Specialty Restaurant Price Increase Email From My TA

[cruzeluver]

This is crappy news if true. I love X's specialty restaurants, but on our last Connie cruise in March, the specialty restaurants were dead! So much so that we had the waitstaff in both Ocean Liners and Tuscan Grill basically beg us to come back with promises of "special menus" and our choice of dining times. We dined in both twice and never once saw either venue more than 1/3 full.

[theduffys]

Saw the same announcement made over on the HAL board earlier today.

[Gonzo70]

Saw the same announcement made over on the HAL board earlier today.

 

I wonder if the OP's travel agent mixed up HAL and Celebrity. I believe HAL's specialty restaurant is priced below Celebrity's - so it would make more sense if HAL was the line raising prices.

[80sramfan]

Not even close! The new Disney Dream has a french cuisine restaurant called Remy, at $75 per person!!!! :eek:

 

and I've eaten there and it's well worth it.

[shoreham01]

We will be eating in the MDR. Can do without paying extra for a meal. Don't think we will be going hungry.

[mandream]

If we book a restaurant in advance WE will end up paying for it out of our own pocket since it is charged to your credit card at the time of the advance reservation. If we book in on board the OBC will be applied. So basically we will have to pay the increase.

 

I haven't done this myself, so YMMV, but I read on another thread that you can call Celebrity and make your reservation through them and it will work as if you made your reservation on the ship - charged to your OBC. If you reserve online, you need to pay in advance.

 

I'm curious to know if anyone else has done this.

[colocop004]

This may explain the Wine and Dine Packages and that they are trying to make up lost revenue from these packages......

[bplazo]

Well, my husband and I usually leave a $20.00 tip so if they increase the price then we will just leave a $10.00 tip. Not a problem.

[Cruiser Susie]

This is crappy news if true. I love X's specialty restaurants, but on our last Connie cruise in March, the specialty restaurants were dead! So much so that we had the waitstaff in both Ocean Liners and Tuscan Grill basically beg us to come back with promises of "special menus" and our choice of dining times. We dined in both twice and never once saw either venue more than 1/3 full.

 

Hi cruzeluver! Hope all is well with both of you.

 

We were on this same trip and noticed the same thing about the emptiness of Oceanliners; Tuscan Grille seemed to be a little bit more full. The staff at the Tuscan Grille was outstanding; for the first time ever, I was disappointed in the service and atmosphere of Oceanliners. Our last meal there, on the last night on the ship, was downright disappointing; servers seemed most anxious to get us out and didn't seem to care much at all about us, our dinners or their service. I never thought I would say anything even close like that about Oceanliners... it has always been a wonderful experience prior to this cruise. Perhaps that atmosphere helped create the lack of people eating there.

You are so right... I have never seen waitstaff try so hard to get people to come... it was rather sad. I wonder why it was that way? One of the waitstaff we talked to said that the restaurants were much more fully booked the cruise before. It would be interesting to see how things were on subsequent cruises.

 

I also wonder if the price increase does occur what, if any, the impact will be on bookings for the restaurants.

[boogs]

We will be eating in the MDR. Can do without paying extra for a meal. Don't think we will be going hungry.

 

My wife and I will still do the specialty dining options, even with the cost increases. To us going on a cruise is all about experiencing different things that we cannot at home. Dining at these restaurants is a delicious aspect of that experience. We'll come home with even more fond memories because of them.

[PartyAllDaTyme]

Well, my husband and I usually leave a $20.00 tip so if they increase the price then we will just leave a $10.00 tip. Not a problem.

 

The problem is that the only one you'd be hurting is the waitstaff. Celebrity would not raising the price so that they can turn over a larger percentage to the waitstaff. They would get the same $5 as they currently receive. That is the fear I have, that people who would otherwise be inclined to offer a tip for service above and beyond will now compensate for the increase by withholding the tip (or a portion thereof) from the otherwise deserving waiter. If their service is worth an extra $20 to you, what about that service has changed to warrant leaving them less? The price change certainly would not have been their idea. If the tips decrease, I think it stands to reason that the level of service will decrease, as well.

 

This is all assuming that Celebrity is actually raising the prices, as has been reported.

[mahi mahi]

If X does in fact increase their speciality dining room fees ,there are 2 people here who will never go again:o The principle of this is that they save on the meal we don't eat & charge us $35 each now.Adding another $5 or $10 on top is pushing the issue a bit too far:(.

 

You may have to try a cheaper line. How much have you saved on a price drop?

[mahi mahi]

If X does in fact increase their speciality dining room fees ,there are 2 people here who will never go again:o The principle of this is that they save on the meal we don't eat & charge us $35 each now.Adding another $5 or $10 on top is pushing the issue a bit too far:(.

 

Also, excuse me but what do you pay for a can of Coors light? I rest my case.

[PS90]

Also, excuse me but what do you pay for a can of Coors light? I rest my case.

 

Ummmm, I don't get it. Are you trying to insult this poster AND Coors light?

[SusieV]

It seems demand fluctuates based on the cruise; we've done some where the specialties are empty and some where it is next to impossible to get a reservation. Guess it depends on the people onboard.

 

Personally, we'll still probably do the specialties even if the price goes up, but we will likely go less often. Currently we like to go at least half the cruise, if not more (they make us all sorts of special offmenu items as we become "regulars") but we may go less if cost gets too high.

[RLO944]

We always eat in the MDR and never in a specialty venue. The cuisine in the MDR has always been GREAT and in most cases more than we can eat. We always get a table for six and have enjoyed conversing with our dinner mates so much that the end result is that we remembered the conversations more than the cuisine itself. :D:):D

[redhot1]

I guess that I'm just getting tired of them raising an already high price. Its one of the reasons we are considering going over to crystal or oceania. We eat in the spec rest but I'm not going to pay an increase. I would eat in the MDR and they can sit with their increased profit becasuse thats what this is all about.:)

[brfan]

I wonder if the OP's travel agent mixed up HAL and Celebrity. I believe HAL's specialty restaurant is priced below Celebrity's - so it would make more sense if HAL was the line raising prices.

 

Didn't Royal Caribbean recently raise the prices for some (I'm pretty sure Chops went up, I don't know about any of the others) of their speciality restaurants? If that is the case it makes sense then that Celebrity woud follow suit.

[Gonzo70]

Didn't Royal Caribbean recently raise the prices for some (I'm pretty sure Chops went up, I don't know about any of the others) of their speciality restaurants? If that is the case it makes sense then that Celebrity woud follow suit.

 

Yes, but just because RCI raised their specialty restaurants recently does not mean Celebrity will. Celebrity already raised prices last year (when RCI did not) and Celebrity's restaurants are for the most part still more expensive than RCI's (even with RCI's recent increases). My hunch is that Celebrity is not raising prices in September, but I certainly could be wrong. So far aside from one person stating they received an e-mail from their TA about this alleged price increase there has been no other data to suggest an increase is coming.

[boogs]

I wonder if the OP's travel agent mixed up HAL and Celebrity. I believe HAL's specialty restaurant is priced below Celebrity's - so it would make more sense if HAL was the line raising prices.

 

Can't tell you if it's a mistake or not, but my TA is pretty sharp and has never given me bad information before. But, it is possible that her source might have been mistaken and she has been given incorrect info. Time will tell if this is incorrect. In the mean time I will continue to trust her information is accurate.

[Gonzo70]

Can't tell you if it's a mistake or not, but my TA is pretty sharp and has never given me bad information before. But, it is possible that her source might have been mistaken and she has been given incorrect info. Time will tell if this is incorrect. In the mean time I will continue to trust her information is accurate.

 

Just in case she was correct I did purchase my specialty dining reservations today for my upcoming cruise. If she does turn out to be right, tell her thank you. If she is wrong, I guess I am just out 2 or 3 cents in interest. :D

[cindy'njohn]

Having perused the above comments, I find myself compelled to remark that meals enjoyed at the table in our onboard lodging, whether from the MDR menu, the en suite menu, or personally trotted down the stairs from the buffet line, quite suffice as to our needs for gustatorial munificance.

 

:cool:

[librarylady19]

I had just made a reservation for Tuscan when I read this. Regardless of price increases, I like to book the restaurants ASAP to get the day and time I want.

The variety of excellent dining options is one of our favorite things about Celebrity, one we are willing to pay extra for, knowing that we would pay much more on land for a comparable experience. I hope X keeps introducing new concepts (such as Lawn Grille) as it gives me even more of an incentive to try other ships.

[yayvacation!]

I tend to agree with those who have said an extra $10 is pushing it a little to far. For 2 to spend $90 on a meal at the Tuscan Grille is just a bit much, IMO.

 

DH and I live in an area full of amazing restaurants, most of which cost us about $150 - $200 for 2 to dine at, however, the ship's restaurants are nowhere near the quality of our land based venues. They are good I'll give you that, but they certainly aren't the caliber of our local restaurants.

[WELSH WIZARDS]

Reminds me of the story of the kid with the lemonade stand. On the front is a sign, "One glass of lemonade, $1,000." A passerby approaches and says, "That's kind of steep for just one glass of lemonade, isn't it? You're not going to get very many customers." "Yeah," the young entrepreneur replies, "but I only need one."

.

I loved this little story...and its message also cut to the crux of the issue. Good point...well made. ;):)