Are specialty dining room charges "negotiable

[ghstudio]

We have cruised on Celebrity many times....and we've found that one can easily negotiate/bargain for a lower rate on their specialty restaurants.....and even if you don't negotiate, they often offer them at a discount when they have lots of vacant tables.

 

We will be going on our first HA cruise in a couple of weeks so I'm curious if HA offers lower prices at some point during the cruise...or if one can bargain for lower prices.

[kazu]

Sometimes there is a discount offered on the first night (embarkation) but I haven’t noticed it on the last couple of cruises.

 

There is a special you can buy precruise where you can purchase a ‘dine around’ package at a slight discount - you don’t get to choose your day or time though.

 

Other than that, I’m not aware of any other discounts offered.  Unless there are, the price is the price IME and there is no negotiation.

[grsnovi]

When you're not cruising but just eating out locally, do you ask the waiter if you can have the $50 steak for $45?

[julia]

10 minutes ago, grsnovi said:

When you're not cruising but just eating out locally, do you ask the waiter if you can have the $50 steak for $45?

Snarky answer to a legitimate question.  

[catl331]

I've never heard of anyone negotiating a specialty restaurant price on HAL.

[fatcat04]

Negotiating, no. Specials, sometimes but like kazu I didn't see any discounts mentioned this last cruise and the specialty restaurants were not full by any means so that may be a change. 3+ star Mariners do get discounts. 

[Krazy Kruizers]

HAL doesn't operate like Celebrity.

 

There might be an offer for embarkation night.

 

Just because you pass by the specialty restaurant and see empty tables, that is not an indication that the restaurant isn't full.  HAL allows only so many diners for each sitting (due to cutbacks in staff).

[Cruzaholic41]

3 hours ago, grsnovi said:

When you're not cruising but just eating out locally, do you ask the waiter if you can have the $50 steak for $45?

 

You and all the people “liking” your post obviously didn’t understand the OPs question. Certain other lines do this, so the question was legit. How about not being such a jerk to a new HAL cruiser?  Geez, no wonder HAL loyalists have such a bad reputation on these boards. 🙄

[Woofbite]

I doubt if you can negotiate but we've been on a couple of cruises where mid-cruise they announced a $5 or so discount on the Canaletto.

[Stateroom_Sailor]

Too new to HAL to answer from experience, but I would buy the $50 dining combo online for the Steakhouse and Italian restaurant, cheaper than negotiating on X.

[ChinaShrek]

3 hours ago, grsnovi said:

When you're not cruising but just eating out locally, do you ask the waiter if you can have the $50 steak for $45?

 

I sailed Royal Caribbean this summer and our waiter in the Main Dining Room mentioned several times that he could offer me "a good price" on the premium selections listed on the menu and that I should ignore the price listed. This was for the lobster, the filet Mignon, and the Surf & Turf.

[ChinaShrek]

1 hour ago, Krazy Kruizers said:

HAL doesn't operate like Celebrity.

 

There might be an offer for embarkation night.

 

Just because you pass by the specialty restaurant and see empty tables, that is not an indication that the restaurant isn't full.  HAL allows only so many diners for each sitting (due to cutbacks in staff).

 

But an empty restaurant could be a sign of poor food quality.  I and other cruisers might think this as well.

[*Miss G*]

3 minutes ago, ChinaShrek said:

 

I sailed Royal Caribbean this summer and our waiter in the Main Dining Room mentioned several times that he could offer me "a good price" on the premium selections listed on the menu and that I should ignore the price listed. This was for the lobster, the filet Mignon, and the Surf & Turf.

 

I don’t understand this concept.  Why not just advertise the real price?  Have they taken a page from the P. T. Barnum School of Marketing?

[3rdGenCunarder]

2 minutes ago, *Miss G* said:

 

I don’t understand this concept.  Why not just advertise the real price?  Have they taken a page from the P. T. Barnum School of Marketing?

 

Or "How to be a Used-Car Salesman"?

 

Next thing you know, they'll be selling $10 Rolex watches...

 

Edited September 26, 2019 by 3rdGenCunarder

[*Miss G*]

10 minutes ago, ChinaShrek said:

 

But an empty restaurant could be a sign of poor food quality.  I and other cruisers might think this as well.

 

I’ve never seen an empty restaurant but I have seen empty tables at times.  I can only assume that there are no available reservations because someone is booked to be sitting there in 15-30 minutes.  It’s by no means a fast-food joint.

[*Miss G*]

3 minutes ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

Or "How to be a Used-Car Salesman"?

 

Next thing you know, they'll be selling $10 Rolex watches...

 

 

Having recently walked from a $30,000 car purchase due to a $500 lie, I can totally relate to this.

[ChinaShrek]

17 minutes ago, *Miss G* said:

 

I’ve never seen an empty restaurant but I have seen empty tables at times.  I can only assume that there are no available reservations because someone is booked to be sitting there in 15-30 minutes.  It’s by no means a fast-food joint.

 

You can eat wherever you wish but If I see a crowded restaurants then I know the food is good.  If I see an empty restaurant then I presume the food is bad.  I think cruise lines should hire people to sit at tables in their specialty restaurants. It would attract me to eat there much more than what people post in this forum. 

[AmazedByCruising]

5 hours ago, ghstudio said:

We have cruised on Celebrity many times....and we've found that one can easily negotiate/bargain for a lower rate on their specialty restaurants.....and even if you don't negotiate, they often offer them at a discount when they have lots of vacant tables.

 

We will be going on our first HA cruise in a couple of weeks so I'm curious if HA offers lower prices at some point during the cruise...or if one can bargain for lower prices.

 

I remember there were crew at the gangway of MS Rotterdam 5 years ago offering nice deals (50%) when you returned from port but haven't seen that on X or on Koningsdam. IMHO, specialty restaurants are not expensive even without a deal. I can recommend Canalleto which is the least expensive ($15 or so), which has delicious food, and comes with big windows. If you want to negotiate, negotiate for a table next to the windows. 

[Fivelinks]

We sail both HAL and Celebrity and have been offered discounts for Specialty dining on both! Last January on Koningsdam there was a special for Sel De Mar advertised in our newsletter one morning for 20% off. I am so glad we took that since it turned out to be the best food on the ship and we ate there 3 times during our 10 day cruise! We have also been offered special deals from our waiters before without even asking.  Celebrity as you know always sends pre cruise specials and then offer discounts while onboard. Guess they want to make up for bugging you to death when you embark! LOL seriously though, I wish they wouldn't push their drink and dining packages at every turn. On my last Celebrity cruise I politely told them each time I had already purchased both and that only prompted some of them to try and upsell me.... one even asked to see my card as if they didn't believe me when I told them I already had the premium drink package Too bad Celebrity isn't like HAL in terms of discrete offerings... 

[srpilo]

5 hours ago, grsnovi said:

When you're not cruising but just eating out locally, do you ask the waiter if you can have the $50 steak for $45?

 

Maybe I would if I'd already paid for my evening meal, like I do when I pay my cruise fare (?)

 

Btw.. Many cruiselines offer mid-cruise specialty dining discounts, sometimes they even offer them to snarky CC posters

Srpilo

[Homosassa]

1 hour ago, ChinaShrek said:

 

But an empty restaurant could be a sign of poor food quality.  I and other cruisers might think this as well.

In the case of HAL, one would be making a false assumption. The food in the free venues on HAL is of such a good quality that there is no need to pay for a specialty restaurant to get almost edible food (example, NCL).

 

When I see empty tables in the specialty restaurants, I just assume there are enough experience HAL cruisers on board to know that they don't need to pay extra for great food.

[TAD2005]

3 hours ago, ChinaShrek said:

 

I think cruise lines should hire people to sit at tables in their specialty restaurants. It would attract me to eat there much more than what people post in this forum. 

Hmmm.... HAL should hire people to sit at empty tables to make the restaurant look full.   Gee... I wonder how much the cost of the specialty restaurant would go up with all of those costly employees sitting at tables doing nothing ?

 

[3rdGenCunarder]

15 minutes ago, TAD2005 said:

Hmmm.... HAL should hire people to sit at empty tables to make the restaurant look full.   Gee... I wonder how much the cost of the specialty restaurant would go up with all of those costly employees sitting at tables doing nothing ?

 

 

They wouldn't be doing nothing, they'd be eating. 

[mcrcruiser]

9 hours ago, kazu said:

Sometimes there is a discount offered on the first night (embarkation) but I haven’t noticed it on the last couple of cruises.

 

There is a special you can buy precruise where you can purchase a ‘dine around’ package at a slight discount - you don’t get to choose your day or time though.

 

Other than that, I’m not aware of any other discounts offered.  Unless there are, the price is the price IME and there is no negotiation.

 Hi  We would be interested  in getting more info on your first & 2nd sentences  .Are these specials offered  when you go to HAL's web site & your future booking ?  Also ,can you use on board credits to pre book the specials ?

 

  TIA

[kazu]

12 minutes ago, mcrcruiser said:

 Hi  We would be interested  in getting more info on your first & 2nd sentences  .Are these specials offered  when you go to HAL's web site & your future booking ?  Also ,can you use on board credits to pre book the specials ?

 

  TIA

 

The “dine around” package is available on HAL’s website to pre order.  I don’t think you can get it on board - at least I haven’t seen it offered.

 

IF they offer an embarkation day special, it’s only on board.

 

As to on board credits, they are just that - to be used on board the ship.  You can’t use them to pre order on line.