Cagney's Dining Package $ Question

[Teacherloves2Cruise]

Hi everyone- We are a party of 4 friends traveling to celebrate a birthday on the Escape 5 night 10/22 in August. We are doing Cagneys for our one night of free at sea specialty dining for guest 1/2. What is the most economical way to handle the other two guests? Is there a possibility to buy a 1 night package for them? Or would it be just paying a la carte for the 2? TIA for your help. 

[hallux]

If a one-meal option is offered for them, possibly.  You could look and see what they might want and add up the prices to decide what their dinner cost would be.  You should be able to find the menus in the app or in various places online (hint: 'NCL cagney's menu' is likely to get you the results you need in your search engine of choice).

 

Before you ask - no, you can't buy a 2-night package for one and let them 'treat' the other.

[ggTexasGal]

Hopefully this link helps a little.  However, there is no offer for 1 night package.

https://www.ncl.com/onboard-packages/dining-packages

[BirdTravels]

1 hour ago, Teacherloves2Cruise said:

Hi everyone- We are a party of 4 friends traveling to celebrate a birthday on the Escape 5 night 10/22 in August. We are doing Cagneys for our one night of free at sea specialty dining for guest 1/2. What is the most economical way to handle the other two guests? Is there a possibility to buy a 1 night package for them? Or would it be just paying a la carte for the 2? TIA for your help. 

Have them by a 2-night package. Eat with you one night. Eat on their own the second night. Why don’t they have a package?  
 

To put it in perspective, I ate at Cagney’s a few nights ago. My a la carte cost would have been $116 for my meal. With the mandatory gratuity, that’s $139. Our dinner for two would have cost $238 if we didn’t have the dining package. 
 

[Teacherloves2Cruise]

37 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

Have them by a 2-night package. Eat with you one night. Eat on their own the second night. Why don’t they have a package?  
 

To put it in perspective, I ate at Cagney’s a few nights ago. My a la carte cost would have been $116 for my meal. With the mandatory gratuity, that’s $139. Our dinner for two would have cost $238 if we didn’t have the dining package. 
 

Thanks for the comment. We are only looking to eat specialty dining 1 night tho. If they each buy 2 nights- it’s 2 extra meals. Is there a better option? They don’t have a package because the free at sea was only for the first 2 guests. 

[complawyer]

if youre only going to avail yourself of specialty dining for 1 night, please be aware that you are doing yourself a major disservice. depending on the ship, le bistro, moderno or teppanyaki are wonderful choices, and i try to do any of them once per cruise in addition to cagney's 

 

for the other 2 people, it's ok for them t o pay for ala carte. if theyre in a separate cabin, they should have received the dining package as one of the perks

[dexddd]

Go to buffet, Cagney's imo and reports here for large part keeps going down hill. Le Bistro might be  better option.

[sebas030]

One "a la carte" meal in Cagney's will probably cost $100 and up for 1 person. 

 

A 2 meal package cost $99, so passenger 3 and 4 could enjoy a meal together in a specialty restaurant  and the one at Cagney's with you for the same price.

[LatinaInTexas]

This was from our meal last week. First time so can't speak to if it has gone downhill but I found it excellent.

Seems like the 2 meal plan would be a better choice than a la carte.

[cruiseny4life]

14 hours ago, Teacherloves2Cruise said:

Thanks for the comment. We are only looking to eat specialty dining 1 night tho. If they each buy 2 nights- it’s 2 extra meals. Is there a better option? They don’t have a package because the free at sea was only for the first 2 guests. 

There's no better option than purchasing the specialty dining package for two extra meals. 

You can take a look at the Cagney's menu to see how much your friends would spend. If it's less than $99 per person, then I suppose that might be a better choice. The inflated costs at Cagney's add up quickly. I suggest you go to a nice steakhouse the night before the cruise to enjoy a better steak...but I'm anti-Cagney's (after my one and only experience). 

[BirdTravels]

25 minutes ago, cruiseny4life said:

There's no better option than purchasing the specialty dining package for two extra meals. 

You can take a look at the Cagney's menu to see how much your friends would spend. If it's less than $99 per person, then I suppose that might be a better choice. The inflated costs at Cagney's add up quickly. I suggest you go to a nice steakhouse the night before the cruise to enjoy a better steak...but I'm anti-Cagney's (after my one and only experience). 

The challenge is that if you are the people without the dining package, you really don't want to watch Guest 1 and 2 gorge themselves (to get their money's worth on the package) and you're sitting there sharing one serving of fries so you don't spend money. 

 

The prices at Cagney's are cheaper than any decent steakhouse on land (i.e., something above longhorn steakhouse)

[cruiseny4life]

7 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

The challenge is that if you are the people without the dining package, you really don't want to watch Guest 1 and 2 gorge themselves (to get their money's worth on the package) and you're sitting there sharing one serving of fries so you don't spend money. 

 

The prices at Cagney's are cheaper than any decent steakhouse on land (i.e., something above longhorn steakhouse)

Haha, I agree...perhaps they can enjoy their three (or is it four now) pieces of zucchini? 

 

The prices may be cheaper, but that doesn't mean it's the same quality (in fact, it's worse). I think you and I agree with Cagney's being not a great experience. Based on my experience in Cagney's (again, only one time), I really do put the quality below that of Texas Roadhouse. See, I'm not even Longhorn material!

 

That's because we purchase a whole roast (typically a tenderloin or ribeye) from Costco that is prime grade and grill the steak on open flame. 

[Teacherloves2Cruise]

Could I purchase a 2 meal plan for the third guest and then guest 4 uses the second one? Or is this not permissible?-- looks like I can't delete this post- ooops, already answered.

Edited May 26, 2023 by Teacherloves2Cruise

[Teacherloves2Cruise]

17 hours ago, hallux said:

If a one-meal option is offered for them, possibly.  You could look and see what they might want and add up the prices to decide what their dinner cost would be.  You should be able to find the menus in the app or in various places online (hint: 'NCL cagney's menu' is likely to get you the results you need in your search engine of choice).

 

Before you ask - no, you can't buy a 2-night package for one and let them 'treat' the other.

LOL, I just asked that- forgot your answer here. Will delete that post now. Thanks!

[mking8288]

Among the reasons for overpriced Specialty Dining meals, including those ridiculous sides, is that NCL can jack up, bump up the a la carte total ... as well as the "discounted" dining packages / add-ons, to levy that 20% extra charge on top. 

 

DSC per day per person now is $20 USD, suites & Havens at higher amount - Eat in SD like Cagney's and if you pay a la carte, the tab (ours, at least) come to $100 to $120 per person, excluding alcohol and/or premium coffee - that's an extra $20 to $24 p/p for the "privilege" of a fancier dining experience.  Fine to enjoy those 3 or 4 pieces of onion rings, grilled zucchini slices, or single ice-cream scoop-ful of mashed potatoes for $9 each ... as part of the complimentary Latitudes perks or FAS dining package, not so much at full MSRP.  As for those "signature" desserts, they seemed more "petite" these days but you can skip those & find other choices in the buffet.  Blame these inflated prices as casualty of collateral stagflation.  

 

Portions served are surely shrinking and it's not just Cagney's or LeBistro, also we see that in the MDR and other venues onboard - it's not obvious if you haven't been sailing with NCL for over a decade plus.  Those new to cruising and with NCL do not and will not care.  Now, for MDR meals, easy to just order multiples and extra servings, no problems whatsoever - not true in Cagney's or other specialty revenues.  

 

DW felt strongly that Cagney's dessert last month was "slightly" smaller than before ... very subtle, I'm not 95% sure that's the case, but - whatever.  NCL should just use smaller plates when serving these desserts and that should help in the presentation.  

 

 

Edited May 26, 2023 by mking8288