Is Portofino Really Worth It?

[dwillis43]

We will be sailing VOS in March. Is Portofino really worth the extra charge. Is the food really that good? Thanks for your input.

[EggDropErin]

IMO, YES!! We had out of this world food, service, and ambiance. We will always book Portofino from now on when we're on a ship that offers it. If you like mushrooms, be sure to try the mushroom pasta! Mmmmmmmmm!!! :D

[lvtotrvl1]

It was fantastic...we did not go until the last night...if I had gone earlier, I would have been there every night:)

[dwillis43]

Thanks for your response...Sounds like a good idea to me.

[Cruisin'Kim]

We were on VOS last January and went to Portofinos - it was EXCELLENT! Everything we had was incredible, we went with friends of ours, my girlfriend was feeling a little under the weather, so didn't want dessert - the poor waiter couldn't believe it, and asked her again - when she said "nothing" - a plate arrived for her when we received our desserts that just had "nothing" written in chocolate on it! LOL

 

Have a great cruise!

 

Kim.

[titomalu]

yes....yes....yes.....On my last cruise in the Empress, we ate there two of the three nights. The food is excellent, the desserts excellent, it feels like eating in a gourmet restaurant rather than eating in a cafeteria. I would recommend it to anyone.

[Travelitis]

We hear the the filet mignon we had at the captain's table was from Chops, and it was much better than the dining room normally served. That being said, the dining room food was so good on the Mariner, and we had so much fun with our dinner companions, that we never wanted to go to Portofino's or Chops. They cancelled their ressies for the alternatives for the same reasons. You can always book Portofino's and then change your mind as long as you don't try to cancel at the last minute.

[Cnd_Cruiser]

We eat there on every cruise, wouldn't miss it.

[clearwaters]

I guess that's why the main dining room fare is always reported to be mediocre on RCCL. After all, why should RCCL serve excellent dishes in the main dining room when what the cruise line REALLY wants you to do is pay $20 or $25 for dinner. Maybe if the main dining room food was excellent fewer people would spend extra money for Portafinos and Chops... ;)

[ancldaca]

On my July AOS cruise I ended up eating there every single evening. I found the rest of the food onboard to be so horridly underseasoned that Portofino was the only meal I enjoyed daily. I thus ate lunch on land every chance I got so I wouldn't have to eat onboard; this led to some very enjoyable discoveries as outlined in my review.

 

I absolutely agree with the post recomending the papardele; I also enjoyed the smoked duck appetizer and the saltimboca.

[suezyq50]

The food is very good. Well worth the additional charge. Our reservation was at twilight. The ship was pulling out of port. THe view was awesome.

[ancldaca]

I purposely made ate at Portofino that first night because of that (had read that recomendation somewhere either on the boards or the reviews). It was nice seeing El Morro while enjoying the smoked duck appetizer. :-)

 

While pulling out of port was terrific, once out of it, there was no view as Portofino on the AOS is on the starboard side and we were sailing west along PR's coast. This was on the Aruba route. If the ship sails east on the other route, I can certainly imagine how nice it would be seeing those lights.

[Conanc]

Our favorite Portofino meal:

 

shrimp risotto

pear gorgonzola salad

filet mignon

chocolate covered strawberries

tiramisu (with a B-52 on the side!)

[Yvie]

We loved Portofino. Our group was very pleased with our meal and thought it was just as good as we would get at a fine italian restaurant (if not better). Our waiter kept suggesting we order the filet mignon, but we chose other entrees. Well he brought one out for our table to try anyway, and it was amazingly tender with great flavor. We thought it was so good that we returned to Portofino a second time and we ALL ordered the filet. The tiger shrimp risotto was very good and the spiedino di frutti di mare alla toscana is a giant (and I mean giant) hanging skewer of lobster, scallops, salmon, and jumbo prawns. For dessert the chocolate gianduia cake was heaven on a plate. When our waiter overheard me say that he brought me a piece to bring back to the room.:) We will definitely dine at Portofino again if we have the opportunity!

[English Jane]

I'm obviously on my own here but I probably wouldn't go again - not because there was anything wrong but because we found the quality to be comparable to the main dining room (I'm not an inexperienced diner either - I've eaten in Michelin star restaurants etc.)

Jane

x

[travel_babe]

We found Portofino better than the dining room for sure. We ended up eating their twice in 7 nights, but there wasn't a time when we found any of the food bad.

[maryjomo]

Ate there in September twice on our cruise (it was that good). The filet was so tender you could cut it with a fork.

 

You need to sign up the first few hours on board to ensure your reservation though. It is very popular.

 

The view was awesome!

 

I recommend you try it at least once. We were told they were full after our first reservation. The lady at the front desk told us to stop by at 8 pm on a night we were interested, because people will sometimes no show for a table, or finish up early. We did this and got in for our second time and had a even better table then the first.

 

Enjoy!

[maryjomo]

Sorry I meant Chops. We did not make it to Portofino's.

[CTmom1966]

Not to be missed! Make your reservations when you get on board to get the date and time you would like. A fabulous dining experience.