Favorite Nights for Specialty Dining

[CozGurl]

It has been so long since we've been on a cruise, I can't remember my reasoning for choosing a specialty dining night. Anyone care to share theirs? 

 

I feel like a sea day is good, but then sometimes I'm so lazy and relaxed I don't want to get ready for dinner. Then again, port days seem like we might be hurried. 

 

Your favorite night? 

[PATRLR]

We do them on sea days.

On port days, we like to get back on the ship and unwind, have a drink up on deck and watch us sail away, etc.  If we did Specialty Dining on port nights we might feel rushed when we wanted to relax.

On sea days, we'll be relaxing all day, much less likely to feel like we're being rushed off the deck to go get ready.

[NayRN]

No matter what happens during the day, I always book a speciality dinner the last night of the cruise….and I’m usually crying in my soup! 😆 

[BirdTravels]

Many book the "nice" restaurants like Le Bistro and Ocean Blue on sea days. Those reservations will sell out quickly. We do the same. 

[CTCruiser001]

Every night is a good night...

[complawyer]

i agree, any night is a great night for specialty dining, between cagney's, moderno, teppanyaki, la cuncina and le bistro, that's 4 specialty nights for you right there

[Brian V]

If we are doing a specialty venue we tend to eat later than most - 7:30 or 8:00 and we like to take our time and dine like Italians...dinner should take 3 hours, right? 😉

 

We try to ensure the next morning is a sea day or a late port arrival so we can sleep in 🙂

[Elsammo46]

Always try and do the steakhouse on Embarkation night as a good kick-off to the cruise. Easier to get reservations that night I've found as well. 

[BenDover]

I always do speciality dining on the first night to get the cruise off to a great start. Of course, I like eating at a speciality on the last night to celebrate a great cruise.Then I do specialty dining on all Sea Days because, well, just because. And there’s nothing like enjoying speciality dining when getting back on the ship after a port day. 😎

[complawyer]

at least you could have called yourself benjamin!

[CaptainBazz]

On a 7 night cruise we would do MDR first night...then 2 nights of specialty restaurants..then MDR..then 2 nights specialty...and save the last night for anything we feel we have missed.

[Travelling2Some]

4 hours ago, PATRLR said:

We do them on sea days.

On port days, we like to get back on the ship and unwind, have a drink up on deck and watch us sail away, etc.  If we did Specialty Dining on port nights we might feel rushed when we wanted to relax.

On sea days, we'll be relaxing all day, much less likely to feel like we're being rushed off the deck to go get ready.

Exactly this.

[CruizinSusan70]

7 hours ago, complawyer said:

i agree, any night is a great night for specialty dining, between cagney's, moderno, teppanyaki, la cuncina and le bistro, that's 4 specialty nights for you right there

I count five.....but 5 nights of specialty dining is now 202.80 pp after gratuity.  Between the raise in price and the reduction of included nights, it's more profits for the line.  If you're in a solo, inside or OV, you only get 1 night up to an 11 night cruise.  We're getting 4 on our 11 night Prima because we booked it so long ago, but those booking today get 1 night. And it would cost them 142.80 for those extra 3 nights of specialty meals pp.

[Huntingdon1701]

First and last night, then a few in the middle - often sea days but not always. I tend to look at the MDR menus before making a decision. 

[phillygwm]

I upgrade to all specialty meals.  On port days, you'll want to consider if the ship is leaving particularly late so you don't schedule dinner for a time when you may be off-ship.  I've found those days to be less busy, at least earlier.  

 

I've found that many people want to book the first and last days; Cagney's can be particularly tough on the last night.  

[cruiseny4life]

On our upcoming cruise we have three specialty dining meals which is so not ideal (for me). We also are staying in the Haven - not saying this to toot my horn - there's strategy behind our specialty dinner bookings.

 

We have not eaten at Le Bistro or ever had fancy French food which means we don't know if we'll enjoy it - I'm guessing we will, though I'm not sure about the snails that I'm going to attempt to eat. So - we are eating at Le Bistro on our first evening at 5:30 for three reasons:

 

1. Le Bistro does not require dress clothes (yes, I consider pants and a button down dress clothes - let's please not hijack this thread RE: the dress code);

2. We're eating early, because we naturally eat around 5:30 and if we don't like the food, other locations will be open.

3. We're in the Haven, which means we can head up to the Haven Restaurant for a lobster tail and filet mignon if fancy French food does not appeal to us.

 

The next night (a sea day evening), we'll be dining in Moderno, then on our last sea day we'll be dining at La Cucina. We know we love Brazilian steakhouses and Olive Garden is a staple around here, so La Cucina should be fine. All of these reservations are at 5:30 or 6, so we can head back to the Haven if the food isn't particularly good. We had to do this when we chose Cagney's on our last cruise - the food was just not good, so we aren't expecting much of anything from specialty dining. 

 

Anyway, those are our reasons - not sure they'll apply to you, but enjoy your lovely cuisine! 

 

@Brian V - my husband would agree on the 3 hour meal....me, not so much. I prefer the American style 1 hour feeding trough and get out. 

[CTCruiser001]

43 minutes ago, cruiseny4life said:

 

1. Le Bistro does not require dress clothes (yes, I consider pants and a button down dress clothes - let's please not hijack this thread RE: the dress code);

 

 

Sorry, I know you didn't want to hijack the thread, but I need to correct this...It has always been my experiance that Le Bistro is the ONLY specialty dining which is strict with a dress code. The only exception is the first night, where shorts are allowed due to luggage being delayed to your stateroom. Other than the first night, long pants are required of men, no ripped pants, and so on...

 

Fyi, for myself, I believe the French restaurant has the best filet on the ship. Even better than Cagney's or from the Haven. Their onion soup is A.M.A.Z.I.N.G!!! 

 

Enjoy your cruise. 

[complawyer]

by the way, le bistro requires men to wear collared shirts.  to each his own, but le bistro is my  least favorite restaurant on the ship. after 18 cruises, i've eaten there maybe 3 times. even if it's a free meal, i would just as soon avoid it. 

[destar]

Depends, if you are in a port that has lots of food of your interest,  you might want a light dinner. We normally reserve specialty dining for sea days. But at the end, it doesn't matter, you are on vacation, eat and enjoy everything you crave.

[cruiseny4life]

1 hour ago, CTCruiser001 said:

 

Sorry, I know you didn't want to hijack the thread, but I need to correct this...It has always been my experiance that Le Bistro is the ONLY specialty dining which is strict with a dress code. The only exception is the first night, where shorts are allowed due to luggage being delayed to your stateroom. Other than the first night, long pants are required of men, no ripped pants, and so on...

 

Fyi, for myself, I believe the French restaurant has the best filet on the ship. Even better than Cagney's or from the Haven. Their onion soup is A.M.A.Z.I.N.G!!! 

 

Enjoy your cruise. 

You're correct...I was not exact in my language in that line, as the paragraph above I had stated we were eating there on our first night on the ship (so embarkation day).

 

Thank you for your comment about the French Onion Soup - I wasn't impressed with Cagney's, so I suppose I'll be making sure to order at Le Bistro. Thank you, thank you!!

[phillygwm]

5 hours ago, CTCruiser001 said:

Fyi, for myself, I believe the French restaurant has the best filet on the ship. Even better than Cagney's or from the Haven. Their onion soup is A.M.A.Z.I.N.G!!! 

 

I would say it varies from ship to ship.  When I was last on the Bliss, OB had an excellent filet and service to match.  Cagney's was...forgettable.  Don't get me wrong:  Cagney's is usually my favorite restaurant, just not on that ship/cruise.

 

Le Bistro is consistently the best service of all restaurants, it doesn't matter which ship.  Their filet comes in a mushroom sauce and I can't do mushrooms.  When I asked it to be excluded, the chef came running out, acknowledging it would be too dry and offering to whip up a different sauce.  Wonderful...and superior service.  They hinted that we could fill out comment cards if we appreciated the service, which we were all happy to do.  I may have thrown them a few extra bucks 🙂  We went back later in the week and they remembered each of us by name and fawned over us...I stumbled out that night because my drink never went empty.

[CruizinSusan70]

12 hours ago, Huntingdon1701 said:

First and last night, then a few in the middle - often sea days but not always. I tend to look at the MDR menus before making a decision. 

Depending upon which ship you're on, it really won't matter regarding looking at the MDR menu.  Starting with the Prima and then expanding throughout the rest of the fleet in 2023, the MDR menu will be standardized and the same each and every night.

https://thepointsguy.com/news/norwegian-cruise-line-prima-dining-changes/

[Yodalicious]

Do the specialty restaurants typically”save” any openings for late comers . We are about 60 days out and there are few openings for 2.  There are none left for Ocean

 

Edited July 20, 2022 by Yodalicious
Typo

[CruizinSusan70]

3 hours ago, Yodalicious said:

Do the specialty restaurants typically”save” any openings for late comers . We are about 60 days out and there are few openings for 2.  There are none left for Ocean

 

They usually save a small percentage for reservations once onboard.  But you need to make these reservations ASAP, like before lunch as soon as you get on board.  You can book at any of the kiosks on board or at the box office.

[MoCruiseFan]

On 7/18/2022 at 7:12 PM, complawyer said:

i agree, any night is a great night for specialty dining, between cagney's, moderno, teppanyaki, la cuncina and le bistro, that's 4 specialty nights for you right there

Looks more like 5 to me.