy of the Cruise Compass for the Freedom from January and the cost was $60 US per person. I just looked online to see about booking it for my upcoming cruise in March and they are charging $119 Canadian. Either the cost has gone way up since that Compass I saw, it was a special deal in that compass I saw because it was not selling well, or RCCL is charging a 100% premium to use Canadian dollars to pay (I know our dollar sucks right now, but I cannot imagine the exchange is double).

 

Hey Russ, I'm on your sailing and I booked this; it came up as Chops for $85 US, and came over as $120.08 CDN on my statement.

[hew2nd]

We were at the Chef's table for this cruise and enjoyed it very much. They did make a reasonable attempt to "decorate" the Windjammer by moving tables away and covering them all with table cloths.

 

When we booked the CT, after boarding the ship, we were told there were two prices; 1 for $80 or $85 with a better wine served on Tuesday and the other for $60 for a "lesser" wine served on Wednesday. We chose that one and enjoyed the experience.

[Russ Lomas]

We were at the Chef's table for this cruise and enjoyed it very much. They did make a reasonable attempt to "decorate" the Windjammer by moving tables away and covering them all with table cloths.

 

When we booked the CT, after boarding the ship, we were told there were two prices; 1 for $80 or $85 with a better wine served on Tuesday and the other for $60 for a "lesser" wine served on Wednesday. We chose that one and enjoyed the experience.

Very interesting. I think I would try the $60 sitting. I like good wine, but I am not going to lie, I doubt I would notice the difference.

[Beardface]

Said I would reply when I got back and I am a man of my word.

 

Just had Chef's Table this past week. We had originally scheduled for one night, but due to lack of interest, they rescheduled us to another, which ended up working out because I had originally scheduled during Formal Night 2, which is Lobster night.... oops.

 

Anyway, you meet at the Plaza Bar in the Windjammer area between Chops and Giovanni's for champagne. Then, they move you over to where the main table is, where you get a 6 course meal with wine pairings for each. Its a lot of food and a lot of wine, but its all phenomenal. Unfortunately, it is still located in the Windjammer, and while they close off the entire area and dim the lights to make it seem intimate, its hard to not notice the chairs piled on top of each other surrounding you, and you still see everyone passing by going into the WJ for dinner. For it being the most exclusive meal on the ship, it does feel completely out of place. The crew absolutely does the best they can with what RC allows of them, but its really a 5* experience in a 2* location.

[CanadaCathi]

Thanks very much for coming back and letting us know! That's too bad about the location, but great to hear about the meal.

[Beardface]

Thanks very much for coming back and letting us know! That's too bad about the location, but great to hear about the meal.

 

Absolutely. I mean, for the price, I would still absolutely recommend it (it was I think $20 more expensive per person on the Oasis when we went in 2014). But just go into it knowing where it'll be. I wouldn't call that experience bad in any way.

[Russ Lomas]

Absolutely. I mean, for the price, I would still absolutely recommend it (it was I think $20 more expensive per person on the Oasis when we went in 2014). But just go into it knowing where it'll be. I wouldn't call that experience bad in any way.

Glad to hear you enjoyed the experience at the Chef's Table on the Freedom. I hope to try it next week if I can convince some others I am traveling with to give it a go. Fingers crossed.