Best way to use platinum and speciality dining

[Yinster]

Being a Scot and want to use this fully, can anyone advise the best way to use our 2 platinum dining and 2 speciality dining vouchers for NCL Joy

 

Restaurants we like to dine are

 

Teppenaki

Cagney's

La Cucina

Food Republic

BBQ smokehouse

 

Though I have heard that we as haven guest can dine at the smokehouse for lunch on the first day. Is that true?

 

TIA

[BirdTravels]

In practice, the Platinum Vouchers and the FAS Specialty Dining credits are the same (except one Platinum Voucher comes with a bottle of wine).

 

Strictly by the terms and conditions say that you should use the Platinum Vouchers at Teppanyaki and Food Republic.   

[lixogab]

16 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

In practice, the Platinum Vouchers and the FAS Specialty Dining credits are the same (except one Platinum Voucher comes with a bottle of wine).

 

Strictly by the terms and conditions say that you should use the Platinum Vouchers at Teppanyaki and Food Republic.   

Here is what they say on https://www.ncl.com/latitudes-rewards-program

Benefit is available on sailings 5 days or longer, and entitles each guest to an appetizer, one entrée and dessert of choice. Upcharges apply to certain premium menu items; Raw Bar Seafood Platter is not included. Bottle of Wine offered in all venues offering Complimentary Wine list, Palomar not included. In à la carte restaurants, coupon can be redeemed for 4 menu items per person (Sushi, Wasabi, Nama, Teppanyaki, Hasuki, Food Republic, Pincho Tapas Bar or Raw Bar). Additional entrées will incur supplemental charges. Dinner coupons are non-transferrable. Solo guests cannot claim two dinners. Coupons can’t be used for the same venue twice. 2 guests maximum. Dining options vary by ship.

 

 

So, no Raw Bar Seafood Platter, no same restaurant twice.

Some confusion regarding “a la carte restaurants”: Cagneys and Le bistro are a la carte restaurants as well. And what do they mean by 4 menu items? For example in Teppanyaki what can you get besides appetizer, main course and desert ? A second desert or appetizer?

 

[ellenw]

At both Food Republic and Q, we used one dining voucher and shared. Plenty of food! There has been some discussion that this isn't allowed, but we had no problem doing it on each of our B2B cruises on Joy in September. That will spread out your vouchers. 

[itsnotjustme]

When making reservations, book the fixed price ones first so they go to the free at sea.  If you don't they may ask for payment for the fixed price venue when you book.  They can't do this on the a la carte venues as they don't know what you will order! 

 

Essentially when booking, they only know about your FAS package, not your platinum vouchers.

 

 

The top 3 on your list I would go to.

 

I have never been to Food Republic so have no comment.

 

We did not care for Q (BBQ Smokehouse) on the Joy, and would not waste our vouchers/packages there again.

[dexddd]

We have done Food Republic several times and always great and usually not busy.  Huge variety of options.

[Notamegagirl]

Hello! I thought the free at sea dinning offered more than platinum coupon. Such as appetizer, soup or salad and main course and dessert. While the coupon only offered app, main course and dessert. The servers were a bit strict with platinum vs free at sea dinning in my experience...

I would use coupon for teppanyaki, food republic and Q..save my FS dinning credits for La cucina and cagneys...hope everyone has had better experiences with their coupons/credits...

[tgloersen]

You can now use Platinum dinners at any of the restaurants.

[Yinster]

44 minutes ago, tgloersen said:

You can now use Platinum dinners at any of the restaurants.

I knew this hence why question of how do I use both different credits/ coupons to get more for my buck 

[Yinster]

1 hour ago, Notamegagirl said:

Hello! I thought the free at sea dinning offered more than platinum coupon. Such as appetizer, soup or salad and main course and dessert. While the coupon only offered app, main course and dessert. .

 

I would use coupon for teppanyaki, food republic and Q..save my FS dinning credits for La cucina and cagneys...hope everyone has had better experiences with their coupons/credits...

That has been very helpful 

 

For the smokehouse I heard that haven guests can use it for Day 1 lunch. If that is so, I will do that for free

[goldmom]

I don't know about the Smokehouse for lunch.  We were offered the American Diner for the free embarkation day lunch.

[cruiseny4life]

On Joy (March, 2023), we were offered American Diner, like @goldmom. We took advantage as we enjoy our first day's lunch to be mozzarella sticks, milkshake, and something from American Diner's entrée list. We'll miss this tradition when we embark Pr1ma on 11/20. 

[Yinster]

Thanks for clarifying it is the American diner and not Q.

[Russiamomm]

We made a mistake and used a platinum voucher at the sushi bar on the Breakaway last Spring.  It gave us eight items for the two of us.  WAY too much food.  Better to share one FAS meal and go twice.  
 

On the same trip, we used a platinum voucher at Cagneys.  They were stickers and we only got one soup or salad each,  The FAS meals give you both.  I believe it would be the same for LeBistro or other a la carte restaurants.

 

So, my advice is to use the Platinum vouchers for the fixed price restaurants and use the FAS meals for the a la carte restaurants and/or at the sushi/raw bar or Food Republic, share four “things” and go twice.  

[jeffregpuck]

Ok...I'm intrigued.  How do you go twice?  DH and I are both platinum, but the footnote at the bottom of the page states vouchers for two per Cabin....not per person.

 

⁶ Benefit is available on sailings 5 days or longer, and entitles each guest to an appetizer, one entrée and dessert of choice. Upcharges apply to certain premium menu items; Raw Bar Seafood Platter is not included. Bottle of Wine offered in all venues offering Complimentary Wine list, Palomar not included. In à la carte restaurants, coupon can be redeemed for 4 menu items per person (Sushi, Wasabi, Nama, Teppanyaki, Hasuki, Food Republic, Pincho Tapas Bar or Raw Bar). Additional entrées will incur supplemental charges. Dinner coupons are non-transferrable. Solo guests cannot claim two dinners. Coupons can’t be used for the same venue twice. 2 guests maximum. Dining options vary by ship.

[n4w]

3 hours ago, jeffregpuck said:

Ok...I'm intrigued.  How do you go twice?  DH and I are both platinum, but the footnote at the bottom of the page states vouchers for two per Cabin....not per person.

 

⁶ Benefit is available on sailings 5 days or longer, and entitles each guest to an appetizer, one entrée and dessert of choice. Upcharges apply to certain premium menu items; Raw Bar Seafood Platter is not included. Bottle of Wine offered in all venues offering Complimentary Wine list, Palomar not included. In à la carte restaurants, coupon can be redeemed for 4 menu items per person (Sushi, Wasabi, Nama, Teppanyaki, Hasuki, Food Republic, Pincho Tapas Bar or Raw Bar). Additional entrées will incur supplemental charges. Dinner coupons are non-transferrable. Solo guests cannot claim two dinners. Coupons can’t be used for the same venue twice. 2 guests maximum. Dining options vary by ship.

Going twice is not w/ vouchers; going twice is using one passenger's FAS to pick 4 items and share, return for second time with other passenger's FAS and doing the same thing.

[genealogyfan]

When I went to Le Bistro, they asked if I was using the FAS or my platinum voucher when I checked in. Thanks for all the other info.

[alanstarr]

On 11/2/2023 at 7:50 PM, Russiamomm said:

So, my advice is to use the Platinum vouchers for the fixed price restaurants and use the FAS meals for the a la carte restaurants and/or at the sushi/raw bar or Food Republic, share four “things” and go twice.  

 

If you're traveling solo, you can order up to 8 items when using the Platinum voucher at ala carte restaurants. Just did this last night at the Raw Bar on the Getaway. (Although even the 5 dishes I ordered was too much food for me to finish. And I can eat!)

[dbrown84]

7 minutes ago, alanstarr said:

 

If you're traveling solo, you can order up to 8 items when using the Platinum voucher at ala carte restaurants. Just did this last night at the Raw Bar on the Getaway. (Although even the 5 dishes I ordered was too much food for me to finish. And I can eat!)

WOW.  I wonder if this is a new change, or a case of YMMV.  Solos have always not been able to "double up" on the vouchers.  In other words, you couldn't get two entrees and was limited to 4 items at those restaurants that are by item (food republic, raw bar, ect(

[alanstarr]

6 minutes ago, dbrown84 said:

WOW.  I wonder if this is a new change, or a case of YMMV.  Solos have always not been able to "double up" on the vouchers.  In other words, you couldn't get two entrees and was limited to 4 items at those restaurants that are by item (food republic, raw bar, ect(

 

I bet its a YMMV. I've definitely been able to do it on other ships as well though. I think the last time was at the sushi bar on the Star this past winter, where they volunteered the info that I could order 8 items. (Last night, I had to mention it, but the waiter quickly agreed.) 

I've only done it a couple times, but have never been turned down yet. Last night I even ordered a couple appetizers from the Ocean Blue menu (fire shrimp and scallops) and three from the Raw Bar menu. Plus dessert that I took back to my cabin.

Edited November 4, 2023 by alanstarr

[jeffregpuck]

13 hours ago, n4w said:

Going twice is not w/ vouchers; going twice is using one passenger's FAS to pick 4 items and share, return for second time with other passenger's FAS and doing the same thing.

Ok.  That makes sense, but still not sure how to do it.  Do you just tell them at the desk that we are using "my" FAS?  And not to charge DH's FAS?  With my luck they would put two items on mine, and two items on his, and ...poof...they're both gone.

[n4w]

15 minutes ago, jeffregpuck said:

Ok.  That makes sense, but still not sure how to do it.  Do you just tell them at the desk that we are using "my" FAS?  And not to charge DH's FAS?  With my luck they would put two items on mine, and two items on his, and ...poof...they're both gone.

Let them know in advance that you are splitting one FAS; if they say it's not allowed, you can tell them that passenger 2 is only going to order one item and pay a la carte.  Then the two of you can share the 5 items.

 

Many report it's the staff that warns that 8 items are a lot of food and it's the staff that suggests splitting one FAS. YMMV.

Edited November 4, 2023 by n4w

[n4w]

17 minutes ago, jeffregpuck said:

 and ...poof...they're both gone.

Check the tab when you sign; there's no poof if you are aware of what you're signing for.

[Russiamomm]

14 minutes ago, n4w said:

Let them know in advance that you are splitting one FAS; if they say it's not allowed, you can tell them that passenger 2 is only going to order one item and pay a la carte.  Then the two of you can share the 5 items.

 

Many report it's the staff that warns that 8 items are a lot of food and it's the staff that suggests splitting one FAS. YMMV.

That’s what happened to us.  We told them we were using the Platinum voucher.  They told us it would be better to use one FAS because it was so much food,  unfortunately we had already used our FAS.  She was right.  8 things was way too much food!  Live and learn.  

[pkay1]

We traveled with another couple and used two FAS for the four of us at Food Republic. And the husbands were big eaters. Our server had no problem with us only using two meals for the four of us. We were on the Bliss and Food Republic is open for lunch on sea days. We went two times on that trip. Really enjoyed it.