Ultimate Balcony Dinning

[karjoe]

Hi all....me a gain with another question:

 

We are on the Emerald for our first cruise on the 9th April 09....just wandering about UBC, we would like to do it on one of the nights - how much advance notice do have to give and to whom to ensure you get a particular night....has anyone tried the UBC - would you recommend it?:)

[Toto2Kansas]

Hi all....me a gain with another question:

 

We are on the Emerald for our first cruise on the 9th April 09....just wandering about UBC, we would like to do it on one of the nights - how much advance notice do have to give and to whom to ensure you get a particular night....has anyone tried the UBC - would you recommend it?:)

Keep in mind they only do so many of the UBD's per night it's offered. If you want a particular night, call to reserve the moment you get onboard. Otherwise, you could be disappointed if they have already been maxed out for that evening.

Enjoy!

[littlegirlbigmouth]

DH and I called and made that reservation after we got settled into our room the first night. We had no problem. But I do think it's probably a populat option, so reserving it sooner rather than later is best.

 

I highly recommend the UBD. It was the best meal we had on the cruise. We had the steak and lobster tail. If I remember correctly it comes with a salad, an appetizer crab cake, the main course, and dessert. All of the food is delicious and the lobster tails are HUGE. Worth every penny in my opinion.

[jff50]

If you are looking at the UBD, you may also want to consider the Chefs Table. Both are unique and great experiences.

[pineapple1176]

The UBD is FANTASTIC. Last March we sailed the Crown for our 30th anniversary. Once we boarded in San Juan, we called with our reservation--no problem at all. The food was wonderful, complete with before dinner drinks, great multi-course meal, wine w/dinner, photographer and the wait staff came to sing "Happy Anniversary" with dessert! I'd highly recommend the experience. We're sailing on April 3rd to Panama Canal on the Island and will reserve again.

[Ldyandrea]

My sister and her bf just did the UBD last week while we were on the Crown. They totally loved it!

 

A few of us also did the Chef's Table, and it was wonderful as well!

[Theora]

I have to run to work now, but will come back here tonight to post a full report on the UBD. In a nutshell, though? Do NOT hesitate to do this. We only booked 24 hours in advance and there was no problem at all, but if you know which night you want, you can book it right when you get on the ship so as to have one less thing to worry about.

 

More info when I get home from work!

 

still full from our UBD,

Crickett

[Ldyandrea]

I have to run to work now, but will come back here tonight to post a full report on the UBD. In a nutshell, though? Do NOT hesitate to do this. We only booked 24 hours in advance and there was no problem at all, but if you know which night you want, you can book it right when you get on the ship so as to have one less thing to worry about.

 

More info when I get home from work!

 

still full from our UBD,

Crickett

 

Btw, that's my sister. :D

[V and S]

My husband and I want to do this, too. Is there only one option for entree? I am vegetarian. :)

[Ldyandrea]

My husband and I want to do this, too. Is there only one option for entree? I am vegetarian. :)

 

I know they offer vegetarian items on the regular dining room menu.....I'd be surprised if they didn't offer this as an UBD option as well.

[Colo Cruiser]

At least 24 hours notice. :)

[heisnuts]

We loved our UBD on the Golden in February, and plan on doing it again in the future. You can book them any time as long as it is 24 hours in advance. If you know what day you want when you get onboard, I would book it on day one.

 

Our waiters said there were only 2 waiter "teams" on the Golden that served the UBD and each team could only serve 2 dinners a night. That makes for a possible 4 UBD's per night. In our case it was not a problem since not a lot of people wanted to pay the $100 for the dinner, but it can be a problem if you have a lot of people on board who don't mind spending the money for a wonderful private dinner (especially on sea days like we did).

[pamcdon]

Is there a set menu for the UBD? Has anyone done the breakfast?

 

Thanks for the info!

[Colo Cruiser]

Is there a set menu for the UBD? Has anyone done the breakfast?

 

Thanks for the info!

 

Yes there is a set menu, however the room service supervisor will call and go over any changes or special requests and drink requests that you may have. :)

[cusyl]

Here are pictures of the UBD. It's worth every penny:http://good-times.webshots.com/album/561184214LBcBOA

[morriscats]

We have done both the breakfast and the dinner - both were great and will do them again in October.

[Cruizin' Dude]

My Fiance and I did this in January on the Golden. We also did the breakfast, and Chef Table. I highly recommend all three to anyone. They were all wonderful experiences and will try to do them again in June on the Sea Princess. :D

[phabric]

Do you tip?

[Nana G]

We tipped cash to both the waiter and assistant who did a great job and well deserved the extra for the service and ambiance they provided.

[Nancyquilts]

I used to give glowing reports about the breakfast - the Moet & Chandon champagne, the crab legs, etc. Since last month I can no longer recommend it. The cost has gone up by 30% since we first had it, and the champagne is of lower quality and there are no crab legs. We were quite disappointed, and will not order it again. Nancy

[budgieinspector]

My husband and I want to do this, too. Is there only one option for entree? I am vegetarian. :)

 

The philosophy on the Crown seemed to be, "You pay the piper, you call the tune." I'd imagine that you could pretty much substitute whatever they had onboard, so long as you gave them plenty of advance notice.

 

Is there a set menu for the UBD? Has anyone done the breakfast?

 

There's a basic menu: Before-dinner cocktail, canapes, salad, steak/lobster/surf & turf, dessert, coffee/cookies, champagne/berries. The details may change per ship (or even according to the chef's whim), but that's the basic overview of what you'll get if you make no special requests. I'm not a salad fan, so I asked for soup, instead. Otherwise, we didn't stray from the dinner menu, and it was pretty fantastic.

 

We really jacked with the breakfast, though. The menu featured smoked salmon and Quiche Lorraine, neither which appealed to us even slightly. We had a chat with the head waiter for our balcony dinner, though, and got his recommendations based on our tastes. Wound up with more fruit than we knew what to do with, though.

 

Oh, and here's something people should know going in: UBD takes between 2.5-3 hours. It's an endurance test, and it will take up a huge chunk of your evening. Breakfast, on the other hand -- the waiter brings in your food, puts a tablecloth down on your little balcony table, and leaves. Depending on your style and plans, one approach might work better for you than the other.

[morriscats]

For our breakfast we substituted eggs benedict and a ham and cheese omlet (with all the other stuff). It was so good.

[Nancyquilts]

Breakfast, on the other hand -- the waiter brings in your food, puts a tablecloth down on your little balcony table, and leaves. Depending on your style and plans, one approach might work better for you than the other.

Last month on the Coral we didn't even get the tablecloth.:(

[pjs9876]

We did the UBD on the Crown in Feb. Scheduled for MIL and FIL also on their balcony. It was the best meal I have EVER had on a ship (12 cruises). Crew was perfect. Tablecloth, flowers drinks, bubblie,photos,huge perfectly cooked lobster tail, lovely night worth every penny!!!

[Theora]

First off, I would like to say that the UBB and the UBD tend to be very different creatures, according to our experience. Now granted, we are first-time cruisers, and hadn't experienced them before, so if there are changes from how things used to be, we aren't aware of them. However, we (budgieinspector and I) loved them both for what they offered, how they were done, and simply how wonderful they both were.

 

Ultimate Balcony Dinner - I'll do this one first, as it's the first one we did.

We called a touch more than 24 hours in advance, to make the reservation. We were offered either steak, lobster, or surf & turf for our entree, and we chose "the best of both worlds", being the surf & turf. We were also asked to choose what cocktails we wanted with our canapes. We really had no idea, and weren't expecting this question, so we asked them if we could think about it. They said it was no problem at all, just to get back to them when it was convenient. You can choose pretty much any cocktail you want, from a normal well drink to a specialty martini. We had asked for dinner at 8pm, and were told that the waiter and assistant waiter would arrive at about 7:25-7:30 to set up the balcony.

 

The next night, they arrived almost exactly at 7:25 to begin setting up the balcony. They moved the normal wee table that's out there, and set up a larger square table with a table cloth, place settings, gorgeous fresh floral arrangement, and a lantern with an LED "candle" in (since there's no open flame on the ship). It looked beautiful. Soon after, our canapes and cocktails arrived, and we munched and chatted with the staff as they did their thing. Everyone was VERY relaxed, and there was no rush for anything. Soon, the photographer arrived, and after checking her light levels, she took eight or ten different photos of the two of us and then left.

 

LET THE FEEDING BEGIN! We chose to have our champagne after the meal, as we were both fine with water and the cocktails we had been given earlier. We started with crab cakes in a puff pastry shell that were simply incredible. Delicious. I'm spoiled for crab cakes from now on. Then on to the soup/salad portion. I got the salad (with freshly shaved romano cheese, pine nuts, walnuts) and he opted for a soup (which wound up being a delicious potato/spinach/shrimp concoction). Soon enough, we were ready for the main course.

 

Special notes: First off, we're both smokers. We chose to take a little break from the food and have a cigarette, and the waiter refused to let us get up to get our smokes or ashtray. Instead, he located the items, emptied the ashtray, and brought them all to us. We were to expend NO effort other than stuffing our faces and enjoying the perfect calm seas and gorgeous starlit sky. (We had an iPod with speakers going on the desk, and he even turned the speakers out to the balcony so we could hear it better.)

 

This leads me to the second point: While the waiters do go and wait out in the hallway while you enjoy your food in privacy, coming in intermittently to check on you, they are NOT waiting out there with an entire cart of food that's going cold. Everything is cooked a la minute, so it's hot and fresh when it arrives to your door. Once the waiters got used to our rhythm, which didn't take long, they knew how to time every course.

 

Back to the meal! The steak? Perfectly cooked, flavourful, and huge, with a delicious demi-glace served table-side. The lobster tail? TREMENDOUS Brazilian tail that was removed from its shell and cut in half table-side. Now, here's how the UBD waiters handle it when there's a glitch. When our waiter cut our lobster tails, he noticed that they weren't cooked properly. He immediately whisked them off, leaving us to concentrate on our steaks, while he brought them to the kitchen to have the problem fixed. Apparently, since the UBD is considered a big deal, any problems have to be brought to the head chef directly. I would NOT have wanted to be the cook who made this mistake! In any case, he returned promptly with two more tails, shelled them, cut them, and they were perfect. Which was great timing, because we had just hit the stopping point with the steaks. The tails were servied with clarified butter, again doled out table-side. Delicious! After we did as much damage to those as possible, it was time for dessert and coffee.

 

This meal...it never ends.

 

Dessert was quinelles of mousseline: Four different delicious flavours of mousseline in just the right portions. We got chocolate, hazelnut, white chocolate, and coffee. The coffee was *outrageously* good, but they were all fantastic. This, of course, came with after-dinner coffee.

 

Since we had chosen to have our champagne after, the waiter arranged for a special plate of berries to be presented to go with the bubbly. Little did we know that there would also be a plate of 16 cookies (four of four different kinds) that were chosen because the flavour of them also complimented our champagne.

 

By this time, we had a little fruit, 1 cookie each, and could eat no more. The waiters had excused themselves and left (and yes, we did tip them, their service was extraordinary), and I could hear my family our on their balconies playing cards and having a good time, so we grabbed the remaining champers, the cookies, and the fruit, and brought it all down to them.

 

Summation: This was a 3 hour experience, with enough food to feed your average family of eight. Between the two of us, it was all we could do to distribute the cookies and fruit, go back to our room, and beach for a while on our beds. However, it was FANTASTIC. The service from Joel (from Mexico) and Vladimir (from Serbia) was outstanding. Joel has been doing this for quite some time, and Vladimir is training under him. They were pleasant, engaging, and yet never in-your-face or pushy about anything. It was clear that they wanted us to enjoy this as much as possible, and they did everything they could to make it effortless for us. The food was wonderful, the table was beautiful, and it was obvious that the captain knew we were out there, because the seas were calm until about an hour after our meal was done, the skies were perfectly clear, and everybody around us stayed off of their balconies, giving us a stunning private experience.

 

Ultimate Balcony Breakfast: We totally messed with the menu on this one. Neither one of us is a fan of smoked salmon, and we opted out of the quiche lorraine as well. Instead, when we ran into Joel while we dined in the Crown Grill the night before and told him of our dilemma, he said he'd call us in our stateroom later that night with some suggestions. He called right on time, we made our decisions, and that was that.

 

Once again, Vladimir arrived right on time and put a tablecloth on our wee balcony table. He poured coffee for us both, set out our plates and juices, and showed us the rest of the offerings he'd brought as well (fruit and fruit and fruit and delicious bite-size pastries) before bringing them back into the room, making sure we had everything we needed, and then disappearing. Very much more a less service-intensive experience, which was great, honestly. I don't think I could handle that much pampering first thing in the morning. We again wound up sharing the fruit with the rest of the gang down the hall, and since my mom and I both had pedicures scheduled for later that morning, I just surprised her by bringing the bottle of champagne along and having it up in the spa as we got our toesies done.

 

I would definitely recommend both of these experiences to ANYONE. They are quite different, but they are both fantastic. Just know that you probably shouldn't make any plans for the evening after the UBD, because you may well have to call in Fat, like we did.

 

In any case, bon appetit!!!

 

Crickett