Fodor's picks best cruise ship dining

[dakrewser]

Fodor's just picked the "10 Best Specialty Dining Options on Cruises" and Le Cirque came in at #2.

 

 

[avian777]

Thanks for posting this info - very pleased (though not surprised) to see Le Cirque rated so high.

[Tom O.]

At $49 pp extra it had better be highly rated. And that is $49 plus you are giving up your regular MDR meal. I figure that the MDR meal you are passing on is worth around $35 pp. So that means total cost of Le Cirque is about $84 per person.

[cruz chic]

At $49 pp extra it had better be highly rated. And that is $49 plus you are giving up your regular MDR meal. I figure that the MDR meal you are passing on is worth around $35 pp. So that means total cost of Le Cirque is about $84 per person.

 

There is no way that the meal you are passing on is worth $35. I've seen it posted on here, to feed a pax for the day is around $10. This info is from people that actually work on ships. When I saw the list I wasn't terribly impressed with it. I do not care for Le cirque, its too pretensions for me but others do enjoy it. I think the regular menu is better.

[InTheWASide]

At $49 pp extra it had better be highly rated. And that is $49 plus you are giving up your regular MDR meal. I figure that the MDR meal you are passing on is worth around $35 pp. So that means total cost of Le Cirque is about $84 per person.

 

And yet as far as cruise line dining spots go it isan't even in the top 10 for most expensive I don't believe

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thank you for the link.

We love Le Cirque -- glad it made #2.

[Tom O.]

There is no way that the meal you are passing on is worth $35. I've seen it posted on here, to feed a pax for the day is around $10. This info is from people that actually work on ships. When I saw the list I wasn't terribly impressed with it. I do not care for Le cirque, its too pretensions for me but others do enjoy it. I think the regular menu is better.

 

I didn't mean that the meal cost $35 for HAL to serve it. I meant that if you went to a nice restaurant and ordered a meal similar to a MDR meal it would cost you about $35. Especially when you consider that the meal includes desert and a beverage such as coffee.

[InTheWASide]

I didn't mean that the meal cost $35 for HAL to serve it. I meant that if you went to a nice restaurant and ordered a meal similar to a MDR meal it would cost you about $35. Especially when you consider that the meal includes desert and a beverage such as coffee.

 

What kind of restaurant are you imagining going into?

 

If I ordered an appetizer, soup or salad, a steak entree (just using the "everyday steak" in this scenario... now just imagine if I was picking prime rib, quail, rack of lamb, etc) and a dessert and beverage I'd be well over $35... and I'm not picturing any super fancy place.

Edited December 11, 2015 by InTheWASide

[Boytjie]

I read that Todd English is going away on QM2. Now that restaurant was overrated, I thought (we only had lunch there)

Edited December 11, 2015 by Boytjie

[Tom O.]

What kind of restaurant are you imagining going into?

 

If I ordered an appetizer, soup or salad, a steak entree (just using the "everyday steak" in this scenario... now just imagine if I was picking prime rib, quail, rack of lamb, etc) and a dessert and beverage I'd be well over $35... and I'm not picturing any super fancy place.

 

You're right. Maybe I should have said at least $35. I think it would be in the range of $35 to $65 - depending on what was ordered.

[InTheWASide]

I read that Todd English is going away on QM2. Now that restaurant was overrated, I thought (we only had lunch there)

 

and I heard dinner was a la carte?

 

They just released the new designs a couple days ago. It will be the Verandah Restaurant as is the case on QV and QE and WAS the case on the original QM

 

Edited December 11, 2015 by InTheWASide

[catl331]

At $49 pp extra it had better be highly rated.

But Disney's Remy at $85 pp only made 7th place!

[sail7seas]

I didn't mean that the meal cost $35 for HAL to serve it. I meant that if you went to a nice restaurant and ordered a meal similar to a MDR meal it would cost you about $35. Especially when you consider that the meal includes desert and a beverage such as coffee.

 

We dined in the Le Cirque Restaurant some years ago and even 'back then', the meal was a lot more than $84 pp. :)

 

[take us away]

What kind of restaurant are you imagining going into?

 

If I ordered an appetizer, soup or salad, a steak entree (just using the "everyday steak" in this scenario... now just imagine if I was picking prime rib, quail, rack of lamb, etc) and a dessert and beverage I'd be well over $35... and I'm not picturing any super fancy place.

 

as 'they' say - location, location, location. We have UT and Seattle discussing price so it is a bit of apples and oranges and imagine what it would cost in NYC.

 

Interesting that Pinnacle did not make the list.

Edited December 11, 2015 by take us away

[Tom O.]

as 'they' say - location, location, location. We have UT and Seattle discussing price so it is a bit of apples and oranges and imagine what it would cost in NYC.

 

Interesting that Pinnacle did not make the list.

 

Very true. I recently moved from So. Calif. where restaurant prices were much higher than here in Utah. In my new hometown, I don't think you could manage to make your restaurant bill higher than $35 pp no matter where you went or what you ordered.

[Keith1010]

Thanks for sharing their selections.

 

Keith

[POA1]

We dined in the Le Cirque Restaurant some years ago and even 'back then', the meal was a lot more than $84 pp. :)

 

Parking at Le Cirque in Manhattan costs almost as much as dinner does on the ship. :D Le Cirque in NYC isn't quite as expensive, relatively speaking, as it used to be. A couple can probably get 4 courses each for under $150 per person. (Not including wine, tax, or tip.) We think Le Cirque is a great deal - at least for us.

 

To the person who asked why the Pinnacle Grill didn’t make the list - It appears that the list always uses the most high end offering that a cruise line has.

Edited December 11, 2015 by POA1

[InTheWASide]

as 'they' say - location, location, location. We have UT and Seattle discussing price so it is a bit of apples and oranges and imagine what it would cost in NYC.

 

Valid point but I was even thinking along the lines of chain restaurants which for the most part have standardized pricing nationwide.

 

Take Olive Garden for instance as an example...

Appetizer probably about $10-12 for an order

Were I not using this restaurant as an example (realizing as I'm typing this LOL) soup or a side salad would likely by $5-6 each for something the approx size of what HAL would give you

Entree could range $15-23 per person

Dessert about $7-8 per person

Coffee/Iced Tea/Etc $3 each (used something HAL serves for free)

 

Add it all up and it's going to average in the low $40's depending on what specifically is ordered

 

But yes, food and restaurants in general I'm sure are far more when not nationwide chains on the west coast than in Utah

[KirkNC]

Wow, we have always enjoyed Le Cirque but am still surprised it beat out some of the luxury lines.

[mountainmare]

I think a better way of looking at basic dinner pricing is to price out a wedding reception price pp instead of any restaurant because that is essentially the type of mass produced food in the MDR. Le Cirque is closer to a restaurant experience hence the upcharge and I think the list only considers the top offerings.

[sail7seas]

Very true. I recently moved from So. Calif. where restaurant prices were much higher than here in Utah. In my new hometown, I don't think you could manage to make your restaurant bill higher than $35 pp no matter where you went or what you ordered.

 

I went to dinner tonight with a couple and I took the check. It was a mid range sort of very good restaurant but not downtown Boston prices. The tip for the check was more than $35. None of us are big drinkers so liquor did not push the check up. I think maybe there were 3 glasses of wine and one beer.

 

Edited December 12, 2015 by sail7seas

[cruisemom42]

I'm slightly surprised by some of the restaurants on their list and some that were not...

 

I'm not a huge fan of specialty restaurants on ships anyway, as many seem to be heavily focused on steaks. (Not my favorite.) I'd prefer a Tamarind any day to a Pinnacle Grill. I did enjoy Murano on Celebrity, probably the best of the admittedly few specialty restaurants I've tried (on Princess, Celebrity and HAL).

[denatravels]

I have lived in NYC and never been to Le Cirque. Booked it for my HAL cruise, as well as Jamie's Italian and crown grill on two other upcoming cruises.