Specialty restaurant booking

[longterm]

We just returned 3 days ago from our British Isles Explorer cruise; we had a great time, saw so much of the UK that we had been looking forward to seeing.

Before the cruise, we were able to book one night at Manfredi's, at 6pm, and one at Chef's Table; in both cases, they were 4-tops, but that's the best I could secure. Folks on here and elsewhere have said many times that more reservations are easy to get once on-board; in the past we were able to do that somewhat, so I as optimistic that we'd be able to do so on this cruise, which was sold out.

The only reservation available was for 7:30pm, on a 6-top; that's too late for us, so we declined. I was advised to stop by the World Cafe and speak to the reservations manager there; I did so, and was told there were no available reservations. When I returned to speak to him again a few days later, he was nowhere to be found, even though it was during the time when he was supposed to be available. We ate lunch, went back to the desk... he was still AWOL.

 

So here's my thought: on cruises where the average age is probably between 65 and 70, why don't the specialty restaurants start their first seatings at 5pm instead of 6? They could probably get 3 seatings instead of 2, and lots of people, including us, would take advantage of an earlier dinner time.

I know that it comes down to logistics and available staff, but it was a big disappointment to us that we weren't able to eat in Manfredi's but one time--and that was on a 6-top, when we'd been told it would be a 4-top. Add to that the four errors made by our servers--I ordered steak but got fish, another diner never got his 1st course, then his steak was incorrectly grilled, and finally, our desserts were totally mixed up. To make things worse, one of the diners at the table seemed hellbent on bashing a particular political party, even after nobody at the table responded to his snipes; after his 3rd foray, he finally stopped, to everyone's relief.

I would welcome earlier dinner times in the specialty restaurants. 

[May B]

That’s an interesting thought, although I prefer to dine later, so it wouldn’t appeal to us.

 

After that experience, I’m wondering why you would even want another reservation!

 

On my only VO, on embarkation day we went to the desk in front of Chef’s Table. That allowed us to see the entire cruise’s schedule for Chef’s Table. 

[millybess]

3 minutes ago, May B said:

 

 

On my only VO, on embarkation day we went to the desk in front of Chef’s Table. That allowed us to see the entire cruise’s schedule for Chef’s Table. 

You mean on the interactive screen on the wall by the entrance right?  

 

We always head there on day 1 to see what the menus are for the first few days.  That allows us to change our reservations -- if we have bothered to make any on MVJ -- or make reservations for the evenings on which the menus appeal to us. 

[longterm]

13 minutes ago, May B said:

After that experience, I’m wondering why you would even want another reservation!

Actually, our only reservation was for the 3rd to last night, so the experience was after I'd already tried--and failed--to get a 2nd reservation.

I should have noted that the food, once it was sorted, was delicious, and the poor frazzled server seemed to be having a less-than-stellar night. 

I know that lots of people like to sit with strangers at dinner; we prefer to dine alone when possible, and it's a shame that we couldn't do so in Manfredi's on this cruise.

We did have 1 reservation at Chef's Table, made long before we knew what the menu would be that night; once my wife saw what was being served, we let that reservation go. It would be useful to know what the menu is going be before making a reservation, but I understand the logistical difficulty in that.

 

[millybess]

42 minutes ago, longterm said:

It would be useful to know what the menu is going be before making a reservation, but I understand the logistical difficulty in that.

This was the case pre pandemic.  MVJ posted 7 days of Chef's Table menus for a particular cruise and that helped to choose what days one wanted to reserve Chef's Table.

[Baron Barracuda]

Agree it would be very helpful if Viking would post the entire Chef's Table rotation when reservations open.  Since they currently don't dw and I make sure to launch the Viking Voyager app as soon as we board so we can peruse the menus and make reservations.  On our last sailing (which at 33 days was pretty long) we booked 7 reservations each for Chefs Table and Manfredi's on embarkation day.  As far as extending hours it would be difficult to do so at Manfredi's where dinners have a leisurely pace and folks tend to linger over coffee.  At Chefs Table on the other hand we've found that despite the reservation system allocating two hours for dinner service has usually been brisk and we're done and out in just over an hour.  Perhaps they can do a time study and possibly shorten the booking slots to 90 minutes.  Also, in the past when both restaurants show as "full" we've had success approaching the host/hostess in the afternoon and asking if they could squeeze us in.  Provided we didn't mind eating at 8pm or later they've usually been able to accommodate.

[longterm]

2 hours ago, millybess said:

This was the case pre pandemic.  MVJ posted 7 days of Chef's Table menus for a particular cruise and that helped to choose what days one wanted to reserve Chef's Table.

I didn't realize that; we just picked nights and then looked to see what the menu was for that night. My sweet wife doesn't eat beef or raw fish, so there were some nights when she just couldn't find anything to eat.

[millybess]

14 minutes ago, longterm said:

I didn't realize that; we just picked nights and then looked to see what the menu was for that night. My sweet wife doesn't eat beef or raw fish, so there were some nights when she just couldn't find anything to eat.

Right, well I wish they still did that.  But regardless, you can view the menus on the interactive board outside the entrance.  It's not as efficient as being able to make the reservations before you leave home, but I found that if you peruse the board, you don't have to go to the WC to see the menus.

 

BTW, we use the board to choose what night we would like to dine at CT, but the menu has changed on occasion.

[CannotSwim]

32 minutes ago, longterm said:

I didn't realize that; we just picked nights and then looked to see what the menu was for that night. My sweet wife doesn't eat beef or raw fish, so there were some nights when she just couldn't find anything to eat.

You can ask for replacements. I'm a vegetarian, sometimes they swap out three of the five courses, and my wife has some meats she doesn't eat.

 

(The chef has replacements in mind. On our last cruise the chef got upset at a waiter for making a vegetarian replacement on their own instead of asking the chef.)

[millybess]

3 minutes ago, CannotSwim said:

You can ask for replacements. I'm a vegetarian, sometimes they swap out three of the five courses, and my wife has some meats she doesn't eat.

That is right.  Usually replacements will come from the MDR -- at least, that is what is initially offered.  However, I have on occasion asked for something in particular from Manfredi's and they have accommodated me.

[May B]

4 hours ago, millybess said:

You mean on the interactive screen on the wall by the entrance right?  

 

We always head there on day 1 to see what the menus are for the first few days.  That allows us to change our reservations -- if we have bothered to make any on MVJ -- or make reservations for the evenings on which the menus appeal to us. 

Yes, we were excited to see it, but our cruise wasn’t long enough for us to hit a menu we wanted to try!

 

4 hours ago, longterm said:

Actually, our only reservation was for the 3rd to last night, so the experience was after I'd already tried--and failed--to get a 2nd reservation.

I should have noted that the food, once it was sorted, was delicious, and the poor frazzled server seemed to be having a less-than-stellar night. 

I know that lots of people like to sit with strangers at dinner; we prefer to dine alone when possible, and it's a shame that we couldn't do so in Manfredi's on this cruise.

We did have 1 reservation at Chef's Table, made long before we knew what the menu would be that night; once my wife saw what was being served, we let that reservation go. It would be useful to know what the menu is going be before making a reservation, but I understand the logistical difficulty in that.

 

 

That does make sense, and I’m very glad to hear you found the food to be appropriate, once the whole thing was sorted.

 

We are very much the same as you, wanting to dine alone. 
 

2 hours ago, Baron Barracuda said:

Agree it would be very helpful if Viking would post the entire Chef's Table rotation when reservations open.  Since they currently don't dw and I make sure to launch the Viking Voyager app as soon as we board so we can peruse the menus and make reservations.  On our last sailing (which at 33 days was pretty long) we booked 7 reservations each for Chefs Table and Manfredi's on embarkation day.  As far as extending hours it would be difficult to do so at Manfredi's where dinners have a leisurely pace and folks tend to linger over coffee.  At Chefs Table on the other hand we've found that despite the reservation system allocating two hours for dinner service has usually been brisk and we're done and out in just over an hour.  Perhaps they can do a time study and possibly shorten the booking slots to 90 minutes.  Also, in the past when both restaurants show as "full" we've had success approaching the host/hostess in the afternoon and asking if they could squeeze us in.  Provided we didn't mind eating at 8pm or later they've usually been able to accommodate.

 

Actually, we like to dine at 8 pm. We wouldn’t want to feel rushed, but having ogled the menu, prior to sitting down, we are definitely prepared to order quickly most of the time! Chefs Table seems to be a somewhat silly place to rush things, but until I’ve experienced it, I’ll reserve judgment. Heck, there’s really NO ordering necessary, there.

[CannotSwim]

47 minutes ago, millybess said:

That is right.  Usually replacements will come from the MDR -- at least, that is what is initially offered.  However, I have on occasion asked for something in particular from Manfredi's and they have accommodated me.

That's what was done a few years ago, but the vegetarian standard in the past year has been a replacement with the same look and style of the original dish. The chef at Chef's table recently was very upset that I didn't get the replacement he had planned for vegetarians.

[millybess]

2 minutes ago, CannotSwim said:

That's what was done a few years ago, but the vegetarian standard in the past year has been a replacement with the same look and style of the original dish. The chef at Chef's table recently was very upset that I didn't get the replacement he had planned for vegetarians.

That's very nice that they will do that for you.

 

In my case, they will replace something with a beef, chicken or seafood dish from the MDR or Manfredi's.

[Baron Barracuda]

There are roughly 20 Chefs Table menus.  Each has a title.  This Viking board contains a thread that describes and discusses each one.  That enabled me to create a cheat sheet ranking them in order of attractiveness to us.  Once aboard ship I don't need to read through the menus, just check the titles to see which ones are offered on which nights and  quickly book.

[Mich3554]

23 hours ago, longterm said:

We just returned 3 days ago from our British Isles Explorer cruise; we had a great time, saw so much of the UK that we had been looking forward to seeing.

Before the cruise, we were able to book one night at Manfredi's, at 6pm, and one at Chef's Table; in both cases, they were 4-tops, but that's the best I could secure. Folks on here and elsewhere have said many times that more reservations are easy to get once on-board; in the past we were able to do that somewhat, so I as optimistic that we'd be able to do so on this cruise, which was sold out.

The only reservation available was for 7:30pm, on a 6-top; that's too late for us, so we declined. I was advised to stop by the World Cafe and speak to the reservations manager there; I did so, and was told there were no available reservations. When I returned to speak to him again a few days later, he was nowhere to be found, even though it was during the time when he was supposed to be available. We ate lunch, went back to the desk... he was still AWOL.

 

So here's my thought: on cruises where the average age is probably between 65 and 70, why don't the specialty restaurants start their first seatings at 5pm instead of 6? They could probably get 3 seatings instead of 2, and lots of people, including us, would take advantage of an earlier dinner time.

I know that it comes down to logistics and available staff, but it was a big disappointment to us that we weren't able to eat in Manfredi's but one time--and that was on a 6-top, when we'd been told it would be a 4-top. Add to that the four errors made by our servers--I ordered steak but got fish, another diner never got his 1st course, then his steak was incorrectly grilled, and finally, our desserts were totally mixed up. To make things worse, one of the diners at the table seemed hellbent on bashing a particular political party, even after nobody at the table responded to his snipes; after his 3rd foray, he finally stopped, to everyone's relief.

I would welcome earlier dinner times in the specialty restaurants. 

I suspect that it’s not difficult to complete lunch service and be prepared for dinner service by losing an hour.  When we came back from Tokyo to Vancouver, we were losing an hour each day.  We lost 3pm, so the ship’s clock went from 2pm to 4pm.  I noticed on those days, lunch service was shortened and lunch ended at 1:30.  It wasn’t a big deal for us as this was on sea days, but there are days where many don’t get back on the ship until 1-2 after their excursions on port days, and lunch is still available.  They probably need more than 3 hours to break down lunch service and start dinner.  
 

Incidentally, on a galley tour we took with the chef from CT, I asked why there were so many empty tables when the reservations say full.  We were told that they figure out the number of meals that the kitchen could put out over what period of time and THAT was what dictated how many reservations that they could accept.  It also varied by how labor intensive the menus are.  I suspect Manfredi’s works similarly.  

[WanderingBrit]

On 7/21/2024 at 10:38 AM, longterm said:

... Folks on here and elsewhere have said many times that more reservations are easy to get once on-board; in the past we were able to do that somewhat, so I as optimistic that we'd be able to do so on this cruise, which was sold out.

The only reservation available was for 7:30pm, on a 6-top; that's too late for us, so we declined.

...

This was our experience last summer also - that there simply were not seats available once onboard, unless one wished to dine on a large table or at 8:30pm. Changes in reality don't appear to have stopped the advice from being endlessly repeated.

[OneSixtyToOne]

27 minutes ago, Mich3554 said:

Incidentally, on a galley tour we took with the chef from CT, I asked why there were so many empty tables when the reservations say full.  We were told that they figure out the number of meals that the kitchen could put out over what period of time and THAT was what dictated how many reservations that they could accept.  It also varied by how labor intensive the menus are.  I suspect Manfredi’s works similarly.  

That explains a lot. Thanks for this tidbit.

[Mich3554]

1 hour ago, WanderingBrit said:

This was our experience last summer also - that there simply were not seats available once onboard, unless one wished to dine on a large table or at 8:30pm. Changes in reality don't appear to have stopped the advice from being endlessly repeated.

We spent 54 days on the Orion from March to May (Bangkok to Vancouver).  We dined at CT several times, Manfredi’s several times and we did not have a single reservation when we boarded.  Usually we tried booking a few days in advance, not the same day but if we were flexible it wasn’t a problem.  7-7:30 is our preferred reservation time (but think we did have a reservation at 6:30 once), and all were at tables for 2.  

[LindaS272]

1 hour ago, WanderingBrit said:

This was our experience last summer also - that there simply were not seats available once onboard, unless one wished to dine on a large table or at 8:30pm. Changes in reality don't appear to have stopped the advice from being endlessly repeated.

I think you also need to keep checking back and not just take their word for it upon boarding. There are always no shows & cancellations. Can also show up on the night you want about 15 minutes before your preferred time and they can often fit you in. It’s worked for us many times when we have initially been told there’s no room.

[JF - retired RRT]

5 hours ago, Baron Barracuda said:

There are roughly 20 Chefs Table menus.  Each has a title.  This Viking board contains a thread that describes and discusses each one.  That enabled me to create a cheat sheet ranking them in order of attractiveness to us.  Once aboard ship I don't need to read through the menus, just check the titles to see which ones are offered on which nights and  quickly book.

Could you put a link for the "20 Chefs Table menus" post?

TIA

[longterm]

3 hours ago, OneSixtyToOne said:

That explains a lot. Thanks for this tidbit.

 

4 hours ago, Mich3554 said:

Incidentally, on a galley tour we took with the chef from CT, I asked why there were so many empty tables when the reservations say full.  We were told that they figure out the number of meals that the kitchen could put out over what period of time and THAT was what dictated how many reservations that they could accept.  It also varied by how labor intensive the menus are.  I suspect Manfredi’s works similarly.  

Interesting, although that doesn't explain why we were seated at a 6-top, when the restaurant was 2/3 full. 

One would think that, on a sold-out cruise as we were, with 930 passengers, Manfredi's and CT would be able to accommodate full seatings, considering how small those restaurants are.

I did write a letter to Viking and expressed my displeasure at not being able to get more reservations, and got a prompt call from a Viking rep, along with a very generous future cruise voucher. So, though we would have enjoyed at least one more time at Manfredi's, Viking made sure that we remain happy and loyal Viking travelers.

[Baron Barracuda]

2 hours ago, JF - retired RRT said:

Could you put a link for the "20 Chefs Table menus" post?

TIA

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2861105-21-chef’s-table-menus/#comment-63429976

 

[Mich3554]

3 minutes ago, longterm said:

 

Interesting, although that doesn't explain why we were seated at a 6-top, when the restaurant was 2/3 full. 

One would think that, on a sold-out cruise as we were, with 930 passengers, Manfredi's and CT would be able to accommodate full seatings, considering how small those restaurants are.

I did write a letter to Viking and expressed my displeasure at not being able to get more reservations, and got a prompt call from a Viking rep, along with a very generous future cruise voucher. So, though we would have enjoyed at least one more time at Manfredi's, Viking made sure that we remain happy and loyal Viking travelers.

It’s not a function of the passenger number, but how many plates of food the chef’s staff can compose over a certain amount of time (6-9pm).  If the staff can only prepare 24 meals (which is usually 125 plates of food with all courses) over an hour, booking 44 people into the restaurant is going to diminish the experience, and plates are not going to be ready when they need to be ready.  Add to this that different menus require longer or shorter times to prepare each plate, so that’s going to affect how many people they can serve.  
 

[longterm]

44 minutes ago, Mich3554 said:

It’s not a function of the passenger number, but how many plates of food the chef’s staff can compose over a certain amount of time (6-9pm).  If the staff can only prepare 24 meals (which is usually 125 plates of food with all courses) over an hour, booking 44 people into the restaurant is going to diminish the experience, and plates are not going to be ready when they need to be ready.  Add to this that different menus require longer or shorter times to prepare each plate, so that’s going to affect how many people they can serve.  

I do understand that, but in a restaurant as small as Manfredi's, one would think that the kitchen would be staffed to be able to accommodate a full seating, especially since there are only 2 seatings per night for a guest load of 930 passengers. 
 

It all comes down to proper management; there are restaurants here that work at near-capacity, and consistently provide great dining experiences. On the night we were there, I would estimate that 1/3 of the tables were empty--and we were unable to get other reservations. 

Having an earlier seating (5pm) would be great for us, and I have no doubt there are others who like to have early dinners; this would increase capacity without forcing the ships to have full seatings, which they clearly are not inclined to do.

[HUNKY]

Seems to me that the Chef’s Table kitchen staff is not up to the task.
 

I work for a restaurant that has two single seating dining rooms, which seat a total of 64 people.  Most nights, meals are four courses, or 256 plates.

 

There is one chef and one assistant.

 

I truly wish Viking would charge for dining at Manfredi’s and the Chef Table.  A reasonable charge would raise the food quality and eliminate no shows.