We had 3 nights of specialty dining on our 5 night cruise and we took advantage of the most highly recommended spots from travelers. First, my au pair and I had a terrific meal at Cagney’s. I would have thought anything was great since my kids were at the Splash Academy (ha!) but the filet mignon was divine - cooked to perfection — and the apps, sides and wine were a delight. Best meal on board the entire trip.

Next up was Teppanyaki which was sadly a huge disappointment. I had heard over and over that it was terrific so we were disappointed when it was sub par. We arrived early for our 6pm reservation and the very large group in front of us were having issues with their party size and who had the specialty dining package and they were giving the hostess (unfairly IMO) a rough go of it. By the time it was sorted out we were 15 minutes behind. We were seated quickly but it became clear that several folks who were to be seated with us were late. I had to flag down a server 30 minutes after we were seated to get drinks ordered. I asked the server if they could bring some rice for my kids to nosh on while we waited for the dinner to begin as they were both starving. She brought out 2 small bowls of white rice that were literally ice cold/partially frozen. I was shocked. Apparently all the cooking and heating at Teppanyaki is done at the tables and there was no way for them to heat up the rice. Seriously? Why didn’t she tell me that when I asked for the rice? Anywhoo, at the 50 minute mark our table was finally full and the show/dinner began. I found the wait time to be unacceptable. That said, the chef was great and the kids loved it. The food was meh IMO - I have been to amazing hibachi restaurants and it just didn’t stand up. We had to rush out with no dessert so the kids could stand a chance to get into Splash Academy.

Our final specialty dining experience was at La Cuchina - overall just fabulous. We had an early reservation for 5:30pm and we were seated outside overlooking the ocean as we started our sail home to NY. Food was terrific - there was a smidge of a disconnect with our server on the wine list and what was included but it was lovely and we all enjoyed it.

This was my (our) first experience with specialty dining and I know that with The Haven you get alot of it to experience. For other cruises we have either not done specialty or only done 1 restaurant and I have to say it hasn’t made a huge difference in our cruise experience. I do love the variety of trying new places (and Butcher’s Cut was stellar!) but if you’re on a budget and don’t want to trade up to specialty dining I feel that the main dining room always provides good food and service to enjoy. Again, it’s a personal preference but IMO there is no need to spend additional $$$ if you don’t want to!