Have you ever had the chef make you a special meal on a cruise line ?

Kind of. Not me personally but friends that have cruised with us a number of times have. The one was diabetic and needed low sodium. Each night someone would come around with the menu and she would order for the next night. They had to make it special according to her diet.

No, I never do it.

About 10 years ago we were on the RCI Brilliance of the seas out of Barcelona on a 12 night Med cruise. We were dining with another couple in the MDR and the head waiter asked us about the food. We responded that it was overall very good but felt it could be a bit more spicy. He explained that spicy is not generally offered on cruises because of the mix of people and preferences. The next evening the actual executive chef of Brilliance came to our table and offered to make us a special meal of our preference the following night. It turned out to be fantastic. Although we are RCI Diamond Plus now, at that point in time we were just starting out and had no special customer status. We were in a standard balcony cabin - not a suite. This really impressed us that the very busy executive chef would do this for us. She told us that she looked forward to these types of special cooking opportunities for customers.

We have done the Chef's Table on Carnival as we are "foodies". For us totally worth it. That said we were going to do it on our next cruise and the menu was the same. We chose to do the Steakhouse. Both experiences totally worth it!

I'm not certain but they might do a "non-alcoholic Chefs Table". As I mentioned, they really grill all ten of the participants to make certain they all have the same interests, likes, palatableness, etc. They don't want to get stuck in a situation where someone in the group speaks a different language or is allergic to this or that. So, since they have such a large variety of "Tables" and not all that many of them to begin, the odds of getting picked for a Chef's Table are slim even if one is a pretty much a run of the mill average cruiser, taste wise and otherwise. We were on the ship for three weeks and I believe the segment before ours was two weeks. As near as I could tell they only had two english speaking Tables over that period and a very long wait list, even at $115. pp.

Celebrity and Princess are doing chef tables or comparable. I'm not sure they are worth it because wine is factored in to the cost and we do not drink. I've commented on that for the last couple cruises... "please price the chef table experience for with and without alcohol". I don't begrudge anyone their wine, but I don't want to subsidize someone else's consumption.

Does a "meal" constitute an omelette? on the NCL Jade, the best part of breakfast was to go to the omelette station in the buffet and ask the chef there to prepare a fresh omelette with all the ingredients you wanted. It was a lovely way to start the day

Carnival does the "Chef's Table" with I think 12 guest for $ 75.00 each. I have not tried it as it is a fixed menu. On the small Fantasy class ships they do it in the Library. I'd rather do 2 nights in the Steak House for the same price.

We haven't ever had a cruise ship's chef make a meal exclusively for us, but have heard of it being done for some who aren't satisfied with the choices on the menu. For an exquisite meal though, never heard of it happening except this comes fairly close:

In September on the Regal Princess we kept seeing references to the "Chef's Table" as a specialty restaurant on the ship. But there was no such facility, and I looked hard.

I finally called and found out that this was a special arrangement thing, offered only occasionally where they really do it up big. Only ten guests are allowed each time and they really give you the third degree as to who you are, what you like, etc. I asked them why the scrutiny. Language is the first consideration they said, if you speak only Spanish then they will put you on that list. Food alergies and preferences are also a big factor since the Chef is not going to make a speical meal for someone who doesn't share the tastes and diet of the other nine. It is actually an exclusive table d'hôte menu (sometimes called the prix fixe menu or set meal & set menu at a fixed price with a wine pairing supllement.)

As they advertise; "An extraordinary treat for both gastronomes and gourmet novices. Enjoy a behind-the-scenes galley tour with Champagne and hors d'oeuvres, followed by an extravagant multi-course dinner created and hosted by the executive chef." This pitch is not an overstatement, it is truly an eating experience. They even forget to mention the variety of wines served with each course and that you end up in a special section where they drape a huge circular semi-transparent curtain around everybody after seated. This is located in a section of one of the MDRs when time comes for the main course and desert. Very-very good. My wife loved it. Trouble was I didn't ask the price, which was good as we might not have taken them up on the offer. Found out when we received the final bill getting off the ship it was $230 for both. We both agree now that it was well worth it.

I use the option at times for special eggs benedict... my favorite.