Specialty dining price increase

[hansi]

No not now :D

Tony

 

It's still excellent value for money. A three course steak meal for $29:)? You wouldn't get a fillet steak alone for that price in the UK, and it wouldn't be as good as the Crown Grill steak. Ok, so I take my own butter:eek:

[shredie]

This will be a deal breaker for DH, I'm afraid. He balked at the $25. When we've had comped dinners there, he claims he's just as happy in the DR. I'm not crazy about the increase, but I might just go there solo for the lamb chops (which are the most delicious I've ever had.)

[anthonyy7]

I plan to go to CG at least 2x on my next cruise and $4 extra won't stop me. $29 still isn't a bad deal. :) As long as they don't charge for Alfredo's!

[bigchid]

The specialty restraints are discretional spending as is the cruise itself. I notice the prices in the grocery store doing the same thing, but we'll keep going there.

Edited April 14, 2016 by bigchid

[Scotto97]

In my opinion, $58 extra for my wife and I to eat at Crown Grill is getting a little high.

 

We've eaten there many times and lately it seems the meat quality has gone down substantially.

 

The New York is much thinner now and tough, pushing me towards the Filet that has no flavor.

 

Does anyone know when they seem to have changed from USDA Choice to USDA Select?

 

I can definitely tell my last steak was Select due to the lack of marbling and toughness. - No good steakhouse serves "Select" grade meat.

 

As a comparison, try Costco's steaks on the grill and you'll see how much more tender they are. (USDA Choice)

[Murphey]

We have a hard time finding Select in the grocery store, let alone pay extra for it on the ship. I believe the CG used to be Prime???

[Ron the Rev]

[Naughty Naughty shredie:DQUOTE=shredie;49713785]Is the butter extra?

[iceleven]

PSML:)opps just trying to get my post quota up, need another 20 today

 

What's a "POST QUOTA" ?

[rockdoctor]

This new price still pales next to some of the $50 per person specialty restaurants on Celebrity. I have no issue with that small increase and will happily pay it!

 

Well said.

[Astro Flyer]

Checking the menu it hasn't changed except for the price increase to $29 and soon I'll learn if the price has increased on our upcoming cruise.

 

Maybe Princess read that many of us thought the $25 fee was much better than Share's $39 fee and that they could increase the CG fee without affecting sales. Also it's been several years since it increased from $20 and food prices have increased.

 

None of us truly knows the specialty restaurant's overall sales numbers which may vary. Princess would know the general trends & they must believe there's enough demand to allow for a $4 increase. The Princess specialty restaurant price & choices are still better than on our most recent RCI cruise in 2014.

 

I'm not happy with the price increase but many things we purchase onboard are paid for by using all of our combinable types of OBC so it's not going to keep us from occasionally enjoying a specialty restaurant dinner. :)

[rockdoctor]

Yes, but only the uninformed actually pay that on Celebrity. They offer 3, 4 & 5 night packages, the ultimate dining plan and discounts pretty much every night.

 

The devil is in the detail. With the multiple night packages, you get one night at Murano and the rest at the who-wants-to-go-there restaurants. Qsine is silly, Tuscan Grill is a bore.

[XBGuy]

In my opinion, $58 extra for my wife and I to eat at Crown Grill is getting a little high.

 

We've eaten there many times and lately it seems the meat quality has gone down substantially.

 

The New York is much thinner now and tough, pushing me towards the Filet that has no flavor.

 

Does anyone know when they seem to have changed from USDA Choice to USDA Select?

 

I can definitely tell my last steak was Select due to the lack of marbling and toughness. - No good steakhouse serves "Select" grade meat.

 

As a comparison, try Costco's steaks on the grill and you'll see how much more tender they are. (USDA Choice)

 

I have to agree with you regarding the overall quality of the CG meats, Scotto. I, like you, have found them to be overly chewy and lacking flavor. Interestingly enough, most of the seafood dishes have been very good to excellent. We enjoy Crown Grill and Sabbatini's because we think they offer a pleasant dining experience. So, we are OK with a $4/pp increase.

 

FWIW, our local Costco also has a pretty nice selection of USDA Prime cuts. :)

[XBGuy]

This will be a deal breaker for DH, I'm afraid. He balked at the $25. When we've had comped dinners there, he claims he's just as happy in the DR. I'm not crazy about the increase, but I might just go there solo for the lamb chops (which are the most delicious I've ever had.)

 

Shredie, it is time for me to repeat my Number One reason why cruising is a great vacation.

 

Everybody can customize the experience to fill their expectations. The fact that your husband enjoys the dining rooms and does not seem to enjoy the specialty restaurants is an example of how he can customize his cruise.

 

Also, if you, as a couple, are comfortable doing things independently (e.g., you can dine in the CG while he dines in the DR) that speaks volumes about, again, your ability to customize your cruise, and, the comfort you have for each other and the respect that you have for each other.

 

Excellent.

[Luvmyrotti]

Yes, but only the uninformed actually pay that on Celebrity. They offer 3, 4 & 5 night packages, the ultimate dining plan and discounts pretty much every night.

 

That implies you will be dining at multiple specialty restaurants for 3 4 or 5 nights (which by the way means they get even more of your money). For us we usually do the MDR every night except for one trip to the Crown Grill.

 

So how much do you pay in total for these excellent, cost-effective dining packages on Celebrity?;)

[srpilo]

The devil is in the detail. With the multiple night packages, you get one night at Murano and the rest at the who-wants-to-go-there restaurants. Qsine is silly, Tuscan Grill is a bore.

 

I tend to agree with your take, though I do like the Lawn Club Grill on Silhouette and Reflection

 

Srpilo

[toberman]

Could you please re-size your pics before posting so we all don't have to scroll across the screen to read all posts? Thanks

[beg3yrs]

What's a "POST QUOTA" ?

 

Some CC members believe they have a POST QUOTA.

 

You can tell who they are because many of their posts a simple one word statements like "Yes." or "Agree".

 

mrs and mrs are not in that catetory - their post was a tease.

 

Note, you need the period in the "Yes." as posts must be at least four characters.

Edited April 14, 2016 by beg3yrs

[cruzsnooze]

Last month we ate at Crown Grill the first night of our cruise because it was included in our suite. I didn't care for it at all and wouldn't go back. Next cruise we'll eat at Sabitini the first night which is what we usually do.

[kimlovesfl]

The DH and I ate at Sabatini's on our last cruise, our first time in a specialty restaurant, only because we had the OBC to use. It was good, but not outstanding, "banquet food" as my husband called it (he's a chef). The service, though, was outstanding. We ate there the night we were in St Thomas, and we left that port about 7 pm, so we had no problems getting a table around 5:30-6, and in fact the place was almost empty. It was lovely to see that beautiful island out the window by our table.

 

I still think that, no matter how you slice it, a cruise is the best bargain for your vacation dollar out there. Where else can I get a room, entertainment every night, all that food, and go to a different destination almost every day, for the cost of a cruise?

[greenie082756]

I think that $4 increase is reasonable for the specialty dining. For now.

 

DH and I have eaten twice @ the Crown Grill on the Golden. First time it was excellent, last time was meh..

 

Like others have stated, we went to a nice restaurant and paid $120 for two small plates and no alcohol. We won't be back there.

 

On the next cruise we will try Sabatini's. Why not? We have OBC to pay for it.:D

[Alaskan Joe]

The increase won't stop us but it may for others. You hear so many people say "why should I pay extra when I can get food for free other places" I'm sure they have never experienced those melt in your mouth steaks, otherwise they would be booking.

My wife and I said the exact same thing "why should I pay extra when I can get food for free other places." With that said, on our cruise with RCCL I wanted to try the steak house (forgot the name) and since I wear the pants in the house we do what I say (she not going to read this so I could say that...haha.:D) Moving on, we had an awesome experience the steak was probably one of if not the best steak I had ever eaten, my wife afterwards even said for the $25 it was definitely worth it so now we book the steak house no matter what cruise line we are on. Also I will note that at least one of the nights on a 7 day cruise in the main dinning room there always seems to be a crappy menu selection no matter what cruise line you are on. So the first thing we do is look at the menus for the week (usually posted on the T.V. in your stateroom along with other great info) then find the menu that does not sound good for us and immediately book for the steak house on that night, and I say immediately as they seem to fill up very fast.

[Alaskan Joe]

P.S.

Oh yeah I forgot, the extra up charge will not affect me booking Crown

Grill on my next cruise.

[easyboy]

We dine at the Crown Grill once every cruise. I find the additional $8 for me and my DW still insignificant to our total cruise expense. It is just a choice anyway.

[VibeGuy]

We have a hard time finding Select in the grocery store, let alone pay extra for it on the ship. I believe the CG used to be Prime???

 

I believe it's been Cargill's proprietary "Sterling Silver Beef" program at least since the Crown Grill concept was launched (I can't recall the Diamond/Sapphire that-which-is-now-Savoy-and-formerly Sterling off the top of my head).

 

Much like Certified Angus, it's not a grade, and it doesn't specify aging conditions. The beef is USDA *inspected*, but not necessarily USDA graded - they can make claims like "Only the top 20% of beef" (which would be Prime, Choice and the very top edge of Select), but they don't have to abide by some very technical points of USDA grading which are legal requirements for, say, Prime, but may not actually impact eating quality.

 

My problem with Crown is that I buy two types of beef at retail - either grass-fed local stuff (flavorful/beefy but lean/tough) or USDA Prime (Costco blows it out the door, and it's rich in flavor/fat), and I dry-age it and trim it for flavor and tenderness, not efficiency and the ability to hang out on a ship for extended periods of time. I adore the sides at CG, I love the fish, but the beef, to me, is roughly equal to what Costco or a better supermarket is selling, and not what a truly fine steakhouse is serving. It's wet-aged and the butchering is intended to get the most yield out of the primal.

 

I would love to see Princess do a program with loins and primal cuts hanging in one of the modern dry-aging systems, getting all delicious-looking, but the expense of doing dry aging right is enormous - 30% of the weight of the beef evaporates (moisture loss) and trim losses can be another 10-20% even with skilled meatcutters. So you buy a pound of fresh Prime for $10 and by the time it's all through, you have an 8 oz steak. That 16 oz New York requires a pound and a half of fresh beef, 28-42 days in an expensive gadget, perhaps five minutes of cleanup labor (assuming you're doing a whole New York striploin at a time and your meatcutter hasn't been doing this for a lifetime), and the numbers just cease to work.

[cactusrose]

We have never, ever not been able to eat in the specialty dining establishments any time we have wanted. It always bewilders me when people speak of not being able to get a reservation? This includes our experience on the Regal.

 

The only time we've had a problem getting a reservation was when the ship was full of people who booked under one of the promotions that gave them dinner for two in one of the specialty restaurants. Then you couldn't get a reservation at all because the reservations for those passengers were handed out by the ship so the restaurants were booked up before we even boarded.