Cagney's on Epic was a big dud!

[wkelly5688]

We cruised on Epic two weeks ago and as a final meal on the cruise, we chose Cagney's just as we did 3 years ago on Pearl. We are middle class people so we aren't accustomed to "fine dining" but this experience was a big let down. During the meal our waitress was MIA. Our salads were delivered but no salt and pepper on the table. We waited and waited and waited, and I finally got up and retrieved some from a nearby table. Our bottle of wine was retrieved and the first glass poured then the same thing.....MIA. I was ready to get up and get more wine myself when a nearby waiter heard our discussion and poured it for us. My wife had a fillet and I had the prime rib. They were both tasteless. A big change from 3 years ago. My prime was ordered and brought a beautiful medim rare and don't ask me how, but it had a dry streak in it. This experience by no means ruined our cruise but it was a disappointment. If you go, hope your experience is better.

 

Bill

 

 

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[Sea Monster 2]

We cruised on Epic two weeks ago and as a final meal on the cruise, we chose Cagney's just as we did 3 years ago on Pearl. We are middle class people so we aren't accustomed to "fine dining" but this experience was a big let down. During the meal our waitress was MIA. Our salads were delivered but no salt and pepper on the table. We waited and waited and waited, and I finally got up and retrieved some from a nearby table. Our bottle of wine was retrieved and the first glass poured then the same thing.....MIA. I was ready to get up and get more wine myself when a nearby waiter heard our discussion and poured it for us. My wife had a fillet and I had the prime rib. They were both tasteless. A big change from 3 years ago. My prime was ordered and brought a beautiful medim rare and don't ask me how, but it had a dry streak in it. This experience by no means ruined our cruise but it was a disappointment. If you go, hope your experience is better.

 

Bill

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

 

Sorry you had such a bad experience. We found the service similarly awful when we ate there in March, but the steaks were excellent-- so much so that we almost went back for a second go. I don't know what was up with the service. Our server was also MIA, food arrived incrementally-- for instance, the baked potatoes arrived EIGHT minutes before the steaks!!! But then the steaks were, shockingly amidst all this chaos, amongst the best we'd ever had!!! We are going on Epic again in a couple of months and I'm sure we'll go there again, but I really, really, hope the service is improved.

[Starry Eyes]

I am sorry you had a bad experience. We had a great time next door at Moderno last week. Very attentive service and the Brazilian steakhouse experience was fun and different for us.

 

Service at LaBistro was suboptimal. One waitress' name was given as our server at the start, but a different waitress came to the table for our wine service. That waitress took our order. then half way through a different waitress (original name) took over the service, but did not appear often:(. Fortunately, both assistants also participated; while attentive, not well coordinated, as one did not know what the other was doing. All were pleasant enough, but the second waitress was dead weight IMHO.

[Pokeraddict]

We too rarely have a decent meal at Cagney's and have on numerous occasions sent our steak or prime rib back for issues such as steak still frozen in center, or overdone, prime rib just inedible (shoe leather) but it doesn't stop us from going in and having 2 shrimp cocktails each and then a third if I've had to send the meal back.

 

We actually get better steak in Le Bistro for tw.

[Turtles06]

We had dinner at Cagney's on the Jewel about a year ago, and from start to finish, it was one of the worst meals we've ever had, anywhere. Mediocre food, badly prepared. Thank goodness we'd brought our own champagne; at least that was excellent.

[jdvmd]

We did Cagney's twice and it was just OK. Never have felt the need to go back there. And haven't.

LeBistro is so much better hands down. We will eat there several times during a week's cruise and I always have the same thing.

[mrobstad]

This thread has proven to be quite interesting and informative. A few weeks ago I polled CC members about the up charge restaurants, and it seemed like Cagneys was first, or perhaps tied with Le Bistro. I have only been to the latter and it was so far superior to the MDR, I was sorry I hadn't eaten there every night. So, for my upcoming cruise, I planned on trying the other specialty restaurants, but now I am torn.....

[Rochesterboatingdotcom]

Wow, sorry to hear. We have done Cagney's on the Sky, the Dawn and the Epic, and I would rate the Epic as the best. Had a seat at the windows that look down on the dance floor. Haven't had a bad meal yet at Cagney's. Love the shrimp cocktail!

 

[cruzinaway]

Sorry to hear this. We've been to Cagney's for steak twice on the Gem...both times service and food were excellent. We are definitely going again in Oct 2012 (when we sail the Spirit). Can't wait! :)

[DDMau]

Same here, we ate at Cagney's the first night of our 2008 cruise and it was just ok not what heard or expected. The experience had no affect our cruise.

 

We still eat at the specialty restaurants just not Cagney's.

[sdmike]

I guess like any restaurant, the experience can vary depending on who is serving, who is cooking, etc. Restaurants strive for consistency, but there is always variation due to a lot of factors. Bummer Cagneys didn't live up to your expectations.

[armwinder]

We gave Cagney’s a miss this time and eat at Jefferson’s Bistro twice, both times the food was excellent, and the service was also first class. We read some poor reviews regarding the POA; we did not have any reason to complain it was a wonderful cruise on a fine ship with an attentive crew. We are not real fans of Cagney’s as we have had some less than stellar service. Unfortunately on some occasions the food was not the quality we expected either.

[FLAHAM]

My experience over 3 NCL cruises has been that specialty restaurant service in general was significantly better than the highly inconsistent service in the MDRs.

[FlaMommy75]

Funny, we were on the EPIC that week also and our last night we went to La Cucina and it was hands-down the WORST meal of the week. We ended up eating in the MDR after we paid and left.

[HokiePoq]

Sorry you had a bad experience. We ate at Cagney's on the Epic in May and found both food and service excellent. Wonder if there are new folks now and perhaps those who served us are on vacation months now.....

[NLH Arizona]

The Pearl will be my first NCL ship. I am planning on going to almost all the "pay" restaurants. Based on some of these posts, I was wondering how is Cagney's on the Pearl?

[Pokeraddict]

The Pearl will be my first NCL ship. I am planning on going to almost all the "pay" restaurants. Based on some of these posts, I was wondering how is Cagney's on the Pearl?

 

Cagney's can be a hit and miss on any of the ships and Pearl is no different and wev'e been on her a couple times. This doesn't mean you shouldn't go and we would probably go again as we too only eat in the speciality restaurants and have to hit Cagney's in order to switch it up.

 

We eat at Bistro at least twice in a 7 day cruise, Itailian once but we know what to oder in there so as not to get disappointed as others have mentioned about it not being so great. Their pizzas are very good, not like the awful ones on the buffet, the chic parma is quite good but their best dish by far is their Osso Bucco.

 

The Chinese restaurant we also like but you have to know that its not like at home where you can order one dish and split it. You have to order a bunch of dishes each, so if you both like shrimp then you need to order one each. The only fault we often have is that the vegetables are never cooked enough, even though we like them al denta it's almost like they have run them under hot water tap.

[NLH Arizona]

Cagney's can be a hit and miss on any of the ships and Pearl is no different and wev'e been on her a couple times. This doesn't mean you shouldn't go and we would probably go again as we too only eat in the speciality restaurants and have to hit Cagney's in order to switch it up.

 

We eat at Bistro at least twice in a 7 day cruise, Itailian once but we know what to oder in there so as not to get disappointed as others have mentioned about it not being so great. Their pizzas are very good, not like the awful ones on the buffet, the chic parma is quite good but their best dish by far is their Osso Bucco.

 

The Chinese restaurant we also like but you have to know that its not like at home where you can order one dish and split it. You have to order a bunch of dishes each, so if you both like shrimp then you need to order one each. The only fault we often have is that the vegetables are never cooked enough, even though we like them al denta it's almost like they have run them under hot water tap.

Thank you very much for the information.

[Azure Moon]

This thread has proven to be quite interesting and informative. A few weeks ago I polled CC members about the up charge restaurants, and it seemed like Cagneys was first, or perhaps tied with Le Bistro. I have only been to the latter and it was so far superior to the MDR, I was sorry I hadn't eaten there every night. So, for my upcoming cruise, I planned on trying the other specialty restaurants, but now I am torn.....

 

 

Don't rule out dining in Cagney just because some of us didn't care for it as much as others do. It's worth going to and trying. You may find yourself enjoying the dinner and service as much as the people who rate it first or second amongst the specialty restaurants.

 

We've (hubby and me twice and mother once) dined at Cagney's on the Pearl and the Dawn. Hubby and Mom liked the meal and service. I liked the service both times. I thought my meals were okay, but they didn't knock my socks off like the meal I had in the Carnival Legend's steakhouse or even the Texas Roadhouse back home. I'd go again if the people with me wanted to go, but I prefer the Asian restaurant, TexMex, or the Italian restaurants.

[mrobstad]

From what I've read, Cagneys seems hit or miss, La Cucina seems to always be a miss, and Le Bistro a hit. When I went to the latter, the MDR had the poor cut of lamb, and Le Bistro had rack of lamb that was fantastic!! Just my opinion......

[Sam The Cat]

Only been on 4 different NCL cruises and always have the first dinner at Cagney's and have a 2nd dinner there during the cruise. Never had a bad meal there either for breakfast lunch or dinner and a great time during the last cruise on the Jewel which I surprised my mom on borad for her birthday. But then again not really fussy as long as service and food is good.