Big group dining question

We have a group of 16 family members sailing on the Escape in January and I am wondering if it is possible for us to eat together every night. Does any one have any previous experience with this? Is it something we need to do ahead of time or once on the ship? Thanks!

Call guest services, or when you're aboard make special arrangements with the Maitre D.

I've seen tables put together in the MDR for large groups.

Usually not a problem. More than likely the way it often works out with large groups on a cruise is that not everyone wants to eat in the same place or at the same time or they are just plain tired. :D

Usually not a problem. More than likely the way it often works out with large groups on a cruise is that not everyone wants to eat in the same place or at the same time or they are just plain tired. :D

Exactly. I chuckle with how many times this question is asked. Who wants to be locked in every day at a certain time (while waiting for the slow pokes) just to eat as a group. Maybe day 1, then bye bye to group meals at a set time, especially if it cuts into a planned activity of my interest.

If the "group" has the same table/time nightly, "slowpokes" shouldn't be a problem.

Exactly. I chuckle with how many times this question is asked. Who wants to be locked in every day at a certain time (while waiting for the slow pokes) just to eat as a group. Maybe day 1, then bye bye to group meals at a set time, especially if it cuts into a planned activity of my interest.

Well maybe that is what works for you, but we want to eat as a group. Thanks for your input.

We have a group of 16 family members sailing on the Escape in January and I am wondering if it is possible for us to eat together every night. Does any one have any previous experience with this? Is it something we need to do ahead of time or once on the ship? Thanks!

You should be able to book at least the first couple of nights 90 days prior to boarding. (suites are 100 days prior) However, because it's such a large group, you may be restricted to a limited time-frame like 5:30 or 9pm. If you want to book prior to your cruise you could always book 2 tables of 8 online and then ask to have them combined once you're onboard.

Enjoy your cruise, Escape sounds like a great ship.

PS, sorry meant to mention you'd need 2 different people doing the reservations. ;)

We are a family of 10. Will we need to eat at 5:30 or 9 to all eat together?

We are a family of 10. Will we need to eat at 5:30 or 9 to all eat together?

Nothing is written in stone, I've seen larger groups dining later, but some like to have a specific dining time pre-arranged. If you want to dine freestyle, in other words when you choose, you can, you just may have to wait while they ready the tables for your group. The resticted timeframe is mostly just for pre booking, which some like to do.

Well maybe that is what works for you, but we want to eat as a group. Thanks for your input.

Just "wanting" might work, but it may not be realistic once the cruise is actually underway and people start doing things. You'll likely have a group to dine together, it just might not always be 16.

Tables for 16 are few and far between. Get two 8-tops and everything will be easier.

Sailed on the Getaway in January with 16 in our family group, was able to get pre-assigned times and dining room reservations for each day of our cruise, we made this through the group coordinator of our ship, about four months before the cruise. But we needed to know the exact time we needed the reservation and for what dining room.

I hope this helps.

Sailed on the Getaway in January with 16 in our family group, was able to get pre-assigned times and dining room reservations for each day of our cruise, we made this through the group coordinator of our ship, about four months before the cruise. But we needed to know the exact time we needed the reservation and for what dining room.

 

 

 

I hope this helps.

It does. Thanks.

My family is not sailing till August 2016 we are currently at 13 adults and 3 children and most likely will have 3 more adults. We have already discussed and we will be making our reservations online before the cruise we like having a set time to eat but plan on taking advantages of all the different free places to eat on the Escape. Our family is kinda crazy and we like have dinner reservations so no matter what is going on any day we know we will see each other then.

We had a family group of 21 that sailed the Pearl to Alaska in May. We wanted to eat dinner together every night in case that was the only time we were together that day. I made reservations ahead of time (only a coupe of weeks before sailing since I'm a last minute person) with the special events coordinator for the Pearl. Specialeventspearl@ncl.com is her email, so I would assume the email for the Escape Special Events Coordinator would be specialeventsescape@ncl.com. Email the reataurants and times that you would like to reserve for each day. Make sure you get a confirmation and take it with you on the cruise.

We had massive problems with the Summer Palace MDR two different nights. The other MDR, Indigo was perfect. If I would not have had the confirmation letter, they would still believe I was a liar. They gave us the run around until we had our follow-up Meet and Greet meeting with the crew and I had a chance to share my experience with the managers. Dinner that night in the Summer Palace was quite wonderful. They more than made up for their massive mistakes, for which we were forever grateful. When you have reservations for 21 and they fall through, it puts a damper on the entire trip. Thankfully, Norwegian did their absolute best to take care of the problem which was fully attributed to the Maître d, Mr. Wilson.

We were only able to choose 5:30, 9:00 or 9:30 for dinner, but it may be different on the Escape. Hope our experience helps you avoid dinner disaster. Happy Sailing! :)

We had 21 people in our group. We wanted to eat at the specialty restaurants and eat together. We used three of cabins to make reservations at each venue for 8, 8 and 5. When we got to the ship, the group coordinator made sure that we were all seated together. Even at Teppanyaki we were all able to sit together.

We have a group of 16 family members sailing on the Escape in January and I am wondering if it is possible for us to eat together every night. Does any one have any previous experience with this? Is it something we need to do ahead of time or once on the ship? Thanks!

We have 11 going on the Getaway. After having a not so great experience with 8 on the Breakaway, I wanted to make sure that didn't happen again. It took some doing to figure out what nights we wanted to eat where and at what time depending on what time we were getting back to the ship after a port day, what shows we wanted to see, etc. It was more planning than I wanted to do pre-cruise but I think it was worth it. I did our entertainment bookings online which was a real hassle because I had to do 4 cabins separately. I also did 2 specialty restaurants online and had to do those separately for smaller tables.

I decided to call for the rest and was told to send an email with all the details to SpecialEventsGetaway@NCL.com (you would substitute Escape for Getaway). The rep on the phone told me that they will respond within 72 hours. With 14 MINUTES of my email I had a response and the rep was even able to change the 2 specialty bookings to tables of 11. Great customer service!

I'm with you as far as eating together. This is a family vacation for us. We are spread across the country and don't get to see each other often. While everyone can do whatever they want during the day, we WANT to eat together at night. It's about being together, talking, laughing, and of course, eating. So if there are any slow pokes, we'll wait for them. :)

Have a great cruise!

Oh...as far as the times available - they are limited - at least they were for us at 4 weeks out from cruising - 5:30 and 8:30 (that was for Main Dining Rooms). Book as soon as possible and there may be more times available.

We have 11 going on the Getaway. After having a not so great experience with 8 on the Breakaway, I wanted to make sure that didn't happen again. It took some doing to figure out what nights we wanted to eat where and at what time depending on what time we were getting back to the ship after a port day, what shows we wanted to see, etc. It was more planning than I wanted to do pre-cruise but I think it was worth it. I did our entertainment bookings online which was a real hassle because I had to do 4 cabins separately. I also did 2 specialty restaurants online and had to do those separately for smaller tables.

 

I decided to call for the rest and was told to send an email with all the details to SpecialEventsGetaway@NCL.com (you would substitute Escape for Getaway). The rep on the phone told me that they will respond within 72 hours. With 14 MINUTES of my email I had a response and the rep was even able to change the 2 specialty bookings to tables of 11. Great customer service!

 

I'm with you as far as eating together. This is a family vacation for us. We are spread across the country and don't get to see each other often. While everyone can do whatever they want during the day, we WANT to eat together at night. It's about being together, talking, laughing, and of course, eating. So if there are any slow pokes, we'll wait for them. :)

 

Have a great cruise!

Oh...as far as the times available - they are limited - at least they were for us at 4 weeks out from cruising - 5:30 and 8:30 (that was for Main Dining Rooms). Book as soon as possible and there may be more times available.

This is all great information. Thank you.

There are only 10 of us, across four staterooms. But we definitely want to eat together (8 of us are mom/dad/kids! -- plus my mom and sister). I have no problem reserving daily dining. I actually prefer it.

great picture antas901. I wondered how they could do much in Teppanyaki. Glad to see they figured it out!!

Just "wanting" might work, but it may not be realistic once the cruise is actually underway and people start doing things. You'll likely have a group to dine together, it just might not always be 16.

You dont know this group at all.....why are you even commenting when you are not at all adding to the discussion? Just because your family doesnt care to eat with you all weeks does not mean all families dislike each other. When I go on group cruises we always eat together, because we are either family or friends and that is what family and friends do.

You should be able to get your group together at most meals with some advanced work. Make reservations for specialties online in advance in 2 groups of 8 at the same time. Once on board you can talk to the maitre d and have the reservations combined. They should be able to accommodate you. Enjoy your cruise!!

6&8