The dinner was held in a closed off portion of La Verandah on the night of the SSS Party. There were 22 guests and four staff. The four staff were the Captain, Assistant Cruise Director Dionne, Assistant Food and Beverage Manager Dan Collins, and Brian O'Brien. We were in a large square with the four staff at the midpoints of each side. The room was decorated very nicely and they had the guitarist providing music.

The first disappointment was that we were only offered the regular La Verandah menu. Given it was SSS Party night, both Compass Rose and La Verandah had special menus; Rack of Lamb, Beef Wellington, and Dover Sole in Compass Rose and the Steakhouse menu in La Verandah. However, we didn't even get the steakhouse menu. All we had was a choice of two appetizer/soup/salad courses and a main dish. We had no choice on dessert as it was a cannoli and tiramisu. In fact, when it came time to offer wine with the main course, the Sommellier mentioned that the red wine selected was chosen because it goes so well with steak. Only problem was that there was no steak on the menu.

ONE waiter took the orders for all 26 people. It took him close to a half hour to take orders. When serving each of the three courses, there were only two waiters for all 26 people. It ended up that many of the guests were finished with their dishes before the Captain was even served. Yes, it would have been better for those served earliest to wait but it was taking ten minutes to complete the serving of an individual course. After a 7:30pm start, the main course was served starting at 9:35pm (by this time I was looking at my watch). The Captain was served at 9:45pm; I was served about five minutes later.

The reason that this upset me so much was that the execution was terrible; poor menu selection, poor choice in number of staff, and lack of any formality to the dinner. Not in terms of the dress but rather the norm of all being served and then getting a "bon appetit" from the Captain before everyone digs in.

If this was supposed to be a reward for loyalty to Regent, the menu and execution were complete disappointments.