2023 ?? Specialty Dining meal packages going up & Moderno / Teppanyaki price fixed @$59 + 20% added.

[Cruising Lynne]

8 minutes ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Really??  I think you're just making this one up for effect.  Granted, I'm not a big fan of Moderno, but it's just because I dipped my toe in one time and everything was well (well, well...) done. (i.e. burnt to a crisp).  My friends here on the forum have convinced me to try it one more time and ask (demand) that I be brought meat that hasn't spent hours over the flame.  I'll report back if/when I get the chance.  😎

LOL. I think you are right about a lot of it being too well done. I have made the rooky mistake of filling up on rolls and salad there, so I did not really care about the meat. Asking (demanding?) for rarer meat is a good idea. 

[sanger727]

They are just playing the same game with specialty restaurants that they do with the beverage package. The beverage package is ridiculously overpriced - but all anyone is actually paying is the gratuities. The specialty dining is ridiculously overpriced - so they can increase the gratuities they charge for the "free" meals. 

[reeinaz]

2 hours ago, cruiseny4life said:

 

The only exception are the $5 mozzarella sticks at American Diner. That is a nominal charge as I don't know anywhere on land I can get mozzarella sticks so cheaply. And the milkshake, but not from Coco's! Only American Diner's $5 basic milkshake.

How many sticks? I can get 6 for $5.50 at most restaurants here.

[cruiseny4life]

2 minutes ago, reeinaz said:

How many sticks? I can get 6 for $5.50 at most restaurants here.

Three. They are about double the size of a traditional mozzy stick. If I can find mozzarella sticks for $5.50/6 in Philadelphia, then we might be selling our house and moving! Up here, the cheapest I find them is $7.50, they average $9, and I've seen some as high as $11.99! I order them, because mozzy sticks are pure perfection. I need them in heaven. 

[vacation44]

2 minutes ago, reeinaz said:

How many sticks? I can get 6 for $5.50 at most restaurants here.

But are they as good as the ones at American Diner?   

[reeinaz]

5 minutes ago, vacation44 said:

But are they as good as the ones at American Diner?   

I'm laughing now because I'm like "do you see where I live??" But then I'm like well, I have never had the sticks from the diner. So maybe ....

[reeinaz]

8 minutes ago, cruiseny4life said:

Three. They are about double the size of a traditional mozzy stick. If I can find mozzarella sticks for $5.50/6 in Philadelphia, then we might be selling our house and moving! Up here, the cheapest I find them is $7.50, they average $9, and I've seen some as high as $11.99! I order them, because mozzy sticks are pure perfection. I need them in heaven. 

Now I am so curious. New item on my list. 

[ESCARGO]

29 minutes ago, reeinaz said:

Now I am so curious. New item on my list. 

Cheree, I found mozzarella sticks with Marinara sauce in the buffet on Asian Night on our last cruise! They were really good! Don't know why they were there! ㊙️

Ted

[spanishguy1970]

I wonder if they are trying to push the meal package as a better deal. i noticed they charge $47.50 gratuities total  for our epic cruise in April. We have never taken the perks, we just book guarantees so the perks are not available, Someone explain to me how the meal package works?

[reeinaz]

2 hours ago, ESCARGO said:

Cheree, I found mozzarella sticks with Marinara sauce in the buffet on Asian Night on our last cruise! They were really good! Don't know why they were there! ㊙️

Ted

I have to spend more time checking out the buffet. I think I only ate breakfast there. 

[ChiefMateJRK]

7 minutes ago, reeinaz said:

I have to spend more time checking out the buffet. I think I only ate breakfast there. 

The buffet is great!!  It's like being a hunter.  You go out on the hunt and bring back dinner (and an adult beverage if the buffet has a nice bar - like on the BA+ ships).😎

[phillygwm]

On 12/21/2022 at 5:21 PM, ChiefMateJRK said:

How many people do you think who are seen eating at these places are paying the advertised price instead of using FAS, the bonus 2 specialty add-on or platinum certificates?  If it is more than 2% I would be shocked.

Exactly.  The more costly the list price the more it looks like a great value.  "Wow, I'm saving $1400 on the bar package?  I need to jump on that!"

[vacation44]

4 hours ago, ESCARGO said:

Cheree, I found mozzarella sticks with Marinara sauce in the buffet on Asian Night on our last cruise! They were really good! Don't know why they were there! ㊙️

Ted

Thanks for the mozzerella sticks tips!!!  I will be sure to check out the buffet on Asian night.  Once again I will say it.....oh I wish The Local/O'Sheehans still had them.

[vacation44]

5 hours ago, reeinaz said:

Now I am so curious. New item on my list. 

Well worth the $5.

[luv2kroooz]

6 hours ago, sanger727 said:

They are just playing the same game with specialty restaurants that they do with the beverage package. The beverage package is ridiculously overpriced - but all anyone is actually paying is the gratuities. The specialty dining is ridiculously overpriced - so they can increase the gratuities they charge for the "free" meals. 

Bingo. Their high priced "market to fill" strategy is currently achieving 80% capacity. That means 20% of cabins are vacant and are not contributing to the service charge pool. Therefore, the per person contribution has to be higher which can only happen by increasing the base price and then collecting 20% of the higher price. This is why the daily service charge increased by like $4 per person, per day. 

[ESCARGO]

40 minutes ago, vacation44 said:

Thanks for the mozzerella sticks tips!!!  I will be sure to check out the buffet on Asian night.  Once again I will say it.....oh I wish The Local/O'Sheehans still had them.

Oh, you're welcome! The mozzarella sticks were one of the best I've ever had! They were bigger and had the right amount of breading on them. And the maranara sauce was great! 😋 I don't know if someone in the galley found a box of them in the freezer and decided to put them in the buffet for Asian night. 

Ted

[SunshineGal2022]

6 hours ago, spanishguy1970 said:

I wonder if they are trying to push the meal package as a better deal. i noticed they charge $47.50 gratuities total  for our epic cruise in April. We have never taken the perks, we just book guarantees so the perks are not available, Someone explain to me how the meal package works?

You essentially get meal vouchers (added to your account, you never see them) that can be used at the specialty restaurants.  I can add 2 specialty meals for my cruise for $70.80/person.  That comes out to $35.40/meal.

 

For each voucher, you get one appetizer, one entree, and one dessert per person.  You can also use them at the Teppenyaki restaurant (one trip = one voucher) or the sushi bar or tapas restaurant (each voucher used here gives you 4 small plates).  (SOME people are able to get more than one appetizer and dessert at the restaurants.  Just don’t count on that).

 

Is the meal worth the $35 for you?

At my local Texas Roadhouse, a 20 oz bone in Rib-eye is currently $34.  That price doesn’t include an appetizer, dessert, drink or tip.  Teppenyaki places here run about $50/meal. Plus tip and drink.  The specialty meals are a great value for us.

[BirdTravels]

On 12/21/2022 at 12:36 PM, ChiefMateJRK said:

Would you really pay sticker price for NCL specialty dining?

Yes. Just another night out at home. 

Edited December 23, 2022 by BirdTravels

[BirdTravels]

Steak and shrimp at my local Teppanyaki is $46. My local Brazilian bbq is $56. 
 

 

[PATRLR]

On 12/21/2022 at 5:31 PM, palpieha said:

Teppanyaki might not have the value. My favorite land-based Teppanyaki around here is about $40 for steak+shrimp dinner. But Moderno, Cagney's, LeBistro? I can't think of a land-based comparable restaurant where I can get an appetizer, salad, steak and sides for less than $70. Heck, just the steak is usually $50-$60.

Fogo de Chão is in the mid $50s but more importantly, far better quality than Moderno.

 

On 12/21/2022 at 5:46 PM, CILCIANRQTS said:

But you’ve already paid for a meal in your basic cruise fare, so this amount is an additional upcharge !

Exactly.  And not only have you paid for a meal, but, NCL will have you believe it's a high quality meal.  Even if you price the MDR more appropriately at Applebee's or Friday's pricing, the numbers are getting ridiculous.

 

16 hours ago, Cruising Lynne said:

Other than Teppanyaki with the "show" and Moderno with the festival of meats, I never understood how paying extra for specialty dining ever became so popular.

Specialty dining has become so popular because the quality of the meals in the MDRs has become so poor.   The only way to get a decent steak or a decent piece of fish is to pay for it.  (Please don't tell me that strip steak on the MDR menu is decent.  I listened to people and tried it again on Encore in November - NO, it is not a good steak.)

 

5 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

Yes. Just another night out at home. 

So you when you go out at home, you pay Applebee's or Friday's or Grand Buffet for a meal first, and then go somewhere else?

Edited December 23, 2022 by PATRLR

[seemoreroyals]

My main observation in reading through this thread and others like it is that there is a large percentage of people that are still willing to pay the prepaid gratuities, even though they have been increased a number of times lately.  Many are tipping even more cash individually as well.  That tells me that there is a huge opportunity for NCL to increase profits by exploiting this. That is exactly what they are doing.  

 

I think it is only a matter of time before they start charging us gratuities on our platinum specialty dinners as well.  Kind of pleasantly surprised they don't.

[luv2kroooz]

@seemoreroyals that is a very good point. Even if only a fraction pay the higher DSC, NCL is still better off cash flow wise. All cruise lines need cash at this time and are evidently stopping at nothing to increase cash flow.

[reeinaz]

So I must be a real outlier in that I rarely use my FAS meal vouchers. 

[J0Y0US]

On 12/21/2022 at 4:31 PM, palpieha said:

Teppanyaki might not have the value. My favorite land-based Teppanyaki around here is about $40 for steak+shrimp dinner. But Moderno, Cagney's, LeBistro? I can't think of a land-based comparable restaurant where I can get an appetizer, salad, steak and sides for less than $70. Heck, just the steak is usually $50-$60.

 

Not sure where you are at but Moderno is Brazilian Steakhouse. I looked at Texas de Brazil in California (most expensive location I could think of) and its $64. Around me though that same restaurant would be like $49. Heck you can get a $20 discount off $100 by buying gift cards from Costco.

 

Acting like Cagney's or LeBistro is some high profile location on land is also a disservice. These specialty restaurants on cruises are maybe a step ahead of Applebee's or TGIF (sometimes not even that when it comes to things like Sushi for sure). 

 

I wouldn't ever go out for a steak though as I learned long ago that a majority of "top" steakhouses have a hard time routinely putting out a medium rare steak. Once had a waiter at one place say the temp is taken only from the dead middle of the steak for medium rare meaning the rest of the steak was overcooked, I just left it instead of worry about it (oh and this specific I place I even stated I would rather have it under than overcooked).

[J0Y0US]

17 hours ago, cruiseny4life said:

Three. They are about double the size of a traditional mozzy stick. If I can find mozzarella sticks for $5.50/6 in Philadelphia, then we might be selling our house and moving! Up here, the cheapest I find them is $7.50, they average $9, and I've seen some as high as $11.99! I order them, because mozzy sticks are pure perfection. I need them in heaven. 

 

Go to a crappy hole in the wall around you (what American Diner is themed after) and you likely can find 3 mozzarella sticks for $5.

 

You can get like 7 for $9 at Pizza Hut. Without knowing your area that you live couldn't point you to the locations with cheap offerings. I would suspect there is even bars that offer 1/2 off apps during happy hour along with drinks.