Cagneys/Le Bistro: HUGE price increases!

[PhillyTravelBug]

I’m booked on the Bliss next month and was going to surprise my partner for his birthday with a dinner at Teppanyaki. This price increase made my decision to enjoy restaurants at our ports and give the money to local restaurants. I think it’s time to consider Celebrity or RCL are ttime.

[lgdesign]

After reading the initial postings on this board on Sunday night, I purchased a 7 meal SDP for $166.80 (including gratuities) per person for our 21 day cruise on the Spirit in Feb 2020.  

 

I checked the prices again tonight and they are now charging that for their 6 meal pkg for the same cruise.  

 

Did they raise the prices due to increased demand for the SDPs due to the discussions on this board?   Or because they'll be raising the a la carte prices in the specialty restaurants for that ship soon?  Who knows?   I don't pretend to have a clue as to why NCL does what they do with their pricing for anything.

 

I'm just glad I made the purchase when I did as we like a variety of options while onboard for 3 weeks and the pricing trend certainly seems to be trending upwards (as usual).

 

Thanks to all for the info about the increased pricing.

[hladygirl]

I do not even like the specialty restaurant menu choices anymore. Will only do our free platinum dinners now. I am sure that will go away soon as a platinum perk soon as all other perks are being cut back one by one.

[4774Papa]

10 hours ago, Joeghartman said:

I’m booked on the Bliss next month and was going to surprise my partner for his birthday with a dinner at Teppanyaki. This price increase made my decision to enjoy restaurants at our ports and give the money to local restaurants. I think it’s time to consider Celebrity or RCL are ttime.

We are finding the best deals now on RCL.  We have done two cruises on RCL and their entertainment is as good as NCL.  Even better when you cruise on a ship that has an ice rink and you get two ice shows.

 

[newmexicoNita]

11 hours ago, Joeghartman said:

I’m booked on the Bliss next month and was going to surprise my partner for his birthday with a dinner at Teppanyaki. This price increase made my decision to enjoy restaurants at our ports and give the money to local restaurants. I think it’s time to consider Celebrity or RCL are ttime.

Don't expect the specialty dining to be much cheaper on RCI or Celebrity. It appears all the lines are doing similar pricing. No one is jumping with joy over this, but we really have little control. 

 

hladygirl: what other platinum plus perks have been cut? Actually over the past couple of years a few new ones have been added. 

[4774Papa]

2 minutes ago, newmexicoNita said:

Don't expect the specialty dining to be much cheaper on RCI or Celebrity. It appears all the lines are doing similar pricing. No one is jumping with joy over this, but we really have little control. 

Celebrity's specialty dining is very expensive, Royal C is more reasonable.

Celebrity's MDR food is so good that we almost never do specialty dining there.

Royal C is close to Celebrity in the MDR, but its buffet is a bit below Celebrity.  I would put Royal C ahead of NCL's MDR and on par or slightly better than NCL at the buffet.

 

When you compare basic cruise prices, we are finding Royal is beating the other two as well as Princess.  We don't cruise the Caribbean, so I can't address price comparisons there.

 

One of the advantages to booking NCL used to be the inexpensive specialty dining.  That is clearly  over.

 

NCL still has the most expensive shore excursions (we usually do private tours anyway) and it forces you to take promos that inflate the bottom line price.  Please go back to no promo prices.  OH, yes, that I one reason Royal C is cheaper.

[newmexicoNita]

17 minutes ago, 4774Papa said:

Celebrity's specialty dining is very expensive, Royal C is more reasonable.

Celebrity's MDR food is so good that we almost never do specialty dining there.

Royal C is close to Celebrity in the MDR, but its buffet is a bit below Celebrity.  I would put Royal C ahead of NCL's MDR and on par or slightly better than NCL at the buffet.

 

When you compare basic cruise prices, we are finding Royal is beating the other two as well as Princess.  We don't cruise the Caribbean, so I can't address price comparisons there.

 

One of the advantages to booking NCL used to be the inexpensive specialty dining.  That is clearly  over.

 

NCL still has the most expensive shore excursions (we usually do private tours anyway) and it forces you to take promos that inflate the bottom line price.  Please go back to no promo prices.  OH, yes, that I one reason Royal C is cheaper.

I can  believe the bit about shore excursions. We too, have almost always done ours privately but now, with the $50 off perk and our plat plus discount, plus advancing ages we are more inclined to book though the cruise line.

As for food quality, In all fairness we haven't cruise RCI for many years but we were never impressed with the MDR food; Celebrity yes, but the rates are still higher than NCL.

[mugtech]

41 minutes ago, newmexicoNita said:

 

 

hladygirl: what other platinum plus perks have been cut? Actually over the past couple of years a few new ones have been added. 

Used to have 3 bottles of wine to give away, now only 2.  Some perks used to be per person, now are per cabin.

[perditax]

On 7/2/2019 at 2:03 PM, Zippeedee said:

That makes me wonder if the increase is intended to raise the gratuities on the dining perk. 

 

This is an excellent catch. 

 

(Did Moderno tonight. Definitely not a $39 meal, especially when they are careful to bring the cheap cuts of meat and the sausages around first to fill you up. Also had a heck of a time getting any red meat cooked less than medium well to well done, although my waiter was fantastic and tried his best. My “medium rare” filet was gray all the way through.)

[newmexicoNita]

16 hours ago, perditax said:

 

This is an excellent catch. 

 

(Did Moderno tonight. Definitely not a $39 meal, especially when they are careful to bring the cheap cuts of meat and the sausages around first to fill you up. Also had a heck of a time getting any red meat cooked less than medium well to well done, although my waiter was fantastic and tried his best. My “medium rare” filet was gray all the way through.)

 I have heard more than once about the less than rare meats but I guess we have been lucky. We love our meat super rare, me particularly. It has always been rare. I will add, we do request it rare before they start bringing the good stuff around.  I have never noticed they do the cheaper cuts first, but I think you are right on that one.  

[newmexicoNita]

On 7/3/2019 at 6:48 AM, mugtech said:

Used to have 3 bottles of wine to give away, now only 2.  Some perks used to be per person, now are per cabin.

I don't remember them being per person but maybe it was. I do remember the extra bottle of wine, but I also remember no computer tine, no discount on tours, and a few other things. The one thing I miss is being able to exchange the bubbly for a bottle of wine. Other than that I don't really see a lot of difference. The reason I am questioning per person: if that was the case we would have had 4 dinners per cruise and we never have had 4 specialty dining room dinners until we started getting the UDP as a perk. We have been platinum plus for many years. 

[BEAV]

Personally, I believe most all (if not all) mass market lines are looking to "push the envelope" when it comes to discretionary onboard spending. We don't sail NCL exclusively, yet I see the same complaints and comments on the other cruise line boards. In a good economy they all want to test the waters to see what consumer's breaking points are, IMO. If/when a recession hits and people stop spending $$$ at the current rate, the deals and specials will appear. Nothing new, that's for sure. 

 

We see the same thing happening at home in land-based restaurants as well. We have tons of restaurants in our area that have afternoon/early evening happy hours, but they're not nearly as happy as they were in recessionary days when it comes to pricing. One of our favorite upscale chain's had a great burger on their happy hour for $6. Now it's $12. 

 

Good luck finding another mass market cruise line that isn't experimenting just how far the average consumer is willing to go. 

[UFMOM]

I bought the 3 day dining pkg for our Encore NYE cruise right after reading this thread. Now, 3 days later, my $94.50 pkg is listed as 118.80.  Glad I jumped on it when I did.  Also saved 50.00 when someone posted about a sale on the dining pkg on our RCL Symphony Cruise. It pays to read CC. 

   

 

Mary Ann

[KeithJenner]

46 minutes ago, newmexicoNita said:

The reason I am questioning per person: if that was the case we would have had 4 dinners per cruise and we never have had 4 specialty dining room dinners until we started getting the UDP as a perk. We have been platinum plus for many years. 

It used to be one meal for two per person, and now it is two meals for two per cabin (with adjustments if there are more than two people. Basically, it is the same number of meals.

[snorklinbarb]

Thank you fstuff1 for posting the new menus for Le Bistro and Cagney's.  Somehow the apps page and desserts for Le Bistro don't seem to be there and the Cagney's apps page is blurry so can't really make out the prices.

 

If you have the complete menus for both, do you mind posting again?  Or if anyone else can help?

 

At some point imagine someone will start a new thread for some of the other specialties like La Cucina or any others that may also have these extraordinary price increases.

 

Agree with the poster who said prices will rise to what the market will bear and every cruise line will try to see what the limit is.  Over the years we've seen many such increases on NCL but never have even come close to the whoppers these menu show (no pun attended, can get some good burgers in O'Sheehan's or even the buffet!)😉

Edited July 5, 2019 by snorklinbarb

[PTC DAWG]

These price increases seem easy to avoid if they are troublesome to you. 

[fstuff1]

On 7/4/2019 at 2:03 PM, UFMOM said:

I bought the 3 day dining pkg for our Encore NYE cruise right after reading this thread. Now, 3 days later, my $94.50 pkg is listed as 118.80.  Glad I jumped on it when I did.  Also saved 50.00 when someone posted about a sale on the dining pkg on our RCL Symphony Cruise. It pays to read CC. 

   

 

Mary Ann

 

tips on 3sdp was $15.80 for my june 2019 cruise that i booked months ago.

tips for my 3sdp for my aug 2019 cruise that i just booked is $19.80.

 

25% increase! 

 

[rudi_mentle]

With these new price increases, does anyone know if they've done away with the SDP upcharge at Ocean Blue? Didn't see anything in thread and new FAQ doesn't  mention. TIA

[rudi_mentle]

NM. Found another thread about 10 pgs in stating that OB no longer has flat upcharge with SDP. Not sure if lobster is still an upcharge but suspect it is. No issue with that as i don't think i would order lobster on a cruise anyway...

 

[CruisingNole]

I am on the 3 night Sun this month and pre purchase price for 3 night speciality dining is $119. That’s absolutely ludicrous. 

 

In comparison, I am on RC Independence of the seas later this year. 4 night cruise, unlimited dining package (yes, truly unlimited, can go to multiple speciality restaurants per day, lunch and dinner) is $95.

 

When breaking it down by meal, NCL speciality is easily double the cost of RC.

[BEAV]

47 minutes ago, rudi_mentle said:

NM. Found another thread about 10 pgs in stating that OB no longer has flat upcharge with SDP. Not sure if lobster is still an upcharge but suspect it is. No issue with that as i don't think i would order lobster on a cruise anyway...

 

 

I’m currently on Bliss. Dined in Ocean Blue two nights ago on SDP.  No upcharge of any type. No upcharge simply to dine there -or- upcharge in any food items. Filet & lobster listed at $49 with no restriction if you’re on a SDP.

[Sand and Seas]

21 minutes ago, BEAV said:

 

I’m currently on Bliss. Dined in Ocean Blue two nights ago on SDP.  No upcharge of any type. No upcharge simply to dine there -or- upcharge in any food items. Filet & lobster listed at $49 with no restriction if you’re on a SDP.

Did they limit you to one starter, one entree and one dessert?    Or can you have a couple of starters on the SDP?

Thanks for updating for us and enjoy your cruise😎

[BEAV]

2 hours ago, Sand and Seas said:

Did they limit you to one starter, one entree and one dessert?    Or can you have a couple of starters on the SDP?

Thanks for updating for us and enjoy your cruise😎

 

No limit,  at least in our experience on Bliss.  I ordered two starters off the appetizer list. Scallop over pork belly and ahi tower w/avocado. Then Hong Kong style Snapper for entree. Forgot what I ordered for dessert!  Very nice meal and service. 

[4774Papa]

8 hours ago, CruisingNole said:

I am on the 3 night Sun this month and pre purchase price for 3 night speciality dining is $119. That’s absolutely ludicrous. 

 

In comparison, I am on RC Independence of the seas later this year. 4 night cruise, unlimited dining package (yes, truly unlimited, can go to multiple speciality restaurants per day, lunch and dinner) is $95.

 

When breaking it down by meal, NCL speciality is easily double the cost of RC.

We are looking at NCL in the rear view mirror and moving more toward Royal Caribbean.  We love the Diamond Happy Hour and the entertainment is great.

[Laszlo]

On 6/29/2019 at 1:43 PM, fstuff1 said:

i just boarded the Dawn for the July 4th cruise.

 

here are the prices (around +$10 more for each dish!):

 

Ribeye $32 

no more surcharge for shrimp at cagneys?

 

and limit upped to $35 for platinum dinners:

 

but it doesnt cover the Dover Sole ($39) at Le Bistro! 😮

 

Those new ships and new private islands don't pay for themselves 😂