Was Specialty Dining Worth It?

Our evening at the Tuscan Grille on the Celebrity Reflection

For me there are two main reasons to book specialty dining on a cruise if you are not traveling in a suite class with an exclusive dining room or on a luxury brand:

1. It is a 5 - 10 day sailing and the included food options are ok but not great. When cruising on lines like Royal Caribbean, Norwegian, and MSC we tend to budget for and book 2 to 3 specialty dining experiences on a 7 night sailing. While we can be content with the main dining room on any of those lines (particularly because we didn’t have to shop for, prepare, cook, serve, or clean up any of it), the overall quality leaves us desiring a more elevated dining experience while on vacation. So we always factor that into the cost to have several dinners that we are really looking forward to versus mere sustenance.

2. It is a special occasion. My husband and I decided to take a last minute cruise on the Celebrity Reflection as an anniversary getaway. It was a quick 4 night sailing out of Ft. Lauderdale and included stops at Key West and Bimini. Usually we do not get specialty dining on Celebrity unless sailing for more than 7 days, because we find the food quality in both the buffet and main dining room to be good with ample variety and is one of the reasons we sail with the Celebrity brand. On this particular trip, we decided to go to the Tuscan Grille one evening for dinner as a special treat for our anniversary. I had pre-booked prior to sailing so received a discounted rate of $45 per person plus 20% service charge. Spoiler alert: It was worth it! When we told the maître d’ it was our anniversary, he seated us by the window dead center over the wake view. Our waiter and assistant were amazingly attentive. Our food was delicious and, being a lover of all things pistachio flavored, was delighted to find a pistachio crème brulé for dessert. It will definitely be a core memory from that sailing. When it comes to the Solstice-class ships like the Reflection, I think the Tuscan Grille is one of the best values for money when it comes to specialty dining.

I know people who sailed regularly prior to the pandemic miss the days when the main dining room was a truly elevated experience, but that is just not the reality any more on mainstream cruise lines. Budgeting for specialty restaurants is the new norm. It can be done without breaking the cruise budget if you plan for it. If budget is a concern let the experts at Myles Travel help you get the maximum bang for the buck.