Cruisers who love meat, and even those who don't are sure to find an evening at Cagney's enjoyable. This steakhouse is on Norwegian Ships and is a specialty dining venue- so you will pay for the food, unlike the main dining rooms which are complimentary. You have two options for dining at Cagney's which are to pay a la carte for you food or to buy the SDP (Specialty Dining Pan) to use for an entree, soup or salad, appetizer and dessert of your choice. Many cruisers on NCL receive the SDP as a perk when booking as well. The benefit for using one night of your SDP at Cagney's is the ability to order whatever you wish and not have to add up the cost as you go. Here is a look at the latest menu for Cagney's from The Pearl in March 2017- with up to date pricing for the various items:
As you can see the prices are quite reasonable compared to steakhouses like Fleming's and Ruth's Chris on land. The steak pictured above was mine-the 8 oz filet mignon. The quality of the beef was outstanding- cooked to a buttery softness and extremely flavorful. My husband enjoyed the Ribeye~
My son loved the bison at Cagney's! He decided to try something new and even had them prepare it Cajun style and add a chimichurri sauce on the side.
Here are photos of the Wagyu beef sliders, Mexican Caesar salad and the lump crab salad, and we loved all of it!
As you can see from the photos the servings are substantial but not overabundant. This allows for diners to try more from the menu and not be stuffed after their appetizer! :) We asked how many sides we could order and our sever said "like three or so per person". We actually ended up ordering about 11 sides for the three of us but I really wanted to try everything! We did not get charged anything extra with our SDP plan. The sides are small though- for example-there were 4 small onion rings as a side. This is fine for one persons side item, but as we all shared the sides it left us fighting for that last yummy onion ring! :) Here is a photo of several of the side items brought to the table:
The beets were a refreshing new addition to the side menu and we always love the mushrooms. The scalloped potatoes were a favorite of mine on the Getaway but they have changed the recipe for the potatoes to be more like a gratin or potato cake. My son loved them though!
Of course desserts at Cagney's are decadent and delicious-but I don't think I ever really enjoy them as much as I could as I am stuffed from dinner! Some fellow cruisers have told me they get their dessert in a to go container and put it in their cabin for later in the evening, so perhaps I will try that on the Sky in August. We chose the raspberry creme brulee, the citrus fruit salad and the chocolate brownie. A macadamia nut ice cream cookie sandwich, apple crisp and Oreo cheesecake were also offered. The dessert prices ranged between $4 and $6~ we were too stuffed to remember to take a picture of the menu! LOL :) I do remember the creme brulee being a bit more flavorful on the Getaway but the desserts were definitely yummy.
There is a varied selection of seafood and other types of meat on the Cagney's menu, and cruisers who have special diets are welcome to let the staff know and they will gladly make accommodations for you. The atmosphere of Cagney's is classic and comforting-and it always smells so good! If you are thinking of choosing to dine at Cagney's check out the menu and see if it works out better for you and your family to dine with the SDP or pay a la carte prices. Whatever you choose you are sure to be satisfied! :)
Specialty dining on Norwegian ships includes the iconic French fare at Le Bistro restaurant. Pictured above is the delicate and decadent escargot, which is a favorite appetizer for many guests, including my husband and son who order it every time! As Norwegian has now made their specialty dining venues a la carte pricing, patrons may dine at Le Bistro and indulge themselves with as many orders of escargot as they wish! We prefer to enjoy a varied meal, however, so we always opt for the SDP meal plan, which we have been given as a promo perk for the past several cruises. The SDP stands for Specialty Dining Package, which offers between three and fourteen meals, based on your cruise length. If you pre-purchase the package online you save $10 as well. The details can be found here: https://www.ncl.com/onboard-packages/dining-packages
Having the dining package is beneficial for many guests, as it entitles each guest with the SDP a soup or salad, an appetizer, an entree and a dessert from the menu. Some cruisers might be concerned that there are no soup or salad courses they would want from a venue but they would like two appetizers. We have not found this to be an issue at any of the specialty dining restaurants as they will always work with you to make your meal enjoyable. As we received the 3 day SDP for my husband and myself on our Pearl cruise, and bought the 3 day package for our son, we made our online reservations for Le Bistro for the first night of the voyage. One note for anyone who does not know when/how to make reservations-Haven/Suite guests can reserve their dining 100 days prior to cruising and guests in inside, oceanview, balcony or minisuites may reserve their dining online or over the phone with their PVP 90 days before cruising. Now to the meat and potatoes of this delicious review....
The french onion soup pictured above was my son's soup choice. He also had the french onion soup in the dining room later on in the cruise and could definitely tell the difference between the two soups. The one at Le Bistro was rich and flavorful, and chock full of a buttery crouton and cheese. I had the cream of mushroom soup, which is the best cream of mushroom soup I have ever had!
I won't detail every delightful morsel of our meal here, but here are some highlights of our apps and dinner:
The tasty cornets stuffed with four unique fillings-
We all opted for beef at Le Bistro for dinner, with my husband and son sharing the rib eye. I enjoyed the grilled beef tenderloin.
Dessert was scrumptious of course! We chose the creme brulee and chocolate fondue to share-we were really stuffed by the time we got to the last course! :) I almost forgot to mention that fresh baked bread was brought out at the start of our meal with their homemade herbed butter. This was amazing! I think we may have filled up on that a little too much!
Now for the pricing...we were told our menu was not completely current as the ship had just come out of dry dock. I have found a current menu with pricing, which is active for the Escape and several of the newer NCL ships. I can say this menu did not differ too much compared to the one we had-either price wise or with food choices. I so wish we would have remembered to take a picture of our menu!!! We got every other menu but in the excitement of our first day on the cruise it slipped our minds! Rest assured the choices and prices are very similar to the link for the menu below: http://www.beyondships2.com/uploads/8/2/4/5/8245255/30965_le_bistro_dinner_menu_escape.pdf
So will we go back to Le Bistro?! Absolutely! :) In fact we will be dining there on our cruise in a suite on the Sky in August! Stay tuned for that review and I will not forget to take a picture of that menu! :)
If you are wondering what specialty dining venues are on the different Norwegian ships check out this handy link-
https://www.ncl.com/sites/default/files/Dining_Guide.pdf
As a cruiser in a Suite or the Haven (on ships which do not have a Haven restaurant) you are offered the opportunity to dine in a specialty restaurant for breakfast and lunch daily. This is extended to Suite/Haven guests beginning on embarkation day and continues for the duration of the cruise until the final debarkation day breakfast. The menu is the same daily, although the soup does change each day. The offerings at the additional breakfast buffet also vary a bit. In addition to what is on the menu you can request items not listed and they may bring it to you! I asked for a tomato omelette and hash browns and our amazing server on the Pearl, Gautam, happily satisfied my request. The Suite/Haven dining is held in Cagney's on the first day for lunch and Moderno for the remainder of the trip on the Pearl. Each ship may vary slightly for their locations but your concierge will let you know where this special dining will be. The photo above is of the delicious steak and eggs served for breakfast in Moderno-with the quality of the meat being top notch! We dined in Moderno for breakfast and lunch every day on our week long cruise on the Pearl and I ate more meat than I have in about six months combined! It was that good! :) We did not find ourselves bored of the menu as it was different and tasty with a good variety of offerings. Here is a photo of the menus for breakfast and lunch:
Between myself, my husband and our teenage son we tried just about everything on the breakfast and lunch menus-and everything we ate was amazing! The french dip for lunch was my absolute favorite, as was the shrimp cocktail and banana cream pie. My son loved the french dip as well, along with the swordfish burger and the challah french toast for breakfast. My husband relished the steak for all meals, as well as the scallops and shrimp and the espresso chocolate brownie for dessert! There was also an ample breakfast buffet daily set up where the salad bar area is for Moderno. Offerings included oatmeal, cereals, breads, herring, cream cheese, capers, fresh fruit cups, melon, whole fresh fruit, breakfast pastries, salami, prosciutto, almond croissants and more! The servers brought coffee in french presses and orange and cranberry juice was available as well. You can ask your server for toast or bagels too! Here are some drool worthy photos :) -
The nice thing about the lunch dining in Moderno is that the Sugarcane Mojito Bar is open for suite guests. The raspberry one is a personal favorite of mine and my husband loves the pineapple coconut one. The staff can also bring you any alcoholic or non alcoholic drinks while you are dining as well. Here is the Sugarcane Mojito Bar menu:
I am so excited to be in a suite on the Sky in August to enjoy this special dining experience again! :)
