Has anyone NOT done any specialty dining?

[bermadu22]

3 hours ago, davekathy said:

Never on Celebrity. We find the meals and selections in the MDR perfect for our tastes. We did once on RC because we were given two free meals for a specialty dining of our choice. It was good but nothing I need to spend extra for. 

I agree with davekathy. We did the Celebrity Summit May 2017, and we did try Tuscan Grill, which was $45 pp at the time and IMHO it was over rated at that price. We found the food included with the cruise fare to be more than sufficient,  I can say it was good and probably won't shell out money for a "specialty" restaurant on the Summit again. Wait, there is one exception, that is Sushi on 5. It is the ala carte sushi restaurant. We will gladly use some OBC to have a nice sushi lunch, but again, it's a luxury and not necessary. 

Edited November 26, 2018 by bermadu22
typo

[phoenix_dream]

We sometimes do specialty restaurants, and sometimes not.  We also feel the prices are out of line, considering you are already paying for what is supposed to be a nice dinner (and usually is).  When we do visit them, we always wait until we can get a discount - from 30% to as much as 50%.  If we can't get a discount, then we don't do it.  Nothing wrong with that.  Do what makes sense to you and your pocketbook.  

[SleepingUgly]

2 hours ago, mmsJack said:

We do specialty dining because we usually have obc to burn & we do enjoy all the specialty venues tbh.

 

That said there's nothing (repeat NOTHING) like the joyous fun of getting to know your MDR service team and seeing them every evening. It's so great and often is a highlight of our vacation.

 

Because of this we'd be perfectly happy in the MDR if that was our option and you will be too. If the food isn't what you wish for, order something else, your server wants you to be happy and it shows. Dining's an event on a cruise ship and the MDR is the main attraction. 

 

Really -  best news is that no matter where you eat, it's all as wonderful as you make it.

 

(We'll be on the sailing before yours so we'll be those sad, pitiful looking folks you giddy people pass as you climb on board! Hope you have the time of your life!)

I hope you have a fantastic trip, mmsJack!  Safe travels!!!

[SleepingUgly]

1 hour ago, HeddaGarbled said:

We stick to MDR and buffet, because the additional fees for the specialty restaurants seem so high to us. But plenty of people do pay the additional fee, and the obvious reason why is because the food and general experience is better. You can tell that from the photos people upload and the reviews/comments that people post.

 

I think that the food in both the MDR and buffet is fine - sometimes really nice, sometimes mediocre. The MDR is noisy and crowded, the tables for two are too close to the next door tables, if you are doing Select Dining you have to queue to get a table and sometimes get sent away with a buzzer. The buffet is self-service and doesn’t have a restaurant ambiance. If these things are a big deal for you, then maybe you should treat yourself to the specialty experience, but if you can accept the inevitable compromises of mass dining, then you can save your money. 

 

I think that's just it - we DO treat ourselves at home / on land so I was thinking we would do the same on the cruise as well, but the huge difference is that there is food already included in the cruise fare! 🙂  And if we lived somewhere that did not have such a wide array of offerings of fine dining that we do here in the DC area - and I also travel for work regularly to NYC and HKG and London, so I get to dine nicely on the expense account then, haha - we would absolutely take advantage of such offerings on the ship.  Our kids are actually looking forward to the buffet b/c we never go to those types of restaurants at home, and my husband is just looking forward to his premium drinks package, heh.  Which is why I thought if the specialty dining experience onboard was truly unique and can't be repeated anywhere else, we would try at least one venue but if it's just like any other restaurant at home - and throw in iffy service and food we may possibly not enjoy - then I'd rather wait to "splurge" when I'm back home and there's no "prepaid" food options already available.  Besides our having to stay at home and cook for ourselves and then clean up and do the dishes, of course!

[lais]

We did a Specialty dining once a long time ago.  We were rushed, the service wasn't that great and the food wasn't any better than the MDR so we stay away now.  

[the_dylaness]

Just left my 4th Celebrity cruise this morning.  All in all I have dined exactly 3 times in specialty- once in Murano on Equinox in January and twice in Sushi on Five for this cruise.  The Mercury did not have specialty dining (that I can recall anyhow- maybe I have forgotten) and our 2010 Solstice cruise we enjoyed Blu quite a lot (same on Equinox in January.)  

 

We did not eat in the MDR very often for this cruise either- while the wait staff were FANTASTIC the couple times we dined with our kids (lunch twice and dinner once with them, one adults only lunch), it is just too slow paced for their needs (ages 4 and 7).  We actually ended up eating mostly in the buffet which is a real departure for us.  (In comparison I have sailed on the Norwegian Escape twice in the last 14 months and have yet to eat a single meal in their buffet.)  The quality was reasonable, it was quick, and easy to please a variety of tastes.  Not my preference, but the prolonged dining experience in MDR was just too much (plus I like to go out and see the music acts and a 2+ hour dinner cuts into that time.)

[Turtles06]

OP: my wife and I got off the Silhouette's 15-night TA a little over a week ago.  The food in the MDR was consistently excellent, the specialty dining venues were inconsistent, the buffet was totally fine when we wanted a break from the sit-down meals, and in hindsight we regretted buying a 6-night specialty dining package in advance.  (If you want more details regarding our thoughts on the food [or anything else], my review thread is here:

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2608889-just-back-from-the-silhouette-ta-–-a-brief-review-after-4-years-away-from-celebrity/)

 

If we were embarking in the near future on a warm-weather cruise on the Silhouette, we'd probably eat at the Lawn Club Grill once, and maybe Murano if we were looking for that particular experience, but otherwise we'd probably pass on the specialty venues.

 

Enjoy your cruise!  

[PROCRUISE]

Just took my 33rd cruise last October and for the first time ever, used some OBC to eat in the Tuscan Grille on the Summit. The meal was very good, the service was actually not as attentive as in the MDR and when I left I thought, well that was interesting after all the hype!

[digital_curator]

We never used to do much specialty dining, but now that we travel with lots of friends (who are often in other dining venues like BLU and Luminae), we usually do one or two on our longer (10+ night cruises). On the Reflection last Christmas I would have done more, because I found the MDR food quality to be sub-par. But on the same ship this past summer, I loved every meal and menu (especially since my waiter offered a lot of off-menu dishes each night). I did enjoy the special Mediterranean dinner we had in the Lawn Club grill- it was a family-style meal and quite good. 

 

With the price increase, I am less inclined to the specialty restaurants because I have never found them to be stellar; I will miss Q-sine because it was fun with a group. That said, we have never done Tuscan Grill and if there is a MDR menu we don't love on our next cruise, we might book in there. I also want to try the Sushi restaurant, but probably just to-go, since my husband doesn't love it. 

[Wombat706]

Sailed in the Silhouette in August this year (first Celebrity cruise).  We did not find the MDR meals drawn out and enjoyed our table for 2. We dined fairly early and I think our servers fed us quite quickly (but not at a rushed pace) so they could sit others after us (and that suited us perfectly).  We also visited the buffet when the menus in the MDR did not suit us.  Some meals (such as grills and stir fries) are made fresh in front of you and were delish :).

We did not visit any speciality venues and certainly did not feel that we missed out on anything.

[jshli]

Is the increase in price for the specialty restaurants due to it being a holiday cruise or does this increase apply to other sailings too? 

[upwarduk]

10 hours ago, Marelaine said:

We're content with Select Dining in the MDR. On the rare occasion that the menu doesn't appeal to us, we have tea or  dinner in the Oceanview. 

 

 

 

 We have never ever paid extra for Speciality Restaurants, my husband says that what we eat in the MDR is special enough! He objects to paying twice for anything.

On a personal note, I am Dairy Intolerant. The waiters in the MDR get to know my needs. I also pre order, so life for me is easier in the MDR, where the menus have the symbols.

[Luvcrusn]

2 hours ago, jshli said:

Is the increase in price for the specialty restaurants due to it being a holiday cruise or does this increase apply to other sailings too? 

I just check the cruise planner for our upcoming cruise on Silhouette. Our cruise disembarks December 21 and the prices for the specialty restaurants still show the same prices we have paid for the past several years. Perhaps they were raised for the holiday sailing. The only other possibility is that the poster who mentioned the increase might be seeing prices adjusted for currency on a non US X site.

Edited November 27, 2018 by Luvcrusn

[ShonaTay56]

13 hours ago, SleepingUgly said:

Thank you, everyone!  It is reassuring to read from so many veteran cruisers that specialty dining is not a "must-do" on Celebrity.  I think we will stick with the MDR, unless we really need to find a way to spend that OBC later on, and then maybe we will try for Qsine (sorry, I spelled it incorrectly in my original post).  We have set dining and I remember how it was so nice to be familiar with our wait staff, who knew what we all preferred to eat each night, and were always joking around and extra-friendly with the kids, entertaining them with napkin folding and other "tricks".  This is one of the things I loved about our MDR dining experience in the past and am looking forward to repeating it again.  I know some things have changed, but it sounds as if the "uniqueness" of dining in the MDR has still remained the same, I think (and hope!).

 

Thanks again!

 

Linda

Hi Linda,

We are just back from our second cruise this year. We travel in Aqua so we always have the Blu restaurant to go to for our diner and we always use Oceanview for our lunch as we do not eat a lot at lunchtimes so it is easier to pick what you want. In May we did the Pacific Coastal on the Infinity and never used any of the speciality restaurants. The menu in Blu, in my opinion was far better than the MDR or Luminae. However on the Eclipse this time we did dine twice in speciality restaurants purely because we chanced our luck for the Petite Chef and said we would only consider it if it was 2 for the price of 1. Surprise surprise we were told that if we could eat at 6.00pm that night then we would get it for that price. It was a very good meal but as mentioned previously they do not change their menu, that I could see, so it would only be worth doing once a cruise for the experience. We also did Murano last Thursday night which was for my birthday and we got a 20% discount because we were Aqua guests. I can honestly say that Murano was exceptionally good for both the food and the service and in our opinion it was well worth the money we spent and it was not on board credit.

In short it does not matter if you dine or don't dine in these restaurants you will always get good food onboard the Celebrity ships. But that is only my opinion. Whichever you choose I hope you enjoy your cruise and be a bit cheeky with the upselling staff and see how much discount you can get. Try asking if the kids dine free in Le Petite Chef and that way you would only have to pay for the two of you.

Enjoy your cruise

Alan

 

[jody75]

15 hours ago, SleepingUgly said:

We will be on the 12-night Silhouette holiday cruise and, originally, I was thinking we'd do a dinner in Murano's and another one in Tuscan Grill or Quisine, but they've since increased the prices.  Quisine (or Le Petit Chef now) is @ $55 per person; for our family of five, that would be $275.  Murano's would be $65 per person and Tuscan Grill would be $60 per person. 

 

The prices you quote are inaccurate to what I checked -

Tuscan Grill and Lawn Club is $45/pp - Murano is $50/pp - LPC correct at $55/pp

The Package prices were recently increased which still makes them a good deal IMHO.

 

Choice is what I enjoy, something for everyone. Some choose an Inside Cabin whilst others spend many times more and choose a Suite. It's the same with specialty dining, the choice is yours. One thing that is indisputable is that the quality of the food is significantly higher in Murano than in the MDR.  I love Murano and have eaten there every night on many cruises, that's my choice, can't wait to eat there again.

[HawaiiUK]

DH and I have just got back off the Summit. Ok, so we did do Qsine on the first night with a 20% discount, but only because I knew Qsine would be disappearing so wanted to try it before it goes. Other than that we stuck with MDR. One evening we ate in the buffet, but the quality of food wasn't the same, so we happily returned to the MDR. DH got fed up with the 'constant upselling' of the chargeable restaurants. In his view, we've paid for our meals, so why pay again? The food and menu was very good. 

[resolute]

We have never done any specialty restaurants. Would rather support places where we live. There is so much food on the ship which is what is included in the price of the cruise.

[SleepingUgly]

5 hours ago, jshli said:

Is the increase in price for the specialty restaurants due to it being a holiday cruise or does this increase apply to other sailings too? 

 

I think the reason is due to its being a holiday sailing.  The lowest cost is $55 per person for Qsine / Le Petit Chef, while to dine anytime in Murano's for dinner on that cruise (December 21 - January 2) will be $65 per person.  Now, if you want to eat in Murano's on NYE, that will be $119 per person.  Granted, they were offering some sort of dining package earlier when excursions and such were discounted - $100 or $110 for two dinners and one lunch (or something like that), which I guess we could have purchased.  But my experiences on land has been that restaurants tend to not be at their best during holidays (I'm especially looking at you, Mother's Day) because they are overwhelmed with guests and, thus, there tends to be less attention to service and even quality of the food.  I just wasn't sure that was something I wanted to test out on our cruise.

 

Linda  

[SleepingUgly]

5 hours ago, upwarduk said:

 We have never ever paid extra for Speciality Restaurants, my husband says that what we eat in the MDR is special enough! He objects to paying twice for anything.

On a personal note, I am Dairy Intolerant. The waiters in the MDR get to know my needs. I also pre order, so life for me is easier in the MDR, where the menus have the symbols.

 

I did appreciate this the last time we cruised.  Again, that was 10 years ago on the Galaxy (!!) and our oldest daughter had a serious dairy allergy.  Every evening, after dinner, the maitre'd would show us the menu for the next day and discuss with us options for our daughter.  He would make regular visits to the table to make sure she was satisfied.  They would make special dishes for her with soy milk, and yes, a cup of soy milk would always be waiting at the table for her when we arrived.  She was only 8 at the time and so was absolutely delighted with the special attention.  She will be 19 on this cruise and is just bummed that she can't drink alcohol onboard, haha.  Ah, priorities. 🙂 

 

Linda

 

[gold1953]

We never have and see no need. We are happy with MDR and evening buffett. We already paid to eat in our cruise fare and just are not 'foodies'

[SleepingUgly]

I took a screenshot of the specialty dining prices for our cruise ... hope this helps to clear up some confusion re: whether or not the prices I quoted are accurate.

 

 

[Mytravellove]

We have eaten a few times in the Speciality restaurants, both on Princess cruises and on Celebrity cruises....but that is because we have been offered them 'free/complimentary' from either our travel agent or the concierge. On Celebrity Eclipse we have tried Murano and Qsine (before the Petite Chef). Murano was great because the waiter was very attentive and made us feel very special and I had lobster 'again' on a 15-day cruise (I love lobster and DH is allergic to shell fish, so we don't eat it at home), while DH was impressed with his meal. Qsine was different...loved the fusion style menu and would definitely look at it again if we went as a group and could share, but not sure if I would want to pay for it, as the food in the MDR is better than 'I' can cook at home and it is already included in my cruise. Plus I love the company at the dining table and always great to carry on the previous day's conversation. On my last cruise a young couple (first time on Celebrity and late 40-ish) ate at all 4 specialty restaurants on an 11-day cruise and remarked that they would have preferred to stay with our table as the additional cost was not worth it...this was on the Reflection.

[jody75]

1 hour ago, SleepingUgly said:

I took a screenshot of the specialty dining prices for our cruise ... hope this helps to clear up some confusion re: whether or not the prices I quoted are accurate.

We never cruise Christmas or New year, that's home time.  Didn't realise that they increased rates for those cruises. 

[Eloise4Ever]

13 hours ago, SleepingUgly said:

 

I think that's just it - we DO treat ourselves at home / on land so I was thinking we would do the same on the cruise as well, but the huge difference is that there is food already included in the cruise fare! 🙂  And if we lived somewhere that did not have such a wide array of offerings of fine dining that we do here in the DC area - and I also travel for work regularly to NYC and HKG and London, so I get to dine nicely on the expense account then, haha - we would absolutely take advantage of such offerings on the ship.  Our kids are actually looking forward to the buffet b/c we never go to those types of restaurants at home, and my husband is just looking forward to his premium drinks package, heh.  Which is why I thought if the specialty dining experience onboard was truly unique and can't be repeated anywhere else, we would try at least one venue but if it's just like any other restaurant at home - and throw in iffy service and food we may possibly not enjoy - then I'd rather wait to "splurge" when I'm back home and there's no "prepaid" food options already available.  Besides our having to stay at home and cook for ourselves and then clean up and do the dishes, of course!

 

You've hit the nail on the head here OP. With the kind of restaurants you are familiar with in your "normal" life, you will not be missing anything if you don't go to the speciality restaurants on Celebrity. With the possible exception of Le Petit Chef, they do not offer anything you won't have experienced many times previously. You can google "le petit chef celebrity" to see if you've got that one covered as well! If not, and you are tempted to try LPC, do as other posters have said and negotiate a reduction of at least 33% off, preferably 50%. You and your family will have a wonderful experience in the MDR with your regular wait staff who will spoil you all and who you will enjoy getting to know. Wishing you happy sailing!

[shavdog]

We have never used the private dining areas...on 25cruises....I asked my wife if she wants to make a reservation for our anniversary on 12/18....on our cruise and she said the mdr is just fine....maybe I would ask for a table for two....it's not a big deal to us....the only thing that is on our cruise is having a balcony...