Chef's Table Questions

[ISHCruising]

Some very basic questions like:

1.  Is it worth it?  We've been very satisfied with the quality of MDR, but were thinking of doing this as a special treat!  

2.  It mentions cocktails--we do not have the Cheers package, so would drinks be included in the dinner?

3.  One of the big attractions is the tour of the galley.  Someone mentioned that they were not operating tours in October, does anyone know if those have resumed?

 

Thanks!

[Elaine5715]

Yes, it is worth it IF you are open to creative dishes. You have a choice of white and red wines with dinner.  No CHEERS needed.  No galley tours

[jsglow]

It is absolutely worth it.  A completely different experience than the MDR (which we thoroughly enjoy) and even the Steakhouse.  Multi-course total fine dining experience.  Yes, your wine pairing is included.  No, there isn't a Galley tour presently during the Covid restart.

[ISHCruising]

1 hour ago, Elaine5715 said:

Yes, it is worth it IF you are open to creative dishes. You have a choice of white and red wines with dinner.  No CHEERS needed.  No galley tours

Thanks, yes, adventurous and no allergies or fussy eaters 🙂 Thanks for clarifying the wine!  That actually makes it a nice value.  Just booked!

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

Our menu from the Mardi Gras last week --- a great meal, except for the BEET course. Why do they even try (must have had a surplus onboard, lol)? !

 

(EDIT - I understand that the gumbo was a one time addition, since Emeril was there)

 

 

 

 

HERE'S a link to photos of most of the courses

 

Tom

[MistyRo76]

We did the Chef's Table on our last cruise and it was amazing! The wine was free-flowing and you didn't have to choose between red OR white. I got both so I could pair accordingly with each dish. I'm a fairly adventurous eater, but I honestly didn't think anything was too outrageous. The presentation and service are beyond what you would get in the MDR. The only thing I would say, is to pace yourself on the food. Each dish doesn't look that big on it's own...but by the next to last course (which I thought was the best of them) I was getting full! 

 

They will also work with special dietary needs. One other guest seated with us at the Chef's Table had some substitutions due to her own dietary needs. But all that looked amazing too!

[keels81]

2 hours ago, MistyRo76 said:

We did the Chef's Table on our last cruise and it was amazing! The wine was free-flowing and you didn't have to choose between red OR white. I got both so I could pair accordingly with each dish. I'm a fairly adventurous eater, but I honestly didn't think anything was too outrageous. The presentation and service are beyond what you would get in the MDR. The only thing I would say, is to pace yourself on the food. Each dish doesn't look that big on it's own...but by the next to last course (which I thought was the best of them) I was getting full! 

 

They will also work with special dietary needs. One other guest seated with us at the Chef's Table had some substitutions due to her own dietary needs. But all that looked amazing too!

 

I did the Chef's Table in October with a shellfish and mollusk allergy -- and it was a fantastic experience. They substituted anything that might be a trigger and the chef would come over to me and discreetly explain what my dish was after explaining the dish to everyone else -- which was nice, but honestly he could've told the group, I wouldn't have minded! 

 

I had two dishes substituted -- the crab salad in the hors d'oeuvres course was replaced with a delicious chicken, and for the shrimp course I instead received a delicious seared tuna. The substitutions still paired perfectly with the rest of the plate and I don't feel I missed a thing!

 

Already have it booked again on Mardi Gras in July and plan to book it on the Celebration in December.

[txgal08]

Worth every penny - it was the highlight of my cruise.

[BlerkOne]

10 hours ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

Our menu from the Mardi Gras last week --- a great meal, except for the BEET course. Why do they even try (must have had a surplus onboard, lol)? !

 

(EDIT - I understand that the gumbo was a one time addition, since Emeril was there)

 

 

 

 

HERE'S a link to photos of most of the courses

 

Tom

You didn't wear a Hawaiian shirt???!

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

6 hours ago, BlerkOne said:

You didn't wear a Hawaiian shirt???!

 

I need to buy one !   😄

 

Tom

[chicchic325]

It is 100% worth it. I can't wait to go again.

 

They were very stingy with the wine on mine, our glasses would get empty often. 

[ISHCruising]

Well, I was very underwhelmed by the Chef's Table experience.  

 

It was held in the nightclub, where several amuse bouche type plates were offered.  Using a cocktail fork awkwardly and leaning over onto small cocktail tables wasn't exactly the experience I was expecting.  Not receiving new utensils between savory and sweet was also a bit bizarre.  No napkins were offered either, making this whole first part of the experience awkward.  The mushroom and olive sponge was the texture of sand, and not the soft sand at HMC, but gritty coarse sand.  It also had the flavor profile of sand.

 

We then moved to the table (a real table, thankfully!), and food did not improve.  Service was pleasant and seemed to be appropriately matched for the experience, but the food was really unimpressive.  I think what stood out is that nothing tasted FRESH.  Not one single vegetable was presented (save for the bizarre "whisk" made out of spring onions for the bouillon cube wafer soup--ICK!).  The beef dish was served EXTRA WELL DONE and the consistency of jerky.  We were offered Eco Domani pinot grigio and informed it was "the finest wine in Italy", which was laughable since it sells for about $5/bottle at the local gas station.  

 

We had fun laughing at all the ridiculousness and awfulness of the meal, but otherwise hope to forget that we spent $150 on what was definitely the worst meal on the ship.  

[tw67]

2 hours ago, ISHCruising said:

Well, I was very underwhelmed by the Chef's Table experience.  

 

It was held in the nightclub, where several amuse bouche type plates were offered.  Using a cocktail fork awkwardly and leaning over onto small cocktail tables wasn't exactly the experience I was expecting.  Not receiving new utensils between savory and sweet was also a bit bizarre.  No napkins were offered either, making this whole first part of the experience awkward.  The mushroom and olive sponge was the texture of sand, and not the soft sand at HMC, but gritty coarse sand.  It also had the flavor profile of sand.

 

We then moved to the table (a real table, thankfully!), and food did not improve.  Service was pleasant and seemed to be appropriately matched for the experience, but the food was really unimpressive.  I think what stood out is that nothing tasted FRESH.  Not one single vegetable was presented (save for the bizarre "whisk" made out of spring onions for the bouillon cube wafer soup--ICK!).  The beef dish was served EXTRA WELL DONE and the consistency of jerky.  We were offered Eco Domani pinot grigio and informed it was "the finest wine in Italy", which was laughable since it sells for about $5/bottle at the local gas station.  

 

We had fun laughing at all the ridiculousness and awfulness of the meal, but otherwise hope to forget that we spent $150 on what was definitely the worst meal on the ship.  

Oh no!  I am so sorry!  When I did it, pre covid, it was such an excellent experience.  But I did it on Horizon, so it had an area built for it.  What ship were you on?  

[jsglow]

2 hours ago, ISHCruising said:

Well, I was very underwhelmed by the Chef's Table experience.  

 

It was held in the nightclub, where several amuse bouche type plates were offered.  Using a cocktail fork awkwardly and leaning over onto small cocktail tables wasn't exactly the experience I was expecting.  Not receiving new utensils between savory and sweet was also a bit bizarre.  No napkins were offered either, making this whole first part of the experience awkward.  The mushroom and olive sponge was the texture of sand, and not the soft sand at HMC, but gritty coarse sand.  It also had the flavor profile of sand.

 

We then moved to the table (a real table, thankfully!), and food did not improve.  Service was pleasant and seemed to be appropriately matched for the experience, but the food was really unimpressive.  I think what stood out is that nothing tasted FRESH.  Not one single vegetable was presented (save for the bizarre "whisk" made out of spring onions for the bouillon cube wafer soup--ICK!).  The beef dish was served EXTRA WELL DONE and the consistency of jerky.  We were offered Eco Domani pinot grigio and informed it was "the finest wine in Italy", which was laughable since it sells for about $5/bottle at the local gas station.  

 

We had fun laughing at all the ridiculousness and awfulness of the meal, but otherwise hope to forget that we spent $150 on what was definitely the worst meal on the ship.  

Guess you won't be back.  Enjoy your next cruise.

[aggie0811]

We did this on our Thanksgiving cruise and it was absolutely one of the best parts of the trip.  My friend has several food allergies that they were also very accommodating with.  I would absolutely do it again.  We were on the Carnival Breeze and started out in the piano bar with a few appetizer selections and champagne, and then they walked us over to the library bar where everything was set up and they poured us both red and white wine with the next courses.  All together it was an amazing 12-course experience.

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

We have probably attended our final Carnival Chef's Table (we've done it perhaps 5-6 times). It's definitely something to try once or twice, but it "eats up" most of an evening!

 

Tom

[tw67]

After loving my experience with it on Horizon, I have been wanting to do it again.  My husband is just not a foody, and I feel the experience will be wasted on him.  I think I can convince my 23 year old son to do it next month on Freedom with me, but if it isn't a good experience, then I know that I can't convince the rest of my family to ever do it again.  Has anyone had an experience on Freedom with Chef's table since covid that they care to share?  

[txgal08]

4 hours ago, tw67 said:

After loving my experience with it on Horizon, I have been wanting to do it again.  My husband is just not a foody, and I feel the experience will be wasted on him.  I think I can convince my 23 year old son to do it next month on Freedom with me, but if it isn't a good experience, then I know that I can't convince the rest of my family to ever do it again.  Has anyone had an experience on Freedom with Chef's table since covid that they care to share?  

I will be on the Freedom on Saturday and have reserved the Chef's Table.  Check with me after Christmas.

 

[tw67]

1 minute ago, txgal08 said:

I will be on the Freedom on Saturday and have reserved the Chef's Table.  Check with me after Christmas.

 

Thank you txgal!  I would love to hear anything else that you want to share about your cruise!  We are sailing on January 1st! Enjoy your Christmas!  

[mz-s]

I think it's something everyone that loves food should try, but it is a big meal and it is a slow meal. But it is extremely entertaining. My wife and I did it on Ecstasy some years ago and don't really desire to do it again but we have no regrets doing it on that cruise.

 

It really is designed for foodies. You get multiple small courses. If you don't like a course, no worries - there will be plenty of food that you will like so you will leave satisfied.

I will say I feel like the galley tour and demos are part of the experience so I would wait until those return before I did Chef's Table personally unless this is a once in a lifetime cruise or something.

[ISHCruising]

22 hours ago, tw67 said:

Oh no!  I am so sorry!  When I did it, pre covid, it was such an excellent experience.  But I did it on Horizon, so it had an area built for it.  What ship were you on?  

 

We were on the Legend

[ISHCruising]

I can't quite figure out if our experience was unique, or if we just have different standards when it comes to fine dining.  We are lucky to live in an area with many fine dining options, and we were expecting a similar level of service and food quality to what we get at home.  We are not "picky" eaters, and personally I didn't find anything on the menu to be outside of most people's comfort zones.  But please don't feed me well done steak and $5 wine and tell me I'm enjoying the meal of a "lifetime" 😂

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

2 minutes ago, ISHCruising said:

... But please don't feed me well done steak and $5 wine and tell me I'm enjoying the meal of a "lifetime" 😂

 

I often "pause and think" when I'm on many cruises, particularly the 3-5 days ones, where the CD will be blaring out over the PA that this is going to be a "Vacation of a lifetime". I understand that we are all fortunate enough to be on a ship to begin with - but, for me at least, it's difficult to imagine that the shorter ones (in particular) will be anything to write home about!

 

Tom

[txgal08]

On 12/13/2021 at 6:29 PM, tw67 said:

Thank you txgal!  I would love to hear anything else that you want to share about your cruise!  We are sailing on January 1st! Enjoy your Christmas!  

Chef’s table was amazing, as usual. Highly recommended!

[tw67]

2 minutes ago, txgal08 said:

Chef’s table was amazing, as usual. Highly recommended!

Thank you!  My son tested positive yesterday morning,  so we have to cancel!