Specialty Dining Options

[Epinz300]

I remember the days when Chops was around $30-$35 a person.  Cruise planner is showing discounted rate of $49.99 and a discount rate of $36.99 for Giovannis.  Does this compare to others that have recently cruised?

[OCSC Mike]

2 minutes ago, Epinz300 said:

I remember the days when Chops was around $30-$35 a person.  Cruise planner is showing discounted rate of $49.99 and a discount rate of $36.99 for Giovannis.  Does this compare to others that have recently cruised?

 

Yes.

[HaveWeMetYet]

Most of the time you can just go to the specialty restaurant you want to eat at and request a buy one get one free at they will honor it. Sometimes only specific nights and sometimes right on the spot.

[PWP-001]

When I sailed on Princess Cruises 2013 - 2017 the upcharge to eat in their specialty restaurants (Italian or Steakhouse) was $25.   In my mind, I thought the rationale was that the cruise fare paid included all meals, but if you wanted to pay a little extra for a meal, you could enjoy one of their specialty restaurants.  At first, there wasn't a limit to what you could order.  It seemed to be a tradition in the steakhouse that after ordering your steak, the waiter would automatically ask:  and how many lobster tails.  When I asked for just one, I was served two.  At some point that all changed to a strict "limit one" entree by the end of 2017.

 

My Chops dinner for one, without ordering any upcharge items, was $69.61 during my August 2022 FOTS cruise.  There didn't seem to be much price resistance, as all the specialty restaurants were sold out.  I've since realized that not everyone was paying that price, given sales on UDP's, and comp meals for certain elite guests, I think I'm learning is the case.

 

What comes to mind is an insider employee comment about a high-end steakhouse in a well-know casino in South Florida:  "Over 90% of people dining are on comps."  The pricing, long before COVID, was sky-high-- even taking into consideration that they only serve PRIME meat.  Those not being comped appeared to be fleeced for their meals, and those on comps usually ended up with dinner checks in excess of their comp voucher.

 

I begin to wonder is RCI has employed that model as well:  offsetting the comps with excessive pricing. 

 

 

[blueslily]

3 hours ago, HaveWeMetYet said:

Most of the time you can just go to the specialty restaurant you want to eat at and request a buy one get one free at they will honor it. Sometimes only specific nights and sometimes right on the spot.

 

Wow! Please tell me more about this strategy.  When did you last have success with this strategy? Which ship were you on? What per person price did you pay? Thanks so much!

[George C]

Normally deals for 3 nights or more are fairly reasonable, the UDP can be less than 30 a day . I paid 200 for 8 nights last November.