Changes to main dining room menu

[AceDoc]

I think if they continue to have nightly specials, it will be a hit. I rarely go to the specialty dining, as I generally find the foods in the main dining area to be quite enjoyable. And, of course, the buffet is always an option. 

[MoCruiseFan]

On 3/8/2022 at 11:22 AM, vswan said:

For us, a large part of the cruise experience is to try new things on the menu. Granted, not all are hits, but having new things every night is part of the fun. We are not big on the specialty restaurants. Have eaten in several, but overall was not impressed enough to spend the high prices they want to charge once we have finished with our "free" meals. Since we are not tied to any one cruise line, this would be a mark against an NCL cruise.

You can still try new things each night.  It said the menu would be the same, it did not say that there would only be once choice each night.  Just order something different.

[MoCruiseFan]

On 3/8/2022 at 12:50 PM, kayjaypea42 said:

There will be two MDRs. Could it be interepreted that each will have its own fixed menu, or do you think they'll use the same fixed menu in both MDRs?  (Also, I am referring to this article, too: https://www.ncl.com/newsroom/norwegian-cruise-line-serves-up-elevated-epicurean-experiences-with-new-prima-class/?fbclid=IwAR0wmPamiuTp6fBJB7-YRhlUiFuCcwbtMaWCpym9MthZaLWa4jzamk0DgTw)

 

It would be hard to have the same fixed menu in just one MDR.

[MoCruiseFan]

On 3/8/2022 at 12:59 PM, Markanddonna said:

This really concerns only the majority of NCL cruisers, not the Haven folks. I just told my husband that I'm going to set up my six best meals and just rotate them. Same thing, but somehow I doubt that their opinion of "the best way to cook chicken, fish, or beef" would be my choice. Also, if they offer one  selection each day from their specialty restaurants, who would pay extra to go to them? Makes no sense.  Just another way to cut back and then spin the news.

Makes perfect sense.  What happens if you have a food allergy to the Specialty selection of the day or that item is not particularly to your liking.  People will go to specialty dining because they want to decide what they want to eat and not take whatever some chef decided would be the item of the day.

[MoCruiseFan]

On 3/8/2022 at 12:59 PM, Double Jack said:

NCL continuing their policy of giving customers less product for more money.

 

Where does it say we are getting less?

[MoCruiseFan]

On 3/8/2022 at 1:57 PM, Oxo said:

Which Cruise Line is not doing this? How much money did they loose during C19 and now? I don't agree with it, but that is business. You must satisfy the stock holders.

They probably did LOSE money but I doubt it was LOOSE.

[MoCruiseFan]

On 3/8/2022 at 3:01 PM, TominNC said:

No thanks.  I don't eat regularly at the same restaurants at home because it's the same menu.  That's why we go to different places.  For variety.

 

I would not be happy looking at the same menu every day.   We go to the 2 specialties that came iwth our 7 day cruise, then enjoyed the variety at the main DRs the other 5 nights.

Simply order something different each night, problem solved!

[MoCruiseFan]

23 hours ago, clskinsfan said:

Hate to be "that guy". But I wont cruise with NCL again because of this change. Trying to force their customers to spend more money on food, something that has always been a staple of cruising, ends this line for me. I never complained about specialty restaurants when they started showing up on ships because I always had a choice to not use them and get an outstanding meal in the MDR anyways. And I have paid for and eaten in SR's a ton. But I had a choice. Taking that choice away from me changes everything. And there are far too many good cruise lines out there to put up with this. 

LOL "forced", no one is being forced to do anything.  The change said that the menu will be the same each night.  It did not say that you have to order the same thing every night.  You still have a choice to not use the specialty dining.  No choice is being taken away.

[MoCruiseFan]

23 hours ago, clskinsfan said:

Why would I want to eat the exact same menu for 7 nights on a cruise? Granted the MDR food on Escape is outstanding. But variety is the spice of cruising for us. We are foodies. And I dont like be ing forced to spend extra money to experience a different menu. To each their own though. 

 You do not eat the menu.  You eat YOUR CHOICE of item off of the menu.  Order something different each night if you want.  No one is FORCING you to do anything.

[TominNC]

30 minutes ago, MoCruiseFan said:

Simply order something different each night, problem solved!

Not if I'm going from 5 nights with 5 or 6 different items each night to a single menu that I'm guessing will not have 25-30 entrees.  I tend to select beef or pork entrees.  So the chicken, seafood or vegetarian items aren't as appealing.  Now I can look forward to a different pork or beef option each night.  Will all 10 of those be available on the new menu?  If not then I'm now being "forced" to double up or choose items I don't care for as much.  

[TominNC]

2 hours ago, SNJCruisers said:

All you have to do is vote with your wallet and decide to cruise on one of NCL's competitors. If enough people do this then things will change back to how they were.

That's a distinct possibility

[MoCruiseFan]

37 minutes ago, TominNC said:

Not if I'm going from 5 nights with 5 or 6 different items each night to a single menu that I'm guessing will not have 25-30 entrees.  I tend to select beef or pork entrees.  So the chicken, seafood or vegetarian items aren't as appealing.  Now I can look forward to a different pork or beef option each night.  Will all 10 of those be available on the new menu?  If not then I'm now being "forced" to double up or choose items I don't care for as much.  

A menu does not need to have 25-30 choice for you to be able pick something different every night on a 5 night cruise.  Again you are not FORCED to so anything.  You are CHOOSING to limit yourself.

[deliver42]

There's always the buffet.

[cabincop]

1 hour ago, MoCruiseFan said:

 You do not eat the menu.  You eat YOUR CHOICE of item off of the menu.  Order something different each night if you want.  No one is FORCING you to do anything.

Wowww grammar police & CC bully all in one

[Rob_H]

3 hours ago, SNJCruisers said:

All you have to do is vote with your wallet and decide to cruise on one of NCL's competitors. If enough people do this then things will change back to how they were.

 

Maybe not, since you can always find new customers who don't know what they're missing (although it drives up your marketing costs).

 

There could be a market for a completely unbundled cruise line, where there's a room rate, then you pay for every meal (at varying price levels), pay for shows, pool access, and so on.  Makes the headline rate even lower, perhaps even "free rooms" at times. But it would be a pity if Norwegian was the line to try that.

 

This will only be on the Prima initially, and will be rolled out to the rest of the fleet if it is successful.  I think it will drive more sales of speciality meals, so that will be a (financial) success and therefore get rolled out everywhere eventually.

 

Since we usually cruise for a month or two at a time on the same ship, and mostly eat in the MDR, it'll affect us a lot, but I appreciate we're a niche market (and not very profitable for the company, other than being repeat customers multiple times a year).  New customers who are trained to pay for everything as an add-on are much better for the bottom line.

 

 

[PC Skier]

 This is our goodbye to NCL. We are sapphire and NCL keeps taking away things right and left. We will be cruising only RCCL and Princess from now on. 

[oteixeira]

5 hours ago, skeeter195 said:

My fear is if 2 or 3 times the amount of items are added to the menu it is going to look and feel more like a diner menu.  Plenty of good items but no real standouts.  The cooks just cannot put the care into making so many different dishes.  The MDR experience has gone downhill drastically over the years on NCL.  This move may just take all of the nice meal feel out of the dining experience.  BTW I love going to a diner when I want to maybe once every couple of months.  I would not want to go to one everyday for dinner though.  

Have you been on after the shutdown?  It is most certainly better since the restart, they revamped the menus.

[oteixeira]

42 minutes ago, PC Skier said:

 This is our goodbye to NCL. We are sapphire and NCL keeps taking away things right and left. We will be cruising only RCCL and Princess from now on. 

Isn't it great that we have so many choices in cruising.  Enjoy RCCL and Princess!  

[Oxo]

2 hours ago, PC Skier said:

 This is our goodbye to NCL. We are sapphire and NCL keeps taking away things right and left. We will be cruising only RCCL and Princess from now on. 

Do you really think any cruise line  worries about loosing a client?

You leave NCL go to RCI/Princess.

There are others like you leaving RCI/Princess and coming to NCL.

VICIOUS circle.

Read the other CC Forums. There is always someone who has their reasons to leave X to Y.

Enjoy whichever line you go to.

[SNJCruisers]

4 hours ago, MoCruiseFan said:

 No choice is being taken away.

Have to disagree.  Previously if there were 5 choices per night, that would be 35 different entrees over the course of a 7 day cruise.  If the new standard menu consists of 10 choices, then you lose 25 over the course of the week.

[SNJCruisers]

2 hours ago, oteixeira said:

Isn't it great that we have so many choices in cruising.  Enjoy RCCL and Princess!  

Quit waving your Norwegian pom poms and being snarky.  It's their decision to cruise on RCI and Princess because of the marketing decision that NCL made.  They should not be denigrated for making that choice to change cruise lines.

[rnfulk]

Just now, SNJCruisers said:

Have to disagree.  Previously if there were 5 choices per night, that would be 35 different entrees over the course of a 7 day cruise.  If the new standard menu consists of 10 choices, then you lose 25 over the course of the week.

But you don’t know that a new menu would have 10 choices. You are letting yourself get upset over an unknown. We all have enough to worry about these days without focusing on a worst case hypothetical. Speculation doesn’t help anyone. 

[Oxo]

12 minutes ago, SNJCruisers said:

Quit waving your Norwegian pom poms and being snarky.  It's their decision to cruise on RCI and Princess because of the marketing decision that NCL made.  They should not be denigrated for making that choice to change cruise lines.

i don't believe that oteixeira was waving the NCL pom poms or being snarky.

Why are we so quick to jump on people when they express their views/comments. If  I were to get snarky or whatever, it would have been more direct.

I thought that poster was very civil and correct in the statement that we have choices.

I also concur with their statement: Enjoy RCCL and Princess!  

Stay Safe and Happy Cruising! 

 

[SNJCruisers]

1 hour ago, rnfulk said:

But you don’t know that a new menu would have 10 choices. You are letting yourself get upset over an unknown. We all have enough to worry about these days without focusing on a worst case hypothetical. Speculation doesn’t help anyone. 

All we can do is speculate at this point, but 10 choices per night could be a good hypothesis.

[clskinsfan]

5 hours ago, MoCruiseFan said:

No choice is being taken away

Wrong. If the menu choice for beef is Filet for example. That means during the week you no longer see beef wellington, Prime rib or Shepherds Pie as an example. No you get Filet. Every single day.