Karen Selwyn wrote:

Splenda wrote:

"WE" is 2 and my facts are correct. "We" were on the NCL Spirit October
2007. The charge per person was $25 AND the "Steak House" had 2 menus and if
we ordered French Onion Soup from their 2nd menu, instead of the Onion Soup
on the main menu it was $5 more.

Your reference to two menus certainly doesn't match our experience in
Cagney's, the steakhouse on JEWEL. In Cagney's, we were given one menu.
A small section of the menu listed specialty entrees like surf and turf
that required a surcharge beyond the basic specialty restaurant charge.
Are you sure you aren't referring to a tasting menu in the steakhouse?

The French restaurant in the JEWEL offered a tasting menu with a $10
surcharge. However, the differences between the regular menu and the
tasting menu extended beyond onion soup VS French onion soup. The
tasting menu included an additional course and the menu involved more
expensive basic ingredients or an extra degree of service (e.g. table
side carving).

(Incidentally, gratineed French onion soup was available at the basic
price in the French restaurant.)

Since there are equivalent restaurants on the NCL ships, I'd love to
hear from others who have sailed on multiple ships. Are the menus and
pricing policies different for the same type restaurant on different ships?

If so, that seems like a counter-productive policy. Why charge a cruiser
for an item on one ship that they can get for free on another ship? In
these days of blogs and internet boards, information -- and
dissatisfaction -- is widely shared.

On HAL's Maasdam this past December the Pinnacle Grill price was $25
each. On the NCL Crown in 2004, there was only one specialty
restaurant that required extra money, and the complaint was that the
specialty restaurants that didn't require extra money filled up so
fast that one couldn't get a reservation and/or place to eat there.

I hated the buffet on the Maasdam and rarely ate there. We ate at the
NCL Crown buffet all the time. I've heard some complaints about that
buffet, but we just didn't pick the foods that we didn't care for.

I did not think the service was any different on the two ships.