Coastal Kitchen question for Suite guests

[happy cruisers 2]

We have stayed in suites, but not on a ship with a Coastal Kitchen.  We've usually been quite content to eat in MDR for dinner, except for the lines and somewhat chaotic process that can occur at times.  We are doing back-to-back cruises on a ship with a CK soon, and my question is for those who like to stay in suites.  Do suite guests prefer eating EVERY, or almost every meal, in Coastal Kitchen?  Or would that be unreasonable?  We like to start our evening with drinks in the Suite Lounge and then typically do My Time Dining in the MDR around 6:30.  I'm thinking that reservations are required for CK, but will look into that further.  We're mostly interested in knowing how frequently you like to eat in CK when on a ship that offers it.  Thanks so much for your input. 

[Mike n Ky]

We will dine in the CK a couple of times on a 7 day. It's more of a fine dining experience and while we enjoy that, and we have never been disappointed in the food and service, we also enjoy mixing it up. 

[OCSC Mike]

I'm not in suites often but was in a GS with extended family on Wonder in June and ate in CK all 7 nights (family preference). Nothing unreasonable about it. CK was empty 5 of the 7 nights (our best guess was lots of suite guests were doing specialty dining).

Some nights were excellent (especially night one filet), others were merely good... but I would personally take CK over the MDR every night. It's not quite as good as specialty dining (except for the filet) but much better than the MDR to me. The service was also beyond amazing.

Yes, you need reservations (only for dinner). These can be made via e-mail when the suite concierges contact you 5-8 days before sailing.

[happy cruisers 2]

Thanks, Mike n Ky and OCSC Mike, and any others who might choose to add more.  (Our first time posing a question, and we got replies!  Nice.)  So the input is very helpful and much appreciated.  Looking forward to being on the Allure and seeing what the ship and CK are like, plus a lot of other aspects of a large ship.  Ports don't excite us on the itinerary, but we are sure wanting to experience what this ship has to offer. 

[wordell1]

We ate in CK every night.  I requested to have the same waiter and table every night so that they were able to get to know us and our preferences.

[Pattycruise]

We sailed in junior suites on Anthem this past February.  We enjoy the MDR but after the 2nd night, with lousy service and not so great food we went snd inquired about reservations at CK.  We were able to make the move for the remainder of the cruise.  What a difference! Service was fantastic, the classics are still offered there.  I have the ability to do this again on my TA in Anthem and am torn.  I like a shared table in the MDR to be able to meet new people.  That doesn’t happen in CK. Tough choices!

[Crown&AnchorEsq]

We really enjoyed CK, I want to say we did 4 out of 7 nights, most breakfasts and a few lunches.  The reason we did not do more dinners was because we travel with a few people who have somewhat limited dietary options and a few of the nights were not terribly appealing for them.  One night late in the week we mentioned that they were really looking forward to a certain dish from the MDR and CK arranged to have that dish brought up from the MDR menu.  In the future we plan to check in with the CK manager and do that more often.  I anticipate it is not an issue as long as you ask in advance so that they can coordinate.  This is one of those YMMV situations but unless you are ordering exclusively MDR items, I would say go to CK and just ask for some of the MDR items if you do not want to miss out on those.  

[OCSC Mike]

4 minutes ago, Crown&AnchorEsq said:

One night late in the week we mentioned that they were really looking forward to a certain dish from the MDR and CK arranged to have that dish brought up from the MDR menu.  In the future we plan to check in with the CK manager and do that more often.  I anticipate it is not an issue as long as you ask in advance so that they can coordinate.  This is one of those YMMV situations but unless you are ordering exclusively MDR items, I would say go to CK and just ask for some of the MDR items if you do not want to miss out on those.

Same experience on Wonder in June but it's definitely a YMMV situation.

[CruiseGus]

When we have access to CK we eat all of our meals there.  If for no other reason than the ambiance and service is better than the MDR.

[amanalo217]

How does everyone do their tipping at CK? I tend to get the same waiter for the week so I tend to tip extra at my last meal for week. Do you tip after each meal?

[Pattycruise]

12 hours ago, amanalo217 said:

How does everyone do their tipping at CK? I tend to get the same waiter for the week so I tend to tip extra at my last meal for week. Do you tip after each meal?

When I did eat there I had the same waiter so tipping wasn’t an issue.  Good question!

[Ampurp85]

When we dine there, we tipped each night. I was with a group of newbies so eating there every night was not going to be an option. We had the same waiter twice out of 4/7 nights we dined there. 

[Crown&AnchorEsq]

We tend to tip at the end of the week.  We left something for the CK manager because we found he was the one that mostly went out of his way (and also arranged for the special MDR meals to be delivered).  We also tipped two of the CK waiters that we had that stood out.  One was serving us the last night so that was easy enough, the other I went and grabbed a drink in the suite lounge until I saw him, grabbed his attention, said thank you. and slipped him something.  

[RedRambler]

We cruise predominantly in suites and we frequent CK quite often on our cruises.  We eat breakfast at CK every morning.  Nothing better than staying in a crown loft and just walking down the hallway for breakfast with no stairs involved(Dang I guess there are stairs in the suite).  We also use CK for lunch on sea days to get away from the crowds.  Dinner is usually a specialty dining or CK.  Since we frequent CK so many times during a cruise I wait until the end of the cruise to tip the waiters we had.  

[SpicyCherry]

On 8/6/2023 at 10:49 AM, happy cruisers 2 said:

We have stayed in suites, but not on a ship with a Coastal Kitchen.  We've usually been quite content to eat in MDR for dinner, except for the lines and somewhat chaotic process that can occur at times.  We are doing back-to-back cruises on a ship with a CK soon, and my question is for those who like to stay in suites.  Do suite guests prefer eating EVERY, or almost every meal, in Coastal Kitchen?  Or would that be unreasonable?  We like to start our evening with drinks in the Suite Lounge and then typically do My Time Dining in the MDR around 6:30.  I'm thinking that reservations are required for CK, but will look into that further.  We're mostly interested in knowing how frequently you like to eat in CK when on a ship that offers it.  Thanks so much for your input. 

We had our 1st experience at CK on Allure and we have loved it ever since. You can check the Royal App to see what they’re serving each night so you can decide to go to the MDR or Specialty. Actually on our last sailing on Symphony, on the 1st leg of our B2B, we opted for the Unlimited Dining Package, so ate elsewhere most of the time. However, we did enjoy breakfast and lunch at CK everyday. We did request the same waiter for all our meals on both sailings, so it was easy to tip him after each. 
One thing we really enjoyed is going to CK on Embarkation Day. It certainly beats “beating off the crowds” in the Windjammer, so take advantage of that perk. And to answer your questions, it is not unreasonable to eat there every night. The service is excellent, at least it has been in our experience. Then as others have suggested, order from the MDR menu, from time to time, if that’s more appealing. We are doing a B2B on Wonder in 83 days(Woo-Hoo) and are planning on trying that little trick. Also looking forward to being ‘right down the street’ from CK so will be so convenient to pop in for meals and snacks. 
Also keep in mind that even if you make all your dinner reservations for CK with the Concierge before you arrive, it’s perfectly fine if you change your mind later and want to eat elsewhere. The Concierge will take care of it for you. Enjoy yourself and WELCOME TO THE SUITE LIFE!!

[OCSC Mike]

4 minutes ago, SpicyCherry said:

Also looking forward to being ‘right down the street’ from CK so will be so convenient to pop in for meals and snacks.

We were in 1722 in June (the closest GS to the SL door)... it was the best, lol. It was virtually impossible not to constantly pop in for something... don't forget 11-11 beer, wine, Truly, soda.

[SpicyCherry]

1 minute ago, OCSC Mike said:

We were in 1722 in June (the closest GS to the SL door)... it was the best, lol. It was virtually impossible not to constantly pop in for something... don't forget 11-11 beer, wine, Truly, soda.

You better try and know it!! This will be our 1st ‘Diamond-Voucher’ cruise so we’re foregoing the drink or refreshment package. So it will be great to be right there close to the lounge for wine, water and soda for our minibar!! We also really like hanging out in the lounge, playing cards and games together(Sequence and UNO FLIP) so another great reason to be so close!!

[Crown&AnchorEsq]

13 hours ago, SpicyCherry said:

You better try and know it!! This will be our 1st ‘Diamond-Voucher’ cruise so we’re foregoing the drink or refreshment package.

From experience, diamond vouchers + Suite lounge is more than sufficient to replace a drink package on Oasis class ships.  Even if you want to Irish up your coffee first thing and grab a mid-morning margarita before switching to some afternoon beer/wine/seltzer/cider you can still grab your happy hour cocktails and some wine with/after dinner and still have 2 vouchers left over for your post-11pm night caps.  

In reality, we usually ended up spending most of our vouchers on strawberry daiquiris for the kids (which you can also get at the Suite lounge happy hour if they are well-enough behaved)

[OCSC Mike]

1 hour ago, Crown&AnchorEsq said:

In reality, we usually ended up spending most of our vouchers on strawberry daiquiris for the kids

You know your kids have their own vouchers for non-alcoholic drinks, right?

[Crown&AnchorEsq]

I did not.  They are under-12 so they don't have C&A numbers (or my understanding is that we more accurately do not know the C&A numbers yet) are do not show up as "diamond" yet on set sail/Sea pass cards.  When we were in a non-site cabin in May 22 I asked the diamond concierge and he just said that "only people with Diamond Sea Pass Cards"  get the vouchers.  However, he was swamped and may have misunderstood what I was asking.  We rarely used all the vouchers anyways so it never occurred to me to check again.  Probably still would not make a ton of difference anyways since the Mrs. does not like the kids getting a ton of sugar. 

[Crown&AnchorEsq]

Google-fu makes me think I just need to visit the LA next time around to get the kids linked to my C&A.  I had been trying to get them signed up online and kept getting the under-12 kickback.  

[OCSC Mike]

23 minutes ago, Crown&AnchorEsq said:

Google-fu makes me think I just need to visit the LA next time around to get the kids linked to my C&A.  I had been trying to get them signed up online and kept getting the under-12 kickback.  

My 9-year-old niece orders her own D drinks... your kids should definitely have your perks (well, the underage version of them).

[USCG Teacher]

1 hour ago, OCSC Mike said:

My 9-year-old niece orders her own D drinks... your kids should definitely have your perks (well, the underage version of them).

Same, my 8 and 11 year olds definitely get multiple Shirley Temples a day using theirs!

[happy cruisers 2]

Thanks to all suite cruisers who replied about dining in Coastal Kitchen.  You have given us confidence that there is no problem with eating as many meals there as we care to.   We will most likely get lunch in other places, but dinner in CK every evening seems quite likely.  You all were so helpful in your replies, so thanks!

[Ampurp85]

4 hours ago, happy cruisers 2 said:

Thanks to all suite cruisers who replied about dining in Coastal Kitchen.  You have given us confidence that there is no problem with eating as many meals there as we care to.   We will most likely get lunch in other places, but dinner in CK every evening seems quite likely.  You all were so helpful in your replies, so thanks!

I would say try the lunches as well.  The Flatbreads and sticky ribs are worth a trip. Also the French toast.

[OCSC Mike]

17 minutes ago, Ampurp85 said:

sticky ribs

One of the best things I've ever had on any ship... and equally good a year apart on both Harmony and Wonder. Our only complaint was they had them twice on Harmony in 2022 and only once on Wonder this past June.

[Alanf]

Curious if concierge made CK reservations normally show up in Cruise Planner calendar?  I had confirmation via email from concierge about my CK request for reservations, but not seeing them in my calendar.  Do they normally show there?

[twangster]

10 minutes ago, Alanf said:

Curious if concierge made CK reservations normally show up in Cruise Planner calendar?  I had confirmation via email from concierge about my CK request for reservations, but not seeing them in my calendar.  Do they normally show there?

 I don't think so, not that I recall.

[OCSC Mike]

3 hours ago, Alanf said:

Do they normally show there?

Not in my limited experience (although I did just dine there 7 nights in June).

[amanalo217]

I was on Wonder 2 weeks ago and CK dinners were not on my calendar.

[Mike n Ky]

On the Allure last week every CK, as well as our specialty reservations, was on our daily planner.

[AndyPandy]

On 9/15/2023 at 9:13 PM, Alanf said:

Curious if concierge made CK reservations normally show up in Cruise Planner calendar?  I had confirmation via email from concierge about my CK request for reservations, but not seeing them in my calendar.  Do they normally show there?

Mine did 

[JayM]

On the Ovations reservations that were made by the CK Host showed on the daily planner (They also asked if you were coming to dinner and your preferred time).   

As others have said and as I have finally able to experience,  the CK staff service and the food by far beats MDR.  Interestingly we were always able to get the same table for breakfast, lunch and even dinner on this particular cruise.   

[KJ777]

Going on the Wonder in December, staying in a JS for the first time!  We're hoping to have dinner at CK at least one or two nights.  Basically, I'm looking forward to all the food in general!!

[Ampurp85]

CK reservations, I believe, will show up when you are actually on the ship. 

[CD1978]

I need to learn more about these drink vouchers…

Are they linked to my C&A account, or, are they a result of being in a suite?

This is our first time in a Sky Class suite.

As for C&A, it’s odd… I’m gold but no one else in my family is…though we have all been on the same RC cruises in the past. What am I doing wrong??

[Ampurp85]

16 hours ago, CD1978 said:

I need to learn more about these drink vouchers…

Are they linked to my C&A account, or, are they a result of being in a suite?

This is our first time in a Sky Class suite.

As for C&A, it’s odd… I’m gold but no one else in my family is…though we have all been on the same RC cruises in the past. What am I doing wrong??

The C&A vouchers are for when you become Diamond or higher and you get 4 drinks a day that can be used at any bar and Royal's private islands. If you don't get a C&A number assigned, then you don't get the points until you do. That means your family members might need to call and get their accounts linked.