New to NCL Questions.

[staceycs]

We are Carnival cruisers normally and will be traveling for the first time on the Pearl in August. I have seen some people posting about show reservations. Do you have to make reservations for a show? At this time on my NCL I only have the option to book shore excursions and dinner reservations so when do the bookings open up for entertainment reservations, we are 63 days from sailing.

 

As Carnival cruisers we feel the food is very good on Carnival. We have only paid to eat in a specialty dinning room once on a special occasion. I have heard mixed reviews on the food in non specialty restaurants on NCL and I am am interested in your take on the food.

[bigfoot88]

The food has always been good,,,, I order my steaks on the standard restaurants Med-rare.

[Quincella]

You do not need to make reservations for shows on the Pearl. The Epic, Getaway, and Breakaway require reservations for some of the shows, but nothing on the Pearl. It works the same way as on Carnival, where you just show up at the time of the show and take a seat.

 

As for food.....you'll get so many different responses here I'm not even sure you'll find anything useful. I read on a lot of other boards (Carnival, RCCL, etc) that people won't cruise NCL because they hated the food and feel they only get a good meal if they go to an extra fee restaurant. I've had a few things I don't care for on NCL, and even a couple of meals I thought were not the quality (maybe the temp?) they should have been, but for the most part I think the food is typically very good. I do usually go to one or two of the extra charge restaurants, but that's because I want something different and I think it's worth it. I would not feel like I was "suffering" if I didn't, though.

 

I honestly can't think of a single dish on Carnival or on NCL that either blew me out of the water, or that I thought was terrible. I really do think they're about the same.

[newmexicoNita]

Show reservations are for the 3 mega ships, the Pearl showroom does not require reservations. As for the food: I have to agree with the poster above me: I have never found or rarely an entrée on Carnival or NCL that left a great impression on me, but I have rarely had a bad meal. I will add, the "always available" steak can be good on not so good. The best probably is the Salmon. We also had an excellent prime rib on our last cruise and wonderful, large Swordfish steak. All in the MDR. Food is very subjective as we all know. None of the mass marketed ships are offering the outstanding meals we got 15 years ago. They can't afford to, plus, remember, they are cooking for a couple of thousand or more passengers. It is going to be more like banquet food.

Edited June 2, 2014 by newmexicoNita

[Freckles_51]

My DD sailed on NCL POA in 2012, and on Carnival Breeze last month. Not sure if their experience will help because they ate mostly in the buffets but they said NCL buffet was superior to Carnival buffet. MDR comparison may be different ... it certainly was in 2009/2010 when Carnival MDR was superior to NCL.