Dinner with Officers

[belchro22]

We are about to make Sapphire status. I see that dinner with Officers is included as a perk. Can anyone fill us in as to how that works? Where do you eat and is the meal complimentary?

Edited March 31, 2023 by belchro22

[JIMESOPUS]

For us, it has been paired with a second couple and two officers, all the time the meals were in the MDR's and they provided a bottle of wine. The officers have been the assistant GM, HR manager, CruiseNext Manager, assistant Housekeeping Manager, and several junior officers.

[www3traveler]

44 minutes ago, belchro22 said:

We are about to make Sapphire status. I see that dinner with Officers is included as a perk. Can anyone fill us in as to how that works? Where do you eat and is the meal complimentary?

In the Dinners I have done, it is complimentary and in one of the Main Dining Rooms.  You sign up for it at the Cruise Next office.  You will recieve a letter asking you to RSVP, meet at a specific time and place.  Usually there are one or two "Officers" per table and several guest (the numbers vary).  An "Officer" does not mean the Captain (sometimes they will host).  It can be anyone--Department Heads to lower level Bridge Officers.  I have had: Hotel Directors, Spa Managers, Internet Managers, Beverage Manager, Communications Officer, Security Officer, Staff Captains and a couple of Captains.  It is an interesting evening, at least for me.

[cruiseny4life]

49 minutes ago, JIMESOPUS said:

For us, it has been paired with a second couple and two officers, all the time the meals were in the MDR's and they provided a bottle of wine. The officers have been the assistant GM, HR manager, CruiseNext Manager, assistant Housekeeping Manager, and several junior officers.

I think the only officer I'd want to dine with is the HR Manager so we could swap stories of land-based for ship-based HR ridiculousness! Thanks for mentioning they are sometimes thrown into the mix....though I don't know if I'll ever get enough status to have this "perk." 

[BirdTravels]

2 hours ago, belchro22 said:

We are about to make Sapphire status. I see that dinner with Officers is included as a perk. Can anyone fill us in as to how that works? Where do you eat and is the meal complimentary?

On your next cruise (after you make Sapphire), go to the Cruise Next desk on embarkation day to sign up (along with your behind the scenes tour and Wines Around the World wine tasting). 

 

If they have sufficient interest in the dinner (which they normally do), you will get a invitation in your stateroom from the General Manager's office telling you when and where to show up (normally the atrium). They will take you to one of the Main Dining Rooms and you will be seated with some of the ship's personnel. It is the normal MDR menu, but they will serve wine with dinner. A nice dinner and chance to chat with some of the crew. Pre-pandemic, they used to take photos and get you a copy. The one time I did it after the restart, we didn't get photos. We always enjoy the dinner. Our best "officer" was the Food and Beverage manager who was a lot of fun. 

[MagnoliaBlossom]

FYI, if you sign up for the behind the scene tour, make sure you have closed toe shoes or you will not be permitted to go.

[ronheg]

We were on the Jewel in March and had dinner with the general manager, one other couple and a single woman.  We really enjoyed it and learned a lot.  Main dining room.  The waiters just hovered over us and kept refilling our wine glasses every time we took a sip!

[The Traveling Man]

8 hours ago, belchro22 said:

We are about to make Sapphire status. I see that dinner with Officers is included as a perk. Can anyone fill us in as to how that works? Where do you eat and is the meal complimentary?

As others have said, you need to register at the Cruise Next desk on embarkation day.  We have had dinner with more than 30 officers, including two Captains, five GMs, a dozen other three or four stripe officers, plus a dozen or more junior officers.  Sometimes it was one officer and a half dozen or so passengers.  Other times there were two officers and as many as ten passengers.  The smaller groups were more enjoyable, as they allowed more free flowing conversations.  Most were in the MDR, but three were in Le Bistro and one was in Cagney’s.  The wine flows freely regardless of your beverage package status and there is no charge, even when the meal is in a specialty restaurant.

[HHI Cruiser1]

Just had 'Dinner with Officers'.  Officers can mean any 'stripped' officers including Cruise Next Manager, Internet Manager, and Art Director.  We had dinner in MDR with Art Director (3 striped officer, only normally wears a suit).

[YVRteacher]

Like many experiences on NCL, it will vary from ship to ship. We have enjoyed some amazing meals and conversations and have also had some not-so-great experiences.

Our first Dinner with the Officers took place in Le Bistro and it was an off menu, chef’s creation dinner.  We dined with the Hotel Director (the position is now GM) and Gift Shop Manager.  We were in a private room and it was such a special evening.  We were treated like royalty!  We thought this was the standard though, and were kind of disappointed when our second DWTO was in a dining room.
On the flip side, our “officers” on one cruise were the gift shop manager and employee.  Her phone kept ringing and she kept taking phone calls throughout the meal.  It was actually rude. She got up and left the dinner part way through.  There must have been a gift shop emergency because we are delightful dinner companions.😂

 

The majority of DWTO have taken place in a main dining room, usually at a round table.  They usually offer Chardonnay or a red wine (I don’t drink either.) In the past a group photo was taken and a copy would appear in the cabin the next day along with a plate of treats and a card from the officer.  The photo, card and treats did not happen on the Bliss last week and I’m curious to know if this is a fleet-wide change.  
We have dined with many GMs, safety officers, engineers, guest services managers, and staff captains.  Two weeks ago on the Bliss the two staff members clearly did not want to be there.  One was the group events coordinator and the other was the second engineer.  They barely talked.  The second week it was the Photography manager and someone from housekeeping.  The photography manager was such a pleasure to get to know.  So personable with so many great stories.

 

We have made cruising friends at these dinners and are at the point now where we are often seated with passengers with whom we have previously dined.

 

Personally, I can’t stand it when people spend the entire meal bragging about how many cruises they have done and talking about basic cruise experiences.  You have the opportunity to meet and talk to a staff member who will likely have amazing stories.  Engage with them and don’t hog the conversation by talking about yourself. Rant over.

 

Oh wait.  I lied.  Rant not over. On the Star in 2019 there was a woman at our table who was seated next to the officer.  He was telling us about his wife and 2 year old daughter.  The woman kept stroking his arm and batting her eyes at him.  She had long hair and she dragged her hair across my plate.  I told her not to do that and she told me it was no problem. It was, in fact, definitely a problem as I prefer my bread plates without a side of hair.

 

It seems like the term “officer” is being used a little loosely lately.

 

Edited March 31, 2023 by YVRteacher

[hawkeyetlse]

It surprises me to read reviews where people say that the officer was aloof and didn't seem to want to be there. Do they force them to participate in this dinner? I guess they must offer some kind of incentive to these officers, and that's why you sometimes end up with someone who is just going through the motions to get through the meal.

[YVRteacher]

There is no incentive.  It is an expectation that the officers sign up for one dinner a month,

[hawkeyetlse]

That would certainly explain why some of them act like they are being forced to be there (because they are indeed being forced to be there).

 

But how many officers are there? Are there enough dinners for them all to attend one per month?

[ChiefMateJRK]

42 minutes ago, YVRteacher said:

Personally, I can’t stand it when people spend the entire meal bragging about how many cruises they have done and talking about basic cruise experiences.  You have the opportunity to meet and talk to a staff member who will likely have amazing stories.  Engage with them and don’t hog the conversation by talking about yourself. Rant over.

 

Oh wait.  I lied.  Rant not over. On the Star in 2019 there was a woman at our table who was seated next to the officer.  He was telling us about his wife and 2 year old daughter.  The woman kept stroking his arm and batting her eyes at him.  She had long hair and she dragged her hair across my plate.  I told her not to do that and she told me it was no problem. It was, in fact, definitely a problem as I prefer my bread plates without a side of hair.

You've just captured why I will never attend one of these.  At least with the in-person Muster, I didn't volunteer for an hour of aggravation.😁

[cruiseny4life]

1 hour ago, YVRteacher said:

Personally, I can’t stand it when people spend the entire meal bragging about how many cruises they have done and talking about basic cruise experiences.  You have the opportunity to meet and talk to a staff member who will likely have amazing stories.  Engage with them and don’t hog the conversation by talking about yourself. Rant over.

I'm with you on the, I don't care how many cruises someone was on or that a person has stayed in the Haven XXX number of times. What am I curious about is, what do you engage the officers on? I'm a terrible conversationalist. If I'm conducting a workplace investigation, I can ask you 100,000 questions, but just talk to talk, I'm truly not good at it.

 

This is why I'm not really planning to participate in these type of events if I ever hit the latitudes level where it's a perk. But, having read your lives, and other posts, I'm really curious as I think you would be a great table mate. I hate to think I would just badger them with questions about mundane topics: how has your contract been? When is your contract over? Do you have family? What's it like in [name the country]? I fear this is what I would do and instantly bore whatever officers are near me.

[YVRteacher]

Chocolate is a great topic for conversation!

[Sailing12Away]

We got to experience it for the first time last month. Total of 3 couples plus 2 officers in the MDR. We didn't get to speak with the one officer much as he was seated toward the other end of the table, but we had a lovely chat with the one near us. He had a lot of interesting stories to share about what he did before joining NCL (laying communications cables in a submarine underwater!), and just talked about general stuff. He was a bit nervous as it was his first time going to one of these, but we heard from one of the Haven managers that he enjoyed his chats with us and is looking forward to his next dinner.

 

Pictures were provided to each couple and each of the officers. They really perked up at that - the one near us was excited to be able to show it to his wife and share the story of the experience with her. We will definitely do it again if it's offered on our next trip.

 

Anyone who is living their life completely differently from me will be interesting dinner conversation in my eyes. If I only wanted to ever talk to people with similar lives to my own I wouldn't bother traveling in the first place. 

[julig22]

Had my first DWTO last month, it was also the first offered on that ship, post startup.  CN manager & head of Security.  CN manager was quite the host, very talkative and informative. Kicking myself for not asking Security about how they handle pier runners that don't make it back on the ship.  But he did tell us about the jail...

I think there were 4 couples, 2 solos.  And there were at least 2 different dinners to accommodate the interest.  But no pictures or follow up treats.

I will continue to sign up... I'm always up to meeting new people!

[belchro22]

Thank you all so much for the information and varied experiences. . 😊

[The Traveling Man]

21 hours ago, julig22 said:

Had my first DWTO last month, it was also the first offered on that ship, post startup.  CN manager & head of Security.  CN manager was quite the host, very talkative and informative. Kicking myself for not asking Security about how they handle pier runners that don't make it back on the ship.  But he did tell us about the jail...

I think there were 4 couples, 2 solos.  And there were at least 2 different dinners to accommodate the interest.  But no pictures or follow up treats.

I will continue to sign up... I'm always up to meeting new people!

What ship?  Do you recall the names of the two officers?

[BirdTravels]

On 3/31/2023 at 5:21 PM, HHI Cruiser1 said:

Just had 'Dinner with Officers'.  Officers can mean any 'stripped' officers including Cruise Next Manager, Internet Manager, and Art Director.  We had dinner in MDR with Art Director (3 striped officer, only normally wears a suit).

I said "ship's crew" because we have had an assortment of people including the Tradewinds shop manager,,, who is a vendor and not an NCL employee. He was with a couple of other NCL employees at our table like the training manager. The Art Director is a vendor also. 

Edited April 1, 2023 by BirdTravels

[HHI Cruiser1]

1 hour ago, BirdTravels said:

I said "ship's crew" because we have had an assortment of people including the Tradewinds shop manager,,, who is a vendor and not an NCL employee. He was with a couple of other NCL employees at our table like the training manager. The Art Director is a vendor also. 

Gift Shop Manager, Internet Manager, Doctor, Jewelry Manager, Cruisenext Manager (several other managers) are all 3 strip NCL officers.  HR & Training Manager is only a 2.5 strip NCL officer.  When onboard, all vendors are assigned NCL titles and ranks (discussed this with Art Director during our dinner), each must fit into ship's hierarchy under Captain's command structure.  Learned strip levels while on BTS tour.

[YVRteacher]

With all that stripping, it must have been a nude cruise.

[All-ready2cruise]

Or some may wish that it was... lol

[Alan C]

Is there a dress code for the DWTO?  As I will not be bringing a suit/sport coat, is business casual accepted?