Why are the Specialty Restaurants so Popular?

[Cruising89143]

Qsine is our favorite due to being unique and fun. I will miss it next year on the EQ. Will make up for it on the Reflection though.:)

[Hlitner]

I took it 1 step farther.

They were offering everybody 20% off. I asked if that was the best they could do. "What do you mean" he asked. I explained that I would be willing to book a table for a 50% discount. "Sorry, not at this time."

 

I agree, $45 on top of what passengers have already paid for an mdr meal is too expensive. especially for frozen and thawed meat, fish, and poultry. We wouldn't spend $60 per couple for Chinese food in our home town. Effectively paying more than that if you add in the value the the mdr meal you're forgoing, seems pretty crazy to me.

 

We have been rejected, many times, on our discount requests. But since we are very happy to dine in the MDR or in Blu (we often do Aqua) it is no hardship when they say no. Last year, when on Silhouette we were sitting with another couple at the Elite cocktail party when we were approached by a staffer asking if we wanted to dine in Qsine that evening for 30% off. The other couple (it was their first Celebrity cruise) had no opinion...so I said no thanks...and then added that if he offered us 50% off...we would go. He declined our offer and continued going around to the other tables in the lounge. About 15 min later he came back and quietly said that he would give us 50% off if all 4 of us went to Qsine. At that point we did say yes, even though none of us really wanted to go to Qsine that night. Like many things done on the spur of the moment it turned out to be a wonderful meal and evening. And I should add that Qsine was only about 1/4 full that night (which explains the discount).

 

Now that Celebrity is marketing various alternative dining packages we suspect that the last minute discounts might disappear or become very scarce.

 

Hank

[phoenix_dream]

I think the quality and service of most Specialty restaurants I have eaten in are far above the MDR (although that is usually good to very good).

 

I have to think that for many folks, the $45 is just this side of pocket change. Where did I come up with that thought? Have recently been perusing various options for fall and spring cruises. I have noticed that Celebrity is awash with cruises in excess of 12 days, in various very expensive locations (Europe, Australia, South America to name a few). With cruise fares of $3,000 and up (sometimes a lot up!!) not uncommon for balconies and above, coupled with airfares that must be well over a thousand dollars, I am guessing that when someone is dropping $5-$7,000pp on a cruise (before shore excursions or other spending!) then $45 for a dinner doesn't seem so much. I am not one of those people so for me eating there is a treat:D

 

ps - yes, I know some of these cruises can be had for less during sales, with inside rooms or no balconies, etc.. I am talking about the significant number that are priced that high.

[BosoxI]

We found the food in the MDR to be very "spotty" on this year's Infinity TA. Sometimes very good, other times very bad. So when the discount was offered for the USS United States, we took advantage of it. The service was excellent, as was the food, so we were very satisfied. It was a very pleasant evening, far from the gristle being served in the MDR.

[Leesie6351]

We found the food in the MDR to be very "spotty" on this year's Infinity TA. Sometimes very good, other times very bad. So when the discount was offered for the USS United States, we took advantage of it. The service was excellent, as was the food, so we were very satisfied. It was a very pleasant evening, far from the gristle being served in the MDR.

 

First, thanks to everyone for their honest responses. I truly believe the quality of the food in the MDR has gone down in large part to the advent of the specialty restaurants. I can understand the allure of QSine which is a unique experience, but the other specialty restaurants offer nothing on the menu that you can't experience at home in a comparable restaurant. $45 per person is an outrageous price when you have already paid for a meal in your cruise fare. It's not a question of whether someone can afford it, it's a question of fairness and whether we are being lured into going to these alternative dining venues to benefit the cruiseline.

 

I know many cruisers also like the alternative venues because they don't have to dress up for formal night. I can understand patronizing the alternatives for that reason but there are other free options available instead of giving additional money to X. I truly believe, if we stopped patronizing the restaurants, the food and service in the MDR would go back to the glory days before the alternatives appeared on the scene.

 

Happy cruising to all and I hope to meet many of you on our cruises.:):):)

[Cruising89143]

First, thanks to everyone for their honest responses. I truly believe the quality of the food in the MDR has gone down in large part to the advent of the specialty restaurants. I can understand the allure of QSine which is a unique experience, but the other specialty restaurants offer nothing on the menu that you can't experience at home in a comparable restaurant. $45 per person is an outrageous price when you have already paid for a meal in your cruise fare. It's not a question of whether someone can afford it, it's a question of fairness and whether we are being lured into going to these alternative dining venues to benefit the cruiseline.

 

I know many cruisers also like the alternative venues because they don't have to dress up for formal night. I can understand patronizing the alternatives for that reason but there are other free options available instead of giving additional money to X. I truly believe, if we stopped patronizing the restaurants, the food and service in the MDR would go back to the glory days before the alternatives appeared on the scene.

 

Happy cruising to all and I hope to meet many of you on our cruises.:):):)

 

Sorry but not going to happen in my book. One of the main reasons that we choose specialty dining is due to the smaller venues. It's not loud and you're not rushed. So I won't be one of the ones to stop giving my money for specialty dining. I like having options and am glad that the cruise lines are continuing to expand in this area.

[BosoxI]

I truly believe, if we stopped patronizing the restaurants, the food and service in the MDR would go back to the glory days before the alternatives appeared on the scene.

 

Happy cruising to all and I hope to meet many of you on our cruises.:):):)

 

 

I'm not so sure that the "glory days" ever existed. Years ago on our first cruises on Celebrity, we were served tiny, baby shrimp in the cocktail. That really colored my opinion of Celebrity for years. Plus, the wait staff was not nearly as professional as on Princess at the time, and the food could not compare with Princess' back then. So we mainly stayed with Princess until for some forgotten reason we took another cruise on Celebrity several years ago. We found both the food and the service to have improved markedly, so we pretty much have stayed with Celebrity recently. But if the food on the Infinity is now representative of the food fleet wide, back we'll go to Princess, HA, or even RCCL. My loyalty is largely based on my stomach and the itinerary with price a consideration, too..

[bar_20]

Thirty years ago what you got in the MDR is about what you get today in the specialty restaurants. Over the years the cost of food and it's preparation has gone up. However the cost of a cruise for the most part has remained the same because the competition has followed this same line. So to make money the CL's have cut back the quality and quantity of the food served in the MDR. On a recent cruise just last month, at all venues where the food was part of cost of the cruise, the amount of food served on the plate was considerably less than what I experienced just five years ago. Not once were we ever offered by our waiter an extra dessert. If you wanted something like more ice tea you had to ask for it.

Now if you want the type of meals you used to get you have to pay extra for it in the specialty restaurants

Several years ago someone wrote a book titled "What time is the midnight buffet". They should write a follow up book titled "What happened to the midnight buffet". Cruise lines have cut back the serving times that food is served. Oh some lines it's very hard to find any food available after 10 PM.

The cruise lines can raise the prices in the specialty restaurants and keep the quality up, they can't or wont in the MDR.

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