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When did Margaritaville become a specialty on Escape?

dna529

By dna529,
in Norwegian Cruise Line

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sjbdtz

sjbdtz

Posted
Posted

From what I've seen, the Escape's version is an existing complimentary dining venue with a sign here or there to suggest that it's something different.

 

They also converted it from a buffet-style self-service joint, to a table-service establishment.

 

 

So then we have 3 places to eat at, the buffet, the main dining room and O'Sheehans?

 

5 places. O'Sheehan's, the buffet, and the 3 main dining rooms.

 

Plus:

 

- Le Bistro

- Cagney's

- Moderno

- La Cucina

- Margarittaville

- Pinchos

- Bayamo

- Food Republic

 

 

.

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hpecorari

hpecorari

Posted
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So, Harriet, what would you have NCL do to try to solve the unexpected capacity problem? Pull the ship for an emergency dry dock? Move Margaritaville into one of the MDRs? Try to rebuild the venue while cruising? Wait it out and hope Margaritavile becomes a lot less popular? Shut it down altogether?

 

None of the above. My understanding is that even when there was an hour or more wait time many many MANY tables sat unused. Why? Because they either didn't have enough kitchen help to get out the orders or because they didn't have enough floor staff to take the orders, etc.

 

My solution would be like any restaurant on land would do if they found they had empty tables but people still waiting to be seated and served.

 

Add more kitchen help and add more floor help.

 

There is no reason why a 2-top or a 4-top, etc. sits empty when there are people waiting and wanting that table UNLESS the venue can't handle the crowd. Solution....more staff cooking and/or taking orders.

 

Harriet

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aubreyc1988 Great Review Rare

aubreyc1988

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Posted
None of the above. My understanding is that even when there was an hour or more wait time many many MANY tables sat unused. Why? Because they either didn't have enough kitchen help to get out the orders or because they didn't have enough floor staff to take the orders, etc.

 

My solution would be like any restaurant on land would do if they found they had empty tables but people still waiting to be seated and served.

 

Add more kitchen help and add more floor help.

 

There is no reason why a 2-top or a 4-top, etc. sits empty when there are people waiting and wanting that table UNLESS the venue can't handle the crowd. Solution....more staff cooking and/or taking orders.

 

Harriet

 

Or they could simplify the menu a bit to help with expediting orders and reduce the burden on the kitchen staff - but I agree, the solution is to figure out how to become more productive and efficient, not give a charge to slow down the number of people who walk through the doors.

 

I find that this also ties into the bar staff - I saw so many bars understaffed on the Getaway - and I'm not referring to the small ones that maybe only 1 or 2 people can manage. If they are going to offer the UBP as a perk for most sailings and cabins, of course the bars are going to be busier, and they are going to need more barstaff to make waits manageable. Most of the waits I experienced weren't bad, the I really felt terrible for the pool bar staff and atrium and spice bar staff

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motleyfan

motleyfan

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Posted
Nor should it. People, myself included, booked with the knowledge that Margaritaville was included. Now they are changing the rules ... again. It is beyond frustrating.

 

If you're going to blame somebody blame the overcrowding, when I was on the ship people acted like that was the only game in town. Yes in theory I wanted to go to Margaritaville but I was not about to wait hours to sit and eat when there are other options available. I think this is a smart idea and it will hopefully cut down on the enormous crowd.

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motleyfan

motleyfan

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Lame. Truly lame on NCL's part. They went from a "cool fun option" to "now u can pretend you're dining at a crappy chain restaurant while aboard!"

 

I'm a pretty strong advocate of NCL, but can honestly say I'm not a fan of this specific decision or the apparent poor planning that got us here.

 

Are you a fan of waiting 2 hours just to eat? What would you recommend they do in order to cut down on the time?

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motleyfan

motleyfan

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I agree with all of the above. This is the one change that really disappoints me the most. Have been looking forward to this COMPLIMENTARY venue since I booked last February. I feel this was planned for a while but they needed an excuse to change from free to fee since so many cruises were sold based on this being free. I bet this was originally set up free under different management and when FDR took over and wanted to get his extra $50 pp this was added to his list for extra revenue. Just can't believe as soon as Escape hit the water talk of charging was discussed, if it had not been in the works for awhile. I don't normally eat at the land based Margaritavilles since none in Minnesota. As someone else said they could afford to to eat here but will not just for principle. Wonder if you can use your UBP for margaritas in Margaritaville? When I called NCL this morning the rep said it would be included in the UDP package, but why would you waste a day on this venue. Sounds like Margaritaville opened a location in Nassau. If you really need a fix visit their land restaurant when we visit Nassau. I suggest we all boycott Margaritaville. No crowds, no customers at all, and maybe they'd reverse their decision. Princess at one point started charging for Alfredos but after much uproar went back to a complimentary venue, a very popular place, too. NCL will not change its' ways until it affects their bottom line. We have the numbers to change this. Lets make it a ghost town. I really feel they've gone too far with changes. Bet we haven't heard the last regarding District Brew House either. Another gift from NCL to make for a better cruise experience, Right?

 

Yeah because waiting two hours to eat sounds much better huh? I would rather pay and get to be seated and eat right away then have to stand in line looking all kinds of special.

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motleyfan

motleyfan

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Posted
We liked Guy's Burgers on Carnival better than the Cheeseburgers in Paradise at Margaritaville. Guy's Burgers come at no extra cost. CCL also has the Blue Iguana which is better than Chipotle also at no additional cost. We have enjoyed cruising with NCL in the past, but they have made many recent changes to nickel & dime the customers. I hope they stop this soon. We like rotating between CCL, RCI, and NCL for our cruises. NCL will be out of our rotation if they keep this up.

 

First off it's annoying when people sit there and prop up other cruise lines on the Norwegian thread. Secondly a point was made on a different thread that it's not nickel and diming if it's not something you have to pay.

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motleyfan

motleyfan

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totally agree with them over charging. a 5.00 cover would have been more reasonable.

 

Yeah but a $5 cover still would not have cut down on the massively exhaustingly long lines. That's the only reason the fee is being charged. This is one thing I fully support, like I said I wanted to go to Margaritaville when I was on the escape but couldn't do so because people took advantage of it. Even O'Sheehan's had a 2 hour wait at certain times. If y'all want to spend your Cruise vacation standing around in line that is certainly your prerogative but I want to hurry up eat and get back to the fun.

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aubreyc1988 Great Review Rare

aubreyc1988

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Posted
Yeah but a $5 cover still would not have cut down on the massively exhaustingly long lines. That's the only reason the fee is being charged. This is one thing I fully support, like I said I wanted to go to Margaritaville when I was on the escape but couldn't do so because people took advantage of it. Even O'Sheehan's had a 2 hour wait at certain times. If y'all want to spend your Cruise vacation standing around in line that is certainly your prerogative but I want to hurry up eat and get back to the fun.

 

if you really want to hurry up and eat, the buffet is a great option for that - sometimes, during peak periods, there will be waits for sit down places - thats LIFE. And the cruise you went on was a 3 day cruise, so of COURSE there were lines - people only had 3 days to try to cram in other activities. But agree to disagree, I think there are a lot of other ways they could have solved their problems, I used to be a manager in a chain restaurant a long time ago, so I kind of have an idea of how restaurants work and how to trouble shoot problems like that. I definitely won't be paying what they want for a burger and fries but it definitely isnt going to make or break my vacation. It's just the way NCL goes about changes that leaves a sour taste in my mouth.

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LoveyHowell

LoveyHowell

Posted
Posted
Even O'Sheehan's had a 2 hour wait at certain times. If y'all want to spend your Cruise vacation standing around in line that is certainly your prerogative but I want to hurry up eat and get back to the fun.

 

The line at O'Sheehans will get longer because of this.

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aubreyc1988 Great Review Rare

aubreyc1988

Posted
Posted (edited)
First off it's annoying when people sit there and prop up other cruise lines on the Norwegian thread. Secondly a point was made on a different thread that it's not nickel and diming if it's not something you have to pay.

 

this is CRUISE CRITIC - the whole website is designed for us to compare and contrast our opinions of cruiselines. and they have a good point - the buffet and MDR/free food on Carnival is MUCH better than on NCL, which is CRAZY because I will tell you right now, I pretty much will not sail Carnival, so it does kind of irk me to say that. So I am not "propping up" another cruiseline when I say it, just tellign you my opinion, as NCL is competing with Carnival cruiseline and my opinion is that the free food Carnival offers is far superior to NCL, in terms of quality and dining options

Edited by aubreyc1988
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TraJon9

TraJon9

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Posted

I really like NCL, and since we do the CAS thing we will be staying with them. But! This is just plain out crappy!

 

This is a away ship plus. Yet your losing two free places then the Breakaway and Getaway.. Uptown and Flamingo are both great. We are trying the Gem for the first time in October and they have free asian I believe.. I think I read they have burgers and all up on the sun deck some days?

 

So you go on the "best" ship and you get less? I think a Food Republic looks awesome and the fees are not bad at all. But for Margaritaville? Nachos?? This is awful! They are priced so high! We don't travel with kids but I would have thought Margaritaville would be a huge draw..

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motleyfan

motleyfan

Posted
Posted
this is CRUISE CRITIC - the whole website is designed for us to compare and contrast our opinions of cruiselines. and they have a good point - the buffet and MDR/free food on Carnival is MUCH better than on NCL, which is CRAZY because I will tell you right now, I pretty much will not sail Carnival, so it does kind of irk me to say that. So I am not "propping up" another cruiseline when I say it, just tellign you my opinion, as NCL is competing with Carnival cruiseline and my opinion is that the free food Carnival offers is far superior to NCL, in terms of quality and dining options

 

Though I have never sailed on carnival from what I hear the shows are crappy that's where Norwegian competes its strongest

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LoveyHowell

LoveyHowell

Posted
Posted
this is CRUISE CRITIC - the whole website is designed for us to compare and contrast our opinions of cruiselines. and they have a good point - the buffet and MDR/free food on Carnival is MUCH better than on NCL, which is CRAZY because I will tell you right now, I pretty much will not sail Carnival, so it does kind of irk me to say that. So I am not "propping up" another cruiseline when I say it, just tellign you my opinion, as NCL is competing with Carnival cruiseline and my opinion is that the free food Carnival offers is far superior to NCL, in terms of quality and dining options

 

He just can't bring himself to say they reduced the value and pulled a fast one on people. He truly believes NCL made this restaurant for a charge for the customer benefit. There is no possible response or question to make him even entertain the idea that NCL could have run the restaurant differently and satisfied guests. It is acceptable to cover up for poor service by instituting new fees to lessen the load on the service.

 

Think of it like this. You book a plane ticket to Hawaii. Standard coach is $1000. Business is $2000. You opt for business class. When you get to the gate they say we can't let you into business class, but we will still take you to Hawaii! Here is a coach seat. If you want business class still, add another $200. By Motley's reasoning that is a fair deal, because you still end up on the ticket. 99 out of 100 other people would at least want a refund down to the coach price or refuse to pay the upcharge. But to Motley that is sweating a small detail. He truly and honestly believes NCL owes you nothing other than X days on *A* ship, anything else is them being nice, and the customer wanting what was advertised was just naive of the customer and the customer is greedy. If you can't afford a hand dipping into your wallet three times for something it was entitled to once, then perhaps you can't afford to cruise???

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NLH Arizona

NLH Arizona

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Posted
More kitchen staff and/or more servers!

 

There's always empty tables but long lines waiting.

 

Harriet

Two questions come to mind with regard to more staff. Are there berths for more staff. If there are no berths for them, what venue do you take them from, keeping in mind that that venue would now have an issue.
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