At Sea Evening - Bernie's Birthday Dinner - Wine Maker's Dinner

We were very excited to be joining some of our good friends for a special meal tonight.  We were very pleased that Princess accommodated us and allowed us to do a Wine Maker’s Dinner.  This is not a night they normally do it as it is a busy night and they do the Baked Alaska Parade.

Our meeting time was 6:45 in the International Café.  Tonight it is us, Alice, Sanja and Martin, Sue and Bill, George and Barbara, and Dave and Cindy.  In total we are 11 and we are directed to the wine cellar in Concerto Dining room.

Jandri the lovely headwaiter and her assistant Michelle introduce themselves to us.  They warn us that the Baked Alaska Parade is just about to start and they will be taken away to deal with that but will return shortly.  We are totally fine with that and understand.

Now I could write about the dinner in it’s entirely but to tell you the truth I really wanted to focus on the company and Bernie and celebrating.  I did write about the experience twice last year so if you click here and here you can read about both experiences. 

I did take pictures of the menu and the food and will post them later when I get home.

Jandri explained the first wine as Michelle poured it.  I liked how she explained the history of the wine maker.  Then the name of the wine, then the details of the actual wine.  The starter comes out and she asks us to try the wine and notice the flavours.  Take a bite of food she tells us, now try the wine.  What is it like now? 

The soup comes out and oh my god – it is so darn good.  Like velvet!  A small langoustine is at the bottom and we bite into it and it is moist, flavorful and sweet.  Sip more wine, note the differences in flavour now. 

As we sit and enjoy more excellent wine we laugh and laugh.  The table is beautiful and everyone is loosening up.  Jandri is preparing the pasta course behind us – oh the smells!  We are getting gnocchi stuffed with Asiago Cheese.  Rich and creamy is not strong enough words to describe the tastes.

I love that she says try the white wine first with the Gnocchi.  And now we have the second wine the Spellbound a red and she says now try this wine.  Wow totally different flavours from the food.  She says see white wine is great with pasta courses. 

The main course comes out and the beef is cooked perfectly but we are getting full. 

All of a sudden the crew come out with a huge sheet cake singing Happy Birthday to Bernie.  Wow two cakes in one day.  He is so blown away and moved by all that the crew have done.

But there is the actual dessert too!  How can we eat this, well we can’t.  We have a few bites of each and then we are stuffed.  They even offer petite fours but really – I can’t!

The Wine Maker’s Dinner is $40 each and now they automatically charge it to our account.  There is no need to fill out the paperwork like we did last year.  That took a lot of time for Franco to fill out and it is much more streamlined.  The only issue is that last year we could easily add an extra tip to the bill.  Now we can’t so I seek out Anjara to give her a well-deserved tip.

Michelle her assistant was a huge asset too and having a good assistant is key.  She was on top of things and was able to anticipate our needs.  Water, wine, plate clearing were smooth and efficient.

I really would like to see them promote this more.  Many people we encountered on board had not ever heard of the Wine Maker’s Dinner.  I don’t recall reading about it in the Patter either.  But if you are going on the Royal or Regal, make sure to check into the Wine Maker’s Dinner for a special meal.