Poll on Specialty Restaurants

I am trying to have a friendly conversation with you and all you do is respond with hostility. Your choice. Not mine.

I guess I don't see your choice of words, such as "Frugal is hardly the correct description" and "You can pinch it as tight as you want" as especially friendly. Really, do you see those statements as being friendly? And you call me hostile. Okay, whatever. I guess it's hostile not to like being told "Frugal is hardly the correct description" and "You can pinch it as tight as you want."

To get back on track...

We love the SR's and always have 2 to 3 dinners per cruise at them. While some have been better than others it's always a good meal. Qusine and Tuscan Grille are my favorites.

Jane

I guess I don't see your choice of words, such as "Frugal is hardly the correct description" and "You can pinch it as tight as you want" as especially friendly. Really, do you see those statements as being friendly? And you call me hostile. Okay, whatever. I guess it's hostile not to like being told "Frugal is hardly the correct description" and "You can pinch it as tight as you want."

You have selective reading skills, apparently only reading what you want. I admitted in a follow up comment that I also "pinch pennies", and watch what I spend, just as you do. But, you conveniently deleted those comments when quoting me in your reply. So your continued hostility is exactly what it appears to be.

I extended an "olive branch", only to have you break it. It is exactly what it is. I will not respond to you again.

The specialty restaurants save me from having to bring formal wear. One of the things I LOVE about Celebrity is that the SR's are always smart casual, even on formal nights.

We book a specialty restaurant on every formal night to avoid having to wear a suit and tie.

I guess I don't see your choice of words, such as "Frugal is hardly the correct description" and "You can pinch it as tight as you want" as especially friendly. Really, do you see those statements as being friendly? And you call me hostile. Okay, whatever. I guess it's hostile not to like being told "Frugal is hardly the correct description" and "You can pinch it as tight as you want."

You have selective reading skills, apparently only reading what you want. I admitted in a follow up comment that I also "pinch pennies", and watch what I spend, just as you do. But, you conveniently deleted those comments when quoting me in your reply. So your continued hostility is exactly what it appears to be.

 

I extended an "olive branch", only to have you break it. It is exactly what it is. I will not respond to you again.

I think y'all have made your points. Please call a truce! ;)

Have already voted and given my views. Just a quick thank you for setting up the poll. I have enjoyed following and looking at cruising from a range of perspectives.

I think y'all have made your points. Please call a truce! ;)

SantaFeFan tried, but vacation luvver threw it back in his/her face. At least one of them is trying!

We dined at a Specialty Restaurant on Equinox last December.. Food was good, but not so much better than in MDR in our opinion to deserve increment in cost.

Don't plan on doing so again this year.

We have only booked aqua, and Blu only has two items that I like for dinner- the beef fillet and the short ribs- hated their lobster. On the Reflection, we loved the Lawn Club Grille- yes it is over priced, but ate there two times as we loved the food and ambiance. Their buffet was quite good and we ate there a couple of times for dinner and breakfast. Loved Bistro- ate there two times as well. We ate once at Qzine- enjoyable, decent food (not WOW, but worth it to us to do once on each Celebrity Cruise) and ate once at Murano/Normandie- delicious lobster. On the Summit, I will miss Lawn Club Grille, but enjoy the variety of the other restaurants as on the Reflection.

We never have but might sometime. I guess we just don't see the need. I wouldn't say never.

We never seem ready to spend all that time and money when for the most part the MDR is fine.

Hello Vacation Louver, this is completely off topic, but I am hoping to be able to contact you in relation to a relative of mine who died recently and I believe you knew from cruising. All I am looking for is memories, could you most kindly email me grainneb4@gmail.com. Thank you

... If the cruiseline didn't make us prepay all of our meals ahead of time in the cruisefare, and if we were allowed to book each meal and decide if we wanted to eat in the MDR or the buffet or a SR, I might then consider eating in a SR. It's not just the cost of the meal, even though I don't spend $25, let alone $50, for a restaurant meal at home. It's the idea that I have to pay for a meal in the MDR ahead of time in my fare, and then I would have to pay more money for another meal if I wanted to eat in a SR. Even if I prepaid only $6, it's like me going to a McDonalds, giving them $6, maybe putting a dollar in their tip jar if they have one (some of them do), and then saying, "I'm not going to eat here! I'm going somewhere else where I can pay $50 to eat!" I just don't do that sort of thing. But if I hadn't already been "forced" to lay out $6 for dinner, plus a tip, then who knows?

Two thoughts. First, look up the concept of "sunk cost." I think that might be relevant here. But probably more on target, consider this. You have booked and prepaid for food in a large restaurant. The restaurant has many rooms. You have paid $10 to get through the door. You can stay in the first room you come to and pay nothing additional to eat to your hearts content, you can go over to the self serve area, again without paying more, or you can pay $10 more to move on to the Bistro, or maybe splurge and pay $40-50 more to dine in the Special room. You only pay for one meal in any case, but some meals and the specialness of the ambiance will cost you a wee bit more.

I never heard of the term "sunk cost" before, so I looked it up at wikipedia. From the following example at wikipedia, I don't think that the term "sunk cost" applies to me.

Economists argue that sunk costs are not taken into account when making rational decisions. In the case of a Yankees ticket that has already been purchased, the ticket-buyer can choose between the following two end results if he realizes that he doesn't like the game:

 

Having paid the price of the ticket and having suffered watching a game that he does not want to see, or;

Having paid the price of the ticket and having used the time to do something more fun.

In either case, the ticket-buyer has paid the price of the ticket so that part of the decision no longer affects the future. If the ticket-buyer regrets buying the ticket, the current decision should be based on whether he wants to see the game at all, regardless of the price, just as if he were to go to a free Yankees game. The economist will suggest that, since the second option involves suffering in only one way (spent money), while the first involves suffering in two (spent money plus wasted time), option two is obviously preferable.

I don't this applies to me, because (1) I would not go into the MDR and then decide that I really didn't want to be there. I mean, if I didn't like the food I had ordered, I would just order something else, and (2) I would not go into the MDR and then wish that I could do something more fun.

Now, about the Yankee game, if the example were buying a regular ticket, and then finding out when you get to the game that you could buy a more expensive ticket for a better seat, but you wouldn't be able to sell your original ticket to recoup that money, then yes, I could see the similarity.

You have paid $10 to get through the door. You can stay in the first room you come to and pay nothing additional to eat to your hearts content, you can go over to the self serve area, again without paying more, or you can pay $10 more to move on to the Bistro, or maybe splurge and pay $40-50 more to dine in the Special room. You only pay for one meal in any case, but some meals and the specialness of the ambiance will cost you a wee bit more.

I'm sorry, but we'll have to agree to disagree. Because I still see it as paying $10 to eat in one of two places, or choosing to pay $40 - $50 to pay to eat somewhere else while forfeiting whatever part of the $10 was allocated to eating in one of the first two rooms.

It's all the way you look at things. I once took a European bus tour that was value-priced, not first class, and I knew that our included dinners (which were not in every city) would not give us a choice of what to eat. I accepted it. However, when we finally got to Paris, I said that I was looking forward to having dinner on my own, because I would be able to choose what I wanted to eat. Someone on the tour said, "But you'll have to pay for those meals. These meals were free." "They were not free," I said. "We paid for them ahead of time."

On another European trip, a theater ticket in London was included. Although my travel agent assured me that I would be able to choose from several shows and decide which night to go, I found out that we were given a ticket to a show, and if we didn't want to see it that night, too bad. Afterwards, I related this to a co-worker, who said that TPTB had the right to give us a theater ticket without asking our opinions about which show we wanted to see, "because the ticket was free.' "The ticket was not free," I said. "We paid for them ahead of time."

I knew of a couple on that trip who didn't want to see the show, and they bought tickets for another show. IMHO each one paid for two theater tickets and saw just one show. That's fine with me, but I still consider it to be paying for something that you're not getting.

... I'm sorry, but we'll have to agree to disagree...

I totally agree.

We've dropped below 75%. :rolleyes:

We've dropped below 75%. :rolleyes:

Well, then, I guess now that means the SRs are a complete failure. :p

So let's look at the numbers in total.

Celebrity has over one million ( 1,000,000 ) passengers every year.

About 335 members of Cruise Critic voted in the poll.

Hummmm, our focus group ain't real big in the grand scheme of things.

But if we truly are, then we now can look forward to more Speciality dinning venues in the future on Celebrity ships. All successful business cater to the 51% over the 49%:)

Well, then, I guess now that means the SRs are a complete failure. :p

Haha the whiners on here are hoping for that kind of response. In fact, I would guess the the more vocal posters on this thread are the more "frugal" type who would not attend an SR unless it was free!!

... In fact' date=' I would guess the the more vocal posters on this thread are the more "frugal" type who would not attend an SR unless it was free!![/quote']

 

The sense I had is that for some at least they understand that they have paid for their dinner in the MDR or buffet. If the were offered a free meal in a SR, I think they would ask for a refund on the price of the MDR meal.

The sense I had is that for some at least they understand that they have paid for their dinner in the MDR or buffet. If the were offered a free meal in a SR, I think they would ask for a refund on the price of the MDR meal.

You got that right!! Can I smile :) and lol!!!

There was no option to choose "Have eaten at SR's but would only go back to some"

After many years of trying out the various Celebrity specialty restaurants, my last experience at Murano, and both tries at Qsine have convinced us that they are not the enjoyable experience they should be. We still very much enjoy Tuscan and Lawn Club Grill.

The sense I had is that for some at least they understand that they have paid for their dinner in the MDR or buffet. If the were offered a free meal in a SR, I think they would ask for a refund on the price of the MDR meal.

I can't speak for others, but regarding myself, I totally disagree with you, and this is why. I am given the choice of having dinner either in the MDR or at the buffet. I eat one of those meals. I do not ask for a refund for the other meal. (BTW I don't know of anyone who does ask for a refund for the other meal.) So, if I were offered a choice of the MDR or the buffet or, let's say the Normandie, if I chose the Normandie, I would not ask for a refund for the meals in the MDR and buffet. Since I am given a choice of two included places for dinner, and I don't ask for any sort of refund because I did not eat at both places, why would you say that if I were given a choice of three included places for dinner, that I would ask for a refund for a place where I did not eat?

And there have been two times that I wasn't able to eat dinner that were totally the fault of the cruiseline. In one case, I took a ship's shore excursion on Royal. The ship was supposed to set sail at 6:00 PM, so I had every reason to believe that I would be back in time for dinner (I had MyTime Dining). Even though it was a ship's excursion, the tour guide was a crazy man who told the bus driver to drive around in circles, making us hours late returning to the ship, because he said that the ship would have to wait for us. I didn't know what to do. Afterwards, I found out here at cruisecritic that I could have called the port agent and told him what was going on, but I didn't know that at the time. So we eventually got back to the ship after the MDR had closed, and a lot of officers were waiting for us. They were frantic. I told them what had happened and that the tour guide deliberately made us hours late. I asked them if there was a phone number I could call if this ever happened again, and they said no. (Even they didn't suggest that I call the port agent.)

And there was the time on a Celebrity ship that I took a ship's excursion at a tendered port, and i asked what time I should make my Select Dining reservation. I was told that 7:30 PM would be fine, so that's what I did. We were dropped off at 6:45 PM and got on the end of a huge line. More and more people kept getting on line behind us. 7:30 PM came and went, and not one tender had arrived. (FWIW 7:30 PM was supposed to be the time of the last tender.) Due to the negligence of a Celebrity employee, we didn't get back to the ship until after 11:00 PM. The MDR was closed. The newsletter said that pizza would be available at the buffet until 1:00 AM, so I went there at 11:15 PM, foolishly expecting to find pizza. Nope - the pizza place was closed. Very nice.

But I never asked for a refund of the two dinners that I missed. I had to prepay my tips, and I didn't ask for a refund of the tips that I had prepaid for the dinners I didn't get to eat. I also did not ask for a refund for the pizza that was supposed to be there and was not.

Maybe some people would have asked for refunds, but I didn't, even though I lost out due to the cruiseline's negligence, not to any misdoing on my part. I am not looking to rip off the cruiseline. All I want is what they said that I paid for.

We have never cruised on X without dining in the Specialty Restaurants and can not even imagine missing out on such excellent meals. Even though we always book Aqua and get great meals in Aqua, we sacrifice a few of those to experience their SD! One of the BEST parts of X is their meals! 5*

On HAL after one meal in the Main Dining room, the food was ok but crowded, service was slow, EVERYTIME someone passed our table they bumped into us, we were on a main aisle - horrible. EVERY other night after that we went to their Pinnacle Grill. In the Pinnacle their décor could have used some help but their service and food were divine! Quiet and peaceful atmosphere!

Just returned from our second cruise with Celebrity and in 24 days of cruising with them we have never entered the MDR. We found Blu on our first night and ate there without fail. Service and food was exceptional.

Just returned from our second cruise with Celebrity and in 24 days of cruising with them we have never entered the MDR. We found Blu on our first night and ate there without fail. Service and food was exceptional.

When you say you found Blu on your first night, I was wondering if you were Aqua Class, or just wandered in and dined there?

Thanks!