Question re: Dinner Reservations 90 days out on the big ships

[BlueJai]

In 10+ years of traveling with NCL, we have never made online dinner reservations prior to boarding. Last year on the Spirit it was impossible for us to get a reservation before 9:00 because we waited until boarding. Our next cruise will be on the Epic so I am pretty sure I had better be making reservations before we go.

 

Never having done it, is it 90 days out that I can make reservations and is it only for the specialty restaurants? And can you book shows online as well or is that only on board?

 

Do people going on the big ships make their reservations in advance? Just curious how you handle it.

 

Thanks in advance. Any input would be appreciated.

 

Jai

[dna529]

We made ours for the Epic at 90 days out. We did specialties and shows that were available. You can also make them for the complimentary dining rooms, but we did not find it necessary on the Escape earlier this year.

 

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[kathybelcher2433]

Yes, 90 days out unless you are in a suite then it's 100 days out. I'd make all the reservations you can which include the main dining rooms, speciality restaurants and the big shows. (Not shows like comedians and magicians for example.). Just make them, print out confirmations or have available in your phone. Once on board you can adjust as needed. Just remember to cancel if plans change. Easy.

 

 

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[SquishTheWhale]

Make your reservations for the big shows in advance (you can't reserve the smaller comedy shows etc until on board). We did ours in advance for the Epic and after boarding there was a huge line at the box office and all the shows seemed sold out within hours. Why put yourself through that on the first day of your cruise? Just do em online! Once you know your show times you can plan dinners around them.

 

We also made our restaurant reservations online at 90 days and within a few days availability was very slim online. I guess more opened up on board but the screens showing availability seems to always be all red for the specialities so they do get fully booked.

[BlueJai]

Thanks, that is great. I miss that part of freestyle where you could decide in the morning or even early afternoon what you wanted to do for dinner and get reservations that same night! Sometimes it didn't work out but for the most part it did. Oh, well, we will be very organized this time around. Thanks!:)

[grandmarnnurse]

For my Getaway cruise, at the 90 day point, I booked all my entertainment and specialty restaurant. I learned on my last mega ship sailing, that it is a MUST to do prior to cruising, or you can forget getting in. And even prior to the 90 day mark, I booked my excursions. No need to reserve for MDR. This was all a big change for me, too, after years of sailing smaller ships that did not require any prior reservation. I liked just showing up for shows whenever we felt like going. But I guess this is the way things are going now on the bigger/newer ships.

 

 

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[Jenna2407]

Do you have to prepay if you book in advance? We want to watch cirque on the epic, would we have to pay now or once on board?

 

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[grandmarnnurse]

Do you have to prepay if you book in advance? We want to watch cirque on the epic, would we have to pay now or once on board?

 

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Any show or specialty restaurant that has a set fee does have to be paid at time of reservation. I have already paid for all my excursions and my one specialty restaurant. All of my shows have no fee attached, but I know that there are some with a fee.

[sanger727]

This is disappointing. Based on stories like this I made reservations for dinners at the 90 day mark. Hoping to change them once we get on the ship, but at least we do have dinners booked at a decent time if we can't.

[BlueJai]

Any show or specialty restaurant that has a set fee does have to be paid at time of reservation. I have already paid for all my excursions and my one specialty restaurant. All of my shows have no fee attached, but I know that there are some with a fee.

 

Oh Wow, I missed this. I didn't realize that you have to pre-pay for all your reservations.

 

Does anyone know how this works with the Specialty Dining Package as well as the Platinum dinners? I am thinking maybe when making the reservation, the system will know that we have some type of dining package (this is giving NCL.Com a lot of credit!! LOL!)

 

Thanks to all for the information, much appreciated.

[NLH Arizona]

Oh Wow, I missed this. I didn't realize that you have to pre-pay for all your reservations.

 

Does anyone know how this works with the Specialty Dining Package as well as the Platinum dinners? I am thinking maybe when making the reservation, the system will know that we have some type of dining package (this is giving NCL.Com a lot of credit!! LOL!)

 

Thanks to all for the information, much appreciated.

If you have a SDP, you don't have to pre-pay for those nor do you have to pre-pay for any of the a la carte restaurants (you would have to pay for the Teppanyaki restaurant and Moderno, if you don't classify them as you SDP).

[Openbar82]

Thanks for all the reply's and quality

information.

[KeithJenner]

Oh Wow, I missed this. I didn't realize that you have to pre-pay for all your reservations.

 

 

 

Does anyone know how this works with the Specialty Dining Package as well as the Platinum dinners? I am thinking maybe when making the reservation, the system will know that we have some type of dining package (this is giving NCL.Com a lot of credit!! LOL!)

 

 

 

Thanks to all for the information, much appreciated.

 

 

 

The system knows you have the SDP and you are covered for those meals. It assumes that the first meals you book will be covered by the SDP. After that you pay if appropriate.

 

The system doesn't know about your platinum voucher.

 

What this means is that you need to make sure that any meals which have a fixed cover charge are booked first, so they are covered. Don't make the mistake of leaving Teppenyaki or Moderno to last or you will be charged.

 

This all has no impact on what meals are charged to your SDP or that you use your platinum meal voucher on. You tell your server at the time of the meal how you want it charged.

Edited December 9, 2016 by KeithJenner

[Gimmiethebeach]

We were on the Escape last April for spring break. It was a last minute decision so we didn't book it until 3 weeks out. At that time the only dinner reservations anywhere were 9 or 9:30. So I made sure I had the iconcierge app on my phone and as soon as I could connect to the ship (on the gangway) I booked all of our reservations and had lots of options. By the time the ship sailed just about everything was taken. So if you don't like the reservations you get online be sure to see what is available once you start to board the ship!

 

 

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[beachgirl26]

We have not sailed with NCL before and we are almost at the 90 day mark. When we booked we received the UBP and pre-paid gratuities and a lot of OBC. I wanted to use the OBC to buy the 3 meal SDP and book some of excursions but when I log into NCL, the only option is to pay with a credit card. Is there any way to apply your OBC to these reservations prior to sailing? I understand that OBC means "on board" but if you have to reserve everything in advance to ensure you have a spot, I feel like you should be able to use your credits....

[KeithJenner]

No, you can't apply OBC to charges which are incurred prior to boarding. However, you should be able to delay most of the costs until after boarding.

 

Most excursions should be fine to book onboard, unless they are particularly popular ones. I believe that most are bookable onboard.

 

As for the meals, whilst you have to pay the cover charge when booking, remember that for the a la carte ones the amount payable on booking is zero.

 

That could mean that, depending on what restaurants you want, you may not have to pay for many on booking.

 

Any you do pay for can be reclaimed when onboard (never done it myself, but I believe it is quite easy). Whilst that isn't ideal, it would probably work out better than prepaying the SDP, as far as using your OBC goes.

[beachgirl26]

Thanks Keith! I understand what you are saying about the a la carte options, but I am not following you on the last part about reclaiming any that we pay for in advance? Could we essentially "return them" if we purchase the SDP onboard but keep our reservations and use the SDP to pay? I think we will probably book 2 a la carte options & the teppanyaki & the Cirque show (which I thought you couldn't use the SDP on?) Sorry for being so ignorant on this :confused: We have never done specialty dining on any other lines and never sailed with NCL. Your advice is greatly appreciated!!!

[KeithJenner]

Thanks Keith! I understand what you are saying about the a la carte options, but I am not following you on the last part about reclaiming any that we pay for in advance? Could we essentially "return them" if we purchase the SDP onboard but keep our reservations and use the SDP to pay? I think we will probably book 2 a la carte options & the teppanyaki & the Cirque show (which I thought you couldn't use the SDP on?) Sorry for being so ignorant on this :confused: We have never done specialty dining on any other lines and never sailed with NCL. Your advice is greatly appreciated!!!

 

 

 

My understanding (and as I say, I've never done it myself) is that if you have prepaid any prebooked meals and then get the SDP, you get what you paid refunded as OBC. Unfortunately, I don't know exactly how it works, but someone else may be able to help.

 

You can use the SDP for Cirque, by the way. It gives you a discount. It is questionable whether it is the best use of the SDP though. I can't recall exactly how the coatings work out, but it may be better to use the SDP elsewhere and pay full price for Cirque. Again, there are people on here who are more up to date than me on that one.

[cincicruisers]

How would it work making reservations for 4 specialty restaurants but I only have 3 in our perks.

 

I want to pay for the one that have set pricing not ala cart. Not sure how to do this.

[KeithJenner]

How would it work making reservations for 4 specialty restaurants but I only have 3 in our perks.

 

 

 

I want to pay for the one that have set pricing not ala cart. Not sure how to do this.

 

 

 

When you book, the system will assume that the first three you book are covered by the SDP and won't charge you for it. You will be charged for the fourth one when you book.

 

However, this has no bearing on which ones you use the SDP for when onboard.

 

So, if you don't want to prepay anything, you need to make sure that you book the set price one as one of the first three that you book. That way you don't prepay anything.

 

When you go for the meals, make sure that you specify when you go to the set price restaurant that you don't want to use the SDP for it. You will be able to clarify that they have done it correctly when they bring the bill (if they haven't charged you then get them to change it).

 

Obviously, if you have the set price meal last then there should be no confusion as you will have no credits left.

[beachgirl26]

We didn't get the SDP for free, we got pre-paid gratuities instead, but were wanting to use our OBC to purchase a SDP package, so we could opt for the 4 meal SDP if it would apply to the Cirque show also. Although I am not sure if that's the biggest bang for our buck....?

[cincicruisers]

Which restaurants are one standard charge and which are by item? Also which have meal/show.

[beerman2]

Which restaurants are one standard charge and which are by item? Also which have meal/show.

 

Moderno and Teppanyaki are 1 standard charge.

 

LeBistro, Cagney's, Lucina,Bahamian, Food Republic and Margaritaville are alacarte.

 

 

Dinner show is 1 fixed price.

[reno3]

I have been trying to book specialty restaurant and show reservations for 3 days now. I keep getting an error message "We've encountered an error. Please log out and try again later." Everything is good until I click on the "* I agree to the terms & conditions." Then click on "add to itinerary" then it is added to my cart but when I go to my cart and click on "go to payment" I get the above error code. What am I doing wrong???

[denatravels]

I have been trying to book specialty restaurant and show reservations for 3 days now. I keep getting an error message "We've encountered an error. Please log out and try again later." Everything is good until I click on the "* I agree to the terms & conditions." Then click on "add to itinerary" then it is added to my cart but when I go to my cart and click on "go to payment" I get the above error code. What am I doing wrong???

 

 

Call and they should be able to book for you.

 

 

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