Anyone Not Book Specialty Dinners?

We've eaten in a variety of specialty restaurants on rccl and ncl and have always had a very good experience. The prices used to be much less too. I remember paying $10 in some and $15 in others. Now, Chops is $35, I believe. Not that I mind spending money on vacation, but the experience is good in the mdr and we basically eat all day anyway, so I'm ok with skipping the specialty restaurants and utilizing my money elsewhere.

To each his own I guess. I've cruised with some people who only eat in the specialty restaurants.

So I would say based on the feedback here and various people's reasons, that if you like what's on the menu and are okay with the extra cost, you should try for yourself and see if it is worthwhile.

I'll throw in my two cents, that we had never tried a specialty restaurant until our travel agent threw one in for free. We went to Portofino's and enjoyed it very much. Next time we tried chops and loved it. Since then we have always done one night at chops when it was available. We find it a good way to get away from the MDR rush as well as escape a formal night, and spend a nice evening for the two of us. However since the price went up on Oasis, we will either try somewhere else or just skip it this time.

DW and I ate at a specialty restaurant once, really enjoyed it but it was part of our TA's package along with OBC. Though we enjoyed the meal, we see no reason to pay extra. So far, we've had good luck in the MDR and WJ and haven't seen the need to pay more for food. We just got back into cruising after a 25 plus year lay off raising a family. We are empty nesters now so our goal is to do 2 cruises per year. I love to eat and have yet to find anything in the MDR I didn't like. :cool:

We always pick one night to go to a specialty restaurant, and have always enjoyed it. It's not about the money because it is overpriced. However, I also drink, and all the drinks are overpriced as well on the ship. Name one thing on a ship, that is not overpriced. But I also eat hot dogs at sporting events, and pay to go to Disney World.

The bottom line is, go if you want. Enjoy it. If you think of every penny you spend, than it would not be worth it.

We had dinner in 4 last 7 night cruise and that was too much, best deal was Giovanni they had a 4 course meal at lunch for 12 dollars, fantastic meal worth every cent

I guess we are in the minority, then, at least as regards the posters on this thread. We cruise every other year and find the Royal specialty restaurants well worth the extra expense. If we cruised 4-5 times per year, we likely could not afford it.

As someone earlier said, the extra attention paid to the food (particularly since the introduction of the new menus at Royal) and to service is worth the cost. Likewise, eating in a giant room (albeit well-decorated) is not my idea of fine dining.

The Chef's Table on Allure/Oasis is always a great meal for foodies, and Giovanni's Table is one of the best deals around. We have enjoyed Chop's, Izumi, and 150 Central as well, and look forward to Sabor this trip. If you are all about the food when you eat, I would try to find a specialty restaurant that you like. If you eat to live, rather than live to eat, the MDR is a great meal. To each his or her own.

As others have indicated, IMO, the specialty restaurants are not as "special" as they were when first introduced on the ships. Of all those we have tried recently, Giovanni's Table is our favorite! :)

20 cruises the only time we did was the Mystery Theater dinner with a group of friends and it was a fun evening and we do Johnny Rockets every cruise as evening dinner ;) in place of a formal night to us that way more fun and we normally get a whole group to go with us so we do it when they are empty make a fun time of it.

We have about 20 cruises under our belts, and can probably count on one hand the number of times we've eaten in any specialty venue. It's not that we find anything wrong with them, but there's always something we want on the menu in the MDR.

We did the Mystery Dinner but that is the only specialty dinner we did We found the MDR more than enough on our first cruise.

Nope, count me in on that. Part of the reason I take a cruise is for it's all inclusive nature. I can't see spending extra money for something I already get for free. There are even some restaurants on the ship that people have to pay JUST TO GET IN THE DOOR! I would never do that, but I'm glad the option is there for people who want it, because it makes things less hectic in the dining room and probably makes my cruise fare cheaper because they are supplementing the extra costs in the restaurants. I personally think it's a waste of money and would rather spend my extra cash on shore for local cuisine and excursions. I can go to a fancy expensive restaurant at home.

Forgot Johnny Rockets...............which really isn't a "specialty restaurant", but we've eaten dinner there. LOVE their Onion Rings & Shakes (& burgers too). Don't like breakfast there - better food in the Windjammer or in the Dining Room.

I'm fine with the food anywhere on the ship.

That being said, I do like the specialty restaurants for the same reason I like formal night. It feels like date night with my wife and I like that.

We do sometimes. Depends on what restaurant you are talking about. Used to like Chops, but it's really gone down hill. Izumi's hits the spot sometimes but isn't as good as our Sushi restaurant down the street and costs more in the end (more likely to go there for lunch). Giovanni's was really nice the last time we tried it and might again. Rita's, never tried and don't want to based on what I've seen. Samba's, never ever ever again as long as I live. First time in my life that I've been served three different cuts of meat that were actually spoiled! Windjammer for diner, usually not but have done it (not bad). Some nights none of the above and just skip (too many munchies in the CL:o).

This is the first cruise I'll have been on that offers specialty dining. I've always enjoyed the Main Dining Room. We do like good food but are not super picky and have always found good selection (even for someone like me who doesn't eat meat or chicken).

 

Now there are all these fancy specialty options. I just figure we're paying enough for the cruise / flight that why would we need to pay extra for it? Maybe I would feel different if it was just DH and I and it was say, an anniversary, but we are travelling with our kids and so we have no plans to try them. Perfectly fine with the MDR. It'll still be a nice end of day sit down meal.

 

Are we the only ones that stick to the MDR and do not book specialty dinners?

Never been to one, probably never will. MDR is great for us

We eat in the specialty restaurants on all cruises, except our MSC Divina Yacht Club cruise. No need since there was a very special restaurant just for the Yacht Club guests.

Our last cruise on the Navigator we ate at Chops once, Giovanni's Table once and at Sabor twice. Next cruise on the Liberty we have already reserved Chops once and Portofino once, but if the MDR is not that good we will get the Concierge to get us more reservations.

We once did a cruise on Carnival and ate at the Steakhouse or Cucina Capitano every night. The cruise was so cheap we could splurge on the food. FYI their steakhouse is better than Chops, IMHO.

On our next NCL cruise one of the perks for booking a Haven Suite is the Ultimate Dining Package, so we will eat in a specialty restaurant every night of the cruise. Also, got the Ultimate Beverage package (so no bar bill), free gratuities and $300 OBC. That makes the price of the cruise about what a GS would have been on RCCL since we won't have any additional expenses besides gratuities for the Butler and Concierge.

We have experienced the specialty restaurants on a few cruises and yes, they were good. But we agree with most people, we pay enough for the cruise / flight / hotel, etc., so why pay for more. We have found the food to be great in the MDR and quite enjoy it. So, why change!

If the cruise was cheaper or if we were celebrating a birthday/anniversary, then we would splurge on the specialty places.

We do Johnny Rockets at lunch and we love it!

We have experienced the specialty restaurants on a few cruises and yes, they were good. But we agree with most people, we pay enough for the cruise / flight / hotel, etc., so why pay for more. We have found the food to be great in the MDR and quite enjoy it. So, why change!

 

If the cruise was cheaper or if we were celebrating a birthday/anniversary, then we would splurge on the specialty places.

 

We do Johnny Rockets at lunch and we love it!

Your statements above seem to contradict each other. You do Johnny Rockets at lunch, because you enjoy it. That's the same reason some people do other specialty venues, because they enjoy it.

I think that the specialty restaurant fans here on the CC boards are a very vocal minority, and that a great cruise can be had dining only in the venues already included in the cruise fare. I've tried most of the specialty restaurants at least once and have come away usually unimpressed. I don't equate extra cost with a proportional increase in quality in either wine or food, and in either case I can usually find better uses for extra money.

Most specialty restaurants don't appeal to me, as they just seem to be serving slightly better versions of the already perfectly nice MDR food. However, two exceptions for me:

Qsine on Celebrity - serves utterly bizarre food, and if you purposely aim for the most bizarre, it can be fantastic (our rule was anything we even remotely knew how to make, we couldn't order!)

Izumi on Brilliance - planning to try that out on our next cruise - my OH is a massive sashimi fan, and there is nowhere all that local to us that serves it, so always willing to pay a bit more for it!

So yeah, my answer would be generally the MDR is fine, but if we're in the mood to splash out, then somewhere serving very different food can be a nice change.

Your statements above seem to contradict each other. You do Johnny Rockets at lunch, because you enjoy it. That's the same reason some people do other specialty venues, because they enjoy it.

I think you're really nit picking this statement. It's not contradictory as the person isn't being a hypocrite, they're simply saying they don't personally see value in the specialty restaurants higher prices. Johnny Rockets can hardly be seen as a specialty restaurant; it costs only $6 to go there which is less than an alcoholic mixed drink and doesn't require a reservation. That being said, some people wouldn't even pay the $6 for Johnny Rockets because you can get free burgers in the windjammer, so if you want to nit pick that contradiction I suppose you could, but it would be a silly thing to point out since, again, Johnny Rockets isn't a $40 meal, but a $6 meal and isn't quite the same topic.

With that being said, to some people, the $40 meal is pocket change just like the $6 meal is pocket change to others. But the point remains...

Johnny Rockets can hardly be seen as a specialty restaurant; ..

Sure it can. Anything that cost extra as far as dining goes is "specialty" in my opinion and most others :) What makes it "specialty" is that the food is cooked to order and not mass prepared and served. The cost is really irrelevant here. Windjammer burgers suck and sadly, JR's is the only option for a good burger. This is where Carnival outshines Royal Caribbean by a mile. Guys burgers is "free".

Sure it can. Anything that cost extra as far as dining goes is "specialty" in my opinion and most others :) What makes it "specialty" is that the food is cooked to order and not mass prepared and served. The cost is really irrelevant here. Windjammer burgers suck and sadly, JR's is the only option for a good burger. This is where Carnival outshines Royal Caribbean by a mile. Guys burgers is "free".

That's true, and like I said, some people (myself included), don't even pay for Johnny rockets because it's just another fee for something that's offered for free. I think the reason people are seeing a difference is because for one, you have to make a reservation and pay up front, and secondly, for 2 people it's $80 or so, whereas Johnny Rockets is more of an "impulse buy" and for 2 people it's $12, so when you get into taking a family out to eat, $80-$160 dollars is a much bigger difference than $12-$24. I don't know. I don't pay for either, I eat the free stuff for commoners, haha!

This is the first cruise I'll have been on that offers specialty dining. I've always enjoyed the Main Dining Room. We do like good food but are not super picky and have always found good selection (even for someone like me who doesn't eat meat or chicken).

 

Now there are all these fancy specialty options. I just figure we're paying enough for the cruise / flight that why would we need to pay extra for it? Maybe I would feel different if it was just DH and I and it was say, an anniversary, but we are travelling with our kids and so we have no plans to try them. Perfectly fine with the MDR. It'll still be a nice end of day sit down meal.

 

Are we the only ones that stick to the MDR and do not book specialty dinners?

We do not book specialty dinners. Our money is better spent elsewhere. We love dining with our 4 children and they love the MDR, and there is no way I pay for six people for a dinner when the all love the MDR (usually).

I did do this once on the Celebrity Summit and my wife was not feeling well and left after the appetizers. Turned out to be a total waste of money that time since we did not get to enjoy it.

We like the specialty restaurants for special occasions. We had an adults only dinner at Chops on the Jewel a few years ago for my parents' anniversary, and I thought the food was outstanding - much better than in the MDR, particularly the sides and desserts.

My mom and I ate at Chops on the Brilliance on our recent cruise over New Year's, and still enjoyed the food...and the terrific sides...but the service had slipped. It was still special to us, though and that's why we booked it.

I like Chops to mark an occasion, and it's worth it to me to eat there at least once per cruise - but I wouldn't go in thinking the food is going to be "that" much better than the MDR. I still think it's better, but haven't been blown away by the quality (except for the sauteed mushrooms on our last cruise that were STILL sizzling in their little cast iron dish 10 minutes after the waiter put them on the table - fantastic!)