Free at Sea - Dining option

[DiscoCV]

First time with NCL in a while and we have one free meal. What exactly is included - appetizer and main? desserts? Is there a price limit or a special menu to chose from at each restaurant?

[Liljo22]

For the a la carte restaurants, it’s 1 app, 1 soup/salad, 1 entree, 2 side and 1 dessert.  There is no price limitation but a couple of items on each menu have a dining package supplement charge.  These are items like the surf and turf in Cagneys or the filet with foie gras in Le Bistro.
 

The restaurants with the cover charge, you get what’s available with the cover charge.

 

The restaurants with individual smaller items like Food Republic, you get 4 items per credit.

Edited August 15, 2023 by Liljo22

[BirdTravels]

4 hours ago, DiscoCV said:

First time with NCL in a while and we have one free meal. What exactly is included - appetizer and main? desserts? Is there a price limit or a special menu to chose from at each restaurant?

Reservations required. Online reservations open exactly 120 days prior to departure, 12 midnight eastern time. (125 if you are in a club balcony or 130 if you are in the Haven suites). Popular restaurants and times will sell out (e.g., sea days 5:30 - 7:30).  Some tables are saved for onboard bookings. 
 

Example Free at Sea dinner

 

[IsanTom]

6 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

Reservations required. Online reservations open exactly 120 days prior to departure, 12 midnight eastern time. (125 if you are in a club balcony or 130 if you are in the Haven suites). Popular restaurants and times will sell out (e.g., sea days 5:30 - 7:30).  Some tables are saved for onboard bookings. 
 

Example Free at Sea dinner

 

That's Sad!!! What's happening at NCL? This is not Nickel and Diming!

[cruiseny4life]

8 hours ago, IsanTom said:

That's Sad!!! What's happening at NCL? This is not Nickel and Diming!

This is one reason, among many (mostly quality), that I will never, ever pay a la carte for any food in specialty restaurants on NCL....except mozzarella sticks. I make an exception for those and milkshakes at American Diner. Otherwise, nope, nada, forget it! The food is run of the mill plain jack and jane ordinary stuff. The prices are...well on the surface they're not terrible. Until you remember you could go to the main dining room for free. That's when you realize the insanity of NCL's (mediocre) specialty dining.

[IsanTom]

2 hours ago, cruiseny4life said:

This is one reason, among many (mostly quality), that I will never, ever pay a la carte for any food in specialty restaurants on NCL....except mozzarella sticks. I make an exception for those and milkshakes at American Diner. Otherwise, nope, nada, forget it! The food is run of the mill plain jack and jane ordinary stuff. The prices are...well on the surface they're not terrible. Until you remember you could go to the main dining room for free. That's when you realize the insanity of NCL's (mediocre) specialty dining.

I agree!

[BirdTravels]

3 hours ago, cruiseny4life said:

This is one reason, among many (mostly quality), that I will never, ever pay a la carte for any food in specialty restaurants on NCL....except mozzarella sticks. I make an exception for those and milkshakes at American Diner. Otherwise, nope, nada, forget it! The food is run of the mill plain jack and jane ordinary stuff. The prices are...well on the surface they're not terrible. Until you remember you could go to the main dining room for free. That's when you realize the insanity of NCL's (mediocre) specialty dining.

I appreciate someone whose idea of specialty dining is cheese sticks and a milkshake. 

[cruiseny4life]

12 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

I appreciate someone whose idea of specialty dining is cheese sticks and a milkshake. 

Haha....absolutely! It's the only worthwhile (for pay) food on the ship. I'm sad Pr1ma doesn't have American Diner, but we'll have plenty of food to make us happy. Now, if NCL would make upcharge food more edible, then I'd be all for paying a la carte prices.

 

We do sometimes (last cruise and upcoming) purchase the specialty dining package upgrade as it is a more reasonable cost for those specialty restaurants. $40 for them is much more reasonable than $100 per person. 

[DCGuy64]

Normally, I agree with @cruiseny4life, however I must take exception to the notion that food quality in NCL's specialty restaurants is mediocre. Yes, taste is subjective, but having been to Italy 27 times, I have eaten Italian food in Italy MANY times, and La Cucina serves up food that is absolutely the equivalent of excellent meals I've had in that country. Moderno and Cagney's also do an excellent job, easily the equivalent of things I've eaten in sit-down restaurants on land. I do think the food in the MDR can sometimes be bland, but NOT the specialty restaurants.

[cruiseny4life]

37 minutes ago, DCGuy64 said:

Normally, I agree with @cruiseny4life, however I must take exception to the notion that food quality in NCL's specialty restaurants is mediocre. Yes, taste is subjective, but having been to Italy 27 times, I have eaten Italian food in Italy MANY times, and La Cucina serves up food that is absolutely the equivalent of excellent meals I've had in that country. Moderno and Cagney's also do an excellent job, easily the equivalent of things I've eaten in sit-down restaurants on land. I do think the food in the MDR can sometimes be bland, but NOT the specialty restaurants.

I get in trouble when I talk about NCL food all the time. I might possibly like to use adjectives. Funny thing - my husband, who learned English in Russia, taught me what an adjectives and verbs are (even after an almost minor in English and AP English in high school). Obviously I didn't pay attention, even though my grades were excellent...or time has killed my memories.

Anyway! I use a lot of adjectives to describe NCL's food, especially their subpar (there I go again) specialty dining offerings. It's not that I don't enjoy specialty dining. We agree, La Cucina is good food. It's just that it is Olive Garden good food. Moderno is Texas de Brazil good. Cagney's is, well honestly, Cagney's is about as not as good as Texas Roadhouse. 

 

My issue with NCL's food is the a la carte cost compared to the value. I do not feel any of us should be paying the a la carte price for what is provided. Portions are small when paying a la carte. Remember three zucchini slices as a side for $8 at Cagney's? We are already subsidizing the cost of food with our cruise fare since the main dining room and other included options are available. How on earth does NCL morally justify charging the prices they do? I get it from a revenue perspective. But not from a we're going to be a good business to our customers part. At least that's how the equation works for me. 

 

So, yes the food is decent and edible. Sometimes I even enjoy it - thinking back to pasta carbonara at La Cucina, sushi at Food Republic. Only as part of the dining package though. Never a la carte. 

 

Oh, and @BirdTravels, remember I'm the Millennial that loves mac and cheese, and am upset it's not on a menu (except at Q). 🙂 

[eileeshb]

10 minutes ago, cruiseny4life said:

er I'm the Millennial that loves mac and cheese, and am upset it's not on a menu (except at Q). 🙂 

You had to mention Mac and cheese, I was so disappointed with it the last time I got it in O’Sheehans on Epic for embarkation day lunch. Good Mac and cheese is super delicious and yummy but that dish on Epic was so awful I didn’t even check if it was still on the menu the next time I sailed . 

Edited August 16, 2023 by eileeshb

[DCGuy64]

24 minutes ago, cruiseny4life said:

It's just that it is Olive Garden good food

Oh, no. No, no, no, no, noooooooooo.... My wife and I love Olive Garden for what it is, and La Cucina's food is light years ahead of Olive Garden. Not even close.

32 minutes ago, cruiseny4life said:

We are already subsidizing the cost of food with our cruise fare since the main dining room and other included options are available

That is true. However, even with the cost of the specialty dining gratuities, the total cost of our cruises on NCL have been comparable to, or even less than, similar offerings on other lines. Bottom line is that NCL is a very affordable cruise line for us.

[DCGuy64]

25 minutes ago, eileeshb said:

You had to mention Mac and cheese, I was so disappointed with it the last time I got it in O’Sheehans on Epic for embarkation day lunch. Good Mac and cheese is super delicious and yummy but that dish on Epic was so awful I didn’t even check if it was still on the menu the next time I sailed . 

Recent reports suggest that the spaghetti carbonara (it might be linguine) at O'Sheehan's is VERY good. Love their Reubens, chicken wings, and burgers. Somewhat disappointed in the pretzel bite due to the subpar cheese sauce (but others have found hacks for that like asking the waiter for a small bowl of melted cheddar).

[eileeshb]

2 hours ago, DCGuy64 said:

Recent reports suggest that the spaghetti carbonara (it might be linguine) at O'Sheehan's is VERY good. Love their Reubens, chicken wings, and burgers. Somewhat disappointed in the pretzel bite due to the subpar cheese sauce (but others have found hacks for that like asking the waiter for a small bowl of melted cheddar).

I hope so, the same sailing with the bad Mac and cheese, I got spaghetti Alfredo at the pasta station in the buffet and the spaghetti was ridiculously undercooked .

I’m bringing a friend with me for her first cruise and she’s a health inspector so it’ll be interesting to see what she makes of the setup on the ship. We’ll be on bliss and I’ve booked teppanyaki for us as I’ve yet to see that sort of restaurant here in Ireland so it’s more for the show than the food as those chefs are far too heavy handed with the soy sauce. 

[DCGuy64]

1 hour ago, eileeshb said:

I hope so, the same sailing with the bad Mac and cheese, I got spaghetti Alfredo at the pasta station in the buffet and the spaghetti was ridiculously undercooked .

I’m bringing a friend with me for her first cruise and she’s a health inspector so it’ll be interesting to see what she makes of the setup on the ship. We’ll be on bliss and I’ve booked teppanyaki for us as I’ve yet to see that sort of restaurant here in Ireland so it’s more for the show than the food as those chefs are far too heavy handed with the soy sauce. 

Wow, that's surprising, usually the spaghetti is over-cooked. 🤣 My wife loves soy sauce so she actually thinks they should put MORE on. I love Teppanyaki, we've had nice meals there.