Is on-board food really that bad

Surfer E2468 wrote:
We never eat in the specialty restaurants,since we are not big eaters,we
are quite content with the food offered in the main dining room,or at
the buffet. And do not think the cruise lines should charge for dining
in another room.


cruise lover


I agree that the food offered in the special
venues is a lot better than the food offered in
the general dining rooms, The service is also a
significant "cut above" the service in the general
dining rooms. If the food is better and the
service is more "intense" an additional charge is
worthwhile.
Just how much the additional charge amounts to is
another matter. I believe that the price point is
set to ensure that the extra charge dining room
returns the highest potential profit, not a
reflection of what it costs the line to provide.
Cheers,
John in LALALand (Where everything is extra!)

On Jul 24, 7:00*am, "LVTravel" wrote:

IMHO, the specialty restaurant food is what you got in the main dining room
10-15 years ago. *All the lines have made their main dining menus less
appetizing and the specialty restaurants are to bring in more money for the
cruise lines. *Again, JMHO but I really think accurate after cruising
regularly for the last 30 years.

Well said!



"bringyagrogalong" wrote in message

...

If food, which is included in the fare, is of good quality and
variety, why do they also have restaurants on board where you can eat
at an additional cost?

Is the food really that bad that you would willingly pay to eat
anywhere else?

The joke is the specialty dining on the Constellation last April. The
dining room was beautiful but so was the regular dining room. The food
was about same in each. The service was very odd to say the least. We
were told the menu was a 2 part choice. The left side had 3 or 4
courses and no wine.......but for just a "little" more money the right
side had 1 or 2 additional courses and wine throughout the dinner,
changing with each course. The problem was our party of 4 were
instructed we had to ALL order from the same side of the menu. This was
? can't find the right word. We opted for the left side since only 2
drank wine. Bread was served on your individual bread plate with the
1st course. When dishes were picked up after the 1st course the bread
plates were also removed.......except one lady at the table told the
waiter she wasn't finished with hers. He looked confused and seemed
reluctant when he walked away.
The bread plate became a joke/issue during the dinner when the waiter
repeatedly tried to remove it. At one point he managed to do this while
we were deep in conversation. However our lady friend insisted he bring
a new plate and more bread. It had become a "sore point" with her. At
over $30.00 each for dinner we all thought she should have her bread
plate at her place as long as she wanted it. The rest of the meal was
comical. 4 waiters brought the main course to our table and (after a
silent nod) in unison removed the large silver domes. This was
performed like a ballet.

We were finally able to thaw out all our servers and had a good laugh
with them about the entire production. After all it wasn't their fault
that Celebrity (who we love) had concocted this ? idea.

Compare this to the specialty dinning on the Miracle. That experience
was delightful. Service was superb and the food even better than the
Constellation.

If we did another specialty dinner it would be for the quiet and elegant
ambiance.


~~DORY~~
**________*/*/___/*/___/*/_________
*\::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::/
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

****

On Sat, 26 Jul 2008 08:06:24 -0400, (Dory
Samuels) wrote:

The joke is the specialty dining on the Constellation last April. The
dining room was beautiful but so was the regular dining room. The food
was about same in each. The service was very odd to say the least. We
were told the menu was a 2 part choice. The left side had 3 or 4
courses and no wine.......but for just a "little" more money the right
side had 1 or 2 additional courses and wine throughout the dinner,
changing with each course. The problem was our party of 4 were
instructed we had to ALL order from the same side of the menu. This was
? can't find the right word. We opted for the left side since only 2
drank wine.

They do that because the number of courses served varies, and they
don't want to have half of the table being served food while the other
half sits there with an empty plate.

Why they think it's not up to the guests to decide whether that's ok?
I don't know.

In Le Bistro (on NCL), I was able to mix and match between the two
sides - that is, I could get items from the expensive side served as
replacements for items on the less expensive side. That eliminated
the problem described above.

I don't remember whether I tried that on Celebrity or not. I think I
switched the soup or the salad, not one of the main dishes. Whether
you can do it probably depends on the mood of the waiter, head-waiter,
and chef, how busy the restaurant is, whether they're running low on
anything, the phase of the moon, etc.

Bread was served on your individual bread plate with the
1st course. When dishes were picked up after the 1st course the bread
plates were also removed.......except one lady at the table told the
waiter she wasn't finished with hers. He looked confused and seemed
reluctant when he walked away.

The bread plate became a joke/issue during the dinner when the waiter
repeatedly tried to remove it. At one point he managed to do this while
we were deep in conversation. However our lady friend insisted he bring
a new plate and more bread. It had become a "sore point" with her. At
over $30.00 each for dinner we all thought she should have her bread
plate at her place as long as she wanted it.

Their attitude seems silly at best. I have the same problem when I
want the bread to stay on the table through dessert.

The rest of the meal was
comical. 4 waiters brought the main course to our table and (after a
silent nod) in unison removed the large silver domes. This was
performed like a ballet.

We were finally able to thaw out all our servers and had a good laugh
with them about the entire production. After all it wasn't their fault
that Celebrity (who we love) had concocted this ? idea.

Celebrity didn't concoct it. It's an old tradition.

Compare this to the specialty dinning on the Miracle. That experience
was delightful. Service was superb and the food even better than the
Constellation.

If we did another specialty dinner it would be for the quiet and elegant
ambiance.

I don't think I would say that the specialty restaurant ambience was
more elegant on either Celebrity or NCL, just quieter and darker.

On Sat, 26 Jul 2008 08:06:24 -0400, (Dory
Samuels) wrote:
Bread was served on your individual bread plate with the
1st course. When dishes were picked up after the 1st course the bread
plates were also removed..

Hi Dory,

The bread is served in this manner in many European restaurants.

The rest of the meal was
comical. 4 waiters brought the main course to our table and (after a
silent nod) in unison removed the large silver domes. This was
performed like a ballet.

This is done in upscale European restaurants.

Best regards,
Ray
LIGHTHOUSE TRAVEL
800-719-9917 or 805-566-3905
http://www.lighthousetravel.com
--

Ray Goldenberg wrote:


The rest of the meal was
comical. 4 waiters brought the main course to our table and (after a
silent nod) in unison removed the large silver domes. This was
performed like a ballet.

This is done in upscale European restaurants.

Best regards,
Ray

When we've had dinner at Emeril's Fish House in MGM Grand here in Las
Vegas, the dinner is served in a similar fashion. There's one server per
diner, and the entree is presented to the diners at a table
simultaneously. Even with all the servers, they still get miffed when
you request catsup for the lobster, though.

--
Nonny

Nonnymus
I'm not who you think I am. I'm not who
I think I am. I am what I think you think I am.

Thank you Ray. Now we understand. Since we were aboard a ship and not
in a European country it never occurred to us this might be the custom.
Live & learn. big smile


~~DORY~~
**________*/*/___/*/___/*/_________
*\::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::/
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

****

On Sat, 26 Jul 2008 15:19:43 -0700, Nonnymus wrote:

Ray Goldenberg wrote:


The rest of the meal was
comical. 4 waiters brought the main course to our table and (after a
silent nod) in unison removed the large silver domes. This was
performed like a ballet.

This is done in upscale European restaurants.

Best regards,
Ray

When we've had dinner at Emeril's Fish House in MGM Grand here in Las
Vegas, the dinner is served in a similar fashion. There's one server per
diner, and the entree is presented to the diners at a table
simultaneously. Even with all the servers, they still get miffed when
you request catsup for the lobster, though.

You just need to ask for the "sauce aux tomates".

On 7/23/2008 8:08 AM Kurt Ullman plucked Senior Frog's Magic Twanger
and said:
In article ,
"George Leppla" wrote:


I agree that I don't like the model where the majority of "restaurants" on a
ship have additional costs, but cruise lines like Carnival, Princess and
Royal Caribbean may give you one or two specialty restaurants and still
maintain good quality in the dining rooms.


Also some of the specialty areas are more fun. For instance the
Johnny Rockets on the bigger RCCL ships.

Fun? Well maybe. But if I want to eat at a Johnny Rockets I can at the
local shopping mall and probably at half the price!

--
________
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

In article ,
Brian K wrote:


Fun? Well maybe. But if I want to eat at a Johnny Rockets I can at the
local shopping mall and probably at half the price!

But RCCL gives free admission to the JR for even the lowest levels of
C&A membership. (Probably makes it even MORE fun, if you think about it.)