Specialty Restaurants, what if no availability?

[coldinerie]

Wondering if I purchase specialty meals and there is no availability for times I want, can I get a refund if I prepurchase a package? Anyone every have this issue and if so, did you get a refund to your account or your original form of payment?  We are the the Escape in a few weeks and not sure if I should purchase the package.

[ggTexasGal]

5 minutes ago, coldinerie said:

Wondering if I purchase specialty meals and there is no availability for times I want, can I get a refund if I prepurchase a package? Anyone every have this issue and if so, did you get a refund to your account or your original form of payment?  We are the the Escape in a few weeks and not sure if I should purchase the package.

(From the "Terms and Conditions")

Specialty Dining Packages (SDP) are available online for pre-sale or onboard during the first two days of the voyage. SDP is not available on 1 and 2-day sailings; On 3-day sailings, SDP is for sale on day 1 only. No refunds available if not all meals are used. SDPs are personal (per person, e.g., 2 guests cannot share 1 SDP meal) and non-transferable (guests cannot give their SDP meals to someone else). An SDP meal in a la carte restaurants includes 1 appetizer, 1 soup or salad, 1 main course and 1 dessert (does not apply to cover charge restaurants or Food Republic, Pincho Tapas Bar and Sushi, where a meal includes any 4 menu items). No sharing or to go orders permitted. SDP does not include beverages and additional and/or premium menu items will incur charges. A 20% gratuity and specialty service charge will be added to the package price. No SDP kids pricing available. We encourage guests to visit ncl.com/myncl to make dining reservations in advance. Reservations are not required but highly recommended, once onboard, reservations will be subject to availability. SDP meals can be enjoyed at American Diner, Cagney’s Steakhouse, Food Republic, Italian, Le Bistro, Los Lobos, Moderno Churrascaria, Pincho Tapas Bar, Q Texas Smokehouse, Raw Bar, Seafood, Sushi and Teppanyaki.

Dining options vary by ship. You may choose to use SDP meals in entertainment-based restaurants. There will be a 20% gratuity charge on all SDP entertainment-based restaurants.

Venues/Events not included in SDP include: Room Service, SWIFT, District Brewhouse, The Bake Shop, Coco’s, O’ Sheehan’s Ice Cream Bar, Dolce Gelato, Special Occasion/Holiday menus and select Entertainment-based meals.

Edited August 19, 2023 by ggTexasGal
added emphasis to "No Refunds"

[roger001]

I've never seen a sailing where they were not available.  Just maybe not available at the time you want.  

[hawkeyetlse]

On very full sailings, if you wait until later in the cruise, you may have to be flexible with the time/day or choice of restaurant, or if you’re a big group you might have to give up on eating all together. But you can always find something, and you really should use up your package however you can during the cruise, because it will not be easy to get a refund. 

[graphicguy]

I’ve never seen any of those restaurants have no availability throughout an entire cruise.  I’ve always seen some early and late times available.  But, if there’s some times that you prefer, make reservations as soon as possible.  Also, go to the scheduler at the front of the restaurant and let them know what you’re looking for.  They may be able to help.

 

As far as getting a refund, if you don’t use the SDP certificates, you lose them.

[Asawi]

As others have said: There¨s always availability. If not for the times you want - bad luck! But no refund. Book early. If times you want are not available before cruise, try booking after embarkation. If still no luck, try showing up at the restaurant and hope for a last minute availability. 

[BirdTravels]

3 hours ago, coldinerie said:

Wondering if I purchase specialty meals and there is no availability for times I want, can I get a refund if I prepurchase a package? Anyone every have this issue and if so, did you get a refund to your account or your original form of payment?  We are the the Escape in a few weeks and not sure if I should purchase the package.

No refunds. 

 

It is incumbent upon you to make reservations or go stand-by. There have been cruises where stand-by is "come back at 9:00 pm or 9:30 pm and we'll try to squeeze you in". 

 

For most cruises, online reservations open exactly 120 days prior to departure at 12 midnight US Eastern Time. There will be many on your cruise logged on at midnight to get the dining reservations they want. Suites can make reservations 130 days prior to departure. Cub Balconies and top tier Latitudes members can make reservations at 125 days prior to departure. (So, at midnight 120 days, some times may already be sold out). 

 

Popular restaurants and popular times (5:30-7:30,,, especially on sea days) will sell out. NCL holds some reservations for onboard bookings on embarkation day. Again, on embarkation day, reservations are first-come-first-serve. I have been on cruises where Cagney's steakhouse is totally sold out for all days and all times by 1 pm on embarkation day. On a recent cruise, the seafood restaurant was only available during "prime time" (5:30-7:30) on one day during our cruise on embarkation day (and we are one of the first to board). 

 

On big ships, you may get a recommendation to use your credit at the American Diner (hamburger joint) for lunch. 

 

If you are wandering around at night looking for a place to eat, the status boards often look like ("worth the wait" = Sold Out try again another day/time)

 

On full cruises, sailing over capacity, availability gets worse at the end of the cruise as people scramble to try and use their credits. 

Edited August 19, 2023 by BirdTravels

[RocketMan275]

How many reservations may be made prior to boarding?

Are you limited to the two from Free at Sea or can you make more if you've booked for more such as Free at Sea Plus?

[slavetoabunny]

Like others have said, book your reservations as soon as they open up.  I am sailing 12/16 -  12/23 and booked my two Specialty meals at Cagney's and Moderno the day they opened and got the 5:30 dining time that I wanted at both.

[JandC_Cruising]

11 minutes ago, RocketMan275 said:

How many reservations may be made prior to boarding?

Are you limited to the two from Free at Sea or can you make more if you've booked for more such as Free at Sea Plus?

There are a few "tricks" to pre-booking reservations.

1.  Book your "Fixed Price" reservations first (Teppanyaki or Moderno) so that it uses your F@S certificate.  Otherwise it will try to pre-charge you the fixed rate if you already booked other dinners.

2.  Online booking will only allow you to book the same restaurant ONCE.  You can call and get another night booking for the same specialty restaurant, but for example the system will not allow you to book Ocean Blue for a 2nd night.  Call (or use online chat) and an agent can do it if you like.

3.  You can book as many Specialty meals as you wish - even if you only have 2 free meals.  Just keep in mind the first two rules mentioned above.

4.  The system doesn't care or need to know who is dining with you.  So if you need a table for 4, just book it.  The host will ask how each of you are paying for the meal when you get to the restaurant.

5.  The system only has tables for 2, 4, 8...(even numbers).  So if you need a table for 1, 3, 5...Just round up to the nearest even number.  Again, the host will adjust the number when you arrive.

 

 

[genealogyfan]

3 minutes ago, JandC_Cruising said:

There are a few "tricks" to pre-booking reservations.

1.  Book your "Fixed Price" reservations first (Teppanyaki or Moderno) so that it uses your F@S certificate.  Otherwise it will try to pre-charge you the fixed rate if you already booked other dinners.

2.  Online booking will only allow you to book the same restaurant ONCE.  You can call and get another night booking for the same specialty restaurant, but for example the system will not allow you to book Ocean Blue for a 2nd night.  Call (or use online chat) and an agent can do it if you like.

3.  You can book as many Specialty meals as you wish - even if you only have 2 free meals.  Just keep in mind the first two rules mentioned above.

4.  The system doesn't care or need to know who is dining with you.  So if you need a table for 4, just book it.  The host will ask how each of you are paying for the meal when you get to the restaurant.

5.  The system only has tables for 2, 4, 8...(even numbers).  So if you need a table for 1, 3, 5...Just round up to the nearest even number.  Again, the host will adjust the number when you arrive.

 

 

#2 isn't true. I have booked the same specialty restaurant more than once ahead of time online for the same sailing. Two different days but the same restaurant.

Edited August 19, 2023 by genealogyfan

[SSFun]

18 minutes ago, RocketMan275 said:

How many reservations may be made prior to boarding?

Are you limited to the two from Free at Sea or can you make more if you've booked for more such as Free at Sea Plus?

I believe you can make all of your dining package reservations ahead of time as they are ala carte so you make the reservation and use your dining package to pay when you go to the restaurant. We are latitudes members and get "two free meals" and I am always able to book them as well as my free at sea meals prior to the cruise. Another place you can use dining package meals is at The Food Republic. They have sushi and appetizer portions. Sometimes DH and I will use one of our meals there for lunch.

[KeithJenner]

23 minutes ago, RocketMan275 said:

How many reservations may be made prior to boarding?

Are you limited to the two from Free at Sea or can you make more if you've booked for more such as Free at Sea Plus?

You can book as many as you like. Even if you don’t have any dining plan you can book every night.

 

You will be charged for any fixed price ones if you don’t have a dining plan (or if you have booked more restaurants than you have in your plan), and there is a

restriction on being able to book the same

restaurant multiple times online (although that one varies), but no limit on number of reservations you can make.

[KeithJenner]

4 minutes ago, genealogyfan said:

#2 isn't true. I have booked the same specialty restaurant more than once ahead of time online for the same sailing. Two different days but the same restaurant.

It is true, but does vary. I have been unable to do this on any recent cruise except for managing to make two Moderno reservations on my upcoming cruise (which I also wasn’t charged for despite not having credits to cover both of them).

Edited August 19, 2023 by KeithJenner

[flyguy909]

Recently booked for the Getaway Oct1st.  I was able to book Cagneys on one of the sea days (late) and really want to use the other for Ocean Blue but am not seeing any available reservations for a party of 2.  One day does show availability for a party of 4.  Is there any repercussions if I book a table for 4 but only 2 of us show up?

[genealogyfan]

2 minutes ago, KeithJenner said:

It is true, but does vary. I have been unable to do this on any recent cruise except for managing to make two Moderno reservations on my upcoming cruise (which I also wasn’t charged for despite not having credits to cover both of them).

Sorry, but how can it be true, if I've been able to do it. Your statement can either be true or false, it can't be anything else. I was able to do this for a cruise in April and an upcoming one in Nov.  

 

If you were able to make a reservation at Moderno twice then your statement that you aren't able to make a reservation online at a restaurant more than once isn't true.

 

 

[KeithJenner]

8 minutes ago, genealogyfan said:

Sorry, but how can it be true, if I've been able to do it. Your statement can either be true or false, it can't be anything else. I was able to do this for a cruise in April and an upcoming one in Nov.  

 

If you were able to make a reservation at Moderno twice then your statement that you aren't able to make a reservation online at a restaurant more than once isn't true.

 

 

It is true that people are often unable to make a reservation for the same restaurant more than once. There have been numerous discussions about this on these boards and, as I mentioned, I have been unable to do so on any of my recent cruises except for that one example.

 

The original statement wasn’t mine, but it is a fact that people have been unable to do so. That is why I said that it varies.

 

This is NCL after all. 🙂
 

Edit: I just checked to see if anything has changed and it looks like I would be allowed to make a second Cagneys booking if I tried (it added to my basket, which was where things previously went wrong). I couldn’t do so last time I looked, despite having previously done the Moderno double booking, so it seems to be fairly random, but it could be fixed now.

Edited August 19, 2023 by KeithJenner

[RocketMan275]

23 minutes ago, SSFun said:

I believe you can make all of your dining package reservations ahead of time as they are ala carte so you make the reservation and use your dining package to pay when you go to the restaurant. We are latitudes members and get "two free meals" and I am always able to book them as well as my free at sea meals prior to the cruise. Another place you can use dining package meals is at The Food Republic. They have sushi and appetizer portions. Sometimes DH and I will use one of our meals there for lunch.

It's been stated multiple times that Food Republic isn't open for lunch (Prima, Sea Day).  I'd really like to do RF for a sea day lunch.

[The Traveling Man]

10 minutes ago, flyguy909 said:

Recently booked for the Getaway Oct1st.  I was able to book Cagneys on one of the sea days (late) and really want to use the other for Ocean Blue but am not seeing any available reservations for a party of 2.  One day does show availability for a party of 4.  Is there any repercussions if I book a table for 4 but only 2 of us show up?

They might give you a "stink eye" but otherwise there really aren't any negative consequences.  As a party of two, you might be seated at a two-top table, but there also is the very real possibility that they will seat you at a four-top, anyway.  There's only a relatively few two-tops available in the restaurants, and many passengers prefer to dine as a couple.  A few times when all the two-tops and four-tops were occupied, my wife and I have been seated at a large round table with six or seven place settings.  No one else was seated with us.

[RocketMan275]

40 minutes ago, slavetoabunny said:

Like others have said, book your reservations as soon as they open up.  I am sailing 12/16 -  12/23 and booked my two Specialty meals at Cagney's and Moderno the day they opened and got the 5:30 dining time that I wanted at both.

 

31 minutes ago, JandC_Cruising said:

There are a few "tricks" to pre-booking reservations.

 

28 minutes ago, genealogyfan said:

 I have booked the same specialty restaurant more than once ahead of time online for the same sailing. Two different days but the same restaurant.

 

26 minutes ago, SSFun said:

I believe you can make all of your dining package reservations ahead of time as they are ala carte so you make the reservation and use your dining package to pay when you go to the restaurant. 

 

25 minutes ago, KeithJenner said:

You can book as many as you like. Even if you don’t have any dining plan you can book every night.

 

Thank you all.  I was hoping that to be the case.

[The Traveling Man]

17 minutes ago, genealogyfan said:

Sorry, but how can it be true, if I've been able to do it. Your statement can either be true or false, it can't be anything else. I was able to do this for a cruise in April and an upcoming one in Nov.  

 

If you were able to make a reservation at Moderno twice then your statement that you aren't able to make a reservation online at a restaurant more than once isn't true.

 

 

I have read about others like you who were able to book the same restaurant twice on the same cruise when booking online in advance.  I have never been successful in doing it, however, and I've tried on at least 20 of our 30+ cruises with NCL.  YMMV.

[dbrown84]

17 minutes ago, The Traveling Man said:

I have read about others like you who were able to book the same restaurant twice on the same cruise when booking online in advance.  I have never been successful in doing it, however, and I've tried on at least 20 of our 30+ cruises with NCL.  YMMV.

I never knew/read that this wasn't allowed.  I just tried on my upcoming cruise on the Pearl, and it did let me add a 2nd reservation to Cagney's, so I'm guessing it is hit or miss.  I also have the ability to make a reservation to the MDR, which I had never noticed before that you can do.

[JandC_Cruising]

1 minute ago, dbrown84 said:

I never knew/read that this wasn't allowed.  I just tried on my upcoming cruise on the Pearl, and it did let me add a 2nd reservation to Cagney's, so I'm guessing it is hit or miss.  I also have the ability to make a reservation to the MDR, which I had never noticed before that you can do.

making reservations for multiple nights at the same restaurant IS allowed, but the point of my original comment is that OFTEN (as was our case and and several others above) the online system may block you from doing it.  BUT it is easily solved (as we did) by calling or chatting online and asking an NCL rep to add the reservation.

[dbrown84]

2 minutes ago, JandC_Cruising said:

making reservations for multiple nights at the same restaurant IS allowed, but the point of my original comment is that OFTEN (as was our case and and several others above) the online system may block you from doing it.  BUT it is easily solved (as we did) by calling or chatting online and asking an NCL rep to add the reservation.

 

2 minutes ago, JandC_Cruising said:

making reservations for multiple nights at the same restaurant IS allowed, but the point of my original comment is that OFTEN (as was our case and and several others above) the online system may block you from doing it.  BUT it is easily solved (as we did) by calling or chatting online and asking an NCL rep to add the reservation.

HEY....first, I didn't even respond to your post and I was in no way trying to insinuate that you were wrong.  I was just offering another data point for those of us that never knew this was a problem/issue.  So no need to yell, it's not that important.  Enjoy the rest of your weekend 

[JandC_Cruising]

2 minutes ago, dbrown84 said:

 

HEY....first, I didn't even respond to your post and I was in no way trying to insinuate that you were wrong.  I was just offering another data point for those of us that never knew this was a problem/issue.  So no need to yell, it's not that important.  Enjoy the rest of your weekend 

Sorry if you thought I was yelling 😀 that was not my intention...I was stressing that "often" the system blocks the 2nd night booking..."but" there is a solution if one is blocked...

Edited August 19, 2023 by JandC_Cruising