Specialty Restaurants on ships

In article ,
Nonnymus wrote:


I guess the thing in a nutshell is that if a ship's main dining room
serves excellent food with the anticipated service and variety, then if
folks want to pay extra for a specialty venue, I don't have a problem.
However, if a specialty restaurant(s) is pushed by the line and poor
food or service in the main dining room is the alternative, then I guess
I'd resent it deeply.

Nonny

Most of the reason Kay and I go for the specialty restaurants is
because 7 days in the same place with same people can get tedious even
with great food and company. So, we generally hit one or two of the
specialty restaurants just for a change of pace.

On Aug 30, 2:06 pm, Nonnymus wrote:

I have a fairly negative reaction to specialty restaurants on a cruise
ship. When I purchase a cruise, I expect that the main dining room will
serve high quality food, properly prepared and properly served.

And, for the most part, it is. Well...maybe not "high" quality, but
certainly good quality. When you're preparing that quantity of food
for that many people, my expectations for high quality go out the
door. From my first cruise, dining room food has met my expectations,
which I try to keep realistic - I expect the food to fall somewhere in
between a "wedding factory" catering hall and a moderately priced
restaurant (entrées in the $25-$35 range).

I
expect the menu to change daily to give me a selection of foods and
preparation, such as an Italian themed menu, French themed menu during
different nights. When a specialty restaurant is presented as a place
for the "best steak," or "best service," then I feel it's done at the
expense of the main dining venue.

So far, that hasn't been my experience. There are still themed nights
in the dining rooms, with a different menu each evening - Caribbean,
French, all-American, Italian, etc. I have found that the specialty
restaurants do have a higher level of service and higher quality food,
but I haven't noticed that the dining room has suffered any.

I guess the thing in a nutshell is that if a ship's main dining room
serves excellent food with the anticipated service and variety, then if
folks want to pay extra for a specialty venue, I don't have a problem.

And, that's pretty much what's happening. The use of the word
"excellent" is pretty subjective. I've had a few excellent dishes in
the dining room, but overall, I wouldn't rate the food as
excellent...but many people would! Even if there were no specialty
restaurants on any ships, and all the effort and expense for good
quality service and food was concentrated in the dining room, I doubt
even then, that I'd call it "excellent". When you're preparing that
quantity of food for that many people, with a very limited budget
(it's been a while, but a long time ago, someone posted how much each
cruise line spends for food per day, per passenger - amazingly small $
$ amounts) to achieve excellence is quite a stretch.

However, if a specialty restaurant(s) is pushed by the line and poor
food or service in the main dining room is the alternative, then I guess
I'd resent it deeply.

I've never felt that the specialty restaurants were pushed on me. I
think maybe you're getting (just a little) irked about a situation
that, in my experience, doesn't exist. Maybe it's the case on NCL with
freestyle. I've only cruised on ships with traditional dining, and
have not found what you've described to be the case.

Lee

Nonny

--
---Nonnymus---
You don't stand any taller by
trying to make others appear shorter.

As lovely as the food and service were n the dining room on our cruise
this year (Dawn Princess, Alaskan cruise), I can't imagine paying more
to dine in the specialty restaurant.

Besides, my hubby absolutely does not like fancy gourmet food or
anything different from what he's used to eating, and it would have just
been a waste of money. He likes very simple, basic things like burgers,
spaghetti, steak, pizza, etc. and most nights just chose the
always-offered fettucine alfredo. Honestly, he probably would have been
very happy just to eat every meal in casual comfort at the buffet court!


Diva

LeeNY wrote:
On Aug 30, 2:06 pm, Nonnymus wrote:

However, if a specialty restaurant(s) is pushed by the line and poor
food or service in the main dining room is the alternative, then I guess
I'd resent it deeply.

I've never felt that the specialty restaurants were pushed on me. I
think maybe you're getting (just a little) irked about a situation
that, in my experience, doesn't exist. Maybe it's the case on NCL with
freestyle. I've only cruised on ships with traditional dining, and
have not found what you've described to be the case.

Lee
Nonny

Please note the use of the word, "if" in the paragraph quoted. I was
speaking in the hypothetical, or hopefully in the hypothetical. Like
you, I've never really felt driven to use a specialty restaurant, and as
a matter of fact, I never have. Some of my family members have done a
specialty restaurant on cruises, and reported they received premium
service and food for the additional charge. Perhaps I just have lower
expectations or a lower definition of what is excellent in a ship's main
dining room. I am seldom disappointed in the food or the service. I
have to admit that NCL freestyle was probably one of the weaker dining
experiences, but even then I didn't get the feeling that I was being
pushed toward their specialty places, but merely handed a mediocre
dining experience.

Nonny

-
---Nonnymus---
You don't stand any taller by
trying to make others appear shorter.




--
---Nonnymus---
You don’t stand any taller by
trying to make others appear shorter.

A real 'Mr Excitement haha.....
wrote in message
...
As lovely as the food and service were n the dining room on our cruise
this year (Dawn Princess, Alaskan cruise), I can't imagine paying more
to dine in the specialty restaurant.

Besides, my hubby absolutely does not like fancy gourmet food or
anything different from what he's used to eating, and it would have just
been a waste of money. He likes very simple, basic things like burgers,
spaghetti, steak, pizza, etc. and most nights just chose the
always-offered fettucine alfredo. Honestly, he probably would have been
very happy just to eat every meal in casual comfort at the buffet court!


Diva

In article , George Leppla
wrote:

What do you think about "specialty restaurants" on ships?

It is nice to have a break from the dining room. Particularly on
cruises longer than seven days.

If you go to these restaurants, what was your favorite meal?

My favorite was the Normandie on Celebrity Summit. Superb service.
Great food.

--
Charles

On Thu, 30 Aug 2007 07:28:50 -0500, "George Leppla"
wrote:


Which leads to some questions...

What do you think about "specialty restaurants" on ships?

If you go to these restaurants, what was your favorite meal?


I have to admit I dislike the concept of additional pay, specialty
restaurants on ships. I think dining in the dining room should be "special"
but it has become ordinary. Waiters singing, Maitre 'ds who think they were
born to spend their life talking on a microphone, trying to feed 3500 people
in 3 hours. Most dining room food and service is very good, but for me, it
is no longer "special".

My favorite meal in a specialty restaurant was on the Carnival Conquest. We
had dinner with my brother and his wife, it was their first cruise and their
honeymoon and Carnival does an excellent job.

I think it is a shame that in order to get excellent food and service
you have to pay extra and go to these specialty restaurants. The
cruise costs more than enough and should include everything.

On 8/30/2007 10:58 PM delta exclaimed:
On Thu, 30 Aug 2007 07:28:50 -0500, "George Leppla"
wrote:



Which leads to some questions...

What do you think about "specialty restaurants" on ships?

If you go to these restaurants, what was your favorite meal?


I have to admit I dislike the concept of additional pay, specialty
restaurants on ships. I think dining in the dining room should be "special"
but it has become ordinary. Waiters singing, Maitre 'ds who think they were
born to spend their life talking on a microphone, trying to feed 3500 people
in 3 hours. Most dining room food and service is very good, but for me, it
is no longer "special".

My favorite meal in a specialty restaurant was on the Carnival Conquest. We
had dinner with my brother and his wife, it was their first cruise and their
honeymoon and Carnival does an excellent job.


I think it is a shame that in order to get excellent food and service
you have to pay extra and go to these specialty restaurants. The
cruise costs more than enough and should include everything.

HAL provides great food and service in the main dining room, the Lido
Buffet, and Pinnacle, the specialty restaurant. In fact on formal
nights the Lido Buffet mirrors the main dining room for folks who'd
rather be casual. On a Pacific Northwest cruise on ms Amsterdam a group
of us dined in the specialty restaurant. On HAL the specialty
restaurant tries to reflect the cuisine of the areas the ship will sail
to. I had Grilled Salmon with Alaskan King Crab Legs for the main
dish. In lesser hands the salmon would be dry and overcooked. Not on
the Amsterdam. It was done to perfection served up with shettake
mushrooms on a bed of herbs and wild rice. The desert was some divine
chocolate thing, Dutch chocolate of course.

HAL normally charges around $20 pp in the specialty restaurant. If you
dine there on the first night of sailing, it's half-price. For the meal
I had, I have no problem being charged less than I would pay at a diner
for a far more mediocre meal.

--
________
To email me, Edit "blog" from my email address.
Brian M. Kochera
"Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once!"
View My Web Page: http://home.earthlink.net/~brian1951

Sue,

I have to agree with you. Palo on the Disney Magic was by far the favorite
specialty restaurant for both my wife Deborah and myself. However, we only
had the opportunity for dinner, having to cancel our brunch reservation,
because we opted to attend the seminar with Richard Sherman instead, from
the brothers song-writing team from Disney legends. But, that's a different
story.

Happy sailing,
John Sisker, SHIP-TO-SHORE CRUISE AGENCY®
(714) 536-3850 or toll free at (800) 724-6644 & (Agency No. 714.536.3850)
www.shiptoshorecruise.com



My favorite was "Palo" on the Disney Magic. We went there for brunch and
another day for dinner and the food and service were excellant.

sue

On Aug 30, 10:58 pm, delta wrote:

I think it is a shame that in order to get excellent food and service
you have to pay extra and go to these specialty restaurants. The
cruise costs more than enough and should include everything.

The meals that are included in your cruise fare, at no extra cost, are
really lovely, and the service is, for the most part, really great,
too. I'm amazed at the food that they are able to produce, for the
number of people they have to serve, and within the very limited
budget they have to work with. But, I think to expect excellence is
unrealistic.

I found an excerpt from the book Cruise Ship Blues - I have no idea of
the accuracy of what was written, but it confirms what I remember
reading on this ng a few years ago, when someone posted a list of the
cruise lines and what each spent, for food, per passenger, per day.
According to Cruise Ship Blues, lines like Carnival and Royal
Caaribbean, the food budget is about $10-$11 per day, per passenger.
HAL and Celebrity spend about $12-$15 per day. With Seaborn,
Silversea, you're looking at $20-$24 per day.

Here's the url (very long...maybe someone can make it smaller?). The
discussion of food is on pg. 15.

http://books.google.com/books?id=FPL...yeO9w#PPA15,M1

I think that the cruise lines do incredibly well, working within these
budgets, but I don't see how anyone can expect excellent food for that
cost. Sure...they buy their ingredients and substantial volume
discount. But, it's a measly amount of money, considering the food
that you get, that's included in your cruise fare.

You just can't expect to pay, I don't know, $1000 for a week-long
cruise? and get food in the dining room like you would at Per Se in
NYC or Taillevent in Paris. Think about how many ways your cruise fare
$$ need to be dispersed - food is just one expense for the cruise
lines.

I've enjoyed the specialty restaurants I've tried, but I'm not a huge
fan of the trend toward more specialty restaurants and less focus on
the main dining room. But, I understand the limitations of the galley,
when producing mass quantities on a limited budget, and commend their
efforts. I don't expect excellence in the main dining room, so am
pleasantly surprised when it happens. What I do expect are nicely
prepared dishes, plated attractively, served professionally and that
taste good - and so far, I haven't been disappointed, yet.

Lee