Specialty Dining - Is it worth the price?

The upcharge of $45-50 pp to eat at any specialty restaurant is too high. As a longtime cruiser, I have eaten at many specialty restaureants on many ships. Celebrity charges the most. While the food is good, it doesn't warrant that huge fee. On my most recent cruise on Oceania Marina, I was delighted to eat in all of their specialty restaurants. No extra fee. Food was fabulous. Even the buffet was outstanding.

I stick with MDR if I like the look of the menu. If not head for the buffet in the evening where it is quite and I can eat more or less what I want, when I want. One evening for example on Eclipse earlier this year I had fillet of salmon cooked to order (medium) on a griddle followed by fillet steak, again cooked to order on the griddle, then cheese and biscuits all with a couple of glasses of wine.

Another night had mussels in white wine and garlic...could go on and on.

No complaints.

No reason to pay the extra for me.

I like fine dining, with quality over volume, and have never felt that the specialty restaurant on X or RC were truly speciality dining in food or service. At $50 PP and that does not include wine at $40 per bottle is higher than most really good land based restaurants. My favorite is Quisine but as stated above is better with a group of sx.

The upcharge of $45-50 pp to eat at any specialty restaurant is too high. As a longtime cruiser, I have eaten at many specialty restaureants on many ships. Celebrity charges the most. While the food is good, it doesn't warrant that huge fee. On my most recent cruise on Oceania Marina, I was delighted to eat in all of their specialty restaurants. No extra fee. Food was fabulous. Even the buffet was outstanding.

What was the per day cost of the cruise compared to the same time frame on Celebrity?

What was the per day cost of the cruise compared to the same time frame on Celebrity?

Just a suggestion, but you can easily do that yourself. Find an Oceania cruise that is similar to a Celebrity cruise and do fake bookings on each comparing the cost of the cabin style and location you like. But, when comparing, make sure you compare the cruise only fares as Oceania includes the air fare in their "OLife Fare W/Airfare" option. There are a lot of similar cruises in the Caribbean, Mediterranean and the Baltic to chose from.

Just a suggestion, but you can easily do that yourself. Find an Oceania cruise that is similar to a Celebrity cruise and do fake bookings on each comparing the cost of the cabin style and location you like. But, when comparing, make sure you compare the cruise only fares as Oceania includes the air fare in their "OLife Fare W/Airfare" option. There are a lot of similar cruises in the Caribbean, Mediterranean and the Baltic to chose from.

To go one step farther, I just did a comparison of a basic veranda room on a Jan 2019 western Caribbean cruise on a 10 day Oceania Riviera and an 11 day Celebrity Reflection cruise. The Oceania cabin was $3,599 ($360/day/pp incl taxes/fees) and the Celebrity cabin was $2,108 ($192/day/pp incl taxes/fees).

Thank you. That's what I was thinking. I wouldn't like to have pre-purchased the package and then be told the only available time for the day I wanted was 8:30. If I was booking on-board I just wouldn't book.

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OPPs bad mistake. I posted early that the prices of the ship are higher than or something like that and service was not exceptional. Last night I had to go to a Art reception with my lady and checked the price of a local upscale restaurant in Ocala Florida. Anyway a similar meal without desert was $46 dollars and wine was a similar price. So if you get a decent discount on a cruise ship the experience might be WELL worth it.