Norwegian Jade - MDRs and long cruises

[2bc cruisers]

La cucina is our favorite specialty restaurant lately.  I really like their menu from start to dessert.
my hubs won’t step foot in moderno.  I really liked the salad bar, meats were meh, but it’s been years.  We had a poor experience there, that was the final straw for DH.  To be fair, the manager, I have no idea who it was anymore, tried very hard to make it right.  Sent a treat to our room, refunded our meal voucher.  Still, it’s a no go for us.  Plenty of other options.  
and I’m not an Olive Garden fan. 
 

Edited April 7 by 2bc cruisers
Addition..

[ChiefMateJRK]

27 minutes ago, Distinctive-Destinations said:

That’s where I am. It’s fine.

 

Some people on here must be eating at Morton’s every time they have a steak based upon the comments.

I've had great steaks at Cagney's and crappy steaks at Cagney's.  Same with Ocean Blue.  Le Bistro is usually pretty good.  I even had a pretty good New York Strip at the Local (evening special).  I've never had a good steak in the MDR.

[ChiefMateJRK]

2 hours ago, dmwnc1959 said:

I grabbed a couple of screenshots from a walk-through video and posted them on a different thread. I wonder if it varies by sailing, but most of all these look like two tops? 

 

Those aren't the rear windows.

[dmwnc1959]

5 minutes ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Those aren't the rear windows.

So here’s the video I’m watching. If you look just at the 29 minute mark he enters the Grand Pacific, looks to the side, and then proceeds toward the back along the starboard side. Crosses across the back, and then goes back up to port side. This is why I am thinking those windows that I screenshot are the aft windows. Maybe you can verify that for me based on what I’m seeing in the video. 
 

 

[YVRteacher]

1 hour ago, KeithJenner said:

I'm sure that is sometimes true, but not always.

 

When we were last on the Jade they were sitting everyone by the aft window first. I can't believe that all of them were due to Latitudes.

 

 

You don’t know what their latitudes status was.

 

Key cards recognition means window seats in restaurants.

[ChiefMateJRK]

14 minutes ago, dmwnc1959 said:

So here’s the video I’m watching. If you look just at the 29 minute mark he enters the Grand Pacific, looks to the side, and then proceeds toward the back along the starboard side. Crosses across the back, and then goes back up to port side. This is why I am thinking those windows that I screenshot are the aft windows. Maybe you can verify that for me based on what I’m seeing in the video. 
 

 

It looks like you are correct.  Lacking context, they looked like the side window areas to me.

[dmwnc1959]

4 minutes ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

It looks like you are correct.  Lacking context, they looked like the side window areas to me.

It’s probably the best walkabout video (love the fact that it has no running commentary) that I’ve scene of Norwegian Jade, and I’ve been watching it for a couple of months now. The Grand Pacific is gorgeous, and I’d even be happy with one of the side windows too. 😉 This video and one other (can’t post it here because it’s by a travel agency) is all it took to make me fall in love with this ship. 

[KeithJenner]

10 minutes ago, YVRteacher said:

You don’t know what their latitudes status was.

 

Key cards recognition means window seats in restaurants.

It would have been very odd for all of the first 20 or so parties into the restaurant on multiple days to have all been higher latitudes. I’m going to stick with my view that they were sitting everyone there.

 

Also, we are diamond and are certainly not seated in prime positions every time.

Sometimes they clearly do so, but more often than not they don’t.

 

Priority seating is a latitudes benefit but it is inconsistently applied.

[MSUjohn]

3 hours ago, MSUjohn said:

it is my father and i; it is our "tradition" to do moderno on the last night of any cruise we are on, as a consolation prize of sorts.

damn, i have accepted the fact that i am functionally illiterate when typing on forums and messaging groups. cruise critics edit policy does not help 😪  

[MSUjohn]

3 hours ago, dmwnc1959 said:

I’ve never had tapioca pudding before either!

im sorry i am not trying to be mean. you do you make it this far along in life and not have had tapioca pudding? 

[MSUjohn]

3 hours ago, Turtles06 said:

 

I would not waste time nor a FAS or dining package meal on Moderno.  We've given it a bunch of tries on the Jewel-class ships and NCL just can't pull off a churrascaria.  The meats were invariably cold, tough, poor quality.  I realize that food is subjective, and other folks may feel differently.  But we've decided we are done with Moderno.    

i think moderno is FAR better than any churrascaria i have had on land (all three of them).
Cagney's to me is a waste; hello connective tissue. 

its personal choice though.

[dmwnc1959]

19 minutes ago, MSUjohn said:

im sorry i am not trying to be mean. you do you make it this far along in life and not have had tapioca pudding? 

I know, right! Me, the self-proclaimed ‘world traveler’, and never have had tapioca pudding. 🤣

[dmwnc1959]

18 minutes ago, MSUjohn said:

i think moderno is FAR better than any churrascaria i have had on land (all three of them).
Cagney's to me is a waste; hello connective tissue. 

its personal choice though.

OK, that’s just gross. 🤢😂 I’m a big seafood guy and that’s mainly what I would’ve gone to Cagney’s for, those options look fairly safe. 

[dmwnc1959]

27 minutes ago, MSUjohn said:

damn, i have accepted the fact that i am functionally illiterate when typing on forums and messaging groups. cruise critics edit policy does not help 😪  

It’s even worse if you are trying to do speech-to-text on an iPhone! It’s pretty sure I’m not even speaking English sometimes. 😂

[MSUjohn]

27 minutes ago, dmwnc1959 said:

OK, that’s just gross.

ok i am lost why that is gross🤔
with the giant steaks anytime you have more than one muscle you are going to have connective tissue well connecting them😃

[dmwnc1959]

12 minutes ago, MSUjohn said:

ok i am lost why that is gross🤔
with the giant steaks anytime you have more than one muscle you are going to have connective tissue well connecting them😃

I’m about 75% carnicore, but I’m not even a big fan of steaks, never have been. So connective tissue - while doing its job - is just cow floss. 😆

[ChrysFox]

On 4/7/2024 at 2:03 PM, MSUjohn said:

. . .but that is just my opinion; and opinions are like .....well never mind.

Like eyeballs - everybody has 2, and they don't always agree on what they're seeing

[dmwnc1959]

Just now, ChrysFox said:

Like eyeballs - everybody has 2, and they don't always agree on what they're seeing

What's crazy is that a lot of these drastically opposing viewpoints of the exact same venue are making me wonder if it's worth paying $50 for a meal.
 

I've got the two FAS meals, and debating on whether or not I should just wait on booking a specialty dining package for when I get on board. 

[ChiefMateJRK]

2 hours ago, dmwnc1959 said:

What's crazy is that a lot of these drastically opposing viewpoints of the exact same venue are making me wonder if it's worth paying $50 for a meal.
 

I've got the two FAS meals, and debating on whether or not I should just wait on booking a specialty dining package for when I get on board. 

The majority here would never pay extra for added specialty dining.  FAS?  Great, enjoy your one - three "free" dinners.  Platinum or above?  Great, enjoy your two added free dinners.  Beyond that?  No way I'm paying what they're asking for what they are delivering.  The MDR/Local/etc. are just fine.

 

Que the contrarian opinions.

[dmwnc1959]

50 minutes ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

The majority here would never pay extra for added specialty dining.  FAS?  Great, enjoy your one - three "free" dinners.  Platinum or above?  Great, enjoy your two added free dinners.  Beyond that?  No way I'm paying what they're asking for what they are delivering.  The MDR/Local/etc. are just fine.

 

Que the contrarian opinions.

This thread and the point/counter-point comments within have really dampened my enthusiasm for specialty dining, and maybe that's a good thing? 
 

Otherwise I'd gone in with some pretty high expectations and may have been sadly disappointed. I was jumping in with both feet without breaking down the per meal costs. But when I did the math @ $50 a pop 😳 for dinner it sort of killed it. 
 

🥸

[ChiefMateJRK]

2 hours ago, dmwnc1959 said:

This thread and the point/counter-point comments within have really dampened my enthusiasm for specialty dining, and maybe that's a good thing? 
 

Otherwise I'd gone in with some pretty high expectations and may have been sadly disappointed. I was jumping in with both feet without breaking down the per meal costs. But when I did the math @ $50 a pop 😳 for dinner it sort of killed it. 
 

🥸

Glad we could help.  I've sailed NCL a lot, and really couldn't care less where I eat.  I'll have free drinks everywhere and I can only eat so much food.  To be honest, after starting the day with a great (free) breakfast and a couple of bloody Mary's, it's just autopilot until the evening entertainment.  That said, and contrary to some, I do enjoy the show at Teppanyaki.  It's like an early start to the evening's singing and fun.  I book 5:00.😎

[cruiseny4life]

11 hours ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

The majority here would never pay extra for added specialty dining.  FAS?  Great, enjoy your one - three "free" dinners.  Platinum or above?  Great, enjoy your two added free dinners.  Beyond that?  No way I'm paying what they're asking for what they are delivering.  The MDR/Local/etc. are just fine.

 

Que the contrarian opinions.

I sure won't be contrarian on this one! I would never pay extra...well except for the now non-existent mozzarella sticks at American Diner. Specialty dining is so not worth much more than $40 - $50 a dinner (and it's only because it offers appetizer, entree, dessert that it gets to that $50 price). Otherwise, I'd never eat in the specialty restaurants. 

 

Prior to Platinum, we did purchase the upgrade 2 dinner specialty dinner package which equated to about $35/$40 per meal. Now that we've crossed the holy threshold, I don't think we'll be purchasing that package to have a whopping six meals per cruise (unless we finally get to go on a 20+ day cruise). 

 

By the way, I do enjoy Teppanyaki and Moderno, unlike some of the posters here. But, many of them think NCL offers "fine dining." To that I say...Olive Garden must be fine dining (no knock on the OG - I enjoy that restaurant very much when in the mood for overpriced pasta). 

[zqvol]

10 hours ago, dmwnc1959 said:

This thread and the point/counter-point comments within have really dampened my enthusiasm for specialty dining, and maybe that's a good thing? 
 

Otherwise I'd gone in with some pretty high expectations and may have been sadly disappointed. I was jumping in with both feet without breaking down the per meal costs. But when I did the math @ $50 a pop 😳 for dinner it sort of killed it. 
 

🥸

You are going to be sick of the food by the time your long cruise is over