Portofino's or Chops for wedding dinner???

[NHRAgroup]

Can you get a steak at Portofino's. Does anyone have a menu for both, we are sailing on the Freedom if that matters for the menu. We will have a group of 20-25 for dinner the evening of the wedding on SAINT Thomas. Any help with this would be great!

[Tim,n,Sue]

Can you get a steak at Portofino's. Does anyone have a menu for both, we are sailing on the Freedom if that matters for the menu. We will have a group of 20-25 for dinner the evening of the wedding on SAINT Thomas. Any help with this would be great!

 

 

We have eaten at both Portofino and Chops. We prefer Chops as there are diffent steak offerings. At Portofino there was just a filet. Mind you it was fantastic.

 

If most people like beef go to Chops. The menus are available on the RCI webiste.

[ken_nyc]

Attached is the Portofino's menu

 

Portofino_Menu.pdf

[ken_nyc]

Attached is the Chop's menu

 

ChopsGrille_Menu_Eng.pdf

[VernRDH]

Personally I would vote for Portofino. The filet is to die for, plus there are some nice seafood offerings. Just seems more romantic to me than Chops. But both are excellent and worth every penny;)

 

Congrats on the wedding!

[Pitbull1130]

On our next cruise we will be hitting chops twice and portofino once. We can't wait for the great food.

 

Day 1 - Chops

Day 4 - Portofino

Day 5 - Chops

[jkfreeman33]

Been to both and liked both.

Depends on what YOU like better........ steak or pasta

[unklez]

Can you get a steak at Portofino's. Does anyone have a menu for both, we are sailing on the Freedom if that matters for the menu. We will have a group of 20-25 for dinner the evening of the wedding on SAINT Thomas. Any help with this would be great!

 

I assume you are asking this question because most people in your group want to enjoy Italian (Portofino) but there are a few who want steak (normally in Chop's). I think if you ask the Maitre'd nicely he will honor the request. After all, it is a special occasion.

 

Congratulations!

[cruisegirl1]

It is not a choice of steak or pasta. Portofino’s is not a pasta restaurant. There is a pasta course but the several times we’ve eaten there, I’ve never had any pasta. It is northern Italian style.

 

They do have a wonderful filet.

 

I suggest Portofino’s.

 

 

Congrats and enjoy

 

M

[HorrorFan]

It is not a choice of steak or pasta. Portofino’s is not a pasta restaurant. There is a pasta course but the several times we’ve eaten there, I’ve never had any pasta. It is northern Italian style.

 

They do have a wonderful filet.

 

I suggest Portofino’s.

 

 

Congrats and enjoy

 

M

You are correct. People hear Italian and think pasta. Portofino is NOT a pasta place. Or pizza. ;)

[nanfromatlanta]

My vote would be Portofino due to the variety of foods on the menu. For those beef lovers, there are still veal and beef options.

[SB]

Hello, We did Portifinos for my daughters wedding a few years ago. Very nice! Unless things have changed they will not allow you to book that large group without going through the groups dept. We had to do an off time also. Before normal dining hours or after! I do believe now you can rent the whole restaurant for a set fee. Like I said this was a few years ago so things might have changed. We also had to do a revised menu as they said with a group it was difficult to keep the service on par so everyone ate at the same time. We had the restaurant to ourselves which was great. Otherwise you will be mixed in with others and not very personal. If you are already doing a reception in St. Thomas than you might not care.

[bermuda09]

Just a heads up: I am going on our wedding cruise in less than 2 weeks. We have a party of 34 and are eating at Portofinos when we get back on the ship (EOS doesn't have Chops) In any case, it has been a huge ordeal to book a large party. Many travel agents won't book for larger than 20. It took ours 9 months and a lot of emails (on my part) to ensure that we got our dinner. Also, please realize that for any reservation over 20, there is a set menu. I cannot say the same thing about Chops, but on the paperwork from the cruiseline, it specifically stated this.

 

My advice? Choose a restaurant and get started with this booking asap.

[NHRAgroup]

We did try to go throgh the group dept. and they want us to book the whole place for $1,500. for only 20 people, that is crazy. We do have a group booking for the cruise, and it has been very hard to plan any thing with the TA. It is very heard to work anything out with RCCI group bookings. This is my daughters wedding and be are have a reception back home after the wedding and want to have a dinner for those coming to the wedding. We are going to book this 3 months from sailing and must have 4 cabins book 6 persons at a time and pay in advance (not a problem). Not sure how they will seat us yet, hopefully together. But I know we are not booking the entire place for 20 people (at $1,500.00). I hope it will go well. My daughter just wants the dinner at Chops or Portofino's rather then the dinner room that evening. I could only hope all will go well.

[dougp26364]

If my math is correct, $1,500/20 comes out to $75 per person. While this is certainly above the typical $25 per person fee, it appears to me you'll have the entire restaurant to yourself, a dedicated team of waitstaff to attend specifically to you're goups needs and your group only, the kitchen staff dedicated to your group only and, best of all, not having to deal with people outside your group who might be noisy or intrude upon your private celebration. While $75 per person might sound like a lot of money, it seems to me you're more than getting your money's worth.

[Jeka]

Sorry, but $75 a head for a wedding meal doesn't sound that outrageous and if the wedding party has to pay any of the cruise fare then it's really reasonable.

[SB]

Yes I thought it might have changed! We had a group oh 65 so it would not have made much of a difference price wise. We did have to pre-pay also. The revised menu was fine! They let us pick from two entrees. We had filet and a seafood dish. I don't know if you are planning on drinks but the head waiter suggested we serve red and white wine and offered a special pricing. We could choose a set number of drinks or unlimited. We choose the later and it was not very expensive! I don't know if this is an option on ships now. I can understand why you don't want to pay that price for 20 but it was very nice and everyone raved. Also we left a very large tip as they even brought in a violin player!!! Good luck and best wishes.

[bermuda09]

$75 a head for dinner is ridiculous-especially when you are having a reception back at home.

 

We have 34 and we still refused to pay around $60 per person. We are also having a reception back at home and could not see paying all that money when we are celebrating again a week later. I will let you know how this works out for my group. If I forget, email me at tarala1217@gmail.com and I will let you know.