Best Specialty Dining Restaurants To Use Credits?

[CruiseLoverFromNorCal]

Hello, friends. Which specialty dining venues would you use your credits at in order to maximize value? Thank you so much. 

[SeaShark]

IMHO it isn't a matter of "maximizing value". 

 

What restaurant has the ambience that best appeals to ME?

What restaurant offers the food item that best appeals to ME?

What restaurant provides the best service to ME?

 

Those are the important questions, not "maximum value".

 

You have to ask yourself how those questions are answered by YOUR wants, desires, and expectations...not mine.

[JandC_Cruising]

1 minute ago, CruiseLoverFromNorCal said:

Hello, friends. Which specialty dining venues would you use your credits at in order to maximize value? Thank you so much. 

Let me preface this by saying that by the time everyone replies, you are likely to get most every restaurant listed!

Knowing which ship you are on would help as not all ships have the same specialty restaurants:

Our favorites however on every ship we've been on have been Le Bistro and Ocean Blue (bayamo on escape).  We've never had a bad meal at either of these on any ship we've been on.  (perhaps lucky/perhaps we are just fools/perhaps we just love french food and seafood😉)

We have had success "sharing" one meal at the Wasabi Sushi on the Getaway, Pinchos Tapas on Escape, and Food Republic on most any of the the ships.  That said, there are varied reports of "sharing" a specialty meal at those (pick four plates) establishments lately.

 

Those are by far our favorites.  We have stopped going to Cagney's as we have had four "meh" meals there in a row.

 

[Lionkingrichard]

Le Bistro for sure.

 

Just don't sit us outside the Restaurant!

[hallux]

I hate to add to the morass of 'this is my favorite' where eventually every restaurant is named, but here's my take.

 

I prefer Le Bistro and Cagney's, with Le Bistro typically getting my preference.  However, my Filet at Cagney's on my last cruise was the best I've had, giving Cagney's a boost again.

 

As for 'value' - my Cagney's meal totaled in one meal what a two meal dining package costs.  My Le Bistro meal would probably be close to the same (the waiter didn't properly assign meals to the room cards, we were a group of 5 solos).  If you're on a ship with Q I don't feel there's the monetary value like there is at the others, it's not really worth using a dining credit.

[Asawi]

La Cucina is my favourite. I'm not much of a foodie, but I do have an appetite. La Cucina's portions are big. And tasty!

Le Bistro has good food, but portions are a bit small for me. I don't want to "have to" go to the buffet after dinner.

Teppanyaki gives you more than enough food, but in my experience quality varies. I have had both really good and not that special. 

Moderno has diappointed me. Some cuts of meat have been tough and tasteless. Others have be OK, but I would have expected better.

 

(In general I eat more vegatarian an fish/seafood than meat)

 

Edited February 18 by Asawi

[UKstages]

let's be real.

 

all these specialty restaurants are great.

 

and they all suck.

 

when people reply to these threads, what they're really saying is "these are my favorite menus," not my favorite restaurants. and that's because there is very little quality control from one cagney's to the next, from one ship to the next, from one outpost of los lobos to another, from le bistro on the prima to le bistro on the getaway. that's even true about the same cagney's on the same ship, from one night to the next or one cruise to the next.

 

it's a crap shoot. there is no guarantee that you will ever have a meal at cagney's as good as the one you had that time when you were on that ship that visited, you know, that place.

 

you can't go home again.

 

the one possible exception is Q, the traditional barbecue specialty restaurant (not the indulge food hall incarnation). and that's because most of the meat is prepared in industrial kitchens on land. so you're guaranteed to get the same mediocre barbecue no matter which location you visit. but the service may vary, as it may in all the other restaurants.

 

so, by all means, discuss what food you like to eat, which menus you prefer and then pray (for the soul of betty) once you get on board that the F & B management team has their act together and that the provisions loaded for your journey are sufficient to deliver the food you're expecting.

 

Edited February 18 by UKstages

[BirdTravels]

2 hours ago, CruiseLoverFromNorCal said:

Hello, friends. Which specialty dining venues would you use your credits at in order to maximize value? Thank you so much. 

 

The “best value” are the restaurants you want to dine at. I am not going to tell you that the Steakhouse is better if you want seafood or pasta. 

 

Fixed price restaurants like Teppanyaki and Moderno have a fixed price and present the least “value”. But if that is what you want to eat, they do so by all means. We always go to Teppanyaki and use our dining package there. 
 

The rest of the a la carte restaurants much the same. Some that charge for side dishes, you will get those included. Some with a fixed number of dishes (e.g., sushi) you get a fixed number of dishes. 

[schmoopie17]

What constitutes “value” is entirely subjective. Value to me might be not a good deal to you.

 

It’s like when people ask, “Is so-and-so worth it?” Worth it to me might be worthless to you…and vice versa.

 

[The Traveling Man]

You can check the menus on the NCL website to get an idea of what you might pay if you spent cash or some of your on board credit instead of using a dining credit.  If you find more specialty restaurants that you want to visit than you have credits, obviously the most economical approach would be to use your credits in the more expensive restaurants.