Giovanni’s Table was the first specialty restaurant I went on, on Royal Caribbean. I made the mistake earlier in the day to get a footlong at Subway (this was also my first day on the ship) before I had gotten there and so I honestly wasn’t really hungry, but I did want to go since I already had a reservation.

I was definitely fumbling a little with where it was located, but it’s tucked away between the bathrooms and the Schooner Bar. I got there and it definitely housed that older Italian atmosphere.

I was given a choice of where to sit, which was nice. (Many of the other restaurants simply sat you, which I didn’t mind either but the choice was appreciated). The window seat were all taken, but given this was the first day, I don’t think I would have chosen them anyways. I was grateful to have not gotten seasick during this trip, but I didn’t know it at the time!

I believe I had only eaten a few gnocchis at this time, so as you can see- honestly about the same size as the appetizer. It was delicious, so I’ll give it that and the waiter came around with a parmesan grater, which was neat because I haven’t been to too many restaurants where they will do it on front of you.

When I was a teenager (13), I was actually homeschooled for about a year until I went off to high school in New Hampshire. I wasn’t taught by my parents, but rather they hired tutors from a website called “Wyzant” (like… wise ant… get it?) and one of my favorites was my Social Studies teacher, Carlo. Carlo was Italian and with my parent’s permission, of course- we would travel to different states, I helped him flip a house (more like me hitting foundation beams) and fostered dogs. Carlo was Italian and so I’m sharing all this to say that our “thing” was eating cannolis and I think he would have been proud to know that’s what I ordered here! I’m also a big fan of Tiramisu, but I was pretty confident about my choice. No regrets here!

So the big question…

Do I recommend Giovanni’s Table on Royal Caribbean?

I thought the food was yummy, and the atmosphere was incredibly calm and peaceful. Of all the restaurants I went to on this cruise- I was grateful that the serving sizes were small given my mishap of getting a footlong, probably not even 3 hours before, but I think that’s something to note.

The serving sizes are small. Giovanni’s Table is a Italian restaurant (big surprise lol) and I think that European serving sizes are inherently smaller than those in America- or perhaps to rephrase, I think American serving sizes are disproportionately large in comparison to other countries. As an American, it was different than what I am used to- but again, I’m not sad about it- if I was more hungry, yeah I might’ve been disappointed to know how small the servings were. And PLEASE KEEP IN MIND, I did order the half for the gnocchi. Given how small it turned out to be, I could’ve ordered a full, but what can you do.

Attire:
I personally wore a nice dress, cardigan and high heels to Giovanni’s Table, but there were many people who were more casually dressed. I even saw one man who had shorts and a Hawaiin T-shirt on. For whatever reason, when I was looking at the attire for Giovanni’s, I thought it was smart casual, but some sources (online) say it’s casual. (Yet some specify smart casual) So, perhaps use at your own discretion? Personally, I think it’s better safe than sorry- but if you really want to just dress casually, go for it and see what happens!

Have you been to Giovanni’s Table? What was your experience? Comment below!

Cheers friends & Travelers

~ Backroad Butterflies ~