Equinox Dining

[schwabe3]

First time Celebrity cruiser. Have only cruised Disney in the past. Trying to decide if we need to book specialty dining. Is MDR food good? Any opinions appreciated...:cool: Is specialty dining worth it? :confused:

[gfkcruiser]

We have been on celebrity many times and usually eat dinner in the main dining room. Have done specialty a few times. Take advantage of special rates offered or ask. Don't pay full price.

 

 

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[Hatteras51]

We enjoy most of the food in the main dining room. Sometimes, we book a night of specialty dining, just for a different experience, and sometimes, we eat all of our dinners in the MDR. We are booking several specialty dinners on our next cruise because we have some on board credit.

[sallyc]

We just got off the Equinox on Sunday. The MDR menus and food were quite good. We also enjoyed the Oceanview Café for dinner twice while on board. The Oceanview had a great salad bar and a grill bar where you chose your fish, chicken or steak and they cook it to order. We did hear a little grumbling from other passengers about the specialty restaurants having slow service. We thought about trying a specialty restaurant but we really were happy in the MDR.

[Silvery Seas Cruiser]

Its hard to know whether you will think a specialty restaurant on Equinox is worth it. For example, my sister and I cruised on Equinox recently. Hubby and I think Murano is well worth the cost, but we do go to the lunch that is generally offered one sea day. My sister and her husband didn't think the price was worth it and didn't go. Same restaurant, same excellent service, same delicious food. We think it it was worth it. They didn't and wouldn't even consider it.

 

We don't go to Murano at night because it is a much heavier dinner and much longer service. We eat very lightly at night, so the one-time lunch works for us. But I give this example to show what is worth it when it comes to dining is very much dependent on what one's expectations are.

 

Of course there are other restaurants besides Murano and they have lower price points. So there is a lot of choice. One of those choices is to not eat in a specialty restaurant at all.

[miched]

17 cruises on Celebrity and never dined in a specialty restaurant except for occasionally in the Bistro on 5 on embarkation day for lunch. The Bistro is now a sushi restaurant.

 

No reason to spend $40 to $50 pp for a dinner. The food in the MDR is fine.

 

No need to book one in advance as discounts are offered during the cruise.

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌞

[Daytonasailor]

First time Celebrity cruiser. Have only cruised Disney in the past. Trying to decide if we need to book specialty dining. Is MDR food good? Any opinions appreciated...:cool: Is specialty dining worth it? :confused:

A few cruises back, I decided to reserve a specialty dinner. Had plenty of OBC $. I called and made the resv thinking it would come out of my OBC. Since I was not on board the ship yet, they charged it to my credit card. When I saw the charge on my CC, I cancelled the resv and when I got on board the ship, made another resv which came out of my OBC. Worked out well. Just some thoughts for you on your cruise.

[oneputt18]

A few cruises back, I decided to reserve a specialty dinner. Had plenty of OBC $. I called and made the resv thinking it would come out of my OBC. Since I was not on board the ship yet, they charged it to my credit card. When I saw the charge on my CC, I cancelled the resv and when I got on board the ship, made another resv which came out of my OBC. Worked out well. Just some thoughts for you on your cruise.

You can now use OBC online when you book excursions, dining packages and drink packages.

[casper106]

No need to book in advance. There are always discounts. Frankly, after cruising on Disney, you may find the dining experience on X to be disappointing.

[keesar]

First time Celebrity cruiser. Have only cruised Disney in the past. Trying to decide if we need to book specialty dining. Is MDR food good? Any opinions appreciated...:cool: Is specialty dining worth it? :confused:

 

You don't need to book a Specialty Restaurant. The food and experience of eating in the MDR are excellent. If you have a special occasion to celebrate, then you may want to try a Specialty. If you do so, wait to book on board as you could get a discount of about 20% off.

[wallie5446]

You can now use OBC online when you book excursions, dining packages and drink packages.

 

No need to book in advance. There are always discounts. Frankly, after cruising on Disney, you may find the dining experience on X to be disappointing.

Check your cruise planner, there is a 3 day dining and excursion sale this weekend. I just booked Murano for 9 nights for $209.00 per person total, and used our OBC to pay for it.

 

OP, this said, we have cruised Celebrity since 1987, has the MDR changed a bit over the years? Yes. But we have not had a 'bad' meal there ever. Lucky? From some post I guess so. Last cruise was our first time in Aqua, so we had Blu as our dining room. It was good, but nothing much diff food wise from the MDR. You will be fine there.

 

This sale was just too good a deal at $23 ea per night when I used their OBC $$ to pay for it. And we still have the Premium Bev pkg, and grats covered too.

[pirategirl007]

We cruise Disney and Celebrity the most often of all the lines. Cel's MDR food IMO is better than Disney's. The 'worst' food we have is off the Top Chef Menu nights (on 3 different Cel cruises now) but its not terrible I think its just not well executed dishes maybe. Did you do Palo or Remy on Disney? If so you might like Tuscan Grill or Morano for something a little more elevated. I love Silk Harvest we usually try to do the dim sum lunch if its offered there, we only have basic strip mall Chinese at home so for us its a treat to get some Asian food that doesn't come with a potential health department warning...

 

The buffets on Celebrity is light years better than Disneys on all their ships.

 

Room service may be the only food category I'd give to Disney over Celebrity. Maybe. And thats really the off the menu unlimited Mickey Bars talking...

[CRZR58]

Gotta say I can't agree with those who say the MDR on Equinox is excellent. It's usually just OK. We got several inedible dishes and the wine waiters were pretty much useless on our last Equinox trip.

 

Loved the Tuscan Grill tho. When we get an on board discount, it's worth the money to us.

[FredZiffle]

I'm not a huge fan of the menu in the MDR on the Equinox. Several nights I ended up ordering off the "always available" side of the menu because nothing appealed to me.

[Hydrokitty]

I'm not a huge fan of the menu in the MDR on the Equinox. Several nights I ended up ordering off the "always available" side of the menu because nothing appealed to me.

 

We usually eat in the MDR because neither of us like standing in line and carrying a tray full of food through the maze of tables looking for a place to sit...but that's just MHO....DH eats fish and I eat plant based...I have ordered a few times off the "always available" but I would say it averages to maybe once on a 14 night cruise. We had a gift certificate from our TA for free specialty dining on Grandeur of the Seas and used it but I have to say while the ambiance was fabulous...the food and service was on a par with the MDR and I would not eat there again. On X we made reservations for the Italian restaurant on Equinox and when we discovered the prices cancelled....We have some of the best Italian restaurants outside of Italy in NYC and they cost less and weren't nearly as pretentious.