Portofino Mistery Theater

[dcastro]

Has anyone attended this? We did on AOS last week. I wish I can get my $ back (and the time). I like to get your opinions.

[Pomperaugrr]

We did it on the Serenade of the Seas this past January. We had a great time. Was it a Broadway quality show? NO, but it was an entertaining evening with good food, wine and an active audience. I think the audience can make or break this event. We thoroughly enjoyed it and thought it was worth what we paid for it. That seemed to be the general consensus on our cruise. The entertainment staff all seemed to enjoy doing the show, especially when given the chance to improvise in response to an actively involved audience.

 

Eric

[dcastro]

You said it. In our show, the audience wasn;t involved until the end when we were to ask 1 question (as a group) to each character and we had 30 seconds to do so. If I knew how this was, I would rather pay the $20 and go to Portofino. At least we would have gotten the regular menu.

[phantom728]

I had been interested in doing this on our upcoming Feb cruise, but read through the threads to find out not worth the extra money. Guess we'll be keeping this one a mystery :rolleyes:...lol...

[dcastro]

Don't spend the money on this. its not worth it. Not only is the show crappy (at best) but the menu is not the standard menu. They set it for you.

[silentbob007]

I did it on Explorer ... I enjoyed it once but would never do it again. The menu was limited, the food suffered from mass ordering (at least IMO), and the "unlimited" wine ran out.

[2catfamily]

We also went to Murder Mystery Dinner on the Serenade of the Sea's and had a great time! The steak was excellent and the actor's were very entertaining. I do feel though. if you have a bunch of boring people on your table it won't be as good as a time. I would recommend people to go see it.

[Aleciajoyful1]

We did the Murder Mystery dinner a few years ago on Brilliance, and we had a great time. Yes, the show was a bit cheesy, but we had a great table and laughed all night. IMO, the food was great and it was nice to have appetizers and champagne flowing freely during the "preshow" antics. I'd do it again in a heartbeat myself :D

[nanfromatlanta]

I did it on Explorer ... I enjoyed it once but would never do it again. The menu was limited, the food suffered from mass ordering (at least IMO), and the "unlimited" wine ran out.

 

We felt the same way as you, only the wine did not run out.. :eek:

 

We could have saved $60.00, had a wonderful dinner at Portofino with the full menu, and not had to endure the less than stellar performance. We were extremely disappointed since we have been to good dinner theaters before.

[carbon]

we will be on the AOS Aruba route in March. What night is the mystery theater?

[Cindy]

Hmm...I hope my experience is not like dcastro's! My DH and I just signed up to do this on the Voyager during Spring Break with another couple we met on our cruise last March.

Since this will be our 6th Western out of Galveston we were looking for something a little different to do. I thought the dinner theater sounded like fun and a nice way to eat at Portofino but still change things up a little bit.

Some of you mentioned the menu is limited. Do they still offer some choices similar to what they would do in the dining room?

[asil621]

I participated in the Mystery Dinner Theater on the Mariner about a month ago and had a great time as well! On the other hand, I didn't book this dinner expecting an Oscar-worthy performance from the actors. I got what I went there for- it was humorous, and a bit campy and cheesy! But that was part of the fun! You could tell that the actors were having a great time along with the audience. The limited menu that they chose for you was off of the original Portofino menu- so you are still receiving a bit of the Portofino feel. Being someone who works in a fine dining restaurant, it doesn't make sense to offer a ton of selections for an event like this. Basically, you want to please the masses. Salad, soup, shrimp, steak- that's what they are going for- and I thought the food was very good. I can't speak for any other cruise, but at least on mine, they had sample menus for the Mystery Dinner Theater on display outside of Portofinos- so it's not like there were any suprises. I can say that the wine did not run out at my dinner. In fact, upon leaving, we noticed a bottle that was 2/3 full on the ledge in the restaurant, and going out on a limb, asked our server if we could take it with us, and she more than happily obliged! Different people expect different things with this, I know that I was happy with this event, and if the storyline changed, I would probaly do it again. Honestly, I think I got my money's worth between LOTS of bubbly and wine, and entertainment.

[asil621]

Typing directly off of my sample Mystery Dinner Theatre menu from my trip:

 

1st Course

Antipasti Plate

 

2nd Course

Zuppa Del Giorno

(Soup of the Day)- (we had Minestrone)

or

Caeser Salad

(Romaine lettuce with shaved parmesan, herb croutons and traditional dressing)

 

3rd Course

Gamberoni Cotti in Padella al profumo Di Mare

(Tiger shrimp, roasted garlic and fresh herbs, served on a bed of grilled asparagus and baby vegetables)

or

Filleto Di Manzo Alla Piastra

(Grilled North American beef tenderloin on creamy truffle mashed potatoes, roasted garlic and seasonal vegetables

 

Dessert

Tiramisu Alla Portofino

(A luscious favorite with crushed marinated raspberries)

[land lover]

You should try it at least once...we did on NOTS in OCT. and even though I would not do it again in the near future....I still think I was entertained and feed enough for my 49.50.

 

For those who are thinking about it, go and enjoy.

 

On another thread a while back most posters raved about the time they had..it's all relative...

 

So don't let posters opinions discourage you.

[nanfromatlanta]

Typing directly off of my sample Mystery Dinner Theatre menu from my trip:

 

1st Course

Antipasti Plate

 

2nd Course

Zuppa Del Giorno

(Soup of the Day)- (we had Minestrone)

or

Caeser Salad

(Romaine lettuce with shaved parmesan, herb croutons and traditional dressing)

 

3rd Course

Gamberoni Cotti in Padella al profumo Di Mare

(Tiger shrimp, roasted garlic and fresh herbs, served on a bed of grilled asparagus and baby vegetables)

or

Filleto Di Manzo Alla Piastra

(Grilled North American beef tenderloin on creamy truffle mashed potatoes, roasted garlic and seasonal vegetables

 

Dessert

Tiramisu Alla Portofino

(A luscious favorite with crushed marinated raspberries)

 

 

Here is the full, regular Portofino menu... $20.00 per person

 

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/content/en_US/pdf/Portofino_Menu.pdf