Would you pay for SDP?

If you didn't get the SDP as a benefit, would you buy it? How many days?

Also..... anyone want to rank their choices for dining? Really torn about how much to pre-book or which restaurants are not to be missed. Unfortunately we are a group of 7, which makes it a little harder to go by the 'seat of our pants'. :D

Which ship are you inquiring about?

Yes, I'd purchase it for my entire cruise and have done so.

Cagney's

Teppanyaki

La Cucina

With the a la carte pricing, and higher fixed prices, yes, if I was planning to eat in specialty restaurants. We chose not to eat in any on our last cruise, because we felt the prices were too high to justify, and we usually only eat in one or two (family of 7). Our local hibachi average is $23 pp, is better than NCL's, our local rodizio is cheaper and better, same with Italian restaurants and steakhouses. The $20 cover charges of the past seemed fair.

Yes, I would buy a 3 or 4 SDP if I didn't get it as a promo.

There's nothing wrong with the complimentary restaurants but just for variety, I'd still want to go to the specialty restaurants.

I do every time I cruise for good reason.

One cruise when Getwaway was brand new I only did one special restaurant and I was disappointed half the time with my food I think I had 3 good meals one I paid for.

I am not much of a fan of most of the cafeteria food. I like it for breakfast and that is about it.

I must say though not all in my group felt as I did even my DW.

But when I tell her I want at least 4 days special dining and I am going to pre pay she says yes of course. (were on vacation)

I don't care about the first and last day of the cruise where we eat I usually have the prime rib in OShehans the first day.

For the 3 of us doing a 5 day with specials cost us around $300 I think that is a great deal. Now back in the day when I sailed on Epic they gave us 7 for free and drinks for free what a deal I knew it would not last....

We did last year. We would not again. There are so many delicious choices out side of specialty restaurants. We will, however, make use of our platinum benefits. The specialty restaurants (Epic and Dawn our only experiences) were very good. We just don't think they are necessary for us.

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We've only cruised with NCL once and had 4 nights SDP, we went to Cagneys, Teppanyaki, Moderno and Bistro.

Off those we felt that Cagneys and Teppanyaki were both excellent, Moderno less so but certainly more than acceptable. Bistro was not to my taste although my better half enjoyed it. For me the portions were far too small in Bistro, perhaps I ordered badly.

On our next cruise we have 3 free nights SDP, for a 7 night cruise I think that's just about right. In my opinion the food is better quality than you can get elsewhere on the ship and the atmosphere is far more like a land based restaurant. Way less hectic than elsewhere on the ship and a much more relaxing meal. Now that NCL are AI from the UK the free SDP isn't included, if we go on another cruise with NCL we would purchase the SDP.

we used to love the specialties, but they have gone downhill IMO.

we do not buy the package nor do we pick it as a promo. we eat only at Cagneys and Moderno with our Platinum Vouchers. the MDRs are just fine.

if you are new to NCL, they are worth trying so in that case i would get a 3 meal package so that you have the chance to also try out the MDRs and other eateries.

Thanks for the quick replies! We are sailing on the Getaway. I have been thinking of Teppanyaki, Cagney's and either Ocean Blue or Il Cucina. (Or do I do the Cirque show. So many choices. Aagggghh!) We are also booked in the Haven so I wondered how much we might eat there.

The speciality restaurants are nice. I would never say they are "not to be missed". They are really a basic restaurant - nothing that fancy. Then again, we can be happy in the buffet.

Having cruised with the 3SDP on the Escape, I would buy the plan. It is cheaper than paying a la carte, and the food is much better than in the MDRs.

I use to but after 4/5 trips the menus got old and didn't change. I think the food in the main MDR is so good. If you have been to the specialty restaurants already I would skip. I personally think the French is the best of the bunch but, Being a French restaurant the portions are tiny and I leave still hungry ready for the buffet and I'm a lite eater.

We've purchased it before and received it as a promo before. We no longer visit the specialties (with the exception of Food Republic on Escape, which isn't in the package anyway), so it wouldn't be of use to us. We hate missing the good meals in the MDR, and we hate having to be tied down to reservations.

I use to but after 4/5 trips the menus got old and didn't change. I think the food in the main MDR is so good. If you have been to the specialty restaurants already I would skip. I personally think the French is the best of the bunch but, Being a French restaurant the portions are tiny and I leave still hungry ready for the buffet and I'm a lite eater.

I would agree. I've never left any of them hungry but the menus do get old after a while. There have been some changes to menus but I don't think the changes were an improvement. Our last 2 cruises were booked with the old UDP which was great since there were no restrictions. We ate in specialties almost every night and I have to say, I missed the MDR.

We have 3 or 4 with suite, plus 2 more as plat on our upcoming 10 day cruise. Not even sure if we will use them all.

If you didn't get the SDP as a benefit, would you buy it? How many days?

 

Also..... anyone want to rank their choices for dining? Really torn about how much to pre-book or which restaurants are not to be missed. Unfortunately we are a group of 7, which makes it a little harder to go by the 'seat of our pants'. :D

Although I'd be content to eat only in MDR I love Le Bistro and Cagneys so would definitely purchase SDP since for our eating habits that is cheaper than a la carte.

For a 7 day cruise I'd purchase the three meal plan.

On our 14 day ta last November, as Platinum under the old perks we each had two specialty dinners and we bought a five meal package.

If we didn't get it for free, we would definitely pay for a SDP. And have done so in the past.

Cagney's

Teppanyaki

Sushi

We have only sailed with NCL once 2 years ago and that was on the Spirit, one of their oldest ships, but we found the food in main dining rooms to be awful. We had the ultimate dining package (back when it was yruly free) but 3 nights were fully booked in the specialty restaurants so we ate in the main dining room. The waiters were very nice when we requested different meals but our second (and sometimes third) choices were just as bad as the first choices. We have sailed on Carnival 5 times and found the food in their main dining rooms to be far superior to NCL.

The food and service in the specialty restaurants on NCL, on the other hand, were great (with the exception of Teppanyaki - I think it was just an off night so I'd try it again on the next cruise). I agree with a previous poster, however, in that the menus stay the same so after 12 nights, it gets a bit repetitive. My husband and I loved everything else about that Med cruise with NCL so we will definitely sail with them again but we decided that we will always purchase the SDP and consider it part of the cost of the cruise.

If I had to rank them in order of preference, I'd go with:

Le Bistro

Cagneys

La Trattoria

Teppanyaki

I would not pay for it or any food on a cruise that is not included in the price. I don't even bother with free dining rooms. Mostly stay with buffet or other free food establishments.

I don't sail on NCL until November, but I never take SDP perk or would buy it.

Of my previous 9 cruises I have never had a bad meal in the MDR. Oh course it helps that I had a mama that was a great cook and introduced me to different foods, so I am not a picky eater.

We only go to a specialty restaurant once a cruise or twice on our to Hawaii. But that is always covered by OBC from our T/A.

However I will always take the UBP as a perk but never purchase it.

Nope.

We had SDP on a 5 night Jade cruise in January. Tried Teppanyaki, Cagney's, and Le Bistro. It was fine but nothing was outstanding. Service, esp in Cagney's was incredibly slow and some food was not warm. I think we ate in Jasmine Garden one of the nights (actually not bad) and buffet another night that we weren't that hungry and just had some cheese and crackers or something.

Have it again when sailing in the Haven in October as part of our perks package. We will probably eat in the Haven restaurant the other nights.

The meal with Cirque is terrible. The show is fun, but plan to eat elsewhere before or after or both...I agree with others...last time I sailed NCL we had the UDP and it was nice. We only ate in main dining for breakfast or lunch and that was enough for me. Before that the prices were reasonable to pay a little upcharge...but looking at the a la carte prices, nope. I am trying to estimate how many meals we will likely want in specialty, my guess is at least 3 but probably 4 because we all have our favorites. Looking at the package cost about $20 per meal depending on how many you choose, it is a better value to buy the plan

I've never paid for specialty dining and didn't choose it as a perk. The food isn't that important to me on a cruise. I like good food, but am not too picky about it.

Just had it the three meal package free as one of my two free at sea choices, along with the internet. I don't drink enough for the UDP, and we only went on one NCL shore excursion so the $50 a port value wasn't interesting. Wish 3rd and 4th sail free had been a thing on our sailing, but it wasn't. I liked the package enough that if we sailed again, I'd pick it again despite having to pay the gratuities. I wouldn't pay a dollar more than that. We might do one night at one specialty restaurant, but otherwise we'd try and find food on shore if we want a change from the free dining.

The specialty food was a little bit better than Appleby's quality, but only a little bit, and I didn't see a meaningful distinction between the lower end specialty choices and the upper end choices in Indigo.