Premium Restaurants and Charges

[agridealer]

We will be sailing on the Jewel on 11/20 and have never done Freestyle before. The dining choices are a little intriguing. I realize that no one has been on the Jewel yet, but it seems that their premium restaurants (those that charge a add'l fee) are very similar to other ships'. We've always enjoyed eating in the "conventional" dining on RCI & Princess, so have no problem eating in the regular dining rooms. To make a long story short and get to the question, do you find the additional cost for these restaurants worth it? There are 6 of us traveling together, all family, and we always eat together. We always have a (or a few!) bottles of wine with dinner, and the additional cover of the restaurants would really add up at dinner. But if it were worth it....

[debbiecape]

We were just on the Dawn (1/20-1/30) and ate in a specialty restaurant every night- some with fees, some without. We also ate in the specialty restaurant on Celebrity Constellation (Ocean Liners) 4 nights out of seven- so I guess we have a bias! I would try the 'premier' restaurant (Le Bistro on the Dawn) for a special night out and the free alternatives (Salsas, LaTrattoria) for sure- if you enjoy the cuisine (such as Asian at Bamboo's) by all means try that as well. We feel that the service, the ambience and most of the time, the food is better than in the main dining rooms (although that can be a good experience as well)- we prefer a more intimate setting.

[fin]

The question of whether or not something is 'worth it' seems to be a popular one on these pages, but strikes me as asking 'how long is a piece of string'. This has come up in connection with my planned overflight of Antartica, and obviously is a very personal decision.

 

The cover charges for specialty restaurants on the Dawn are fifteen to twenty dollars. The way I looked at it (and I ate in LeBistro by the original Monet one night and up in the Steakhouse another night) is thus: if the total cost of the cruise were a dollar, the cover charge would be 3/4 of a penny.

 

That still leaves it up to you whether it is 'worth it' however.

[agridealer]

do you find the additional cost for these restaurants worth it?

 

I hate to disagree with your post, but I'll have to. Your point would be valid had I asked "do you think I'll find the additional cost of these to be worth it?". Obviously, I was looking for opinions, like debbie offered. By gathering opinions of others, and why they have that opinion, are how we make educated decisions. I wasn't asking you to decide for me, I was asking if you felt it was worth it or not. Can't see how that is a subjective question at all. If you think it is, let me rephrase it this way: If you have eaten at one of these, would you again and why or why not?

[madelinerose]

Absolutely! If only for simply the ambience, attention to detail and the upscale cuisine, the specialty restaurants, IMHO (and DH's) are indeed worth it! ;)

[jeannep]

We have been on the Dawn 2 times and are going again in May. We have never eaten in any of the 3 extra pay restaurants but we have gone to LaTratoria. We plan on trying Cagneys this time.

 

I really feel that the regular restaurants are terrific and are very happy with the food and service. We love Impressions. To us it is small and intimate. We did not enjoy LaTratoria. We felt the Italian food was below par.

 

As you can see, everybody has an opinion. All opinions can be so different. If I were you, I would try each of the 3 regular restaurants and pick a favorite. Then you can try 1 or 2 of the speciality ones. No matter where you go, I am sure you are going to really enjoy the cruise.

 

Enjoy!

Jeanne

[wbrumel]

Here's what I would do: with any large party, I would eat in the main restaurant all but one night. Make a reservation at LeBistro or whatever they designate as their most upscale restaurant for a special evening. I found that other than the "top of the line", the extra cost was not worth it. IMHO.

[bfairey]

Nothing is free, if you want to eat at a premium restaurant you better make a reservation early.

[e.durban]

We were on the Dawn for 11 nights beginning 11/28 and ate twice in Le Bistro, once in Cagney's and once in the Asian restaurant. All were excellent, with food, service and presentation equal to most fine land-based restaurants, at least the ones we have here in NYC. We also had the $10 all-you-can-eat sushi lunch special at the sushi bar and felt it was well-worth it. We also enjoyed the main dining rooms, especially Aqua, but good as they are, hundreds of people were being served at once and that takes its toll on any kitchen (my wife and I both worked in NY restaurants for many years, and we try to be realistic about these things.) None of the extra-tariff restaurant experiences we had on the Dawn could have been had on land at anything near the fees NCL charges per person (an appetizer of pan-seared foie gras with apple & cider beurre blanc for 2 for $8? Forget it...) Neither could they be (or should they be expected to be) duplicated in the main dining rooms when per diems for our balcony cabin came to a little more than $100 per day. That said, you can have really good food in any restaurant on the Dawn (or the Jewel, I'm sure) whether you pay extra or not. But you can have one of the best steaks you'll ever eat at Cagney's and that probably isn't true in the Tsar's Palace...although I'm sure it will be just fine...

[billvabeach]

We also had the $10 all-you-can-eat sushi lunch special at the sushi bar and felt it was well-worth it.

 

I'm so bummed. The sushi bar is extra??? :mad:

[MKKruiser]

Don't miss the specialty restaurant just once. Since you are with a group, planning too many special dinners might be difficult If it is comparable to the Le Bistro on the Sun, it is worth doing it, even if you only did the Desert fundue!! So plan one "special" dinner, and don't get hung up about it. There are so many options available. Try to do it early in the trip and if some want to try others, they can.

Keep in mind, getting reservations is not that easy, unless they have changed from a year ago. You can't just go in and make a reservation for any night you would like.

[Lobbylin]

We're also booked on the Jewel and will definintely be making reservations for the Bistro and Asian restaurant, as we tried both before on the NCL Star and thought they were wonderful in ambience, quality of food etc. The food was outstanding, when I compare it to quality restaurants in London and around the world. IMHO, I actually thought the Bistro served better food than the Speciality restaurant on the Celebrity Infinity.....

 

We're travelling on a wedding anniversary this year, so we're going to get a free package that includes a dinner and bottle of wine in the Bistro because we booked early :) Everything helps!!

 

Things have changed a little since we were on the Star 2-3yrs ago, and I'm a little lost as to what all the charges now are, and which restaurants are fee paying - so if anyone can enlighten me, that would be great.

 

Do they still offer steaks in the main dining room, or MUST you book at Cagneys to get a steak?

 

Thanks

[Snorkelfan]

We;re travling on a wedding anniversary also so how can we get a package for free wine and dinner at La Bristro. We're going in June on the Dawn- any suggestions?

 

Also, which ones are the regular no charge dining rooms and which ones are good? Do a lot of people ask to be seated with other people cos we like to meet people other than by the pool? Thanx for all your help - Debbie

(PS - is there a way to get a list of all these restaurants and all)

[Lobbylin]

Debbie,

 

NCL Offers vary from country to country - We're from the UK and our brochure said that if we booked before Dec 31st 04 we'd get the package if our anniversary fell in the same month that we were travelling - so I booked on Dec 30th 04 - not sure what the US brochure states....

 

By comparison, US customers seem to get better price deals on cruising and calls from customer relations re offer of upgrades etc - this is completely non-existant here in the UK (to the best of my knowledge)

 

Linda

[Tomct]

We will be sailing on the Jewel on 11/20 and have never done Freestyle before. The dining choices are a little intriguing. I realize that no one has been on the Jewel yet, but it seems that their premium restaurants (those that charge a add'l fee) are very similar to other ships'. We've always enjoyed eating in the "conventional" dining on RCI & Princess, so have no problem eating in the regular dining rooms. To make a long story short and get to the question, do you find the additional cost for these restaurants worth it? There are 6 of us traveling together, all family, and we always eat together. We always have a (or a few!) bottles of wine with dinner, and the additional cover of the restaurants would really add up at dinner. But if it were worth it....

 

On our recent 10 day, we ate at Cagney's twice, and LeBistro twice, as well as LaTrattoria twice, and Salsa once. We do not feel the additional charge is a big deal when you consider the entire cost of the trip.

 

Our main attractions to these restaurants in addition to being very pleased with the menus, are the outstanding service and atmosphere, as well as the ability to make reservations. Once you get a feel for FreeStyle dining, the reservation process is a breeze. First, you need to be a little familiar with the menus. You can view them in the main desk area, and even get copies of the specialties. You can ask to see a master folder of the standard dining rooms that change menus on a daily basis. The other factor you must consider is whether or not you will attend the evening Stardust Theater shows, a must for us, so you can make plans for dinner accordingly. We generally like to dine early, attend the early show, and take in the lounges later on.

 

So, what we do is plan and adjust our schedules each morning at breakfast, as sometimes we are forced to make changes based on our schedule of daytime activities. As an example, on Tuesday morning we will already have had a reservation for dinner that evening, and will confirm that the time is still OK. Then we decide on Wednesday's daytime and evening plans, and make dinner reservations accordingly. You must try to stay a day ahead to get the times you want. Early is usually very easy to get what you want. As someone pointed out, the specialties get more difficult later in the week, so if you know when you want to go in advance, make your reservations for the next day, as early as you can the previous day.

 

LeBistro: Though a co-favorite with Cagney's, the menu and service at LeBistro are above and beyond the rest in our experience. My favorite order is Mushroom or Onion Soup, Esgargot, Caesar Salad, entree varies, topped off with the famous Chocolate Fondue. If they don't ask, and you want more, feel free to ask for more fruit. The chocolate is the best any of us have every had!!

 

[JeanneP: You gotta try it!!]

 

 

In regard to the poster who said NCL is always late - All 4 of our NCL cruises have left exactly on time. One return was late due to a medical emergency evacuation where an infant asthmatic's life was saved, and our lst one was a little late due to the well reported azipod problem. We are great fans of NCL and FreeStyle.