Don't go to specialty restaurants

I could understand your point if the specialty restaurants did not already exist. Maybe they should up the experience in the specialty restaurants to match what the cruise dining experience used to be and up the price as well. I don't see a need to re-invent the MDR when the specialty restaurants are already in place.

I think they want to be in the MDR venue

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I think they want to be in the MDR venue

 

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If someone wants to pay extra to eat in a room with 1500 other people so be it.

I personally have tried a few specialty restaurants and some of course are better than others. To answer your question yes prices have been up but that’s to each individual to decide if the price is worth it for the place. It’s not too long that if a speciality restaurant is not to cruisers standards and we stop going cruise line will adapt by changing menu or price. Seen it in the past.

My only complaint is more that all the cruise line have taken MDR for granted now. The lighting is much to bright,too much noise,not enough waiters,food not as good and more.

 

I don’t mind paying for speciality restaurant but not when I am force because MDR is horrible.

 

 

Thanks

Sea ya

 

Eric

 

 

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Eric-Maybe this is their intention....to make the MDR food/service unbearable so people will eventually bite the bullet and go for the Specialty Dining and pay the additional charges. I for one have done the Specialty Dining thing-some are better than others-no doubt as is the service. RC did themselves a real inservice by cutting back the staff-cutting back on staff effects everything that goes on or doesn't go on the Cruise. We shall see-we cruise on Navigator on 2/3/18....need this bad, so I am hoping things are up to snuff......Sandune(aka-Susie)

Such a hot topic. I do see the original posters point of view. NCL is really bad about this. The food was TERRIBLE in the MDR last time we went- 7 years ago and on a newer ship. We had no doubt their goal was to have you pay extra for the specialty restaurants. I wish the quality of food was there in the MDR as it was 20 years ago but unfortunately that is a thing of the past. This is across all of the lines. It's funny we purchased those make at home meal kits online and they were delish; I made a comment to my husband this is how the MDR food should taste!

You walk through and look around. There is no posted menu. Last week on Allure they did post in the Cruise Compass one day that the Windjammer was going to have a seafood bar that night.

Thanks, Ocean Boy!

Guess we'll have to change our habits. On Oasis we do MTD at 5 p.m., which seems to be the only time when there MAY not be a line (there were long lines several nights in February). WJ doesn't open until 5:30, so that won't work for us. On Brilliance (B2B2B coming up in March) we have early dining. If it's at 6:00, we can check WJ, but often lately it's at 5:30.

We've been on Brilliance so many times the officers in the WJ stop to talk with us, and hopefully we can get someone to tell us if and when they're planning a Mongolian night. Lately we've been checking the MDR menu, and if there's nothing that looks good, I order chicken fingers from the children's menu or we go to the WJ.

It seems to be only within the last 3 years or so that we couldn't count on good choices and good food in the MDR. We have done SD, but I feel like I'm aiding and abetting their efforts to encourage people to pay again for meals included in the fare. The sound of all my Scottish ancestors rolling over in their graves is deafening!

Margy

:ship:

I believe we were able to see a menu for dinner outside the WJ each day.

Thank, Paulette3028. I have no doubt that we've walked right by a sign literally hundreds of times (in 39 cruises) without seeing it. I'll make a point of checking for this.

Margy:o

My wife and I have always enjoyed the MDR. On our last cruise on the Rhapsody OTS the waiters were amazing and we DID feel special each and every night. We had MTD with a 7 o'clock reservation each night. The same table was ready for us and our wine was poured shortly after arrival. The head waiter greeted us every night and was very entertaining. We were at a table for two (first time) but we had many nice conversations with the tables around us. Yes, it was tight but we were comfortable. The food was consistently good.

I have to say I looked forward to the trip to the MDR each and every night.

We have eaten at specialty restaurants on other cruises and found it not to be worth the extra cost. I have to admit that I felt like I was "cheating" on my regular waiters while I was there LOL!

I have a little different viewpoint about cruising.

 

I remember when air travel was an experience and people dressed up for the plane ride. Then the airlines started marketing to the groundlings and it has now become like an airborne New York subway ride.

 

I also remember when an ocean cruise was an experience and people dressed up for the cruise. Then the cruise lines started marketing to the groundlings and it has become like a floating county fair with the Beverly Hillbillies.

 

We now look at cruising as basic transportation to get from the US to Europe or Europe to the US. We don't expect five-star dining anymore, we expect the shows to be over-amplified, we expect to see feral children run loose, and we expect to see chair hogs.

 

But we don't expect to pay extra for food when there's plenty in the MDR and the buffet.

Interesting post.

I'm not sure what your reference year is, but given the obvious nostalgia for "the crossing" and early jet travel let's call it mid-to-late-60s.

So those fine ladies and gentlemen dressing for their flights were paying the equivalent of $3k to $5k in todays' dollars (more earlier in time) each for a coach seat across the pond. Today I can get two lie-flat seats in business for that price, nap instead of sitting upright, and still have a bit in my pocket on a good day.

On a mid-century liner crossing, even third class would be a couple of thousand dollars in today's money. And whether pax wore a tie or not, the food and entertainment weren't particularly nice.

If you were once, for whatever reason, able to book first class crossings then that's wonderful. You might still relive that experience on a luxury brand (though caution, most have gone "country club casual" these days and might offend you).

You also always have the option of Cunard where the Queen's Grill class still requires appropriate dress and will serve you in the style you obviously recall from earlier grand crossings. At ~$6k per person it is cost competitive in today's dollars with what a first class crossing would have cost in those earlier, vanished times.

Finally, I must complement you on your experience with five-star dining. I have eaten at a number of one-star restaurants, a few two-stars, and on two memorable occasions a three-star. But your experience must be extraordinary.