Pay restaurants charging to much ?????

[XBGuy]

I have enjoyed everybody's comments on this topic.  I would like to express my appreciation to all contributors.

 

Once again I come back to my Cruise Maxim:  the great thing about cruising is that each person gets to customize his/her experience.  People who do not like the specialty restaurants (for any reason) have plenty of other options, and their preference does not affect the experience of other cruisers,  Conversely, people who enjoy the specialty restaurants can do so and not affect the experience of others.

.

[Shippy]

   We have been cruising since way before pay restaurants were introduced onboard.

This was probably a few decades ago...... we were on a ship with a $5. restaurant charge.

When I inquired about it, I was told that this was a special restaurant and that it was a tip for the workers in there.

Sounded logical.

We did not realize at the time that it was an experiment to see if cruisers would actually pay for a different restaurant.

  It obviously spread from ship to ship. Eventually they started to hike the prices. Again, I believe as an experiment to see how high people would be willing to pay. I think they reached , or exceeded the limit for the average passenger

[MissP22]

14 hours ago, Shippy said:

We did not realize at the time that it was an experiment to see if cruisers would actually pay for a different restaurant.

  It obviously spread from ship to ship. Eventually they started to hike the prices. Again, I believe as an experiment to see how high people would be willing to pay. I think they reached , or exceeded the limit for the average passenger

I doubt if they've reached it yet. They just don' like to increase it to much, to often. As people come to accept the newer price they'll raise it once more. 

It's like the proverbial frog. 

[Roberto256]

14 hours ago, Shippy said:

   We have been cruising since way before pay restaurants were introduced onboard.

This was probably a few decades ago...... we were on a ship with a $5. restaurant charge.

The first restuarant I recall with an upcharge was The Painted Desert on Grand Princess...

...when it entered service in 1997.

I think the charge was $6.

 

The most delightful part ... one of the two exits from the showlounge went right through the dining area.

[Coral]

15 hours ago, Shippy said:

   We have been cruising since way before pay restaurants were introduced onboard.

This was probably a few decades ago...... we were on a ship with a $5. restaurant charge.

When I inquired about it, I was told that this was a special restaurant and that it was a tip for the workers in there.

Sounded logical.

We did not realize at the time that it was an experiment to see if cruisers would actually pay for a different restaurant.

  It obviously spread from ship to ship. Eventually they started to hike the prices. Again, I believe as an experiment to see how high people would be willing to pay. I think they reached , or exceeded the limit for the average passenger

I remember that on the Grand class ships when they came out and also on the Sun Class ships (Sea, Sun, Dawn) also. At least with Princess. The cost was so minimal. We were told they were not included in the usual tipping pool.

 

RCCL and Celebrity had already rolled out there for pay restaurants and they were a lot more at the time compared to Princess's.

 

----

 

On the Crown recently - they were going around to people asking them to make reservations in the specialty dining room. I am not sure if it was the price increase or the group onboard, but people were not eating in the speciality restaurants. For me, it was the price didn't match the quality of food.

 

 

Edited June 7, 2023 by Coral

[Torfamm]

On 6/5/2023 at 11:14 PM, bassmk said:

I tend to forget because I also spend hundreds (or sometimes a thousand or more) dollars at the grocery store to make food at home and then go out to eat and mid/upper class steakhouses. That's not a great comparison. 

 

The bottom line is that if you think it's too much, then it's too much and don't go there. Eat the food you've already paid for in your cruise fare. I'm in the camp that the value is great for what you get in return. 

The difference is that most of us wouldn’t buy ingredients to make a meal and also go out to eat. if I know I’m going out to dinner on Friday night, I don’t shop for that meal and throw the food away. I either don’t buy it at all or eat it another evening.
 

I agree that the food and service in the specialty restaurants often isn’t enough of an improvement to make it worth a $78 charge above the meal served in the MDR. My last two meals at the Crown Grill have been okay at best and I’d have paid not to have to eat at Bistro Sur La Mer on the Enchanted ever again. The atmosphere was like the food court at a mall with everyone walking through it and the one meal I had there took an hour and a half to arrive at the table and was awful.
 

The Catch is much better food wise and the space in the old Sabatini’s is very nice. I still don’t know that I liked it that much more than the MDR though. 

[Torfamm]

On 6/5/2023 at 8:24 PM, bassmk said:

That's not ever been my experience at Crown Grille. I think Sizzler is a bit of a stretch, honestly, but I don't know...maybe you've just had a bad experience. 

 

What kind of steak and how you like it cooked can be a factor. I'm not saying that's what's going on with your experiences, but my friends who like their steaks cooked medium and above all say that they don't like steak "that much" and tend to always have negative steakhouse meals. 🤷‍♀️

 

To each their own, your mileage may vary and all that...I still don't think $39 per person is expensive at all, and even if you feel the steak is mediocre, there is plenty served WITH the entree that justifies the cost.

I said never again to the Crown Grill when they served my steak tartare seared. Who cooks steak tartare??????

[SargassoPirate]

12 minutes ago, Coral said:

 

 

On the Crown recently - they were going around to people asking them to make reservations in the specialty dining room. I am not sure if it was the price increase or the group onboard, but people were not eating in the speciality restaurants. For me, it was the price didn't match the quality of food.

 

 

Had that happen on HAL transatlantic a few years ago.  Staff would come around with a specialty restaurant menu and interrupt our meal with a sales pitch.  It was hard not to be rude to them for interrupting our meal since they were being told to do it, so She Who Must Be Obeyed made a little sign with a folded index card that said "NO" on both sides and when the photographers or the specialty restaurant sales people would come around, rather than making eye contact with them and interrupting our conversation, one of us would just point to the sign. Before very long, "NO" signs were cropping up on other tables and by midway through the cruise the roving sales pitches stopped.

 

 

[Coral]

26 minutes ago, SargassoPirate said:

Had that happen on HAL transatlantic a few years ago.  Staff would come around with a specialty restaurant menu and interrupt our meal with a sales pitch.  It was hard not to be rude to them for interrupting our meal since they were being told to do it, so She Who Must Be Obeyed made a little sign with a folded index card that said "NO" on both sides and when the photographers or the specialty restaurant sales people would come around, rather than making eye contact with them and interrupting our conversation, one of us would just point to the sign. Before very long, "NO" signs were cropping up on other tables and by midway through the cruise the roving sales pitches stopped.

 

 

I agree - I felt bad for them having to do so and politely said no. Funny about the cards.

 

I do have to laugh - I was in the buffet one afternoon and they were stopping at each table selling a $2 glass of some sort with the Princess logo on it. It was about 2" high and round. It was weird - not sure what type of glass it was. I felt so bad for them. It reminded me of when I was in Italy and people were allowed into restaurants to sell cheap foreign trinkets. Except I felt bad for the Princess employees and not those in Rome.

Edited June 7, 2023 by Coral

[bassmk]

40 minutes ago, Torfamm said:

The difference is that most of us wouldn’t buy ingredients to make a meal and also go out to eat. if I know I’m going out to dinner on Friday night, I don’t shop for that meal and throw the food away. I either don’t buy it at all or eat it another evening.
 

I agree that the food and service in the specialty restaurants often isn’t enough of an improvement to make it worth a $78 charge above the meal served in the MDR. My last two meals at the Crown Grill have been okay at best and I’d have paid not to have to eat at Bistro Sur La Mer on the Enchanted ever again. The atmosphere was like the food court at a mall with everyone walking through it and the one meal I had there took an hour and a half to arrive at the table and was awful.
 

The Catch is much better food wise and the space in the old Sabatini’s is very nice. I still don’t know that I liked it that much more than the MDR though. 

You've never bought a week's worth of groceries and then gone out to eat during that week? Never made your lunch for work and decided to go out instead?

 

My point is that yes, we've paid for meals in our cruise fare, but not ONLY food. That fare covers so much more, and if someone doesn't want to spend more on top of that, they won't. I choose to bc I can and I like it. 

[Torfamm]

10 minutes ago, bassmk said:

You've never bought a week's worth of groceries and then gone out to eat during that week? Never made your lunch for work and decided to go out instead?

 

My point is that yes, we've paid for meals in our cruise fare, but not ONLY food. That fare covers so much more, and if someone doesn't want to spend more on top of that, they won't. I choose to bc I can and I like it. 

I have very rarely chosen to throw out my lunch or dinner and eat out, but yes, I have to admit it’s happened. I wouldn’t plan to do it though, so I just don’t see it as a great analogy for eating in specialty restaurants 

Whether specialty restaurants are worth $40 per person is absolutely a subjective decision. I have no issue with the choice to go at all.

[JimmyVWine]

On 6/6/2023 at 3:58 PM, Shippy said:

I think they reached , or exceeded the limit for the average passenger

I guess it depends on who the “they” is. Whereas Princess is charging $35-$39, other cruise lines are charging $45-60. So maybe “they” have exceeded the limit, but the “other they” has not. 

[JimmyVWine]

13 hours ago, Torfamm said:

I said never again to the Crown Grill when they served my steak tartare seared. Who cooks steak tartare??????

Lots of people. (Seared, not “cooked”). Just do an internet search for “seared steak tartare” or “Tartare Aller-Retour”. You will find lots of hits and recipes. It may not be the most common preparation but it certainly isn’t a one-off. 90% of the protein is still raw/rare. 

[Coral]

16 minutes ago, JimmyVWine said:

I guess it depends on who the “they” is. Whereas Princess is charging $35-$39, other cruise lines are charging $45-60. So maybe “they” have exceeded the limit, but the “other they” has not. 

If the food quality is worth it - I will pay it. If it isn't - then I won't.

 

It has been a long time since I have been to a steakhouse on another line. I can tell you that the last time I was on RCCL, Chops was better than Crown Grill.

[LibertyBella]

Been cruising for fifty years now, and specialty restaurants did not exist in those days--you were either first class (as in Cunard Queen's Grill) or in the same class/restaurant with everybody else.

 

Yet I do think the introduction of those restaurants is a clever idea--they offer diversity in dining choices, tastes, are often more intimate, and with more focused service.  We have eaten in a few, and have no real praise or complaints one way or another--most of our most memorable meals in life have been on the land, and we cruise for the cruise experience, not really for the food. 

 

In the scheme of cruise life, the restaurant charge is minimal as compared to spa services, photo packages, multiple excursions, drink packages, jewelry shop purchases, etc.

[Torfamm]

22 minutes ago, JimmyVWine said:

Lots of people. (Seared, not “cooked”). Just do an internet search for “seared steak tartare” or “Tartare Aller-Retour”. You will find lots of hits and recipes. It may not be the most common preparation but it certainly isn’t a one-off. 90% of the protein is still raw/rare. 

Interesting. In my opinion that is a rare hamburger, not steak tartare. I love a rare burger 

 

The appetizer had what appeared to be a fried quail egg on it. The whole thing was room temperature and the sauce tasted like barbecue sauce. With a bun, cheese, and bacon I would have enjoyed it for lunch.
 

If they’d called it seared steak tartare, I’d have known not to order it and waste everyone’s time as well as the food itself

 

A pet peeve of mine is the drastic changing of traditional dishes without describing it as such on the menu. It may be something that lots of people would enjoy, but it is not what the majority of customers think they are ordering when a restaurant has steak tartare on the menu. 

[capriccio]

If anyone reading this is currently on the Coral Princess World Cruise I want to share our (group of 4) experiences in the Bayou Cafe 5 weeks ago:  it was fantastic and we are still talking about it.  Two of us had fillets and two of us had the lamb chops.  Everything was cooked as requested perfectly and not a bite was left on any of our plates.  My sister and brother-in-law kept saying 'we don't usually order meat when dining out but we're so glad we did!"  The meals rivaled anything we have ever had at Morton's or Ruths Chris.  Maybe because they were provisioned in Australia?

[Towlie]

It’s not worth the $39. Yes, I know full well what steak costs. My local Kroger often sells chewy rib eye steaks for $7 a lb during sales.

The rib-eye I ate last week was just as tough/rubbery as the worst steaks I bought.

The sides with certainly aren’t worth or cost the cruise line $40.

I had a $30 ribeye a few months ago at Texas Roadhouse that was much better.

The steakhouse at a casino I visit wants $50 for a 12oz prime rib but the quality of all their beef is prime,not select/choice that CG uses.

[MissP22]

11 hours ago, JimmyVWine said:

I guess it depends on who the “they” is. Whereas Princess is charging $35-$39, other cruise lines are charging $45-60. So maybe “they” have exceeded the limit, but the “other they” has not. 

It sounds like Princess is shortchanging themselves.

Time for an increase I see. 

[Fortunate 2 travel]

On 6/7/2023 at 7:15 AM, Torfamm said:

I said never again to the Crown Grill when they served my steak tartare seared. Who cooks steak tartare??????

When I’m at a good steak restaurant I always order my steak so a good vet could revive it 😃

[bassmk]

1 hour ago, Fortunate 2 travel said:

When I’m at a good steak restaurant I always order my steak so a good vet could revive it 😃

My dad used to say, "Knock its horns off, wipe its ass, and put it on a plate."

[XBGuy]

16 hours ago, Torfamm said:

Interesting. In my opinion that is a rare hamburger, not steak tartare. I love a rare burger 

 

The appetizer had what appeared to be a fried quail egg on it. The whole thing was room temperature and the sauce tasted like barbecue sauce. With a bun, cheese, and bacon I would have enjoyed it for lunch.
 

If they’d called it seared steak tartare, I’d have known not to order it and waste everyone’s time as well as the food itself

 

A pet peeve of mine is the drastic changing of traditional dishes without describing it as such on the menu. It may be something that lots of people would enjoy, but it is not what the majority of customers think they are ordering when a restaurant has steak tartare on the menu. 

 

 

Actually, the menu clearly states "plancha sear."

 

https://www.princess.com/downloads/pdf/Onboard_Experience/Crown-Grill-Menu-Sample.pdf

 

 

 

Edited June 8, 2023 by XBGuy

[JimmyVWine]

56 minutes ago, XBGuy said:

Actually, the menu clearly states "plancha sear."

Nice catch.

[Torfamm]

6 hours ago, XBGuy said:

 

 

Actually, the menu clearly states "plancha sear."

 

https://www.princess.com/downloads/pdf/Onboard_Experience/Crown-Grill-Menu-Sample.pdf

 

 

 

Thanks. I don’t recall seeing it on the hard copy presented, but I suppose it’s possible I missed it. In any case, I definitely wouldn’t recommend it.

[miagirl]

On 6/7/2023 at 6:12 PM, Torfamm said:

The appetizer had what appeared to be a fried quail egg on it. The whole thing was room temperature and the sauce tasted like barbecue sauce. With a bun, cheese, and bacon I would have enjoyed it for lunch.

If they’d called it seared steak tartare, I’d have known not to order it and waste everyone’s time as well as the food itself

 

A pet peeve of mine is the drastic changing of traditional dishes without describing it as such on the menu. It may be something that lots of people would enjoy, but it is not what the majority of customers think they are ordering when a restaurant has steak tartare on the menu. 

Thank you for the warning/ heads up!  I saw steak tartare on one of the posted recently menus and I was actually all "oh goodie" I can have steak tartare twice on this trip! Once in the PES lounge and then in the dining room.  I'll avoid the dining room one.