LA BISTRO- COVERED IN FREE DINING?

[ChiefMateJRK]

15 hours ago, GaryWT said:

You get 1 app, 1 soup or salad, one entree and 1 dessert. Anything else you will get charged. 

Am I the only person who never wants to order more than one of each?

[JamieLogical]

3 hours ago, JGmf said:

@JamieLogical are you back to NCL?  Or perhaps just surfing this board?  I thought you bailed for another cruise line?  Good to see you commenting here again.

 

Temporarily back on these forums while I am planning for an upcoming sailing on the Breakaway with my brother. He sucked me in with the super low solo price for the sailing and the fact that I still had $500 of CruiseNext, which I had previously planned to just let expire.

[KeithJenner]

8 hours ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Am I the only person who never wants to order more than one of each?

No, I very rarely order more than one of any course. Only done it a couple of times.

 

Rather strangely, considering others seem to get told that you can only order one, about the only time I have done so is when I an struggling to decide and the waiter suggests that I have both as it’s included.

[PATRLR]

11 hours ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Am I the only person who never wants to order more than one of each?

Not often.  A common situation is where we might want to "try" something.   IIRC, Cagneys one night we got Shrimp Cocktail and Ahi Tuna but both wanted to try the oysters Rockefeller.

 

[JamieLogical]

14 hours ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Am I the only person who never wants to order more than one of each?

 

I have never ordered more than one of anything that I can remember. One appetizer, one entrée, and one dessert is already way more food than I can eat in one sitting.

[UKstages]

more than one appetizer?

 

some appetizers are ridiculously small, but well worth ordering. (i'm looking at you, pan seared bay scallops at le bistro.) it's entirely conceivable you might want a little summin' summin' on top of that.

[FLcruisergrl]

On 9/30/2022 at 10:04 AM, MotownVoice said:

So we're down to, "go ahead, order it and lets see what we can get away with" type of advice?

lol

I want to be a fly on the wall when all the people in this thread told someone to just order whatever they want as long as it's not an entree because you won't get charged ...... when they finally get the bill and got charged.

That'll be a whole new thread when they get back.

 

It’s not about getting away with anything. It’s the terms & conditions of the package and it’s calling their bluff. I’ve had servers try the 1-1-1 thing, but on out last cruise in March, our server literally said “one entree and unlimited anything else”. That is what the terms & conditions state. Nobody is trying to cheat the system.

[FLcruisergrl]

18 hours ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Am I the only person who never wants to order more than one of each?

I usually don’t, but sometimes might want app, soup AND salad. For me it’s the point of being given incorrect information.

[snorklinbarb]

Have encountered the incorrect 1-1-1 info on SDP on just about every ship.  I've brought it up with their managers and on last cruise it changed immediately after a big meeting and waiters were then supposedly on the same page.  Some had misconceptions they brought with them after a long covid break, some need retraining and some are just plain new.  Some confused with the Latitudes voucher which is stated by NCL as 1--1-1.  (My experience on that is venue-dependent or even waiter-dependent particularly at La Cucina - never have had a problem ordering burrata and "small" order of pasta + entree and dessert. )

 

To answer your question, yes I often order 2 apps and no dessert.  At Ocean Blue a regular starter  like the blazin' shrimp or the ahi tuna or the scallops on pork belly (so many great ones!) + clam chowder or at Le Bistro escargots + onion soup (or the salmon roll stuffed with crab).  Never more than 1 entree though!

 

 

 

 

[palpieha]

On 9/30/2022 at 6:05 PM, ChiefMateJRK said:

Am I the only person who never wants to order more than one of each?

 

I don't usually eat dessert, but might want a soup and a salad.

[Lakesregion]

Easy solution to all the confusion. Do not use any of the charge extra restaurants. Dine exclusively in the places that are included in your fare. As far as I can see unless you live in a food desert, none of the for fee places offer any thing that can not be obtained on shore.

[KeithJenner]

13 minutes ago, Lakesregion said:

Easy solution to all the confusion. Do not use any of the charge extra restaurants. Dine exclusively in the places that are included in your fare. As far as I can see unless you live in a food desert, none of the for fee places offer any thing that can not be obtained on shore.

Why wouldn’t you use something that is included in your fare? It really isn’t complicated or confusing, despite how it is made to sound sometimes.

 

If we are not doing things because things aren’t 100% clear then we should start with not getting on NCL ships, as they specialise in that. The slight inconsistencies in what people are told is included in the dining package are replicated in many areas on NCL ships.

Edited October 2, 2022 by KeithJenner

[nferr]

On 9/29/2022 at 6:50 PM, PATRLR said:

Its unlimited, but servers will often verbalize that you only get one of each.  Reports are, even after being told one of each, multiple items were not charged.  

 

 In April on the Epic transatlantic my first night in LeBistro I had an app and a soup, two nights later in LeBistro I was told I could only get one or the other from a different waiter. Both nights were on the Free at Sea. So who knows.

[KeithJenner]

3 minutes ago, nferr said:

 In April on the Epic transatlantic my first night in LeBistro I had an app and a soup, two nights later in LeBistro I was told I could only get one or the other from a different waiter. Both nights were on the Free at Sea. So who knows.

We know. You are limited to one entree, that is all. Apps and desserts are unlimited, whatever the staff say.

 

That is why we can be so confident when we say that. People report being told all sorts of conflicting things, but the actual charging is incredibly consistent.

[nferr]

1 minute ago, KeithJenner said:

We know. You are limited to one entree, that is all. Apps and desserts are unlimited, whatever the staff say.

 

That is why we can be so confident when we say that. People report being told all sorts of conflicting things, but the actual charging is incredibly consistent.

 

Good to know for next time. Like someone posted ordering a small app, a soup, and a salad before your entree isn't really overdoing it.

[gknep]

Just got off the Encore. We are Platinum so we had the two SDP and the two certificates. My brother has 2 SDP and bought 2 more meals before the cruise so we could all eat together. The waiter made sure to tell us on the nights when we used our certificates that we were limited but that my brother and his wife could order extra apps for us if we wanted. One night we were all in Los Lobos and my sister in law only ordered appetizers so the waiter told us he would only charge my brother one of his SDP meals. He had one left over at the end of the week which he and his wife split at Food Republic. My wife an I never had any issues with limits of the platinum certificates. We made more than enough food. 

[ChiefMateJRK]

22 hours ago, gknep said:

One night we were all in Los Lobos and my sister in law only ordered appetizers so the waiter told us he would only charge my brother one of his SDP meals. He had one left over at the end of the week which he and his wife split at Food Republic.  

That's interesting!  I may try that someday.