We were on the Mariner for the Singapore to Sydney segment. There were 2 couples traveling together that ordered special items for dinner. One night they were presented with a HUGE Roast of some sort and another night they had a HUGE Salmon. It was served tableside from a silver cart. Everyone was looking at them trying to see what they had. Has anyone ever seen this before? We wondered how they came up with all these ideas! It must of put extra stress on the galley. Imagine if a lot of passengers starting doing this?!

You can make special requests for non menu items and if they have it, they are happy to do it. Unlike many cruiselines, most things are fairly prepared to order on RSSC.

Like you, I feel this is too pretentious. Yes, I was on that leg,too. There were a (very) few people that took advantage of Radisson and I felt this is very unfair to the galley and the servers. I had special requests from time to time but only those things which would cause little or no disruption of the regular schedule.

The best I ever saw was a roast goose served whole for the patriarch of the family to carve. I would imagine no problem for a whole family to order an entire Chateaubriand or Beef Wellington; a whole salmon shouldn't be a problem either. The ability to order like this is one of the reasons that we choose Radisson. I feel no guilt making special requests. Sneak a look at the Maitre' D stand sometime and see the long list of either standing orders (e.g. for allergies) and daily special orders.

Ardis and Stan, welcome home!!!

One morning on the PG I idly inquired if the croissants (which were the best I've ever had) had an egg wash. They usually do and George is allergic to eggs but I ask just in case they don't. The sous chef came out to ask why I wanted to know and I told him and he arranged to have six un-eggwashed croissants for him and the one other egg-allergic passenger onboard. Then they made them every morning after that.

Unfortunately, they didn't tell us it would be a routine and we thought it was a one-time treat so George missed out on a few days' worth until they asked us why he wasn't getting his croissants. But he had one every day after that and really enjoyed this rare (for him) treat.

This of course didn't require elaborate cooking out of the ordinary but it did take some special care and they seemed delighted to do it for George and the other passenger.

In all fairness, maybe they were celebrating something that merited the show? In any case, especially on the Mariner, if you have special requests, you let the manager know as soon as you board and they will do thier best to accommodate you...I have yet to be turned away or dissapointed (and, none of those involved a big roast or a huge salmon ;) )

Other than requesting that Wild Turkey 101 be added to our mini-bar (did he say Wild Turkey 101?), we have never made any special requests. The request for services which are outlandish has to impact the crew's ability to serve others. And, we are simply embarassed to ask for more than the luxurious level of service normally provided. Natually, this does not pertain to the need for health related special diets.

I agree with you. We have been so happy with all the wonderful things they have offered to us to eat, that we have not found it necessary to special order. I can imagine on a long cruise, asking for something simple like meatloaf, for sure. And special diet needs are a different story.

Wendy: I agree too - we did order meatloaf as I got sort of tired of all the fancy food - Joanna

One of our "standing" orders is for Cinnamon ice cream. Arlene fell in love with it on our first cruise on Mariner. Unfortunately, it is just one of many flavors they serve. And, when it is not on menu, ice cream is kept in the deep freezer. Given the time it takes to get from the deep freeze to the edible stage, you cannot just ask for another flavor.

That first cruise, the dining room manager said that he would set aside some cinnamon ice cream for Arlene. At any restaurant, all she had to do was ask and provide our cabin number. It worked wonderfully. Ever since, she has made the same request.

I don't see this as an undue hardship on the crew. Yes, if we were in La Verandah they have to go down a few decks to get the ice cream; but that is still only a couple of minutes.

I've never special ordered anything because I never remember to do it the night before, but may just do so next cruise and get some lobster and a chocolate souffle. But I have been on the receiving end with Ngaire's Grand Marnier souffle's. When she special ordered lamb, they must have assumed she was sharing with the entire table, and it showed up on a big platter with enough to go around! This is making me very hungry for RSSC food. Only 15 days to go til PARTY!

Yes, Olivia only 15 days to go.

This cruise is with Patrick as Dining Room Manager (GREAT dining room manager) and he always has a special order of RAck of Lamb for me the night I board. He knows I love it and I always feel so special on the first night to start off with such a great meal.

I usually order a special order once on a cruise. Either Lamb or Dover Sole.

If everyone did it all the time then it would indeed be a nightmare for them. I think special evenings like birthdays or anniversaries are wonderful for people to have their "special favorites".

Things like Arlenes ice cream are not really any hardship at all and there is a definite desire to please on board and I think they are more than happy to honor these requests.

People who abuse it though by ordering special things every single night I do think are going "over the top" and I would not think that with the wonderful menus and variety they offer that this should be necessary.

Oooops! I told a lie. Joan's birthday fell during our PG cruise. We had the birthday dinner in the suite, had forgotten to do anything to mark the occasion - made a clandestine call to the butler and asked for anything that might resemble a birthday cake (I suggested a cupcake with a candle - what a guy!). After dinner, Nengah arrived with a magnificent chocolate cake with "Happy birthday Joan" and lots of candles and a bottle of Champagne. This was above and beyond.

sort of off topic, even for this topic...... i am having trouble updating our passenger form online, does anyone know about this?? they have my old form, but i'm trying to change address, and of course request our in room bar set up. i think i may just fax it in.
Cindy

Cindy give up!!! Just call my office tomorrow and ask for Debbie or Jennifer, give them the information and we will do it for you. The on line forms only work about 50% of the time.

Cindy, we filled out ours for our two cruises last month but no one ever looked at them. We just asked for what we wanted (an extra pillow and just water in the fridge) when we arrived and it was done right away. In fact, our stewardess suggested a couple of things she could do for us that we hadn't thought to put on our form and that was really helpful.

Back to special requests - I've only made one - when we were on the PG with Doug and Andi a few years ago, we all agreed that lobster on the last night would be wonderful... we asked the lovely maitre d' and there we were, enjoying lobsters on the last night!

We have just returned home to Australia after a super 26 days on Navigator, (SPINN).
Wendy is very allergic to sulfites and has had a serious event after drinking wine with E220 preservative. Not unnaturally she has not had a glass of wine, except for one we get here from the makers which is guaranteed preservative free, for a long time.
At the first night's dinner in Compass Rose the head Sommelier, John, asked why Wendy was not partaking of the nice wine! We explained the problem. Well, next night he brought to our table a bottle of red that he had found that had no preservative in it. Wendy tried the wine and all was well. From that night onwards the wine staff watched for us entering the Compass Rose and Wendy had her own bottle of wine almost before we had taken our seats! We were very grateful for such terrific friendly service!

MarnaLou I actually agree with that theory on guest requests. I never fill in the forms and just ask when I get on board. Sometimes things dont seem to make it sucessfully from office to ship and then people are upset. The staff can accommodate your requests so quickly once you are on board.

The only thing that is really necessary ahead of time is allergies or special diets that really do need to be addressed in order for the ship to have the supplies they need to accommodate this type of request.

Of course we need to be sure that all the addresses and contact information are up to date.

I'm so glad to see Frank's reply because we noted how wonderful they were in taking care of Wendy's special situation....we dined with them several times and within minutes (if not instantly) her wine was delivered to our table. Frank didn't mention that they also baked a special bread for Wendy because she can not eat wheat. We were so amazed at how well they cared for her special needs - we oftened joked that we were glad to be with Wendythey took great care of all of us!

These posts so sincerely show the SPIRIT of Radisson. I love the line!

I was just remembering that on MINT our stewardess had seen our special request form. Her English was the best of any stewardess we'd ever had and I wonder if that was part of it, or if it's just routine on the Mariner to look at those and it's not on the other ships. Either way it doesn't much matter to us since our "special requests" are pretty simple.

They do send the special requests forms information to the ship. It is just whenever you have individual people entering data and making things happen and all those details sometimes something gets messed up. Most of the time you will find your requests on your forms accomplished.

In fact RSSC is working on making it even better where you can request soft or hard pillows all types of things on line. It is coming not quite here yet but the effort to accommodate is certainly there.

We were on the Navigator for the 26 day South Pacfic and the first day I made my request for Lobster Thermador and was told by the Matre D that I would have to wait till the 21 day. I also asked about menu's and recipes and was told recipes were not available. I went to the Dir. of Hotel to ask if the company had changed their policy on these issues and was told he would look into the matter. Later that day the Matre d came and denied that he had refused my request and said when did we want the Lobster.
Over all the quality was not as good as the Voyager or Mariner. Lots of tuna and egg salad at tea time.
We would not take the Navigator again as it was a running joke about the mechanical noise and vibration from both staff and guests.

Glad to hear that you were given your requests; unfortunate that you had to go to Hotel Director. I hate being lied to; I can understand your being upset.

As to the running joke about the vibration, what more can you do. The ship is as she was built; nothing they can do about it. Might as well laugh about it.

Food Critic,

Posts like yours make me very unhappy. A "running joke" on vibration and mechanical problems? I've sailed the navigator a total of 50 days and never had cause for complaint(s) about anything. What did you expect at tea time?
As for recipes, I have a drawer full, printed out and delivered to my cabin the following day.