Dining on Radiance of the Seas


Eating in the Dining-Room:
In the evening we were booked at a table for 4 persons close to the windows in a small separate room on deck 4, not in the Main-Dining-Room. We had dinner in the main seating, that began at 6pm. Second seating was at 8.30pm, too late for us. We and our friends liked our table, it was somehow far away from the hectic. The quality of the food was good, the choice was always sufficient (take a look at examples of the menucards). Both our waiters, from Phillippines and Goa and the headwaiter from Slovakia have been really friendly and served well. Extra desires were always considered well and, when once asked, served the next evening without reminding them (like a special dressing for the salad). There were only a few new dishes on the menu, which we did not know from other cruises on RCCL ships, but we enjoyed all of them, some of those dishes were fusion- cuisine, cross- culture- like dishes.
Lunch: here is a new innovation by RCCL, which we really liked: It is called Brasserie 30 and is served only on days at sea in the dining-room. This concept will be introduced on all RCCL ships and we can really recommend it. The idea is, that if you order 2 courses, you will be finished with lunch within 30 minutes. Having more than 2 courses, it will of course take longer. You will be seated at separate, special prepared tables with excellent service. You receive a special menu with daily changing dishes for the soup, appetizer, main course and dessert. They begin serving delicious freshly baked bread with butter and pesto. In addition there is a pasta station, where your pasta will be freshly prepared the way you like it. Many meals are prepared a la minute, you will taste the difference when you order the Steak Sandwich. The waiters are much more relaxed and friendly serving lunch, than we experienced it on other ships, where the service in the dining-room for lunch was totally different, which means worse, to the excellent service in the evening. A great improvement.
Dining in Portofino:
First of all, it was not so easy as we expected to make a reservation for Uwe´s birthday. Three days before I asked for a reservation, but the whole restaurant was booked out. They offered us to dine at 9pm, but that was too late for us and our friends. Only because of a cancellation and my good contact to the nice restaurant- manger Sahin, we finally got the table for Uwe´s birthday.
And it was absolutely worth it: We could choose a table at the window, with a total different atmosphere than in the Dining- Room. Because of large windows and a roof outside the light was very special. Outstanding service the whole evening, at the beginning we got delicious bread and pestos and we had for example the Carpaccio as appetizer, a Clam-Chowder-Soup, a small pasta, a grilled beef tenderloin on creamy mash potatoes with delicious vegetables as main course, Uwe had the Atlantic Halibut with a crab and shrimp risotto. Before serving the dessert, they brought us cookies and strawberries, covered with chocolate. The dessert was made in heaven, Tiramisu, served in a chocolate bowl and Uwe had flourless chocolate cake (50.000 calories, at least). What a dinner and well worth the extra $15 (servicecharge is included) but for this excellent service you´ll add some more gratuity.
One thing: you need about 2 ½ hours for this, like they call it, dining experience.

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