Specialty dining charges seem really high

[maureenk]

Am I being naive or are the prices for Eden and Fine Cut on Edge excessive?!  Im thinking we already are entitled to a nice meal in the dining room. While I’d love to try them both, not sure I’ll spend for them if my shipboard credit ends up being refundable. The fees seem high then they tack on another 20% for gratuity. I’m all about different and new experiences so I get that AND it’s vacation so why not live it up?!  Do you feel these are worth the surcharge?  Seriously interested in opinions. Thank you!

Edited January 23 by maureenk
Typo

[Kmkub]

We have our first Celebrity cruise coming up, soon. We always love to try the specialty restaurants on any line, but the cost on this line is excessive, IMO. We’re debating on Murano, but it’s about $65/pp.

[diesel1973]

We were recently on the Equinox and tried to book Tuscan and Murano pre-cruise but was unavailable. When we got on ship they were magically available at a higher price. We booked anyway and found Tuscan to be good but Murano to be very disappointing.

 

 

 

[DaKahuna]

 Gone are the good old days of $25 and $35 specialty dining meals. 

 

[NMTraveller]

IMHO the quality is not what it used to be in specialty restaurants ...

 

More for less...

[Oville]

4 minutes ago, NMTraveller said:

IMHO the quality is not what it used to be in specialty restaurants ...

 

More for less...

Can you give some examples of Eden and Fine Cuts on Edge?

Edited January 23 by Oville

[deliver42]

We were on the Beyond, and found Eden to be excellent.

[jelayne]

Food is very subjective.  We have done Eden 2x on different ships and, for, us not worth the $.  On the other hand we enjoyed Fine Cut much more.  The potential downside to FC is that it is open to the Grand Plaza 2 decks below and can get unbearably noisy if you are seated near then the open area.  The prices have been increased to beyond what we consider worth the price.

[CunucuMom]

We did Fine Cut on Ascent on the preview cruise and were underwhelmed by the food and service.  Not sure if it was just un-luck of the draw for us as many folks rave about FC but we won't do it again.  Fortunately we had OBC to burn so not a big deal; just a lesson learned.

[Pushkin]

We did Eden and Fine Cut on our recent cruise on Ascent.  Although expensive (I believe, $80 pp (20% discount first night)), we really enjoyed Eden.  Service, ambiance and food were excellent.

 

We were disappointed in Fine Cut ($65 pp, I think).  I ordered a Tomahawk ribeye medium-rare.  The steak came out medium-medium well (less than 1" thick).  Was replaced with rare -.  I didn't want to send back again, so I just ate around the most raw parts.  DH's bone-in filet was tasty but unevenly cooked.  Decor was great, service okay - not worth the money in our opinion.

[Hawkstar33]

13 hours ago, maureenk said:

Am I being naive or are the prices for Eden and Fine Cut on Edge excessive?!  Im thinking we already are entitled to a nice meal in the dining room. While I’d love to try them both, not sure I’ll spend for them if my shipboard credit ends up being refundable. The fees seem high then they tack on another 20% for gratuity. I’m all about different and new experiences so I get that AND it’s vacation so why not live it up?!  Do you feel these are worth the surcharge?  Seriously interested in opinions. Thank you!

Keep checking for sales on the Celebrity site..Go to your booking. Go to manage your bookings, scroll down to specialty dining, and watch for sales.  Got lucky as I book far in advance, and caught the unlimited specialty dining package at big savings, for the second leg of both of our btb's..  Good luck

[lienf]

2 hours ago, CunucuMom said:

Fortunately we had OBC to burn so not a big deal; just a lesson learned.

I think OBC is one reason people book the speciality restaurants and if we don’t have extra OBC we don’t go. 

[tschwa2]

14 hours ago, diesel1973 said:

We were recently on the Equinox and tried to book Tuscan and Murano pre-cruise but was unavailable. When we got on ship they were magically available at a higher price. We booked anyway and found Tuscan to be good but Murano to be very disappointing.

 

 

 

We had the opposite experience.  We were a bit disappointed in Tuscan but enjoyed Murano more than we thought we would. (Reflection December 2023)

[LabMom57]

16 hours ago, maureenk said:

Am I being naive or are the prices for Eden and Fine Cut on Edge excessive?!  Im thinking we already are entitled to a nice meal in the dining room. While I’d love to try them both, not sure I’ll spend for them if my shipboard credit ends up being refundable. The fees seem high then they tack on another 20% for gratuity. I’m all about different and new experiences so I get that AND it’s vacation so why not live it up?!  Do you feel these are worth the surcharge?  Seriously interested in opinions. Thank you!

 

I think the prices for the specialty restaurants and wines by the glass are outrageous on Celebrity. I am truly shocked. We have our first trip with them in just over a week and it has run much more than I had anticipated. Lesson learned. We are still going and will still enjoy it, but given our retired status now, this will be our last (non expedition) Celebrity cruise I'm afraid. Dollar for dollar, both Holland America and Oceania are a better fit for our budget.

Edited January 23 by LabMom57

[maureenk]

I’ve been on a few HAL cruises recently and agree their pricing seems better. I’m expecting good things from celebrity!  Just not good red wine with the premium pkg lol. 

[Oxo]

28 minutes ago, maureenk said:

I’ve been on a few HAL cruises recently and agree their pricing seems better. I’m expecting good things from celebrity!  Just not good red wine with the premium pkg lol. 

Prices for Specialty Restaurants and drinks are much cheaper on RCI, MSC, NCL and Princess. 

[manmachine]

18 hours ago, maureenk said:

Am I being naive or are the prices for Eden and Fine Cut on Edge excessive?!  Im thinking we already are entitled to a nice meal in the dining room. While I’d love to try them both, not sure I’ll spend for them if my shipboard credit ends up being refundable. The fees seem high then they tack on another 20% for gratuity. I’m all about different and new experiences so I get that AND it’s vacation so why not live it up?!  Do you feel these are worth the surcharge?  Seriously interested in opinions. Thank you!

There is a very good reason for your perception that these prices are high.  
 

They are.

[keesar]

Last year on Beyond and this year on Ascent, we paid $50 for Eden.    But we booked early. Eden was outstanding.  We paid $55 for Fine Cut and were disappointed with the quality of the steaks and a couple of the side dishes.  However, with the increase in prices, we will have to think more than twice. Probably not worth it for the new pricing.

[LB_NJ]

2 hours ago, LabMom57 said:

Lesson learned. We are still going and will still enjoy it, but given our retired status now, this will be our last (non expedition) Celebrity cruise I'm afraid. Dollar for dollar, both Holland America and Oceania are a better fit for our budget.

I have only been on one Oceania cruise, but really loved it. However, I have been going on Celebrity because I think it is significantly less expensive.

 

Maybe I have been doing the math wrong. 
 

Any thoughts on how you do the comparison?

[maureenk]

10 minutes ago, keesar said:

Last year on Beyond and this year on Ascent, we paid $50 for Eden.    But we booked early. Eden was outstanding.  We paid $55 for Fine Cut and were disappointed with the quality of the steaks and a couple of the side dishes.  However, with the increase in prices, we will have to think more than twice. Probably not worth it for the new pricing.

Wow Eden is $85 plus 20% now. That’s a big difference. 

[calicakes]

18 hours ago, maureenk said:

Am I being naive or are the prices for Eden and Fine Cut on Edge excessive?!  Im thinking we already are entitled to a nice meal in the dining room. While I’d love to try them both, not sure I’ll spend for them if my shipboard credit ends up being refundable. The fees seem high then they tack on another 20% for gratuity. I’m all about different and new experiences so I get that AND it’s vacation so why not live it up?!  Do you feel these are worth the surcharge?  Seriously interested in opinions. Thank you!

I just looked at these last week since I was given a "sale" offer.  I think the savings was 10 percent.  We're on Edge in February and both my wife and I are not big dinner eaters.  We eat smaller portions at dinner.  I can't justify the cost. 

[maureenk]

1 minute ago, calicakes said:

I just looked at these last week since I was given a "sale" offer.  I think the savings was 10 percent.  We're on Edge in February and both my wife and I are not big dinner eaters.  We eat smaller portions at dinner.  I can't justify the cost. 

It’s 8% off now. I’m waiting to buy on board  to use my shipboard credit. 

[calicakes]

2 hours ago, LabMom57 said:

this will be our last (non expedition) Celebrity cruise I'm afraid. Dollar for dollar, both Holland America and Oceania are a better fit for our budget.

We have 2 X cruises booked( Edge coming up next month, booked when the prices were still all inclusive and we got a great deal and we booked Galapagos for 2025.  Will move back to Oceania if we book another cruise.  The miso glazed cod in Red Ginger is probably the best seafood dish I've had on a cruise.  Maybe even on land. 

[LabMom57]

Just now, calicakes said:

We have 2 X cruises booked( Edge coming up next month, booked when the prices were still all inclusive and we got a great deal and we booked Galapagos for 2025.  Will move back to Oceania if we book another cruise.  The miso glazed cod in Red Ginger is probably the best seafood dish I've had on a cruise.  Maybe even on land. 

We are also booked for the Galapagos in January 2025 on the Xpedition!

[calicakes]

4 minutes ago, maureenk said:

It’s 8% off now. I’m waiting to buy on board  to use my shipboard credit. 

They might have a special closer to the end of the cruise or the first night.