cost for specialty restaurants

[Werangels]

4 hours ago, Ithikan said:

It was a "special," sorry to report -

I had it as a special pre-order on Pursuit.  There were 6 ordered that night.  So clearly very popular.

[uktog]

It’s well overdue coming off pre order and being offered on the Aqualina menu to everyone. 😀

Edited January 29 by uktog

[Dynacruiser]

On 1/26/2024 at 8:35 AM, Mercruiser said:

I found this in the cabin "Directory of Service" book.

 

 

Thanks, @Mercruiser.   Specialty restaurants $49.95 per person in Quest?   A bit too high for me, particularly since the main dining room is a good “free” option.  We usually book suites, and glad they continue to be complimentary. However, we like to save and sometimes book Verandahs and other cabins.   I can’t see me paying $50 for Aqualina or Prime C .   

 

Of course, this will be a supply-and-demand issue, and I am sure many folks will glady pay to eat at those restaurants.  There are always new cruisers, and many of us may not like it, but we may still book a dinner or two at a specialty restaurant.   I don’t think the higher price will result in empty specialty restaurants.

 

I don't want to sound as an Azamara apologist, but restaurant prices in the USA have gone up considerably.  Bloomberg had a Nov 2023 article listing an increase of of 24% since before the pandemic.   My personal experience at higher-end US restaurants is worse than Bloomberg found.  Compared to before the pandemic, it seems like my average restaurant bill has gone up as much as 45%.   Higher wine markup is probably driving good part of the price increases I experience.   I also started tipping a higher percentage after the pandemic (and some restaurant electronic devices now “suggest” 25% tip.  One restaurant adds 22% automatically and encourages to tip extra).   Of course, this is forcing me to cook at home more often, or simply get a glass instead of a bottle of wine.

 

I hope they don't increase the price of a Chef's table.  I already disliked paying $95 per person for those, but usually booked one per cruise and always had a great time anyway.

 

 

On 1/26/2024 at 8:38 AM, uktog said:

They should hold back price increases until they improve the menus.

 

 

 

I don't think the menus will improve much just because of the price increase.  The menus may change just because they like to vary things, but I wouldn't expect dramatic improvements.   They may see this as an opportunity to catch up on the higher costs of food, rather than an opportunity to provide better dishes.

 

In any case, I liked the current offerings. 🙂 I wouldn't mind the Dover Sole coming back, but would understand it if it has become too expensive to serve.

[Mackdogmolly]

I just bought the Chef’s Table plus 2 for my upcoming cruise on Quest online using Manage my Reservation” for $145. I had to call to process the payment, but the price didn’t change. And the agent answered on the first ring!

Edited February 1 by Mackdogmolly

[BuddyR]

2 hours ago, Mackdogmolly said:

I just bought the Chef’s Table plus 2 for my upcoming cruise on Quest online using Manage my Reservation” for $145. I had to call to process the payment, but the price didn’t change. And the agent answered on the first ring!

But, you still cannot use OBC to purchase dining packages in advance, correct?

[Mackdogmolly]

8 minutes ago, BuddyR said:

But, you still cannot use OBC to purchase dining packages in advance, correct?

I could have, according to the agent. But I chose to put it on a cc.

[laurieb]

1 hour ago, Mackdogmolly said:

I could have, according to the agent. But I chose to put it on a cc.

Pretty sure the agent was mistaken.

[Mackdogmolly]

3 minutes ago, laurieb said:

Pretty sure the agent was mistaken.

Well, she offered to!

[BuddyR]

So confusing!

[Mackdogmolly]

16 minutes ago, BuddyR said:

So confusing!

Well, if you have an upcoming cruise, you could do what I did and give it a try. If nothing else, at least I got the old price!

[ECCruise]

3 hours ago, laurieb said:

Pretty sure the agent was mistaken.

No, you definitely can now use OBC for dining packages. Did it on Monday. Received a new invoice in minutes  showing package charged against OBC. 

[laurieb]

4 minutes ago, ECCruise said:

No, you definitely can now use OBC for dining packages. Did it on Monday. Received a new invoice in minutes  showing package charged against OBC. 

well that's great news!

[ECCruise]

7 minutes ago, laurieb said:

well that's great news!

I think it is brand new.  The agent I was working with said something like "it is supposed to work now (charging OBC) so let's see"

 

And voila, it worked. 

[crzrr]

I was also able to use OBC to purchase a dining package ahead of time.  In addition, because I did not have enough left on my first cruise, the agent used some OBC from the 2nd of our b2b cruises to pay the remainder.  The dining package was for the first cruise.

 

[Mercruiser]

We ate at Aqualina on Quest the last night of the cruise. Dover Sole was the special. It was delicious.

 

The table next to us asked if it was fresh. The waiter's answer was frozen. I don't mind that the least. Better frozen than in the fridge for 16+ days.

Edited February 5 by Mercruiser

[oddjob16]

10 hours ago, Mercruiser said:

We ate at Aqualina on Quest the last night of the cruise. Dover Sole was the special. It was delicious.

 

The table next to us asked if it was fresh. The waiter's answer was frozen. I don't mind that the least. Better frozen than in the fridge for 16+ days.

It is very seldom that you can get fresh fish on a c ruise ship, - for obvious reasons. When Quest was in Ålesund in 2022 I mediated a deal with a local supplier so that Johannes could buy 120 kg of fresh hake filets. 
Random purchases happens, but not on every cruise.

[Mercruiser]

7 minutes ago, oddjob16 said:

It is very seldom that you can get fresh fish on a c ruise ship, - for obvious reasons. When Quest was in Ålesund in 2022 I mediated a deal with a local supplier so that Johannes could buy 120 kg of fresh hake filets. 
Random purchases happens, but not on every cruise.

This is our first Azamara cruise in which they did NOT buy local seafood along the way. Perhaps Johannes needed your assistance in South America. 😀

[uktog]

10 minutes ago, oddjob16 said:

It is very seldom that you can get fresh fish on a c ruise ship, - for obvious reasons. When Quest was in Ålesund in 2022 I mediated a deal with a local supplier so that Johannes could buy 120 kg of fresh hake filets. 
Random purchases happens, but not on every cruise.

And they were excellent!  
And the waffle maker 🤣🤣

[uktog]

Just now, Mercruiser said:

This is our first Azamara cruise in which they did NOT buy local seafood along the way. Perhaps Johannes needed your assistance in South America. 😀

I think for various good reasons South America is an area where local purchasing doesn’t happen as a rule 

[Mercruiser]

I was disappointed they didn't buy local. We had excellent local seafood in Valparaiso,  Puerto Natales, Punta Arenas, and Ushuaia. The king crab and Patagonian Toothfish were especially good.

 

Ushuaia is a major cruise turnaround port for super-expensive Antarctic cruises. They surely have reliable seafood providers there.

Edited February 6 by Mercruiser

[excitedofharpenden]

15 minutes ago, Mercruiser said:

I was disappointed they didn't buy local. We had excellent local seafood in Valparaiso,  Puerto Natales, Punta Arenas, and Ushuaia. The king crab and Patagonian Toothfish were especially good.

 

Ushuaia is a major cruise turnaround port for super-expensive Antarctic cruises. They surely have reliable seafood providers there.

I think lots of things play out with certain areas of the world. Rules and regulations on purchase of food for one thing. Wheeler dealing (can I say corruption?) for another. It's rife in South America. 

 

Phil 

[KevintheIrishDJ]

14 hours ago, Mercruiser said:

We ate at Aqualina on Quest the last night of the cruise. Dover Sole was the special. It was delicious.

 

The table next to us asked if it was fresh. The waiter's answer was frozen. I don't mind that the least. Better frozen than in the fridge for 16+ days.

When I first started cruising, almost every lower port hole had a fishing line when we were in port. I was told the crew could sell almost whatever they caught to the food manager.

[Rus Tee]

Obviously can’t talk about price increases on Quest but boarded Journey yesterday, Chef’s table and the dining packages were the same as they’ve been for the last few months

[excitedofharpenden]

1 hour ago, Rus Tee said:

Obviously can’t talk about price increases on Quest but boarded Journey yesterday, Chef’s table and the dining packages were the same as they’ve been for the last few months

Interested to know if you buy one dinner in a Specialty if it's that new near $50 price as I'm not interested in buying packages?

 

Phil 

[Pride In Battle]

On 1/26/2024 at 11:41 AM, Rus Tee said:

No it’s been the same price for months. The price I’m seeing is £’s as in am the uk but pretty sure it equates to $95 for 3 table tour.

Hi

Once on board where do you book the speciality restaurants as I've heard they book up quick.

Thanks