Seating Arrangement for Chef's Table?

[quicklabs]

We have so much OBC to use, I thought we might like to try to Chef's Table by Daniel Boulud on the Edge.  Does everyone sit at one big table (and therefore, without an opportunity to distance) or does every group get its own table (with some possibility to distance)?  Thanks in advance. 

 

[deliver42]

I havrn't done celebrity, but on Royal, it's one long table.

[CHEZMARYLOU]

One shared table.

 

[Jim_Iain]

I've done it a number of times and was either in Murano in the private Wine Cellar Room.   One large table with name designating your seating place.    On other ships they have had it at one large table in the middle of Tuscan, again assigned seating by name place tag.

[CHEZMARYLOU]

On edge it was a large table at the entrance to Fine Cut Steak House. Loud because of the Martini Bar.

 

[Jim_Iain]

17 minutes ago, CHEZMARYLOU said:

On edge it was a large table at the entrance to Fine Cut Steak House. Loud because of the Martini Bar.

 

 

Fine Cut is certainly a miss on Edge.    We had dinner there and the noise especially when they do the light show was so loud you could not ear conversation at all.  It was bad enough we will never return.

[CHEZMARYLOU]

We went twice. First night wasn't too bad. Second time we could not hear each other or the waiter. 

[miched]

Use your money in the casino.  In my opinion you would be better off booking a dinner in a specialty restaurant and enjoying it by yourselves.

 

you can choose what you want and don’t have to risk dining with people you may or may not get along with.   Our experience want that great because of the table mates.  
 

Use the difference in the casino as it would have been dead money and you will have a bette time doing that.  

 

This is my opinion and advice.   Others may and will differ 

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

[Cruise a holic]

8 hours ago, miched said:

Use your money in the casino.  In my opinion you would be better off booking a dinner in a specialty restaurant and enjoying it by yourselves.

 

you can choose what you want and don’t have to risk dining with people you may or may not get along with.   Our experience want that great because of the table mates.  
 

Use the difference in the casino as it would have been dead money and you will have a bette time doing that.  

 

This is my opinion and advice.   Others may and will differ 

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

You can purchase a lasting gift at a ship store.  Why give your money back to the cruise line at the Casino?  Or try a special shore X.  We surely enjoy booking a specialty dinner.  Even a spa service.

[Gracie115]

I wouldn't bother with Chef's dinner, it will eat up a LOT of OBC but not worth it in our opinion.  Food was okay, service not as good as Luminae, you take chances with who dines with you, our table mates were nice but very little conversation.

 

I'd spend more on specialty restaurants, like Le Petite Chef (very fun, food was excellent) or buy something you never would otherwise in the shops with all that OBC.  That's what we did on our last X sailing.

[chemmo]

I must agree with the comments of some others that how good the event is can depend on fellow guests….

 

We did one where a guest interrupted every conversation with “In my opinion….” or “I know for a fact…” and other phrases to start his next monologue. Each time the next course and wine were brought in he interrupted and questioned everything said by the sommelier and chef…In the meantime his wife kept asking for wine refills and became slowly more slurred as she asked for yet another refill. 
 

The rest of us at first politely tried to make the best of things but we decided to make a hasty retreat before coffee. As we stood up with our apologies everyone else remembered prior arrangements too. We left Mr Big Mouth still giving the waiter a lecture and his wife checking the empty bottles for any left overs…

We always said if we were to do it again it would either be on a cruise with friends or towards the end of a cruise when we have made new friends we would enjoy dining with. 
 

Our cruise in September did not have a chef’s table owing to distancing rules. There are number limits so if you fancy doing it find out as you board and put your name down.

 

[TeeRick]

12 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

Fine Cut is certainly a miss on Edge.    We had dinner there and the noise especially when they do the light show was so loud you could not ear conversation at all.  It was bad enough we will never return.

Jim this was exactly our experience with Fine Cut on EDGE as well.  They gave us a rail table overlooking the Martini Bar.  When the bartenders did a show it was so noisy! To make it worse, very rude people surrounded our table while we were eating with their cameras to record the show!  If we ever go back we would request an inside table.  

[quicklabs]

Thank you all so much.  Your answers were super helpful.  My husband joked that he should just pack shorts and underwear and buy 10 tee shirts on the cruises.  

[brontosphere]

Did Chefs table on Edge 3 weeks ago. It was good but not spectacular. First you meet for canapes and champagne on 4, meet the other guests, and then head upstairs to dinner. It is the large table (10) at entrance to Fine Cut. It's semi-open so often you have gawkers or people hanging around waiting for their table, a bit distracting. A fully closed room would have been better.

 

The noise from Martini Bar was not that bad compared to the Fine Cut tables on the rail. The food is extremely rich - soup, then risotto, extremely filling. By the time the Duo of Beef arrived most were nearly full. The beef (filet and short rib) was excellent, better than normal Fine Cut steaks. 

 

I would agree with others that said the experience depends on other guests. At our table there were 3 "groups" who had their own conversations going and it never really acted like one shared table.

 

It's expensive and probably not worth it overall, but the Daniel cookbook arrived in our cabin a few days later and it is beautiful (and huge/heavy though!).

 

Feel free to ask any other questions!

[bnurick]

3 hours ago, brontosphere said:

Did Chefs table on Edge 3 weeks ago. It was good but not spectacular. First you meet for canapes and champagne on 4, meet the other guests, and then head upstairs to dinner. It is the large table (10) at entrance to Fine Cut. It's semi-open so often you have gawkers or people hanging around waiting for their table, a bit distracting. A fully closed room would have been better.

 

The noise from Martini Bar was not that bad compared to the Fine Cut tables on the rail. The food is extremely rich - soup, then risotto, extremely filling. By the time the Duo of Beef arrived most were nearly full. The beef (filet and short rib) was excellent, better than normal Fine Cut steaks. 

 

I would agree with others that said the experience depends on other guests. At our table there were 3 "groups" who had their own conversations going and it never really acted like one shared table.

 

It's expensive and probably not worth it overall, but the Daniel cookbook arrived in our cabin a few days later and it is beautiful (and huge/heavy though!).

 

Feel free to ask any other questions!

We did on Edge in July and agree.  Food was fine and disappointed in the wine. Now with COVID more transmittable we have decided not to do on the Equinox Jan. 30th cruise; contact tracing risk, etc. Thank you for confirming it’s still a single group and not split out into tables by party.  Would consider if we had our own table and knew the wines in advance.  Cheers!

Edited January 22, 2022 by bnurick

[Jim_Iain]

22 hours ago, CHEZMARYLOU said:

We went twice. First night wasn't too bad. Second time we could not hear each other or the waiter. 

Did it make a difference where you were seated?   We were seated right next to the opening looking down into the Martini Bar.    The Light Show "Music" was beyond loud.

[CHEZMARYLOU]

13 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

Did it make a difference where you were seated?   We were seated right next to the opening looking down into the Martini Bar.    The Light Show "Music" was beyond loud.

We were seated next to the windows both times and went to dinner at the same time each night.  Don't know why the 2nd time seemed much louder.  Maybe there were more people at the martini bar.  I think it was a dress up night.  We much preferred Eden but couldn't talk Mike into going there instead.  He really wanted to try the prime rib.