Norwegian Jade - MDRs and long cruises

[dmwnc1959]

I see Norwegian Jade has two complimentary main dining rooms, Alizar and Grand Pacific. In the Freestyle world of NCL are you able to choose and walk up to which ever one you want to eat at for dinner, or are you assigned one prior to embarkation? I definitely fancy one over the other. 

As for long cruises (25 nights), if you eat there a couple of times at the very beginning and then don’t come back for a week or longer, do they seat you at the same table (can you request an area) or is it open-seating where they just put you wherever? Always looking to participate in the 530pm stampede. 
 

And do the menus rotate through 7-10 days and go back to the same menu from Day 1? Can’t imagine how many different menus they have on 25 nights.
 

I sat down last night to try and plan out my dining for next year’s Big Cruise - which ports or sea days I’d like to attempt and book specialty dining - and divvy up the rest of the nights between the other venues. It was harder than I thought for such a long cruise with so many options! 

 

[MSUjohn]

16 minutes ago, dmwnc1959 said:

I see Norwegian Jade has two complimentary main dining rooms, Alizar and Grand Pacific. In the Freestyle world of NCL are you able to choose and walk up to which ever one you want to eat at for dinner, or are you assigned one prior to embarkation? I definitely fancy one over the other. 

"free style dinning" you just walk up to either or and they seat you wherever.
 

[MSUjohn]

31 minutes ago, dmwnc1959 said:

And do the menus rotate through 7-10 days and go back to the same menu from Day 1?

off the top of my head there is a 7-day rotating menu.
>there is the daily favorites served everyday (think beef pork bird fish noodle/vegatarian) and then a rotating menu.
lunch and breakfast are more "repetitive" but that (especially breakfast) is to be expected. 

also there is an asian themed restaurant jasmine garden* that is complementary, if you want some variety. 

here is the menu for the mdr NCL Menus 2024 · Prof. Cruise, Ship Tour, Cruise Vacation, Cruise Travel, Cruise Menus (profcruise.com)

*just pop in for dessert and try the red bean pie with green tea ice cream; thank me after your cruise 😃

[MSUjohn]

23 minutes ago, MSUjohn said:

either or

*either/or

[www3traveler]

One side of the MDR menu should rotate on a nightly basis.  The other side may rotate on a weekly basis.  On the 25 night cruise, you will probably get some duplication of menus.

 

MDR's are open seating: no assigned tables or dining times.  Waiters will probably rotate serving stations at least on a weekly basis.

 

Safe travels and enjoy

[KeithJenner]

There are about 21 MDR menus, so on a 25 day cruise there will be some duplication, but not too much.

 

As for seating, there is no effort to seat you in the same place. Every time you turn up you will be seated wherever is convenient (i.e. balancing customers per server). In the example you gave of going there a few times at the start of the cruise and then again towards the end there would be no difference between days 1 and day 2 or day 2 and day 20. Each time they will seat you wherever is available when you arrive.

 

You can request the same place and I'm sure they will try to assist (never tried it myself), but it certainly wouldn't be guaranteed. You may not get the same servers anyway.

[schmoopie17]

We were on the Jade for 14 days a month ago. We ate in Alizar once...Grand Pacific five times. We much preferred the atmosphere in Grand Pacific...the place is huge and (at least to us) more elegant. You have a different table and different servers every time (unless you just happen to get the same table and/or servers by sheer coincidence,)

 

 

Edited April 7 by schmoopie17

[dmwnc1959]

41 minutes ago, MSUjohn said:

off the top of my head there is a 7-day rotating menu.
>there is the daily favorites served everyday (think beef pork bird fish noodle/vegatarian) and then a rotating menu.
lunch and breakfast are more "repetitive" but that (especially breakfast) is to be expected. 

also there is an asian themed restaurant jasmine garden* that is complementary, if you want some variety. 

here is the menu for the mdr NCL Menus 2024 · Prof. Cruise, Ship Tour, Cruise Vacation, Cruise Travel, Cruise Menus (profcruise.com)

*just pop in for dessert and try the red bean pie with green tea ice cream; thank me after your cruise 😃

 

I managed to rotate my 25-night dinner schedule through every dining venue on the ship except Teppanyaki and Moderno, neither which are really personally appealing. Every other specialty and complimentary restaurants are on my listed program - I even got O’Sheehan’s on the books one night after coming back from what will probably be a long day in Colón just to grab something quick and easy. I definitely took a look at the menus, and La Cucina is a heavy favorite! And the red bean pie with green tea ice cream sounds really amazing!!! 
 

 

[schmoopie17]

Don't overlook Jasmine, the complimentary Asian restaurant, We ate there four nights and loved it every time. 

[dmwnc1959]

2 minutes ago, KeithJenner said:

There are about 21 MDR menus, so on a 25 day cruise there will be some duplication, but not too much.

 

As for seating, there is no effort to seat you in the same place. Every time you turn up you will be seated wherever is convenient (i.e. balancing customers per server). In the example you gave of going there a few times at the start of the cruise and then again towards the end there would be no difference between days 1 and day 2 or day 2 and day 20. Each time they will seat you wherever is available when you arrive.

 

You can request the same place and I'm sure they will try to assist (never tried it myself), but it certainly wouldn't be guaranteed. You may not get the same servers anyway.

I like the idea of all of this. As for main dining room seating, I’d like to aim for the back of Grand Pacific near the windows. 😁
 

 

[MSUjohn]

5 minutes ago, dmwnc1959 said:

Moderno, neither which are really personally appealing.

Moderno is my favorite place by far; drastically better than cagney's.
but that is just my opinion; and opinions are like .....well never mind.

[dmwnc1959]

3 minutes ago, schmoopie17 said:

We were on the Jade for 14 days a month ago. We ate in Alizar once...Grand Pacific five times. We much preferred the atmosphere in Grand Pacific...the place is huge and (at least to us) more elegant. You have a different table and different servers every time (unless you just happen to get the same table by sheer coincidence,)

 

 

 

I’ve watched a couple of walk-through video tours - Alizar with all of the bench seating just pales in comparison to Grand Pacific, which looked stunning. 🥰

[KeithJenner]

6 minutes ago, dmwnc1959 said:

I like the idea of all of this. As for main dining room seating, I’d like to aim for the back of Grand Pacific near the windows. 😁
 

 

The rear of Grand Pacific is very nice, although sometimes the sun can be an issue near any of the windows. They often fill the areas near the windows first so I'n certainly get there before they open to give yourself the best chance. You don't have to get there too early, maybe 5 minutes.

 

One other thing to be aware of is that some people (customers in suites and higher latitudes levels) get preferred seating, although that is inconsistently applied, so you may find that they leave some spaces for those.

Edited April 7 by KeithJenner

[dmwnc1959]

Just now, MSUjohn said:

Moderno is my favorite place by far; drastically better than cagney's.
but that is just my opinion; and opinions are like .....well never mind.

See, after looking at the menus I was the exact opposite. I’ve eaten at a restaurant similar to Moderno on Allure of the Seas and it just wasn’t even a good experience. Where as the menu in Cagneys…😍 it would be interesting to hear you expand on why you like Moderno best. 

[dmwnc1959]

2 minutes ago, KeithJenner said:

The rear of Grand Pacific is very nice, although sometimes the sun can be an issue near any of the windows. They often fill the areas near the windows first so I'n certainly get there before they open to give yourself the best chance. You don't have to get there too early, maybe 5 minutes.

 

One other thing to be aware of is that some people (customers in suites and higher latitudes levels) get preferred seating, although that is inconsistently applied, so you may find that they leave some spaces for those.

In the real world I am an early eater for dinner, so getting there several minutes before they open isn’t a problem. I’m sure by 5:30pm food will be the first thing on my mind without a doubt! 😋

[dmwnc1959]

11 minutes ago, schmoopie17 said:

Don't overlook Jasmine, the complimentary Asian restaurant, We ate there four nights and loved it every time. 

It’s on my schedule list three times! 👍 I may need to reevaluate that now! 😁

[ChiefMateJRK]

28 minutes ago, dmwnc1959 said:

I like the idea of all of this. As for main dining room seating, I’d like to aim for the back of Grand Pacific near the windows. 😁
 

 

I haven't been on the Jade, but was recently on her sister ship (Pearl).  I believe the layouts are virtually identical.  Like you, we really enjoyed sitting by the window at the back of the ship (I guess I should say stern).  On the Pearl, it was most definitely first come, first served.  That worked fine for us, because we tend to eat breakfast and dinner when they open.  Get there a few minutes early and you're good to go.  If DD and DW aren't quite ready in the morning, I just go down by myself and enjoy my (first) bloody Mary and some morning sunshine.

[ChiefMateJRK]

34 minutes ago, schmoopie17 said:

Don't overlook Jasmine, the complimentary Asian restaurant, We ate there four nights and loved it every time. 

I second this.😎

[dmwnc1959]

Another quick question about the Garden Café buffet. During the final days of the 25-night itinerary we will be in Alaska, and I like to be top-side a lot. For those that have eaten dinner in the buffet, do you find it passable? Not really wanting to spend an hour or two eating dinner ‘below decks’ while the world passes by.

[www3traveler]

1 hour ago, dmwnc1959 said:

Another quick question about the Garden Café buffet. During the final days of the 25-night itinerary we will be in Alaska, and I like to be top-side a lot. For those that have eaten dinner in the buffet, do you find it passable? Not really wanting to spend an hour or two eating dinner ‘below decks’ while the world passes by.

The Great Outdoors (outdoor dining space outside of thee rear of the buffet across the stern of the ship) will probably be very chilly in the evenings for dinner.  Great place for lunch.

 

Lots of people going out there to take either sunrise or sunset pictures.

[dmwnc1959]

Just now, www3traveler said:

The Great Outdoors (outdoor dining space outside of thee rear of the buffet across the stern of the ship) will probably be very chilly in the evenings for dinner.  Great place for lunch.

 

Lots of people going out there to take either sunrise or sunset pictures.

Any thoughts on the food quality for dinner at the Garden Café?
 

I’ve actually already looked up the times for sunset for all the days that we’re in Alaska and (weather permitting for the scenic cruising) don’t want to miss a minute of it on sail-aways down channel. For me it’s the FOMO on the 🏔️ scenery and possible 🦅 🐋wildlife sightings while eating dinner or seeing shows for hours. I think these may be the days I’ll be grabbing something quick and then going back topside. The average daytime high seems to be around 50°, but the morning lows in the lower 30’s are going to be 🥶. I’ll have to find a way to deal with the cold on a moving ship. 

 

[MSUjohn]

2 hours ago, dmwnc1959 said:

I’ve eaten at a restaurant similar to Moderno on Allure of the Seas and it just wasn’t even a good experience.

i have seen a video of the RCL churrascaria and it looked awful; NCLs top notch especially the "buffet"/ starter bar. 

[www3traveler]

The Garden Cafe is the buffet-- food quality and quantity will probably depend on the Food and Beverage Director and the Executive Chef.  They should have daily lunch and dinner specials advertised in the Freestyle Daily.   

[MSUjohn]

2 hours ago, schmoopie17 said:

Don't overlook Jasmine, the complimentary Asian restaurant, We ate there four nights and loved it every time. 

the bean pie with matcha ice cream is the best dessert on the ship. i will eat somewhere else and stop there for just for dessert.

i am not even a dessert person, i am a savory person...it is just that good.  

[YVRteacher]

2 hours ago, dmwnc1959 said:

I like the idea of all of this. As for main dining room seating, I’d like to aim for the back of Grand Pacific near the windows. 😁
 

 

Those seats are reserved for high level latitudes guests.