How does everyone feel about specialty restaurants for lunch?

[ARandomTraveler]

10 minutes ago, 3kidsncats said:

  It’s been a home re-novation year for us which definitely puts a dent in the cruise budget, lol

Oooo me too! What are you having done at your house? I'm knocking a wall out of my house to make a bigger bathroom and adding a steam shower, and putting in an on-demand water heater before winter starts.

[SilkySal]

Yep, hope to see you on board @3kidsncats!! If you see my on my rental scooter, please say hello! We originally booked the LA to Tampa portion but, when we saw the 8-night it, we decided to begin in Vancouver (and I really hate flying). Hah, hubby wanted to put in the other previous portion from Hawaii. Not this time, I said, 24 nights on a ship is enough for one trip. We really enjoy Hawaii too but was just there last year for the 3rd visit. Time to move on for now. Now, I'm looking for an east coast cruise from Canada down to Florida but Royal's 2026 fall cruises aren't posted just yet. Happy cruising!

[toad455]

As someone who generally doesn't care for the Windjammer, I like the specialty lunches. The past few Anthem cruises, they offered BOGO lunches for Diamond members and above. So I ate at Chops and Jamie's for lunch for $15 each essentially. And you can get the Filet Mignon during lunch as well.

[SteelCityCruiser10]

23 hours ago, livetravelcruise07 said:

We are going to be sailing on Grandeur of the Seas here soon and the prices for lunch at the specialty restaurants are a great price right now! We have the options of Giovanni's Table, Izumi or Chops Grille. Leaning more towards Giovanni's, currently $19 a person. How does everyone feel about doing lunch at a specialty restaurant in the middle of a sea day? We haven't done a lunch before; we have only ever done specialty restaurants for dinner, and we absolutely love doing that. Thank you!! 🤗

Just finished lunch in Izumi on Vision it’s something we try to do on every cruise.  

[George C]

We buy UDP so we do specialty restaurants at lunch every time there open.

[3kidsncats]

2 hours ago, ARandomTraveler said:

Oooo me too! What are you having done at your house? I'm knocking a wall out of my house to make a bigger bathroom and adding a steam shower, and putting in an on-demand water heater before winter starts.

That sounds wonderful!!  We had a toilet leak that triggered mitigation in 3 rooms —drywall removed, treated to prevent mold, new bathroom vanity, and new flooring in all of those rooms plus the kitchen.  We decided to repaint the kitchen ourselves and get new appliances, and paid to extend the new flooring into the family and living rooms, plus a new fireplace hearth/facing.  It’s been three months and they only just finished yesterday.  We still have boxes and furniture stacked in various rooms because we are in need of a break before tackling the return of all the stuff to wear it belongs.

[3kidsncats]

2 hours ago, SilkySal said:

Yep, hope to see you on board @3kidsncats!! If you see my on my rental scooter, please say hello! We originally booked the LA to Tampa portion but, when we saw the 8-night it, we decided to begin in Vancouver (and I really hate flying). Hah, hubby wanted to put in the other previous portion from Hawaii. Not this time, I said, 24 nights on a ship is enough for one trip. We really enjoy Hawaii too but was just there last year for the 3rd visit. Time to move on for now. Now, I'm looking for an east coast cruise from Canada down to Florida but Royal's 2026 fall cruises aren't posted just yet. Happy cruising!

We were originally booked on the Brilliance coastal, but our friends had booked Radiance LA to Tampa, so we switched to Radiance so they could join us and just make it a B2B for them.  Sadly, that was the point at which the LA/Tampa part had tripled over what our friends paid 😭. Oh well — the pets will be happier if we aren’t gone that long.

 

We have never done the Hawaii to California route, but it’s on the bucket list.  

[ARandomTraveler]

37 minutes ago, 3kidsncats said:

That sounds wonderful!!  We had a toilet leak that triggered mitigation in 3 rooms —drywall removed, treated to prevent mold, new bathroom vanity, and new flooring in all of those rooms plus the kitchen.  We decided to repaint the kitchen ourselves and get new appliances, and paid to extend the new flooring into the family and living rooms, plus a new fireplace hearth/facing.  It’s been three months and they only just finished yesterday.  We still have boxes and furniture stacked in various rooms because we are in need of a break before tackling the return of all the stuff to wear it belongs.

Nice! All those things will make it feel like a new house! Im on the opposite side, just now packing everything into a pod, ugh. The nice part of this tedious exercise is that it forces you to go through your stuff and throw things away. Fingers crossed I'll be done before 3 months is up but we'll see.

Edited September 1 by ARandomTraveler

[3kidsncats]

43 minutes ago, ARandomTraveler said:

Nice! All those things will make it feel like a new house! Im on the opposite side, just now packing everything into a pod, ugh. The nice part of this tedious exercise is that it forces you to go through your stuff and throw things away. Fingers crossed I'll be done before 3 months is up but we'll see.

Very true — we have gotten rid of a fair amount.  Take whatever time frame they give you and double or triple it.  If they actually do it in the time estimate, you can celebrate it.  We were told 2 weeks 😜🙄

Edited September 1 by 3kidsncats

[Mum2Mercury]

We never opt for the up-charge restaurants, as we don't see that they add much value to our cruise.  BUT, if I were going to eat at one of them, I'd definitely consider lunch because of the lower price.

[CruisingWalter]

We take advantage of these often, especially when the prices are discounted. And especially if we've never tried a particular restaurant. It's a great way to try them out at a lower cost. We enjoyed Jamie's Italian for lunch for example, but learned that we would not come back for the dinner price. It was good enough for lunch, but not something I would pay more for. 

[lovesthebeach2]

Depending on the ship and possibly the mood of the venue’s host or if you ask sweetly with a smile, I’ve in the past been able to use the D+ BOGO for lunch..never hurts to try.

 

 

[LB_NJ]

On 8/31/2024 at 1:55 PM, livetravelcruise07 said:

We are going to be sailing on Grandeur of the Seas here soon and the prices for lunch at the specialty restaurants are a great price right now! We have the options of Giovanni's Table, Izumi or Chops Grille. Leaning more towards Giovanni's, currently $19 a person. How does everyone feel about doing lunch at a specialty restaurant in the middle of a sea day? We haven't done a lunch before; we have only ever done specialty restaurants for dinner, and we absolutely love doing that. Thank you!! 🤗

We do this sometimes.  Always worked  out well for us.  Prefer it over the craziness of the buffet and I think the food is better than the MDR.  Chops vs  Italian is a personal choice.

 

NOTE:  The menu is slightly different for lunch.  Never an issue for us however you may feel differently 

[Cruising started]

Not only have I never done extra cost dining, I never thought of doing it on embarkation day which is the perfect time to avoid the madhouse that is WJ. 

[SUgwoz]

Lunches can be very good deals.  On sale, paying $18 including gratuity for burrata appetizer, filet, gnocchi, and a dessert at Giovanni's would cost me triple on land.  Also a fan of doing it on embarkation day, nice relaxing way to spend before rooms are available.

[zebra36]

In the past I considered the included food to be good enough ( sadly that is no longer the case), however, for more recent cruise I have opted for lunch in Giovani's for a few days when they are offering discounts just for a change of pace.

[SilkySal]

Yep, we have made having lunch in a specialty restaurant on embarkation day a priority. Well worth the price for the atmosphere and relaxation. Love it!

[BallFour4]

We have not done this prior to the Icon. Hooked changed that! We booked it twice for our March cruise. Fantastic!

 

.

[luckyinpa]

since liberty has no perks we bought chops lunch for boarding, who wants to fight the buffet line?

[island lady]

WJ on sea days is no fun either.  If we go...we go very early before it is totally nuts.  Love it on the Radiance ladies that you can take your plate all the way aft for "al fresco" on nicer weather days.  🙂  

[TYMAN]

18 hours ago, SilkySal said:

Yep, we have made having lunch in a specialty restaurant on embarkation day a priority. Well worth the price for the atmosphere and relaxation. Love it!

1000% agree! My cruise starts when I sit at either Jamie's or Giovanni's with the first glass of wine of the cruise! 

[island lady]

Just now, TYMAN said:

1000% agree! My cruise starts when I sit at either Jamie's or Giovanni's with the first glass of wine of the cruise! 

 

Good plan Bill!!   Unless it is CK of course.  😉 

[BND]

We do specialty lunch on boarding day all the time.  No fighting the crowds in the WJ and usually by the time we're done, rooms are open.  We're doing Mason Jar on our Wonder cruise in Nov on boarding day.

[TYMAN]

9 minutes ago, island lady said:

 

Good plan Bill!!   Unless it is CK of course.  😉 

Of course! That would be my first choice. Ha! Hope all is well with you and the Buckmeister. 

[island lady]

1 minute ago, TYMAN said:

Of course! That would be my first choice. Ha! Hope all is well with you and the Buckmeister. 

 

We are doing great...thanks and hope you are as well.   🙂 

 

Just off the second 62 night (last quarter) of the WC.   Soooo good to get home to real home cooking after that many cruise ship "delicacies".  😉 

 

We did break it up with sea day lunches at Givoanni's, Chops, and Izumi...but still not the same.  

Plus our breakfast each morning was at Giovanni's.