La Dame- $160 pp or $320 for dinner for 2!!!!

[Catlover54]

3 hours ago, Dolcevita Diva said:

Ah, the challenges of a publicly owned company...

 

 

Two thoughts:

1) Egads! Don't let the bean-counters start adding larger markups to the Connoisseur's List wines.

2) Let's hope that they don't start taking the approach used by the mass market lines of reducing the quality levels of the included food and wines to encourage more "upsells" to specialty restaurants and the Connoisseur's List.

 

#2 has already happened to some degree on SB.  Though YMMV, depending on who you are and what cruise you are on, how booked the cruise is etc., on a popular and full routing roughly 3 months out the "free" specialty Thomas Keller Grill has no booking availability on any day or any time  I am happy enough with most though not all SB food, but often not with the service in the MDR and buffet, whereas in TK it was consistently excellent as was the food. So I'll just have to start jockeying for position with everyone else who is pushing and pulling through various means not just with those who seek a booking once on board, but with those who also seek  a second and third booking, the latter being more common when the ship is full and there are staffing problems (still often blamed on Covid, post-Covid, son of Covid, etc.).  

 

My guess is that if there were an upcharge, starting with the first booking, there would be more availability, both pre-cruise and intracruise, and I doubt people would refuse to sail just because of one extra charge for upscale dining  (add more things  up -- e.g., wine degradation, and other cumulative cutbacks, then yes). I've already resigned myself to bringing much of my own wine on board at select ports, but I can't do the same with waiters.

 

 

[A Tucson Guy]

Last night was dinner in LaDame. I went into dinner thinking that since the menus were similar to Dawn and Moon last year, it was not going to be a good value at $160 pp. I left the dinner feeling like it might be worth the new up charge. First the "house" wines were way above what is served in the other restaurants. We had a great dessert wine also better than before. I ordered caviar and it was way better than the stock caviar. Since we normally order a nice bottle of wine in La Dame which is usually $100 to $150. We did not feel the need to order a special wine. Food was similar but a few new nice touches. The butter dish was topped with olive oil infused with garlic, truffles and another spice. We had them drizzle the truffle infused olive oil and the taste was subtle but you could taste the truffles. It was a magnificent meal and we felt the new up charge was OK. Restaurant was 3/4 full on the first night of the cruise. We then went to the Venetian show lounge and sat in the upper story. It felt like a concert hall and we loved it. Time to get ready for excursions and  will be back.

[Mr Luxury]

"We did not feel the need to order a special wine"

I'm not surprised,then you would have paid $470 for a dinner on an all inclusive ship.

Glad you enjoyed the dinner and the new up charge was "ok"

[lincslady]

It does seem, as I have said, that the wines served included were superior to the usual pours, which could be said (by some) to account for the huge upcharge.

[turtlemichael]

Thanks for your "hot off the press" comments. Reading them, I have the impression that most of the justification for the extra $100 per person is, in your view, because of the superior wines. If you don't drink alcohol are you getting very similar food, maybe better caviar, but at a $100 surcharge?

Edited August 22, 2023 by turtlemichael

[pmcer]

I’d be interested to know whether the La Dame-included wines are available at the other restaurants.  

[lincslady]

1 minute ago, pmcer said:

I’d be interested to know whether the La Dame-included wines are available at the other restaurants.  

The recent report says not - although they might be available  but chargeable?

[Mr Luxury]

I think a dinner at Atlantide with some special orders and buying wine from the list is still going to be my go to.

 

[canderson]

@A Tucson Guy

Can you identify for us any of those "way above" wines that they served?

[Dolcevita Diva]

5 hours ago, pmcer said:

I’d be interested to know whether the La Dame-included wines are available at the other restaurants.  

Silversea’s blog post about the new dining enhancements on Silver Nova said that there would be wines in La Dame that were not available anywhere else on the ship. 

Edited August 22, 2023 by Dolcevita Diva

[A Tucson Guy]

8 minutes ago, canderson said:

@A Tucson Guy

Can you identify for us any of those "way above" wines that they served?

We  really liked the Chateau Marac Sequineau Margaux 2020, a white burgandy that we forgot to take a picture of andLa Chapelle Lafauie-Peyraguey Sauternes 2017.

[A Tucson Guy]

10 minutes ago, Dolcevita Diva said:

Silversea’s blog post about the new dining enhancements on Silver Nova said that there would be wines in LaDame that were not available anywhere on the ship. 

That seems to be correct and we had some of those. See previous post.

[A Tucson Guy]

5 hours ago, pmcer said:

I’d be interested to know whether the La Dame-included wines are available at the other restaurants.  

I was told NO last night.

[A Tucson Guy]

6 hours ago, turtlemichael said:

Thanks for your "hot off the press" comments. Reading them, I have the impression that most of the justification for the extra $100 per person is, in your view, because of the superior wines. If you don't drink alcohol are you getting very similar food, maybe better caviar, but at a $100 surcharge?

I agree. If you are not a wine drinker, the ROI is very low. Similar menu to other ships.

[Dolcevita Diva]

Just now, A Tucson Guy said:

I was told NO last night.

Ah, but would they let you smuggle the leftovers from the bottles they served you back to your cabin?

 

Never mind…”leftover wine” doesn’t exist. 

[A Tucson Guy]

I also forgot to mention that La Dame has a lot of 2 top tables right next to the windows and it was a great setting watching the ocean.

[canderson]

54 minutes ago, A Tucson Guy said:

I was told NO last night.

Not sure why.  While tasty, neither of the ones you mentioned are expensive.

[A Tucson Guy]

Just now, canderson said:

Not sure why.  While tasty, neither of the ones you mentioned are expensive.

I didn't think they were expensive but just much nicer than the normal house wines.

[jpalbny]

48 minutes ago, canderson said:

Not sure why.  While tasty, neither of the ones you mentioned are expensive.

 

Obviously, to get more people to pay the upcharge so they can get the exclusive wines.

[toseaornottosea]

2 hours ago, A Tucson Guy said:

We  really liked the Chateau Marac Sequineau Margaux 2020, a white burgandy that we forgot to take a picture of andLa Chapelle Lafauie-Peyraguey Sauternes 2017.

The chateaux marac is a very modestly priced wine. 

[texanaust]

59 minutes ago, jpalbny said:

 

Obviously, to get more people to pay the upcharge so they can get the exclusive wines.

 

But not really exclusive if they retail at $20-$25 a bottle.

[jpalbny]

5 minutes ago, texanaust said:

But not really exclusive if they retail at $20-$25 a bottle.

 

Yes, I agree with you on that. But, marketing "sometimes" isn't exactly reality... The term "exclusive" is theirs, not ours.

 

Maybe I should have said:

 

1 hour ago, jpalbny said:

 

Obviously, to get more people to pay the upcharge so they can get the so-called "exclusive" wines.

 

As we all know, one way to generate demand is to make something seem "exclusive." 

Edited August 22, 2023 by jpalbny

[steamboats]

As the information onboard and the menu was confusing we asked back.

 

Some information from Silversea regarding La Dame:

 

160 Dollar are for the Signature menu plus wine pairing with 4 reds/4 whites/1 dessert wine which are only available in La Dame. Instead of the Signature menu you can also chose from the regular menu.

 

For additional 90 Dollar you can go up to a wine pairing with wines from the Connoisseur´s Wine List - so a total of 250 Dollar per person.

 

For additional 140 Dollar you can upgrade to a champagne pairing. So that would be a total of 300 Dollar for the menu plus champagne.

 

steamboats

[canderson]

42 minutes ago, steamboats said:

As the information onboard and the menu was confusing we asked back.

 

Some information from Silversea regarding La Dame:

 

160 Dollar are for the Signature menu plus wine pairing with 4 reds/4 whites/1 dessert wine which are only available in La Dame.

Trying to wrap my mind around this:

 

NINE wines?  Does the extra $160pp include the tip for my waiter carrying me back to my cabin on a luggage cart, or @Tucson Guy, are these small pours???

[Dolcevita Diva]

4 minutes ago, canderson said:

Trying to wrap my mind around this:

 

NINE wines?  Does the extra $160pp include the tip for my waiter carrying me back to my cabin on a luggage cart, or @Tucson Guy, are these small pours???

Key takeaway - do NOT book an early morning excursion for the following day.