How freestyle is FAS dining?

[knbcruisers]

Hi all, last NCL cruise was way back around 2008 on the Sun. I was frustrated that anytime we tried to use the specialty restaurants only availability was at 5:30 or 9.   Am considering  Mexican Riviera, March 2025 on the Bliss…what can I expect as to how flexible dining can be?  Do I have to plan the whole weeks dining ahead of the cruise?   Just 2 of us and prefer to just see how each day goes, but don’t want to eat in buffet everyday.

 

[Joken35]

You will need to make. Reservation for the specialty dining venues. it is difficult to just wing it as reservation fill up quickly.We actually try to book before we embark

[laudergayle]

March 2025 is a very long time from now.  All the cruise lines are still adjusting things to figure out how to rebound from Covid shutdown. And every year, typically starting in January, changes are made.  

 

as of right now, yes definitely book specialty dining at the 120 day mark.

[dbrown84]

it depends on how much of a "go with the flow" person you are.  I know most people will tell you to make a reservation beforehand, or right when you get on the ship, which I agree with if the time is important to you.  I don't do that because I have no clue as to when/where I want to eat at 120 days out, nor do I know when I wake up that morning.  I simply go to whatever restaurant I want that evening and ask for the next table.  You'll be amazed at how often you get a table with 15 or 20 minutes, even when the tv screens say there are no reservations.  In 7 cruises, I've never not been able to eat where I wanted.  that being said, I'm not big on eating between 5 - 6, which is prime time for seatings.  So even if I have to wait until 8, it's no big deal.  I tend to skip breakfast and eat lunch later when I'm on the ship, so I don't get hungry for dinner until later anyway.  Either way, have an amazing cruise!!

[laudergayle]

@dbrown84 I’m envious of those who can just go with the flow and live life as it comes your way.  Unfortunately, I was blessed/cursed with the planning gene.  My earliest days of planning came in the mid-70’s by doing the weekly grocery list with just $35 to spend and that had to also cover the 6-pack of 16 oz. Miller Lite and Taco flavored Doritos.  Boiled shrimp and a bottle of cheap Rose’ (the one with a handle) were major splurges. I appreciate your approach to life.

Edited September 10, 2023 by laudergayle

[www3traveler]

In my 37 cruises as a solo passenger, I rarely make specislty reservations (the only exception is Ocean Blue--very small space).  However, I usually eat as soon as the restaurants are open and I am one person.  They usually can accomadate me with in minutes.

[debenson0723]

1 hour ago, knbcruisers said:

Hi all, last NCL cruise was way back around 2008 on the Sun. I was frustrated that anytime we tried to use the specialty restaurants only availability was at 5:30 or 9.   Am considering  Mexican Riviera, March 2025 on the Bliss…what can I expect as to how flexible dining can be?  Do I have to plan the whole weeks dining ahead of the cruise?   Just 2 of us and prefer to just see how each day goes, but don’t want to eat in buffet everyday.

 

You won't have to eat in the buffet ever, even if you don't use specialty dining. There are 3 MDRs on the Bliss, plus the Local...none of which require reservations (I know some people book reservations for the MDR but I never have). I do usually book 1 or 2 specialty restaurants in advance but will sometimes cancel day of in the morning if not feeling it. I am a mega-planner but on a cruise I just want to go with the flow and relax. Similar to @dbrown84 I will check on availability at a specialty restaurant and wait a bit if I have to...can only recall once when I didn't get in at all.

[GALSews]

Just want to remind you that choices aren't only buffet or specialty, there are also the main dining rooms. Depending upon the cabin level or your Latitude Rewards level, you may be able to book earlier than 120 days out. Even if you can't do that, there is actually only a fraction of the times available pre-boarding. 

Once on board, you can book at dining rooms, monitors or else use the app. If you are staying in Haven or a true suite (S* cabin, NOT club balcony suite) or are Latitude Platinum or up, you can use concierge (though I've never figured out where concierge is for Latitudes!)

We've always booked specialty as early as we could and then adjusted on-board, if necessary. 

[BirdTravels]

5 hours ago, knbcruisers said:

Hi all, last NCL cruise was way back around 2008 on the Sun. I was frustrated that anytime we tried to use the specialty restaurants only availability was at 5:30 or 9.   Am considering  Mexican Riviera, March 2025 on the Bliss…what can I expect as to how flexible dining can be?  Do I have to plan the whole weeks dining ahead of the cruise?   Just 2 of us and prefer to just see how each day goes, but don’t want to eat in buffet everyday.

 

Yes. You need to plan and commit to dining times 4 months prior to your cruise. Exactly 120 days prior to departure, midnight eastern time, you will be able to book all restaurants for all times on all days. A day or two after 120,,,, not so much. 
 

Note: Suites can book 130 days prior to departure, and top tier latitudes and club balcony rooms can book 125 days prior to departure. 

 

You can eat at the MDR or the 24/7 restaurant in addition to the buffet. 

[ChiefMateJRK]

1 hour ago, BirdTravels said:

You need to plan and commit to dining times 4 months prior to your cruise.

Plan? Yes.  Commit?  No.  I routinely book a bunch of 5:30 slots as a standby for nights when there are shows I want to see at 7:00.  If I change my mind, I just cancel.  No commitment.

[lrockyb]

Was on an Alaska cruise on the Bliss just last week. The only specialty restaurants I was unable to get a reservation for were the Tappanyaki and Ocean Blue. Admittedly, I like to eat late. But on the night I saw Jersey Boys, I was able to get into Cagney’s before the 9:30 show. I was even able to get a 9:15 reservation for Le Bistro on the last night. 

Edited September 11, 2023 by lrockyb
Duplicate words.

[knbcruisers]

Thanks for all the feedback…seems like we should have some flexibility between  main dining or specialty each day.   That’s how we started with Princess way back, the anytime dining option.   DH would never have gone on a cruise if he had to eat when they told him to!  🙂. 

[9tee2Sea]

there is usually a light up board near the speciality restaurant reservation desk which will tell you on the day you decide to eat, how busy they expect it to be.  I have walked up to the desk, and asked to switch days and hours.  Just because you may have to sit down at a table by 5:30, there is no rule that says you can't drag out the dining experience.  Here is what I do: Arrive around 5:30pm, get seated at table.   Before ordering anything, ask for the wine steward ( that will take about 15 min).  Tell the waiter who is pushing you to order to come back after you have had 1/2 a glass of wine ( that can take 30 min between getting the wine steward and retrieving your wine).  Now you are about 5:45-6pm.  When the waiter comes to take your order, order your apps only.  Tell them you will order dinner after you finish your apps.  That's another 30 min ( you are now around 6:30pm).  When the waiter comes back ( probably with attitude for making him wait), order your meal.  That will take about another 20 min for arrival.  another 30 min to eat. You're probably at around 6:45-7, by the time you finish your main meal.  Then the waiter comes back and asks about coffee and desert.  You can stretch out the 5:30 seating and be at the 7pm show.  It's YOUR vacation, DONT let anybody rush you.

[ExArkie]

4 hours ago, 9tee2Sea said:

there is usually a light up board near the speciality restaurant reservation desk which will tell you on the day you decide to eat, how busy they expect it to be.  I have walked up to the desk, and asked to switch days and hours.  Just because you may have to sit down at a table by 5:30, there is no rule that says you can't drag out the dining experience.  Here is what I do: Arrive around 5:30pm, get seated at table.   Before ordering anything, ask for the wine steward ( that will take about 15 min).  Tell the waiter who is pushing you to order to come back after you have had 1/2 a glass of wine ( that can take 30 min between getting the wine steward and retrieving your wine).  Now you are about 5:45-6pm.  When the waiter comes to take your order, order your apps only.  Tell them you will order dinner after you finish your apps.  That's another 30 min ( you are now around 6:30pm).  When the waiter comes back ( probably with attitude for making him wait), order your meal.  That will take about another 20 min for arrival.  another 30 min to eat. You're probably at around 6:45-7, by the time you finish your main meal.  Then the waiter comes back and asks about coffee and desert.  You can stretch out the 5:30 seating and be at the 7pm show.  It's YOUR vacation, DONT let anybody rush you.

Agree about not rushing dinner - my vacation, my money to pay for the specialty restaurant, my decision as to how long I take. Generally, I like 6 to 6:30 seating times for exactly the same scenario that you list, figuring it's going to be after 7 by the time we actually eat anything.

 

We're not much on any of the shows, so it has to be something different for us to adjust our dinner time to get there.

[www3traveler]

How very very rude to the server and to others who might want to eat and cannot because you are occuping valuable space.

[lrockyb]

www3traveler - you beat me to it. Although I would have used stronger language than “rude”.

[ChiefMateJRK]

8 hours ago, 9tee2Sea said:

there is usually a light up board near the speciality restaurant reservation desk which will tell you on the day you decide to eat, how busy they expect it to be.  I have walked up to the desk, and asked to switch days and hours.  Just because you may have to sit down at a table by 5:30, there is no rule that says you can't drag out the dining experience.  Here is what I do: Arrive around 5:30pm, get seated at table.   Before ordering anything, ask for the wine steward ( that will take about 15 min).  Tell the waiter who is pushing you to order to come back after you have had 1/2 a glass of wine ( that can take 30 min between getting the wine steward and retrieving your wine).  Now you are about 5:45-6pm.  When the waiter comes to take your order, order your apps only.  Tell them you will order dinner after you finish your apps.  That's another 30 min ( you are now around 6:30pm).  When the waiter comes back ( probably with attitude for making him wait), order your meal.  That will take about another 20 min for arrival.  another 30 min to eat. You're probably at around 6:45-7, by the time you finish your main meal.  Then the waiter comes back and asks about coffee and desert.  You can stretch out the 5:30 seating and be at the 7pm show.  It's YOUR vacation, DONT let anybody rush you.

According to my math, it's at least 7:20 before you even order desert.  Are you talking about the 7 o'clock show the following day? 

[BirdTravels]

19 hours ago, www3traveler said:

How very very rude to the server and to others who might want to eat and cannot because you are occupying valuable space.

We, on the other hand, want to be fed as fast as we can eat. We paid for all of the entertainment onboard and don't want a server to be slow-feeding us. Our goal is to be done with a four course dinner (with coffee) in less than an hour. 

[zqvol]

On 9/10/2023 at 10:24 PM, BirdTravels said:

Yes. You need to plan and commit to dining times 4 months prior to your cruise. Exactly 120 days prior to departure, midnight eastern time, you will be able to book all restaurants for all times on all days. A day or two after 120,,,, not so much. 
 

Note: Suites can book 130 days prior to departure, and top tier latitudes and club balcony rooms can book 125 days prior to departure. 

 

You can eat at the MDR or the 24/7 restaurant in addition to the buffet. 

Plan and commit? Its a vacation not a  prison sentence. Make reservations if you want but know that well over 50% of time slots are held for booking on board. Even as late of the day you want special dining you can get in you may just have to wait a bit.

[Sand and Seas]

1 hour ago, BirdTravels said:

We, on the other hand, want to be fed as fast as we can eat. We paid for all of the entertainment onboard and don't want a server to be slow-feeding us. Our goal is to be done with a four course dinner (with coffee) in less than an hour. 

We agree!

We want to get out and enjoy the evening.    A slow dinner service just makes me sleepy🥱

[Asawi]

2 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

We, on the other hand, want to be fed as fast as we can eat. We paid for all of the entertainment onboard and don't want a server to be slow-feeding us. Our goal is to be done with a four course dinner (with coffee) in less than an hour. 

Yep! That's me as well! I don't particularly like to spend a long time having dinner unless the dinner itself is a "social event". I get frustrated if service takes too long. But if someon else likes to take their time, fine with me!

[lrockyb]

1 hour ago, Asawi said:

Yep! That's me as well! I don't particularly like to spend a long time having dinner unless the dinner itself is a "social event". I get frustrated if service takes too long. But if someon else likes to take their time, fine with me!

Except when “likes to take their time” means someone else doesn’t get a chance to get in at all.

[www3traveler]

5 hours ago, lrockyb said:

Except when “likes to take their time” means someone else doesn’t get a chance to get in at all.

Exactly

[ExArkie]

22 hours ago, lrockyb said:

Except when “likes to take their time” means someone else doesn’t get a chance to get in at all.

What is the average length of time for each dinner that the restaurant manager uses to book reservations? If they are assuming all diners will want to take less than an hour and book tables accordingly, one table taking an hour and ten minutes throws everything off and, as you suggest, someone misses getting a table. If they are assuming an average of two hours and a number of people take an hour or less, then a few people taking three hours would not negate their assumption of an average time interval. In the former situation, someone could miss out. In the latter, most likely not. 

 

By the same logic, if I thought I might not enjoy the evening show but went anyway just to see, does that mean I am denying someone who wanted to see it the opportunity to do so?

[cruiseny4life]

2 hours ago, ExArkie said:

What is the average length of time for each dinner that the restaurant manager uses to book reservations? If they are assuming all diners will want to take less than an hour and book tables accordingly, one table taking an hour and ten minutes throws everything off and, as you suggest, someone misses getting a table. If they are assuming an average of two hours and a number of people take an hour or less, then a few people taking three hours would not negate their assumption of an average time interval. In the former situation, someone could miss out. In the latter, most likely not. 

 

By the same logic, if I thought I might not enjoy the evening show but went anyway just to see, does that mean I am denying someone who wanted to see it the opportunity to do so?

When booking reservations for shows, the system requires a minimum of 90 minutes for a party of two. This grows to 120 minutes for larger parties...so I would assume they use the same length of time when considering the number of covers at a table.