Equinox March 8th – Blu, Murano & Tuscan Grille

[Oradellian]

Equinox March 8th – Blu, Murano & Tuscan Grille :):(:eek:

 

For us, open seating in Blu was a worthwhile feature of the cost uplift to Aqua Class. However, we did reserve (2) nights each in Murano and Tuscan Grille, prepaid before the cruise, all scheduled for 6:30pm on sea days to possibly catch some sunsets.

 

Blu

Decent breakfasts; however no variation in daily menu. Nice portside oceanview windows.

Dinner – nice daily variation. Memorable dishes – lamb shank; short ribs of beef; osso bucco; lobster.

Attentive service; usually speedy delivery. Good coffee and decent desserts. Occasionally stale bread.

Lots of tables for 2 or 4 guests, allowing quick rearrangement for 6-8 guests as needed.

Wine: standard issues.

 

Murano

Hidden away behind Ensemble Lounge. Attractive, heavy décor. Beware curved banquette seating: uncomfortable. No windows.

I can’t figure whether the wait staff were filled with pretense, or just being goofy; but we don’t need personal introductions to all the staff, including the assistant assistants, etc.

Wine: good, with prices to match.

Dinner: DW’s “surf and turf” was exceptionally overdone and inedible. My filet mignon, finished tableside, was excellent. Overall, dinner service was terribly slow, with 30 minutes between intermezzo and main course. Total dining time was 2 ½ hours, causing us to miss the 8:45 theatre showing, even though we passed on the wine and cheese plate before dessert.

 

Tuscan Grille

Location, location, location. Fully windowed, overlooking ship’s stern. Pleasant staff; a much younger feeling, more casual than Murano.

Interesting bread choices including 2 different focaccias; antipasti, etc.

However, same menu every night: favorites included veal parmigiana, linguini alfredo, and ribeye steak.

Dinners were well-prepared and tasty; service was attentive and quick.

Wine: also good, different selections than Murano, also pricey.

Dessert: Our favorite desserts… try the Chocolate Fondue !!!

 

Denouement:

After enjoying the Tuscan Grille and not enjoying Murano, I telephoned to cancel the 2nd reservation at Murano and stick with the Tuscan Grille. Well, this elicited a huge backlash; the fellow I'd spoken to was the Murano Mater d’ who then got his compadre, the Blu Mater d’, to call our cabin and ask why we were not dining at Blu and was everything OK?

 

I explained that we dined at Blu every evening except the nights at Murano and Tuscan Grille. He then asked why we were not returning to Murano, and I reiterated the issues with Murano. That evening, they sent wine to our table at Blu and visited us personally, begging us to reinstate the reservation at Murano. They stated they would personally attend to our satisfaction.

 

Needless to say, we thanked them for the wine but stuck with our Tuscan Grille reservations.

IMHO, this sad experience could have been avoided if the Murano Mater d’ had paid any attention to our table in the first place, but I'll bet that he had the night off. Noteworthy, he never offered a complimentary visit back to Murano, so I guess we all have our standards to uphold.

 

Cruise Scoreboard:

Murano – 1 Dinner

Tuscan Grille – 3 Dinners

Blu – 7 Dinners, 2 breakfasts

Room Service – 2 breakfasts

Oceanview Café – all other breakfasts

Aqua Spa Café – 2 lunches

Mast Grille – 2 lunches

Oceanview Café – all other lunches aboard ship

[Fblack]

After having nearly 3 hour dinners in the specialty restaurants on the Millennium and the Constellation we chose to skip Murano and ate at Tuscany Grill twice. We had two very good meals and felt Tuscan Grill was well worth the extra fee.

[labeachcomber]

Thanks for the great summary! We've already booked Tuscan Grill for our summer Med cruise, but haven't done so yet for Murano. Had read various reviews here on the boards and it seems like everybody complains that service is very iffy. I can tolerate iffy service if the food is good, but it all seems to be hit or miss. Plus the fact that you're paying $35 per person on top of whatever you've already paid!

 

IMO, it seems like these cruiseship specialty restaurants get business just because they happen to be on the boat. I'm not sure how many of these specialty restaurants would survive in the real world in a metropolitan city. We're excited about Tuscan Grille because of the incredible views out the windows while you're dining - can't get that here in the city. But Murano - iffy service, questionable food, and absolutely no view? I'm thinking of passing, or like the OP, maybe booking another night in Tuscan Grille if we like it the first night.

[Oradellian]

Here is a sunset from Tuscan Grille. Unfortunately the flash did not go off.

[hcat]

We enjoyed Tuscan on Solstice but our favorite was Silk harvest!!!

 

Glad they are keeping that on Solstice & Equinox while having another option on Eclipse etc...

[tarajean1962]

We ate at both the Tuscan grille and Murano on our recent cruise on the Equinox and enjoyed them both.

 

Interestingly, if I had to pick one to go back to, I'd pick Murano. Great wine and great food for us. We all got the lobster and the service was impeccable!

 

Tara