Specialty Restaurant Pricing Out Of Control

[rudeney]

In terms of factoring in the cost of the missed MDR meal, I think the daily allocated cost of included food is about $15pp.  Given that you're probably going to have breakfast or lunch, and may some snacks out of that, you might be "missing" $8 worth of food when choosing a specialty dinner.  Are we really arguing about $8?  🤣

[S.A.M.J.R.]

45 minutes ago, Ret MP said:

I really didn't want to get into a debate and go on and on with many examples of why I don't get the logic of adding the cost of a MDR into the cost of a specialty restaurant because I have already paid for the MDR, which is included if you eat there or not. I'm not a Financial Advisor, economist, a Corp. Lawyer (I don't even play one on TV), and I didn't stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night. I'm just a regular guy trying to make my vacation,,,, a vacation.  

 

If I decide to skip a meal, should I consider that I just lost $X.XXs? When I take a 3+ day cruise (we haven't taken a cruise less than 7 nights, so far) I left a steak worth $28.00 in the refrigerator that expired on day 3 of my cruise,  when I get home, I have to throw away the steak and go out and purchase another, probably a little more expensive now.  So, when I go to Chops Grill, do I consider the cost of the original steak (steak is just an example, it could be a head of lettuce, a half used gallon of milk, a container of carrots, etc etc etc, or any combination thereof)  that went bad in my fridge, the replacement steak, AND the cost of the MDR meal that I didn't eat?  I once owned a Corvette, it used premium gas.  Every time I filled up, I didn't say to myself, "Damn I just lost 5 to 10 cents per gallon because of owning that luxury item". If I go on an excursion, should I consider the meal(s) I'll miss on the ship while on land?  My logic is that if I decide to do something out of the ordinary/usual activity that costs me extra money, it isn't a loss compared to something else, it's the cost of a luxury that I'm willing to pay for if I want to do it.  Not a loss, at all.

 

I'm on vacation, I'm not going to get my abacus out or call my financial adviser to justify or compare my losses and gains of luxury items I'm freely and willing to pay for on a cruise ship.  On all my RCCL cruises, except one, I've cruised in Suites.  Should I have considered the price difference between the suite fare and the interior cabin as a loss?  Answer, for me:  NO!  I just say to myself, "I'm paying extra (sometimes a little and sometimes a lot) for what I want and can afford, at the time, nothing more and nothing less. 

 

As stated, I could go on and on with examples of how we, most of us, at times, pay extra for luxury items or better quality items and so on.  I'm not going to worry about it, while on vacation!  Let's just enjoy cruising and not analyze everything as a plus or minus, cost benefit analysis, and so on.  Just do what you can afford and let everything else and everybody else do their thing.  

I couldn't care less how people decide to spend their money.  You want to purchase a 6 hour stay in a cabana for $1500?  Go for it.  You want to purchase dinner(s) in a specialty restaurant, go for it.  

 

IMO, it's not logical to say "the individual dinners only cost us $38/meal/person, which is a good price" which is what I responded to.  

[Ret MP]

4 minutes ago, rudeney said:

In terms of factoring in the cost of the missed MDR meal, I think the daily allocated cost of included food is about $15pp.  Given that you're probably going to have breakfast or lunch, and may some snacks out of that, you might be "missing" $8 worth of food when choosing a specialty dinner.  Are we really arguing about $8?  🤣

Or even the $15.00!

 

BTW, and this if for general consumption, my original post where I said I don't get the logic......   I'm 71 years old, I'm an old veteran of these cruise forums, motorcycle forums, political forums and others.  I've seen/read where many many many people just say, "It a person's choice how to spend their money" or word to that effect.  It never seems to work, the debate and sometimes down right heated arguments ensued.  So, I try a different approach to try to make the point and lower the debate.  I guess my attempt/premise failed because it sparked a whole other debate.  But, I do feel as I stated.  

[taglovestocruise]

8 minutes ago, rudeney said:

In terms of factoring in the cost of the missed MDR meal, I think the daily allocated cost of included food is about $15pp.  Given that you're probably going to have breakfast or lunch, and may some snacks out of that, you might be "missing" $8 worth of food when choosing a specialty dinner.  Are we really arguing about $8?  🤣

Go to the tipping thread, some are filled with anger that most are ok with leaving a $1 extra tip for a drink.  There is currently someone outraged that the laundry staff gets part of the tip pool. 

[Ret MP]

4 minutes ago, S.A.M.J.R. said:

I couldn't care less how people decide to spend their money.  You want to purchase a 6 hour stay in a cabana for $1500?  Go for it.  You want to purchase dinner(s) in a specialty restaurant, go for it.  

 

IMO, it's not logical to say "the individual dinners only cost us $38/meal/person, which is a good price" which is what I responded to.  

And I stated that my comment wasn't meant for any one individual!

[not-enough-cruising]

17 minutes ago, taglovestocruise said:

Go to the tipping thread, some are filled with anger that most are ok with leaving a $1 extra tip for a drink.  There is currently someone outraged that the laundry staff gets part of the tip pool. 

Outraged may be over selling it a bit

[S.A.M.J.R.]

1 hour ago, Ret MP said:

And I stated that my comment wasn't meant for any one individual!

Ok.  I'll try to remember you don't want anyone commenting on your comments. 🤔  It's a frickin discussion board.  Just because you say "this isn't for an individual, I'm just making a comment" doesn't mean no one is allowed to comment on your comment. 

[grandgeezer]

All the pricing is determined by supply and demand and the pricing is going to keep rising for specialty restaurants, drinks, wi-fi, and the cruise itself, as long as people continue to pay it. Whining about it does absolutely nothing. Either quit paying it, or if you still don’t like it but continue to pay, quit whining, it’s not a good look.

[taglovestocruise]

4 hours ago, not-enough-cruising said:

Outraged may be over selling it a bit

Not really, this is his quote, using words like Scheme, Guilt, Pawn. He does sound bitter at best.

 

Make no mistake, I tip those I come in contact and who make an extra impact handsomely. I will not, however, participate in a scheme that uses the laundry staff and the dishwashers as a “guilt pawn”. They get paid well to wash dishes and laundry, nothing more. 

I hope the dirty dishes and towels that get put out  by accident end up in his cabin and MDR table.

Edited September 18, 2022 by taglovestocruise

[not-enough-cruising]

20 minutes ago, taglovestocruise said:

Not really, this is his quote, using words like Scheme, Guilt, Pawn. He does sound bitter at best.

 

Make no mistake, I tip those I come in contact and who make an extra impact handsomely. I will not, however, participate in a scheme that uses the laundry staff and the dishwashers as a “guilt pawn”. They get paid well to wash dishes and laundry, nothing more. 

I hope the dirty dishes and towels that get put out  by accident end up in his cabin and MDR table.

You are totally not seeing it, hilarious 

Edited September 18, 2022 by not-enough-cruising

[vjmatty]

I had no idea there are so many people eating at chain restaurants…..is there no decent local dining outside the northeast?

[Spif Barwunkel]

This thread is grossly overworked and underpaid. We are cruising on a Royal ship in a few weeks and have gladly paid the "new" outrageous price for some specialty dining nights, 'cause we want too. If some of you are on the same sailing, we look forward to not seeing you at dinner. Bon Appetit!  

Edited September 18, 2022 by Spif Barwunkel

[not-enough-cruising]

26 minutes ago, taglovestocruise said:

Not really, this is his quote, using words like Scheme, Guilt, Pawn. He does sound bitter at best.

 

Make no mistake, I tip those I come in contact and who make an extra impact handsomely. I will not, however, participate in a scheme that uses the laundry staff and the dishwashers as a “guilt pawn”. They get paid well to wash dishes and laundry, nothing more. 

I hope the dirty dishes and towels that get put out  by accident end up in his cabin and MDR table.

Doesn’t appear outraged at all. Sounds like reasonable expectations. 
 

I have never seen dirty dishes or towels on a ship, but that is easily remedied if indeed it were to happen. 

[rudeney]

5 hours ago, taglovestocruise said:

Go to the tipping thread, some are filled with anger that most are ok with leaving a $1 extra tip for a drink.  There is currently someone outraged that the laundry staff gets part of the tip pool. 

 

Yes, how dare I leave an extra dollar for the bartender!   🤣

[time4u2go]

8 hours ago, S.A.M.J.R. said:

Pick a routine restaurant, let's say Texas Roadhouse.  You purchase a $100 GC from them.  But that GC can only be used between October 1 & October 8.  That week, you choose to eat elsewhere.  Your other meals lets say cost you $200.  

 

So, did you spend $200 or $300 on your meals?

Great explanation.  Thank you.

[Ret MP]

4 hours ago, S.A.M.J.R. said:

Ok.  I'll try to remember you don't want anyone commenting on your comments. 🤔  It's a frickin discussion board.  Just because you say "this isn't for an individual, I'm just making a comment" doesn't mean no one is allowed to comment on your comment. 

I have no problem with people commenting on my comments.  But, you seemed to be defending yourself against something I said.  I just wanted to clarify that I wasn't singling you or anybody else out with my comment.  If I mistook your intent, I apologize and that's not a sarcastic apology either.  

[clskinsfan]

On 9/5/2022 at 9:54 AM, Ride-The-Waves said:

Dining, if you can call it that on a Royal ship, is simply sustenance.  The MDR is a total disaster with cold food and poor selections.  Specialty restaurants are horribly overpriced for what is offered, to include the ambiance (sic).  The best dinner selections may be at the buffets.  Paying extra at $70/meal is simply ludicrous and price gouging by Royal.  It is interesting that some cruisers actually believe in Royal's specially offerings.  Ugh!  We will be cruising with friends who are Royal aficionados late in 2023 and will take most of our meals in the buffet.  This November we are cruising with Oceania where special restaurants are included in the price, in addition to being a venue that offers great ambiance and service, and food.  The difference is similar to sitting in the back of airplane, "cattle car" as a former stewardess (1970) offered, or up front in first class.  Everything Royal does is "cattle car" to include over stuffing their ships with cabins/people.  NOT a vacation!

While I am kind of with you on the value of the UDP. Oceania cruises are roughly THREE TIMES as expensive as RCL cruises. So while your specialty dining may well be included in your fare. You are paying way more money before you even think about boarding the ship. 

[dada2199cc]

On 9/17/2022 at 7:28 PM, wreckem2013 said:

I always do the unlimited dining packages. My next cruise is 8 nights if I did dinner only there $37 a meal. I’ll definitely take advantage of the four lunches and get the price down to $24.6 a meal. I remember that break down used to be like $22 and $16 for a 7 day cruise.

 

That said I am slightly annoyed my Christmas cruise isn’t offering an unlimited package this year because they have ridiculously expensive holiday meals at multiple restaurants for Xmas Eve and Xmas.

Check again.  Our Christmas cruise just opened UDP an hour ago.  Was not available before.

[JeffT237]

On 9/18/2022 at 6:02 AM, Ourusualbeach said:

Why is it that spending money on specialty dining seems to be so debated here on CC.

 

What it really comes down to in my opinion, and why these threads go on and on is that cruisers feel the way they cruise is the only way.  Tipping, dress code, purchasing ship or private excursions, drink package yes or no? speciality dining vs including dining, etc....the list goes on.  For some it's unimaginable that someone would cruise differently than they do.  

 

  

[nferr]

3 hours ago, JeffT237 said:

What it really comes down to in my opinion, and why these threads go on and on is that cruisers feel the way they cruise is the only way.  Tipping, dress code, purchasing ship or private excursions, drink package yes or no? speciality dining vs including dining, etc....the list goes on.  For some it's unimaginable that someone would cruise differently than they do.  

 

  

 

Bravo. Exactly! To some it's simply unfathomable that anyone will pay extra for food when there is plenty of good, decent food available for free.  I find the specialty restaurants to be a notch above in food and ambiance, so for me I'll always add at least some package. On the other hand I don't understand spending many thousands more for Suite Class over a perfectly nice balcony room. BUT that's just me. My best friend will only cruise Haven Class on NCL. To each their own.

[SRF]

Prices are just crazy.

 

McD for a fish sandwich, medium fries and medium drink was recently almost $12.

 

Lunch with a friend the other day.  I had a small pizza and a side salad.  He had a sub sandwich.  Soft drinks.  $45 with tip.

 

 

[jcc1025]

Seems to me that the bottom line is that if you don't like the price, don't buy it. Purchases are always price/value propositions. You have to make a personal decision on the cost and if its not up to your vaule then don't buy it. I never understand the need to discuss this stuff on these boards. 

[Ret MP]

I've learned a lot from discussions like this and even the TIP thread.  I believe these cruise, et al, social media forums are here to discuss whatever topic pops up about cruising.  Sometimes, even heated discussions/debates about things have changed my mind about the subject or stance I had about the subject.  Which is a good thing.  I also think it helpful when people point out false information.  That doesn't mean that all false information was/is intentionally false.  Just false or incorrect.  However, I do believe there are some folks and BOTS that do put out false information for nefarious reasons.  Also, many discussions/thread tend to drift off of the original subject.  So what?  It's still, usually, an informative discussion.  

 

I'm a firm believer in factual/correct information and voicing one's opinion in these forums.  I have not problem correcting what I think is an incorrect piece of information.  I'm not perfect and I do make errors of facts at times.  When I do, I admit it and move on and learn from it.  

 

BTW, with rules being followed, I'm sure (as stated below, I'm guessing) one of the values of a social media forum like this one is the number of posts, not just how many people are active members of the forum.  Social Media Forums are a commonality and have value base on a lot of factors, I'm guessing the number of posts is part of establishing a value, but I could be wrong because I'm not in the business, it just a guess on my part.  So, I'm guessing the owner(s) of this forum and others would encourage comments as long as they follow the rules.

 

JMHO YMMV

[taglovestocruise]

3 hours ago, SRF said:

Prices are just crazy.

 

McD for a fish sandwich, medium fries and medium drink was recently almost $12.

 

Lunch with a friend the other day.  I had a small pizza and a side salad.  He had a sub sandwich.  Soft drinks.  $45 with tip.

 

 

Our son just came back from lunch with his daughter. They ate in the touristy Old Town part of our city. 

 Two burgers, one coke, two beers, tip and tax..... $81.55.  Prices are leaving crazy town and heading straight up. 

[Ret MP]

30 minutes ago, Ret MP said:

I've learned a lot from discussions like this and even the TIP thread.  I believe these cruise, et al, social media forums are here to discuss whatever topic pops up about cruising.  Sometimes, even heated discussions/debates about things have changed my mind about the subject or stance I had about the subject.  Which is a good thing.  I also think it helpful when people point out false information.  That doesn't mean that all false information was/is intentionally false.  Just false or incorrect.  However, I do believe there are some folks and BOTS that do put out false information for nefarious reasons.  Also, many discussions/thread tend to drift off of the original subject.  So what?  It's still, usually, an informative discussion.  

 

I'm a firm believer in factual/correct information and voicing one's opinion in these forums.  I have not problem correcting what I think is an incorrect piece of information.  I'm not perfect and I do make errors of facts at times.  When I do, I admit it and move on and learn from it.  

 

BTW, with rules being followed, I'm sure (as stated below, I'm guessing) one of the values of a social media forum like this one is the number of posts, not just how many people are active members of the forum.  Social Media Forums are a commodity and have value base on a lot of factors, I'm guessing the number of posts is part of establishing a value, but I could be wrong because I'm not in the business, it just a guess on my part.  So, I'm guessing the owner(s) of this forum and others would encourage comments as long as they follow the rules.

 

JMHO YMMV

See spelling correction above in red

Edited September 20, 2022 by Ret MP
spelling error