NCL switching to fixed menus in the MDR?

[CruisnHallelujahs]

I’m going to be on the getaway in October/November for 28 days…sure hope it’s rotating!

[tw0sugar5]

On 9/8/2023 at 3:29 PM, laudergayle said:

Fixed dining or fixed menus?  I noticed a recent change when trying to make MDR dining reservations on the Bliss.  In the past we could reserve on the half hour.  Now we can choose 6:30 or 8:30 only.  Hmmmm.

 

 

I was able to get dining reservations in the MDR for 5:30.  That’s too early for most people but it leaves open the option for a second dinner at the buffet.  

[Barb Nahoumi]

Hopefully freestyle dining will not go away.

[ready2cruzagain]

17 hours ago, laudergayle said:

Perhaps.  I’m just speculating.  While Freestyle Dining may be a big draw, if the other cruise lines that have fixed dining are running at full occupancy it really isn’t a competitive advantage for NCL.  And if anytime dining costs more to execute it would definitely be something NCL might consider.  
 

I shared in a previous post that on our November cruise on Bliss, we can only reserve Taste and Manhattan MDR for 6:30 or 8:30…which is a switch from previous cruises where could reserve on the half hour.  Savor was not available to reserve until onboard.

 

Again, just speculation…they could be experimenting with dining model similar to MSC.  For an upcharge you can book anytime dining in Savor, with overflow into one section of another MDR.

 

Also spectulation…NCL may be considering a new brand positioning moving away from Freestyle

 

Truth is…none of us here on CC has any idea what NCL May or may not do.

 

 

Made our dining reservations last week at 4:00am on the first day we could, 125 days out. Dining times available were 5:30, 6:30, 7:30 and 8:30 for MDR. Later that day someone on our roll call said there were only 2 time slots available. I looked and only 5:30 and 8:30 were available.  Today at 119 days out I looked again and the time slots are 5:30, 6:30 and 8:30. Looks like they are changing the available amounts and who knows why.

 

I have not sailed on NCL since February 2020 but if I remember correctly, you were not given a ton of time slots then either. I can't see them doing away with Freestyle dining since that is what they are known for and I sail on MSC a lot and one of the main complaint I see is the set dining times. Most people just don't want set dining times.

 

My question is entertainment. Suppose to be able to book entertainment at 125 days out and it only shows Burn the Floor but says not available to book still at 119 days out.  I know Priscilla went away and I have seen Burn the Floor 8 times but I would watch it again since been a while. I sure hope they have some type of entertainment in the theater.

Edited September 10, 2023 by ready2cruzagain

[rnfulk]

3 hours ago, ready2cruzagain said:

My question is entertainment. Suppose to be able to book entertainment at 125 days out and it only shows Burn the Floor but says not available to book still at 119 days out.  I know Priscilla went away and I have seen Burn the Floor 8 times but I would watch it again since been a while. I sure hope they have some type of entertainment in the theater.

I think they have changed entertainment reservations to be bookable at 21 days out and not 120. Once online check-in opens you should be able to book any shows that are available to prebook. The others (comedy, etc.) you can book as soon as you board. 

[laudergayle]

12 minutes ago, rnfulk said:

I think they have changed entertainment reservations to be bookable at 21 days out and not 120. Once online check-in opens you should be able to book any shows that are available to prebook. The others (comedy, etc.) you can book as soon as you board. 

Yes, 21 days is accurate for some entertainment, mainly the production shows. Comedy and some of the other shows do not take reservations.

[DrSea]

4 hours ago, ready2cruzagain said:

 

 

Made our dining reservations last week at 4:00am on the first day we could, 125 days out. Dining times available were 5:30, 6:30, 7:30 and 8:30 for MDR. Later that day someone on our roll call said there were only 2 time slots available. I looked and only 5:30 and 8:30 were available.  Today at 119 days out I looked again and the time slots are 5:30, 6:30 and 8:30. Looks like they are changing the available amounts and who knows why.

 

I have not sailed on NCL since February 2020 but if I remember correctly, you were not given a ton of time slots then either. I can't see them doing away with Freestyle dining since that is what they are known for and I sail on MSC a lot and one of the main complaint I see is the set dining times. Most people just don't want set dining times.

 

My question is entertainment. Suppose to be able to book entertainment at 125 days out and it only shows Burn the Floor but says not available to book still at 119 days out.  I know Priscilla went away and I have seen Burn the Floor 8 times but I would watch it again since been a while. I sure hope they have some type of entertainment in the theater.

NCL is doing an evaluation of what shows will be on each ship. They think million dollar quartet will still be on the getaway as it is the most highly rated show on NCL, but that is TBD. Licenses and rights may or may not be renewed. You heard it here first folks!

 

Source: stage manager on the getaway

[hallux]

5 hours ago, ready2cruzagain said:

Dining times available were 5:30, 6:30, 7:30 and 8:30 for MDR. Later that day someone on our roll call said there were only 2 time slots available. I looked and only 5:30 and 8:30 were available.  Today at 119 days out I looked again and the time slots are 5:30, 6:30 and 8:30. Looks like they are changing the available amounts and who knows why

I think this is less to do with actual capacity and more to do with ensuring the ability of those going "freestyle" to dine when they want.  If they book up the entire MDR with reservations there will be no space for people like myself that prefer to walk up when we want to eat.  If they're going to go reservations-only they might as well just go back to traditional dining.

[DrUrsula]

2 hours ago, laudergayle said:

Yes, 21 days is accurate for some entertainment, mainly the production shows. Comedy and some of the other shows do not take reservations.

We are not in the Haven but are Sapphire. Just Booked production shows and BTF 30 days out.

[laudergayle]

2 minutes ago, DrUrsula said:

We are not in the Haven but are Sapphire. Just Booked production shows and BTF 30 days out.

Leave it to NCL…so predictable and consistent 🤣

[CruiseMH]

On 9/9/2023 at 4:57 PM, laudergayle said:

While Freestyle Dining may be a big draw, if the other cruise lines that have fixed dining are running at full occupancy it really isn’t a competitive advantage for NCL.  .

I`m sure that the number of people that are deciding against NCL and for another cruise line with "fixed dining vs. freestyle dining" as the only or main reason is extremely low and not sigificant for any such big decision for any cruise line.

[schmoopie17]

Regarding fixed menus...I didn't realize they were broken. If so, I'm glad they're fixing them.

[rscales2]

Do anyone know is NCL going to have Steak and Eggs for breakfast like they have on the Prima.

[laudergayle]

8 minutes ago, rscales2 said:

Do anyone know is NCL going to have Steak and Eggs for breakfast like they have on the Prima.

It looks like it is on the breakfast menu from the Encore that @BirdTravels posted on its LIVE Encore thread.  I would link it but don’t know how.

[BirdTravels]

22 minutes ago, rscales2 said:

Do anyone know is NCL going to have Steak and Eggs for breakfast like they have on the Prima.

Current breakfast menus from the Encore. They have daily specials

 

[laudergayle]

@rscales2 sorry…the steak and eggs is on the Haven breakfast menu.

[laudergayle]

4 hours ago, CruiseMH said:

I`m sure that the number of people that are deciding against NCL and for another cruise line with "fixed dining vs. freestyle dining" as the only or main reason is extremely low and not sigificant for any such big decision for any cruise line.

What you say is accurate.  Freestyle dining is not a competitive advantage for NCL. Cruisers are not choosing cruise line based on dining hours as a main part of their selection criteria.  They are likely choosing based on cost/itinerary/convenience, and a certain % are choosing based on loyalty.  I don’t know if fixed dining is less expensive than freestyle dining, but my instinct says that fixed might be less expensive…which is why so many cruise lines do fixed.  NCL has said they will leave no stone unturned and have hired a consultant to find these cost cutting areas.   This could be one area they are eyeing 🤷‍♀️

Edited September 10, 2023 by laudergayle

[dbrown84]

9 minutes ago, laudergayle said:

What you say is accurate.  Freestyle dining is not a competitive advantage for NCL. Cruisers are not choosing cruise line based on dining hours as a main part of their selection criteria.  They are likely choosing based on cost/itinerary/convenience, and a certain % are choosing based on loyalty.  I don’t know if fixed dining is less expensive than freestyle dining, but my instinct says that fixed might be less expensive…which is why so many cruise lines do fixed.  NCL has said they will leave no stone unturned and have hired a consultant to find these cost cutting areas.   This could be one area they are eyeing 🤷‍♀️

I disagree.  Freestyle is definitely a competitive advantage for NCL.  speaking for myself, it's the reason I cruise with NCL.  I actually never was interested in cruising before hearing about NCL and freestyle.  I actually looked into doing Carnival to Bermuda to try something different (it would have been cheaper than same itinerary on NCL), but decided against it when I saw they still did assigned dining and formal nights.  they do allow you to pick early/late seating as an option, but that's still not as good as showing up when you're ready.  I know I'm just one person, but I've seen way too many posts here on CC as well as spoke to many folks on cruises that feel the same

[Cruising Lynne]

8 minutes ago, dbrown84 said:

I disagree.  Freestyle is definitely a competitive advantage for NCL.  speaking for myself, it's the reason I cruise with NCL.  I actually never was interested in cruising before hearing about NCL and freestyle.  I actually looked into doing Carnival to Bermuda to try something different (it would have been cheaper than same itinerary on NCL), but decided against it when I saw they still did assigned dining and formal nights.  they do allow you to pick early/late seating as an option, but that's still not as good as showing up when you're ready.  I know I'm just one person, but I've seen way too many posts here on CC as well as spoke to many folks on cruises that feel the same

I totally agree with you. The dining on NCL is a unique feature which keeps me coming back. I have been on a Celebrity cruise and several Royal cruises, but I prefer NCL because of the Freestyle dining. (and the beverage package 😉)

[laudergayle]

4 minutes ago, dbrown84 said:

I disagree.  Freestyle is definitely a competitive advantage for NCL.  speaking for myself, it's the reason I cruise with NCL.  I actually never was interested in cruising before hearing about NCL and freestyle.  I actually looked into doing Carnival to Bermuda to try something different (it would have been cheaper than same itinerary on NCL), but decided against it when I saw they still did assigned dining and formal nights.  they do allow you to pick early/late seating as an option, but that's still not as good as showing up when you're ready.  I know I'm just one person, but I've seen way too many posts here on CC as well as spoke to many folks on cruises that feel the same

But you see, we here on NCL CC board are loyalists.  We do not represent the general population.  While freestyle cruising is a nice-to-have, it does not give a NCL a significant advantage.  There occupancy should be significantly greater than their competitors if this freestyle positioning was the driver.  So, if NCL adapted a fixed dining time, but kept the casual nature of the cruise, would you stop cruising NCL?  I asked myself that question, and the answer was…1) probably not unless they mess with the 2 dinner platinum reward 2) we would continue to cruise but probably buy more specialty dining, 3) we would hope more complimentary freestyle concepts like Indulge, Local, O’Sheehans became available.

 

I’m not saying I know what NCL is going to do, I’m just saying just because you (us) find it valuable, nice, convenient, etc…that doesn’t mean NCL won’t change it.

[dbrown84]

Just now, Cruising Lynne said:

I totally agree with you. The dining on NCL is a unique feature which keeps me coming back. I have been on a Celebrity cruise and several Royal cruises, but I prefer NCL because of the Freestyle dining. (and the beverage package 😉)

yeah, the 15 drink limit on Carnival also was a deciding factor :)

[eileeshb]

I’m still confused here… on all the ships except Prima there was always a set selection on the MDR menus with a rotating list of daily specials, usually the right hand page of the dinner menus. The order of the rotation could change from cruise to cruise.

 

the dinner menu setup trialled on Prima had to make things more complicated in the galley as guests could pick pasta A with sauce X, or some other preferred combo which would have reduced their ability to have a bunch of dishes ready to just hand over to the servers. When they know exactly what dishes they’ll be serving they can have a certain number of servings ready to go before guests even arrive in the MDR. My understanding was that the Prima menu would only have a single special from specialty dining each evening, I can’t remember off hand if that menu item had an upcharge or not. 

[laudergayle]

4 minutes ago, eileeshb said:

I’m still confused here… on all the ships except Prima there was always a set selection on the MDR menus with a rotating list of daily specials, usually the right hand page of the dinner menus. The order of the rotation could change from cruise to cruise.

 

the dinner menu setup trialled on Prima had to make things more complicated in the galley as guests could pick pasta A with sauce X, or some other preferred combo which would have reduced their ability to have a bunch of dishes ready to just hand over to the servers. When they know exactly what dishes they’ll be serving they can have a certain number of servings ready to go before guests even arrive in the MDR. My understanding was that the Prima menu would only have a single special from specialty dining each evening, I can’t remember off hand if that menu item had an upcharge or not. 

Prima inaugural cruises had a more robust fixed menu that had some very nice items like Beef Wellington, along with maybe 10-12 sides, the pasta combo you referenced.  At the start of 2023, they reduced the menu significantly.  No more beef wells, the pastas were fixed plates and the sides dwindled to around 6-8.  April 30 was the first Prima cruise where they went to the standard NCL rotating menu.  This topic starts out suggesting that NCL will be testing a fixed menu on the Getaway at some point.  What a fixed menu looks like is anyone’s guess.  It likely would not be either of the Prima’s two fixed menus.

[DrSea]

8 hours ago, laudergayle said:

Leave it to NCL…so predictable and consistent 🤣

I don't get it.  What's wrong with rewarding loyalty?

 

And whats BTF?

[laudergayle]

5 minutes ago, DrSea said:

I don't get it.  What's wrong with rewarding loyalty?

 

And whats BTF?

Nothing about loyalty..it was the difference between 30, 26, 21 days.  No communicated  consistency.  BTF = Burn The Floor

Edited September 10, 2023 by laudergayle