In his own words: Where Service Charge in Specialty Restaurant goes!

[Spf12]

I totally agree with you.

[Project_gal]

I've been in the specialty restaurants on other ships, and I've seen the menus for celebrities MDR and all of their other surcharge restaurants.

 

The ingredients do not seem to vary widely enough to me, to say that the surcharge restaurants have a "higher quality" food. I see foie gras on both menus. I see filet, lobster, fish, ahi tuna, truffle oil, etc...on both menus.

 

Although I agree with the first part of your post, have you tried the food in the MDR and Speciality Restaurants? The quality of the basic ingredients is much higher in the Speciality Restaurants. The foie gras we had in the Olympic was far superior to any that we have eaten in the top restaurants in France and, although not quite as good in the SS United States, it was still of much higher quality than anything served in the MDR. The same is true of the filet, lobster and cheese.

 

Sue

[Snorkel2Much]

You are right there is no big brother watching me nor telling me I have to spend money or eat in a Speciality Restaurant.

 

I do not agree though with your comment that 'who cares where the money goes'. I do! If they tell me "A", I EXPECT them(whoever) to be telling me the truth about A.

 

I think that if they said it was purely an upcharge and we are putting the Speciality Restaurant fee/charge in our corporate pockets, then I would still eat there, maybe some would not, but at least we would be not mislead. Some people, I am sure, like the idea of the upcharge going to wait staff.

 

Another tack would be to be silent on where the money goes, again, nothing misleading.

 

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A slippery slope could be used to now suggest that they change the pricing policy for the cruise itself. Push some more of the price to 'port fees' since it doesn't matter where the money goes and suggest that 'port fees' are out of their control and are not really part of cruise line pricing structure. What do you think?

<emphasis mine>

I'm not sure if you already knew this and you had posted that tongue-in-cheek or not, but that is in fact the type of thing that cruise lines have done in the past. (until stopped by the Florida Attorney Generals office and others in 1996)

[2SeaWithMe]

Although I agree with the first part of your post, have you tried the food in the MDR and Speciality Restaurants? The quality of the basic ingredients is much higher in the Speciality Restaurants. The foie gras we had in the Olympic was far superior to any that we have eaten in the top restaurants in France and, although not quite as good in the SS United States, it was still of much higher quality than anything served in the MDR. The same is true of the filet, lobster and cheese.

 

Sue

 

 

Hi, I've only done the specialty restaurants on other ships. I still think if the food was a higher quality, it would be noted as such in the description of the restaurant or the menu..(i.e. "aged" beef, French goose liver vs. American duck, etc)

 

I certainly don't mean to contradict anyone who said their dining experience was superior in a surcharge restaurant. I have had very nice meals there myself. I personally just feel it's more an aspect of the preparation and handling of the ingredients, than a higher quality of product itself.

[Gonzo70]

I think most people who have dined in Celebrity specailty restaurants and have an appreciation of food know that the quality of the food (not just the way it is prepared and served) is significantly higher than the food served in the main dining room.

 

As an FYI, on Celebrity's sister line, Royal Caribbean International, people have the option of ordering a steak in the main dining room of the same quality served in their Chops specialty restaurant. It is made right in the main dining room galley. It carries a $15 surcharge, even though it is consumed right in the main dining room. It is clearly a significantly higher quality product than the "free" steak you can order off the main dining room menu, and it has nothing to do with how it is prepared.

 

I wonder if much of your prior specialty restaurant experience is on NCL? Although I have not sailed them myself, from hearing other people's aacounts it seems like many of their specialty restaurants have a "theme" but not neccessarily superior quality food. Perhaps that is what you are thinking of when you hear specialty restaurant being referenced? This is certainly not the case at Celebrity's top specialty restaurants (i.e. Murano, Olympic etc.).

 

The food in these restaurants definitely costs the cruise line more to purchase, the china and stem ware cost more, and the line needs to retain a profit. When you factor all this in it is not possible that the staff is retaining a large percentage of the surcharge unless you believe that out of the goodness of their heart Celebrity is taking a loss on the specialty restaurants so that the staff there can be highly paid, and that Celebrity is building multiple specialty restaurants on their newest ships because they have decided to keep taking financial hits for the benefit of their employees.

 

I highly suggest you try out one of these specialty restaurants on Celebrity and see if first hand exposure alters your outlook on this subject. :)

[jardines]

Not one penney of that covercharge goes to the wait staff.

I have both owned and worked in this biz

If you want someone to recieve a tip, you better put the cash in their hand yourself.

mj

[Gonzo70]

Not one penney of that covercharge goes to the wait staff.

I have both owned and worked in this biz

If you want someone to recieve a tip, you better put the cash in their hand yourself.

mj

 

Sorry, but that is no more true than the people who say that most or all of the surcharge goes to the staff. A portion does go to the staff, but the cruise line retains a significant portion to cover increased costs and for profit.

[harrygh]

I've already decided to celebrate my 27th anniversary by eating in the Millennium's speciality dining room, the Olympic. And after reading all these comments, I still have this question. Do I need to tip on top of paying the $35.00 fee? Do most people?

[JeffCoud]

I've already decided to celebrate my 27th anniversary by eating in the Millennium's speciality dining room, the Olympic. And after reading all these comments, I still have this question. Do I need to tip on top of paying the $35.00 fee? Do most people?

 

Nope. Some do tip above this but we do not...as it's billed as a service charge to begin with.

[Chicago Boy]

Frankly I doubt all of the fee charged goes directly to the waiters. Certainly a portion of it does but not all. We always tip extra. I have said it before. If we can afford to cruise we can afford to tip. These guys are out to make a living and they work extremely hard for their money. I worked in the service industry for years and I don't like cheap.:o

[Gonzo70]

I've already decided to celebrate my 27th anniversary by eating in the Millennium's speciality dining room, the Olympic. And after reading all these comments, I still have this question. Do I need to tip on top of paying the $35.00 fee? Do most people?

 

You do not need to, but many people do tip a bit extra if they feel they had very good service.