Thread: Do you use the Specialty Restaurants?

We have been to the ones on RCI and Palo on DCL. We love them and feel it is worth every dime you can spend.

Originally Posted by canarymoon

Does anyone know if RCL's Visioin Class ships have specialty dining options?

We've done both Chops (for lunch - it was great!) and Portofino's (as part of the Mystery Theatare), and I liked Chops better.

Was wondering what we might find in May on the Rhapsody....

No, unfortunately not.

We have taken advantage of specialty restaurants on every cruise we've taken and feel that, yes, they are more than worth the extra $$ spent.

While the food in the main dining rooms is fine and edible, it's (to us) not much better than what you would get at a big wedding banquet. But, we don't expect a kitchen to be able to prepare gourmet food for thousands at a time. Sometimes we have been surprised and had a wonderful meal, sometimes we feel we get the equivalent of what we would consider to be rest home/cafeteria food.

But, the specialty restaurants cook and serve to order. We don't eat meat, perhaps that is the difference. The fish is never overcooked and rubbery, the salads are fresher, the appetizers and desserts are always far more tasty. If we order poultry, it doesn't taste as if it's been re-heated.

We love to linger over dinner and we love good service. We also appreciate the quietness of the specialty restaurants, sometimes the main dining room is so noisy we can't carry on a conversation without yelling.

There are some lines we've sailed that we exclusively eat in the specialty dining rooms (NCL) because we just have felt that the service and food is so sub-par in the main dining rooms, perhaps because of the Freestyle dining.

But, isn't it great that we can all have our own choices??

Originally Posted by HazeGray

I have never used the specialty restaurants -- never will!!!
I view this as an insidious plot to emasculate the all-inclusive policy we have come to expect while cruising. The lines have already tacked on enough extra charges for services that should be provided as part of the ticket price.
Not so long ago, ALL cruise meals were considered 'special'!! Now they are basically telling us that if we want a really 'special' meal we have to pay extra for it!!!
BAH HUMBUG!!!!! A pox on all their greedy houses

I totally agree!

Our use of them has declined as the number of cruises have gone up. On the first one we went to all three, on the second just one, and none since. I might again if they offer better food and service, but in my experience they generally don't.

Originally Posted by daWoods

Our use of them has declined as the number of cruises have gone up. On the first one we went to all three, on the second just one, and none since. I might again if they offer better food and service, but in my experience they generally don't.

Wow, THAT must vary by cruiseline...because the ones I have been to have been awesome.

Originally Posted by Texashorselady

Wow, THAT must vary by cruiseline...because the ones I have been to have been awesome.

Yeah, but for the most part you do the high end lines and you would expect them to be much better. On our first NCL cruise only one was better than the dining room, mainly because it was smaller and the service more personal. We did Sabatini's on the Grand Princess, and it was great. However, it wasn't better service than what we had in the dining room, and we've found that on our ships, dining room food and service has been very good. Maybe we've just been lucky.