New Free at Sea

[Royals Carol]

I have 3 cruises booked with Norwegian. One is for November 2020. One for Feb 2021, and One for May 2022. While looking at my Summary, I noticed the Specialty Dining was for 3 meals when I booked but has been changed to 2 Meals. I called Norwegian today and was told that yes, the Specialty Dining has been reduced to 2 meals due to Social Distancing. Also, No reservations will be accepted online prior to getting on the ship.

Has anyone gotten this change in an email? I haven't gotten this notice and was just wondering why if they change something they don't notify their customer.  

[Sand and Seas]

We had heard about the reduced number of Dinners here on the boards a while back.  It's based on the number of nights of your cruise.   It might be because there are so many Platinum cruisers who already get two Specialty Dinners per cruise. 

 

I will be very surprised if they aren't accepting dinner reservations in advance.  Advance reservations is built into  Havens and now Club Balcony cabins with Haven getting to book at 130 days and CB at 125 days.   (Everyone else at 120 days out.)

Edited June 6, 2020 by Sand and Seas

[Sand and Seas]

14 minutes ago, Royals Carol said:

..... While looking at my Summary, I noticed the Specialty Dining was for 3 meals when I booked but has been changed to 2 Meals. I called Norwegian today and was told that yes, the Specialty Dining has been reduced to 2 meals due to Social Distancing.....

If when you booked it was for 3 meals they shouldn't have a change unless you made a change to the reservation.  Did you call to get a reduced price or change cabin category?

[Royals Carol]

3 minutes ago, Sand and Seas said:

If when you booked it was for 3 meals they shouldn't have a change unless you made a change to the reservation.  Did you call to get a reduced price or change cabin category?

No, I didn't change anything to my reservation. I agree with you, it should be 3. Actually, I booked an aft balcony room for 7 nights. No changes. I paid it in full soon after I booked it. It is disappointing that I didn't get a notification of the change. I guess it is what it is at this point.

[Sand and Seas]

42 minutes ago, Royals Carol said:

No, I didn't change anything to my reservation. I agree with you, it should be 3. Actually, I booked an aft balcony room for 7 nights. No changes. I paid it in full soon after I booked it. It is disappointing that I didn't get a notification of the change. I guess it is what it is at this point.

I suggest you check again with whoever you booked your cruise with.  They should give you the number of dinners that were in the Promo when you originally booked.

 

I have four cruises booked right now with SDP.  For each, they sent me a Guest Confirmation email and an Amenities email that confirm what my Promos were when booked.  For each SDP I was charged the 20% service charge based on the number of dinners for that cruise.   Unless I re-book to change something, I expect to have the same number of Dinners as there was when I booked each of those cruises.   

 

By the way, when I log into MyNCL, the summary for the cruise just says I have the SDP but doesn't list the number of dinners.  My original emails from NCL show the number of dinners in my SDP.   I take those emails along on the cruise in case I need to dispute something I didn't receive on board, but I've never had to do that so far.

[sanger727]

1 hour ago, Sand and Seas said:

I suggest you check again with whoever you booked your cruise with.  They should give you the number of dinners that were in the Promo when you originally booked.

 

I have four cruises booked right now with SDP.  For each, they sent me a Guest Confirmation email and an Amenities email that confirm what my Promos were when booked.  For each SDP I was charged the 20% service charge based on the number of dinners for that cruise.   Unless I re-book to change something, I expect to have the same number of Dinners as there was when I booked each of those cruises.   

 

By the way, when I log into MyNCL, the summary for the cruise just says I have the SDP but doesn't list the number of dinners.  My original emails from NCL show the number of dinners in my SDP.   I take those emails along on the cruise in case I need to dispute something I didn't receive on board, but I've never had to do that so far.

 

Agreed, if you booked with 3 dinners and paid the gratuities for 3 dinners then you should definitely be getting 3 dinners on the ship. I would continue followup up until you get something in writing that you still get 3. If for some reason you can't, then at the minim they owe you gratuities back for the third night.

[mscdivina2016]

2 hours ago, Royals Carol said:

I have 3 cruises booked with Norwegian. One is for November 2020. One for Feb 2021, and One for May 2022. While looking at my Summary, I noticed the Specialty Dining was for 3 meals when I booked but has been changed to 2 Meals. I called Norwegian today and was told that yes, the Specialty Dining has been reduced to 2 meals due to Social Distancing. Also, No reservations will be accepted online prior to getting on the ship.

Has anyone gotten this change in an email? I haven't gotten this notice and was just wondering why if they change something they don't notify their customer.  

I have a 35 day cruise booked (4 b2bs)  and I have 22 meals so far with the perks even before my Platinum kicks in, so in the end We will have 30 meals for a 35 day cruise. LOL

 I expect or will insist upon it as I have it in the email from them when I booked. I have had a past dispute and in writing I was told by them, that what is in the official email is what I am to get regardless of anything else, so I must always review it.

Steve

[z4oslo]

Omg.

 

i was reading new flea at sea!

As Cofid wasn't enough!

 

Free sounds better

[david_sobe]

Typical NCL.  The 2 specialty dinner change was in the works well before the pandemic.  I find it funny that they use the pandemic to justify the change.  Its almost as silly as when NCL banned people from taking food back to their cabins for "health reasons."  Or towel animals were discontinued because of "environmental reasons".

 

They are quite clever with their explanations of their policies.

Edited June 6, 2020 by david_sobe

[BonnieJeanne]

I have 3 cruises booked with Norwegian. One is for November 2020. One for Feb 2021, and One for May 2022. While looking at my Summary, I noticed the Specialty Dining was for 3 meals when I booked but has been changed to 2 Meals. I called Norwegian today and was told that yes, the Specialty Dining has been reduced to 2 meals due to Social Distancing. Also, No reservations will be accepted online prior to getting on the ship.
Has anyone gotten this change in an email? I haven't gotten this notice and was just wondering why if they change something they don't notify their customer.  

Mine changed when I called for a price reduction. Saved $240 each, so I will buy my own 3rd meal


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[Georgia_Peaches]

Can someone please explain how reducing the specialty dinners from three to two helps with social distancing?  What a load of bologna!

[Sand and Seas]

6 minutes ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

Can someone please explain how reducing the specialty dinners from three to two helps with social distancing?  What a load of bologna!

I think the agent that said that didn't have a clue.  Just gave it as an excuse.

[Love my butler]

7 minutes ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

Can someone please explain how reducing the specialty dinners from three to two helps with social distancing?  What a load of bologna!

The purpose is to distance more of your nickels and dimes into their corporate account.  For your convenience of course......

[Love my butler]

Just now, Sand and Seas said:

I think the agent that said that didn't have a clue.  Just gave it as an excuse.

Wait a minute, are you suggesting the phone agents don't have a clue and make up stuff on the fly?  Say it isn't so.....

[Georgia_Peaches]

Just now, Sand and Seas said:

I think the agent that said that didn't have a clue.  Just gave it as an excuse.

I would respect them so much more if they just gave a completely transparent and truthful answer.  Something like, "Well we've lost a lot of money as a result of the shut down so we are reducing our "free" specialty dining offering from three to two so that we can make up some lost revenue."  There!  Was that so hard?!

[NLH Arizona]

9 minutes ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

Can someone please explain how reducing the specialty dinners from three to two helps with social distancing?  What a load of bologna!

Don't know if it helps with social distancing, but since some reported that they couldn't get reservations to use their free dinners, it might help there.

[All-ready2cruise]

I think the reduced number of tables is the reason for the reduced number of SDP meals.  Fewer tables available due to spacing per setting means fewer reservations available. 

Does that make sense?

[2bc cruisers]

It makes no sense to me.  If you’re not eating in a specialty DR won’t you be eating in the already closely packed main DR, where you can barely walk between tables?  
 

have they stated they will be extending dining hours?  

[Sand and Seas]

8 minutes ago, 2bc cruisers said:

It makes no sense to me.  If you’re not eating in a specialty DR won’t you be eating in the already closely packed main DR, where you can barely walk between tables?  
 

have they stated they will be extending dining hours?  

They haven't said anything yet that I've seen.  We all just speculate until they announce something.

[WeLuv2TravelAlot]

I believe this was in effect for bookings made April 15th 2020 and later

The free at sea dining is:

Sail Length	# Of Dining Package Meals		Retail Value		20% Gratuities
3-5 Nights	1		$44.95 per person		$8.99 per package
6-8 Nights	2		$79 per person		$15.80 per package
9-10 Nights	3		$99 per person		$19.80 per package
11-14 Nights	4		$114 per person		$22.80 per package
15+ Nights	5		$129 per person		$25.80 per package

[Royals Carol]

Thank you for all your input. I looked up my original confirmation when I booked the cruises. My Nov 2020 and My Feb 2021 cruises both state 3 meals. My newest one for May 2022 states 2 meals. I will print the first 2 and take them with me on the ship. Thank you for all the advice.

[PATRLR]

 

13 hours ago, Sand and Seas said:

I think the agent that said that didn't have a clue.  Just gave it as an excuse.

 

If it's not the official policy, then that agent should be disciplined or fired.   No business should allow their CSR's to freelance, especially in situations like that.  Of course NCL really doesn't care about its image (or passengers).

 

12 hours ago, All-ready2cruise said:

I think the reduced number of tables is the reason for the reduced number of SDP meals.  Fewer tables available due to spacing per setting means fewer reservations available. 

Does that make sense?

No because they still don't know for sure what the return to operations will look like but more importantly this change was implemented at the very beginning of the pandemic and certainly was in the works long before the pandemic. 

I am confident this change has nothing to do with the pandemic and everything to do with NCL's core competency of increasing revenue by nickle and diming its guests.

[ohiocruisemom]

We are in Haven and have cruises booked for August and November (fingers crossed) I can confirm for both cruises it says not available for booking for all specialty restaurants.  

 

[Waquoit]

17 hours ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

Can someone please explain how reducing the specialty dinners from three to two helps with social distancing?  What a load of bologna!

It's like when Starbucks raises prices and blames it on the cost of coffee beans. Of course, when the price of beans comes down the cost of the coffee stays up.

[Hearthosesteeldrumsplayin]

I just rebooked a 2021 sailing to 2022.  Here are some of the changes:

 

# of upscale dining reduced (see earlier posts), but only applies to passengers 1 & 2

You now must take beverage package for ALL in cabin, not just first 2

No longer additional points for booking a suite!

I think the wifi # minutes might have increased, but I don't use those anyway, so didn't pay much attention to that.