Group cruising on NCL Breakaway

[NCKhotdogman]

I wonder if anyone has planned a group cruise on The Breakaway? I am very frustrated. I booked a trip for 19 of us. My husband and I have cruised several lines and different boats. We have also traveled on NCL Epic and Breakaway, but alone. Before I booked our group trip I asked how Freestyle dining would work as far as getting 19 of us together. They assured me there was no issue. That the NCL travel rep would book the restaurants and the time that we want once it was 45 days out. I contacted them at 45 days. I got jerked around for 2 weeks and the end result is dining will have to be at only one time. So much for freestyle. Had they been honest at the start I probably would have booked Celebrity or Royal Caribbean -- as I NEVER had a problem with them.

Does anyone have any suggestions? I sail in June.

[Medtech2]

I wonder if anyone has planned a group cruise on The Breakaway? I am very frustrated. I booked a trip for 19 of us. My husband and I have cruised several lines and different boats. We have also traveled on NCL Epic and Breakaway, but alone. Before I booked our group trip I asked how Freestyle dining would work as far as getting 19 of us together. They assured me there was no issue. That the NCL travel rep would book the restaurants and the time that we want once it was 45 days out. I contacted them at 45 days. I got jerked around for 2 weeks and the end result is dining will have to be at only one time. So much for freestyle. Had they been honest at the start I probably would have booked Celebrity or Royal Caribbean -- as I NEVER had a problem with them.

Does anyone have any suggestions? I sail in June.

I guess I don't understand. They want to seat all 19 of you at one set time. How is that different than the other lines? You would have set dining there also so why would you leave this line because of that?

 

Now, you could do "freestyle" but then you do not set up in advance. All 19 of you show up at the MDR and you wait for enough tables together to open up, whenever that is.

 

I would suggest not worrying about it and choose to dine at the time they gave you or try just showing up, and seeing how that pans out, keeping in mind there are 3 MDR's so one may be able to accomodate your group before the others. Have the hostess call the other MDR's to see which would be better.

 

Lastly, just enjoy! Go in with the expectation that there will be delays and relax!

[Love my butler]

I wonder if anyone has planned a group cruise on The Breakaway? I am very frustrated. I booked a trip for 19 of us. My husband and I have cruised several lines and different boats. We have also traveled on NCL Epic and Breakaway, but alone. Before I booked our group trip I asked how Freestyle dining would work as far as getting 19 of us together. They assured me there was no issue. That the NCL travel rep would book the restaurants and the time that we want once it was 45 days out. I contacted them at 45 days. I got jerked around for 2 weeks and the end result is dining will have to be at only one time. So much for freestyle. Had they been honest at the start I probably would have booked Celebrity or Royal Caribbean -- as I NEVER had a problem with them.

Does anyone have any suggestions? I sail in June.

 

The thing to remember with NCL is most reps, phone and on the ship, don't know their elbow from their ankle and will just give you any answer you want to hear. Sometimes what looks like a lie is just gross ignorance.

[Truluv]

We found the staff on Breakaway to be wonderfully accommodating. I suggest going the first night, and talking to the dining rooms that you prefer to see what they can do for your group. We saw many large tables set up for groups during the week in the dining rooms, including in LeBistro and Cagneys.

[VickiD59]

We're a group too... we have 25 people, but we're not all planning to eat together. There will however be 8 of us that will dine together each night. Maybe I'm just set in my ways, but I really like a set dining time. I like having the same table and same waitstaff at the same time (8:00ish) each night... and then meandering off to whatever show is happening afterwards - which is sort of the opposite of how NCL runs it. There's no set dining...but... you have to reserve your shows :rolleyes:

This will be our first NCL cruise, so we'll go with the flow, but I have a feeling it may take a little getting used too.

Edited May 29, 2014 by VickiD59

[jame_g]

Do you know with certainty that all 19 of you want to eat together every night? Even if they say they do now, unless you regularly travel together, I wouldn't expect this to occur. Expecting this to occur every night at a time specified by someone else could also lead to tension from those that may want to dine at a different time, location or in a smaller group, but don't want to disagree with the group.

 

I've traveled with groups of family several times. This size and smaller. We were lucky to be able to get everyone to agree to dine together once the entire cruise. Once you get beyond about 6-8 people, due to everyone's different schedules, interests, children, etc, they usually want to break up into smaller groups and eat at different times and in different venues. This happens even on cruise lines with set dining times and locations as people opt to go to the buffet at a different time, or just grab pizza or a burger when they're hungry rather than waiting for the group to eat at the scheduled time.

 

So you may just want to see what everyone really wants to do, and only schedule one or two times for everyone to eat dinner together.

 

And I agree, it may be easier to schedule larger groups to eat together once you're on board by meeting with the maitre'd shortly after you board.

[mjkacmom]

I agree with some of the PP - we are a family of 7, and had dinner together 3 nights on our 7 night cruise (all specialty). We did different things during the day, and therefore were hungry at different times. You might want to pick a couple of nights you want to eat together, and plan those ahead of time.

[luddite]

Nineteen people cannot all eat together.

Once a table has eight diners it becomes groups of diners.

They don't have tables for nineteen. It's a COLLOSAL PIA for them to do this once, much less every night.

Find something important to frowny-face about.

[TravelJoe]

Nineteen people cannot all eat together.

Once a table has eight diners it becomes groups of diners.

They don't have tables for nineteen. It's a COLLOSAL PIA for them to do this once, much less every night.

Find something important to frowny-face about.

 

Yeah, I would agree 100%. After 8 people at a table, the conversation at the other end is a separate one.

 

We're 17 on our upcoming family reunion cruise, and we scheduled a group dinner the first and the last nights. My brother suggested every night (as they did with his wife's family previously on Disney), and I opted out of that. I'd like to spend at least one (or two) nights with just my family since one's already out of the house and the other two are coming/going all the time.

 

The specialty restaurants are great, but not set up for a party of 19.

 

Enjoy the cruise....

[beachmonkey]

We just had a group of 24 on the Breakaway this past April. We knew in advance that seating a large group is very difficult. Doing it at one time is the best opportunity for the crew to meet your needs.

 

That being said...we also knew in advance that they would not be able to move tables around in order to seat us as one big group. We were seated at 3 adjacent tables. No big deal. We were still able to mingle and spend as much time together as we wanted during the cruise.

 

We did book Teppanyaki for 18 or 19 of us at once. They put us at adjacent cooking stations that formed almost a complete circle.

 

Everyone had a great time and being seated together was just not a big deal. If anyone from your group is in the Haven, you might ask the concierge for assistance.

[josephmz]

We have sailed on RCCL twice with a business trade group (180 people).

We had large group tables (10 people) scattered around dining room at both sittings.

 

After the first couple of nights there were noticeable holes in the seating as people did their own thing.

 

Also, in a crowded and noisy dining room it is impossible to carry on an intelligent conversation with anyone more than two seats away.

 

I agree with earlier poster that maybe three round tables in an area seating six each would greatly enhance conversation. It can also be a moveable feast as people rotate from table to table.

[2inTul]

Find something important to frowny-face about.

 

Like!

[NCKhotdogman]

I have paid a high price to figure that out. The NCL rep made promises before I booked and now I am stuck. I am certain that other cruise lines would be happy to have my business. We have all sailed together on Carnival and Royal Caribbean and were always treated right.

Edited May 29, 2014 by NCKhotdogman

[NCKhotdogman]

The difference is that I got to pick the time. They are forcing me to take a very early dinner, when at home we do not eat until around 8pm because of our businesses.

As other people in this thread have responded, they have had tables adjacent to one another. I told NCL that would be fine. I did not expect 1 table for 19. But I wanted to be close to each other. We are 4 families making up the 19. If we just show up, then each family unit will dine together and not all of us together.

Again, the frustration is that I asked the question BEFORE I booked. And I was lied to.

[NCKhotdogman]

But that was the first question I asked before I booked the cruise. We have a lot of kids and want to all be together. That was the point of the cruise. Everyone would do their own thing but we would meet up for dinner.

[NCKhotdogman]

We just had a group of 24 on the Breakaway this past April. We knew in advance that seating a large group is very difficult. Doing it at one time is the best opportunity for the crew to meet your needs.

 

That being said...we also knew in advance that they would not be able to move tables around in order to seat us as one big group. We were seated at 3 adjacent tables. No big deal. We were still able to mingle and spend as much time together as we wanted during the cruise.

 

We did book Teppanyaki for 18 or 19 of us at once. They put us at adjacent cooking stations that formed almost a complete circle.

 

Everyone had a great time and being seated together was just not a big deal. If anyone from your group is in the Haven, you might ask the concierge for assistance.

I agree with you. Adjacent tables would be fine. But they are setting the time. Not giving me the flexibility. And again, had I not asked before I booked, then I would understand it.

 

As for The Haven. My husband and I sailed on Epic and found the Haven to be great. But then we sailed on Breakaway last year and it was so not worth the money. We saw our butler for about 3 minutes on the first day and never again. The private dining at The Haven was great. And the Maitre D at The Haven was phenomenal. He and his assistant were the ones who gave us the most help.

Because of this experience we opted not to sail The Haven this time. Also with 19 of us it was getting really expensive.

[NCKhotdogman]

We have sailed on RCCL twice with a business trade group (180 people).

We had large group tables (10 people) scattered around dining room at both sittings.

 

After the first couple of nights there were noticeable holes in the seating as people did their own thing.

 

Also, in a crowded and noisy dining room it is impossible to carry on an intelligent conversation with anyone more than two seats away.

 

I agree with earlier poster that maybe three round tables in an area seating six each would greatly enhance conversation. It can also be a moveable feast as people rotate from table to table.

I guess I should have said that in my original message. I do not have a problem with multiple tables adjacent to one another. I have a problem that I am being FORCED into a 5:30 dinner. And basically told tough. Even though they promised totally different.

[NCKhotdogman]

The thing to remember with NCL is most reps, phone and on the ship, don't know their elbow from their ankle and will just give you any answer you want to hear. Sometimes what looks like a lie is just gross ignorance.

I have paid a high price to figure that out. The NCL rep made promises before I booked and now I am stuck. I am certain that other cruise lines would be happy to have my business. We have all sailed together on Carnival and Royal Caribbean and were always treated right.

[josephmz]

I guess I should have said that in my original message. I do not have a problem with multiple tables adjacent to one another. I have a problem that I am being FORCED into a 5:30 dinner. And basically told tough. Even though they promised totally different.

 

As others have said, I feel certain that this detail can be worked out with the Maitre'd once on board.

 

It might be easier to let everyone do their own thing the first night and try to work it out for subsequent days. The MDRs tend to be a little hectic the first night.

[TravelJoe]

I guess I should have said that in my original message. I do not have a problem with multiple tables adjacent to one another. I have a problem that I am being FORCED into a 5:30 dinner. And basically told tough. Even though they promised totally different.

 

The phone reps (and online booking) have some (many?) limitations, hence the 5:30 or 8:00 times. I submitted dining requests for two large crowds (17) and the conceirge told me that when I get on the ship, that I should go to Guest Services on deck 6 and speak with them. They will have access to all times for booking dinners, not just the two slots that the phone reps are limited to.

 

Good luck.... just enjoy -- I'm sure it will all work out in the end. The Manhattan dining room seats over 600 people, so I'm sure you'll get taken care of.

[scm200]

Like!

 

ditto

[scm200]

the one group cruise that we took we had a 530 seating took up a big chunk of the dining room - - 530 seems to be NCLs group time for dinner...

[beachmonkey]

The difference is that I got to pick the time. They are forcing me to take a very early dinner, when at home we do not eat until around 8pm because of our businesses.

As other people in this thread have responded, they have had tables adjacent to one another. I told NCL that would be fine. I did not expect 1 table for 19. But I wanted to be close to each other. We are 4 families making up the 19. If we just show up, then each family unit will dine together and not all of us together.

Again, the frustration is that I asked the question BEFORE I booked. And I was lied to.

 

"Lied to" is a very strong statement. It implies that the person intended to deceive you.

[NCKhotdogman]

"Lied to" is a very strong statement. It implies that the person intended to deceive you.

That is exactly what happened. My very first question, PRIOR to booking the cruise was

"how do you accomodate my whole group for dinners so that we can eat together?" The response was "No problem, I take care of it. Call me 45 days out from the cruise with the restaurants and the times that you would like to book and I take care of it."

So it is a scam. I guess that NCL does not get a lot of group cruising because clearly this should not be a big deal. And I am not the first person to request this.

[Mrs. Squirrel]

I am sorry that you are frustrated. I agree that 5:30pm would be unacceptable for dinner for our family, as well.

 

I assume from your posts that you booked this cruise yourself so don't have a TA to go to bat for you? Are you working with a PCC or with the group booking department? Have you tried escalating the issue up the chain of command?

 

While I agree with other posters that I think something different might be arranged once onboard, if it is that important to you to have a later dining time, I wouldn't count on it. If they can't get you a later time, is it too late to cancel your booking?

 

As others have suggested, if you show up at any NCL MDR with 19 people all trying to eat together, I can only see that becoming an exercise in frustration for your family members and the NCL dining staff, night after night. The only way freestyle would work for you is if your family were willing to break down into smaller groups and sit wherever they have space.