Specialty Restaurant Pricing

[Sascol]

OK. We are not rookies. We have cruised almost 30 times …about half of those with Celebrity. Every time we cruise we book several specialty restaurants. I seem to remember clearly that the cover charge, as explained also included gratuities for the staff and while not necessary, you could then pay the staff additional $$ after dining.  In other words $50 covered the meal and the gratuity.  I do not ever remember being charged a gratuity in addition to the $50 in advance. 

 

We recently reserved specialty restaurants for our upcoming cruise and I noticed in the confirmation we received after the fact via email we received that an 18% gratuity was added to our charge. Is this normal? If so, when did this start?

[39august]

This started a few months ago. Higher base prices and 18% gratuity added. 

[wrk2cruise]

This change was made about 3 months ago, not too long after they raised the prices of the specialties about 10-15% as well.

[cruisinfly]

This is how Celebrity is increasing their revenue while staying competitive in the cruise market. (lower advertised prices/cost to book while increasing revenue by making money onboard)

 

You are correct that when specialty restaurants were a new thing, the extra fee was noted as a gratuity to the staff. It was also quite reasonable. This has evolved into a lucrative revenue stream.

 

I don't hold it against them, however, as long as their "included" dining continues to be high quality with good service. (Note that a lot of people say "free" dining...it's not "free", it's included in the price of the cruise.)

 

On an NCL cruise before COVID, the service and food in the main dining room was very poor while their specialty restaurants had excellent food and service. I felt that this was done intentionally to "convince" people who wanted good food/service to spend extra money to get it. I haven't been back on NCL since (and they seem to be close to bankruptcy).

Edited February 2, 2023 by cruisinfly

[Sascol]

This is such BS. Nickel and diming everywhere now. Thanks for the replies. 

[Sascol]

17 minutes ago, cruisinfly said:

I don't hold it against them, however, as long as their "included" dining continues to be high quality with good service. (Note that a lot of people say "free" dining...it's not "free", it's included in the price of the cruise.)

Sadly, last fall on Beyond we felt that the food and service in the main dining rooms (the ‘free’ ones) had slipped. This is why we booked the specialty restaurants this time. We did not realize though until today that another 18% had been added. 

[Fly and Sail]

58 minutes ago, Sascol said:

Sadly, last fall on Beyond we felt that the food and service in the main dining rooms (the ‘free’ ones) had slipped. This is why we booked the specialty restaurants this time. We did not realize though until today that another 18% had been added. 

 

I felt that on Solstice and Millennium but not on EDGE class. You think $50++ for specialty dining is worth it?

[HS2BS]

So that fifty dollar specialty that had the gratuity included prior, is now really $59pp!

 

Hal

[Sascol]

57 minutes ago, Fly and Sail said:

 

I felt that on Solstice and Millennium but not on EDGE class. You think $50++ for specialty dining is worth it?

Depends on how much ++

[jelayne]

7 minutes ago, HS2BS said:

So that fifty dollar specialty that had the gratuity included prior, is now really $59pp!

 

Hal

Yes

[RICCruisers]

20 minutes ago, jelayne said:

Yes

Unfortunately the $50.00 Specially Restaurant is hard to find. On E Class ships Eden is $60.00 + $10.80 gratuity and Fine Cut is $65.00 + $11.70 gratuity. That’s $70.80 and $76.70 per person.  

[Mark_T]

1 minute ago, RICCruisers said:

Unfortunately the $50.00 Specially Restaurant is hard to find. On E Class ships Eden is $60.00 + $10.80 gratuity and Fine Cut is $65.00 + $11.70 gratuity. That’s $70.80 and $76.70 per person.  

Similarly, Murano is $60, and Tuscan $55 these days (both +18% gratuity)

[Jim_Iain]

13 minutes ago, HS2BS said:

So that fifty dollar specialty that had the gratuity included prior, is now really $59pp!

 

Hal

 

It is always a good idea to check the pricing pre-cruise.   They have both a first night discount as well as sales pre-cruise.

Example of 1st night Discount -  they apply tip at checkout

[Jim_Iain]

Also was checking on e-Class Fine Cut is now up to $65 + Tip

 

Pre-Cruise Price

 

[mac_tlc]

The multi-night packages can get the average down a little. 
 

mac_tlc

[Alsmez]

20 minutes ago, mac_tlc said:

The multi-night packages can get the average down a little. 
 

mac_tlc

 

True - but they are charging gratuity on these now as well. I bought a 5-nighter today for my upcoming cruise and noticed it at checkout. We typically leave a tip when we buy a specialty package anyway so no biggie, we just won't bother anymore since it's now prepaid.

[Sascol]

Remember Olympic for $15?  I do. 

[DaKahuna]

5 hours ago, RICCruisers said:

Unfortunately the $50.00 Specially Restaurant is hard to find. On E Class ships Eden is $60.00 + $10.80 gratuity and Fine Cut is $65.00 + $11.70 gratuity. That’s $70.80 and $76.70 per person.  

 

 I pre-booked dinner for two in the Tuscan Grill on our upcoming Millennium cruise for $49.99 each which, with the added 18% gratuity comes to $117.98.  

[Mark_T]

9 hours ago, mac_tlc said:

The multi-night packages can get the average down a little.

... but you are left to scramble for the times/days you want when you board, which we do not consider to be a reasonable exchange for the relatively small discount.

[Homestyle]

9 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

It is always a good idea to check the pricing pre-cruise.   They have both a first night discount as well as sales pre-cruise.

Example of 1st night Discount -  they apply tip at checkout

Wouldn't recommend. We did this last cruise, we were 45 mins late being seated, they were under so much pressure the food and service were compromised. We didn't get our main course until nearly 10pm. We should have complained, but we let it go. Even with the discount, it's a lot to pay for not 100% satisfaction. I love Murano, but there's a limit to what I'd pay for a family of four. Two cruses booked Dec 2023 and Feb 2025. Dread to think what it will be like by then after all the price hikes and cost cutting. I'll not book anything else, might be time to look at other holiday options in the future. 

[funship freddy]

My first specialty was on Princess years ago.

8 dollars. I will be on Summit starting Monday for my first 2023 cruise and all the “adjustments”.  IMHO Tuscan is not worth $64 additional. Was on Sky Princess in December. Queen’s Grille was excellent and $29. I will tough it out in the MDR and see if the quality is indeed as bad as recently reported on CC. While we all understand the pandemic was very tough on the cruise industry they were very profitable pre-pandemic and will be again. Most cruise lines are reporting record bookings. Record profits will follow. I don’t understand expecting to recoup their losses rout step. Can you say GM, Mobil, Exxon ?

[serene56]

where do we see pricing>     Looking at booking Reflection  but wanting to see pricing across the board first     I have searched this site.   I cant see pricing unless I am booked, 

 I see Lawn Club Grill        Tuscan Grill.    THe porch and Le Petit  (which can i order off the other menu just for the soup?