booking dining

I'm seeing where folks are booking their dinners pre cruise.

Is this in fear of not being able to get a reservation once on the ship?

Don't mean to be rude but how the he** do you know what you're going to feel like eating 100 days out from sailing?

you dont have to do it online precruise. you can do it when you get on the ship but it can be a hassle and your prefer time might be all booked up.

I understand this but what I'm saying is WHY would you book way ahead of cruise?

What if I'm in port and enjoy late afternoon local cuisine or the such and feeling kinda full...the last thing I want to do is rush back and make sure I don't miss my reservation for dinner.

I'm seeing where folks are booking their dinners pre cruise.

Is this in fear of not being able to get a reservation once on the ship?

Don't mean to be rude but how the he** do you know what you're going to feel like eating 100 days out from sailing?

Well, look at it a like booking a restaurant at home. Some popular restaurants require a month or longer for booking, especially if it is a certain day or time. I would think that sea days are very popular for specialty restaurants so booking as soon as you can is a good idea.

Having said that, how far in advance can you book...and how do you do you book it?

What if I'm in port and enjoy late afternoon local cuisine or the such and feeling kinda full...the last thing I want to do is rush back and make sure I don't miss my reservation for dinner.

i plan all of my specially dinning for sea days. for port days, the MDR or buffet is good enough for dinner

If you wait until you get on board to reserve a restaurant, their answer may be "Great! We have two slots open: 9 PM and 10:30 PM. Which would you like?" If you want to eat earlier, you're SOL. Reserving it early gives you your choice of slots.

Also, you can pre-book the restaurants and then once onboard you can always cancel or adjust the reservation depending on your mood and what's available. By pre-booking you at least know you have a guaranteed reservation.

We have our little cruise rituals, so we know ahead of time what we will do for some evenings. We go to Cagney's on the last night, and for Christmas cruises, we go to Le Bistro for Christmas Eve.

There aren't a multitude of choices, so eventually, you determine which restaurants you prefer, so getting them locked in is one more thing done before you board. Also, for us, we know that we eat dinner about 7pm at home, so we have a good idea of when we will eat onboard.

Plus, we don't usually book every night, and we assume that it might change once we get underway. (We're Platinum Plus, so dinner with an officer will be one night.) It's more a placeholder than anything else.

Question: What is the soonest they allow online booking of specialty restaurants?

My cruise starts 90 days from now,

For now it says "To early to book" on my Plan your Trip section.of the specialty restaurant area on NCL

Thanks if you know the answer to this.

Question: What is the soonest they allow online booking of specialty restaurants?

 

My cruise starts 90 days from now,

For now it says "To early to book" on my Plan your Trip section.of the specialty restaurant area on NCL

 

Thanks if you know the answer to this.

IIRC, it's depends on the size of the ship, but begins at 70-75 days for non-suite passengers and a few days earlier for suite passengers.

If you have a suite, the earlier booking is a pretty suite deal.

Question: What is the soonest they allow online booking of specialty restaurants?

 

 

 

My cruise starts 90 days from now,

 

For now it says "To early to book" on my Plan your Trip section.of the specialty restaurant area on NCL

 

 

 

Thanks if you know the answer to this.

It is 90 days out (regardless of ship) unless you are in a suite, when it is 100 days.

If you are at 90 days and they aren’t showing up then they will do soon.

I'm seeing where folks are booking their dinners pre cruise.

Is this in fear of not being able to get a reservation once on the ship?

Don't mean to be rude but how the he** do you know what you're going to feel like eating 100 days out from sailing?

Don't mean to be rude but how the he** do you know what you're going to feel like eating 100 days out from sailing?

We know which restaurants we will visit during the cruise, so it is just a case of what time or date to have them.

I can’t say I have ever thought along the lines of “we’ve got Cagneys booked today but I really wish it was La Cucina which we’ve got in three days instead”. As long as we get what we want during the cruise then I’m not too bothered which nights.

We prebook in order to avoid having to mess around doing it once onboard. However an advantage is getting a good choice of times in order to avoid the sort of issue that you raised above. For example, if we are leaving port late then we will try to avoid that day. Days when we leave port fairly early or know we will be busy and maybe not get chance to eat onshore are good days to book a meal. For us, that sort of thing is more important than what we may or may not fancy on any given night. We are never usually that specific in what we want.

I understand this but what I'm saying is WHY would you book way ahead of cruise?

What if I'm in port and enjoy late afternoon local cuisine or the such and feeling kinda full...the last thing I want to do is rush back and make sure I don't miss my reservation for dinner.

we usually book the ones we want on sea days, seems to work for us, especially Tappenyucky (i can't spell) as it books fast.

we usually book the ones we want on sea days, seems to work for us, especially Tappenyucky (i can't spell) as it books fast.

That's we do as well: it's easier to predict when you'll be hungry on a sea day as opposed to a shore excursion day when you might return hungry or might not.

One weird thing about our upcoming Star cruise: all of the specialty restaurants can be reserved online except Teppanyaki.

Why? Because we eat roughly the same time every day and we keep that going on board to keep more of our evening free.

One weird thing about our upcoming Star cruise: all of the specialty restaurants can be reserved online except Teppanyaki.

That is fairly usual.

On some ships with only a small Teppenyaki, it isn’t available to book before boarding. For example, it is pretty well never available on the Spirit.

It seems a little more variable on the Star. It wasn’t available for us last year, but I have heard people say they were able to at other times.

Book it soon after boarding as it can fill up quickly.

Don't mean to be rude but how the he** do you know what you're going to feel like eating 100 days out from sailing?

Thank you, you made my day. I'm sorry if I'm not suppose to be giggling about this, but I've felt the same way, since they brought out pre-booking for dining. At home I have no idea what I am having for dinner until an hour before I make it.

On my past cruises, pre-booking specialties was a rather new concept, as well there was no SDP, so fewer people seemed to book the specialties. As well we cruised on the smaller ships. So booking as soon as we could, on the day we wanted, got us a reservation easily.

I'm struggling with this for a number of reasons. #1 the same reasons as you are. #2, without the frreestyle daily for my particular cruise, I don't have specific times for other things I may want to do that would conflict with dinner times I pre-booked. #3 This time I'm travelling solo and I would prefer not to eat at the specialty restaurants alone. I was hoping to meet others on the ship, at the meet & greet or the solo gathering who would like to do a specialty restaurant. So I have resigned myself, that although I do have the SDP, I may not be using it.

I know I will get flack for this next statement, but please everyone realize I am laughing while I'm writing this, because I do find this comical, that these following statements somewhat contradict each other..

Quoted from a recent freestyle daily

"DINE WHEN YOU WANT. With no set dining times and no seat assignments, you can dine on your time and not on a schedule." "DO I NEED RESERVATIONS?. Although not required, we recommend making reservations at our main dining rooms and specialty restaurants to ensure you have the dining experience you want at the time you prefer".

I'm thinking if I'm recommended (since if I don't I may not get the times I would prefer), then that pretty well says to me I will have a schedule. ;p

I know I will get flack for this next statement, but please everyone realize I am laughing while I'm writing this, because I do find this comical, that these following statements somewhat contradict each other..

Quoted from a recent freestyle daily

"DINE WHEN YOU WANT. With no set dining times and no seat assignments, you can dine on your time and not on a schedule." "DO I NEED RESERVATIONS?. Although not required, we recommend making reservations at our main dining rooms and specialty restaurants to ensure you have the dining experience you want at the time you prefer".

 

I'm thinking if I'm recommended (since if I don't I may not get the times I would prefer), then that pretty well says to me I will have a schedule. ;p

And this is why I think "Freestyle" is such a joke. The way it works is the opposite of how they market it!

And this is why I think "Freestyle" is such a joke. The way it works is the opposite of how they market it!

It actually works really well, our family of 7 has never made MDR reservations, and we’ve never waited more than 5 minutes for a table. I remember our DCL cruise, rushing to our seating for dinner, and not being hungry because we snacked when we got back from a port. No thanks! Specialty dining used to be easier until they started giving away the SDP for free, although it’s still much easier than getting an ADR at WDW during free dining!

Pre-booking the specialty restaurants is part of the ritual for me. I have this binder dedicated to the specific cruise, with sections for the pre and post cruise hotel, the airline flights, and then all the items related to the ship. So, I'm pounding on the website on day 90 (and I am sometimes frustrated when I have to wait) putting in our dining choices. Which are usually Cagney's to begin and end the cruise, with Moderno, Tempenyaki and Le Bistro in between. The dining confirmation sheet (or a transcription thereof) gets magnetically attached to our stateroom wall as soon as we get in the cabin. Folks here have shown me how to book the 3 (or so) dinners included under the dining package and the two ala carte's without having to pay a cent up front.

As others have said, I'd rather make the reservation than change it since without a reservation I might find myself with a 9:30 reservation at Cagney's. That much meat that late would just be wrong.

I have been to the MDR restaurants twice in 10 cruises on NCL Breakfast once and dinner once. I'll stick with the buffet or BBQ poolside for the other non-specialty meals.

By sharing this, you all can see how twisted I am. Now the secret is out. ;p

By sharing this, you all can see how twisted I am. Now the secret is out. ;p

Going to take my first NCL cruise in December. Do people get seated together as a large table or do you get your own table. I have only done Carnival cruises and like meeting people at dinner and socializing.

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Going to take my first NCL cruise in December. Do people get seated together as a large table or do you get your own table. I have only done Carnival cruises and like meeting people at dinner and socializing.

 

 

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NCL dining options work exactly the same as land based restaurants. Who you show up with is who you are seated with. So if you go as a party of 2, you will be given a table for 2. You can ask the hostess at the MDRs to share a table, but very few people have claimed to have success with this request. Since the majority of NCL cruisers like not having to sit with strangers for dinner.

It actually works really well, our family of 7 has never made MDR reservations, and we’ve never waited more than 5 minutes for a table. I remember our DCL cruise, rushing to our seating for dinner, and not being hungry because we snacked when we got back from a port. No thanks! Specialty dining used to be easier until they started giving away the SDP for free, although it’s still much easier than getting an ADR at WDW during free dining!

We also never had any issues without reservations for the MDR, we had a pager once that had us wait for maybe 15 minutes. Which we chose to take to O'Sheehans and have a drink before our meal. No big deal.

I haven't cruised since NCL started to off the SDP but I would think that would make it even easier now to go the MDR without much of a wait.