Breakaway speciality dining

[MCARAB1]

We have a reservation for Moderno for 10/27. Just wondering if anyone has recently dined there as have seen a few negative reviews and could possibly change it to Oceans Blue or Le Bistro. Also have a Cagneys for 4 on Friday 28 and just the 2 of us if someone else would like the 2 extra seats. Only had a seating for 4 when I reserved the 7pm time - I’m really not a table hog🙂

[Sthrngary]

14 minutes ago, MCARAB1 said:

We have a reservation for Moderno for 10/27. Just wondering if anyone has recently dined there as have seen a few negative reviews and could possibly change it to Oceans Blue or Le Bistro. Also have a Cagneys for 4 on Friday 28 and just the 2 of us if someone else would like the 2 extra seats. Only had a seating for 4 when I reserved the 7pm time - I’m really not a table hog🙂

@MCARAB1 Moderno is all about the meat as I am sure you know.  The quality of meat sometimes is in question.  However, Cagney's with all its choices for me is a much better meat solution and I feel like the service is better.  Please remember, restaurants are subjective and just because I feel one way does not mean all do. 

 

Le Bristo is a lovely experiences.  The menu for me is hit or miss.  I most always go for the Lamb chops.  With that I am rarely disappointed.  My family joined me on the last cruise and this place was not to their liking.  Oceans Blue is nice and if you don't like fish, has some meat options.  Nice alternative to Moderno in my opinion.

 

Cruise well and enjoy every moment. 

[www3traveler]

Only a certain percentage of dining reservations caan be made pre cruise.

 

I would not worry about times or the number of people at your table.  Two works just fine.  There are tables for two available most of the time.

 

You can always change or cancel reservations once you are on board.

 

Enjoy your cruise

[dandelpino]

I was at Moderno on Breakaway last week. I was not impressed. The quality of the meat was similar to what you'd get a the local supermarket. Not great and not really restaurant quality. Everything was overcooked too. Medium well was the least cooked meat I got.

 

I also personally think it's not possible to make good rodizio style meat without fire. And since cruises can't have open flames, they are cooked in electric ovens basically. I just don't think the electric cooking process sets the restaurant up for success. 

 

Same goes for Shanghai's - electric woks just don't work.

Edited October 13, 2022 by dandelpino

[njhorseman]

20 minutes ago, dandelpino said:

I was at Moderno on Breakaway last week. I was not impressed. The quality of the meat was similar to what you'd get a the local supermarket. Not great and not really restaurant quality.

NCL is a mass market cruise line. Are you expecting a restaurant on a mass market cruise ship with several thousand passengers to feed to have the same quality of ingredients and preparation as a Michelin-starred restaurant or even your local fine dining spot that serves a few dozen people a night? Or even as good a super premium or luxury cruise line?

 

By the way, my local supermarket carries high quality USDA choice meat and even prime beef, so to me "supermarket quality" meat is actually pretty darn good.

Edited October 13, 2022 by njhorseman

[dandelpino]

9 minutes ago, njhorseman said:

NCL is a mass market cruise line. Are you expecting a restaurant on a mass market cruise ship with several thousand passengers to feed to have the same quality of ingredients and preparation as a Michelin-starred restaurant or even your local fine dining spot that serves a few dozen people a night? Or even as good a super premium or luxury cruise line?

 

By the way, my local supermarket carries high quality USDA choice meat and even prime beef, so to me "supermarket quality" meat is actually pretty darn good.

 

Moderno is a specialty restaurant and does not feed thousands of passengers. So that comparison is irrelevant. I would also not expect it to be the same quality as a Michelin starred restaurant or even a local fine dining restaurant because that's not what it bills itself as. Again, an irrelevant comparison. I would however expect it to be comparable to a land-based churrascaria/rodizio restaurant because that's what they advertise. 

 

As others mentioned, the meat quality in Cagney's and Le Bistro are better. Personally I ate at Teppanyaki on the same sailing and the meat there was far better. So my expectation here would be that Moderno's meat quality would match that of the other specialty restaurants onboard. It's not like Moderno is cheaper than those other specialty restaurants. 

 

There's no problem with liking USDA Choice meat from the supermarket but again you make an irrelevant comparison. Moderno charges almost $60 ($49 + 20%) per person for food alone. This is on top of forgoing the meal in the main dining room already covered in the cruise fare. When you're paying $250 for a party of 4 to eat at a steakhouse, you'd expect better than the meat you buy at the supermarket for a home cooked weekday meal.

 

To close, nothing mentioned above excuses them overcooking meat and only offering medium-well to well done options. 

[JamieLogical]

My experience has been that, if you want a filet, Le Bistro consistently has the best filet on any NCL ship. Also, their French Onion soup is insanely good!

[cruiseny4life]

29 minutes ago, dandelpino said:

Moderno charges almost $60 ($49 + 20%) per person for food alone.

Would you really factor in the gratuity at a land-based restaurant? I never walk into a restaurant, look at the dish I want, and think, "oh it's $55 + 20%). Maybe you do. I expect you're in the minority if you do. 

 

Do you factor it in at the a la carte restaurants onboard too? That pizza at La Cucina is actually $21.60, because the menu says $18, but I can't forget the 20%! 

[njhorseman]

50 minutes ago, dandelpino said:

 

Moderno is a specialty restaurant and does not feed thousands of passengers. So that comparison is irrelevant. I would also not expect it to be the same quality as a Michelin starred restaurant or even a local fine dining restaurant because that's not what it bills itself as. Again, an irrelevant comparison. I would however expect it to be comparable to a land-based churrascaria/rodizio restaurant because that's what they advertise. 

 

As others mentioned, the meat quality in Cagney's and Le Bistro are better. Personally I ate at Teppanyaki on the same sailing and the meat there was far better. So my expectation here would be that Moderno's meat quality would match that of the other specialty restaurants onboard. It's not like Moderno is cheaper than those other specialty restaurants. 

 

There's no problem with liking USDA Choice meat from the supermarket but again you make an irrelevant comparison. Moderno charges almost $60 ($49 + 20%) per person for food alone. This is on top of forgoing the meal in the main dining room already covered in the cruise fare. When you're paying $250 for a party of 4 to eat at a steakhouse, you'd expect better than the meat you buy at the supermarket for a home cooked weekday meal.

 

To close, nothing mentioned above excuses them overcooking meat and only offering medium-well to well done options. 

I've never paid a penny other than the specialty dining plan gratuity charge to eat in an NCL specialty restaurant . I would not spend that much money for what I know to be just another restaurant on a mass market cruise line. It's a matter of realistic expectations and knowledge of the product. I suspect the overwhelming majority of those dining in the specialty restaurants are doing what we are...not paying anything additional for the meal. Very simply we look at the specialties as just another MDR with different choices of food, nothing more.

 

Hopefully you've learned a lesson and won't make the same mistake in the future.

 

Frankly I don't think the meat quality in Cagney's is any better and the preparation is uneven at best. You a make a snide remark about "supermarket quality" but the steaks I make at home that I buy at the supermarket are better than the steaks in Cagney's.

 

The meat in Teppanyaki is drowned in so much salt  and other seasoning that the few times I've eaten there (I don't go there any longer) I had no idea of what I was eating.

 

I've eaten in a number of rodizio-style restaurants on land and just like Moderno I've found their salad bars to be better than the meat itself. 

 

I've not found all the meat in Moderno to be cooked to medium well or well done so perhaps you just hit it on on a bad day.

 

By the way, my comparisons to quality land-based restaurants are not irrelevant. Quality land based restaurants are stand-alone operations with individual owners and executive chefs that do the food buying and create the menus and recipes. NCL specialty restaurants are under the same management as the ship's MDRs and buffet, the buying is done by the corporate office and the menus and recipes come from the corporate office. While the specialty restaurants seat fewer people than the MDRs it's really just another dining room with different decor . You know the saying about "putting lipstick on a pig"?

 

Edited October 13, 2022 by njhorseman

[dandelpino]

4 minutes ago, cruiseny4life said:

Would you really factor in the gratuity at a land-based restaurant? I never walk into a restaurant, look at the dish I want, and think, "oh it's $55 + 20%). Maybe you do. I expect you're in the minority if you do. 

 

Do you factor it in at the a la carte restaurants onboard too? That pizza at La Cucina is actually $21.60, because the menu says $18, but I can't forget the 20%! 

 

I'm not sure I understand the question. Are you asking if I consider the full price of something instead of the price of a single component when making a financial analysis/decision? In that case the answer is: yes. Same when I'm looking to book a cruise. I consider not just the cost of the advertised base fare but also port taxes, fees, gratuities, etc.

 

I may be in the minority but I generally don't like unexpected charges after I've decided to purchase something. 

[dandelpino]

 

 

12 minutes ago, njhorseman said:

I've never paid a penny other than the specialty dining plan gratuity charge to eat in an NCL specialty restaurant .

 

You're paying for it in the fare you chose. You could have chosen a cheaper fare that didn't include the promo. By paying for a higher fare you've definitely paid for it and NCL has done a good job of convincing you they gave it to you for "free".

 

14 minutes ago, njhorseman said:

Hopefully you've learned a lesson and won't make the same mistake in the future.

 

The only lesson here is don't trust NCL to deliver what they advertised. Moderno is advertised as a speciality restaurant and you're telling me it's basically just the MDR with extra flair. They advertise "specialty" and indeed deliver a subpar product. 

 

Unfortunately I have no choice but to keep making the mistake of cruising with NCL since they offer the most sailings from NYC year round. Flying to a different port with a toddler isn't much of a vacation and Royal Caribbean's suite offering isn't as comprehensive as the Haven despite being more expensive. So all in all my choice comes down to either enduring NCL's shenanigans or forging cruising altogether.

[graphicguy]

Having eaten in all the Specialty Restaurants NCL offers (short of the ones on the new Prima), Moderna is my least favorite.  Knowing that, I enjoy going to LeBistro, Cagney's, Teppanyaki, Ocean Blu and the Sushi restaurants.  So, there are plenty of other choices I can make.  I just don't choose Moderna.

[njhorseman]

3 minutes ago, dandelpino said:

You're paying for it in the fare you chose. You could have chosen a cheaper fare that didn't include the promo. By paying for a higher fare you've definitely paid for it and NCL has done a good job of convincing you they gave it to you for "free".

I've been cruising for over 35 years. I've probably cruised on about a dozen different cruise lines and I have Diamond status on NCL, so  I fully understand that nothing is "free"...although two of my specialty dinners on every cruise actually are free because of Latitudes status.

 

Since I want to select my stateroom I won't book the "Sail Away" cabin, and no such option exists for suite/haven cabins. If I were to decline the specialty dining all I would save is the modest gratuity charge. We do decline the beverage package because the gratuity charge is more than we would spend on soft drinks and alcohol.

 

15 minutes ago, dandelpino said:

Royal Caribbean's suite offering isn't as comprehensive as the Haven despite being more expensive.

Since you're a Haven passenger on the larger/newer ships you have access at no additional charge or gratuity to the best overall dining on the ship...the Haven restaurant. You can decline the specialty dining package and save the gratuity charge. Or just stick to the specialty restaurants you like the best.

 

22 minutes ago, dandelpino said:

 

Unfortunately I have no choice but to keep making the mistake of cruising with NCL

Again...don't eat in the restaurants you don't like. You know the saying "Fool me once shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." Since you dislike Moderno so much just don't eat there. Pretty simple solution.

 

27 minutes ago, dandelpino said:

Flying to a different port with a toddler isn't much of a vacation

Since you're not flying to the port why aren't you also complaining about NCL's ongoing "free airfare for the second guest" promo. You're paying for that even though you're not using it (same here) and you get absolutely nothing for it. 

[cruiseny4life]

39 minutes ago, dandelpino said:

 

I'm not sure I understand the question. Are you asking if I consider the full price of something instead of the price of a single component when making a financial analysis/decision? In that case the answer is: yes. Same when I'm looking to book a cruise. I consider not just the cost of the advertised base fare but also port taxes, fees, gratuities, etc.

 

I may be in the minority but I generally don't like unexpected charges after I've decided to purchase something. 

I know you're in the city (or closer than I am), but I don't think all (or, even many) the restaurants have moved to no tipping. Seems to be gratuity is a known/expected cost. 

But, to answer your question, no I don't really consider the tip when I go to a restaurant. It's such a small part of the bill that it doesn't matter. 

 

I suppose one of us is in the minority. I think it's you, but I would absolutely buy you a drink onboard if I'm wrong. Well...not Bailey's, that $1 charge is just too much. 😁

[njhorseman]

9 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

Having eaten in all the Specialty Restaurants NCL offers (short of the ones on the new Prima), Moderna is my least favorite.  Knowing that, I enjoy going to LeBistro, Cagney's, Teppanyaki, Ocean Blu and the Sushi restaurants.  So, there are plenty of other choices I can make.  I just don't choose Moderna.

Yes, exactly...we have choices. No one is holding a gun to anyone's head forcing them to eat at Moderno or any restaurant they don't like.

[seemoreroyals]

4 hours ago, MCARAB1 said:

We have a reservation for Moderno for 10/27. Just wondering if anyone has recently dined there as have seen a few negative reviews and could possibly change it to Oceans Blue or Le Bistro. Also have a Cagneys for 4 on Friday 28 and just the 2 of us if someone else would like the 2 extra seats. Only had a seating for 4 when I reserved the 7pm time - I’m really not a table hog🙂

We have eaten at Moderno on several occasions.   Be prepared to pace yourself as there is a lot of food.  Not just the meats but the soup and salad bar.  I would recommend sticking with Moderno and giving it a try.  Opinions on food are highly subjective.  You may love it you may hate it but you never will know until you eat there.

 

It's one of our favorites.

[pbenjamin]

I’ve eaten at Churrascarias in both the US and Brazil. Moderno is not much better or worse than any of them. In my mind it’s not something I need to do very often. We took a family group there on the Jewel and they really liked it since they had never been to such a place. Novelty is its strong point. 

[PATRLR]

3 hours ago, njhorseman said:

NCL is a mass market cruise line. Are you expecting a restaurant on a mass market cruise ship with several thousand passengers to feed to have the same quality of ingredients and preparation as a Michelin-starred restaurant or even your local fine dining spot that serves a few dozen people a night? Or even as good a super premium or luxury cruise line?

Some of the best meals I have ever eaten have come from a banquet hall that I have experienced multiple times where they served about 600 covers in one sitting.  Once you get to that volume, it doesn't matter if it's 600 or 6000, it's just a matter of scale.  So serving several thousand people is no excuse for poor quality.   And has been said, the specialty restaurants are not serving thousands. 

And yes, for the money we are paying I do in fact expect good quality meals.  So long as NCL advertises fine dining, that is what I expect.  I know I'm not going to get it, I don't let it ruin my cruise, but that doesn't mean I'm going to quietly accept mediocrity.  And this is not an NCL issue, all the mass market lines say and do the same things.

3 hours ago, dandelpino said:

To close, nothing mentioned above excuses them overcooking meat and only offering medium-well to well done options. 

I agree 100%.  Also, I thought one of the advantages of a Churrascaria is the ability to serve all degrees of doneness off the same skewer.  Obviously, if they don't know what they are doing they could easily overcook all the meat defeating the purpose.

36 minutes ago, pbenjamin said:

I’ve eaten at Churrascarias in both the US and Brazil. Moderno is not much better or worse than any of them. 

I've eaten at the two big chains in the US, Texas de Brazil and Fogo de Chão.  I find Moderno to be below that quality.  I typically tell people if you like either of those, Moderno isn't as good.   I've never had the pleasure of a non-chain Churrascaria.

[epanchenko]

I was on Breakaway last week.  I ate all dinners in speciality restaurants.  I did not go to Moderno because my friend is vegetarian.  I felt Le Bistro, Cagney's, Ocean Blue, and La Cucina were all very good.  Ocean Blue is very small and was our favorite.  It booked up very quickly and the reservation couldn't be changed.  I am happy I bought the speciality dining package instead of eating in the main dining room where my breakfasts and lunches that I had there were not terribly good.  La Cucina was half empty some of the time (we ate there three times), but the food is very good there.

Edited October 14, 2022 by epanchenko

[KeithJenner]

11 hours ago, dandelpino said:

You're paying for it in the fare you chose. You could have chosen a cheaper fare that didn't include the promo. By paying for a higher fare you've definitely paid for it and NCL has done a good job of convincing you they gave it to you for "free".

That argument doesn’t really stand up when it comes to the dining offer. I would guess that the number of people who take a fare which includes free at sea specifically for the one or two meals that includes is tiny. People book those rooms

for the beverage package, or to be able to choose their room.

 

If you want the beverage package then it will most likely be best to get a free at sea cabin and the extra that you pay is just the gratuity on those meals (or for many of us in different countries it is zero).

 

Technically some of that fare is paying for those meals, but the really relevant thing is how much your fare changes as a result of taking them and for the vast majority of people that is just the gratuity.

[skeeter195]

The cuts of meats, chicken and sausages are all very simple in Moderno.  The preperation is also very simple.  The atmosphere of the place makes it a different and "fun" place to eat.  To me it is simple ingredients done right to produce an overall better than average dining experience.  

 

I laugh when some complain about the quality of a cut of meat.  Yes, when grilling a steak to medium rare it needs to be a better a cut.  On the other hand some of the best dishes throughout the ages have been made with "poorer" cuts of meat and poultrty(think French, Italian, German) intentionally. 

 

I would definately go to Moderno if you have never been.  I go every time I sail.