Dining in the MDR, sitting with others

[4774Papa]

All three of our NCL cruises have been with other family, so we always had company for dinner.

Our next cruise on the Star will not be with family or friends.

Can we request to dine with others in the MDR?

[kcwingwalker]

Yes you can dine with others. With Freestyle it's not the norm but if you request it NCL will do their best.:)

[debnjoe1438]

Just let the hostess know you would like to share a table. :)

[momoftwinteens]

On my cruise in November, every evening that we went to the main dining room, we were asked if we wanted our own table or would we like to share a table. I don't know if this is becoming the norm on NCL but, it happened every evening.

[Rhea58]

I have asked as I travel as a single. It usually works at dinner but not always at lunch...one night is was so crowded that the hostess asked folks if they wished to share...the ones that didn't had a longer wait to be seated.

[polySeraph]

All three of our NCL cruises have been with other family, so we always had company for dinner.

Our next cruise on the Star will not be with family or friends.

Can we request to dine with others in the MDR?

 

What is your itinerary? I've found that the practice of sharing a table with others has been more prevalent on my European and South American cruises. Table-sharing seems to be an accepted practice among Europeans. On those (longer) cruises we've encountered people who also cruise with other lines that offer traditional seating.

 

A couple of times we've been asked if we would like to share a table on our shorter 7-day US cruises, but it's usually been over lunch and it's usually been because all the smaller tables have been taken. (The maître d' will ask us whether we want to wait for a table for two to open up or be seated at a larger table.) We've almost always enjoyed the experience.

[CruisinMaterial]

The Norwegian Star currently is sailing a 14 night East and Westbound Panama Canal itinerary for the poster who asked.

 

OP: Just ask the hostess if you're not asked upon approach that you would like to share a table. It helps to fill up the larger tables in the center of the aft MDR. Those take up a lot of space but rarely get filled unless there are large parties on the ship. If a large table is available a hostess will make a share table usually but it may take a while to get it filled so keep that in mind.

 

Happy sailing!

[4774Papa]

What is your itinerary? I've found that the practice of sharing a table with others has been more prevalent on my European and South American cruises. Table-sharing seems to be an accepted practice among Europeans. On those (longer) cruises we've encountered people who also cruise with other lines that offer traditional seating.

 

A couple of times we've been asked if we would like to share a table on our shorter 7-day US cruises, but it's usually been over lunch and it's usually been because all the smaller tables have been taken. (The maître d' will ask us whether we want to wait for a table for two to open up or be seated at a larger table.) We've almost always enjoyed the experience.

Our cruise includes Norway, Faroe Islands, Shetland Islands, Iceland, Dublin and Glasgow, Sep/Oct this year out of Copenhaven.

Edited December 13, 2013 by 4774Papa
mistake

[keystoneboarder]

I think it's presumptuous. If you meet and make friends on the cruise who wish to join you for dinner, that's one thing. But to wait until you get in to the dining room to impose yourself on others is inappropriate.

 

What if you you are like me and incredibly uninteresting? I would hate to impose my company on someone. If they invite me first, then it's their choice.

[polySeraph]

Our cruise includes Norway, Faroe Islands, Shetland Islands, Iceland, Dublin and Glasgow, Sep/Oct this year out of Copenhaven.

 

Then you should have no problems sharing a table. We were on that itinerary in 2012 on the Sun and went to dinner several times with our roll call friends. We would meet in the Sports Bar for Happy Hour and when dinner rolled around, we'd simply adjourn to the dining room. On our particular sailing there were also many people who had sailed on other lines with traditional dining who were happy to share a table, so the practice was more prevalent than on NCL cruises departing from the US.

 

Another thing you might consider doing is seeing if there's interest on your roll call for a group dinner event. I've been to roll call events in the Teppanyaki, LeBistro, Moderno's, and the MDR on my various longer cruises. Some of them were very small (4-6 people) while others were much larger (18-20).

Edited December 13, 2013 by polySeraph

[Vicki'sMom]

I think it's presumptuous. If you meet and make friends on the cruise who wish to join you for dinner, that's one thing. But to wait until you get in to the dining room to impose yourself on others is inappropriate.

 

What if you you are like me and incredibly uninteresting? I would hate to impose my company on someone. If they invite me first, then it's their choice.

 

On our October Gem cruise, just my husband and myself, we chose "shared table" every evening for dinner in the main dining room. Since the others being seated at that table had also asked for "shared table" we were all open to the idea of dining with people we had never met prior to being seated. :)

 

We had the BEST time and met the most wonderful people! Dinner every night was truly an adventure! ;)

[NMLady]

I think it's presumptuous. If you meet and make friends on the cruise who wish to join you for dinner, that's one thing. But to wait until you get in to the dining room to impose yourself on others is inappropriate.

 

What if you you are like me and incredibly uninteresting? I would hate to impose my company on someone. If they invite me first, then it's their choice.

 

You would NOT be imposing yourself on others since you would only be seated with others who have also asked for a sharing table.

[4774Papa]

You would NOT be imposing yourself on others since you would only be seated with others who have also asked for a sharing table.

Bingo, I certainly would not impose ourselves on those that want their privacy, but others may enjoy having company. Meeting new people on a cruise is fun.

[sdmike]

I think it's presumptuous. If you meet and make friends on the cruise who wish to join you for dinner, that's one thing. But to wait until you get in to the dining room to impose yourself on others is inappropriate.

 

What if you you are like me and incredibly uninteresting? I would hate to impose my company on someone. If they invite me first, then it's their choice.

 

They will only sit people with others who have indicated they would like to share a table

[Cloudyrain]

On the Spirit (Canaries) they asked if we wanted to share nearly every time in the MDR in the evening, whereas on the Epic it wasn't mentioned once. We decided not to as we both spend all our working day talking to people we don't know, it's nice to have some "us" time on holiday. However, I noticed a lot of people were sharing tables and they all looked like they were having loads of fun :)

[CasinoCruzGirl]

I think it's presumptuous. If you meet and make friends on the cruise who wish to join you for dinner, that's one thing. But to wait until you get in to the dining room to impose yourself on others is inappropriate.

 

What if you you are like me and incredibly uninteresting? I would hate to impose my company on someone. If they invite me first, then it's their choice.

 

You would not be intruding because they aren't gonna stick you with people who do not state they would like to share.

 

 

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[H&J]

A cocktail or two during Happy Hour at the Star Bar made for some interesting and lively shared dinning. We've met interesting and diverse people from all over and when we've left for dinner we agreed to sit together in the MDR and continue our conversations. One of the most interesting persons I met this way was a priest traveling in a group with siblings and friends. We ate with that bunch again on another night. The nice thing is, if you discover you don't want to dine together, you don't have to like in traditional seatin;, it is truly "free style". I do hope NCL reinstitutes Happy Hour.

[Alvarado]

Shared dining is fun and interesting. I met the person I cruise with 10 years ago at a shared table. It is not like 4 people are sharing a table for two. People who enjoy sharing do so and people that for whatever reason want to eat alone don't need to share. Thats why they call it Freestyle Dining.

[firstcarib]

On our October Gem cruise' date=' just my husband and myself, we chose "shared table" every evening for dinner in the main dining room. Since the others being seated at that table had also asked for "shared table" we were all open to the idea of dining with people we had never met prior to being seated. :)

 

We had the BEST time and met the most wonderful people! Dinner every night was truly an adventure! ;)[/quote']

 

Totally agree...we did this on both of our cruises so far. Met some great folk...mainly! The very elderly couple with Alzeimers were a bit of a challenge one night on HAL, as they both forgot what meals they had ordered, but we all survived, & it made an interesting evening, hopefully for them too. Its great to talk to folk from other countries/ cultures. Besides, as much as we do love each other, we can get fed up with our own company.:rolleyes:

[jdvmd]

Most people do not want to share but when you check in at the hostess stand, tell them that you would like to share a table. You may have to wait a few minutes for others but they will try to accommodate your wishes.

[don't-use-real-name]

With a ship like the SUN which I was on recently having two MDR's; one a tad

bit more formal than the other would presume that community dinning would

be the norm for the lesser of the two and shared dinning in the other not at all!

The Seven Seas Main Dining Room toward the stern of the ship I would class

as the more cultured formal MDR and the Four Seasons Main Dinning Room as

the contemporary community dinning. And then the 3 speciality restaurant

would be in a class by themselves - The East meets West Steak and the Le

Bistro are able to cater to larger table settings the Il Adagio not so much due

to confined space. Unlike other cruise ships sans FreeStyle dining the norm

is to have assigned tables and dining times and after the one or two settings

then an open free forum dining usually after 9:00 pm local ship time.

The ambience of dinning is all what you make it and then the illusion can be a

leap of faith with late night buffet dining somewhere on the Lido deck.

C'est la vie and Que sera sera !

[herdingdogmom]

All three of our NCL cruises have been with other family, so we always had company for dinner.

Our next cruise on the Star will not be with family or friends.

Can we request to dine with others in the MDR?

 

Sure you can make the request with the hostess when you check in. We didn't share tables at dinner on our Norway/Iceland cruise on the Star in September after some bad table assignments in January. We did really enjoy the dine with the officers lottery dinner though and the other couple was delightful. We did overhear a couple say they would share a table only if it was one of the large round tables in the center of the MDR. Probably a good idea as our bad locations next to the galley were tables for 4.

[cj'smom]

We've done this many times on both the Star and the Sun and had great experiences each time. Ask for a shared table when you check in. If there is already one started, they will take you directly to it. If you are the first, they will take you to a large table and you will have to wait while they fill the table up. If the table is not full after a reasonable amount of time (maybe 10 minutes), they will "close" the table, take away any remaining place settings and you then can proceed to order. We've met some very interesting people this way.

[EasthamCC]

My husband and I eat together every night for dinner, just the two of us. When we cruise on NCL, we like to ask to share a table. We have met the most wonderful people and have discovered what a small world it really is.