Celebrity, Norwegian Increase Specialty Dining Charges. Will you pay?

Jason · March 8, 2013

Celebrity Cruises has increased the service fees at most of its specialty restaurants by $5 fleet-wide. The change went into effect on March 1. Norwegian Cruise Line is raising the cover charge at its Cagney’s steakhouses from $25 to $30, starting on Norwegian Epic on April 13 and then rolling out to the rest of the fleet. The line said it is making the change because it is “in the process of making enhancements to the menu at Cagney’s.”

At Celebrity, the dining charge increased at every specialty restaurant except for the Lawn Club Grill on Celebrity Silhouette and Reflection, which remains $40, and The Porch and Bistro on Five, which are still $5.

The fee is now $45 at Murano, a French continental restaurant on Century, Eclipse, Equinox, Silhouette, Solstice and Reflection. At Qsine, the whimsical eatery with menus on iPads, the cover charge was raised to $45. Qsine is found on Eclipse, Infinity, Silhouette, Summit, Millennium and Reflection.

The charge is now $45 at the French continental specialty restaurants on Celebrity Constellation (Ocean Liners Restaurant), Millennium (Olympic Restaurant), Summit (Normandie Restaurant) and Infinity (SS United States Restaurant).

The service charge is now $35 at the Tuscan Grille steakhouse on Constellation, Eclipse, Equinox, Silhouette, Solstice and Reflection. Silk Harvest, an Asian restaurant, now has a cover charge of $30.

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By Theresa Norton Masek, Travel Pulse

Re-posted on CruiseCrazies.com - Cruise News, Articles, Forums, Packing List, Ship Tracker, and more

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WeCruiseToo · March 8, 2013

We don’t make a whole lot of repeat visits to the specialty restaurants but we do like to give them a try (never more than one or two per cruise though). We highly recommend Qsine – it’s a dining experience that’s both delicious and fun – but you really need to be in a small group to enjoy it fully (a couple won’t get to try enough different dishes). Also, Bistro on Five is highly underrated – I think the $5.00 just guarantees they aren’t too crowded all day long.

Sarge6870 · March 9, 2013

We have tried some of the "Specialty" restaurants onboard different ships. It was an added cruise experience. Just keep in mind, like the casinos or the spa's, you don't HAVE to go!

jacketwatch · March 9, 2013

We loved Silk Harvest so we would go back there. We tried the aTuscan as well so we would probably go back there too. On X the exec. Sous chef told us that the steak, which I like, in the MDR is USDA prime cut so for me paying for it outside the MDR is senseless. However as for the others I would say no. On NCL I would probably not use Cagneys as my wife is not a huge fan of steak so it would not be worth it for us. I do wonder what USDA grade NCL serves in its MDR.