Specialty restaurants

[Gonzo70]

My reasoning for this - why should I pay extra for food when I have already paid for meals included.

 

That's like saying why should you pay for a cruise when you have already paid to stay in your house/apartment/condo.

[Gonzo70]

We only use the specialty restaurants if our ta gives one to us. I've tried Chops and it was good but nothing special that I would pay for. You can't compare the steaks to a NY Steakhouse which I thought it would be like.

 

Agree; Chops is nowhere near on the level of an upscale steakhouse, especially one serving aged prime beef. However it is no doubt a nice step up from the MDR in terms of service, ambiance and food quality. I am heading to NYC in a couple of weeks for Eleven Madison Park and Blue Hill at Stone Barns; very excited!

[Calker]

Yes, we dine in the speciality restaurants.

 

We dine there frequently.

 

The main reason we dine speciality is because we live in a very small town with limited dining options. We are offered every type of fastfood meal you can think of, but nice, sit down dining, without a buffet or tray is extremely limited. We do have a few sit down pub sandwich/pizza/Friday fish fry (bar on one end - dining tables at the other) places, but a true dining option is over an hour away.

[RevSmith]

There have been cruises when I never saw the inside of the dinning room for dinner, I only went to the restaurants. So I would answer very often. The reasons are numerous. Different atmosphere, more choices in foods, variety, the food is always delicious, I have my favorites at each restaurant that I look forward to. Also the staff at the restaurants are wonderful. The service is very good and I really enjoy the idea of eating in a restaurant, (quieter) as opposed to a large dinning room.

[hawlcruiser]

We too dine at Chops but also enjoy the MDR. We ask and get a table for two and enjoy it very much. Not much of a fan of the other restaurants but do enjoy Chops.

[cmaygar]

I dine in the specialty restaurants every night of a cruise. I choose to do this to avoid the congestion, noise and average food quality experienced in most MDRs. My husband and I found the MDR on a variety of ships to be crowded and noisy with below standard service. It's so difficult to prepare and serve literally hundreds of dinners at one time and to have the food very good and hot.

 

We also prefer to have dinner without a lot of young children around and the specialty restaurants rarely have small children in them. This makes for a very nice dining experience for us.

[BabyBokChoy]

superduper123

My reasoning for this - why should I pay extra for food when I have already paid for meals included.

That's like saying why should you pay for a cruise when you have already paid to stay in your house/apartment/condo.

 

That's like saying why should you pay for a cruise when you have already paid to stay in your house/apartment/condo.

 

I find flaws in this particular analogy.

 

I pay for a cruise to travel. A part of the cruise fare includes meals. I choose not to pay additional money to eat at even more upscale and finer dining establishments on the cruise because my main objective is to see new places while being transported on an amazing ship.

 

Perhaps a better analogy is why should my child pay for his/her own apartment when he/she can stay at my house for free.

[Rufferto]

For me, the money not spent on a restaurant on-board can instead be used on a restaurant back home. Where I live there are a lot of great restaurants so missing out on pay-for dining options on-board is not a big deal to me. I also look to order stuff I cannot cook at home. For example, I can cook a great steak at home for myself, so ordering one at Chops is not a high priority on my cruise "to-do" list.

[macruisefan]

I only dine in the specialty restaurants for several reasons:

 

1. I like to dine alone or strictly with my travel companion(s). Unless I'm with a large group, I feel the two tops and even four tops in the MDR are cramped and close together. The two tops and four tops in the specialties are much more enjoyable.

 

2. I don't care for the atmosphere in the MDR. Huge, noisy, banquet hall-like.

 

3. The service in the MDR is mediocre at best. I like a leisurely pace to my meal, enjoy a cocktail, an appetizer, maybe a salad, then the entree. I feel like it all happens too fast in the MDR, even when we try and slow it down. And if they do slow it down, it's more like it comes to a stop and then we are neglected until they are done with everything else. Not a knock on them as much as resigned to that being the nature of the beast.

 

4. Drink service in the MDR can be very spotty.

 

5. I think the specialty restaurants ARE a good deal. I NEVER feel like I'm paying for a meal twice. Take Chops: Chops to me is a very good steak house. It's not high end, like a prime steakhouse or the like. But a very good meal. If I were at home, to enjoy that atmosphere, service, and quality and quantity of food (appetizer, salad, entree, sides, desert), not including drinks, I could see myself spending $65-70. But they charge $30. So to me, that's like them saying the MDR is a $35-40 meal (the difference). And there is NO WAY that the MDR meal is worth $35-40 to me. That is a mass produced banquet type meal that might go for $25 on that scale at home. So to me, the specialties are a GOOD DEAL.

[sn2792]

We have done Specialty Dining on our last 3 RCL cruises. We are on Allure in October and have booked Specialty again for every night. We prefer the atmosphere as well as having our dinner cooked to order.

 

I think the prices for the specialty dining are so worth it compared to what I would pay in a restaurant on land.

[nb125]

Is it $30 per person, that's about £45 for a meal for two, not counting wine, seems expensive to me for a supplement. That's nearly as much as we would pay for a decent restaurant at home so full price meal out price not a supplement.

 

Dont' get me wrong we will definitely by trying them at least one night but I do think it's a bit much, not a small extra charge as sometimes mentioned on here.

[George C]

We always will try specialty restaurant at least twice on all cruise lines that have them.

[BillOh]

I will add on 7 day cruises we have been going to a specialty on formal night as we no longer bring formal attire. Now before you hit reply and tell me they expect the same attire in the specialty restaurants, that hasn't always been so or may not be consistent across the fleet.

[GramiJ]

Well Said!

[GramiJ]

I dine in the specialty restaurants every night of a cruise. I choose to do this to avoid the congestion, noise and average food quality experienced in most MDRs. My husband and I found the MDR on a variety of ships to be crowded and noisy with below standard service. It's so difficult to prepare and serve literally hundreds of dinners at one time and to have the food very good and hot.

 

We also prefer to have dinner without a lot of young children around and the specialty restaurants rarely have small children in them. This makes for a very nice dining experience for us.

 

And we feel the same way.

[Gonzo70]

I find flaws in this particular analogy.

 

I pay for a cruise to travel. A part of the cruise fare includes meals. I choose not to pay additional money to eat at even more upscale and finer dining establishments on the cruise because my main objective is to see new places while being transported on an amazing ship.

 

Perhaps a better analogy is why should my child pay for his/her own apartment when he/she can stay at my house for free.

 

LOL, your analogy is a total non sequitur. I stand by my analogy - it is completely consistent with the attitude of not dining at the specialty restaurants because one already paid to eat in the MDR. If one does not want to eat at the specialty restaurants because they find the MDR experience to be enjoyable that is certainly a valid reason. If there are other enhancements they would rather spend discretionary money on (or to just save money), valid reasons. If they like their tablemates and/or the staff in the MDR, valid reason. Not liking the food or menu at the specialty restaurants, valid. Feeling the prices at the specialties are too high for what one receives, valid. Not dining in the specialties because one has "paid" to eat in the MDR though is just silly as by that logic one should never take a vacation since one has "paid" to sleep at home.

[novalab]

We plan on splitting our evening dining between the MDR & specialty restaurants on our upcoming Allure cruise. On our last Mariner cruise (one of the last before she left the West Coast) we had a horrible meal in Portofinos. The pasta dishes were semi-dried out like they had sat under a warming lamp for some time. My sister found a long hair in her dinner, and she had short hair (wrong color too:(). Service was very slow even though there were only a few tables with diners that evening. I felt bad because I had recommended the restaurant as it had been wonderful on our prior Mariner cruise. Sort of put us off of specialty dining for a few cruises.

 

However...this will change when we sail on Allure:p We plan on making reservations at Giovanni's, Izumi, Samba Grill, & Chops. If we leave anyone out, it will probably be the Windjammer on this sailing. We live in Las Vegas....sort of burned out on buffets.:rolleyes:

[Robinola]

I haven't eaten in the MDR in probably my last five cruises. I prefer the specialty restaurants or the Windjammer. I mostly cruise alone, and while I never have trouble meeting interesting new people, I don't necessarily want to spend an entire meal with them. Also, I prefer the food and service in the specialty restaurants. I also hate the noise level in the MDR, so if I'm not eating dinner in a specialty, I tend to head to the Windjammer, which is much quieter in the evenings.

 

 

KATYDYD- I, too am sometimes a solo cruiser, and LOVE IT!...How did you feel dining alone in the specialty restaurants? I feel the Exact same way as you in that I don't feel it is necessarily or all that interesting spending an entire meal with others. Was it comfortable for you in the specialty restaurants, and which ones did you go to? Thanks.

[katydyd]

Robinola--I've always enjoyed eating in the specialty restaurants. The wait staff is very attentive, my service does tend to be a little quicker than when I'm dining and chatting with other people, but it's never rushed.

 

One of the things that I really enjoy is that I tend to be able to walk up the day of, and get seated. Usually smiling and saying to the Maitre D', "Hi, I don't have a reservation, but I'm travelling solo and was wondering if you'd be able to accommodate me this evening?" results in getting a table. Actually, I've never been turned away doing this, cause it's easy to squeeze a single in. On a few occasions they've asked me to go have a drink and come back in an hour, but that's been rare.

 

Once on the Mariner, I ate in Portofino's on the second night, and thoroughly enjoyed myself, both my server and the Maitre 'D would stop by and chat with me in between courses. When I went to leave the Maitre 'D said to me, "Any night you want to join us this week, just come on by, we'll save a seat for you by the windows." I ate there two more times that week.

 

So far, I've eaten at: Chops, Portofinos, 150 Central Park (twice in one week so I could try each menu), Izumi, Seafood Shack, and Johnny Rockets....I think that's it.

[AussieVisi2r]

I'm more than happy with the MDR but LOVE Chops and Portofino's.

 

I would eat there every night if I could afford it. I think the fee is more than reasonable. Especially as (in theory) it is the tip.

 

I love the ambiance, the quiet and the service. It's a bonus that the food is brilliant.

 

Raina

[marci22]

We went on the first night last 2 times with the D+ BOGO coupon. We usually don't go again because it's just not worth it as there is a lot of food onboard (esp on Oasis/Allure) and we snack quite a bit during the day so we don't want a huge dinner in the evening. We'll go to the MDR most nights and don't feel like we are wasting money because we only want something small.

[Cheryl H]

I will add on 7 day cruises we have been going to a specialty on formal night as we no longer bring formal attire. Now before you hit reply and tell me they expect the same attire in the specialty restaurants, that hasn't always been so or may not be consistent across the fleet.

 

Same for us....we don't bring formal wear any more either. Chops on the Jewel and the Radiance were both fine with what we wore. We are on the Enchantment next. Hope it is the same as well.

[jamin jul]

We always eat in the MDR and love it. But- this upcoming cruise in Nov. on the Oasis -it will be my husband and I and no kids. Which speciality rest. do most recommend for good food but nice, romantic dinner?

[Mary loves to travel]

Try 150 Central Park, and do the wine pairing!

 

Best,

Mary

[Gonzo70]

We always eat in the MDR and love it. But- this upcoming cruise in Nov. on the Oasis -it will be my husband and I and no kids. Which speciality rest. do most recommend for good food but nice, romantic dinner?

 

150 Central Park was my favorite, but as it is a tasting menu it would only be a good option if you are not picky eaters (fixed menu, no ordering a la carte). Wonderful dining experience with interesting foods and nice ambiance.