Chops Grille, Vision of Seas, October 2023

[Bellarion]

For the first time, we are thinking about booking dinner at Chops Grille, if we can purchase a two for one deal!  My questions are: 1) are the charges added to your ship account or on a credit card upon purchase, 2) concerning the tip for two people, is it added to the bill or cash only, 3)  recommended amount for two people?

 

Any way they charge is fine, just like to know in advance.  Thanks so much!

[mitz18]

39 minutes ago, Bellarion said:

For the first time, we are thinking about booking dinner at Chops Grille, if we can purchase a two for one deal!  My questions are: 1) are the charges added to your ship account or on a credit card upon purchase, 2) concerning the tip for two people, is it added to the bill or cash only, 3)  recommended amount for two people?

 

Any way they charge is fine, just like to know in advance.  Thanks so much!

Chops is nice - hope you enjoy it.  If you reserve it in advance, you can charge to a credit card or you can use OBC if you have any.  If you reserve onboard, it will be charged to your room account.  I believe the price will be + grats, but you can check on-line.  But keep in mind if the service is really good, you can give more tip, either charged to your account or cash at the table.  Amount of tip is purely an individual thing.

[Bellarion]

Thank you for all of the information.  Being a 9 night cruise, we thought it would be nice to have a little variety with the dinners. Thanks again.

[HERDFAN]

If you can get a deal pre cruise on a 2 night dining package, a trip to Giovanni's Table is also worth it. It is very good. We like it better than Chops.

[mitz18]

17 hours ago, HERDFAN said:

If you can get a deal pre cruise on a 2 night dining package, a trip to Giovanni's Table is also worth it. It is very good. We like it better than Chops.

Agree Giovanni's is a good option as well.

[pcur]

My sister and I spent 10 nights on the Vision last March 2022, and had the UDP.  I had been on several cruises since the MDR menu changes in mid-Jan, and was NOT happy with them.  I'm actually easy to please and will just about everything, but my sis is fussy.  So, I insisted we get the UDP.

 

I also ate breakfast every day in Chops as a Pinnacle perk (she doesn't eat breakfast), so we ate quite a bit in Chops:  lunch, several dinners, and me for breakfast.

 

As I've said in other threads here on CC:  I love me my Chops.  It's got great food!  The staff are wonderful, too, and I hope they are still there when I'm on the Vision again next year.

 

Giovanni's was my sister's favorite. Their food was excellent, too.

Edited August 28, 2023 by pcur

[time4u2go]

21 hours ago, HERDFAN said:

If you can get a deal pre cruise on a 2 night dining package, a trip to Giovanni's Table is also worth it. It is very good. We like it better than Chops.

Same here.  I feel that Chops has gone downhill in recent years.

[HaveWeMetYet]

The side order selections are terrible at Royals specialty restaurants. Almost all are some flavor of a Potatoe. The salad selections are not much better either. Entrees are good.

Lunch is the best deal as it is almost the same menu at less than half the price of dinner.

The Italian venues are definitely better than Chops.

[bstreep]

I realize that each ship is different, and some ships manage to serve things up better than others.  We had 5 specialty meals last week on Radiance.  Only one was decent (we gauge "good" or better with:  "if this restaurant was at home, would we go back"), and that was Giovanni's. And it was very good.  The others weren't worth even half the price.  We walked out of Samba and ate in the MDR, where the food was surprisingly good.

 

Forgot this part: You can leave the tip on the receipt they provide you, and it is charged to your room, and at the end of the cruise they charge your credit card.  Or you can tip in cash - which is what we do.  When we got good service and good or better food for dinner, no matter the venue, we tipped $20 cash. 

Edited August 29, 2023 by bstreep