So what do you think of the new a la carte menus? (links inside)

[NLH Arizona]

I have been anxiously waiting for the Cagney's a la carte menu because we promised to treat our group of 20 adults to Cagney's after our wedding on St Thomas back when it was $30/pp gratuity included.

 

The prices were lower than I feared but I was disappointed that the sides are an additional up charge even if it is only $2. The cost of the shrimp seems a bit crazy to me as well.

 

I am a very picky eater and am generally happy with just my entree and sides so for me personally my cost has gone down. I would get the ribeye or filet with a side of Cagney fries so I am at $21-23 plus gratuity. My in-laws on the other hand love to get the full course meal plus multiple appetizers so their price will be much higher than before.

 

Eating at Le Bistro has gone up even for me. The food at La Cucina seems more upscale than I remember it being but the prices are higher than I would have expected. Having never eaten at the NCL MDR or specialty I cannot say whether or not the different experience will be worth the added cost to me. I think the SDP represents a good value if it continues to cover costs at Cagney's, Le Bistro and La Cucina and we would most likely only go to speciality restaurants if we purchased the plan.

 

My question is how will this all work with groups that have a mix of people with the SDP and paying a la carte. Is there a limit to how many appetizers/sides/desserts you can get with the SDP? About half of our group has the SDP. Figuring out the bill for this dinner seems like it is going to be complicated.

If you are all going to eat at the three restaurants listed or would like to eat 3 times at Cagney's, why not suggest to those that don't have the SDP, that they can purchase a 3 day package and then everyone will have the SDP.

[weltek]

They are what I fully expected, but not what I'd hoped for. I remain not a fan of the new a la carte structure for the full restaurants. I'm fine with places like Food Republic, sushi and tapas being a la carte.

 

For us to dine in Cagneys, we'd be very choosy to purposely stay under $60, but we'd still be full!

 

2 salads-$8

Bone in Ribeye-$21

Strip: $18

1 side each: $4 (really, you don't need two sides each if getting an app or soup or salad. I promise)

Share a dessert: $4?

 

Total: $55

 

We normally have about a $100 limit on specialty dining. My (feeble) hope was to do Bayamo and Cagneys, with some paid snacks at Food Republic, the tapas bar and Mondavi wine bar. Not surprisingly, our likely plan now is to just do Bayamo, with some paid snacks at Food Republic and maybe Mondavi.

Edited October 27, 2015 by weltek

[jaja]

I knew this day was coming, and quite honestly, sad to say the least. The NCL customers have finally bought into the "new cruise" industry. Gone are the days of yesteryear when meals, service, accommodations were all included.

 

Just look at the replies in this thread! I only eat in the specialties or its still cheaper than Ruth Chris, I like the service better in the specialties, or I have to eat there to get the food I want even though I paid for a "free" meal in the MDR. This is not what cruising is suppose to be all about.

 

NCL took a great product and broke it into too many components that I can't even figure out what's a good deal or not anymore because of all the fees, charges and gratuities. Listen to what people are writing, Oh, I can go and have just a sample of the main specialty menu. What? The specialties are already over crowded because of all the free giveaways. And, if NCL stops these giveaways, do they really think more people will try the specialties at higher a la carte prices?

 

I'm a dying breed, I get that, but when the cruise industry starts to look like, walk like and talk like a land based "duck", then it is that duck and what's the benefit? It takes days to get to places that an airline can do in hours and offers not that much different a product.

 

I like the seas, love to cruise, but I'm starting to look elsewhere, as I'm sure others are too. Will it effect NCL negatively? Only time will tell.

 

Well said ;)

[yankees111]

They are what I fully expected, but not what I'd hoped for. I remain not a fan of the new a la carte structure for the full restaurants. I'm fine with places like Food Republic, sushi and tapas being a la carte.

 

For us to dine in Cagneys, we'd be very choosy to purposely stay under $60, but we'd still be full!

 

2 salads-$8

Bone in Ribeye-$21

Strip: $18

1 side each: $4 (really, you don't need two sides each if getting an app or soup or salad. I promise)

Share a dessert: $4?

 

Total: $55

 

We normally have about a $100 limit on specialty dining. My (feeble) hope was to do Bayamo and Cagneys, with some paid snacks at Food Republic, the tapas bar and Mondavi wine bar. Not surprisingly, our likely plan now is to just do Bayamo, with some paid snacks at Food Republic and maybe Mondavi.

 

 

Your total would be $59, not $55. Under the old way you could have a salad and appetizer each, entree each, and desert each for virtually the same price and not have to worry about what you can order to keep the bill under $60!

[bjlaac]

It is not what cruising is suppose to be all about for you, but not for others. What cruising is all about for me on NCL, is about having choices. I don't enjoy the MDR (food wasn't great, service wasn't good and it was way to noisy with some children running around unsupervised) the couple of times I went to the MDRs on NCl and am really glad that I have other choices for my dining. I don't mind that I paid for a "free" meal, I'm not willing to try the MDR ever again, but that is my choice and that is why I like NCL.

 

I didn't cruise NCL when they first went "freestyle", because I was use to a fixed dining time and table, but now that I've cruised with them, I love being able to eat when I want and where I want. Some people don't like "freestyle" and some people love it, just like some will like the a la carte pricing and some won't. No cruise line can make everyone happy, but the great thing about cruising is that there are so many of cruise lines, that there are a certainly a number of them that will be exactly what every cruiser wants.

 

I remember all the things from yesteryear and I'll take the "new cruise" industry over that of the past in a heart beat. Do I miss being escorted to my cabin or the white gloved servers or the fine china, no. Do I miss that my cruises of yesteryear were much more expensive than those today, a huge no.

 

Don't take it personal, its not what I intended, but you have made my point. THe MDR food is no good, its too noisy, kids running around and you are glad to pay more to get what should be included, especially decent food, Why? The new norm is pay for everything that once was included and believe you are better off. Maybe you are and maybe you are not, only you know that answer and its clear you are happier today than in the past.

 

But where does it stop? Will there be up charges for the MDR someday, or maybe for your cabin? Who knows, but NCL has changed a lot in 1 or 2 short years. I said I was a dying dinosaur, and so be it. But the more NCL moves to this a la carte model with no push back, the more it looks like any land based vacation.

 

Many like what they see while others don't. The market will decide, and my guess is NCL will survive very well, but probably without my backing as well as many others. There's a reason there are different cruise lines and vacations besides the cruise industry. NCL is turning its back on a whole revenue stream hoping to tap into another, there's nothing wrong with that. Business' make that choice every day, sometimes its the right choice and sometimes its not.

 

All I'm saying is the jury is still out.

Edited October 27, 2015 by bjlaac

[Lumee23]

If you are all going to eat at the three restaurants listed or would like to eat 3 times at Cagney's, why not suggest to those that don't have the SDP, that they can purchase a 3 day package and then everyone will have the SDP.

 

I have but there isn't much interest unfortunately on my side of the family. My in-laws are foodies so they were all about it. The others won't be going to any other speciality restaurants aside from the Cagney's we are paying for. If we had known about this earlier we would have budgeted treating everyone to a 3 day SDP instead of some other things we chose to do because monetarily it makes far more sense to me to spend the ~$70/pp than ~$35-40/pp and let them have two extra specialty dinners. We may yet still do that but its ~$400 more and we are already over budget ;)

[roxette]

Just to ease my mind, if I book a SDP for Breakaway in january 2016, I don3need to care about the a la carte prices? I can choose one entree and a couple of apps/sides and a dessert?

 

Am thinking about Cagneys and La Cucuna.

 

Many thanks rfrom Sweden

[NLH Arizona]

Don't take it personal, its not what I intended, but you have made my point. THe MDR food is no good, its too noisy, kids running around and you are glad to pay more to get what should be included, especially decent food, Why? The new norm is pay for everything that once was included and believe you are better off. Maybe you are and maybe you are not, only you know that answer and its clear you are happier today than in the past.

 

But where does it stop? Will there be up charges for the MDR someday, or maybe for your cabin? Who knows, but NCL has changed a lot in 1 or 2 short years. I said I was a dying dinosaur, and so be it. But the more NCL moves to this a la carte model with no push back, the more it looks like any land based vacation.

 

Many like what they see while others don't. The market will decide, and my guess is NCL will survive very well, but probably without my backing as well as many others. There's a reason there are different cruise lines and vacations besides the cruise industry. NCL is turning its back on a whole revenue stream hoping to tap into another, there's nothing wrong with that. Business' make that choice every day, sometimes its the right choice and sometimes its not.

 

All I'm saying is the jury is still out.

What I do is totally different than the majority who eat in the MDR. The new norm isn't to pay for everything; entertainment, activities, etc. are still offered at no charge and NCL doesn't force anyone to pay for food or anything else. Just because I don't like the food, service or noise in the MDR, doesn't mean that everyone feels the same, because if they did no one would ever be able to get into a specialty restaurant. One could go on an NCL cruise nicely and not charge $1 to their onboard account.

 

Didn't say I was happier now than in the past, I said I didn't miss a lot of the things that are gone, especially the high prices. I'm sure NCL or the other cruise lines could go to the way it was, but how much would folks be willing to pay for it. You might be willing to pay $1,000 more for a cruise, but that would price a lot of folks out and that is why I think NCL has the right idea. Someone can cruise in an inside cabin for very little and have their food, entertainment and activities included, while others can cruise and pay for items that they are interested in. To me, it is all about choices.

 

I doubt, unless it becomes an industry standard, that any cruise line is not going to have complimentary dining. No need for land vacations, if you love cruising, there are lines like Celebrity and Crystal who are more similar to the cruising of yesteryear.

 

I agree that NCL will survive, but don't agree that they are turning their back on any revenue stream, as I think the majority of their customers will either embrace the changes or just accept the changes and continue to cruise with them. Will they lose a few, sure, but I'm sure that they probably know that figure down to a percentage.

 

All cruise lines are changing things and there are folks that have issues with any change. I also cruise on Celebrity and Crystal and there are passengers who don't like the changes they have instituted. I remember when Celebrity made some changes, there were some long time Celebrity cruisers who were never going to cruise with them again, but they are still posting and still signing up for the meeting and greets. Sometimes if people give change a chance, they find out it isn't as bad as they thought it would be.

Edited October 27, 2015 by NLH Arizona

[debsjc]

I have read all 6 pages, but I'm not sure .... if we have the UDP already, we can just order whichever items we like from the new menus?

 

We would only want 1 appetizer, 1 main and 1 dessert each anyway

[thatjoeguy]

Your total would be $59, not $55. Under the old way you could have a salad and appetizer each, entree each, and desert each for virtually the same price and not have to worry about what you can order to keep the bill under $60!

 

4+4+21+18+2+2+4=55

Sides are $2 each. $59 if they each order a dessert.