How is the Complimentary Dining?

[MLM64]

Hi...Hubby and I are looking to take a Baltic Cruise in August on the Norwegian Star. We are thinking of NCL for pure logistics...date and the itinerary works best of all the different cruise lines offering this same or similar trip.

 

Anyway...They have the Choice Promotion going now...specialty dining, excursion credits, free wifi or UBP. I think we will choose either the specialty dining package or the UBP, but never having been on a NCL trip before, not sure how good the "standard/complimentary" food is.

 

If anyone who has been on NCL can chime in, I would greatly appreciate it! (I tried to search for this, but must not be using the correct search terms).

 

Thanks!

[KeithJenner]

I think the complementary dining is fine. We like to eat in a speciality restaurant occasionally as they are better and less busy, but I would happily eat in the free places every night.

 

Given the choices, you need to consider how much you will drink. The SDP gives you a few free meals in the speciality restaurants, but that is only worth a maximum of about $30 times the number of meals they give you (assuming you would eat at the most expensive place every time)

 

Depending on what you drink, that could be the equivalent of just a couple of drinks a day.

 

Basically, anyone who drinks a moderate amount is likely to get more value from the UBP than the UDP.

 

You do, however need to consider the gratuity which is payable on the free offers in many places (including the US). If you aren't going to use the freebie much then the gratuity may be a factor.

[tooleman56]

Just off the Star two weeks ago, the food in the main dining rooms was better than average. We ate dinner four straight nights in the Aqua main dining room, primarily because our mid-ship mini-suite was a short walk down the stairs away. Never more than a 20-minute wait and we were always given a coupon for a free sparkling wine at Gatsby's, the nearby bar. All of the meals were enjoyable and the service was prompt and pleasant. Ate two breakfasts and one lunch in Versailles main dining room; breakfasts were excellent, the lunch not as good. One dinner in Ginza, the Asian complimentary restaurant, was OK. I agree on the UBP over the SDP.

Edited January 7, 2016 by tooleman56

[MLM64]

Thank you for your responses! I don't drink, but hubby does. So basically we'd have to pay 18% gratuity on the estimated cost of $1,888 (the figure NCL gives on the promo page). That's definitely something to consider!

 

So glad to hear that the food is good in the main dining rooms! You pay so much as it is to cruise, I don't mind having one or two specialty meals...well you know the rest I'm sure.

 

Thanks!

[Loucat]

We were on the 12/20 Star sailing.

Complimentary dining for us included the MDR and Ginza.

Loved Ginza and miss their noodlebowls!

Self cooking on a hot rock was $10.00 extra.

We did not eat in Aqua as the other dining room is so well appointed. Had two good meals there.

We had a 4 night UDP and ate in Cagneys (not that good) and La Bistro-just OK to us and not worth extra money.

Onion soup is the same served anywhere and overall I think their specialty priced dining is not worth the money.

[casofilia]

We did Norwegian Fjords and the Baltic earlier last year and only ate in the MDRs, breakfast, lunch and dinner except when we were too early or late for lunch due to a Shorex.

 

Although the breakfast menu didn't alter there was plenty of choice for variation day to day. Similarly with lunch. Dinners though were really good, plenty of choice, little repetition and well prepared fare.

 

We didn't use the Specialties as we didn't see the need to spend extra when the MDRs were so good.

 

Mike

[mattio]

MDRs are fine.

 

On my previous cruise the best meal was Cagney's. The worst was Moderno, and everything else fell in between.

[casofilia]

MDRs are fine.

On my previous cruise the best meal was Cagney's. The worst was Moderno, and everything else fell in between.

 

We both became Platinum before our last cruise, a B2B, so we had 4 free Specialty dinners. :D

Moderno twice; the second was better than the first, not that there was anything wrong with the first one, as we knew just what to do!! That is which meats would be better than others. The soups and buffet were outstanding, just don't pig out and not leave enough room for the meats!!

le Bistro; we really enjoyed the ambience, the service and the food, a really enjoyable meal.

la Cucina; although nothing special; I wouldn't pay to go there; the food was quite acceptable but have had as good in Italian restaurants ashore.

 

Mike

[ExpatBride]

We sailed the Star in the Norwegian Fjords last June and only ate in the MDR and O'Sheehans and were perfectly happy. We were also able to have a sit down breakfast and lunch everyday, and didn't feel like we were missing out by only eating in Versailles.

 

However, I've seen the new menus and they don't look nearly as good as the old ones, so we will be less likely to sail NCL when those roll out. I'm a vegetarian (except for occasional shellfish), so the specialty restaurants will never appeal to us.

 

Given the cost of drinks onboard, UBP is the way to go even if your husband is just a moderate drinker. We racked up almost $1,000 in bar charges last summer and that was just G&T in the afternoon, wine with meals, and a martini (or two) in the evening.

Edited January 8, 2016 by ExpatBride

[Moby0215]

Thank you for your responses! I don't drink, but hubby does. So basically we'd have to pay 18% gratuity on the estimated cost of $1,888 (the figure NCL gives on the promo page). That's definitely something to consider!

 

So glad to hear that the food is good in the main dining rooms! You pay so much as it is to cruise, I don't mind having one or two specialty meals...well you know the rest I'm sure.

 

Thanks!

 

 

You pay the 18% on the UBP package price. Not necessarily on $1888 as that is the max package price. It depends on the number of days. But if you don't drink then it's almost a no brainer not to select the UBP. The SDP or Excursion credit would almost surely benefit you more.

 

 

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[MLM64]

thank you all for your great responses. I think we will def forego the specialty dining in favor of one of the other perks.

Thanks!