Specialty Dining and Children and trying to formulate a strategy

[Two Wheels Only]

21 minutes ago, degood said:

So the question from us is, could the five of us go into Cagney's order 4 adult meals and one kid meal and then just charge all 4 to our speciality dining credit and then do the same thing at Le Bistro another night?  Or does the restaurant know that the 6 year old is the other booked specialty meal and will end up charging my older son for his meal?

 

Technically, you could be charged but realistically, the restaurant will probably ring up 4SDP meals + complimentary fries for both restaurants.

 

Is it too late to make the older child as guest #2?

 

[kitkat343]

1 hour ago, Two Wheels Only said:

 

Technically, you could be charged but realistically, the restaurant will probably ring up 4SDP meals + complimentary fries for both restaurants.

 

Is it too late to make the older child as guest #2?

 

This family really wants the older child as guest #2 especially if they are going to Moderno or Teppanyaki (we didn't get charged for kids meals at either of those restaurants for our kids under 12 ordered at either venue, but they are a bit more challenging since one is an all you can eat and Teppanyaki is very restricted in terms of seating and I think they might have the right to charge you).

[degood]

12 hours ago, Two Wheels Only said:

 

Technically, you could be charged but realistically, the restaurant will probably ring up 4SDP meals + complimentary fries for both restaurants.

 

Is it too late to make the older child as guest #2?

 

We sail in 30 days so I will have my husband call and see if he can switch the order of the kids since they are booked in his room.  If not, we will just buy the 2 specialty meals pack for my son if that is an option for the 3rd guest.

[Two Wheels Only]

1 hour ago, degood said:

We sail in 30 days so I will have my husband call and see if he can switch the order of the kids since they are booked in his room.  If not, we will just buy the 2 specialty meals pack for my son if that is an option for the 3rd guest.

 

Husband should be able to make the change without penalty since his original name/guest number isn't changing. The phone rep might try and tell him that there is a fee or (even worse) might try to make it a cancel/rebook. 

 

If the rep gives him a hard time, your plan B of just adding a 2SDP for the teen will work smoothly.

[kitkat343]

46 minutes ago, Two Wheels Only said:

 

Husband should be able to make the change without penalty since his original name/guest number isn't changing. The phone rep might try and tell him that there is a fee or (even worse) might try to make it a cancel/rebook. 

 

If the rep gives him a hard time, your plan B of just adding a 2SDP for the teen will work smoothly.

I've dealt with poorly trained phone reps on all cruise lines, so another option is to say "let me check with my husband on that and I'll call you back,"  Then you call back and pray for a competent call center rep (there are some, but not many but sometimes you get lucky).

 

 

The Plan B is still a good last resort, but hopefully it won't come to that

 

Edited March 3 by kitkat343

[902]

I've tried purchasing a 2 meal dining credit for my 15 year old but it doesn't allow it on the website or app ahead of the cruise. I'm assuming one can do this on the ship only?

[Two Wheels Only]

1 hour ago, 902 said:

I've tried purchasing a 2 meal dining credit for my 15 year old but it doesn't allow it on the website or app ahead of the cruise. I'm assuming one can do this on the ship only?

 

The app/website can be wonky. You can try to call or wait until you are on the ship (maybe using OBC). 

[902]

On 2/23/2024 at 10:19 PM, thesnoopster2 said:

Free kids meals for those 12 and under.  The 13 year old will be 13 years plus 14 days old.  Will they force her to eat/order from adult meals?  Like when we show our ID, will it allow her to have a kids meal or would it kick back the kids meal as invalid option because she is no longer 12?

 

Secondly, it is well documented you can't give away specialty meals to others but can you switch plates?  Or would this be a up to the specific specialty dining staff?

 

My situation is we have Grandma in a cabin with a 13 year old granddaughter and a 10 year old granddaughter.  On the reservation is gma, the 10 year old and then the 13 year old so the SDP is under gma and the 10 year old.  There is no way that either of these girls would eat a $30 steak plus apps and sides.  They can barely eat a happy meal.  Just trying to figure out a way to utilize the 4 specialty dining credits (2 people X 2 meals)  I don't really want to accept I will be forced to use a specialty dining credit on an already free kids meal

 

Is it possible to do this?

Meal 1

Specialty meal, kids meal, kids meal

 

Meal 2

Specialty meal, kids meal, kids meal

 

Meal 3

kids meal, Specialty meal, kids meal

 

Meal 4

kids meal, Specialty meal, kids meal

 

with meals 3 and 4, the staff would put the bill meal under the 10 year old and then gma could just switch plates or something?

 

Any thoughts, ideas, ect?  I called NCL to ask about it and they were less then helpful.

Hi OP,

I was reading this thread before our first cruise as we had a similar situation. Back now,  and will share our experience for anyone else that cares to wade through the rude comments for an actual answer 🙂

We were traveling with our teenage daughter who is a picky eater and we were undecidied if we should buy her a 2-meal specialty dining package as we wanted her to join us for dinner (we had two credits as part of our FAS package).  Well, we chose not to and she just ordered a-la-carte.  In both cases, unprompted, the servers put most of our daughters charges on our own 'bill' and it was much cheaper than if we had bought the 2-meal voucher. We got charged the main entree on one occasion and nothing on the second.That would be my recommendation unless you are bringing along a very heavy eater. The meals are quite large. Then use some or all of your savings on an additional tip for the server.