Please explain why YOU pay extra for specialty dining?

My mind just can't wrap around why anyone would want to pay extra for eating in a specialty resturaunt when the food is so good (and included) in your cruise price for the MDR.

Would love your reason's why. Though not sure if I can be converted to wanting to pay when there is free food. :)

For us, the MDR food wasn't "so good". It was mediocre at best.

Why do you go out to eat when you can stay at home and cook?

I am a little bored with the main dining room. The specialty restaurants gives us an opportunity to have a more intimate dining experience with new choices.

Why get orchestra seats at a show when the balcony gives an excellent view of the state? Different strokes for different folks.

My mind just can't wrap around why anyone would want to pay extra for eating in a specialty resturaunt when the food is so good (and included) in your cruise price for the MDR.

 

Would love your reason's why. Though not sure if I can be converted to wanting to pay when there is free food. :)

I had a hard time wrapping around the idea too until I actually tried specialty dining at Chops.

While I love the MDR and enjoy most of the "included" food, to me the service and atmosphere is just so much better in a place like Chops, Portofino etc and so forth. The food is a little better as well and is more cooked to order and not mass produced.

The MDR tends to get hectic and very loud......A change from that is nice from time to time :)

I am 100% with you! I haven't cruised recently nor have I cruised on a ship with a lot of specialty restaurants, so my opinion might change if the rumor that MDR isn't as good anymore is true. But for my upcoming Allure cruise, I only booked Chef's table because it'll be H's 30th birthday. And this sounds like a pretty incredible experience.

if you have cruised frequently, they don't change the menus, so you could have it for a change of pace.

we have also gone specialty because nothing on the MDR menu appealed to us that evening.

If you have assigned dining times, and for some reason the time doesn't work one evening (due to late day in port or something)

One could also eat in the Windjammer for the same reasons (and I have) so you could still not eat at the specialty restaurants and skip the MDR.

We have eaten in the specialty restaurants many times. Sometimes it's because it is someones birthday or our anniversary. We ate in one on our last cruise because we were cruising with my husbands brother and his wife and treated them to Portofinos because they have never been there. We have had others treat us because of the friendships we had made during the week. And sometimes we eat there just because we want a nice quiet dinner alone where it is quiet and the ambiance is nice.

I guess you must also ask why others eat at Johnny Rockets, Rita's cantina or the Seafood Shack since they have extra costs too. Sometimes it is just nice to add variety to the meals during a week (or longer) at sea. On the other hand on our last four cruises we have only eaten in the MDR twice, we just don't care for the dining room.

I had a hard time wrapping around the idea too until I actually tried specialty dining at Chops.

 

While I love the MDR and enjoy most of the "included" food, to me the service and atmosphere is just so much better in a place like Chops, Portofino etc and so forth.

 

The MDR tends to get hectic and very loud......A change from that is nice from time to time :)

That was my same experience also. For many years couldn't understand why anyone would want to pay additional to eat onboard the ship. Then I tried Chops and enjoyed the food as well as the experience. I wouldn't do it exclusively every night like some people, but a couple times is nice.

I don't eat at specialty restaurants that often but you do get a much better meal for a small surcharge.

Try it once and see for yourself, then you will be able to answer your own question.

My mind just can't wrap around why anyone would want to pay extra for eating in a specialty resturaunt when the food is so good (and included) in your cruise price for the MDR.

 

Would love your reason's why. Though not sure if I can be converted to wanting to pay when there is free food. :)

I have never paid for specialty dining on a cruise.

However, I can understand why.

1. From what I understand, it is similar to dining in an exceptionally fine restaurant, not a banquet hall (MDR). And, the cost to do so is at a fraction of doing so on land.

2. You might go on an excursion and not be able to make normal dining time, so, maybe do a splurge at the time you desire.

3. For some, "fine (specialty) dining" is important. As for me, I will eat just about anything, and food is no big deal. Just bring it on.

I had a hard time wrapping around the idea too until I actually tried specialty dining at Chops.

 

While I love the MDR and enjoy most of the "included" food, to me the service and atmosphere is just so much better in a place like Chops, Portofino etc and so forth. The food is a little better as well and is more cooked to order and not mass produced.

 

The MDR tends to get hectic and very loud......A change from that is nice from time to time :)

I just have to ask... do you usually get the early seating? Because I always get the late seating and have never had an issue with MDR being hectic and loud.

I had the same theory as you until we sailed the Oasis. Our TA gave us a dinner voucher so we decided to try Chops, and loved it.

The best way I can explain it. Applebees has good food, and its about on par with the MDR. Chops is on par with very nice restaurant...one that you would see critics right about. Different ambiance, different level of food, etc.

If it is a special occasion (our next cruise will be for our anniversary) we plan on treating ourselves. Don't know if we'd do it otherwise.

I feel the food has gone downhill in the MDR since we first started cruising. We prefer ordering food that is prepared for us and not mass produced. On Allure and Oasis, we ate at a specialty restaurant every night. We did not take any excursions which run a lot more than doing specialty dining.

It's simple. Options. I do not like the MDR on RCI. The food is just okay and the room is packed too tightly with tables on top of one another. I love the specialty restuarants. Smaller rooms with much better service, food and atmosphere. I actually prefer the WJ over the MDR on RCI.

I think the main dining room is perfectly fine, but do like the upscale ambiance and service, the quieter atmosphere in the specialty dining rooms. We like to go there for special occaisions.

I just have to ask... do you usually get the early seating? Because I always get the late seating and have never had an issue with MDR being hectic and loud.

Yes we always do early seating :) I guess what I mean by hectic is, it seems crowded and very "busy" and it does get loud when they start singing and dancing........Im not sure WHY they have to play that music so loud! :eek:

I do for just a different option for dinner some nights, but no becasue the food is so bad in the MDR. As a matter of fact I like the MDR, cause I don't know about the "Old" days, when it was so superior! But anyway when I take land based vacations I don't eat at the same restaurant every night, so on the cruise I throw Chops and Portifino in for a little change. I don't care about the charge!

Mostly because I like the food they serve, I enjoy the special attention by the staff and I can afford it.

The food is a nobrainer so the other reasons

atmosphere

service at your leasure

more personal

what a diner should be- very relaxed

when ordering wine/drinks it always arrives quickly

great choices/lots of it

None of this includes(all junk food)

JR's

ritas

hot dog

cupcake

donut

etc.

We like the mdr also so we mix that with the SR'S

Yes we always do early seating :) I guess what I mean by hectic is, it seems crowded and very "busy" and it does get loud when they start singing and dancing........Im not sure WHY they have to play that music so loud! :eek:

Yea, I could do without the singing and dancing but it's just on two nights for a few minutes.

. As a matter of fact I like the MDR, cause I don't know about the "Old" days, when it was so superior!

I too enjoy the MDR and dont know about the "good ol days". In fact, I am pretty impressed that the food is as good as it is considering the massive amounts that is produced and put out every night.

There are a lot of variables, and you don't always know going in to it how it will work out. For Example:

We loved our tablemates on the Navigator two summers ago, but gave Chops a try (our first specialty). The food was incredible. It was among the best, if not the best, steak I've ever had. One night in a speicalty was well worth it.

Ate at Portofinos on Radiance last year. The service was only so so. The food (Seafood Skewer) was impressive. Probably not worth it.

Didn't go speicalty on the Jewel two months ago, the food in the MDR was SO GOOD! No Regrets, and no extra money spent!:)

We try to hit one of them on each cruise. In my opinion the quality of the food is another step or two up from the MDR food. For example ; the shrimp in the MDR are small and soft. The shrimp in Chops for example are large and firm. The service is a better too since there arent so many people. I am by no means saying the food in the MDR is bad, I am just saying the food in the Spec Rest's are better. Another way to look at it is... If my wife and I go to a nice place to eat and order an appetizer, salad, a 10 oz filet and a dessert, we are looking at about 90 - 100 bux + tip = $120.00 total Well, I can get the same meal at Chops for 50% of that. So, if your favorite place to eat was having a 50% off a meal...would you go. :) I do see your point though and I though the same way, until I went. Then I felt I wanted to go at least once a cruise.

I feel the food has gone downhill in the MDR since we first started cruising. We prefer ordering food that is prepared for us and not mass produced. On Allure and Oasis, we ate at a specialty restaurant every night. We did not take any excursions which run a lot more than doing specialty dining.

But even when you 1st started cruising the food was "Mass Produced" Anytime you have a Ship that has 100's or 1,000's of people, the food is going to be Mass Produced. The people that cruised before you probably said the same thing about the food on your 1st cruises and the people who are new to cruising now who like the food, will probably say the same thing 10 years from now...... "The food in the MDR back whe I started cruising in 2012 was better thatn it is now in 2022..It has really gone down hill"!