Speciality restaurants we pay additional for, is this a new 'trend'?

[dockman]

If i remember correctly the original pay to dine restaurants were created as there are always lots of anniversaries, birthdays, and special occasions to celebrate and that was the target market....then over time as the cruise lines monitored demand and extra profit from pay to dine the options increased....on the NCL Getaway they have 28 restaurants and only six of them are fee free.....seems that with over 5000 pax onboard that many paid fees not to celebrate but because the free spots were way too crowded and too much hassle...

 

Another reason that i don't care for the monster ships who seem to be laser focused on exposing pax to more and more fees for many items that used to be easy to access without extra fees.....i enjoy PG etc once or twice per cruise but eating most every meal in a fee restaurant can tack a lot of extra onto the price paid for cruise basics....and for me it's just not worth it as i find the food on HAL to be perfectly good in the no fee options...

[navybankerteacher]

Hopefully navybankerteacher isn't comparing HAL MDR or specialty restaurants to a 3*** Michelin restaurant (or even a 1* Michelin restaurant). They are a long way from that, but food in MDR is generally okay but MDR food is mass produced food for the masses. Specialty restaurants are better but IMHO still a long way from a top end restaurant.

 

Not at all- I was simply implying that for someone to state that HAL's MDR quality was "extremely bad", he must have an absurdly high bar for "acceptable".

[mcmarya]

I'll probably be looked down upon for posting this, but, if we are going to pay $60 (plus expected tip) for dinner, I would prefer to do it on a night when I would otherwise be the one cooking dinner. We can easily afford to eat at the specialty restaurants every night (or even book a suite!). Instead, we occasionally book inside cabins (never had a balcony), and only eat at the PG when it is a TA gift. We still enjoy our travels immensely since luxury is not a priority for us. To each his/her own.

[frankc98376]

We eat on PG every night and love it. Yes the menu is small but so are the menus at our favorite restaurants at home. With cruise prices starting at $299 for 7 nights on some cruises I figure even in a NS we are paying less for the cruise than many hotels. I know that at Ritz Carlton my dinner won't be $70 plus tip for 2.

[jtl513]

... a dining venue that is quiet enough to have a conversation and where we don't have to listen to the table next to us.

That depends entirely on who is at that table. We were in a Tamarind once next to a table for 8 that had been drinking heavily. We had to almost shout to converse with the waitress. The manager had asked them to keep it down, but that only lasted a few minutes. As they finished and got up to leave several tables around them applauded.:eek:

 

if we are going to pay $60 (plus expected tip) for dinner ...

PG is now $35 pp. Edited September 10, 2017 by jtl513

[mcmarya]

$35 pp now! Even less chance we will be eating there in the future.

Edited September 10, 2017 by mcmarya

[KroozNut]

My DH refuses to pay extra for a specialty restaurant.

 

Why, it is such a great experience?! :)

[rkacruiser]

Why, it is such a great experience?! :)

 

Well, that depends upon the ship's Executive Chef, the PG's Chef, the PG Manager and how well trained and the Manager's expectations for her/his staff. The Tamarind rendition option for a specialty restaurant has proven to be more satisfactory for me than the Pinnacle Grill.

 

 

As I have posted on this Message Board before, my satisfaction with all of my limited experiences in the Steakhouses aboard Carnival Cruise Line vessels exceed my Pinnacle Grill experiences.

 

 

CCL seeks to promote "best practices" among all the cruise lines under their umbrella. I have yet to understand why there seems to be a lack of sharing "best practices" that I found, for example on Carnival Liberty, with the Amsterdam. Both of these are examples of my most recent patronage of a "specialty restaurant" on a CCL-affiliated vessel.

[KroozNut]

Well, that depends upon the ship's Executive Chef, the PG's Chef, the PG Manager and how well trained and the Manager's expectations for her/his staff. The Tamarind rendition option for a specialty restaurant has proven to be more satisfactory for me than the Pinnacle Grill.

 

 

As I have posted on this Message Board before, my satisfaction with all of my limited experiences in the Steakhouses aboard Carnival Cruise Line vessels exceed my Pinnacle Grill experiences.

 

 

CCL seeks to promote "best practices" among all the cruise lines under their umbrella. I have yet to understand why there seems to be a lack of sharing "best practices" that I found, for example on Carnival Liberty, with the Amsterdam. Both of these are examples of my most recent patronage of a "specialty restaurant" on a CCL-affiliated vessel.

 

Okay , but to completely and absolutely rule out the specialty restaurant experience ever (which was the comment I was responding to) to me seems a bit extreme, and potentially missing a wonderful alternative to the MDR.

[Florida_gal_50]

I frequent specialty restaurants fairly often as I enjoy them. If others don't, it really doesn't matter to me. Everyone doesn't have to enjoy the same thing.

[KroozNut]

I frequent specialty restaurants fairly often as I enjoy them. If others don't, it really doesn't matter to me. Everyone doesn't have to enjoy the same thing.

But that's like saying that you hate rattlesnake meat, having never tried it

[sapper1]

But that's like saying that you hate rattlesnake meat, having never tried it

I haven't tried rattlesnake meat either but please trust me when I say I would hate it. :o

[KroozNut]

I haven't tried rattlesnake meat either but please trust me when I say I would hate it. :o

How do you know that?:confused:

[Florida_gal_50]

But that's like saying that you hate rattlesnake meat, having never tried it

For some, it likely not important to go anywhere other than the MDR. It's such a small thing to get bothered about in my mind.

[frankc98376]

Well, that depends upon the ship's Executive Chef, the PG's Chef, the PG Manager and how well trained and the Manager's expectations for her/his staff. The Tamarind rendition option for a specialty restaurant has proven to be more satisfactory for me than the Pinnacle Grill.

 

 

As I have posted on this Message Board before, my satisfaction with all of my limited experiences in the Steakhouses aboard Carnival Cruise Line vessels exceed my Pinnacle Grill experiences.

 

 

CCL seeks to promote "best practices" among all the cruise lines under their umbrella. I have yet to understand why there seems to be a lack of sharing "best practices" that I found, for example on Carnival Liberty, with the Amsterdam. Both of these are examples of my most recent patronage of a "specialty restaurant" on a CCL-affiliated vessel.

 

Last year on Westerdam PG Chef Ganesh, PG Manager Gabor and servers Chris and Yulia were all amazing- 100% perfection every night. Hoping Oosterdam in a few weeks has an equally amazing crew in PG. PG is very much like the Metropolitan Grill in Seattle- both use Double R Ranch beef from Eastern Washington. Difference being the Rib Steak in the PG would be about $90 at the Met Grill (a la carte)- sides/salads $10-$15. Full dinner in PG is $35. Many on CC will agree that PG Server Clifford is pretty much a HAL legend- we have sailed with Clifford several times.

 

King Crab legs would likely be as much or more ashore. Really looking forward to Sel de Mer night in Mexico.

[navybankerteacher]

 

...

 

As I have posted on this Message Board before, my satisfaction with all of my limited experiences in the Steakhouses aboard Carnival Cruise Line vessels exceed my Pinnacle Grill experiences.

...

 

Because we do not see the specialty restaurants that much better than the MDR , we reserve our "dining out" spending for really superior land restaurants. We've tried Pinnacle a couple of times; and, while better than the MDR - just not that special.

 

I cannot help remarking that steakhouses, afloat or ashore, are a dreadful way to use "dining out" funds. A good butcher shop can provide much better beef - which I believe I can cook at home at least as well as any restaurant - for much less cost.

 

In our view "dining out" should be for the meals/selections you cannot do as well yourself at home.

[taxmantoo]

Last year on Westerdam PG Chef Ganesh, PG Manager Gabor and servers Chris and Yulia were all amazing- 100% perfection every night. Hoping Oosterdam in a few weeks has an equally amazing crew in PG. PG is very much like the Metropolitan Grill in Seattle- both use Double R Ranch beef from Eastern Washington. Difference being the Rib Steak in the PG would be about $90 at the Met Grill (a la carte)- sides/salads $10-$15. Full dinner in PG is $35. Many on CC will agree that PG Server Clifford is pretty much a HAL legend- we have sailed with Clifford several times.

 

I fully understand that the Pinnacle Grill is a very good experience for being a very willing regular customer, but please do not try to compare prices. I have never been to the Met Grill in Seattle and believe you that it is a very nice restaurant. The real difference is that the Met Grill does not charge a $5000 or $6000 cover charge as does the Pinnacle Grill. So the Met Grill's $90 is quite cheap when compared to the Pinnacle Grill's $35. ;p

[kazu]

Into the fray ;)

 

I was of the attitude years ago that I shouldn't pay for dining since I already paid for it in my price.

 

That changed with time and honestly (and I hate to say this) but it really depends on the ship and the managers on board.

 

We have had some absolutely wonderful Canalettos (Rotterdam & Prinsendam), an abysmal PG (Maasdam) while a year earlier the same ship (Maasdam) was superb.

 

Our Westerdam PG was great (thanks Clifford) and our Pg on the P'dam incredible.

 

it can vary. whether you choose to do it or not, it's all up to you but when you are sailing for 4 weeks or so, you do like a bit of a break ;)

 

As soon as specialty dining opens for our next crruise, this person will be booking a few. :D

[Mrkmbb]

We ate at all restaurants, and really thought the food in the MDR was the best we had. Canaletto was very...average. It reminded us of our local Dennys. Pinnacle was awesome and Tamarind was good, but nothing special. If I were doing it over, I wouldn't bother paying for the "specialty" restaurants.

[glrounds]

If i remember correctly the original pay to dine restaurants were created as there are always lots of anniversaries, birthdays, and special occasions to celebrate and that was the target market....then over time as the cruise lines monitored demand and extra profit from pay to dine the options increased....on the NCL Getaway they have 28 restaurants and only six of them are fee free.....seems that with over 5000 pax onboard that many paid fees not to celebrate but because the free spots were way too crowded and too much hassle...

 

Really hate to read this. This solo Carnival cruiser (30 cruises) was anxious to try the Solo cabins on one of the NCL ships, but if this is the case, I probably won't.:(

I dine once or twice each cruise at the Steakhouse of the Carnival ships (a bargain at $35 IMHO), but am usually fine with MDR grub. I'm not much of a "foodie" so maybe that's the reason I'm fine with the MDR.:)

[MisterBill99]

For some, on land dining at the same restaurant, time and again, becomes monotonous. I believe the same may be true when dining aboard ship.

 

I don't agree with this analogy. At an on land restaurant, the menu is likely to be the same every day, maybe a special or two but they may not change daily, either. In the ship's MDR, the menu completely changes every day except for a small number of rather plain dishes. You can easily eat a completely different meal every day. On the other hand, specialty restaurant menus are the same every day, which makes me wonder how someone would eat at the same place every night of their cruise. We do eat at specialty restaurants on occasion, but the MDR is fine, too. And I thought that both the MDR and buffet were pretty good on our recent HAL cruise.

 

Also, I think the OP is several years late in their observation about specialty restaurants being a "new trend".

 

 

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[avian777]

Okay , but to completely and absolutely rule out the specialty restaurant experience ever (which was the comment I was responding to) to me seems a bit extreme, and potentially missing a wonderful alternative to the MDR.

 

I frequent specialty restaurants fairly often as I enjoy them. If others don't, it really doesn't matter to me. Everyone doesn't have to enjoy the same thing.

 

(y)(y)(y)

[frankc98376]

I think that we will be seeing fewer "included" dining options in the future as evidenced by NCL. In 1982 we paid $799 for a seven night cruise in an inside cabin. I see seven night cruises advertised at $299 or $399. Fuel, food, maintenance, and labor costs are far from 1982 prices. Somewhere the cruise lines need t make up that revenue. The only place they have is on board revenue.

 

When P&O took the two "S" ships they converted the MDR into four restaurants on two decks. I believe only one is "free".

 

I really believe that even the "flat fee" (ala PG) restaurants will fade out on the "mainstream" lines and we will see it become more like a hotel with a la carte pricing as we are seeing on Koningsdam. Some of the high end (and high per diem) lines will likely remain "all inclusive" just as some resorts offer the same.

 

I'm sure there will be many that say they will just stop cruising. When such a small percentage of the population has actually cruised there is a big untapped market out there. Bigger casinos and bigger shows could tap into the Las Vegas market. They would actually have a leg up on Vegas as the hotel can move from place to place.

[dockman]

When comparing cruise vacations with hotels it is also worth noting that most non suite cruise staterooms are much smaller than most hotel rooms....in fact i suspect that many would deem a less than 200 square foot hotel room with a tiny bathroom and tiny TV to be substandard and refuse to stay there...cruise lines have been able to provide small rooms and people accept them because of the many other benefits of cruising such as mostly included meals, entertainment, travel etc....as cruise lines further reduce many of the included benefits they may well find that they are losing many clients who are not willing to pay for meals and entertainment PLUS have a tiny room....one of the major selling points of cruises for decades has been that yes the room is small BUT the ship more than makes up for that with the included food/entertainment, etc.

 

Cruise lines are experimenting as to how far they can push the envelope and still fill the ships.

 

And yes only a small percentage have actually cruised but there are also now a LOT more ships to be filled and a LOT more competition from hotels. We shall see how it all sorts itself out.

[Toofarfromthesea]

Not at all- I was simply implying that for someone to state that HAL's MDR quality was "extremely bad", he must have an absurdly high bar for "acceptable".

 

When I see a post like that I like to take a peek at the posting history. Seeing that the poster puts out an unrelenting stream of negative posts about almost everything provides perspective on how serious to take their opinion.