Drink pkg in Speciality Restaurants

[L1211]

I was of the understanding that the drink pkg did NOT work in the specialty restaurants.  I’m reading in the attached “fine print” for the Premium pkg that it DOES work.  Is that true?  Your experience?  Limited to premium package only?  We have both packages in our family (one cabin is YC, the other is an Aurea hot tub suite).  

[Oxo]

There is another posting on this same subject. If you posted the data from MSC, why ask someone who is not an MSC person? 

Who do you believe has the valid answer?

 

[L1211]

4 minutes ago, Oxo said:

There is another posting on this same subject. If you posted the data from MSC, why ask someone who is not an MSC person? 

Who do you believe has the valid answer?

 I was asking for personal experiences because I’ve heard both way.  If you have nothing to contribute, move on.  What’s with the trolling???  SMH…

[RudiRatlos]

The fine print is clear: easy package is not accepted in specialty restaurants while easy plus and premium is (only MSC specialty restaurants, no "signature" venues like Hola! or Venchi.)

But there is s chance that a specialty restaurant's waiter doesn't know about this (I remember having a discussion about this at Keito Sushi on Poesia).

[heatherb1958]

You definitely can use your Premium package in speciality restaurants,  did it ourselves on Grandiosa end of Jan this year. What you can't do is take a drink into the restaurant from elsewhere , they don't like it. Problem you have here for example is if  there is  a wine you like in one bar and the restaurant doesn't serve it  e.g. L'Atelier bar was the only place  serving Whispering Angel rose  , my go to wine, we went to Butcher's Cut .

Edited March 9, 2023 by heatherb1958

[L1211]

7 minutes ago, heatherb1958 said:

You definitely can use your Premium package in speciality restaurants,  did it ourselves on Grandiosa end of Jan this year. What you can't do is take a drink into the restaurant from elsewhere , they don't like it. Problem you have here for example is if  there is  a wine you like in one bar and the restaurant doesn't serve it  e.g. L'Atelier bar was the only place  serving Whispering Angel rose  , my go to wine, we went to Butcher's Cut .

Oh that’s good to know!  I had instructed the “kids”  to bring their own drinks- got it totally wrong!  

[L1211]

1 hour ago, RudiRatlos said:

The fine print is clear: easy package is not accepted in specialty restaurants while easy plus and premium is (only MSC specialty restaurants, no "signature" venues like Hola! or Venchi.)

But there is s chance that a specialty restaurant's waiter doesn't know about this (I remember having a discussion about this at Keito Sushi on Poesia).

I didn’t know Hola was “signature” and not “speciality”.  Appreciate the input!

[hawkeyetlse]

There is Hola Tapas (Grandiosa) and Hola Tacos (Virtuosa). I don't think there are any restrictions at Hola Tapas (except Easy package doesn't work). Hola Tacos is supposedly totally excluded but they will actually let you use Easy Plus or Premium Extra package for some drinks there.

[LiquidWu]

15 hours ago, L1211 said:

I was of the understanding that the drink pkg did NOT work in the specialty restaurants.  I’m reading in the attached “fine print” for the Premium pkg that it DOES work.  Is that true?  Your experience?  Limited to premium package only?  We have both packages in our family (one cabin is YC, the other is an Aurea hot tub suite).  

 

I have had two different drink packages depending on the booking. One is the one included in YC, the other is the premium package with an Aurea booking.

With both options, I have had no problems getting my drinks in the speciality restaurants on every ship in recent years.

PS: Of course, this also applies to the free visits to the restaurant. (through my Diamond membership)

Edited March 10, 2023 by LiquidWu
added PS

[elmsliebev]

18 hours ago, L1211 said:

Oh that’s good to know!  I had instructed the “kids”  to bring their own drinks- got it totally wrong!  

We had the alcohol free package and took an AF beer or cocktail into the speciality restaurants without a problem. We did buy fizzy water in them. 

[elmsliebev]

13 hours ago, hawkeyetlse said:

There is Hola Tapas (Grandiosa) and Hola Tacos (Virtuosa). I don't think there are any restrictions at Hola Tapas (except Easy package doesn't work). Hola Tacos is supposedly totally excluded but they will actually let you use Easy Plus or Premium Extra package for some drinks there.

Hola Tacos didn't charge us for fizzy water though the other speciality restaurants did! Food was great. 

Edited March 10, 2023 by elmsliebev

[L1211]

8 hours ago, LiquidWu said:

I have had two different drink packages depending on the booking. One is the one included in YC, the other is the premium package with an Aurea booking.

With both options, I have had no problems getting my drinks in the speciality restaurants on every ship in recent years.

PS: Of course, this also applies to the free visits to the restaurant. (through my Diamond membership)

Super helpful, thank you! 

[Morgsmom]

21 hours ago, heatherb1958 said:

You definitely can use your Premium package in speciality restaurants,  did it ourselves on Grandiosa end of Jan this year. What you can't do is take a drink into the restaurant from elsewhere , they don't like it. Problem you have here for example is if  there is  a wine you like in one bar and the restaurant doesn't serve it  e.g. L'Atelier bar was the only place  serving Whispering Angel rose  , my go to wine, we went to Butcher's Cut .

Never, ever had this in our experience.  The wine by the glass list is extremely limited in Butcher's Cut, even with the Premium package. We have often carried in our own.  No issues at all.  (And on the Grandiosa, the bar that Butcher's uses is actually that of L'Atelier so that's not an issue)

[heatherb1958]

7 minutes ago, Morgsmom said:

Never, ever had this in our experience.  The wine by the glass list is extremely limited in Butcher's Cut, even with the Premium package. We have often carried in our own.  No issues at all.  (And on the Grandiosa, the bar that Butcher's uses is actually that of L'Atelier so that's not an issue)

 

In January on Grandiosa , our first time in YC , our Butler found us in the TSL to escort us to Butcher's Cut. I still had a large amount of wine left in my glass and rather than leave it was about to take it with me . Our Butler said it wasn't allowed to take it to Butcher's Cut so I  asked him to put it in our cabin . While we were being seated in BC the butler spoke with the manager , came back to me and reconfirmed you cannot take drinks from elsewhere into the restaurant.  

People can have different experiences on the same ship , that is always a given.  

 

[Morgsmom]

Ah, but it’s likely because your wine was in a “good” yacht club wine glass and they knew they’d never get it back. If you bring a glass of wine from a “regular bar” in “ “regular” glass you won’t have a problem. 

[Morecruisesplz]

On 3/10/2023 at 12:40 PM, Morgsmom said:

Never, ever had this in our experience.  The wine by the glass list is extremely limited in Butcher's Cut, even with the Premium package. We have often carried in our own.  No issues at all.  (And on the Grandiosa, the bar that Butcher's uses is actually that of L'Atelier so that's not an issue)

May I ask the cost for Butchers Cut plz. And can one book specialty restaurants within the Bella experience?

 

Edited March 11, 2023 by fredmdcruisers
Typo

[LiquidWu]

On 3/11/2023 at 11:26 PM, fredmdcruisers said:

May I ask the cost for Butchers Cut plz. And can one book specialty restaurants within the Bella experience?

 

Normally you just order à la carte. 
You can quickly find the latest prices by googling "msc butchers cut menu pics".
The experience you have booked does not matter, you are just as welcome with Bella.

There are also different savings packages. Have a look here if you like:Cruise Dining & Specialty Restaurants | MSC Cruises (msccruisesusa.com)
But be careful, with these packages the choice is limited, always read the small print 😉

Edited March 13, 2023 by LiquidWu

[Centavo25]

This is a little off topic but still a BP questions.  If your rate includes the Easy Plus package does anyone know if  I can upgrade it to the Premium Extra once onboard.???  I appreciate your response as I can't seem to find the answer.  We're going on the Seaside in May.  I was on the the Meraviglia in Oct '22 but didn't feel the need then to upgrade.  I would like to try it this time.  CruiseGirl 

[karmamule]

We've always been able to use our YC drinks package at any specialty restaurant on Seaside, Meraviglia, and Seashore *except* for Hola Tacos on Seashore (back in January of 2022). Alcoholic drinks there were not covered by our drinks package which we found very annoying. Hopefully that was a test change that they roll back because it goes against the whole prepaid simplicity of a drinks package. 

Edited March 13, 2023 by karmamule