dawn dining reservations

[vacationgogo]

Hi. The more I read the more confused I get. I have read that reservations for the premium restaurants can be made 24 hours ahead and also 48 hours ahead. I'm also not sure about the regular dining rooms. Can someone clear this up for me? Thanks.

 

Vacationgogo

[Big Al B.]

You don't really need reservations for the regular dining rooms (Impressions, Aqua, Venetian). I'm not sure if they even accept them except in the case of large groups. We were in a group of four and never had to wait much at all in any of them. You do need reservations for the no charge Salsa and Italian restaurants as well as the three extra charge ones.

[vacationgogo]

We are a group of 13 but 7 of those are teenagers who may opt to eat on their own (or some of them may). Do you think we will have to wait long? Also how far ahead will they allow you to make reservations for the premium restaurants? Thanks.

[RichNY]

If your cabin has concierge service then the concierge can arrange your reservations for you...we were able to get same day reservations an any restaurant we wanted...

[vacationgogo]

Thanks Rich. Just one question... How do you know if your cabin has concierge service?

[shoreguy]

Thanks Rich. Just one question... How do you know if your cabin has concierge service?

 

I will try and answer the first question it is not 24 or 48 hours in advance. The answer varies based on cabin type. For most passengers the reservation desk open around 9 am at which time you can make reservation for that night or the next night. If you booked for 7 pm the next night that would be 34 hours in advance :D

 

You receive concierge service in Mini Suites AF and up. If you are in a full suite the concierge can book all your reservations for the week day one. Don't ask me how many hours in advance that is :D

[RichNY]

Our group varied from 8 to 12 people for dinner. We called the conceirge usually by noon and were able to book for the same night..We were in a AF mini suite

 

Hope this helps...

[vacationgogo]

Thank you all. We will not have concierge service but I'm pretty clear now on how it works.:)

[snake114]

We were on the Dawn last week, and were able to make reservations for several nights on the first evening...... We had a balcony room, not a suite. Seems like they have upgraded their reservation system. Could'nt have been eaiser!

[vacationgogo]

We have a balcony cabin. How do you know what the policy is? We are going in late April and I'm sure the ship will be at capacity. I'm concerned that they may change their policy back. Do they post it? announce it? How do you know? Thanks for your input.

 

 

Vacationgogo

[snake114]

We visited the kiosk in the main lobby area. Had no problems making reservations for several nights ahead at any time during the cruise. They never asked what sort of room we had. There were special half price deals on some of the restaurants the first couple of nights.

[debjo]

For vacationgogo...Regarding reservations for regular dining rooms...

Last year, we had a 80th birthday party celebration/family reunion on the MAJESTY. I, too, was concerned about having available seating in the main (free) restaurants on the ship. We also wanted to eat at each one of them during our cruise. Our party was a total of 10 people. Our birthday celebrant was also in a wheelchair, so I knew things might be complicated getting everyone seated at the same table in a restaurant...especially with NCL's "Freestyle Dining" program and all the varied dining venues.

 

Here's what I did...I put together a dining schedule for breakfast, lunch, dinner so that everyone in our group would know where and when we were dining. I really only expected everyone to gather together for dinners, but knew it would be important to our birthday gal to have as many family members as possible be together for all meals. I also factored each dining venue into the "plan", so that we'd all get a sampling of what each had to offer. I copied this and put it in a little packet for everyone, that included an enlarged hard-stock color copy of the deck plans (didn't want anyone to get "lost" trying to find the dining room), and some other pertinent tidbits that the "first-timers" would "need" on their cruise. ;)

Once I got situated in my cabin on the ship, I next found the Maitre D' and explained our desires. It was no problem in arranging our DINNER restaurant desires for the "free-no reservation required" restaurants. With our handicapped access situation, I thought that dining in one restaurant for a few nights and then another for a few nights would be the best idea...especially if we could arrange to have the same table in each restaurant. The Maitre D' couldn't have been more accomodating! So, we essentially had "reservations" for the main dining rooms and didn't have to wait for tables to become available for our large group. Keep in mind that not all dining venues have tables large enough to accomodate a big group, so we were sometimes seated at adjacent tables (which was OK).

As far as breakfast and lunch went, the family just fit into my dining schedule as their shore excursions allowed them to. We ate at the restaurants on my schedule, but didn't have tables "reserved" because we never knew how many of people in our group would be joining us.

So, in short, seek out the Maitre D' immediately when you get on the ship and have a plan ahead of time on when and where you'd like to dine. The main thing to keep in mind is that "IT NEVER HURTS TO ASK"...you'll find most of the ship's staff very willing to accomodate your wishes.

You mentioned that you are going on the DAWN at the end of April. What week are you sailing...perhaps you'll be sailing on "our" April 24th cruise...if so, please join us on our ROLL CALL BOARD :D at http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=3253808#post3253808

Hope this helps!

 

Debjo

[vacationgogo]

Thanks Debjo. You're right. It never hurts to ask. We are traveling with our children and 2 other families and there seems to be a catch 22. We want to take advantage of the freestyle dining (stay in port a little longer if we're having a great time, try different restaurants, etc) and each family may chose different excursions and return to the ship at different times. Plus we will be traveling with 3 13 year olds and 4 15/16 year olds who may make new friends and choose to dine with them (once or twice). All things considered, we need a lot of flexibility. The problem is getting seating on those nights when we are all together. There will be 13 of us. I don't know that they will all be willing to commit to reservations more than 1 day in advance! I will pass along your suggestions. They are very helpful. If we choose a restaurant and the teens want to dine in another restaurant, do they have that option? If not, are they allowed to go to the buffet without an adult?

 

 

Vacationgogo

[debjo]

For vacationgogo...

Great questions...not having traveled with teens, I'm not able to pass along any sage wisdom in this area. Hopefully, someone with "teen" travelers can share their experiences with you.

 

Debjo

[shoreguy]

Thanks Debjo. You're right. It never hurts to ask. We are traveling with our children and 2 other families and there seems to be a catch 22. We want to take advantage of the freestyle dining (stay in port a little longer if we're having a great time, try different restaurants, etc) and each family may chose different excursions and return to the ship at different times. Plus we will be traveling with 3 13 year olds and 4 15/16 year olds who may make new friends and choose to dine with them (once or twice). All things considered, we need a lot of flexibility. The problem is getting seating on those nights when we are all together. There will be 13 of us. I don't know that they will all be willing to commit to reservations more than 1 day in advance! I will pass along your suggestions. They are very helpful. If we choose a restaurant and the teens want to dine in another restaurant, do they have that option? If not, are they allowed to go to the buffet without an adult?

 

 

Vacationgogo

 

The teens can eat anywhere by themselves. If you all want to eat together you may have to wait or have one of you stop by early that night and find out what time they could seat you. Word of advice $20 goes a very long way at sea :D

[vacationgogo]

Thanks for the advice, we'll make sure to stock up on the 20s for those nights when we all want to eat together. I hate to nitpick, but it matters. My daughter tells me that one of the girls is 12, is there an age limit on who can eat without an adult present?

[immargaret]

I don't think there is an age for children/teens to eat alone. My daughter had dinner one night when she was 10 with 2 other girl who were about 12 and 13 in one of the regular dining rooms. As long as they aren't disturbing any other diners I don't think there will be a problem.

 

:D

[vacationgogo]

Thank you. They'll be happy to hear it!