What day do you chose for Specialty Dining?

Can the dining packages be used for lunch on sea days instead of dinner? I enjoy dining in the MDR but am not the biggest fan of the WJ for lunch.

Yes, in fact the Ultimate dining package includes both lunch and dinner at specialty restaurants every day.

Depends. We review the MDR menu inadvance (thanks fellow Cruise Critics for posting them) and will select a nightwhen we don't particularly care for the MDR selections.

Your poll does not include, Whenever.

We have no special night to do specialty dining.

We book the 5 night dining package, so we eat at a specialty restaurant every night except the 2nd formal night and the last night. I like the ambiance of the specialty restaurants as opposed to the din in the main dining room.

The total atmosphere, to me, is so much better. My last cruise which was on Allure in July, we had dinner 3 nights in Chops are the food and service were so good. It is so much nicer to be able to have a conversation without all the noise and announcements etc. that go on the MDR.

This next cruise we will have the same package plus one extra night from our travel agency. I am thinking our only dinner in the MDR will be the last night. I am fine with that as my clothes are all packed by dinner time and what I wear to dinner the last night is what I wear home the next morning.

I can't imagine going back to eating in the MDR every night.

Jumping in with a vote for "never". We have always found something we can enjoy in the included dining options, so we can't see the point of paying extra for specialty dining. Instead, we prefer to use that money for other expenditure such as excursions or on-board purchases.

 

Which is not necessarily to say that if we got offered a really decent discount we wouldn't give it a go, but we're still waiting for that to happen. Next cruise maybe?

I agree...I can always find something on the MDR menu to please me...I would not pay extra for Specialty dining...

I have tried them in the past, and while they do offer higher quality and service, I just don't think that it is 'worth it'.

Even "Chops" offerings don't compare to some of my favorite steakhouses on land...I'll save my dining budget for that.;)

All, some, or none, it just depends

Just returned from Empress and ate in MDR every night. All I can say is more power to those of you who enjoy this experience. Give me the specialty restaurants as often as available.

The NOISE and crowding like sardines is not for me. We have 2 cruises coming up on Majesty and I am already stressed over the prospect of MDR dining. Got spoiled sailing with Celebrity and eating in BLU every night. From what I have read on CC and Royal web the only choice on Majesty is Chefs Table and unless we hit the FL lottery won't be able to afford that nightly.

Hope Bob or some Majesty fans can suggest a way to survive MDR.

We book the 5 night dining package, so we eat at a specialty restaurant every night except the 2nd formal night and the last night. I like the ambiance of the specialty restaurants as opposed to the din in the main dining room.

 

The total atmosphere, to me, is so much better. My last cruise which was on Allure in July, we had dinner 3 nights in Chops are the food and service were so good. It is so much nicer to be able to have a conversation without all the noise and announcements etc. that go on the MDR.

 

This next cruise we will have the same package plus one extra night from our travel agency. I am thinking our only dinner in the MDR will be the last night. I am fine with that as my clothes are all packed by dinner time and what I wear to dinner the last night is what I wear home the next morning.

 

I can't imagine going back to eating in the MDR every night.

agree with you. We prefer dining in a specialty restaurant vs a banquet hall. Just like a banquet hall style food in prepared in large quantities, we prefer individual prepared meals.

On Allure, we did 3 nights in speciality, 1 night in MDR( 1 st formal), and then whatever. We tend to like to relax and not worry about meals. On the larger ships, the numerous options make it easier.

On our upcoming cruise, we are doing Izumi on the last sea day. It’s my birthday. :) The hot stone and sushi are fun. I don’t care for Italian or the idea of the chefs table. We just did chops in February. It was good but could take it or leave it. I think it depends on who is cruising and what you want to experience.

We are doing FNDR this time and we often sail for our anniversary so we'll do that too. That said, we've never not found food enough food in the MDR. And we tend to hurt ourselves in the specialty restaurants! Too much, too good.

We did ultimate dining on our Oct 1 cruise. We will definitely be doing the same for future cruises. The specialty dining has shown us the best customer service and the food was always excellent

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Let me elaborate why we don’t eat in MDR anymore. We used to eat at the MDR and we had many good memories and met some good friends. Two years ago, we sailed on Anthem for Thanksgiving (we usually sail during the holidays) we had reservations for Thanksgiving dinner in the MDR. First, we had to wait 45 minutes to be seated. Then, our main course was cold and the server never came back after dropping off the food. We have not eaten in MDR since (8 cruises on). I’m on vacation when I’m cruising, I want to enjoy my dining experience and I’m willing to pay for the Specialty Restaurants because their food and service is that much better!

We do it whenever really, no rhyme or reason. We are doing a five dinner package and the BOGO, but I'm leaning toward the unlimited for future cruises, we love the specialty's, especially Jaimies!

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