Specialty restaurants on Equinox questions

We usually never go to a 'pay' restaurant on a ship because we find the main dining room food quite good. Exceptions are if a TA throws one in as a perk.

We just booked a catagory S2 on a March cruise on the Equinox. In the Celebrity brochure, it looks like we get 2 free nights at a specialty restaurant because of the catagory & length of cruise.

Can you please tell me which restaurants you would go to & why. Also, are any particular nights better than others to miss in the main dining room.

Thank you.

We usually never go to a 'pay' restaurant on a ship because we find the main dining room food quite good. Exceptions are if a TA throws one in as a perk.

We just booked a catagory S2 on a March cruise on the Equinox. In the Celebrity brochure, it looks like we get 2 free nights at a specialty restaurant because of the catagory & length of cruise.

Can you please tell me which restaurants you would go to & why. Also, are any particular nights better than others to miss in the main dining room.

Thank you.

You will really have three choices, Murano, Tuscan Grill or Silk Harvest. I have been to Murano and Tuscan Grill and they are excellent. Take a loook at the three and see what you like.

You will also have the opportunity to use Blu since you are in a suite, they do not charge for Blu now so you do not have to use one of your specialty dining perks. I would not use the free specialty for Bistro on Five since it is only $5.00.

When we cruised on Equinox we tried silk harvest and Tuscan Grill. We loved silk harvest because Asian food is something not served that often on cruise ships and if it is, u may have one or two choices in buffet or MDR. The food was great and you can order many small dishes and share so you get to taste a lot of different things. We had a negative experience at Tuscan grill but I believe it was probably an isolated experience and not typical. They apparently "lost" our reservation but tired to fit us in anyways. Since they fit us in, the server had too many tables and the service was pretty Terrible. I like to think that u set normal cicumstances the experience would have been much different. I will say the food in the MDR is great and we didn't find a need to try the specialty restaurant except out of curiosity. We will be trying Tuscan grill again on our upcoming cruise on the eclipse and are looking forward to it. The restaurant itself is beautiful and the location on the ship can't be beat for a beautiful sail away dinner! Enjoy!

We've tried all of them. If you enjoy really fine dining try Murano. Lovely meal, refined friendly service. We did do Qusine and Tuscan grill they were ok but not on par with Murano. The style of Qsine is cute but I ate too much. Some of the offerings were excellent others not as good, but I felt compelled to try too much. The steaks in Tuscan were very good but we weren't impressed with the sides. The food was too heavy.

Murano would bemy first choice with Tuscan grill a close second. Food is better IMHO in murano but there is no view outside. Tuscan grill gives you a panoramic view of the ship's wake. I would place silk harvest about tenth...I really don't like their food (note..I love Asian food when it's prepared we'll and somewhat authentically...silk harvest does neither). Others may disagree of course.

1-Murano

2-Tuscan

3-Silk Harvest

To add to this post, we are also in an S2, and get 2 specialty dinners. Does anyone know if we can choose Murano for both times, or do we have to choose 2 different venues?

Teri

I would recommend doing Murano as one of the two dinners; IMHO it is by far the best option on Equinox and is a great value (even if you were paying the cover, a similar meal on land would cost considerably more). The only exception would be if you do not like the ambiance of a fine dining venue; some feel the atmosphere to be a bit too stuffy for their taste, but most love the experience.

The other choice is a bit more of a crapshoot and really depends whether you have a preference for Asian cuisine (Silk Harvest) or would rather dine at an Italian steakhouse (Tuscan Grille). Both are really nice experiences but the food (while much better than the MDR, is not on par with Murano). Service is more relaxed (especially at Silk Harvest) than at Murano. Tuscan Grille has nice views of the wake through the windows. Tuscan Grille has some nice steaks on the menu, but plenty of pastas and other options if one or both of you do not like steak. Silk Harvest has some nice sushi (considerably better in quality and creativity than that served at the buffet) and typical Asian dishes you would see at a U.S. Asian style restaurant such as Pad Thai, spring rolls etc. Food is often served family style at Silk Harvest (i.e. everybody at the table shares whatever is ordered).

As for which night, any night would be good - the food, ambiance and service in the specialty restaurants is so much better than that in the MDR that it really makes no difference what meal you miss there. Definitely try to have some dinners in Blu to (one of the best suite perks); while Blu is not quite as good as Murano/Tuscan Grille/Silk Harvest most (including myself) find it a nice step up from the MDR. Blu has the feel of dining in actual restaurant rather than the banquet hall type experience in the MDR.

To add to this post, we are also in an S2, and get 2 specialty dinners. Does anyone know if we can choose Murano for both times, or do we have to choose 2 different venues?

Teri

Yes, you can choose Murano twice.

You will really have three choices, Murano, Tuscan Grill or Silk Harvest. I have been to Murano and Tuscan Grill and they are excellent. Take a loook at the three and see what you like.

 

You will also have the opportunity to use Blu since you are in a suite, they do not charge for Blu now so you do not have to use one of your specialty dining perks. I would not use the free specialty for Bistro on Five since it is only $5.00.

Suites can eat dinner in Blu only if there is availability. I was not aware that they discontinued the $5.00 charge to do so. They can eat there for breakfast anytime.

Suites can eat dinner in Blu only if there is availability. I was not aware that they discontinued the $5.00 charge to do so. They can eat there for breakfast anytime.

Yes, it is on a space available basis (your butler can arrange this) but the $5.00 fee has been discontinued for months now.

....the posts about them discontinuing the elite cocktail hour before dinner. I hope this is not so. My husband will have a fit.

It is not just about the cocktails but also the good company you look forward to each night.

Having a coupon for a bar would not be the same. The easy way of meeting people would be missing.

Do the specialty rest. surcharges include any gratuities? TIA

Do the specialty rest. surcharges include any gratuities? TIA

Yes. You can leave more if you wish.

....the posts about them discontinuing the elite cocktail hour before dinner. I hope this is not so. My husband will have a fit.

It is not just about the cocktails but also the good company you look forward to each night.Having a coupon for a bar would not be the same. The easy way of meeting people would be missing.

Not sure what you are saying? Elite cocktail hour people are better company than other people? People at a bar on a cruise are not nice? I am also not sure how this relates to which specialty resturant to go to. We have met nice people and had good company all over the ship.

Anyway, to answer your original question, we choose Murano if we want a little more than average pampering. Tuscan Grill if we want a pretty good steak dinner and Silk Harvest if we want Asian food.

We have even gone to them on formal nights because we did nto want to dress up and did not feel out of place there (especially in Silk Harvest).

Not sure what you are saying? Elite cocktail hour people are better company than other people? People at a bar on a cruise are not nice? I am also not sure how this relates to which specialty resturant to go to. We have met nice people and had good company all over the ship.

Anyway, to answer your original question, we choose Murano if we want a little more than average pampering. Tuscan Grill if we want a pretty good steak dinner and Silk Harvest if we want Asian food.

We have even gone to them on formal nights because we did nto want to dress up and did not feel out of place there (especially in Silk Harvest).

My point is.....in some of the lounges people sit with others they do not know because it is the 'cocktain hour' & they want to participate & there is not enough room for single seating. Easy to get to talk with others.

We love this. There is no way my husband would walk up to a couple in a bar that we do not know & ask if we could join them. The elite cocktail hour...like the diamond one on Royal, is condusive for easy mingling.

We usually never go to a 'pay' restaurant on a ship because we find the main dining room food quite good. Exceptions are if a TA throws one in as a perk.

We just booked a catagory S2 on a March cruise on the Equinox. In the Celebrity brochure, it looks like we get 2 free nights at a specialty restaurant because of the catagory & length of cruise.

Can you please tell me which restaurants you would go to & why. Also, are any particular nights better than others to miss in the main dining room.

Thank you.

We were on the Equinox a year ago and tried Murano and Silk Harvest (tried Tuscan Grill this year on the Eclipse so similar experience perhaps?)

We were underwhelmed by Murano. If you're a sushi aficionado, you may be disappointed. There were a few good dishes in Silk but as I recall, no sashimi. Not sure if this has changed. A common critique we have for both Murano and Silk Harvest was the 'too attentive' staff. We prefer to dine with a bit less attention. Not sure if we would return to either on subsequent cruises.

Tuscan Grill was good for a steakhouse but not the best we've had. I personally found the food 'overseasoned'.

Overall I could say the meals we had in the specialty restaurants were not any better than some of the ones we've experienced in the MDR and Blu.

Not sure if any particular nights are better or not.

Yes. You can leave more if you wish.

Thanks for clarifying!

I can dine in many upscale restaurants at home. The view from Tuscan Grill I can not find in Palm Desert California.

Murano would bemy first choice with Tuscan grill a close second. Food is better IMHO in murano but there is no view outside. Tuscan grill gives you a panoramic view of the ship's wake. I would place silk harvest about tenth...I really don't like their food (note..I love Asian food when it's prepared we'll and somewhat authentically...silk harvest does neither). Others may disagree of course.

DITTO! Murano is NOT to be missed - the service and the food are 6* every time!!!!

Tuscan Grill is a close second.

Once we sailed AQ and dined in BLU we will not sail any other way ONLY BLU!!!! and then one night for Murano and one night for Tuscan!!! PERFECTION!!:):):)

Just my two cents ... we just got off the Equinox TA and dined at Tuscan Grille and Murano. The service was excellent in both. The view is very nice in TG, although depending on the time for your reservation, it could be dark out.

In both restaurants, the "supporting" courses were very good. The main courses at Murano were interesting, but read the details on how the entree is prepared. There may be a taste or flavor hiding in there that you don't care for (e.g. we didn't care for rack of lamb with curry sauce). At TG, we were looking for a good steak and were extremely disappointed. The filet was pretty good, but the other steaks were not steakhouse quality.

We were AQ on Equinox in June '12 so dined in Blu every night except two: one time we went to Murano and once to Silk Harvest. The Murano evening I planned to be on formal night since Blu guests do not have the formal dress code and we wanted to be dressed up. Very fun to be there with my hubby and son in tuxes! We thought the meal and the service were excellent. A memorable meal. I am not the Asian food fan in our family so I cannot comment on the actual food quality in Silk Harvest. I can say that I was not overwhelmed by the service (didn't seem as friendly and welcoming as in other venues on the ship) and it seemed like less of a special occasion. I would have enjoyed it if it were free but I didn't think it was worth the upcharge.

Others raved about TG but we never tried it.

We usually never go to a 'pay' restaurant on a ship because we find the main dining room food quite good. Exceptions are if a TA throws one in as a perk.

We just booked a catagory S2 on a March cruise on the Equinox. In the Celebrity brochure, it looks like we get 2 free nights at a specialty restaurant because of the catagory & length of cruise.

Can you please tell me which restaurants you would go to & why. Also, are any particular nights better than others to miss in the main dining room.

Thank you.

Everyone on the Boards was talking about how great the Steak Diane was at Murano. SO I went to Murano, ordered it, and guess what--you have to give them 24 hours notice if you want to order it....Just a head's up!

I would recommend Tuscan Grille and Murano. Both were great atmosphere and yummy food.

I love Asian food and Silk Harvest did nothing for me. Very average if you seek real sushi or Thai or Chinese food.

Everyone on the Boards was talking about how great the Steak Diane was at Murano. SO I went to Murano, ordered it, and guess what--you have to give them 24 hours notice if you want to order it....Just a head's up!

Yes, they have taken Steak Diane off the menu a few years back. We did give them 24 hours notice, and they prepared it for us on Equinox a week or so ago on our TA. It was much better than the filet they normally serve.