Specialty Restaurants on ships

On Sep 2, 12:52 pm, Nonnymus wrote:
rosie wrote:
On Aug 31, 10:28 pm, Nonnymus wrote:
rosie wrote:

The end of cruise tip will go to your regular dining room waiter and
assaitant waiter and headwaiter.
Rosie
Why, they did nothing for me.

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

Here is what they did for me. One evening I decided to skip dinner as
my back was hurting. I was in my cabin watching a movie, when there
was a knock on the door, there stood two waiters with a complete
dinner , soup , Lobster tail etc and a Bottle of wine chilling.

I was pleasantly surprised, about 20 minutes later, I recieved a phone
call from our headwaiter.. How is dinner? Did you like the food, did
we send you wine you liked? We know you like the Chardonnay...

Later they sent up two plates with about 5 different desserts on
them... So I could choose.

That is what they did for me. Was very pleased.

Rosie

That was incredible, and certainly deserving of being remembered when
the cruise ended.

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

- Show quoted text -

It certainly was. I was very impressed.
Rosie

No i do not live independently,i have a senior spouse,and we are both
going to hit 80 soon really remember the big depression,that is why we
travel,and cruise as much as we can now,we forgo the balcony's because
that way we can take a few cruises for what it would cost for 1,we are
not cheap,just penny wise and pound foolish. Also remember buying penny
soft philly pretzels at the movies,which only cost 10 cents for
cartoons,news,cowboy serial,and double feature,and coming attractions.I
could go on and on,but i will not. Hope never to see those hard
times again. surfer
e2468


cruise lover

We were also told on NCL,and CARNIVAL that they kept the larger tables
for groups,and if it was just 2 people they stuck them anywhere they
wanted to.Never had that problem on PRINCESS,HAL,or CELEBRITY


cruise lover

Tobie.........we have booked our first Oceania cruise. Is there a limit
to the number of times one can dine in their specialty restaurants?? We
will be doing the 26 night Amazon Adventure on the Regatta. Thanks.....

Tobie Gerbrandt wrote:
Hi George,

Our favorite Specialty Restaurant experience in 46 cruises was EVERY time in
the POLO GRILL on the Oceania Regatta. Everything was perfect EVERY time we
went there, from the Whole Maine Lobster to the Filet Mignon, Ceasar Salad
to Creme Brule. I think next time I'm going to try the 32 oz. Prime Rib.
And there is no extra charge for this, or the "Toscana" Italian restaurant.

BTW, the food and service was also GREAT in the main dining room and the
buffet. You really should try Oceania.

Tobieon an Island in the Pacific


"George Leppla" wrote in message
...

I am hijacking this subject from another thread...


"Diana Ball" wrote


And the specialty restaurant
(best food we've had on the seas) succeeded in evoking a big city supper
club of another era.


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.


--
George Leppla http://www.CruiseMaster.com

January 20, 2008 - GGC2008 - http://cruisemaster.com/adventure.htm
October 26, 2008 Sleazy 5 http://www.cruisemaster.com/sleazy5.htm

That is a long cruise. Both cruises we did on the Regatta were Trans
Atlantics (only 10 to 12 dqys) and we did manage to get extra nights in the
specialty restaurants. They had a line-up at the Polo Grill on embarkation
day for reservations. I would suggest you make that your priority when
first boarding.

Even without the specialty dining, I'm betting that your dining experience
will exceed your expectations. It's all FINE food and service even in the
regular dining room and the buffet.

Tobieon an Island in the Pacific

"D. Wilkinson" wrote in message
...
Tobie.........we have booked our first Oceania cruise. Is there a limit
to the number of times one can dine in their specialty restaurants?? We
will be doing the 26 night Amazon Adventure on the Regatta. Thanks.....

Tobie Gerbrandt wrote:
Hi George,

Our favorite Specialty Restaurant experience in 46 cruises was EVERY time
in the POLO GRILL on the Oceania Regatta. Everything was perfect EVERY
time we went there, from the Whole Maine Lobster to the Filet Mignon,
Ceasar Salad to Creme Brule. I think next time I'm going to try the 32
oz. Prime Rib. And there is no extra charge for this, or the "Toscana"
Italian restaurant.

BTW, the food and service was also GREAT in the main dining room and the
buffet. You really should try Oceania.

Tobieon an Island in the Pacific


"George Leppla" wrote in message
...

I am hijacking this subject from another thread...


"Diana Ball" wrote


And the specialty restaurant
(best food we've had on the seas) succeeded in evoking a big city supper
club of another era.


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.


--
George Leppla http://www.CruiseMaster.com

January 20, 2008 - GGC2008 - http://cruisemaster.com/adventure.htm
October 26, 2008 Sleazy 5 http://www.cruisemaster.com/sleazy5.htm

We were on the NCL Dream on a transatlantic cruise this past May. We ate
in all the restaurants and our only bad experience was in the buffet.
which was much too small. The speciality restaurants were a step above
the main dining room, so we tended to use those more often for dinner.
The menus there didn't change every day but there was enough variety
that we didn't have the same thing twice. it's hard for me to judge food
quality since when I am not cooking it all tastes fine to me. I don't
expect gourmet food on a cheap cruise. I think expectations need
adjustment with certain cruise lines. The same goes for service and
ammenities.

~~DORIS~~
**________*/*/___/*/___/*/_________
*\::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::/
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Azamara Quest 10-26-2007
Carnival Inspiation 1-10-2008
Princess Star 3-30-2008
Princess Star 4-11-2008
RCCL Grandeur 12-8-2008

D.Wilkinson wrote;" Tobie.........we have booked our first
Oceania cruise. Is there a limit to the
number of times one can dine in their
specialty restaurants?? We will be doing
the 26 night Amazon Adventure on the
Regatta. Thanks....

We did that cruise last year and had no problem with reservations in the
speciaity restaurants at all. However... be aware that menus in those
restaurants do not change daily as they do in the main dining room.
There is variety, but I think you might be bored eating there every
night when the food thruout the ship is excellent including the buffet.

I hope you enjoy the ship and the cruise as much as we did. Oceania has
completely spoiled me and I hope we can do another cruise with them in
the near future. They are well worth the few extra dollars one pays.

~~DORIS~~
**________*/*/___/*/___/*/_________
*\::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::/
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Azamara Quest 10-26-2007
Carnival Inspiation 1-10-2008
Princess Star 3-30-2008
Princess Star 4-11-2008
RCCL Grandeur 12-8-2008

Capt Mary Kidd wrote:
The message
from (Surfer E2468) contains these words:

We were also told on NCL,and CARNIVAL that they kept the larger tables
for groups,and if it was just 2 people they stuck them anywhere they
wanted to.Never had that problem on PRINCESS,HAL,or CELEBRITY

Never had a problem on NCL either. If you want a specific table in the
evening it is bookable too.


On our last NCL cruise we were putting into port in the evening. We had
booked a shore excursion and wanted to eat dinner in the dining room
before our excursion left. The quality of the buffet food was very much
in the "school cafeteria" range. I tried to reserve a table at 11:30 AM
for 6 PM dinner in the dining room and we were flat-out told that there
is no such thing as a reservation for 2 people on NCL. They only reserve
for groups. I'm therefore, certain that your "bookable" table was for
more than 2 people. There is most definitely a "problem" if one is not
with a group.

I called the phone number for the maitre'd and asked him for a
reservation. I was summarily dismissed. Not being one easily daunted,
especially when I'm spending my own money, I called the purser and
complained.

Twenty-minutes later I got a call back from the rather snotty maitre'd
confirming my reservation but was admonished that I could not "do it
again". (It was our last night out) When we showed up in plenty of time
to claim the reservation we were shown to our table, but you wouldn't
believe the evil look we got from the woman in charge of seating.



--
Janet Wilder
Bad spelling. Bad punctuation
Good Friends. Good Life

"rosie" wrote in message
Here is what they did for me. One evening I decided to skip dinner as
my back was hurting. I was in my cabin watching a movie, when there
was a knock on the door, there stood two waiters with a complete
dinner , soup , Lobster tail etc and a Bottle of wine chilling.

I was pleasantly surprised, about 20 minutes later, I recieved a phone
call from our headwaiter.. How is dinner? Did you like the food, did
we send you wine you liked? We know you like the Chardonnay...

Later they sent up two plates with about 5 different desserts on
them... So I could choose.

That is what they did for me. Was very pleased.


Rosie, I apologize if you already mentioned...but which ship was this?
That was fantastic service!
--Jean

Capt Mary Kidd wrote:
The message
from Janet Wilder contains these words:

Capt Mary Kidd wrote:
The message

Never had a problem on NCL either. If you want a specific table in the
evening it is bookable too.

On our last NCL cruise we were putting into port in the evening. We had
booked a shore excursion and wanted to eat dinner in the dining room
before our excursion left. The quality of the buffet food was very much
in the "school cafeteria" range. I tried to reserve a table at 11:30 AM
for 6 PM dinner in the dining room and we were flat-out told that there
is no such thing as a reservation for 2 people on NCL. They only reserve
for groups. I'm therefore, certain that your "bookable" table was for
more than 2 people. There is most definitely a "problem" if one is not
with a group.

My husband and I are 2, no more, and yes we asked nicely for a specific
table in the main dining room with no problem; but face to face and not
by phone, maybe that makes all the difference? We did not do it every
night, but knew a 4some who booked for the week. At 6pm you should have
no problem getting what you want. Are you talking NCLA and not NCL? Sun,
Dawn, Jewel, Dream ne'r a problem for us, Gem is next up, I'll try
again. We prefer NCL over HAL, Celebrity and some others, purely because
of the oh so flexible dining and we have had food as decent as any other
mass market line we have sailed.

I'm sorry I didn't make it clear. I asked in person for the reservation.
After I was turned down (rather rudely, I might add)I called the maitre'd

I've never cruised with HAL, but I have cruised with Royal Caribbean. To
me, there is no comparison between NCL and RCI. RCI is by far the
superior of the two. The buffet on the RCI ships is the same food as is
being served in the dining room. It was definitely not so on NCL or I
would have not been so concerned about a table reservation.

We've been on 5 cruises and are booked for two more. Two of our past
cruises were NCL prior to the Freestyle and they were lovely voyages.
The last one was a Freestyle to Alaska in 05 and we were so disappointed
that we will never cruise with them again.

I'm certain that there are many people who prefer Freestyle cruising,
but part of our cruise experience is being pampered and spoiled and that
includes having a dining room staff who knows us and anticipates our
needs before we even have to ask. This is impossible with Freestyle
unless you have a group and can book the same table and staff every night.

The other thing we like about non-Freestyle dining is the fixed seating
times. Dinner is sooooo much quieter and more relaxing when there aren't
people coming and going at all times and the crew isn't constantly
bustling around changing table cloths and rattling cutlery, etc.

YMMV

--
Janet Wilder
Bad spelling. Bad punctuation
Good Friends. Good Life