resturants on the dawn

[myasmommy]

Hi, all, have a question. Someone told us that when you get onboard, you can pay $20.00 EXTRA and have all inclusive to all the extra resturants? Does anyone know if this is true. I thought there was a cover charge to each one, but this guy said we can pay the 20 and have access to all, any insite please.

 

Thanks

Dawn

[LOWTYD]

I don't think so. You can sign up for reseverations when you get on right in the lobby but you will be charged the exrta fee depending on which resturant you choose. If that was the case, there would never be enough room for everyone who signed up.

[johnql]

Definitely not true. Each surcharge restaurant has its own fee.

[Harleycat]

Hi, all, have a question. Someone told us that when you get onboard, you can pay $20.00 EXTRA and have all inclusive to all the extra resturants? Does anyone know if this is true. I thought there was a cover charge to each one, but this guy said we can pay the 20 and have access to all, any insite please.

 

Thanks

Dawn

 

I'm just off the Dawn and I never heard of such a thing.

[bakerintn]

and for your info, here is a list of the restaurants:

 

Venetian Main Restaurant (Main Dining Room) B L D

Cuisine: Continental

Surcharge: No

Reservations Required: No

 

Aqua Main Restaurant (Main Dining Room) D

Cuisine: Continental

Surcharge: No

Reservations Required: No

 

Impressions of Italy D

Cuisine: Italian

Surcharge: Yes $10

Reservations Required: yes

 

Bamboo - A Taste of Asia D

Cuisine: Japanese, Thai, Chinese (Sushi, Sashimi, Teppanyaki)

Surcharge: Yes, $15.00 per person ~ $25 for Teppanyaki ~ Sushi has extra charge too

Reservations Required: Yes

 

Le Bistro French Restaurant D

Cuisine: French

Surcharge: Yes, $15 per person

Reservations Required: Yes

 

Cagney's Steakhouse D

Cuisine: Steak

Surcharge: Yes, $25 per person

Reservations Required: Yes

 

Salsa D

Cuisine: Mexican, Tex-Mex Tapas Bar

Surcharge: Yes $10 (Tapas Bar is "free")

Reservations Required: Yes

 

Garden Cafe/Kids' Cafe B L D

Cuisine: Assorted Buffet, Food Stations, Kid-Sized Buffet

Surcharge: No

Reservations Required: No

 

Blue Lagoon B L D

Cuisine: Food Court, Grill

Surcharge: No

Reservations Required: No

Hours 24 Hours

Bimini Bar & Grill L

Hamburgers, fries, pretzels, hot dogs, etc

Surcharge: No

Lunch

Some Lunchtime poolside grill / buffets on sea days - no surcharge

Room Service 24 hours - menu in cabin - tip for server recommended

[Tomct]

Here's a quote from "KevinsCruising", from a recent post on our 10/4/2009 Dawn Roll Call:

 

I am a travel agent and we have been only given little info about it. It is actually being tried out right now on one of the NCL ships.... I think the Hawaii one. From what I understand, there will be two different options you can purchase prior your sailing... It is called Freestyle Dining. One package may be 40.00 and be good for 3 speciality restaurants or another package for 80.00 and good for the week. Or you can also do it the way it is right now. So there will be 3 options for you. This came from many guests saying they would rather be charged in the cost of the cruise and not have to worry about paying at the end of the week. It will be a very popular selling tool and give NCL an advantage. No other cruise line is doing this or offering it. I personally think it is a great idea.

 

Here's the thread if you'd like to ask him questions, though he may not know more than he posted at this time.

[Tomct]

Here's a quote from "KevinsCruising", from a recent post on our 10/4/2009 Dawn Roll Call:

 

I am a travel agent and we have been only given little info about it. It is actually being tried out right now on one of the NCL ships.... I think the Hawaii one. From what I understand, there will be two different options you can purchase prior your sailing... It is called Freestyle Dining. One package may be 40.00 and be good for 3 speciality restaurants or another package for 80.00 and good for the week. Or you can also do it the way it is right now. So there will be 3 options for you. This came from many guests saying they would rather be charged in the cost of the cruise and not have to worry about paying at the end of the week. It will be a very popular selling tool and give NCL an advantage. No other cruise line is doing this or offering it. I personally think it is a great idea.

 

Here's the thread if you'd like to ask him questions, though he may not know more than he posted at this time.

 

Unfortunately the Cruise Critic policy of 15 minutes for making changes to my original post expired while adding the link to that message, so here it is:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=738337

 

I think we would take the $80 option at this price, based on our preference for the Specialties.

[Globaliser]

I think we would take the $80 option at this price, based on our preference for the Specialties.

Thanks for posting that.

 

I agree: If it were $80 for a week, I think that we would buy that package and never set foot in a main dining room.

[MrLee]

Personally I'm having trouble buying into this. None if the specialty restaurants are big enough to accommodate the crowds they'd have. :rolleyes:

[cliffd64]

Personally I'm having trouble buying into this. None if the specialty restaurants are big enough to accommodate the crowds they'd have. :rolleyes:

 

I tend to agree... Under the current format, unless you are VIP or in a suite or higher, it can be difficult to get reservations for some of the specialty restaurants at reasonable times... I can only imagine what kind of chaos would ensue of there were hundreds of people who had pre-paid trying to get a table along with normal reservations.

 

Another lesson learned from having been on a few one-night cruises... Having lots more people in a specialty restaurant does not help the staff maintain the superior service level people are paying for. If the restaurant is full or over-capacity, service will invariably begin to suffer...

 

I guess we will all see...

[Tomct]

I tend to agree... Under the current format, unless you are VIP or in a suite or higher, it can be difficult to get reservations for some of the specialty restaurants at reasonable times... I can only imagine what kind of chaos would ensue of there were hundreds of people who had pre-paid trying to get a table along with normal reservations.

 

Another lesson learned from having been on a few one-night cruises... Having lots more people in a specialty restaurant does not help the staff maintain the superior service level people are paying for. If the restaurant is full or over-capacity, service will invariably begin to suffer...

 

I guess we will all see...

 

If the Specialties get crowded, then I think they've got a good situation. If they want to thin the crowd to please those shut out, raise the price, maybe a win win.

 

AS for getting reservations this year, we ate half our meals (7) in Specialties on our two cruises, Dawn and Spirit, and had absolutely no problem getting times we wanted within 15 minutes. We made our requests one day in advance or morning of. We do try to dine early if possible, so we can catch the 7:30 show most evenings. Of course "Do Whatever" does get in our way, as some of the events we wanted to attend had us dining a little later and attending the 2nd show.