MDR Reservations - Needed on the Jewel?

[basicprincess24]

We'll be a group of 4 on the NCL Jewel to Alaska in September. Are reservations generally recommended for the MDR on a smaller ship?

 

We haven't been on a smaller NCL ship since our first cruise on the Pearl in 2017, and at that time MDR reservations weren't even offered pre-cruise. On the larger ships I've always made them just in case, but I'm hoping that on a smaller ship with a small group that we'll be able to be more flexible. 

[Jldevlin]

Nope ....the longest we had to ever wait was maybe 5 minutes.. 

[ChiefMateJRK]

1 hour ago, Jldevlin said:

Nope ....the longest we had to ever wait was maybe 5 minutes.. 

What is your sample size?

[debenson0723]

I've never made a reservation for the MDR on any NCL ship, with a group size ranging from 2 to 6. The longest I have ever waited was less than 10 minutes...long enough to get a cocktail at the bar to take to dinner. I typically show up between 6 to 6:30.  

[Jldevlin]

3 hours ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

What is your sample size?

B2B on the Jewel last year and just off an 8 day San Diego to Vancouver ... not only did we rarely see a line up but the dining room menu was great and the food was better than before. With all the cutbacks we thought it would be not as good. Happily surprised.

[YVRteacher]

Just got off a B2B on the Jewel.  Food was the best we have ever had on NCL.

 

You won’t need to make reservations for the main dining rooms.  Last week the Jewel was at less than 50% capacity and they closed Azura for the week and just used Palace.

 

As of today, passenger counts for the Jewel are between 1400-1600 for the summer so I wouldn’t expect a September cruise to be full.  If you want to do Teppanyaki book that in advance because it is a smaller venue and fills up quickly.

 

Enjoy your cruise: the Jewel is a special ship with an extraordinary crew.

[basicprincess24]

11 hours ago, YVRteacher said:

Just got off a B2B on the Jewel.  Food was the best we have ever had on NCL.

 

You won’t need to make reservations for the main dining rooms.  Last week the Jewel was at less than 50% capacity and they closed Azura for the week and just used Palace.

 

As of today, passenger counts for the Jewel are between 1400-1600 for the summer so I wouldn’t expect a September cruise to be full.  If you want to do Teppanyaki book that in advance because it is a smaller venue and fills up quickly.

 

Enjoy your cruise: the Jewel is a special ship with an extraordinary crew.

 

This is amazing to hear, thank you! We've got our reservations for Teppanyaki and Cagney's all squared away. 😋 

 

Also good to hear that we might get lucky and not sail with a full ship, it would make for such a relaxing trip. 

[mjkacmom]

14 hours ago, debenson0723 said:

I've never made a reservation for the MDR on any NCL ship, with a group size ranging from 2 to 6. The longest I have ever waited was less than 10 minutes...long enough to get a cocktail at the bar to take to dinner. I typically show up between 6 to 6:30.  

Lucky you! I’ve found bar service in the MDR’s slow, but even with a family of 7, on the smaller and larger ships, we’ve always been seated right away, and I don’t get my drink.