Add Touch Pads to The Galley (or full ordering on the app?)

[CruisingWalter]

So the new NCL PRIMA launches with their Indulge Food Hall which seems to be taking The Galley food hall concept up a notch. 10 eateries (11 with the Starbucks) but the big thing they added is a touchpad ordering at most of the tables and seating areas. It reminded me that when we were on the NCL Escape in November, Food Republic had the touch pads at every single table and that's how we placed our orders. It was easy and super efficient. Also note that most of the food locations have sit up bars so you can eat right at the food station making it more like land based food halls. 

 

The touchpad concept to place our own orders in The Galley without the need to flag down a server would be a HUGE help when it's busy. Or just put the full ordering system in the app. Just punch in your table number and place your order. We loved the Galley except the morning we were in Puerto Plata and had a hard time flagging down a server. Very thankful to the Let's Taco About It chef who came over personally to take our order. 

 

Thoughts? One look at the Indulge Food Hall from The Points Guy. https://thepointsguy.com/guide/norwegian-cruise-line-indulge-food-hall/

[scaught]

They could add that feature to the app and I could order from my phone. I wouldn't enjoy it. I don't particularly like looking at menus on my phone as it is. I like good service from a real person. 

[jon81uk]

I was just saying this today, I’d be quite happy scanning a code, inputting the table number and ordering from a website. 
 

Also I think the Galley should have been designed so that the counters where you walk up are located together and the hot food counters should have been smaller with online ordering. 

[CruisingWalter]

4 minutes ago, jon81uk said:

I was just saying this today, I’d be quite happy scanning a code, inputting the table number and ordering from a website. 
 

Also I think the Galley should have been designed so that the counters where you walk up are located together and the hot food counters should have been smaller with online ordering. 

 

The layout of The Galley is quite typical for a food hall, spreading out the venues to there is not a large queue in one spot. If you had all the counters side by side it would turn into a mass of bodies pretty quickly. I don't mind the layout at all, I just wish I could order the food myself either via touchpads or the app directly vs. trying to flag down a server. 🙂

[babalooo]

I think it's a great idea to have an ipad at every table where you can do the ordering and they just bring it to you. They did just upgrade their wi-fi to accommodate more people on at the same time so why not give us a better experience rather than looking at our tiny phone screens. 

[2wolves]

I found that chatting with the crew was one of the better parts of ordering and I would not like  to impersonalize it.

 

my wife is from Hungary and our server the first time was from Hungary and they hit it off! Taking that out of the equation with technology would really hurt the experience, at least for us. 

[AdoraBelle]

I had a sort of funny experience where, if I was just sitting down with some tea or grab and go food, I would always instantly get a server asking if I wanted something, but if I actually wanted to order something I ended up waiting a while.

 

That said, I seemed to eat outside of normal peak times, and it took me a while to realize that most of the galley stations are closed at dinner. I’m hoping that’s not permanent and is only in place because of low ship occupancy. 

Edited September 5, 2022 by AdoraBelle

[_tacocat_]

12 hours ago, AdoraBelle said:

I had a sort of funny experience where, if I was just sitting down with some tea or grab and go food, I would always instantly get a server asking if I wanted something, but if I actually wanted to order something I ended up waiting a while.

 

That said, I seemed to eat outside of normal peak times, and it took me a while to realize that most of the galley stations are closed at dinner. I’m hoping that’s not permanent and is only in place because of low ship occupancy. 

Some of the stations have super weird hours, like tacos and ramen only for breakfast and lunch (but I’ve seen folks say they got dinner ramen, so who knows hahah).  As luck would have it, we were ALWAYS hungry in the “in between” (I think 3-5?) where the only thing open was the diner and dash.

[AdoraBelle]

2 hours ago, _tacocat_ said:

Some of the stations have super weird hours, like tacos and ramen only for breakfast and lunch (but I’ve seen folks say they got dinner ramen, so who knows hahah).  As luck would have it, we were ALWAYS hungry in the “in between” (I think 3-5?) where the only thing open was the diner and dash.

YES, this was me, with that weird mid-afternoon thing. I ended eating a lot of grab and go. I suppose pizza was also an option, but I’m not much of a pizza person.

 

By the time I figured out the ramen hours it was too late. 🙂

[CruisingWalter]

On 9/4/2022 at 11:04 PM, AdoraBelle said:

I had a sort of funny experience where, if I was just sitting down with some tea or grab and go food, I would always instantly get a server asking if I wanted something, but if I actually wanted to order something I ended up waiting a while.

 

That said, I seemed to eat outside of normal peak times, and it took me a while to realize that most of the galley stations are closed at dinner. I’m hoping that’s not permanent and is only in place because of low ship occupancy. 

 

I think that's standard practice that most of the eateries will be closed at dinner because the restaurants are so popular. I believe they basically rotate which food stations would be open on any given night in part to conserve on food waste. 

[xerenthar]

my favorite part is the description of Diner and Dash being super inaccurate. "Craving an egg and bacon dish in the morning? BLT at lunch? Chicken and potatoes for dinner? You're in luck" .... only one of those is true!

[kwokpot]

14 hours ago, xerenthar said:

my favorite part is the description of Diner and Dash being super inaccurate. "Craving an egg and bacon dish in the morning? BLT at lunch? Chicken and potatoes for dinner? You're in luck" .... only one of those is true!

It's a VERY underutilized restaurant. 

[delcineyt4968]

This would be convenient 

[Chrish2]

I think the original concept was to have pagers/buzzers for orders that could not just be handed to you. At some of the stations you see the charging kit for them but no devices. They have the pagers/buzzers at the pizza place.

[TimmH]

We are on Scarlet Lady now, and our first afternoon at The Galley was just that. 

 

We say down scanned the code and thought we were supposed to order on the app,  no one came to us for like 20 mins when we were able to finally flag someone down.

 

It would be easy easier to order via the app as an option.

 

The other thing I noticed is the bartenders using phones to ring up your order,  seemed to be slow.  Seems fixed tablets with common drink button options would speed things up. 

[Fogcityca13]

Some of our local restaurants have you scan a QR code at your table and you then do your ordering from the phone. It does feel a bit impersonal but it’s extremely efficient. It would be a nice option to have on VV.

[Happeee]

I’m very confused now! Would someone please be kind enough clarify how to order food on the Virgin ships? Do you sit down, peruse the menus on the app and then order via a server? Thanks

[cantgetin]

1 hour ago, Happeee said:

I’m very confused now! Would someone please be kind enough clarify how to order food on the Virgin ships? Do you sit down, peruse the menus on the app and then order via a server? Thanks

It depends on which food outlet you are talking about.  In the sit down restaurants (the ones where you make a reservation), you will be seated.  A server will come over and explain that you can view the menu on the app or they can bring you paper menus.  They then come and take your order as in any other restaurant.
In The Galley, you sit down and scan the QR code.  The server then comes over and takes your order.  Yes, you view the menu on the app or on the sign boards at each of the "food court" sort of locations.  You can walk to the location and ask for the bread or dessert you wish--you point it out and the server plates it for you. You can also go "off menu" in some locations.  For instance, they will make your salad any way you wish, provided they have the ingredients.  You don't have to stick to the examples on the menu.  Just specify what you do or do not want in your salad or on your pizza.

Places like The Dock, The Pizza Place, etc. you just ask the server for what you want.

[jon81uk]

2 hours ago, Happeee said:

I’m very confused now! Would someone please be kind enough clarify how to order food on the Virgin ships? Do you sit down, peruse the menus on the app and then order via a server? Thanks

In the restaurants yes you order as normal with a server. 
At the Galley it is layed out like a food court, but servers come to the table to take orders for most things, except pastries, cakes, salads and bento boxes where you either select yourself or point at it and the person behind the counter plates it for you.

 

At the pizza place you order at the counter and get a pager to go back to the counter and collect the pizza.

[cantgetin]

I should have said that all forms of "to go" boxes, you select for yourself and take them.  THey are all labeled as to contents.  The selection of "to go" boxes does change throughout the day.  For instance, in the morning, the bento boxes are fruit.  Later in the day, they are sushi.  Similar changes in the large refrigerated area with other sorts of boxes.

[kwokpot]

5 hours ago, cantgetin said:

I should have said that all forms of "to go" boxes, you select for yourself and take them.  THey are all labeled as to contents.  The selection of "to go" boxes does change throughout the day.  For instance, in the morning, the bento boxes are fruit.  Later in the day, they are sushi.  Similar changes in the large refrigerated area with other sorts of boxes.

 

[cantgetin]

Thanks for the photo!

 

[Happeee]

Thanks for the explanations, everyone. 
 

[CruisingWalter]

On 10/3/2022 at 12:08 PM, Happeee said:

I’m very confused now! Would someone please be kind enough clarify how to order food on the Virgin ships? Do you sit down, peruse the menus on the app and then order via a server? Thanks

 

In the restaurants it's just like any other restaurant, you place your order and they serve you. In the Galley if it's slow you can go self order. If it's busy you need to flag down a server and have them place your order and get your food. It's not a great system in The Galley at the moment. 

[cantgetin]

2 hours ago, WheresWalter said:

 

In the restaurants it's just like any other restaurant, you place your order and they serve you. In the Galley if it's slow you can go self order. If it's busy you need to flag down a server and have them place your order and get your food. It's not a great system in The Galley at the moment. 

Have they fixed the issue of the servers standing around talking  with each other while there are no clean tables and people waiting for service?  I'll find out next week, but I sure hope so.  It was purely a management problem--there didn't seem to be a supervisor in site and the people working just didn't seem to be able to identify a dirty table or anything else that needed to be done!  This was about 6 months ago, so here's hoping!