Have any of you eaten in the Specialty Restaurant for the Entire Cruise?

[sweetair]

Since this was my 8th time sailing on the constellation...we noticed a major decline in the food in the main dining room (really do not like the "new" menu)

we ate in the specialty dining room 5 times. This was an absolutely amazing experience!!!

First: the staff was wonderful. They knew we were spending the week eating there and were NOT overbearing. Actually the service was impeccable and FUN. They were a bit more relaxed around us and we got to know them and they got to know us.

 

YES we did tip the main dining room waiter and busperson the appropriate amount (even though we were never there. Its NOT their fault we did not care for the food)

 

Yes you can bring your OWN wine to the table and they will serve it(no smuggling necessary) $15 corkage fee applies.

 

What i loved most: We were able to pre-order our main course for the following night. I got the veal cordon blu (eliminated from main dining room and 1 of my favorite dishes)

I tasted things i have never eaten before and fell in love. (the fois gras!!!!!) anyone going PLEASE taste this dish! Yes the goat cheese is also amazing! also love the chocolate soufle! decisons decisions

 

1 word of caution : the food is very rich YOU WILL GAIN WEIGHT EATING HERE EVERYNIGHT :D but it was more than worth the diet struggle afterwards!

 

*sweet*

[2 to cruise]

Yes, "cruzin4us", do cough "up the dough" you will definitely not regret it!!

 

On a short 4 day Mexican cruise last October on Infinity we ate in the SS United States Restaurant three nights in a row. We requested the same table each night and were accommodated.

 

It is well worth the money, the ambience, food and service are superior, I would not hesitate to do it again on a longer cruise.

[Leela]

YOU WILL GAIN WEIGHT EATING HERE EVERYNIGHT :D

Heck, I gain weight eating anything at all on a cruise ship, so I might as well get the most pleasure out of the dining experience as possible :)

[cruzin4us]

Heck, I gain weight eating anything at all on a cruise ship, so I might as well get the most pleasure out of the dining experience as possible :)

 

Heck, I'm gaining weight just thinking about it........:eek:

Notice my weight graph below hasn't moved once..............:confused:

[theduffys]

Definition of a fabulous dining experience--great food and wonderful conversation without a lot of intrusion by the staff. Now, much as I love to converse with my DH of 43 years, it is possible to run out of really good conversation when one has spent the entire day with a person who's every opinion and predjudice is as familiar as one's most comfy robe. Therefore, table mates are one of the most welcome perks of a cruise. We have never been disappointed by them. We eat at the 2nd seating and are almost always the last group out of the dining room. We have never felt rushed (2 hr meals are the norm). On almost every cruise, our entire table decides to go to the specialty restaurant en masse one night. While we have always appreciated the food, every one has commented that our conversation was too frequently interupted by the staff.

Remember, this is just one couples opinion but, we do request that if you decide to eat at the specialty restaurant every evening, please begin with the first night so that the rest your assigned tablemates don't think you left because of them:confused: .

[Tatka]

We've never felt a need to dine in specialty restaraunt on X cruise.. Food in DR is perfect.

 

Also I can find 1000 great ways to spend my money. ;)

 

$60 X 7 = $420 and that's if our son won't eat with us. Otherwise it's $630, almost a 3rd person fare for a cruise.

[CaliforniaDreamin]

We've never felt a need to dine in specialty restaraunt on X cruise.. Food in DR is perfect.

 

Also I can find 1000 great ways to spend my money. ;)

 

$60 X 7 = $420 and that's if our son won't eat with us. Otherwise it's $630, almost a 3rd person fare for a cruise.

 

That adds another $84 to your tab.

[Iamboatman]

To correct a point, all cash tips are pooled. There are too many people serving you for it to be fair and it is a hard and fast rule among the staff there. You can imagine the fights otherwise.

 

As I have never eaten there only once during a cruise I tend not to tip after the first evening, but the second one. As has been said, after you eat there the second time the staff becomes much more friendly and when it becomes that bit more personal I think the gratuity is more appreciated. By the third dinner you are treated like royalty. I do not know if I mentioned this earlier, but the headwaiter even arranged for chocolate souffles to be delivered to our suite for our children...before the souffles could fall.

 

 

As for the wine steward, he is tipped by way of a 15% surcharge on all wine, including those in the Menu Exceptionale (where the wines are pared with the dishes). (BTW, some of those wines are quite good; others OK, but over all it is a good value if you are going to order wines anyway. Hint: If you order this more than once you wine glasses just might get refilled!)

 

Just writing about this brings back my fears of leaving the Constellation with gout!:)

[naked]

Have you read the article about what cruiseship employees really make?

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/features/articles.cfm?ID=261

 

Thanks for that link Flagger!

 

a waiter can earn between $2,000 and $3,200 per month (while a busboy will pull in $1,200 - $1,800

 

Let's break this down: A Waiter works about 14-18 hours a day, 7 days a week. (14hours/day x 30 days in a month = 420 hours) At $2000 a month, that's about $4.75/hour. At $3200 they make about $7.62/hour.

 

What the article doesn't make clear is that the $3200 figure INCLUDES TIPS. Note the wording: "a waiter can earn between". The earnings are wages plus tips.

 

Now, if a waiter is getting $3.50 in tips from 10 people each day, that's just over $1000. So their wages are as low as $1000-$2000 a month. These numbers are conservative and don't factor in the fact that some (many) tip more than the standard amount.

 

Given these figures, it's clear that between 33% and 50% of what a waiter and busboy's earnings are paid is from our tips.

[naked]

Back to the discussion of the SR.....

 

If you go the first night, please take a note to the Main Dining Room M'D and ask him to advise your table mates that you will not be there for dining. That way there is never a delay for them and you will not be reassigned.

 

Some cruises have open seating on the first night, if so, this isn't an issue.

[sweetair]

i think your numbers are way off naked. each waiter approximately serves 24-30 per cruise. They make a nice wage if everyone just pays the suggested amount. Granted they work very hard and most deserve this and more

*sweet*

[naked]

You are dead on! I forget about the second seating and that the best waiters serve bigger or more tables. I corrected my post in the thread devoted to the article.

 

As others have noted, if everyone tips just the $3.50 per day suggestion, the waiters make between $2000-$3000 in tips. It's been reported elsewhere that the actual wages the cruise line pays is close to $50 per month plus room and board and medical care.

 

It's up to each and every person to determine how much they want to tip, but I would hate for a new cruiser to come here and conclude that the waiters are taking in $3200 a month without tips. Nothing could be further from the truth.

[wizard-of-roz]

Leela,

I see that you've cruised the Mercury, to Pacific Northwest in 2005. We will be going in September, 2006. :confused: Can you give me some highlights of the Mercury and some insights to the Pacific Northwest. We're particularly interested in Prince Rupert Island.

We've been on the Summit to Mexico and fell in love with X! :)

[caviargal]

Leela,

I see that you've cruised the Mercury, to Pacific Northwest in 2005. We will be going in September, 2006. :confused: Can you give me some highlights of the Mercury and some insights to the Pacific Northwest. We're particularly interested in Prince Rupert Island.

We've been on the Summit to Mexico and fell in love with X! :)

 

 

I was on Mercury in the PW last October. It is most definitely NOT an M class ship and I was disappointed.

 

The rooms badly need updating and the mattresses, carpets, etc are worn. Our bathroom had a cracked sink. Service and food in the dining room were very good, but I really missed Aquaspa for breakfast and lunch.

 

Also, the fitness facilities are lacking, if this is important to you (it is to me).

 

Prince Rupert was a very small town. We had rainy weather that day and did walk the whole town. I do not think it compares to Vancouver, Victoria or any where else I have been in the area.

 

JMO.

[Tropic]

Here is a vote for a large table of friends and new friends in the dining room each evening talking about your day, just getting to know each other. I know that some like Privacy and I'll give you that, but for me makeing new found friends are some of the best memories from a cruise and since we don't drink the bars aren't normally a place we'd go to make new friends, so he's a toast to the dining room experience. Just an aside, you get better service in the dining room if you are there most nights and they get to know you better. Once maybe, just maybe you run into a bad apple situation and that only happened to us once and only once and on Princess of all ships. Just the ramblings of a happy cruiser. By the way I have enjoyed the specialty dining too... interestingly the best experience we had was on Carnival's Spirit when it was brand new on a Panama cruise. I had lobster that was to die for.