Eden Restaurant good but overpriced

[PTC DAWG]

1 minute ago, Liao said:

On Virgin Atlantic every dining venue is included.

There are extra fee items and the dinner theater is not included..

 

I’ve priced Virgin, it’s not for me, short expensive cruises.

[Liao]

36 minutes ago, Cruising89143 said:

That’s great but Virgin in no way interests me. 

I’ve become obsessed with them after a lot of research and talking with the folks on the CC VV page.  So much so I have cancelled my Eclipse TA for next year and booked a 15 day on Scarlet Lady, with an amazing itinerary, compared to Celebrity especially.

[NMTraveller]

I think that you could say the same thing about the Chef's Table.  It is good but overpriced...

 

We just got off of a river cruise and we did the Chef's Table 3 times and it was included in the price of the cruise.  Local cuisine,  wines,  etc...

[keesar]

1 hour ago, IDL said:

With cruise lines trying to stay afloat (no pun attended) post the Covid shutdown period the pricing models are obviously whatever the traffic will bear vs. a pure incremental cost + a standard profit margin approach.   As Eden currently has cache and buzz factor they keep increasing the price disapportionetly to their actual cost. 

You are correct.  On the Ascent, every Specialty Restaurant was being discounted by 30-40% except Eden.  

[cruisetonowhere10]

2 hours ago, Stem to Stern said:

Very!  I am eagerly anticipating our first go at the four-main-dining-room concept.  We are only planning on the one visit to speciality dining during the cruise.

We are actually do the 4 MDR thing too…except I want to stay in one/same time/same staff (old school style) but order from the 4.  Only speciality we are doing will be for some sushi (embarkation day and maybe one sea day.)

[Lastdance]

My first time in Eden was my last; however, I will say that Celebrity refunded the total price for two meals.  I doubt whether we will try it again, even if the dinners were free.  Yes, it was that bad, but prices for so many things are too high, IMHO yet an opportunity cost.  As long as people pay the prices for specialty dining, they will go up, but also have discounts if these venues are not filling up.

Edited Sunday at 03:49 PM by Lastdance

[Jim_Iain]

I've been to Eden about 6 times and have enjoyed but on recent cruise just did not stand up to earlier visits.   While they originally had a Nova Scotia Lobster Casserole --- while in Asia, Australia and Trans Pacific they were serving tiny lobster from parts unknown.   Definitely not Nova Scotian .   

 

After doing it 6 times the menu has really gotten boring and will probably not go again.   Traveling in a RS it is included so really hadn't noticed the price increases.

[Oxo]

2 hours ago, George C said:

Just book the penthouse and the specialty restaurants are free. I didn’t like the looks of the menu on Eden , but everybody said food was really good , great view. 

Not to be funny or snarky. I don't know what you paid for the penthouse, however, you should get the SRs free. I'm sure that was added in the total of the per person cost of the Penthouse cabin. JMHO!

[horseymike]

There comes a price point when people just stop buying.

These specialty restaurants have reached that point.

[George C]

12 minutes ago, Oxo said:

Not to be funny or snarky. I don't know what you paid for the penthouse, however, you should get the SRs free. I'm sure that was added in the total of the per person cost of the Penthouse cabin. JMHO!

We actually had a sky suite almost exactly 3 years ago on Edge , we were celebrating my wife’s July 4th 60th birthday and our 30 th wedding anniversary. So I did a move up so we spent considerably less than full cost , but still expensive, glad we did it . Yes all the perks are part of the price, we do royal suite often on M class which is much less but same great perks . Bottom line you get what you paid for.

Edited Sunday at 04:43 PM by George C

[KKB]

We have done Eden on Edge, Apex & Beyond & absolutely love it.

But I agree they are pricing us out of it.

 

[MISTER 67]

4 hours ago, Ex-Airbalancer said:

All of the paid restaurants are over priced 

I agree, we stick to the MDR and since the startup after Covid we have never had a bad meal with 6 cruises with Celebrity and 4 with Princess. We’ve also had 2 cruises with HAL where the food could have been better.

Edited Sunday at 05:08 PM by MISTER 67

[MISTER 67]

33 minutes ago, horseymike said:

There comes a price point when people just stop buying.

These specialty restaurants have reached that point.

We started cruising in 1982 so we are old time cruisers and paying for meals on a cruise is sort of alien to us, we refuse to do it. I can honestly say with 74 cruises that 99% of our meals have been at the worst been pretty good with most of them excellent. 

Edited Sunday at 05:14 PM by MISTER 67

[Cruising89143]

1 hour ago, NMTraveller said:

I think that you could say the same thing about the Chef's Table.  It is good but overpriced...

 

We just got off of a river cruise and we did the Chef's Table 3 times and it was included in the price of the cruise.  Local cuisine,  wines,  etc...

We have booked a river cruise for next December to visit the Christmas markets. Our first river cruise. Looking forward to the change. 

[Lena11033]

52 minutes ago, horseymike said:

There comes a price point when people just stop buying.

These specialty restaurants have reached that point.

 

Yep last time I purchased Eden was before the price increase (I haven't done most of the specialty restaurants just that and Le Grande Biistro). Now in CA$ its like $110 plus 20% which is too much

[Jim_Iain]

6 hours ago, horseymike said:

There comes a price point when people just stop buying.

These specialty restaurants have reached that point.

 

They use to say the same about Olympic on M-Class.    It cost a whopping $25 per person and they had a hard time filling it.  It was recommended you allocate 2 1/2 - 3 hours for dinner.   Portions were huge and service impeccable.

 

Ohhhh... those good old days

[NMTraveller]

1 hour ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

They use to say the same about Olympic on M-Class.    It cost a whopping $25 per person and they had a hard time filling it.  It was recommended you allocate 2 1/2 - 3 hours for dinner.   Portions were huge and service impeccable.

 

Ohhhh... those good old days

I guess people are paying the price.

 

But when you can dine in a Michelin One Star restaurant or Eden (for roughly the same price) which would you choose?

[mrgabriel]

Completely agree. We were on Ascent and all of the specialty dining restaurants were WAY overpriced. We had a great meal at Eden but was it worth the extra $79 per person (I guess we got a deal)? Nope. One and done.  With the number of included restaurant choices on the E class ships, I don't see us spending extra for food unless it's grabbing pub food in the sports bar.

[mrgabriel]

16 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

They use to say the same about Olympic on M-Class.    It cost a whopping $25 per person and they had a hard time filling it.  It was recommended you allocate 2 1/2 - 3 hours for dinner.   Portions were huge and service impeccable.

 

Ohhhh... those good old days

 

That's when we got hooked on specialty dining. The old Normandie restaurant on M class ships. It was such a completely different experience from assigned dining in the MDR so was worth the uncharge. 

[dlh015]

Got off the Apex this past April...I had booked Eden very early on and paid $65pp which included gratuity. And then I watched the price go up...and up. Wow!

 

The food was very good and the service was excellent. 

 

But the price I paid was my limit. I will let others take up the slack of our absence...lol...

 

 

 

[bikerunner]

On 6/30/2024 at 1:25 PM, Cruising89143 said:

We have booked a river cruise for next December to visit the Christmas markets. Our first river cruise. Looking forward to the change. 

I have the same thing next year 2025, Christmas Markets river Cruise.  Doing Basel to Amsterdam route on AMA.   Definitely looking forward to it.  

[dreamer321]

From a very selfish point of view, I'm glad the price is so high. I booked Unlimited Specialty Dining when they had a 40%off flash sale for my Apex transatlantic crossing in the fall and the high price hopefully will reduce the demand making it easier for me to dine there multiple nights.  I do agree, though, that Specialty Dining prices are getting out of control.

[3dog]

I'm in agreement that the specialty restaurants are becoming way overpriced.  Long ago it was a way to getaway from the regular dining room for a more intimate setting, but it has mostly become a way of dining.  And on E-class ships, you can almost turn any dining room into a similar getaway setting.

 

While I liked the food in Eden, my wife did not (she likes plain food and not fancy food - and too much modification to fit her idea of dinner), and at $100pp, I'm not doing on our next trip.  I liken it, similarly to Dinner on the Edge, La Petite Chef, and The Chefs Table as something to consider once, but not twice (unless you really enjoy the experience, then do it as often as you can - after all, you are on vacation).

[Spif Barwunkel]

Eden is high-priced. Over-priced, I believe, is determined by each person's opinion that the elements making it "worth the cost" are no longer strong enough to justify another visit. We will continue to enjoy Eden, but only when cruising for more than seven nights. As Aqua Class cruisers, Blu is very satisfactory for us. We are not yet deterred by the cost to dine in Eden and usually are fortunate to do so at lower pricing. Rooftop Garden Grill is another excellent go to specialty venue.

 

 

 

    

Edited Monday at 07:58 PM by Spif Barwunkel

[George C]

Just got off the phone with my sister who finished a Norway cruise from England last week, they didn’t care for Eden at all , his salmon was filled with bones , her steak was mediocre. They were on apex.