Nonnymus wrote:
>George Leppla wrote:
>> 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?
>>
>
>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
I also have a fairly negative reaction to an extra price restaurant.
There are some non-extra price specialty restaurants on NCL, but you
have to make reservations in advance for them, and I'm never quite
able to say that yes I will want Italian at 6:15 five days from today
>serve high quality food, properly prepared and properly served. 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.
>
>OTOH, an argument can be made for specialty restaurants from precisely
>the above paragraph. There are folks who absolutely LOVE Italian food,
>for instance, and would prefer to have a selection of it each night.
>Likewise, some folks might actually prefer a 3-hour dinner, compared to
>the typical 90 minute one in the formal dining room. Typically, lobster
>is served once during a formal night on a cruise, so if someone really
>wanted lobster frequently, they would presumably be willing to pay extra
>to receive it.
>
>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
I've only eaten in a specialty extra price restaurant once and that
was because it was part of a package that I got from the travel agent.
It was on HAL's Maasdam.
The food was all excellent, but there was too much of it. I couldn't
possibly have eaten it all. I would have loved to have a little taste
of some of the things and not to have to contemplate a whole big plate
of it. Even though I got the smallest piece of meat on the menu, by
the time I got to dessert, I only had room for a little taste of one
of my favorite foods.
Also I found the hovering waiters and the half empty restaurant quite
off-putting. Especially because they seemed to disappear just when I
wanted something. It was cold in atmosphere and the air was cold too. |