Do You At Least Try One Pay Specialty Restaurant Venue During Your Cruise? If So Why?

Always at least once.

 

How often depends on the cruise line. On some cruise lines it's almost every night. ;)

No extra charge for specialty restaurants on Oceania.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

A few years ago, we gave up the main dining room on HAL ships. The food had gone downhill and service was poor (due to too many cutbacks).

Thus we eat all dinners in the specialty restaurants.

Food is subjective. There are people who think the food is great in the dining room.

To each his own.

No extra charge for specialty restaurants on Oceania.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

And no extra charge on Hapag Lloyd ships either. So far we haven't paid extra for specialty restaurants but might do so on our next cruise on a large ship with a busy main dining room. We liked the quieter included specialty dining rooms on Oceania and HL.

The fact remains: switching from MDR to specialty restaurant on lines like Celebrity or HAL only gives a moderate improvement: from fully adequate to pretty good. The specialty restaurants really are not that great. We both cook fairly well at home - and certainly when talking about lobster, lamb chops, steak or the like, we do better at home (with carefully selected ingredients) than any restaurant.

We will occasionally go out to a special restaurant at home for something we cannot make as well (or better) ourselves, and are willing to pay the going rate; but we see no point in spending $60 or so for the minor upgrade a specialty restaurant on a ship provides.

The fact remains: switching from MDR to specialty restaurant on lines like Celebrity or HAL only gives a moderate improvement: from fully adequate to pretty good. The specialty restaurants really are not that great. We both cook fairly well at home - and certainly when talking about lobster, lamb chops, steak or the like, we do better at home (with carefully selected ingredients) than any restaurant.

 

We will occasionally go out to a special restaurant at home for something we cannot make as well (or better) ourselves, and are willing to pay the going rate; but we see no point in spending $60 or so for the minor upgrade a specialty restaurant on a ship provides.

Food is always subjective and IMO the food in the MDR - in particular with RCI - is, as you say, "fully adequate". But to me that is not good enough for me to fully enjoy the cruise experience. I think on RCI and Celebrity, most of the specialty restaurants are far better and are very good - certainly more than a "minor upgrade". We no longer eat any meals in the MDR preferring the specialty restaurants entirely. As buffets go, Celebrity's is very good by comparison and we eat there as well.

And while we too enjoy the meals we prepare at home, that is not relevant to the conversation of the meal selections on board a ship. :rolleyes:

We haven't had a dinner in a dining room since 2013. (We had a dining room embarcation day lunch a few years ago, but we are "one and done" with that.) Like many of the above posters, we prefer the dining experience in the specialty restaurants.

On the other hand, I would not disagree with anybody who prefers the dining rooms for whatever reasons they have. Again, the great thing about cruising is that everybody gets to customize their experience to meet their own preferences.

I don't eat red meat, so the allure of those onboard steak houses do not entice me at all. I haven't yet found one of the Italian specialty places that provides a product worth the extra price and one that I couldn't do myself (thank to my Italian ex-nanna-in-law). The only specialty so far that was worth the extra was Tamarind with HAL. There were some non-meat items on there with the Asian Fusion flair that were OK. The MDRs anywhere bore me - a big, noisy banquet hall with uninspired non-meat options. The forced seating with the same people at the same table every damn night was a major reason I never cruised. The advent of Freestyle/Anytime/My Time/whatever dining brought me to cruising. But, I still don't like the faux "elegance" of a mass feeding room. I'm an odd duck here because I actually enjoy going to a ship's buffet area; I can create lots of interesting dinners for myself with what is offered.

IMO it depends upon the cruise line. Some premium and luxury cruise lines do not charge for the speciality restaurants so it is really a matter of whether you are hungry for the type of food that the specialities have to offer. Our cruise line of choice is Regent and, in our opinion, the food is equal to that in the specialities and there are many more choices (including lobster, filet mignon, etc.). For this reason, we love eating in the MDR.

On the other hand, we do not like the MDR on Oceania and on two Oceania cruises we did not dine in there for dinner even once (but did try it for lunch - it was mediocre and for breakfast which was fine except for the food temperature).

From what I've read, on some cruise lines, even though there is a charge to dine in a specialty restaurant, the food is dramatically better than in the MDR which is why I say that it depends upon the cruise line.

I don't eat red meat, so the allure of those onboard steak houses do not entice me at all. I haven't yet found one of the Italian specialty places that provides a product worth the extra price and one that I couldn't do myself (thank to my Italian ex-nanna-in-law). The only specialty so far that was worth the extra was Tamarind with HAL. There were some non-meat items on there with the Asian Fusion flair that were OK. The MDRs anywhere bore me - a big, noisy banquet hall with uninspired non-meat options. The forced seating with the same people at the same table every damn night was a major reason I never cruised. The advent of Freestyle/Anytime/My Time/whatever dining brought me to cruising. But, I still don't like the faux "elegance" of a mass feeding room. I'm an odd duck here because I actually enjoy going to a ship's buffet area; I can create lots of interesting dinners for myself with what is offered.

Toscana on Oceania for Italian. All pasta made fresh daily. Breads too. All from imported Italian flour (though we do have to live with the French butter). Among a host of very authentic dishes, there's always Lobster Fra Diavola (for us hungry Sicilians). And the myriad choices on the olive oil/vinegar cart are a really nice touch.

And, of course, no extra charge and eat there as often as you like (as long as you are flexible about time and table size).

BTW, Oceania ships all have the indoor/outdoor Terrace Grill with many "a la minute" cooked options (e.g., lamb chops, lobster tails) and inventive non-meat dishes, all of which are never self-served by passengers.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

I don't eat red meat, so the allure of those onboard steak houses do not entice me at all. I haven't yet found one of the Italian specialty places that provides a product worth the extra price and one that I couldn't do myself (thank to my Italian ex-nanna-in-law). The only specialty so far that was worth the extra was Tamarind with HAL. There were some non-meat items on there with the Asian Fusion flair that were OK. The MDRs anywhere bore me - a big, noisy banquet hall with uninspired non-meat options. The forced seating with the same people at the same table every damn night was a major reason I never cruised. The advent of Freestyle/Anytime/My Time/whatever dining brought me to cruising. But, I still don't like the faux "elegance" of a mass feeding room. I'm an odd duck here because I actually enjoy going to a ship's buffet area; I can create lots of interesting dinners for myself with what is offered.

DH is the same...he’s as close to a pescatarian leaning toward vegetarian as one can get, when left to his own devices when ordering. After avoiding the steakhouse option on a number of cruises, we found that it actually works quite well for him. The few fish/seafood selections are usually higher end fish species. He wouldn’t touch tilapia or anything fried with 10 foot pole.

I've eaten in a specialty restaurant (Crown Grill) only once & that was because I had a gift voucher. Since I've already paid for dinner (via my cruise fare), I see no reason the pay a 2nd time. I like the greater variety in the MDR (cold soups, soufflés, etc).

Also, I mostly cruise solo. In the specialty venue, I must eat alone In the MDR, I'm always seated with other people which I much prefer.

No extra charge for specialty restaurants on Oceania.

Yes, but the cost of an inside cabin on Oceania is $1,200 more per person than we're paying for a balcony cabin on the Royal Princess next month. That $2,400 would pay for a lot of excursions, drinks, and specialty dinners.

Unless of course, you're flying to port. O fare includes airfare or credit and O Life would pay for excursions (or booze). No charge for specialties or internet. Do the bottom line math.

And after that, consider the difference in quality, particularly when it comes to things like food and bedding.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Indeed. We always dine at one of the specialty restaurants at least once during a cruise (usually the first night out) simply to get away from all the chaos of the first day...

Yes at least once. It's a great experience that my wife and I enjoy.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N920A using Forums mobile app

Frequently.

Main dining rooms have become so loud and with flexible dining options people are constantly coming and going so service suffers. Its like Friday night at a typical chain restaurant.

We like not only the higher quality of food, but the more intimate atmosphere and much higher level of service.

Usually, yes, and we count it as the evening's entertainment. We had an anniversary dinner in Marco Pierre White's restaurant; on the next cruise, the master Chef himself was cooking for us.

We also use the less expensive places, such as the Glass House with matching wines; this year, with the women friends we made, we went for a "hen" night there, and the men had a "stag" night in the Indian restaurant.

We have no interest in specialty restaurants as we pay enough for the cruise as is. If given as a perk for booking, yes we would take it but thus far, we've been happy with the MDR.

We've gotten free specialty dining on our last 4 cruises and always go to a specialty restaurant. Last cruise it was 3 nights out of 7, the other 4 were in the suites restaurant. On our next cruise we've decided to go to a specialty restaurant at least 5 of the 7 nights, maybe all 7. While we like the food in the suites restaurant the menus are the same for each 7 night cruise and are also served on longer cruises. Just decided it was time for a change and an opportunity to experience all 5 specialty restaurants on board.