Best Day For Specialty Restaurant?

[rob12782]

Hi Everyone, long time reader/first time poster. I will be on my first cruise on Solstice, March 27 for my honeymoon! We are staying AQ and looking forward to eating in Blu. However, I was curious what your opinions are in regards to what day would be the best to eat in Murano? I was thinking either Friday or Saturday as it would give us something to look forward to and leave us with a great last impression of our cruise. Looking forward to hearing all your opinions!

[sarahc78]

Hi Everyone, long time reader/first time poster. I will be on my first cruise on Solstice, March 27 for my honeymoon! We are staying AQ and looking forward to eating in Blu. However, I was curious what your opinions are in regards to what day would be the best to eat in Murano? I was thinking either Friday or Saturday as it would give us something to look forward to and leave us with a great last impression of our cruise. Looking forward to hearing all your opinions!

We went to the specialty restaurant one night in port and then the final night of the cruise. I really liked having our cruise end w/ such an excellent meal. It was very special.

[mrshark]

formal night is nice, very elegant. Any night is good, we ate in Murano last week 2x, both Formal nights (Monday and Friday). Service was over the top good, food, superb. To us, Murano is the best of the 3 specialty restaurants.

 

We were in AQ class, and BLU was great too.

[clampsa]

I read a post the other day where they always do a specialty restaurant the night before an "at sea" day b/c then they can sleep in and not rush to get up early the next day for a port. Thought it was a decent idea. I usually pick a sea day evening to do a specialty restauant b/c then I have all day to relax and then have a yummy meal. With regards to going on the formal nights..I tend to stay away from those days b/c I think the regular dining does formal nights pretty nicely (food those nights seems a little more special to me).

 

Congratulations on your upcoming wedding!!! Have a wonderful Honeymoon!!!

[gayoung]

I tend to go the same night as a formal night. (this is usually on 2nd and 5th day).

 

If you want lobster in Blu this is usually the last formal night.

 

Look at what you are planning on doing that day. If you what to say, go out on a booze boat all day, shop, and then stop by Senor Frog's to get a balloon hat, you may not want to have a heavy meal with rich sauces that night.

[seabreeze78]

The last night of our cruise we went to Murano and plan to do it again, it was a great way to cap off a great cruise and our twentieth Anniversary:)

[rob12782]

Thanks for all the input! I think we are going to settle on Murano for the last sea day on Saturday. Looking forward to a great ending to our honeymoon cruise :D

[Lsimon]

Usually one of the drivers for which night we go is our desire to spend the first night meeting, and the last night saying goodbye to, our table mates.

 

We're sailing on a 7 night cruise soon and planning on doing Select dining by ourselves and enjoying several nights at the different specialty restaurants so this won't be an issue. We're planning on spending the first and last nights at one of the specialty restaurants and will decide the other nights as we go along.

 

Formal nights are a hard choice. On the one hand it is nice getting all dressed up for an elegant evening at the nicer specialty restaurants. On the other hand the food does tend to be nice in the MDR on formal nights and is nice every night in the specialty restaurants. Dress code is being flipped a bit too. In the past the the nicer specialty restaurants had a more elegant dressier atmosphere and even a stricter dress code. Now they are smart casual every night, although many still dress nicer - especially on formal nights.

[2blueyam]

We are going to be doing fixed late dining on our cruise as we tried the select dining on Holland America and didn't like it. So we are planning on doing Speciality dining on the night(s) before we have an early shore excursion. Thay way we can eat a little earlier without resorting to room service or the buffet.

 

If we had fixed early dining, we might do specialty dining on the evening(s) when we would be getting back to the ship later from shore excursions.

 

Of course this thinking is in line with our Baltics cruise, where for us the ship is more of a nice hotel that can relocate to the different Baltic cities than the destination. If you are on your nth annual Carribean cruise and the ship is the destination or if you choose select dining then none of this may apply. In the end there can be lots of reasons to choose certain nights and there is some good advice written by others above.

[BenTheMan]

As we are going on our first ever cruise (14 nights Exotic Carribbean on the Constellation) for our honeymoon, I was wondering which of the nights I should best surprise my fiancee with an evening either at Tuscan Grill or Oceanliners?

We want to participate in every formal night in the MDR and I guess the first dinner should also be in the MDR to get the "lay of the land".

 

Any thoughts on this from more experienced cruisers?

[Sloop-JohnB]

As we are going on our first ever cruise (14 nights Exotic Carribbean on the Constellation) for our honeymoon, I was wondering which of the nights I should best surprise my fiancee with an evening either at Tuscan Grill or Oceanliners?

We want to participate in every formal night in the MDR and I guess the first dinner should also be in the MDR to get the "lay of the land".

 

Any thoughts on this from more experienced cruisers?

 

TO BEN THE MAN,

 

With a 14 Night Cruise, you'll be looking at 3 Formal Nights... someone else who has experience with the Constellation and the Itinerary may be able to give you a better idea of what days they might occur.

 

Additionally, if you are dining in the MDR you probably want to be there the first night and last night at sea... the first to meet with your table mates and the crew :) ... and the other to say good-bye :(

 

So that eliminates... 5 nights... right off the bat.

 

After that, I think that the suggestions above are good ones... would you rather prefer to have the nice meal during a sea-day or a port-day ?? A lot will depend on your "personal cruising style"... and how you tend to spend your days...

 

Hope this is helpful,

 

Cheers!

[BenTheMan]

Thanks Sloop-JohnB for that insight.

 

Just one question, having chosen the "Select Dining" option, won't we have different table mates each night?

 

I think we'd probably prefer the specialty restaurant on a sea day. So now I have to find one of the 5 sea days, that are neither first or last night nor formal night. That should narrow it down a bit. ;-)

 

Everyone else agreeing that the first night is not a good choice to go for specialty dining?

[Sloop-JohnB]

Thanks Sloop-JohnB for that insight.

 

Just one question, having chosen the "Select Dining" option, won't we have different table mates each night?

 

I think we'd probably prefer the specialty restaurant on a sea day. So now I have to find one of the 5 sea days, that are neither first or last night nor formal night. That should narrow it down a bit. ;-)

 

Everyone else agreeing that the first night is not a good choice to go for specialty dining?

 

TO BEN THE MAN,

 

Yes, "Select" is a bit different than "Traditional" when it comes to table mates ... although a lot of Cruisers seem to enjoy having the same Staff each evening even in this option... in that they get to know you and your preferences, and you them... many seem to like this aspect about cruising (getting to know the staff)... you can specifically ask to sit the same section to be served by the same team as I understand it from other postings.

 

As for first night... it seems to be the least popular night for the Specialty Restaurants... as such the cruise line typically offers often a discount for that evening (20% off). That can be a motivator for some folks... personally, with my upcoming cruise (our first with Celebrity), I'm looking at going mid-cruise, and then if I really like the experience, maybe go again (to the same venue or another) later on in the cruise.

 

Also of note, Celebrity is experimenting with offering Lunches on some cruises in the Specialty Restaurants (at a lower rate)... so that might also be an option to check into when you are onboard.

 

Hope this is helpful,

 

Cheers!