Restaurant Cost....what is this???

[mscreneet]

Ive read a few post about some of the restaurants charge a fee?

 

What kind of fee?

Is it a flat fee or are you actually paying the cost of your meal?

 

Anyone have an example of cost?

[AFT_LOVER]

is the tip for the staff, as the food is FREE, as they pay rent to be there.

That was confirmed on Dawn to us by the reservationist.

 

Now some charge an additional fee for lobster and other special items. That is for the food that is not their norm.

 

$25 is Tepanyaki (Japanese Steakhouse) $20 is Cagney's Steakhouse. The rest are $15.

[garycarla]

If you scroll through the messages, folks do post the actual restuarants and options for each ship from time to time, but...

 

On NCL, the main dining rooms, buffet and a few other venues do not charge anything for your meal. They do have a few speciality restaurants that charge $10-$20 per person to eat there. These are entirely optional. some people eat at them alot, some never eat at them. On our recent Pearl cruise, the food in the buffet and dining rooms was great.

[Toyz711]

which ship? then someone can give you an exact list of restaurant names and if surcharges or not/prices.

in general, there are 2 main dining rooms with no fees...depending on the ship, (also no fees) a 24hr diner, a couple of grills, the buffet and room service.

fees: steakhouse, french-style, all the asian (can be 3 different asian dining venues)

other ships: the italian or mexican/spanish dining..some have fees and some don't.

my last 2 cruises had the same steakhouse (cagney's)..regular menu selections were $20 , while items from the "steakhouse specials" (porterhouse, surf & turf, etc) were $30 (total price) the french (le bistro) runs close to the same price..it, also, was a "special" menu.

some ships have different restaurants, it's better to ask about a certain ship to get the best information.

[Cruise_More_Often]

is the tip for the staff, as the food is FREE, as they pay rent to be there.

That was confirmed on Dawn to us by the reservationist.

 

Now some charge an additional fee for lobster and other special items. That is for the food that is not their norm.

 

$25 is Tepanyaki (Japanese Steakhouse) $20 is Cagney's Steakhouse. The rest are $15.

I have been on 10 NCL cruises, and even I cannot understand what you are saying! I can't even imagine what the OP is thinking.

[blindrid]

I have been on 10 NCL cruises, and even I cannot understand what you are saying! I can't even imagine what the OP is thinking.

 

Agree. The surcharge sure isn't for the tip, it is for the additional quality of the meal. The servers get paid out of the tip pool of the autotip. "As they pay rent to be there" --- I don't think it's a beauty shop like at home. Not quite sure where that one came from unless one believes everything they hear on the ship. My saying to my wife when a staff member blows smoke up my skirt, is "they'll never see me again" with a wink.

 

Anyway to the OP, the premium restaurants offer an upgraded menu for a surcharge. The service is sometimes better, sometimes not. I always do at least one night at Cagney's (steakhouse) and have great luck with them. That doesn't mean the dining room food isn't good, but the food typically in the "surcharge" dining areas are a bit better. I wasn't big on the French one's I've been in but that's just my opinion.

[Cruise_More_Often]

And to add to what blindrid just said, the alternative restaurants are quite small and offer a much more intimate dining experience than you get in the big dining rooms. One of the two main dining rooms on the ships will be a bit smaller than the other, and we always navigate to that one. I sometimes feel like I'm at a convention in those huge dining rooms.

[blindrid]

And to add to what blindrid just said, the alternative restaurants are quite small and offer a much more intimate dining experience than you get in the big dining rooms. One of the two main dining rooms on the ships will be a bit smaller than the other, and we always navigate to that one. I sometimes feel like I'm at a convention in those huge dining rooms.

 

Agree. And sometimes it's a bit easier to request a particular server's area in the smaller one also.

[coffeebean]

Agree. The surcharge sure isn't for the tip, it is for the additional quality of the meal. The servers get paid out of the tip pool of the autotip. "As they pay rent to be there" --- I don't think it's a beauty shop like at home. Not quite sure where that one came from unless one believes everything they hear on the ship. My saying to my wife when a staff member blows smoke up my skirt, is "they'll never see me again" with a wink.

 

Anyway to the OP, the premium restaurants offer an upgraded menu for a surcharge. The service is sometimes better, sometimes not. I always do at least one night at Cagney's (steakhouse) and have great luck with them. That doesn't mean the dining room food isn't good, but the food typically in the "surcharge" dining areas are a bit better. I wasn't big on the French one's I've been in but that's just my opinion.

 

Everyone has different tastes and opinions and we all love to give our opinions. Having said that....Le Bistro (French) is my favorite surcharge restaurant on NCL ships. There are a few "signature" items on the menu that I would be disappointed if I couldn't have on my NCL cruise. One of them is the Forest mushroom soup in sourdough bowl. I have to admit, this last time on the Gem the sourdough bread was not as good as I've had in the past but the mushroom soup was still incredible. I have always had a superb filet mignon in Le Bistro. Last but not to be missed is the scrumptiously delicious chocolate fondue. I always ask for additional sliced bananas as they are my favorite for dipping in the decadent chocolate. You will run out of fruit for dipping before you run out of the chocolate. Just ask for more fruit.

[Cruise_More_Often]

Blindrid, are you sure we don't know one another? You sound like my twin. I don't care for Le Bistro either. Your either love French food or you don't. That was the only surcharge restaurant we weren't planning on going to on our last cruise, but people we met on our rollcall thread wanted to go (he did, she didn't care). He had frog's leg soup (frog's legs cannot possibly be that green) and escargot. I cannot even remember what I ate, but I sure remember that soup!

[newmexicoNita]

Blindrid, are you sure we don't know one another? You sound like my twin. I don't care for Le Bistro either. Your either love French food or you don't. That was the only surcharge restaurant we weren't planning on going to on our last cruise, but people we met on our rollcall thread wanted to go (he did, she didn't care). He had frog's leg soup (frog's legs cannot possibly be that green) and escargot. I cannot even remember what I ate, but I sure remember that soup!

Interesting how we all view particular restaurants: I am a fan of Le Bistro, while DH loves Cagney's and our daughter thinks there is nothing like Tapayakis (or whatever it is) That being said, we know lots of people that never spend the money for specialty dining rooms.

 

Nita

[Fishbait17]

He had frog's leg soup (frog's legs cannot possibly be that green) and escargot. I cannot even remember what I ate, but I sure remember that soup!

 

Just to let you know, it's actually NOT frog's leg soup. It's watercress cream soup with a small piece of frog leg in it :D . It happens to be one of my favorites at Le Bistro.

 

Robin

[ohioNCLcruiser]

is the tip for the staff, as the food is FREE, as they pay rent to be there.

That was confirmed on Dawn to us by the reservationist.

 

That isnt true.

[CC Help Michell]

That isnt true.

 

You understood enough of that post to figure out whether it was true or not?! I'm impressed! :)

 

To the OP, the staff in the specialty restaurants onboard does not pay "rent" to be there (:confused:), and the surcharge you pay to dine there is for a more intimate ambience than the main dining venues, with more personalized service, and usually somewhat upgraded food, not for gratuities. I can't imagine how confusing that post James is referring to would be, considering the OP was already confused. To be perfectly clear, contrary to that post above, no, NCL does not rent out restaurant space to the serving staff so that they can serve "free" food in return for a hefty gratuity at every meal. I'm sorry, but I'm just boggled at that post. :(

 

It's perfectly possible to dine on any NCL ship without paying any surcharge. The surcharge venues just open up more dining options in terms of food types -- French, Asian, Steakhouse, etc. The surcharge prices range from about $15 to $30 per person for the most part, depending on the restaurant and the ship. Most cruiselines have specialty restaurants with surcharges -- NCL just has more of them.

[flashdog_1]

I'm going to take a stab at this one. On another cruise line that both MACOP and I have traveled (not together. I just saw her post there), it says, for instance, the optional casual dining option near the buffet at night with table cloths and a smaller choice of entrees than in the main dining room, requests a $2 gratuity. It is quite possible that it was also written on that line that the (at the time) $15 pp charge in the one specialty restaurant was for gratuities for impecable service. And they apparently did deliver! (BTW, in that line's specialty restaurant you could not pig out. One entree. Choice of a salad OR appetizer. It was a little strange, but everyone said it was very good). Maybe that is where she got the idea that on NCL it is the same. Just guessing MACOP. Sorry if I'm wrong.

 

I know that the spa and stores "rent space" and employ their own people, but that is not the case with ship restaurants.

[Cruise_More_Often]

Just to let you know, it's actually NOT frog's leg soup. It's watercress cream soup with a small piece of frog leg in it :D . It happens to be one of my favorites at Le Bistro.

 

Robin

Oh, thank goodness! Now I can get that sight out of my mind. :D

[onthelake]

I'm going to take a stab at this one. On another cruise line that both MACOP and I have traveled (not together. I just saw her post there), it says, for instance, the optional casual dining option near the buffet at night with table cloths and a smaller choice of entrees than in the main dining room, requests a $2 gratuity. It is quite possible that it was also written on that line that the (at the time) $15 pp charge in the one specialty restaurant was for gratuities for impecable service. And they apparently did deliver! (BTW, in that line's specialty restaurant you could not pig out. One entree. Choice of a salad OR appetizer. It was a little strange, but everyone said it was very good). Maybe that is where she got the idea that on NCL it is the same. Just guessing MACOP. Sorry if I'm wrong.

 

I know that the spa and stores "rent space" and employ their own people, but that is not the case with ship restaurants.

 

 

But, in the 'olden days', when NCL first started with the alternative restaurants, they said the surcharge was a tip for the staff of that restaurant. Now that they have gone all free-style, the charge is for the upgraded menu choices. Also, we were just on the Jade in the Med and the servers said they get rotated between stations and restaurants (every week, cruise, I am not sure) because some are so much more stressful than others. One thing I am sure of from reading the boards is that folks want clear information in advance about what to expect.

[Guest Anorak33]

is the tip for the staff, as the food is FREE, as they pay rent to be there.

That was confirmed on Dawn to us by the reservationist.

 

 

 

 

 

That is just so not true at all

 

I am sorry to have to say it but where do you get these crazy ideas?

[blindrid]

Blindrid, are you sure we don't know one another? You sound like my twin. I don't care for Le Bistro either. Your either love French food or you don't. That was the only surcharge restaurant we weren't planning on going to on our last cruise, but people we met on our rollcall thread wanted to go (he did, she didn't care). He had frog's leg soup (frog's legs cannot possibly be that green) and escargot. I cannot even remember what I ate, but I sure remember that soup!

 

Don't know - I'm not sure the world could (or should have to) put up with two of us. . . . maybe it's a western US thing...... I went under protest but it's a lot simpler to get along on a cruise and say "whatever" and go and have a good time regardless. Now that the frog leg issue was resolved, I do feel better.

 

Maybe we should do a cruise together and see how bad it could get ;) .