Epic, Waiting comlimetary resturaunts ?

[justfred]

Hi ,

We're on the Epic canary cruise dep Barcelona 24th Feb, this will be our first experience with NCL , and free style dining.

We have already reserved on line for our evening dining times in the main resturaunts to coinside with the shows.

Is it likely that we will still have to wait to be seated or are they fairly organised

Thanks

Christine & Pete

[crowson1825]

We were on the Epic in January we only ate in the 'specialist' restaurants so I can only comment on those. We never waited past our booking time for our table - in fact once or twice we arrived slightly early and were seated immediately. the only problem we had was sometimes we had so slow the service down.

[kevmoley]

My wife and I were pleasantly surprised at how easy it was be seated at dining. We had no wait time. We do like to eat early 5:30pm - 6:00pm

[DMH15]

It is just like a restaurant at home. If you have a reservation, sometimes you walk in and get seated right away. Or if everyone else with your reservation time shows up the same time as you do , you might wait two or three or five minutes.

[GUEST080219]

Hi ,

We're on the Epic canary cruise dep Barcelona 24th Feb, this will be our first experience with NCL , and free style dining.

We have already reserved on line for our evening dining times in the main resturaunts to coinside with the shows.

Is it likely that we will still have to wait to be seated or are they fairly organised

Thanks

Christine & Pete

 

Just make sure that you don't line up with the guests with no reservations. There might be a second hostess counter for those with reservations so have a look when you arrive at the dining room.

[BirdTravels]

Hi ,

We're on the Epic canary cruise dep Barcelona 24th Feb, this will be our first experience with NCL , and free style dining.

We have already reserved on line for our evening dining times in the main resturaunts to coinside with the shows.

Is it likely that we will still have to wait to be seated or are they fairly organised

Thanks

Christine & Pete

 

The good thing about Freestyle dining is that you are not tied to a dining time or dining room!

 

The bad thing about Freestyle is that you do not have a set dining time unless you make a reservation.

 

Like any restaurant at home, if you go at peak dining time, there will be a wait. The folks in the MDR are really good about turning tables. Use to be dedicated "blue shirts" who had to have a table reset within 2 minutes of people leaving.

 

If you are an early diner, you can almost always walk right in. At 7:00 you will get your beeper and have a chance to get a drink.

 

We have been on the Epic 4 times and really enjoy her. Have a great cruise.

[justfred]

The good thing about Freestyle dining is that you are not tied to a dining time or dining room!

 

The bad thing about Freestyle is that you do not have a set dining time unless you make a reservation.

 

Like any restaurant at home, if you go at peak dining time, there will be a wait. The folks in the MDR are really good about turning tables. Use to be dedicated "blue shirts" who had to have a table reset within 2 minutes of people leaving.

 

If you are an early diner, you can almost always walk right in. At 7:00 you will get your beeper and have a chance to get a drink.

 

We have been on the Epic 4 times and really enjoy her. Have a great cruise.

 

Thank you all for the advice and tips, we really are looking forward to trying something different and we're going in with an open mind, see you all at the meet and greet party

 

Christine & Pete

[hawkeyetlse]

The bad thing about Freestyle is that you do not have a set dining time unless you make a reservation.

The OP said that they have made reservations.

 

If you arrive a busy time, there may be a line of people at the desk, but people with reservations can go to the front. To avoid a riot, send one person ahead while the other person starts at the back of the line asking "Is this the line for guests with reservations?? We have reservations, do you have reservations?" (no one else in line will have reservations :p).

[justfred]

The OP said that they have made reservations.

 

If you arrive a busy time, there may be a line of people at the desk, but people with reservations can go to the front. To avoid a riot, send one person ahead while the other person starts at the back of the line asking "Is this the line for guests with reservations?? We have reservations, do you have reservations?" (no one else in line will have reservations :p).

 

Thanks hawkeyetlse

That sounds like a good idea we will definately be trying that one

[Dallen123]

Hi all,

 

I have only ever cruised with p&o and we always chose 'freedom dining' - we showed up at the restaurant and were given a buzzer to inform us when a table was ready for us.

 

With NCL, do you only make reservations with the speciality dining restaurants? Or can you make reservations for the MDR?

 

Thanks in advance :-)

[Pams14]

Hello Dallan123,

 

You can prebook MDR as well as speciality on board Epic. :)

[Dallen123]

Hi Pams14

 

Thank you for your reply!

 

Would I make a reservation for the MDR once onboard the ship, or can I do this in advance by logging into my NCL page?

 

Thanks,

Dallen123