Ship Specialty Restaurants vs Land Restaurants

[Karynanne]

We have been sailing with Celebrity since 1999. We have been cautious in comparing the Specialty Restaurants onboard to land based restaurants. But this past weekend I came to a new conclusion.

 

We were in Las Vegas, and dined at Prime, located in the Bellagio Hotel. It is a stunning restaurant, and rated very high. There were six of us dining. All of us are seasoned Celebrity cruisers. And we all came to the same conclusion. Celebrity really does an incredible job of serving fantastic food in their Specialty Restaurants, and compared to what we paid at Prime, we felt that Celebrity prices were very reasonable.

 

For those of you that feel that Celebrity's Specialty Restaurants are mediocre...I disagree. The meals and especially service rival any high end land based restaurants.

[Cruise Junky]

We have been sailing with Celebrity since 1999. We have been cautious in comparing the Specialty Restaurants onboard to land based restaurants. But this past weekend I came to a new conclusion.

 

We were in Las Vegas, and dined at Prime, located in the Bellagio Hotel. It is a stunning restaurant, and rated very high. There were six of us dining. All of us are seasoned Celebrity cruisers. And we all came to the same conclusion. Celebrity really does an incredible job of serving fantastic food in their Specialty Restaurants, and compared to what we paid at Prime, we felt that Celebrity prices were very reasonable.

 

For those of you that feel that Celebrity's Specialty Restaurants are mediocre...I disagree. The meals and especially service rival any high end land based restaurants.

 

I haven't eaten at Prime but I have eaten next door at Picasso and it was one of our best meals ever. No comparison to anything we've had on a ship. But...we paid over $400 for that dinner with wine. We've had some good meals on ships and some mediocre same with the service. I certainly wouldn't compare anything we've ever had with Picasso.

[Bo1953]

We have been sailing with Celebrity since 1999. We have been cautious in comparing the Specialty Restaurants onboard to land based restaurants. But this past weekend I came to a new conclusion.

 

We were in Las Vegas, and dined at Prime, located in the Bellagio Hotel. It is a stunning restaurant, and rated very high. There were six of us dining. All of us are seasoned Celebrity cruisers. And we all came to the same conclusion. Celebrity really does an incredible job of serving fantastic food in their Specialty Restaurants, and compared to what we paid at Prime, we felt that Celebrity prices were very reasonable.

 

For those of you that feel that Celebrity's Specialty Restaurants are mediocre...I disagree. The meals and especially service rival any high end land based restaurants.

 

Thank you for keeping it real...

[LabGuy64]

Probably not fair to compare it to one of the best meals you ever had. And your next exp there may not be as memorable.....have run into this several times. I have also been to restaurants that were quite expensive due to location but, I found the food to be mediocre...

 

 

I haven't eaten at Prime but I have eaten next door at Picasso and it was one of our best meals ever. No comparison to anything we've had on a ship. But...we paid over $400 for that dinner with wine. We've had some good meals on ships and some mediocre same with the service. I certainly wouldn't compare anything we've ever had with Picasso.

[Cruise Junky]

Probably not fair to compare it to one of the best meals you ever had. And your next exp there may not be as memorable.....have run into this several times. I have also been to restaurants that were quite expensive due to location but, I found the food to be mediocre...

 

I agree...but the OP compared it to Prime which is right next door and often compared to it's neighbour, Picasso and they're probably in the same price range if ordering ala carte. But we're heading to Vegas on Sunday, I'd be happy to do a few comparisons :)

Edited December 9, 2015 by Cruise Junky

[bEwAbG]

My four or five dining experiences in Vegas all had pretty terrible service. My friend and I often talk about our last trip there--every place's idea of "good" service was just making the meal take as long as possible with little actual service provided! I've dined in places all over and I'm not even that hard to please, but it seems to be something unique to higher-end Vegas restaurants. Much like the rest of the city, everything has a very thin veneer of "class" attached to it, I guess. My cruise restaurant experiences have all-in-all had much more attentive and proper service.

Edited December 9, 2015 by bEwAbG

[K.T.B.]

We have been sailing with Celebrity since 1999. We have been cautious in comparing the Specialty Restaurants onboard to land based restaurants. But this past weekend I came to a new conclusion.

 

We were in Las Vegas, and dined at Prime, located in the Bellagio Hotel. It is a stunning restaurant, and rated very high. There were six of us dining. All of us are seasoned Celebrity cruisers. And we all came to the same conclusion. Celebrity really does an incredible job of serving fantastic food in their Specialty Restaurants, and compared to what we paid at Prime, we felt that Celebrity prices were very reasonable.

 

For those of you that feel that Celebrity's Specialty Restaurants are mediocre...I disagree. The meals and especially service rival any high end land based restaurants.

 

I wholeheartedly agree.

 

I've eaten at places like Morton's Steak House and Delmonico (in New Orleans), and while both had fabulous service, they're lacking in what Celebrity has given me at both Qsine and Murano has given me in terms of overall service, food quality, value, etc.

 

I will say though that the best steak restaurant I have ever been to is 555 East in Long Beach, CA. I still salivate in thinking of the meal I had there! :)

Edited December 9, 2015 by K.T.B.

[dkjretired]

I wholeheartedly agree.

 

I've eaten at places like Morton's Steak House and Delmonico (in New Orleans), and while both had fabulous service, they're lacking in what Celebrity has given me at both Qsine and Murano has given me in terms of overall service, food quality, value, etc.

 

I will say though that the best steak restaurant I have ever been to is 555 East in Long Beach, CA. I still salivate in thinking of the meal I had there! :)

 

I don't find the Specialty restaurants to be any better than the Service and Food we received on Celebrity ships every night in the MDR in the early 90s.

[K.T.B.]

I don't find the Specialty restaurants to be any better than the Service and Food we received on Celebrity ships every night in the MDR in the early 90s.

 

Well, the MDR wasn't being compared, it's also no longer the 90's. The comment was about current service.

[Karynanne]

I don't find the Specialty restaurants to be any better than the Service and Food we received on Celebrity ships every night in the MDR in the early 90s.

 

 

Don, I was comparing land-based restaurants to the current Celebrity Specialty Restaurants.

[dkjretired]

Don, I was comparing land-based restaurants to the current Celebrity Specialty Restaurants.

 

I am aware of that, just trying to give some perspective.

Edited December 9, 2015 by dkjretired

[az_tchr]

It certainly is a completely different situation. On land a restaurant can get fresh ingredients every day and tailor its meun to what is available. Not possible on a ship. One of my best meals ever was in the MDR a couple years ago when they served fresh Maine lobster.

 

I also completely agree that we have had excellent dinners both in specialty restaurants (Tuscon) and a couple that were not very good including a Captain's Table. Would think the same everywhere as things that are perfect one night always seem to fall short on a return visit.

 

As to service - really easy here as if you have an early seating in either MDR, specialty restaurant OR a local restaurant you are likely to be rushed a bit so they can get ready for the next reservation. If you have the last "top" of the night it is not an issue.

[Cruizen Susan]

We have been sailing with Celebrity since 1999. We have been cautious in comparing the Specialty Restaurants onboard to land based restaurants. But this past weekend I came to a new conclusion.

 

We were in Las Vegas, and dined at Prime, located in the Bellagio Hotel. It is a stunning restaurant, and rated very high. There were six of us dining. All of us are seasoned Celebrity cruisers. And we all came to the same conclusion. Celebrity really does an incredible job of serving fantastic food in their Specialty Restaurants, and compared to what we paid at Prime, we felt that Celebrity prices were very reasonable.

 

For those of you that feel that Celebrity's Specialty Restaurants are mediocre...I disagree. The meals and especially service rival any high end land based restaurants.

 

Yup. Uh huh. One of the smart people on CC. I like logic and reason, rather than whining and complaining!

[purpletequila]

For the price point, the specialties do a great job. But if you were to bring the cost of even Murano up to the cost of a top land restaurant, I'd have to disagree that they are as good, at least food quality wise.

[Karynanne]

For the price point, the specialties do a great job. But if you were to bring the cost of even Murano up to the cost of a top land restaurant, I'd have to disagree that they are as good, at least food quality wise.

 

 

This may be true in some land-based restaurants, but I was sharing my own experience, along with our friends.

[LabGuy64]

Not sure about the perspective.....your overall cruise exp may tinge that memory of the meals some 20 yeas ago

 

 

I am aware of that, just trying to give some perspective.

[GUT2407]

Personally I think it's one area where Celebrity fall down.

[GUT2407]

And I'm not comparing to land based but other ship based specialty restaurants.

[Texed]

And I'm not comparing to land based but other ship based specialty restaurants.

 

May I ask what "other ships" you are talking about?

[GUT2407]

May I ask what "other ships" you are talking about?

 

 

My two favourite lines are Celebrity and Princess. Each, in my opinion does some things better than the other, I think Princess leaves Celebrity for dead n the specialty restaurant category, half the price for better food (and I know food is subjective). However it is a small part of my overall calculations.

 

As an aside it looks like P may be charging $49 for Curtis Stone a joke, so who knows things mike swing back Celebrities way.

 

$25 for Steak House and Sabatini's is not too bad.

[chemmo]

.....we have found speciality food and service can vary but it only varies from very good to outstanding!

 

On our last two cruises (Solstice and Equinox) we have had lots of speciality meals and really enjoyed them all. Yes, one piece of steak in Murano's may have been a little better than another or Tuscan may have been very busy meaning we waited a little longer but no problems really. Silk Harvest we do see more as a different dining venue than a speciality and although we have not had stunning meals there we have had some really good nights! I would say the same re Q'sine, not stunning food but a very pleasant evening.

 

Have I had better meals on land. Yes, one or two but they cost a fortune, I had to travel to get to them, then pay for an overnight stay or a taxi if I wanted to enjoy wine with my meal.....it is so easy to enjoy good dining on a cruise!

 

One of the reasons we enjoy and happily pay for the specialities is the consistency and reliability of food and service. Yes, this may vary a little but I can honestly say we have never had a bad meal, can't say that about all my land based experiences!

[MicCanberra]

We have been sailing with Celebrity since 1999. We have been cautious in comparing the Specialty Restaurants onboard to land based restaurants. But this past weekend I came to a new conclusion.

 

We were in Las Vegas, and dined at Prime, located in the Bellagio Hotel. It is a stunning restaurant, and rated very high. There were six of us dining. All of us are seasoned Celebrity cruisers. And we all came to the same conclusion. Celebrity really does an incredible job of serving fantastic food in their Specialty Restaurants, and compared to what we paid at Prime, we felt that Celebrity prices were very reasonable.

 

For those of you that feel that Celebrity's Specialty Restaurants are mediocre...I disagree. The meals and especially service rival any high end land based restaurants.

 

I must agree also. :D

[dkjretired]

We have been sailing with Celebrity since 1999. We have been cautious in comparing the Specialty Restaurants onboard to land based restaurants. But this past weekend I came to a new conclusion.

 

We were in Las Vegas, and dined at Prime, located in the Bellagio Hotel. It is a stunning restaurant, and rated very high. There were six of us dining. All of us are seasoned Celebrity cruisers. And we all came to the same conclusion. Celebrity really does an incredible job of serving fantastic food in their Specialty Restaurants, and compared to what we paid at Prime, we felt that Celebrity prices were very reasonable.

 

For those of you that feel that Celebrity's Specialty Restaurants are mediocre...I disagree. The meals and especially service rival any high end land based restaurants.

 

Wife and I went to a restaurant in our small rural area of Pa last Saturday. The facility has a brew pub and a "fine dining restaurant" next to it. Seemed all the old people like us were int he fine dining section which actually a separate building. Our service and food was excellent and it cost us 108 with tips. We even had sherbet between the appetizers and the main course, something which is long gone from Celebrity. Service and food was better than the Specialties by quite a bit.

[rjrpar]

Won't comment on price but, imo,the food quality in the ship restaurants is below that of most land based steakhouses. We were in Tuscan recently and the quality continues to slide, like most things on X. It was still a good meal just not comparable

[Queen of Oakville]

We typically never eat at specialty restaurants. On Silhouette, we had significant OBC to use up - so we dined at QSINE and we dined at Lawn Club Grill.

 

QSINE - service and ambience and dining experience were excellent. Food quality not so much. I'd put my local all-you-can-eat (delivered to you not buffet) sushi restaurant which charges $30 pp way ahead in terms of food quality and flavour. Would I go back to QSINE - no.

 

 

Lawn Club Grill. Service was mediocre and food quality was disappointing. Both my kids thought the everyday steak in the MDR was better prepared and better tasting. For the Canadians who are familiar with these chains, we dine frequently at Keg and Canyon Creek (I prefer Canyon Creek to Keg). I'd put my worst steak at either to be way better than what I had at Lawn Club. I would not go back to Lawn Club.

 

 

 

To be fair, I have had lunch at Murano and it was excellent and probably worth the money. But we can't dine with our kids at Murano, so that's out for now. I will give Tuscan Grille a try on our next cruise.