All Existing Reservations for LeBistro cancelled on cruise

[bzmom2girls]

Hello,

We were on the Getaway last week. After boarding, the Haven concierge announced that all LeBistro reservations before 9pm had been cancelled for the entire week to accomidate a last minute booking of 100 people.

 

Is this normal NCL policy? Rumors we heard was that one of the cruisers is a NCL board member.

 

Us, along with many other passengers were mad. Taking kids who were really looking forward to eating there at 9pm instead of 6 was a big deal to us. And we had to miss a group event to make the reservation.

[BirdTravels]

Obviously not normal.

 

All cruise lines take customer satisfaction seriously. But, someone willing to buy out the restaurat for two seatings at a premium price usually will get their way.

[Son of a son of a ...]

If your kids are old enough to look forward to a French-style restaurant, then they are old enough to understand that money talks.

[bzmom2girls]

If your kids are old enough to look forward to a French-style restaurant, then they are old enough to understand that money talks.

 

 

We were told that since the group was Kosher, they were given the restaurant for free to accomidate their dietary needs. Just seems to me that they could have found somewhere else besides the best speciality restaurant on the ship.

[FranknBeans]

Hello,

We were on the Getaway last week. After boarding, the Haven concierge announced that all LeBistro reservations before 9pm had been cancelled for the entire week to accomidate a last minute booking of 100 people.

 

Is this normal NCL policy? Rumors we heard was that one of the cruisers is a NCL board member.

 

Us, along with many other passengers were mad. Taking kids who were really looking forward to eating there at 9pm instead of 6 was a big deal to us. And we had to miss a group event to make the reservation.

 

 

We had similar problem on POA last month on both weeks that we couldn't get resy's for the Asian restaurant at any time or day. Mind you the restaurant only has 8-9 tables.

[bzmom2girls]

We had similar problem on POA last month on both weeks that we couldn't get resy's for the Asian restaurant at any time or day. Mind you the restaurant only has 8-9 tables.

 

 

We already HAD the reservations-they were cancelled

[hawkeyetlse]

We were told that since the group was Kosher, they were given the restaurant for free to accomidate their dietary needs.

Their dietary needs can be met in the main galley and dining room, too (frozen meals reheated in a "clean" area of the galley and served on disposable tableware). The fact that the kitchen was turned back over for the normal Le Bistro menu every night at 9pm indicates that they did not truly "kosherize" the galley. It sounds like they just wanted the restaurant as a private venue for their group. Either they paid for it or they were NCL bigwigs, as your other rumor suggested.

[flipper32]

yes the the Le Bistro kitchen was koshered under Rabbinical supervision, the reason they chose Le Bistro is the fact that it has its own smaller kitchen. The group was 120 and yes a member of the NCL was in the group.

[Son of a son of a ...]

I didn't see it listed under Kosher Cruises. Must have been a private matter.

[flipper32]

It was a private group with an NCL board member

[Marine Mom]

if your kids are old enough to look forward to a french-style restaurant, then they are old enough to understand that money talks.

 

:p:D:)

[1025cruise]

If they did kosher the kitchen, where did they cook the Le Bistro food? It would not have been in that kitchen.

[newmexicoNita]

We were told that since the group was Kosher, they were given the restaurant for free to accomidate their dietary needs. Just seems to me that they could have found somewhere else besides the best speciality restaurant on the ship.

 

I would have been very disappointed as well but these inconveniences do happen. If the group had to have total Kosher special preparation were probably necessary. At least you were informed as soon as you boarded. As disappointed the children were I am sure you could choose one of the other dining rooms and make them happy. I can't imagine young children being terrible upset by not being able to eat at a french restaurant.

Edited February 2, 2017 by newmexicoNita

[detroitlions]

I would adjust my DSC :) Cause that is what it is for right?

[packer99]

As an NCL Board member I would have felt that the customer should come first not my group of friends.

[hawkeyetlse]

If they did kosher the kitchen, where did they cook the Le Bistro food? It would not have been in that kitchen.

That's the point I was trying to make earlier. I don't see where else they could prepare food for Le Bistro, so if the restaurant reverted to Le Bistro every evening at 9, then this group was either eating kosher food that was prepared somewhere else and they were just using Le Bistro as a private dining room, or they were eating food cooked in the Le Bistro galley but they weren't actually that strict about the food being totally kosher.

[BreeYark]

If this had happened to me, I would have expected some kind of compensation, like "We will make room for you and your family at another specialty restaurant, free of charge."

 

I feel humiliated when I get thrown out of a public area for an unannounced "private function" (it happens a lot with another company), so I would for sure get angry to have my restaurant reservations canceled for a similar reason without any effort to compensate.

[hladygirl]

So how did they accomidate all of the platinum free meals? That's a lot of platinum cruisers to squeeze into lacucina.

[MizDemeanor]

We have noticed that the main dining rooms often serve items recognizable from the specialty venues.

[Crusin6]

We were told that since the group was Kosher, they were given the restaurant for free to accomidate their dietary needs. Just seems to me that they could have found somewhere else besides the best speciality restaurant on the ship.

 

 

It was yeshiva week last week I believe so this makes sense

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[blackwing]

It was yeshiva week last week I believe so this makes sense

 

It makes sense for that small group of 100 people. It doesn't make sense for all the people that were displaced. Did NCL give any compensation? Did they make alternate arrangements for the cancelled reservations? Doesn't really seem right, especially if it was an NCL board member. I can understand if some big celebrity wants to rent the whole restaurant, but I would expect a board member to be cognizant of the disruption to paying customers.

 

And I too am wondering about the kosher kitchen. From what I understand, a rabbi blesses the kitchen and the elements are cleaned etc. The food is prepared in a special way and no pork products are allowed. Among other things. So if Le Bistro reverted back to regular dining for regular patrons, were there any restrictions on the menu? For example, was it baconless? Or did they make special accommodations and still observe the kosher requirements of their own kitchen and run food prepared somewhere else to their dining room?

 

When I was a freshman in college, when we missed a meal, we were allowed to go to a store in the dorm and get some credit in the form of snacks and frozen offerings. One time I got a frozen sausage biscuit sandwich. I went to my friend's room because her roommate had a microwave. After my sandwich was nuked, the friend was aghast because she had said that I just un-koshered her friend's microwave. I felt bad about it, but I was 18 and had never heard of kosher before. Prior to that I had always thought kosher was a kind of Claussen pickle.

[Odesitka70]

We were on board getaway last week as well. Prior to cruise we had 2 platinum diner reservations. First day on board we got a phone call in cabin about our reservation being canceled. I went to restaurant reservation desk and after going back and fourth they said we can go to any restaurant with our voucher. So we choose teppanyaki and cogneys as a alternative. Later on on the cruise I address that question to restaurant manager and was told that a kosher group bought the place for breakfast, lunch and diner for $200000.

[MizDemeanor]

What's the problem?

[hawkeyetlse]

Later on on the cruise I address that question to restaurant manager and was told that a kosher group bought the place for breakfast, lunch and diner for $200000.

That's almost $100 per meal! :eek: And they still let NCL open up the restaurant for non-kosher dining for a couple of hours every night?

[Loonbeam]

There are 3 elements to a Kosher kitchen. 1> The kitchen is cleaned to an exacting standard. 2> Dairy products and meat products are stored and prepared separately (separate preparation surfaces, coolers (or a clearly segmented shared unit), even separate dishes. 3> Certain products are not allowed in the kitchen at all.

 

I'm oversimplifying there. As far as food, the basic rules are no 'Treyfe' or unkosher products (Shellfish is a main one, no pork as well and others). Meat and dairy products may not be served at the same time, and there is a period between serving one or the other.

 

There's a lot more to it. If the price of $200K is correct, they paid $2k per passenger for the privelege, or the equivalent of 4,000 specialty dining meals (paid), so I can't say I can fault them. They probably also had to bring their own rabbi (Masgiach) and possibly chef (as I doubt the ship's team is familiar with Kashruth (Kosher rules) to the level an orthodox group would need). Probably special ingredients needed to be onboarded as well (as an example, nothing with gelatin in it can be used with dairy and you'd be surprised whats in some stocks and bases)

 

They still could have handled it better unless it was a fairly last minute thing. Not sure compensation was required, but those bumped should have gotten priority at other venues.

 

 

It makes sense for that small group of 100 people. It doesn't make sense for all the people that were displaced. Did NCL give any compensation? Did they make alternate arrangements for the cancelled reservations? Doesn't really seem right, especially if it was an NCL board member. I can understand if some big celebrity wants to rent the whole restaurant, but I would expect a board member to be cognizant of the disruption to paying customers.

 

And I too am wondering about the kosher kitchen. From what I understand, a rabbi blesses the kitchen and the elements are cleaned etc. The food is prepared in a special way and no pork products are allowed. Among other things. So if Le Bistro reverted back to regular dining for regular patrons, were there any restrictions on the menu? For example, was it baconless? Or did they make special accommodations and still observe the kosher requirements of their own kitchen and run food prepared somewhere else to their dining room?

 

When I was a freshman in college, when we missed a meal, we were allowed to go to a store in the dorm and get some credit in the form of snacks and frozen offerings. One time I got a frozen sausage biscuit sandwich. I went to my friend's room because her roommate had a microwave. After my sandwich was nuked, the friend was aghast because she had said that I just un-koshered her friend's microwave. I felt bad about it, but I was 18 and had never heard of kosher before. Prior to that I had always thought kosher was a kind of Claussen pickle.