Solo travelers dining questions

[Smitheroo]

7 hours ago, nudistcruzer said:

It was 3 days ago, editing is only allowed for a few minutes. No problem.

 

I have learned what the website/customer service says and what happens on the ship are two different things. Just because one is supposed to have access doesn't mean they will. Each key needs to be specifically encoded for the Studio Lounge. One might need to go to guest services if ones key is not working for access to the Studio Lounge. If lounge access is important to someone, I would print the website page and show them if necessary. I have had to do similar things in the past on different cruise lines and only printing these things allowed the situation to be rectified.  

Its a new policy so it might take a little time.  I agree about the website not syncing with shipboard practices many times

[Smitheroo]

7 hours ago, nudistcruzer said:

I even go as far to bring a vacuum with me to hotels.  Mostly because I have a dog that sheds more than any other dog, ever. I just double checked and the beds are still small. Even in boarding school when I was 14 the bed was 4 or 5 inches longer than what the studio cabins offer. 

 

I did just read that this issue with the bed length is not just the Studio Cabins. Since I have only been in Studio cabins on ships that have had them, I had no idea... Many have complained, so, I am hoping that this issue has been addressed on the Prima Class.

 

sounds like an annoying problem that at only 5 ft 2 have never had to deal with.   

[Smitheroo]

7 hours ago, nudistcruzer said:

Unfortunately, there is a statement on NCL's website that says "*Solo Lounge and accessibility varies by ship." I'm not sure what this means, since above it says "And all Solo Staterooms include access to our Studio Lounge*." The "*" points to something that negates the statement in part. So my original statement that said, if your key gives you access, then you have access seems to be most correct. Like having access to the Studio Lounge is not a sure thing... 

 

Link: https://www.ncl.com/why-cruise-norwegian/cruise-accommodations/studios

 

It says also: "Complimentary coffee, espresso, and snacks available throughout the day in the Studio Lounge (not available on Pride of America)". This would seem to imply that every single ship has a studio lounge except for "Pride of America". Again, this doesn't seem to make any sense. Since only ships that had studios had a studio lounge and the first ship that had studios was the Epic as far as I know... All very strange and hard to really know what is what...

I dont think they are very careful about the wording on their website for many things

[Smitheroo]

On 11/2/2023 at 2:36 PM, nudistcruzer said:

It can't be reserved in advance without paying. Anyone that wants to use a free specialty meal from a package cannot reserve before the cruise.  Norwegian's website is crappy. They will charge your credit card for every reservation at Teppanyaki unless you are on the ship. If you are one person you are forced to pay for two people. If you are two people you have to pay in advance for a meal that is supposed to be free. So for Teppanyaki you are, by definition, screwed if you have included specialty meals. If I could reserve for two people without paying in advance I would. Customer service told me it is not possible to reserve Teppanyaki or the Brazilian steak house without paying in advance and even if you plan to pay cash for the meal and not use an entitlement and also have an odd number of people, you are forced when making the reservation to fully pay for the extra person.  

You need to specify in your 2nd sentence you are still referring to Teppanyaki  "anyone that wants to use a free specialty meal from a package cannot reserve before the cruise". I know you are probably still referring to Teppanyaki.  I know nothing about Teppanyaki but you can definitely reserve "a free specialty meal from a package" before the cruise.  My travel partner reserved the times for our choices. online before the cruise. Many others did also because he remarked how there weret many open times to choose from.  But the late dining times that were still available on line were easily changed to earlier ones on board.  So people must change their minds.  In fact, at Ocean Blue we had reason to inquire about something and were told we could come anytime, didt have to wait until the time we reserved.

[hallux]

9 hours ago, nudistcruzer said:

It says also: "Complimentary coffee, espresso, and snacks available throughout the day in the Studio Lounge (not available on Pride of America)". This would seem to imply that every single ship has a studio lounge except for "Pride of America". Again, this doesn't seem to make any sense. Since only ships that had studios had a studio lounge and the first ship that had studios was the Epic as far as I know

POA DOES have a "Studio Lounge". Look at deck 13, there are 4 Studio cabins with a blank space labeled Studio Lounge among them.  It won't have the same amenities as on the Epic or the BA/BA+ ships with large Studio lounges...

[dbrown84]

1 hour ago, Smitheroo said:

You need to specify in your 2nd sentence you are still referring to Teppanyaki  "anyone that wants to use a free specialty meal from a package cannot reserve before the cruise". I know you are probably still referring to Teppanyaki.  I know nothing about Teppanyaki but you can definitely reserve "a free specialty meal from a package" before the cruise.  My travel partner reserved the times for our choices. online before the cruise. Many others did also because he remarked how there weret many open times to choose from.  But the late dining times that were still available on line were easily changed to earlier ones on board.  So people must change their minds.  In fact, at Ocean Blue we had reason to inquire about something and were told we could come anytime, didt have to wait until the time we reserved.

yes.  and you can also book Teppanyaki before the cruise without paying.  You just have to make sure to book fixed priced restaurants before a la carte restaurants

[hallux]

Duplicate, stupid thing that doesn't clear the editor if I'm not replying on the last page...

Edited November 5, 2023 by hallux

[nudistcruzer]

7 hours ago, Smitheroo said:

You need to specify in your 2nd sentence you are still referring to Teppanyaki  "anyone that wants to use a free specialty meal from a package cannot reserve before the cruise". I know you are probably still referring to Teppanyaki.  I know nothing about Teppanyaki but you can definitely reserve "a free specialty meal from a package" before the cruise.  My travel partner reserved the times for our choices. online before the cruise. Many others did also because he remarked how there weret many open times to choose from.  But the late dining times that were still available on line were easily changed to earlier ones on board.  So people must change their minds.  In fact, at Ocean Blue we had reason to inquire about something and were told we could come anytime, didt have to wait until the time we reserved.

I was talking about Teppanyaki and also the Brazilian steakhouse. 
It certainly didn’t work for me and customer service said it probably wouldn’t no matter what. I’m assuming because I’m one person and potentially because I am doing a back to back book under one reservation. Certainly, if their system worked correctly I wouldn’t have a problem at all.

 

There were no instructions that said, I had to book those first. I’m certainly not going to cancel 10 reservations with the hope that I can reserve 2 spots for one person. What they need to do is fix the website so it works and knows how many total free meals you have and allows one to state the number of guests and not the size of the table.

 

The reservation system mentions nothing about free specialty meal from a package.

 

Regardless, it certainly didn’t work for me. customer service said I did nothing wrong. They just said it wasn’t going to work.

Edited November 5, 2023 by nudistcruzer

[nudistcruzer]

5 hours ago, dbrown84 said:

yes.  and you can also book Teppanyaki before the cruise without paying.  You just have to make sure to book fixed priced restaurants before a la carte restaurants

All right, they need to tell you that when you’re making the reservations, not after you’ve made 10 reservations.

 

better still, they need to fix their website, so it works correctly.

Edited November 5, 2023 by nudistcruzer

[Smitheroo]

1 minute ago, nudistcruzer said:

I was talking about Teppanyaki and also the Brazilian steakhouse. 
It certainly didn’t work for me and customer service said it probably wouldn’t no matter what. I’m assuming because I’m one person and potentially because I am doing a back to back book under one reservation. Certainly, if their system worked correctly I wouldn’t have a problem at all.

 

There were no instructions that said, I had to book those first. I’m certainly I’m not going to cancel 10 reservations with the hope that I can reserve 2 spots for one person. What they need to do is fix the website so it works and knows how many total free meals you have and allows one to state the number of guests and not the size of the table.

 

The reservation system mentions nothing about free specialty meal from a package.

 

Regardless, it certainly didn’t work for me. customer service said I did nothing wrong. They just said it wasn’t going to work.

my travel partner reserved our specialty meals for our cruise last week online before the cruise.  he had to pick 2 at 8:30 pm which isnt ideal but we had no trouble on board changing them to a time more to our liking. But he did reserve them- 3. Two were purchased as part of the dining package on sale (2 for $88.99) but 1 was from the FAS package.   

 

I have already decided to avoid this whole mess by removing all specialty dining when I travel alone.  The main dining rooms have enough variety for me to last me a long time.  I didnt notice much of a difference between the MDR and Ocean Blue, Cagney's or Le Bistro. Maybe a little more elegant or intimate. But that's just personal opinion.  to be honest I cant even remember what I chose in them 

[nudistcruzer]

7 hours ago, Smitheroo said:

You need to specify in your 2nd sentence you are still referring to Teppanyaki  "anyone that wants to use a free specialty meal from a package cannot reserve before the cruise". I know you are probably still referring to Teppanyaki.  I know nothing about Teppanyaki but you can definitely reserve "a free specialty meal from a package" before the cruise.  My travel partner reserved the times for our choices. online before the cruise. Many others did also because he remarked how there weret many open times to choose from.  But the late dining times that were still available on line were easily changed to earlier ones on board.  So people must change their minds.  In fact, at Ocean Blue we had reason to inquire about something and were told we could come anytime, didt have to wait until the time we reserved.

Unfortunately, editing is only allowed for 15 minutes, the post your quoting is three days old. 

[nudistcruzer]

6 hours ago, hallux said:

POA DOES have a "Studio Lounge". Look at deck 13, there are 4 Studio cabins with a blank space labeled Studio Lounge among them.  It won't have the same amenities as on the Epic or the BA/BA+ ships with large Studio lounges...

Yes, I can confirm that the Pride added studio staterooms in 2013. Still sounds confusing the way they said that, since they didn’t bother to mention that none of the other older ships had studios or studios lounges. Even though the website says, “Studios are available fleetwide.” They must be saying that the studio lounge, confirmed, on the Pride of America doesn’t have these amenities.
Norwegian customer service has said that the statement on their website, (“Studios are available fleetwide.”), was false. Because, studios are not fleet-wide.

[dbrown84]

2 hours ago, nudistcruzer said:

All right, they need to tell you that when you’re making the reservations, not after you’ve made 10 reservations.

 

better still, they need to fix their website, so it works correctly.

I feel you.  but I don't think there is anything to fix.  The assumption is mad that you're using dining credit until you run out of credits.  So in this case, if you had 11 credits, you would have been good.  but when you did the 10 reservations, you accounted for all your dining credits.  So any reservations done that they would know the cost, you'd have to pay.  That is why you should book the fixed cost restaurants first so they would go against your dining credit (not that you actually have to once onboard).  Then since they wouldn't know what your bill would be for the a la carte, they don't charge.  I guess they could change it to never charge before the cruise no matter what, and just charge when you actually show up

[nudistcruzer]

2 hours ago, dbrown84 said:

I feel you.  but I don't think there is anything to fix.  The assumption is mad that you're using dining credit until you run out of credits.  So in this case, if you had 11 credits, you would have been good.  but when you did the 10 reservations, you accounted for all your dining credits.  So any reservations done that they would know the cost, you'd have to pay.  That is why you should book the fixed cost restaurants first so they would go against your dining credit (not that you actually have to once onboard).  Then since they wouldn't know what your bill would be for the a la carte, they don't charge.  I guess they could change it to never charge before the cruise no matter what, and just charge when you actually show up

I tried to book when I did have remaining credits, it did not work. And those remaining were from a package, not a Platinum benefit. So, clearly it does not work correctly, since I was not able to book with a single credit on my second of the back to back cruises. It should take into account I am one person, which it does not do, especially for the Teppanyaki where there are no two person tables anyway. In advance even if I was willing to pay I was forced to pay for two people. The system is almost non-functional as far as I’m concerned. 
 

Suppose there is a family of three, a couple with a 12 year old child; to book the Teppanyaki restaurant in advance of the cruise, without a dining package, they are required to fully pay for four people. This is wrong.

 

Edited November 6, 2023 by nudistcruzer

[nudistcruzer]

I wasn’t told that if I booked the Teppanyaki restaurant first it should’ve worked until after I had given up and booked another 5 reservations. I had only booked 5 of my 10 total entitlements when I tried to book the Teppanyaki restaurant. Customer service said it would not be possible, regardless. So, I gave up and booked another five reservations. 

Now, I am unwilling to cancel 10 reservations, just so I can maybe go to the Teppanyaki restaurant. Cagney’s will have to suffice. 

[debenson0723]

3 hours ago, nudistcruzer said:

I wasn’t told that if I booked the Teppanyaki restaurant first it should’ve worked until after I had given up and booked another 5 reservations. I had only booked 5 of my 10 total entitlements when I tried to book the Teppanyaki restaurant. Customer service said it would not be possible, regardless. So, I gave up and booked another five reservations. 

Now, I am unwilling to cancel 10 reservations, just so I can maybe go to the Teppanyaki restaurant. Cagney’s will have to suffice. 

You don't have to cancel 10 reservations. Once you get on board, decide which night you would like to go to Teppanyaki, go to the venue where they are making dining changes and change that one night from Cagney's to Teppanyaki. 

[Smitheroo]

18 hours ago, nudistcruzer said:

All right, they need to tell you that when you’re making the reservations, not after you’ve made 10 reservations.

 

better still, they need to fix their website, so it works correctly.

I share your opinion of the website. No one else seems to though.  Its the crappiest website I have used in a long time. By the time I get to the page I want I've forgotten why.  It stalls, I get the wait/exit page button or the dots start dancing. Sometimes they just stop and at that point might as well start over. Yes, I've cleared browsing history and cookies.    Its almost impossible to research cruises like this.  And then I go to my email and see "Finish Booking your Cruise"  Well yeah, I'd like to .  Tell me how

Edited November 6, 2023 by Smitheroo

[cruiseny4life]

43 minutes ago, Smitheroo said:

I share your opinion of the website. No one else seems to though.  Its the crappiest website I have used in a long time. By the time I get to the page I want I've forgotten why.  It stalls, I get the wait/exit page button or the dots start dancing. Sometimes they just stop and at that point might as well start over. Yes, I've cleared browsing history and cookies.    Its almost impossible to research cruises like this.  And then I go to my email and see "Finish Booking your Cruise"  Well yeah, I'd like to .  Tell me how

Nearly all of us despise NCL's website and their lackluster IT. We just don't spend multiple posts grousing about it. 

[Vegasvolfan]

Anyone know if there is an up charge in Palamor for the saltebcrusted whole fish which is listed at market price.  It looks amazing has anyone had this dish?

[hallux]

3 hours ago, Smitheroo said:

Its the crappiest website I have used in a long time

 

2 hours ago, cruiseny4life said:

Nearly all of us despise NCL's website and their lackluster IT. We just don't spend multiple posts grousing about it. 

Then don't try Royal Caribbean's site.  It doesn't work properly in all browsers...

[Smitheroo]

3 hours ago, cruiseny4life said:

Nearly all of us despise NCL's website and their lackluster IT. We just don't spend multiple posts grousing about it. 

Ok my first thought after reading your comment was "was that smart A$$ comment really necessary?" Then I read some other comments made by you and I sense that is your sense of humor. Careful- words wthout visuals can get you in trouble.  I would like to add that plenty of people grouse about a lot of things  that I consider a waste of my time but I dont take a chance of insulting them.  Just scroll on by.  Also, the problems with NCL website is a lot worse than "lackluster".    Lackluster I could deal with. I got better things to do with my time than watching circles dancing on my screen forever.  But...I want to cruise so....

Edited November 6, 2023 by Smitheroo

[nudistcruzer]

16 hours ago, debenson0723 said:

You don't have to cancel 10 reservations. Once you get on board, decide which night you would like to go to Teppanyaki, go to the venue where they are making dining changes and change that one night from Cagney's to Teppanyaki. 

Yes, I may do that. Where is that by the way? Guest services? or is there a specific place to go for dining reservations? Thank you...

[nudistcruzer]

6 hours ago, Smitheroo said:

I share your opinion of the website. No one else seems to though.  Its the crappiest website I have used in a long time. By the time I get to the page I want I've forgotten why.  It stalls, I get the wait/exit page button or the dots start dancing. Sometimes they just stop and at that point might as well start over. Yes, I've cleared browsing history and cookies.    Its almost impossible to research cruises like this.  And then I go to my email and see "Finish Booking your Cruise"  Well yeah, I'd like to .  Tell me how

When I worked, I developed user interfaces. That is partly why I get so annoyed. Given the IT budget of these companies, I can't imagine why they can't simply make it work. The IT department I worked in had one employee, me. I worked directly with the people that had to use the user interfaces I developed. I had data entry people from the keypunch days all the way up to people that never touched a keyboard before. 

This was how data entry was done in the 1970s.

 

Also, these usually were covered in burn marks from cigarettes. 😂

Edited November 6, 2023 by nudistcruzer

[nudistcruzer]

6 hours ago, cruiseny4life said:

Nearly all of us despise NCL's website and their lackluster IT. We just don't spend multiple posts grousing about it. 

Right, just better to avoid using the website or booking anything ever using the website.

Edited November 6, 2023 by nudistcruzer

[cruiseny4life]

14 minutes ago, nudistcruzer said:

Right, just better to avoid using the website or booking anything ever using the website.

My husband calls his PCC to book our cruises. So, there is an alternative.