First time on Celebrity - debating buying speciality restaurant package

[250373]

good afternoon,

DH and I will be sailing the Equinox on September 3 for 11 nights. We are not sure if we are going to splurge on restaurants.... But if we opt to, should we pre-book? Or how often are you offered discounts while onboard? What kind of discounts are they? (30% off, 2-for-1?)

Thank you in advance for your help!

[phoenix_dream]

For cruises longer than 7 nights, we have never had a problem getting discounts from 25% to 30%, with the occasional 2/1 or 50% off. There is almost always a discount the first night. Our experience has been that the discounts are better later in the cruise, as they determine how strong their bookings are (or are not). There are no guarantees, however.

[Muffinz]

on our recent cruise on Solstice we were debating whether or not to get a dining package, but we found the MDR to be great, so we didn't bother.

We did find throughout the day outside the Ocean view café (buffet) there were waiters / staff from Tuscan Grille or Silk Harvest offering discounts....

[islandchick]

If you want good food while on the ship I would book a dining package. We have always done so. If you do buy the dining package prior to boarding the website will automatically select the first restaurant for you on your first night, however we have never found it to be a problem to go to one of the specialty restaurants once on board the ship and getting the times and dates we want for the most part. If you don't want to get the package until on board then you are taking your chances. BTW, there is always a discount given for the first night if you want to try one out first (even available online).

[jelayne]

The dining packages on-line are a discount of 30%+/- from the regular pricing. Whether or not you can get a discount once on the ship and how much is governed by how busy the speciality restaurants are.

 

Our recent cruise (12 nights) there were no discounts after the 1st night for Murano. Qsine best discount was 25% and Tuscan was 20%. The dining packages seem to have improved booking in the speciality restaurants.

[250373]

Thank you all for your advices. We have booked Murano for day 1 and we'll see What the offers are during the cruise. And if nothing else comes up, we'll be pretty happy with the MDR because.... we Will be on a cruise!! Can't complain! :-).

[bebe08]

Our last cruise on the Equinox was in Oct 2017....we didn't book a dining package and was only able to book one specialty restaurant onboard (booked for the first night with the discount) as the restaurants were all fully booked by the time we inquired a few days into the cruise.

 

We are booked on Constellation for Sept and have booked a 3 night dining package to ensure we get to go to the speciality restaurants.

 

We have always enjoyed the speciality restaurants as a change from the MDR especially on longer cruises.

[Luvtoeat]

We will also be on the Sept. 3rd sailing and may want to book some specialty restaurants. This will be our 4th Celebrity cruise and have always eaten in the MDR. Will probably wait until we are on the ship and see what deals they are offering.

[charlielinda]

We are taking fourteen night TA and are thinking about purchasing a nine or ten night package. Does anyone know where I can see the discount would be. In addition last TA we took we discovered if you purchased a certain number of dinners or could get lunches also. Does anyone know about this?

 

 

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[kittyluvrnurse]

My comment for you is that the specialty restaurants on Celebrity are TOTALLY worth it! Don't debate whether to go. We just cruised RCCL and bought the three dining package. I was surprised how the restaurants comparatively were 'pretty good' but still much better than the main dining rooms. Unlike celebrity, there were no special cocktail menus, wine selections, etc. and one restaurant (CHOPS!) even served desserts that came from the starbucks next to it, basically. Celebrity has never let us down on the restaurants that are specialty. However, this time in October we will likely play with discounts by ear vs. a package to answer your original question...