While all of Carnival’s specialty restaurants offer a top-notch, gourmet experience, none are quite as exclusive as The Chef’s Table.
The Chef’s Table is a multicourse, gourmet dinner for a select group of 12-16 guests – with the evening hosted by the master executive chef.
The price ($106 – $140 depending on the sailing) also includes a champagne toast, hors d’oeuvres, and a comprehensive tour of the galley.
The recommended attire for the experience is cruise casual or elegant – which suggests that this would be a more formal affair.
But after one cruiser had the opposite experience, she wrote to Carnival Brand Ambassador John Heald on his Facebook page to complain about the lack of formality.
“Yesterday I received a negative comment about the Chef’s Table. Actually it was a two pronged complaint featuring a comment about the dress code or lack of it with the lady thinking it should be ‘a formal affair,’” Heald summarized for his followers.
But ultimately, Heald wasn’t too worried about the possible lack of adherence to the dress code.
“I know that I have said many times that I don’t understand why what someone else is wearing will ever affect the taste of the food or the fun that you’re having,” Head said in a follow-up post.
What the brand ambassador was more worried about is the guest claimed to have heard the crew members swearing in the kitchen – which would count as inappropriate behavior.
“The second comment was that during the galley tour portion of this brilliant event she had overheard ‘swearing and bad language’ from the staff. Now obviously if that is correct and she did then we should apologise, so I did,” Heald said.
While it’s not confirmed that foul language was actually used, Heald reminded his followers that working in a busy cruise ship kitchen can be a very high pressure situation – and asked that guests have grace for stressed-out crew members.
Dress Code is a Hot Button Issue
While something as simple as following a dress code sounds like it shouldn’t be controversial, dress code faux pas on Carnival ships are frequently up for debate on Heald’s Facebook page.
Regarding the woman’s experience at The Chef’s Table, Heald’s followers were largely on her side – seeing the lack of formality as a sign of disrespect.
“The Chef’s table is lovely and fun. I would see it as disrespectful for someone to show up in shorts and flip flops. You don’t have to be formal, but a level of class and effort would be nice,” one former cruise guest replied.
“I dress appropriately for the occasion. The Chef’s Table has always been a ‘special’ occasion, so with respect for the Chef and others who went to a lot of effort to create delicious food in an elegant setting, I dress accordingly. It seems disrespectful, to me, to dress any differently,” added another past passenger.
Read Also: How to Truly Enjoy Your Dining on 3 Major Cruise Lines
But while the Chef’s Table requires some extra effort as a unique and VIP experience, even what guests wear to the main dining room has caused controversy.
Some recent drama started after Heald (and most of his responding followers) sympathized with a guest who was cyberbullied for wearing sandals to dinner in the main dining room – which she did for medical reasons.
But in the comments section, Heald’s followers were quick to turn on each other after some cruisers thought it would be okay to wear Crocs to dinner – which is apparently where many draw the line.
“On your shoe post there are people saying they wear Crocs on formal night. IMHO, crocs are just too ugly to wear unless you’re under the age of ten, or have foot problems that make wearing any other shoes extremely uncomfortable. Just saying,” one person wrote at the time.
The dress code for Carnival’s main dining room does call for cruise elegant attire – meaning men should wear nicer jeans or slacks with collared or dress shirts while women should wear pantsuits, semi-formal or sun dresses, and elegant skirts.
