NCL Pearl Alaska does Specialty Dining Make Sense?

[McFins]

Hi there. I am wondering if the SDP (3 meals) makes sense on an Alaska cruise on the Pearl. We've been on other cruises wherein we really enjoyed the specialty restaurants---however, we intend to get off of the ship for each of the Alaska/Canada ports. Without knowing what time the shows are in advance, it is difficult to know what time to book the specialty restaurants (and it would seem that it may not be easy to change the time once on the ship since it would seem that most would book the restaurants on the 4 days the ship is not at port at the typical dinner time.)

Anyway, to get to the root of the question --- seeking opinions of those who sailed on Pearl to Alaska and whether they used the specialty restaurants and were happy they did (or those who didn't and wished they had)

Thanks as always for your great advice---really appreciate it!

[hladygirl]

Hi there. I am wondering if the SDP (3 meals) makes sense on an Alaska cruise on the Pearl. We've been on other cruises wherein we really enjoyed the specialty restaurants---however, we intend to get off of the ship for each of the Alaska/Canada ports. Without knowing what time the shows are in advance, it is difficult to know what time to book the specialty restaurants (and it would seem that it may not be easy to change the time once on the ship since it would seem that most would book the restaurants on the 4 days the ship is not at port at the typical dinner time.)

Anyway, to get to the root of the question --- seeking opinions of those who sailed on Pearl to Alaska and whether they used the specialty restaurants and were happy they did (or those who didn't and wished they had)

Thanks as always for your great advice---really appreciate it!

It makes sense on any cruise. 3 nights specialty dining is perfect on a 7 night cruise. We are platinum and get 2 nights at lebistro free. The last cruise we had 4 night specialty dining on top of the 2 free. It was too much for a 7 night cruise. Would have preferred a couple of more nights in the free venues.

[joemurph]

I was not a fan of the mdr on the pearl wanted salmon which they had but it was Atlantic salmon kind of defeats the purpose of being in Alaska the rest of the meals in the mdr were just ok nothing special

I would of loved to have the dining plan. Btw we were back from any excursion in time to have dinner with the exception of Vancouver

 

 

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[jimsig]

Hi there. I am wondering if the SDP (3 meals) makes sense on an Alaska cruise on the Pearl. We've been on other cruises wherein we really enjoyed the specialty restaurants---however, we intend to get off of the ship for each of the Alaska/Canada ports. Without knowing what time the shows are in advance, it is difficult to know what time to book the specialty restaurants (and it would seem that it may not be easy to change the time once on the ship since it would seem that most would book the restaurants on the 4 days the ship is not at port at the typical dinner time.)

Anyway, to get to the root of the question --- seeking opinions of those who sailed on Pearl to Alaska and whether they used the specialty restaurants and were happy they did (or those who didn't and wished they had)

Thanks as always for your great advice---really appreciate it!

 

Sailed on the Pearl this past summer and ate at Cagney's, Moderno, and Le Bistro. We booked all the dining at times we would be at sea and booked them the day they became available to book on line and got what we wanted pretty much when we wanted them. We booked Cagney's on Monday, Moderno on Thursday which was the Glacier Bay day, and Le Bistro Fri and we left Ketchikan around 1- 1:30 that day. We were happy with the specialty restaurants and would book them again.

 

I did a trip report and posted the dailies on it. Granted they may not be exactly the same but will probably be close enough to get an idea of when things will be happening. You can find the link below in my signature. Let me know what you think if you read it and have any questions

Edited January 2, 2017 by jimsig

[McFins]

Thank you so much for your feedback!

[littlelulu01]

I think I appreciated speciality dining more in Alaska than say the med, where you have some fabulous food in ports that won't compare to ship food. In Alaska we really enjoyed getting back on the ship after all day hiking or whatever and getting to have a nice meal and service. Certainly not necessary but nice to have a speciality dinner on a sea day.

[McFins]

Thanks so much. That's good to know. Really appreciate it.