dmwnc1959

I’ve never had tapioca pudding before either! Another cut and paste to my dining reminders. 🤣

That’s so fantastic! Absolutely heartwarming! 🥰

In order to give all the other dining venues a fair shake I’ve settled on the 5-night specialty dining package, plus the two FAS. If I add Moderno, I’ll have to make sure to add it on a night when we leave port late in order to hope that it won’t be packed early in the evening. For Le Bistro it’s on the night that we leave Guatemala at 9pm, that is if we even go there. Maybe I can add Moderno to the night we’re in LA and we leave at 11pm. Or vice versa. 😉

I grabbed a couple of screenshots from a walk-through video and posted them on a different thread. I wonder if it varies by sailing, but most of all these look like two tops?

Maybe I can flash my ORANGE beginners card at them and they’ll have pitty. 🤣Although I’ve read greasing the palm of the waitstaff or maître d may help. 😉

Looks like I’m going have to screenshot this and add it to my list just so I don’t forget! 🥰

Moderno is classified as one of the fixed-price restaurants? So, one of the ones that should be booked first before the à la cart venues? DINNER COMPLIMENTARY Grand Pacific Main Dining Alizar Main Dining Jasmine Garden - Asian Garden Café Buffet COVER CHARGE APPLIES Moderno - Brazilian Teppanyaki - Asian A LA CARTE CHARGE APPLIES Cagney's Steakhouse La Cucina - Italian Le Bistro - French Sushi - Asian

Any thoughts on the food quality for dinner at the Garden Café? I’ve actually already looked up the times for sunset for all the days that we’re in Alaska and (weather permitting for the scenic cruising) don’t want to miss a minute of it on sail-aways down channel. For me it’s the FOMO on the 🏔️ scenery and possible 🦅 🐋wildlife sightings while eating dinner or seeing shows for hours. I think these may be the days I’ll be grabbing something quick and then going back topside. The average daytime high seems to be around 50°, but the morning lows in the lower 30’s are going to be 🥶. I’ll have to find a way to deal with the cold on a moving ship.

Another quick question about the Garden Café buffet. During the final days of the 25-night itinerary we will be in Alaska, and I like to be top-side a lot. For those that have eaten dinner in the buffet, do you find it passable? Not really wanting to spend an hour or two eating dinner ‘below decks’ while the world passes by.

Much appreciated appreciated, OP said he was on Holland-America and by the schedule it may be the Zaandam doing an overnight on April 23rd.

It’s on my schedule list three times! 👍 I may need to reevaluate that now! 😁

In the real world I am an early eater for dinner, so getting there several minutes before they open isn’t a problem. I’m sure by 5:30pm food will be the first thing on my mind without a doubt! 😋

See, after looking at the menus I was the exact opposite. I’ve eaten at a restaurant similar to Moderno on Allure of the Seas and it just wasn’t even a good experience. Where as the menu in Cagneys…😍 it would be interesting to hear you expand on why you like Moderno best.

I’ve watched a couple of walk-through video tours - Alizar with all of the bench seating just pales in comparison to Grand Pacific, which looked stunning. 🥰

I like the idea of all of this. As for main dining room seating, I’d like to aim for the back of Grand Pacific near the windows. 😁

I managed to rotate my 25-night dinner schedule through every dining venue on the ship except Teppanyaki and Moderno, neither which are really personally appealing. Every other specialty and complimentary restaurants are on my listed program - I even got O’Sheehan’s on the books one night after coming back from what will probably be a long day in Colón just to grab something quick and easy. I definitely took a look at the menus, and La Cucina is a heavy favorite! And the red bean pie with green tea ice cream sounds really amazing!!!

I see Norwegian Jade has two complimentary main dining rooms, Alizar and Grand Pacific. In the Freestyle world of NCL are you able to choose and walk up to which ever one you want to eat at for dinner, or are you assigned one prior to embarkation? I definitely fancy one over the other. As for long cruises (25 nights), if you eat there a couple of times at the very beginning and then don’t come back for a week or longer, do they seat you at the same table (can you request an area) or is it open-seating where they just put you wherever? Always looking to participate in the 530pm stampede. And do the menus rotate through 7-10 days and go back to the same menu from Day 1? Can’t imagine how many different menus they have on 25 nights. I sat down last night to try and plan out my dining for next year’s Big Cruise - which ports or sea days I’d like to attempt and book specialty dining - and divvy up the rest of the nights between the other venues. It was harder than I thought for such a long cruise with so many options!

Juneau Says To Book Mendenhall Glacier Ahead of Time or Miss Out https://cruisespotlight.com/juneau-says-to-book-mendenhall-glacier-ahead-of-time-or-miss-out/?fbclid=IwAR2hOSUvR-N1-KX3IBjWJ70iqnGN1KWqJFMU2l-b00a7JQK7TkVkTn5mfzc 🥸

I think it’s that ‘staggered scheduling’ (hot berthing) that keeps the cruise lines complaint with the limit of five ships ‘docked’ (at the same time) per day.

Great reply!!! THANK YOU! I have purchased it already from NCL. I had called the Shore Excursion Deck at the cruise line and they had no idea. I wasn’t sure if I was going to get a response here so I also actually emailed the Hop-on Hop-off bus company. 🤣 Will this also be the same for the OP down at Pier 32/30 where the bus will pick them up if it’s purchased through HAL? 😁

We are obviously addicted!!! 🥰

Of the ships I’ve cruise in Alaska (you can tell it’s been a while) they were all ‘smaller’ - the Dawn Princess and Sun Princess; Volendam, Celebrity Galaxy, and a very small ship from Cruise West called Spirit of Oceanus. In 2025 it’s Norwegian Jade on a sort of B2B. And I’m booked on Holland-America’s Noordam in April 2026 for what’s being billed as ‘Great Bear Rainforest’ and focuses on the Canadian Inside Passage from Prince Rupert to Vancouver. https://www.hollandamerica.com/en/us/find-a-cruise?shipId:(NO)&departDate:[2026-04-01T00%3A00%3A00Z TO 2026-04-01T00%3A00%3A00Z%2B1MONTH-1DAY] When their 2026 schedule is fully released I want to do it as a B2B into the Alaskan Inside and those ports. 😆

Totally, totally, TOTALLY agree. I wish they would restrict the size of cruise ships cruising the Inside Passage to something less than 100,000 tons and 2000 passengers.

Alaska’s capital city, Juneau, is in a conceptual agreement with cruise lines to cap passengers in the 2026 season https://www.cruisehive.com/juneau-takes-steps-to-limit-cruise-ship-passengers/128027?fbclid=IwAR04obDq5YGhp3YP8jDfYsXFRCdZCA-xiAICT3Jmc53NyisbQdEVgR0Ozvs 🥸

If there is anyone out there that has done these hop-on hop-off tours SPECIFICALLY IN SAN FRANCISCO, and know details of how passengers from Pier 32/30 or Pier 27 access the tour buses from the ship, please chime in. I’ve done similar research to where the first bus doesn’t depart until 10AM, but the tour options start at least an hour or more before this.