Breakaway's Blue Ocean now 49$ !!

[Cruisegirl6]

We already paid for it so we will try it but I know what to expect thanks to Sheila giving us her review of it. The worst case I just say its a chef that isn't worth anything people think.

[AttilaTheFun]

I tried Ocean Blue and don't think it's worth $50 unless they change the menu to be bigger portions and/or allow you to order multiple appetizers. $35 was reasonable as NYC has Restaurant Week a couple times per year and that includes a 3-course dinner for $35 - including top restaurants around the city.

 

Another side note, but I wonder if anyone will complain about the HSN promo that NCL is running, saying they will give you a dinner for two at Ocean Blue AND a bottle of wine, which is really just a $100 onboard credit. With the price increase, there's no way two people can eat there AND order a bottle of wine!

[NYcruzzer]

I tried Ocean Blue and don't think it's worth $50 unless they change the menu to be bigger portions and/or allow you to order multiple appetizers. $35 was reasonable as NYC has Restaurant Week a couple times per year and that includes a 3-course dinner for $35 - including top restaurants around the city.

 

Another side note, but I wonder if anyone will complain about the HSN promo that NCL is running, saying they will give you a dinner for two at Ocean Blue AND a bottle of wine, which is really just a $100 onboard credit. With the price increase, there's no way two people can eat there AND order a bottle of wine!

 

I got the HSN $100.00 OBC 2 x $49.00 = $98.00 That leaves two bucks for a fine bottle of Tisdale...lol

[emcelh]

once you're booked i can't see how they can raise the price. if they try, just tell them you dont believe its right and why and they should drop it. if they dont, go above them until you get someone who apologizes and gives you a bottle of wine for the aggravation the people under them cost you

 

Or just don't go.

[sweetride]

Another example of NCL nickel and diming us, or in this case a holdup without a gun. I have eaten at his land based restaurant and find he is over rated. I choose to not pay that much.

 

holding you up? no one is forcing you to go there. if you don't like the price, do what most of us here will do. complain on here about the ridiculous price and how its a bad business decision and don't go there.

[emcelh]

Time will tell if it's a bad business decision. If no one goes because the price is too high they've made a mistake. Right now it appears to be a case of supply and demand so, if they're turning people away, they feel they can get a higher price and still fill the restaurant.

[Tink35]

Just got off the phone with NCL & I was told since we prepaid for Ocean Blue before the price increase we will be paying the original $35 fee. :)

[sweetride]

Time will tell if it's a bad business decision. If no one goes because the price is too high they've made a mistake. Right now it appears to be a case of supply and demand so, if they're turning people away, they feel they can get a higher price and still fill the restaurant.

 

if they're basing it off of supply and demand, its already a bad business decision. its too small of a sample to base their projections off of. i think the small amount they will make off of their short sightedness will cost them much more down the road. it will probably be busy for the first year and they'll think it was a great idea, then it will slowly decline until it suffers the fate of most of their other specialty restaurants that struggles to book to 20% nightly

[bob brown]

I still think that after the new ship honeymoon period has gone, and all the avid 'early adapter' cruiser's have 'been there, and done that', the demand and prices will settle back to a more reasonable level, at par with Cagney's perhaps.

 

On the other hand, if this demand remains as high is now, look for NCL and other lines to start a new trend of bringing famous chef's and/or restaurants to sea.

 

In keeping with the New York theme aboard, I wouldn't mind seeing an ocean-going Peter Luger's Steakhouse.

Porterhouse for Two, anyone?:)

[time2cruise1]

I still think that after the new ship honeymoon period has gone, and all the avid 'early adapter' cruiser's have 'been there, and done that', the demand and prices will settle back to a more reasonable level, at par with Cagney's perhaps.

 

On the other hand, if this demand remains as high is now, look for NCL and other lines to start a new trend of bringing famous chef's and/or restaurants to sea.

 

In keeping with the New York theme aboard, I wouldn't mind seeing an ocean-going Peter Luger's Steakhouse.

Porterhouse for Two, anyone?:)

 

I would love a Peter Lugers at sea and would pay top dollar except for one thing there is no way to correctly cook a great steak at sea with no option other then a flat top. :(

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk - Jim

[Beaver1975]

I would love a Peter Lugers at sea and would pay top dollar except for one thing there is no way to correctly cook a great steak at sea with no option other then a flat top. :(

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk - Jim

 

I bet they come up with something sooner or later. What about the infrared equipment they use in Moderno?

[bob brown]

I would love a Peter Lugers at sea and would pay top dollar except for one thing there is no way to correctly cook a great steak at sea with no option other then a flat top. :(

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk - Jim

Don't they use electric 'char-broiler' grills in the galley?

And they don't they flame-broil at barbecue's around the pool in fair weather?

[computerworks]

We ate at Ocean Blu 2 nights ago.

 

We always eat at 3 or 4 specialty restaurants when we cruise.

 

Ocean Blu was good. ...but it was not $49-good.

 

We will pass on it from now on.

[emcelh]

if they're basing it off of supply and demand, its already a bad business decision. its too small of a sample to base their projections off of. i think the small amount they will make off of their short sightedness will cost them much more down the road. it will probably be busy for the first year and they'll think it was a great idea, then it will slowly decline until it suffers the fate of most of their other specialty restaurants that struggles to book to 20% nightly

 

That's true, and if they're wrong Ocean Blu might not exsist in a couple of years. DH and I had dinner once at Masa's in San Francisco. It was over $300 for the two of us and that was over 20 years ago. It was a nice experience but no way worth what we paid. We were paying for the reputation of the chef. I think the same could be true of Ocean Blu.

[mamagina]

Food is subjective for me when we ate there it was not worth $35. Be prepared to stop somewhere else after to finish dinner. Everything was appetizer sized and you could only have one appetizer. The plating was elegant and the taste very good just nothing special to us. Others might have a very different view.

 

I agree. we enjoyed what we ate but it was tiny and not worth the upcharge--especially if you compare it to Cagney's or LeBistro--forget about Moderno (you are stuffed when you leave).

 

I also would like to know how they claim that the fish is "fresh" at the end of the cruise???? Hmmmmm?

 

We did have dinner in the buffet when we were done.

[mamagina]

They did turn a lot of people away this week and there were many who were disappointed that they could not get a reservation. But every time we passed and on Friday night when we ate there it seemed empty. We asked about it and they said they could only seat 60--it that for the night or per hour??? couldn't figure it out????

 

Totally not worth $49 pp--I didn't hink it was worth the $35.

[sweetride]

Don't they use electric 'char-broiler' grills in the galley?

And they don't they flame-broil at barbecue's around the pool in fair weather?

 

they do use charcoal grills at the pool side buffet on the dawn and cagneys also uses flame grills of some sort to cook. you can see the flashes when they flare up from the side tables

[time2cruise1]

they do use charcoal grills at the pool side buffet on the dawn and cagneys also uses flame grills of some sort to cook. you can see the flashes when they flare up from the side tables

 

No open flame in Cagney's or any galley on the ship. Grease might flare up from the ridged electric flat top they cook all the steaks on.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk - Jim

[rvsullivan]

I guess what I struggle with is, what's the deal? There are many places to eat that do not charge any extra. Whether you talk about Le Bistro, Cagneys or any of the others, there is absolutely not reason to pay for any food if you don't want to. For those that say this is all NCL, the art gallery, casino and gift shop are all separate entities that NCL contracts out. They don't have direct input into any of the operations of these parties and I think the same may be said of this too. Personally we eat in the specialties every night on every cruise, it's part of the vacation! There are many on shore that pay $200-400 for a dinner for two and think nothing of it and there are many that think that is just crazy! Same thing, if you think it is too much don't go, as was stated above, last week they couldn't get in. The dollars will dictate the success or failure of this endeavor. I think there are some that want a $100 dollar meal for $5 and that's not going to happen.

The ship is only two weeks old and I suspect over the first year there will be changes, some good and some maybe not so much!!!

[njhorseman]

I agree. we enjoyed what we ate but it was tiny and not worth the upcharge--especially if you compare it to Cagney's or LeBistro--forget about Moderno (you are stuffed when you leave).

 

I also would like to know how they claim that the fish is "fresh" at the end of the cruise???? Hmmmmm?

 

We did have dinner in the buffet when we were done.

 

"Fresh" means it was not frozen. It doesn't mean it was caught that day, or the day before, or some set number of days before. If you go into a fish market and buy fresh fish you have no idea of when it was caught.

[mamagina]

"Fresh" means it was not frozen. It doesn't mean it was caught that day, or the day before, or some set number of days before. If you go into a fish market and buy fresh fish you have no idea of when it was caught.

 

I guess I don't know but I hope that the fish I buy was caught less than six or seven days ago. In fact our local little diner gets their fish delivered daily from south street. I wonder what will happen on the 12 day cruises in January?

 

Don't get me wrong. I like the specialty restaurants. I like eating in expensive restaurants in NYC and we have no problem paying for good quality and value. I just didn't think the dinner we were served was worth the up charge, that's all. The service was wonderful. The meal was different but not a quality or over the top experience. I had grilled scallops with some cubed potatoes. In fact we think Cagneys and leBistro are a bargain on a cruise this was just not worth it.

[Mulege]

holding you up? no one is forcing you to go there. if you don't like the price, do what most of us here will do. complain on here about the ridiculous price and how its a bad business decision and don't go there.

 

 

Read the post I quote, "I choose not to pay that much." Which in plain English means, I'm not going!

[tiffygirl]

Well,

I understand why Zakarian did it, however I do NOT like it.

But his lamb’s club restaurant in NYC offers almost the exact same menu for $48 per person. However, they do upcharge $18 for the steak.

 

If i were in NYC i would not go the Lambs club especially if i knew i was going to be sailing the breakaway I and I could go for $35 that includes the steak. So now he's priced in line with his land based restaurant

 

$35 was a deal, but $50 not so much. I hear that Cagney’s has greatly IMPROVED since the roll out of the new menu so $30 doesn’t sound too bad and i can order extra for free.

[graphicguy]

Admittedly, I didn't know who this Zharkanian person was until I did a Yahoo search on him. Apparently, he's a TV chef with some restaurants. Still never heard of him since I'm not a big cooking show fan.

 

I have heard of guys like Emirel, Flay and Mario since I go to Vegas for conferences quite a bit. But, never heard of this guy.

 

That said, I did book the 3 restaurant special on Breakaway. I was thinking about Ocean Blue. I thought $35 was on the high end of what I might spend, but was still considering it. Just looked at MYNCL and the price did indeed go up to $48/pp. Nope....not doing that.

 

Will see in a couple of weeks whehter they have a crowd at the restaurant.

 

If this guy is leasing space on the Breakaway, then NCL would indeed have influence over pricing. They may not set the price, but they can urge this guy to be more reasonable since NCL has to be sharing in the profits.

[tiffygirl]

Admittedly, I didn't know who this Zharkanian person was until I did a Yahoo search on him. Apparently, he's a TV chef with some restaurants. Still never heard of him since I'm not a big cooking show fan.

 

I have heard of guys like Emirel, Flay and Mario since I go to Vegas for conferences quite a bit. But, never heard of this guy.

 

That said, I did book the 3 restaurant special on Breakaway. I was thinking about Ocean Blue. I thought $35 was on the high end of what I might spend, but was still considering it. Just looked at MYNCL and the price did indeed go up to $48/pp. Nope....not doing that.

 

Will see in a couple of weeks whehter they have a crowd at the restaurant.

 

If this guy is leasing space on the Breakaway, then NCL would indeed have influence over pricing. They may not set the price, but they can urge this guy to be more reasonable since NCL has to be sharing in the profits.

 

Agreed.

 

 

I love Zakarian. He is a fabulous chef; he really knows what he is doing when creating dishes. HOWEVER, if i didn’t have that hsn.com deal , I would not do it. I was going to for $35, absolutely. I think if I’m going to pay a premium for a mean then it would be the chef's table. its multiple courses..and wine pairings included. That overall to me would be the better experience.

 

 

I can still eat at Ocean Blue on the Waterfront and still say i eat at an Zakarian restaurant and save a few $$$.

 

I would be very curious to see if he raised the prices of that venue.