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Rio Carnival World and Seafood upgrade review 11/23

Discussion in 'Restaurants & Buffets' started by DaiLun, Nov 25, 2015.

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  1. DaiLun

    DaiLun R.C., L.C., and A.A.N.G.

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    Rio Carnival World buffet with Seafood upgrade (copied from my TR)

    The have closed the seafood buffet at Rio and Incorporated it with the Carnical World buffet.

    CET/Rio is running a promotion through 12/31/2015. Earn 50TC during a gambling day and earn a complimentary buffet DURING THAT DAY ONLY. You cannot "save them up", and only the card holder can use the coupon.

    OK, that being said. During the week, the dinner buffet is $31.99, and the Seafood upgrade is $25.00 including tax. My cousin was very lucky (won money) while earning his buffet, and was kind enough to pay for his and my upgrade.

    If you purchase the seafood upgrade, you receive a UV hand stamp on your right hand.

    The seafood area is in the back. One way in and one way out. There is an attendant there with a UV light to check whether or not you have a stamp.

    The seafood upgrade is relevant because there is NO seafood in the regular Carnival World (that I saw, except for a few sushi rolls).

    So, what do you get for $25.00? Here is an incomplete list. I got about 90% of the items

    Steamed/Fried Seafood

    Fried Clams, Fried Oysters, Baked Mussels, Fried Shrimp, Fried Clams, Jambalaya, Steamed Mussels, Steamed Clams

    Fish

    Mahi, Salmon, Halibut, Blackened Tuna, Grilled Ono

    Ceviche

    There were 4 kinds, but I didn't write all of them down

    Baked seafood

    Baked Crab, Lobster Medley, Baked Clams, Baked Oysters, more that I missed

    Soups

    Lobster Bisque, NE Clam Chowder

    Cold seafood

    Chilled Scallops, Chilled Oysters, Chilled Shrimp, Chilled King Crab

    Salads

    Seaweed, Jellyfish, Glass Noodles Seafood, Spicy Clam, Herring, Italian, Spanish

    Sashimi

    Tuna, Ahi, Salmon, Tilapia

    All the seafood was very good and all of the accouterments were served, including drawn butter, garlic butter, seafood sauce, horseradish.

    If you are a seafood lover, I highly recommend this buffet.
     
  2. eaglejohn

    eaglejohn VIP Whale

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  3. DaiLun

    DaiLun R.C., L.C., and A.A.N.G.

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    The upgrade price was upgrade for the "Free buffet", upgrade to the paid buffet may be different.

    And, like I said, I didn't get everything, and thanks for the additions.
     
  4. dmr

    dmr Registered Abuser

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    OMG! That's higher than the new Caesars buffet!
     
  5. eaglejohn

    eaglejohn VIP Whale

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    read link above. price is $33.99 plus $15 upgrade. OP price is based on a free comp .
     
  6. paperposter

    paperposter MIA

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  7. eaglejohn

    eaglejohn VIP Whale

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    ^Looks like same price and time as the weekday dinner, per their website.
     
  8. dmr

    dmr Registered Abuser

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    We did the Rio Buffet on Christmas Eve and here's our experience.

    The good: The food is still excellent and it's one of the better more consistently good buffets. They've also re-opened the steam lines they had closed off for the exclusive seafood section. The also re-opened the old Diamond/Platinum entrance as the "Seafood Buffet" entrance. We used the regular one since nobody was really interested in the seafood upgrade. They did offer us the seafood upgrade at the regular register. They stamp your hand if you pay for it.

    The bad: For 7 of us the bill was close to $300! :( Sticker shock to the max! Also, they re-badged the former "Diamond and Platinum" right-side line to "Platinum and 7 Stars", and we were unsure if we could actually use it. Using "don't ask, don't tell" as the guide, we went in that way, flashed my Platinum card, and they didn't say anything.

    The ugly: If you can't use the hoity-toity entrance, the line was horrendous!

    A couple more observations. Although the part of the casino by the buffet and the central bar were somewhat busy, the lower part of the casino was DEAD! Drink service down there was non-existent! Very few people there.

    Also, and this may have been because it was Christmas Eve, it was non-stop Jingle Bell Rock and such on the sound system and it was LOUD in many places. Loud enough to be majorly annoying. More or less the same at Sams Town. Last year they seemed to alternate between a regular mix and a holiday mix but this year it was almost all Christmas tunes with maybe a few regular ones thrown in every so often. Over the last few years they seem to have backed off on that, but reversed course this year fer shure!

    Oh well. :)
     
  9. YoungGun

    YoungGun VIP Whale

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    I ate there the day after Christmas. I used to love the seafood buffet, but I don't eat as much shellfish as I used to so I would be perfectly satisfied with the regular buffet now. There are crab legs and a few other seafood items in the regular buffet so I can sneak in a couple of crab legs to get my fix. If you're the type of person that can eat nothing but crab legs, shrimp, lobster, and other seafood, then the upgrade will be worth it for you. It is $15 more than a regular buffet or $25 to upgrade from the promotion and Buffet of Buffets.
     
  10. TIMSPEED

    TIMSPEED Money’s on the way, with CashNetUSA

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    Haha we probably walked right past each other then!
     
  11. YoungGun

    YoungGun VIP Whale

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    I was actually at the Pizza Rock window on Sunday night too. We probably passed each other again. I vaguely remembered there was a meet up scheduled for some time that weekend but I was so out of it from fighting off the flu that I didn't feel like being social.
     
  12. BlueGlass

    BlueGlass Tourist

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    We hate & paid extra for the seafood...if I went back I would just get the regular buffet...the seafood isn't worth the extra money.
     
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