Specialty Dinner on first night?

[D_And_K_gocruising]

Yea, good to hear some ideas on first night meals.  Being our first cruise I thought we may be too overwhelmed with the whole experience to have to worry about making a certain time dinner reservation.  So we didnt make a specialty one.. If we do more cruises, will really have to think about it!! Sounds like a fun tradition..  

[DCGuy64]

18 hours ago, RocketMan275 said:

 

Anyone ever booked a specialty on the first night?  How did that work out?

Yes, and worked out fine. (La Cucina)

[cruiseny4life]

13 hours ago, RocketMan275 said:

The alternative is dinner in the Haven the first night.

 

We never eat in specialty dining on the first night. We're always excited to meet the servers, maitre d, and host in the Haven Restaurant on our first night on the ship. Same with the last evening. We always want to say good bye, even though we are back for breakfast, but that's generally a quicker meal. 

 

But, hey if you want specialty, then go for it! I have thought about Le Bistro on an embarkation day evening as one doesn't have to get all dressed up in pants, shoes, and a polo shirt, but I'm happier with Haven. 

[BigRedFan]

We will be dining at Moderno the first night on our upcoming cruise on the Jade next week. 🙂

 

[RocketMan275]

39 minutes ago, cruiseny4life said:

We never eat in specialty dining on the first night. We're always excited to meet the servers, maitre d, and host in the Haven Restaurant on our first night on the ship. Same with the last evening. We always want to say good bye, even though we are back for breakfast, but that's generally a quicker meal. 

 

But, hey if you want specialty, then go for it! I have thought about Le Bistro on an embarkation day evening as one doesn't have to get all dressed up in pants, shoes, and a polo shirt, but I'm happier with Haven. 

I understand.  That's one thing that gave me pause.  But we will have four specialty dinners on this cruise so something has to give.

[schmoopie17]

We've done specialty dining on the first night. We've done specialty dining on the last night...and most nights in between. However, we view specialty dining as "something special to look forward to"...and unless we have a slew of specialty nights (as we will on our first Platinum cruise)...we prefer to put them off until later in the cruise (usually on sea days).

[laudergayle]

We don’t sail in the Haven, so specialty dining is something that makes us feel more special…lol.  We have found that the first evening is typically less crowded than later in the cruise.  We generally do 7-night cruises with 4 specialty dinners.  We used to have to buy the 2 extra, but now we are getting the Platinum dinners…yay!  LeBistro or Cagney’s are our First Night choices…with a Food Republic midweek. 

[RocketMan275]

3 minutes ago, laudergayle said:

We don’t sail in the Haven, so specialty dining is something that makes us feel more special…lol.  We have found that the first evening is typically less crowded than later in the cruise.  We generally do 7-night cruises with 4 specialty dinners.  We used to have to buy the 2 extra, but now we are getting the Platinum dinners…yay!  LeBistro or Cagney’s are our First Night choices…with a Food Republic midweek. 

We're planning on these in this order:

Onda.

Food Republic.  Sea day.  Great view from windows.

Palomar. Late port day.  Nice night to do an outside.

Le Bistro.

Haven.

Haven.

Haven.

[laudergayle]

9 minutes ago, RocketMan275 said:

Palomar. Late port day.  Nice night to do an outside

I was not impressed with the outdoor seating area of Palomar.  It is adjacent to the pool area and felt a little closed in.  Like Food Republic, inside Palomar also has amazing views. Photo taken from our window seat in Palomar.

[RocketMan275]

3 minutes ago, laudergayle said:

I was not impressed with the outdoor seating area of Palomar.  It is adjacent to the pool area and felt a little closed in.  Like Food Republic, inside Palomar also has amazing views. Photo taken from our window seat in Palomar.

 

Thanks for the tip.

How was the food?

What did you order?

Pictures?

[The Traveling Man]

20 hours ago, RocketMan275 said:

 

Anyone ever booked a specialty on the first night?  How did that work out?

Yes, almost always.  Some passengers either aren't aware of the specialty restaurants, or don't realize that they can make reservations in advance, or see others dining there early in the cruise and decide to try it themselves.  As a result, specialty restaurants tend to be busier toward the end of each cruise than they are at the beginning.

[The Traveling Man]

20 hours ago, RocketMan275 said:

We were in Le Bistro on our last cruise and got to witness a passenger wearing shorts arguing with the Matre'd about being turned away.  Wasn't seated and it was entertaining to watch.

It seems to vary from one ship to another, and perhaps from one cruise to another.  I have seen men dining in Le Bistro while wearing a T-shirt, shorts, and sandals.

[laudergayle]

26 minutes ago, RocketMan275 said:

Thanks for the tip.

How was the food?

What did you order?

Pictures?

Food was ok. It wasn’t my favorite. But it could have been how I ordered.  The grilled shrimp appetizer had fennel (I think) and it masked the flavor of the shrimp.  DH had the grilled octopus and enjoyed it.  we both had the lamb chops.  We ordered them medium which was a mistake as they were def med-well…it was a plateful, too. I think they may have butterflied a double chop to get us our medium.  P.s…we asked for mint jelly and I think we got half a jar🤣

Edited August 18, 2023 by laudergayle

[bkrickles1]

I think it depends on how you approach embarkation day.

As I said previously, we've done it once and it was great!

But, most of the time, our first day takes us in a different direction.

We usually board by 11:30 and get our reservations finalized, muster and get a drink (or 2).

Our tradition has become to go to Taste/Savor for lunch at around 1pm.

We eat a big meal, as we haven't eaten at all yet and that usually takes us to around 2:30.

The rest of the afternoon we bounce around drinking and exploring and, finally, getting into our cabin to unpack and get organized.

Between the big lunch and the inevitable snacking that we'll do while exploring, we're not typically super hungry to fully enjoy a specialty dining experience that first night.

With all the options available, we just play it by ear as we know it's probably going to be an early night to bed after a long day and be prepared for the rest of our week.

So many ways to cruise and have a wonderful time! It's why we love it so much!!

[RocketMan275]

48 minutes ago, laudergayle said:

Food was ok. It wasn’t my favorite. But it could have been how I ordered.  The grilled shrimp appetizer had fennel (I think) and it masked the flavor of the shrimp.  DH had the grilled octopus and enjoyed it.  we both had the lamb chops.  We ordered them medium which was a mistake as they were def med-well…it was a plateful, too. I think they may have butterflied a double chop to get us our medium.  P.s…we asked for mint jelly and I think we got half a jar🤣

 

Thanks for the information.  

I think wife is planning on the grilled octopus.

I may try the shrimp.

 

[RocketMan275]

37 minutes ago, bkrickles1 said:

I think it depends on how you approach embarkation day.

As I said previously, we've done it once and it was great!

But, most of the time, our first day takes us in a different direction.

We usually board by 11:30 and get our reservations finalized, muster and get a drink (or 2).

Our tradition has become to go to Taste/Savor for lunch at around 1pm.

We eat a big meal, as we haven't eaten at all yet and that usually takes us to around 2:30.

The rest of the afternoon we bounce around drinking and exploring and, finally, getting into our cabin to unpack and get organized.

Between the big lunch and the inevitable snacking that we'll do while exploring, we're not typically super hungry to fully enjoy a specialty dining experience that first night.

With all the options available, we just play it by ear as we know it's probably going to be an early night to bed after a long day and be prepared for the rest of our week.

So many ways to cruise and have a wonderful time! It's why we love it so much!!

I can fully understand that.  However, I'm on a diet so I don't eat a lot any way.

I get a tickle about the complaints over being limited to an appetizer, entree, two sides, and a dessert.  No way I can eat all that.  An appetizer and half an entree maybe.

[BirdTravels]

22 hours ago, moto_italia said:

My MO: First night. Fresh fish. Last night. Skip the fish. YMMV

For health reasons, there is no fresh fish. It all comes on frozen to kill parasites. 

[moto_italia]

9 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

For health reasons, there is no fresh fish. It all comes on frozen to kill parasites. 

That Bird (Travels) just pooped on my MO. What a buzzkill. LOL

[fmrlkr]

DH and I always ate at a specialty restaurant on the first night.  My last two cruises were with my stepdaughter and we spaced out the specialty restaurants and got tired by the end.  On our upcoming cruise we will eat our 4 meals on nights 1 to 4.  

[RocketMan275]

1 hour ago, fmrlkr said:

DH and I always ate at a specialty restaurant on the first night.  My last two cruises were with my stepdaughter and we spaced out the specialty restaurants and got tired by the end.  On our upcoming cruise we will eat our 4 meals on nights 1 to 4.  

That's my plan.

Specialty on nights 1-4.

Haven on 5&6, maybe 7.

Might have butler fetch a charcuterie and have that on the balcony for night seven.  Perhaps with a bottle of chardonay.

[Number34]

11 night cruise so with Platinum and FAS+ my plan is speciality  on nights 1 3 5 7 9 11 and Haven on 2 4 6 8 10. Thinking that with the fixed Haven menu that should provide enough variety.

[phillygwm]

Le Bistro used to offer a free bottle of wine if you dined there on the first night.  That's long gone now.  I usually opt for Cagney's on the first night as well as the last.  And maybe in between 🙂

 

Next cruise will be with my vegetarian niece so we'll start with Teppanyaki.  We'll still hit Cagney's, but wanted to give them a heads up (I'm told they make arrangements for vegetarians with advance notice.)  Otherwise, maybe I'll have 2 filets and trade her my sides 🤣

Edited August 18, 2023 by phillygwm

[HowardK]

On 8/17/2023 at 2:44 PM, eileeshb said:

Did it on my very first cruise and for anyone travelling in a studio there may not be a MDR booking for embarkation day so it can be a good evening for it as a solo. 

I would agree, we had a solo meetup in the lounge and as many people were getting settled they decided to skip  group dinner so some of us just went to Cagneys

[eileeshb]

On 8/18/2023 at 5:31 PM, RocketMan275 said:

I can fully understand that.  However, I'm on a diet so I don't eat a lot any way.

I get a tickle about the complaints over being limited to an appetizer, entree, two sides, and a dessert.  No way I can eat all that.  An appetizer and half an entree maybe.

I’m not on a diet and I still have trouble with massive plates of food, I’ve been known to go for 2 apps rather than app + entree and I rarely bother with sides. But then I’m also usually making sure I have space for dessert 🧁 

[RocketMan275]

7 minutes ago, eileeshb said:

I’m not on a diet and I still have trouble with massive plates of food, I’ve been known to go for 2 apps rather than app + entree and I rarely bother with sides. But then I’m also usually making sure I have space for dessert 🧁 

I used to eat massive plates but I changed when I got to over 280.  I'm down to 250 now and headed lower.