Should we book Tuscan Grille for night 1?

[LadyBerard]

We will be sailing on the Summit in Oct. 2020 on a 12 nighter repo. cruise from Boston.  In my Cruise Planner, I currently am given an option to purchase dinner for night 1 at the Tuscan Grille for $30 p.p.  I had already made reservations for the Tuscan Grille for night 5 at $45 p.p. (while we are docked in Puerto Rico).  I was wondering if anyone has the menu from the main dining room for night 1 or 5 of a 12 night cruise.  It's been quite a number of years since we have cruised on Celebrity.  Thank you!

 

 

[keesar]

Just now, LadyBerard said:

We will be sailing on the Summit in Oct. 2020 on a 12 nighter repo. cruise from Boston.  In my Cruise Planner, I currently am given an option to purchase dinner for night 1 at the Tuscan Grille for $30 p.p.  I had already made reservations for the Tuscan Grille for night 5 at $45 p.p. (while we are docked in Puerto Rico).  I was wondering if anyone has the menu from the main dining room for night 1 or 5 of a 12 night cruise.  It's been quite a number of years since we have cruised on Celebrity.  Thank you!

 

 

 

If there is a special time you would like to dine, then I would book now.  On our recent cruise, the dining venues were pretty empty in San Juan.  We were offered $25 per person that evening.  But prices are often based  on supply and demand.

[K12Guy]

We've found Tuscan to be hit or miss, pretty much like any other restaurant in the world, which is why we normally use Luminae even though we get specialty restaurants included with our stateroom.

 

One bad experience with Tuscan was due to the food being 'average' (which is never really bad on a cruise ship) and the wine steward (not a sommelier) was awful. He kept pushing us to purchase the wine tasting event even though I told him we weren't interested, then he turned to my wife and told her to convince me we should do it. Yikes. Anyway, I had a conversation with the Michael's concierge and then the matre` de from Tuscan contacted me. We cancelled several other reservations for Tuscan, on that cruise. Since that time we've had some really good experiences at Tuscan.

 

I think $30 pp is good pricing and probably worth it.

[Olive1950]

I'm not a big fan of Tuscan either.  Their eggplant parm is awful.

 

I pretty much stick to Luminae also, as my cabins on M-class ships include unlimited specialty dining.  I have been known to dine in Sushi on Five and LPC on occasion.

[39august]

Be aware that any specialty dinner while the ship is in Puerto Rico will incur the local taxes.  

[koolforkatz]

I have found Tuscan Grill to have gone downhill over the years. My opinion only. I would wait until you're onboard and maybe find out what others' experiences are like. If they're not getting a lot of bookings, they will offer deals throughout the cruise.

 

Also, the first night in the MDR usually has prime rib and in my experience, it's always been really good.

[LadyBerard]

3 hours ago, koolforkatz said:

I have found Tuscan Grill to have gone downhill over the years. My opinion only. I would wait until you're onboard and maybe find out what others' experiences are like. If they're not getting a lot of bookings, they will offer deals throughout the cruise.

 

Also, the first night in the MDR usually has prime rib and in my experience, it's always been really good.

Thank you.  That's the information I was seeking.  My husband and I both enjoy prime rib.

[ghstudio]

3 hours ago, 39august said:

Be aware that any specialty dinner while the ship is in Puerto Rico will incur the local taxes.  

 

please explain why you think this.  The only time I have ever been charged tax on anything on a cruise ship is on EU only cruises.

That would imply that if you purchased a drink (not on a package) while the ship is in PR would incur a tax.  Does not happen.....

[keesar]

47 minutes ago, ghstudio said:

 

please explain why you think this.  The only time I have ever been charged tax on anything on a cruise ship is on EU only cruises.

That would imply that if you purchased a drink (not on a package) while the ship is in PR would incur a tax.  Does not happen.....

 

We were charged a tax for having lunch at the Lawn Club Grill because we were in Puerto Rican waters when the bill was presented to us.  If we had been in International Waters, there would not have been a tax we were told.     

[George C]

5 hours ago, Olive1950 said:

I'm not a big fan of Tuscan either.  Their eggplant parm is awful.

 

I pretty much stick to Luminae also, as my cabins on M-class ships include unlimited specialty dining.  I have been known to dine in Sushi on Five and LPC on occasion.

Agree on the eggplant parmigiana being just bad, I love there antipasto with meats and cheeses in Tuscan. We also love luminae but will do Tuscan at least once . View is outstanding in solstice class but not on summit.