Having trouble justifying the dining package with new pricing. Anyone else?

[outtoseacruise]

I was one of those that refused to pay for specialty dining until the Getaway in 2015. Once I did it I started purchasing specialty dining on all cruises. 

[mdwcruises]

On 7/21/2019 at 6:45 AM, newmexicoNita said:

MDR  certainly you realize how good or bad the food is depends on each individual's taste. Though we do not eat often in the MDRs I would not say the food is bad. Our problem is more the service, but the food is pretty much what one would expect now days. Not to mention there are many places to eat on the ship that do not require paying extra. I am a believer in each person deciding for themselves what is the best way to spend their money.  For some it is specialty dining, some the spa, some excursions and others do not spend anything extra and still have a good cruise. 

 

So I reckon you understand many do not share your opinion the MDR food is not bad.  

[newmexicoNita]

10 minutes ago, mdwcruises said:

 

So I reckon you understand many do not share your opinion the MDR food is not bad.  

of course I realize this. Everyone has their ideas about good and bad food. In fact most of us have ideas about good or bad anything. I am guessing, but no proof, the opinion of MDR food being good, bad or ok is pretty much split by 1/3rds. I am certainly not saying it is good, but we haven't gotten very many dishes that were bad either; just middle of the road. 

[FitchburgWIFamily]

Everyone is different, everyone's opinion is valuable.

 

We always take the free at sea 3 meal package and enjoy a few specialty restaurants on board.  But the 4 nights we don't dine in specialty restaurants are by no means a bust.  Savor and Taste (or the Aqua or whatever smaller main dining room) offers the same menu as the main dining room in a smaller venue that is sometimes more appealing than the large dining hall.  There are also dining venues that the meal package doesn't cover that are worth trying (The Escape's Food Republic is wonderful).

 

And, on any given cruise, there is going to be at least one day when I just don't feel like dressing up and dining: maybe it is the day I came back from a long hot all-day excursion hangry and thirsty and hit the 24 hour pub style restaurant for a few drinks and some food before I even went to my cabin.  I don't need to dress up and go eat second dinner that night (although I can and I have).

 

The thought of having a plan for every night of my 7 day cruise just gets in the way of my whole freestyle vibe.  If I were the OP, I would take the 3 free, buy the 3 meal packages for his daughters on board the ship, and just wing the other 4 days.   Maybe one of them you will end up in a specialty restaurant paying a la carte, but maybe you won't. 

 

 

[Fastman]

On 7/20/2019 at 9:58 AM, KeithJenner said:

That sounds like the restrictions for the platinum meal, rather than the SDP.

Just got off the Bliss last week. At all the specialty restaurants, we were told its 2-1-1 for the SDP. Also, there was a steak dish on the menus that were not covered by SDP. 

 

When I asked the asst Maitre d' about those limits, she just said "order what you want. we want you to be happy", which is what I did. 

 

However, all the waiters were telling other guests the same SDP limit info.

[KeithJenner]

13 minutes ago, Fastman said:

Just got off the Bliss last week. At all the specialty restaurants, we were told its 2-1-1 for the SDP. Also, there was a steak dish on the menus that were not covered by SDP. 

 

When I asked the asst Maitre d' about those limits, she just said "order what you want. we want you to be happy", which is what I did. 

 

However, all the waiters were telling other guests the same SDP limit info.

The post I responded to also quoted the $35 entree limit, which is a specific latitudes restriction. That's why I stated that they seemed to be confusing it with that deal.

 

As for what people are told by the wait staff, we go through the same thing with every one of the hundreds of discussions on here. People are told a wide variety of incorrect things by the waitstaff when it comes to restrictions when using the SDP. If they choose to ignore what they are told and just order multiples they are (with a couple of reported exceptions) charged nothing extra.

 

It is very clear that, at least in the past - these things can change - that there is no actual limit of courses other than entrees, as is backed up by the T&C's. However, for some reason that I can't understand, people seem to give more credence to the random answers given by waitstaff.

 

I am interested in the excluded dish on the Bliss. Was this stated on the menu? There were some items on menus until recently which were excluded, but I was under the impression that they had gone when the prices were increased recently. I wonder whether this is new, or an older menu is being used on the Bliss.

Edited September 25, 2019 by KeithJenner

[valleyvillage]

12 minutes ago, Fastman said:

Just got off the Bliss last week. At all the specialty restaurants, we were told its 2-1-1 for the SDP. Also, there was a steak dish on the menus that were not covered by SDP. 

 

When I asked the asst Maitre d' about those limits, she just said "order what you want. we want you to be happy", which is what I did. 

 

However, all the waiters were telling other guests the same SDP limit info.

Exactly our experience on Joy 2 weeks ago, however there were no off limits steak dishes. 

[Fastman]

3 minutes ago, KeithJenner said:

The post I responded to also quoted the $35 entree limit, which is a specific latitudes restriction. That's why I stated that they seemed to be confusing it with that deal.

 

As for what people are told by the wait staff, we go through the same thing with every one of the hundreds of discussions on here. People are told a wide variety of incorrect things by the waitstaff when it comes to restrictions when using the SDP. If they choose to ignore what they are told and just order multiples they are (with a couple of reported exceptions) charged nothing extra.

 

It is very clear that, at least in the past - these things can change - that there is no actual limit of courses other than entrees, as is backed up by the T&C's. However, for some reason that I can't understand, people seem to give more credence to the random answers given by waitstaff.

 

I am interested in the excluded dish on the Bliss. Was this stated on the menu? There were some items on menus until recently which were excluded, but I was under the impression that they had gone when the prices were increased recently. I wonder whether this is new, or an older menu is being used on the Bliss.

 

The "off limits" for the SDP was a $35 t-bone. It was on menu at French and Italian restaurants.

 

[Zippeedee]

If I get the waiter's speech about limits I just say "that is not in the terms and conditions" and wait... I'm not ordering the whole menu, but I get what I want and have not been charged yet.  I am not comfortable dining alone in the MDR, that's just me. I enjoy the specialties. Based on the rumors here I purchased a 14 night dining package for my 21 day cruise next April the night before the prices increased. I still think it is a good deal. I do wish the quality increased with the prices. The new prices carry expectations of excellence that just are not there.

[KeithJenner]

28 minutes ago, Fastman said:

 

The "off limits" for the SDP was a $35 t-bone. It was on menu at French and Italian restaurants.

 

That's interesting. Was is on a separate insert attached to the menu? Also, did it state that it wasn't included or were you told by the staff?

 

When I was on the Spirit last month details of the T-Bone were attached as an extra to the menu in Cagneys, Le Bistro and the Italian. There was no suggestion that it wasn't included and I ordered it in Cagneys using the SDP.

[Fastman]

1 minute ago, KeithJenner said:

That's interesting. Was is on a separate insert attached to the menu? Also, did it state that it wasn't included or were you told by the staff?

 

When I was on the Spirit last month details of the T-Bone were attached as an extra to the menu in Cagneys, Le Bistro and the Italian. There was no suggestion that it wasn't included and I ordered it in Cagneys using the SDP.

It was attached to the inside of the menu. The waiters at both restaurants told us it wasnt included under the SDP. I dont remember if it stated that on the attachment. 

[KeithJenner]

32 minutes ago, Fastman said:

It was attached to the inside of the menu. The waiters at both restaurants told us it wasnt included under the SDP. I dont remember if it stated that on the attachment. 

I'll put that down to another bit of misinformation given out by the waiters.

[Love my butler]

4 hours ago, KeithJenner said:

I'll put that down to another bit of misinformation given out by the waiters.

Dazed and confused.

[Kalum]

Last month on the Jade I ordered it on two nights in the italian restaurant using the SDP...no problem at all

[kitkat343]

On 7/20/2019 at 4:17 PM, mdwcruises said:

The only justification is because the included food is so bad, not because the extra cost food is anything special. 

 

We find this to be the case also (and honestly we liked the MDR food on Cunard, Princess HAL and surprisingly even Carnival, where the food was made with inexpensive ingredients but well cooked and tasted quite good).   We sailed NCL when we only had one child, who was half price at the specialty restaurants.  Now that we have three children and the main menu is full price for kids, a NCL cruise would have to have a much lower base price in order to compete with other lines in which the MDR food is acceptable for my family.    

[teeredi2cruise]

On 7/20/2019 at 2:50 PM, amelia3171 said:

 

I wish folk wouldn't post such misleading stuff on here, it is so unfair to people who have not taken the time to read the NCL T&C. The 1-1-1 is a platinum restriction, getting or buying the SDP dining perk you can have as many starters and puddings as you want. You are def not limited to 1-1-1. 

This must be ship and server specific as this was not my experience on the Epic 3 weeks ago. Our Cagney's server started our service with an announcement (unsolicited) to the table that under the SDP we were allowed 1 app, 1 salad, 1 entree and 2 sides and 1 dessert.  This was not a platinum meal nor did she ask. Then only other specialty restaurant that we visited was Teppanyaki and we have not had any inconsistent experiences, Starter, salad entree and dessert. So I am not sure what makes the dining experiences different but that was my experience on board that particular ship and sailing.

[KeithJenner]

2 hours ago, teeredi2cruise said:

This must be ship and server specific as this was not my experience on the Epic 3 weeks ago. Our Cagney's server started our service with an announcement (unsolicited) to the table that under the SDP we were allowed 1 app, 1 salad, 1 entree and 2 sides and 1 dessert.  This was not a platinum meal nor did she ask. Then only other specialty restaurant that we visited was Teppanyaki and we have not had any inconsistent experiences, Starter, salad entree and dessert. So I am not sure what makes the dining experiences different but that was my experience on board that particular ship and sailing.

You are absolutely correct in that what you are told can be server specific. That is because they seem to be just making it up as they go along. The fact that different servers say different things (and then the charge doesn’t happen anyway) shows that they are not reliable.

 

Those of us who state that there is no restrictions (other than entree) are going by the T&Cs and the actual experience of what gets charged.

 

Our point is that what the servers say is irrelevant to the question of what the restrictions are. It’s really unfortunate that this is happening, but that is the case. There is in fact no restriction on apps, sides and desserts.

[teeredi2cruise]

12 minutes ago, KeithJenner said:

You are absolutely correct in that what you are told can be server specific. That is because they seem to be just making it up as they go along. The fact that different servers say different things (and then the charge doesn’t happen anyway) shows that they are not reliable.

 

Those of us who state that there is no restrictions (other than entree) are going by the T&Cs and the actual experience of what gets charged.

 

Our point is that what the servers say is irrelevant to the question of what the restrictions are. It’s really unfortunate that this is happening, but that is the case. There is in fact no restriction on apps, sides and desserts.

My apologies if I was not clear in addressing the T & C , which was addressed at the time of our meal with the server and subsequent manager. Ignorance of the Terms was "not" our issue. 

 

Your point is well taken with regards to the T & C and the inconsistency of applying, (which I addressed with the Manager) however, said Manager stood her ground and this was not the hill I choose to fight for my evening meal. At a point it was just an awkward interaction and not worth the energy. The next time I may try the approach of other posters and just order them and dispute if charged and avoid the  question all together. 

 

 

 

 

[fstuff1]

On 9/25/2019 at 4:03 PM, Fastman said:

 

The "off limits" for the SDP was a $35 t-bone. It was on menu at French and Italian restaurants.

 

 

 i had that $35 t-bone for both my sdp and platinum dinners on both the jewel and dawn.

weird that it wasnt included on the Bliss.

[canadiancruiser23]

People have to much money in their pocket's,you paid for food already and it's good..It's just away for them to get more from you..

[Zippeedee]

26 minutes ago, canadiancruiser23 said:

People have to much money in their pocket's,you paid for food already and it's good..It's just away for them to get more from you..

"People" know food is subject. My yuck is your yum and vice versa. I decide how to spend my money (unless you are buying my dinner).

[tomservo]

2 hours ago, fstuff1 said:

 

 i had that $35 t-bone for both my sdp and platinum dinners on both the jewel and dawn.

weird that it wasnt included on the Bliss.

 

It's weird that it was just excluded, you don't see that very often. If they want to discourage people from ordering it with the SDP they usually just throw in an up charge. I think the T&Cs cover all entrees except for the ones specifically excluded in the T&Cs.

[KeithJenner]

2 minutes ago, tomservo said:

 

It's weird that it was just excluded, you don't see that very often. If they want to discourage people from ordering it with the SDP they usually just throw in an up charge. I think the T&Cs cover all entrees except for the ones specifically excluded in the T&Cs.

I would say that there is a minute chance that it was actually excluded and an extremely high chance that it was staff giving incorrect info.

 

That is a very annoying one for them to do that with though. If they ever told me that apps were restricted but I still fancied More than one then I would still go ahead, knowing that it is extremely unlikely that I would be charged. If I was then I would decide whether to argue the point or swallow the few dollar charge (and I suspect I would do the latter). However, that is a bigger risk to take when talking about the entree, especially if you have been told that it isn’t included. It would probably put me off ordering it, even though I’m quite sure it is actually included.

[spanishguy1970]

Well, thankfully we never take the dining package, we use our dinner vouchers ( enough for us) and we find the Buffet and MDR acceptable. :-).

[MoyCoy]

On 9/25/2019 at 12:46 PM, Fastman said:

Just got off the Bliss last week. At all the specialty restaurants, we were told its 2-1-1 for the SDP. Also, there was a steak dish on the menus that were not covered by SDP. 

 

When I asked the asst Maitre d' about those limits, she just said "order what you want. we want you to be happy", which is what I did. 

 

However, all the waiters were telling other guests the same SDP limit info.

What does the 2-1-1 mean