FREE AT SEA SPECIALTY DINING?

[ERNLYN]

VERY CONFUSING!

I read the info on NCL website, and I spoke to our NCL agent and info is conflicting.  Website explains " 7day, inside cabin of two passengers are eligible for one free meal plus $10.00 tip."  Is that one free meal for just one of the two passengers?  Agent explains for the same above scenario passenger one & two each gets a free dinner plus a $10.00 tip per passenger. Agent further explains for an inside room, 7-day cruise with four passengers are eligible for a free meal for passengers one & two only plus a $10.00 tip ea.  Can someone please give a very simple clear answer to this perk?
.

[hawkeyetlse]

Guest 1 and guest 2 each get one specialty dining meal with Free at Sea. They consider this to have a retail value of $50 per person, which you do not pay, but they do charge you the 20% gratuity, so $10 per person. During your cruise, you eat this meal, you don't pay for it, and you have already paid a $10 gratuity. So you don't pay anything further on board.

 

Guests 3 and 4 in the same cabin get nothing.

Edited March 28, 2023 by hawkeyetlse

[casofilia]

@ERNLYN

 

The document I have states "Eligibility: Guests 1 & 2 on the Reservation"

[latebloomer56]

Question, Teppenyaki is over that 50.00 is this covered as the free at sea or the free platinum dinner?

Thanks

[KeithJenner]

27 minutes ago, latebloomer56 said:

Question, Teppenyaki is over that 50.00 is this covered as the free at sea or the free platinum dinner?

Thanks

Yes it is.

[hawkeyetlse]

The $50 is not meant to be the cost of a meal, it's (supposedly) the retail price of a 1-meal specialty dining package. And it's normal that when you buy a package, you save money compared to purchasing everything separately. Except of course there's no such thing as a 1-meal package. They just made up this number so they could explain the $10 gratuity. (Less than two years ago they said the retail price was $44.95, and before that, $25!)

[ERNLYN]

I understand now the 4-passenger room getting one meal ea for 1st and 2nd passengers.  Agent advised that an inside cabin of 2 people on a 7-day cruise will get one free meal for both the passengers in the 2-person room.  Is that true? if so it seems a 4-person room gets slighted only getting 2 meals out of 4 people?

[UKstages]

9 minutes ago, ERNLYN said:

if so it seems a 4-person room gets slighted only getting 2 meals out of 4 people?

 

not really. most benefits are calculated on passengers 1 and 2, as passengers 3 and 4 travel free... that is the main benefit to being passengers 3 and 4! it's really not about how many people the cabin holds... it's about how many paid to be on board.

Edited March 28, 2023 by UKstages

[ERNLYN]

1 hour ago, UKstages said:

 

not really. most benefits are calculated on passengers 1 and 2, as passengers 3 and 4 travel free... that is the main benefit to being passengers 3 and 4! it's really not about how many people the cabin holds... it's about how many paid to be on board.

Appreciate your reply, in our case which is an inside room for 4, only one of the four of us fly's free, the other 3 of us are paying airfare thru NCL

[redmomof4]

20 minutes ago, ERNLYN said:

Appreciate your reply, in our case which is an inside room for 4, only one of the four of us fly's free, the other 3 of us are paying airfare thru NCL

But the actual cruise fare for passengers 3/4 is significantly reduced or free on most of not all sailings. Usually only 1/2 pay full fare (if that!)

[ggTexasGal]

@ERNLYN Most likely, since you did not list your flight/airfare as a question in your original post, most people would not have assumed that you took that perk.

 

Unfortunately, NCL does not give "simple" information.  But, all of the Terms and Conditions are available on their homepage with the assorted cruise deals. 

https://www.ncl.com/about/terms-and-conditions/promotions

Edited March 28, 2023 by ggTexasGal
corrected sentence

[hawkeyetlse]

1 hour ago, ERNLYN said:

Appreciate your reply, in our case which is an inside room for 4, only one of the four of us fly's free, the other 3 of us are paying airfare thru NCL

But what is the cruise fare for guests 3 and 4? You should see a breakdown of the total cost of the cabin somewhere. Putting 4 people in a room typically does not double the price (if it did, no one would book it that way, they would just book 2 cabins). But if you don't pay double, why would you expect double the perks? You pay less because guests 3 and 4 get no perks.

[Liljo22]

2 hours ago, ERNLYN said:

Appreciate your reply, in our case which is an inside room for 4, only one of the four of us fly's free, the other 3 of us are paying airfare thru NCL

Its not about flying with NCL.  Its about the cruise fare.  Guest 1 and 2 pay full cruise fare and guest 3 and 4 pay a reduced fare.  Given that, only 1&2 are eligible for the specialty dining.  

[ERNLYN]

Thank you all for your good points!  "I was not seeing the forest for the trees", not only will one of us fly free, but 3rd and 4th passengers got a significantly reduced cruise fare. (a pretty good deal) !

 

[hawkeyetlse]

I don’t have a lot of experience with booking more than 2 in a cabin, but I think you’ll find that your guests 3 and 4 would pay the exact same low cruise fare in every other category, too! Even in a Haven suite! Basically guests 1 and 2 do all the heavy lifting. 

[ChiefMateJRK]

5 hours ago, ERNLYN said:

I understand now the 4-passenger room getting one meal ea for 1st and 2nd passengers.  Agent advised that an inside cabin of 2 people on a 7-day cruise will get one free meal for both the passengers in the 2-person room.  Is that true? if so it seems a 4-person room gets slighted only getting 2 meals out of 4 people?

The pro-tip hack that comes up here from time to time is for all four of you to go to food republic and use only the 2 "free" meals.  You can order eight menu items which is often enough for four people. 😎

[gkbiiii]

The cabin category, determines the number of comped dinners you get.

[BCOS]

5 hours ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

The pro-tip hack that comes up here from time to time is for all four of you to go to food republic and use only the 2 "free" meals.  You can order eight menu items which is often enough for four people. 😎

 

Is there a similar hack for ships that don't have Food Republic? We're sailing with four in our Jewel cabin and I declined the FAS dining option because 1) I think we'll feel like we have plenty of complimentary options and 2) I didn't want to either buy meals for two of us or leave two of us behind while 1&2 dined upscale.

[hawkeyetlse]

Depends on the ship, but the other venues with the 4-item rule are sushi bar, tapas bar, raw bar. I don't think 8 items for 4 people will fill you up at those places, but no one says you can't go eat somewhere else before/after.