will we be sunk at dinnertime?

[momofteens]

I'm booked on the Gem. I'm a little worried about the freestyle dining. From what I've read on the boards I'm picturing my family wandering from restaurant to restaurant looking for anyplace that has an open table. Is freestyle really "make a reservation ahead of time".

[Toyz711]

think of "freestyle" like your normal, regular restaurants at home. you figure out where you want to go, go in and they ask "how many in your party" and they seat you. if you go during prime-time, you may have a little wait..usually not. you have been living "freestyle" for how many years? we found that the smaller of the 2 main dining rooms (on the NCL star) was less noise and less well known...never had a problem or wait, even for a party of 7. BTW, in the main dining rooms they don't like to make reservatons for parties of less then 8.

for the specialities, yes, a reservations is smart...they have limited tables and space. but even with them, we check as we walk by...just in case. last cruise we found one that could take us in 20 mins.

[lukes]

If you have a group of 10 or more then reservations will be necessary. However less then that you can just walk into the main dinning rooms. We have never had to wait more than a few minutes. At the peak time 7-8 you may have to wait a little longer. The restaurtants will post the menus early in the day. If nothing appeals to you then you can make arrangements for something else ie: buffet, never a wait there, or a speicality restaurant, those they fill fast, or room service, or even Blue Lagoon.

[Ephraim]

There are often screens around the ship telling you what kind of time waits there are and if there are waits. The last time we were on, we never waited more than five minutes for a table.

[silkhair1]

We have never had a problem waiting to eat. We try to avoid peak times though and eat early. Easier on the kids. Have fun and don't worry!!!!!

[garycarla]

I'm booked on the Gem. I'm a little worried about the freestyle dining. From what I've read on the boards I'm picturing my family wandering from restaurant to restaurant looking for anyplace that has an open table. Is freestyle really "make a reservation ahead of time".

 

Hi MomofTeens!

 

I am guessing you are new here. If you read through the messages, you will find that people rarely have problems finding a place to eat. It happens, but it seems to be rare, and often tied to people that want to eat in ONLY the speciality restaurants. And they are hard to get into sometimes. In reality, the main dining rooms, buffet and a few other options usually have immediate seating, and sometimes a short wait. We are about to go on cruise number 4 or is it 5, and have never had a problem.

[elgato2]

We never had to wait in the two main dining rooms...not only that, after we found a waiter we especially liked we would ask him every night where he was working the following night and ask for his section.

We had the same waiter 6 out of the 7 nights on our last trip.. He was wonderful!

('Batman' and his Asst. 'Robin' on the Jewel)

[Carnac767]

The Norwegian Dream has less than half the number of restaurants as the Gem and we never had to wait more than five minutes for a table at any restaurant.

[YuOminae]

i have cruised with ncl 2 times and next week it will be my third one,each time with a diferent ship,and we never failed to enter a restaurant,once in the main restaurant we had to wait a little bit because it was pact,so you should not worry about it

[buddyjo143]

What if we want to eat in the main dining room and don't mind being seated with others? Will they wait till there is a group of 4, 6 or 8 and then seat us all together?

 

Thanks.

[momofteens]

I feel much better. Thanks for the info.

[Toyz711]

to the other poster: usually they will ask if you want to be seated with others. if they have a table they are trying to fill, they will seat you there. if not, they may ask for you to wait while they ask others and seat you together. you can, always, speak up and ask if they need to fill a table. many ways to do it.

if you meet some others and are planning on dining together, they won't seat you until your whole party is there. this cruise i want to enjoy the private table for 2, last cruise we had family with us.

[98Charlie]

What if we want to eat in the main dining room and don't mind being seated with others? Will they wait till there is a group of 4, 6 or 8 and then seat us all together?

 

Thanks.

We enjoy meeting our fellow cruisers and normally ask to be seated with others. We are seated immediately but if we do not have tablemates after 4 or 5 minutes the waiter will usually start the service.

 

Charlie

[DAGVBSB]

There are often screens around the ship telling you what kind of time waits there are and if there are waits. The last time we were on, we never waited more than five minutes for a table.

 

Only on the newer ships like Gem, Pearl, Jewel, POAm and POH/Jade. Dawn, Star, POA, Sun, Dream and Majesty don't have the screens.

[trish1c]

I've only had to wait longer than it took the poor hostess to walk across the room to seat the people ahead of us when I wanted to eat with 12 or more people.

[mbisson]

will we be sunk at dinnertime?

 

 

Hummm! I guess you could be sunk at anytime. But it rarely happens :D

[cruise4kicks]

will we be sunk at dinnertime?

 

 

Hummm! I guess you could be sunk at anytime. But it rarely happens :D

ROFL I was just waiting for someone to say that! What took so long, and why am I not surprised it was Monte??? :D

[SueF]

We just got off the Majesty, and unless we went to eat after 8:15 pm or so, we were told AT LEAST 30-45 min wait! Ridiculous.

[mbisson]

ROFL I was just waiting for someone to say that! What took so long, and why am I not surprised it was Monte??? :D

 

I actually though of it a while ago and was waiting myself, but nobody seemed willing to step up to the plate. ( I'm sure the OP did that intentionally-my hat is off to her for using the word "sunk" on a cruise board)

 

Seriously momofteens, we've never had a problem getting into the main rooms, but then we intentionally avoid the really busy times and either go just after they open or later in the evening. I understand that from time to time their might be delays/waits on some of the older, smaller, prefreestyle designed ships.

[DAGVBSB]

We just got off the Majesty, and unless we went to eat after 8:15 pm or so, we were told AT LEAST 30-45 min wait! Ridiculous.

 

I have never waited for more than 15 minutes for a table but have never been on the smaller NCL ships like the Majesty and Dream.

 

 

The Majesty and Dream were not built for Freestyle Cruising, but were converted to it. They do not have the number of restaurant choices that the Freestyle ships have. The Gem, Pearl, Jewel, Jade, POAm, Dawn and Star all have at least 8-10 dining venues so the crowd is spread around more.

[jessgmann]

When we sailed on the Pearl in FEb 07 we had no problems at all. I read these boards before we left and learned the best way to go-- go up to Mambos restaurant each morning and make your reservation for that nights dinner and maybe tomorrows. Never had any problem waiting, our table was always ready. We had 4 people. I cannot however say what the wait is like if you just wing it.

 

Also, go to Cagneys!! It is well worth the fee!!

[AuntieBarb]

Only on the newer ships like Gem, Pearl, Jewel, POAm and POH/Jade. Dawn, Star, POA, Sun, Dream and Majesty don't have the screens.

 

I believe they are initiating on the other ships too. The 11/3 sailing on the Spirit had the restaurant screens in working order.

[sagiv666]

I'm booked on the Gem. I'm a little worried about the freestyle dining. From what I've read on the boards I'm picturing my family wandering from restaurant to restaurant looking for anyplace that has an open table. Is freestyle really "make a reservation ahead of time".

 

Normally, one needs to make reservations when eating at one of the specialty restaurants; none are needed when eating in the main Dining Rooms or in the Buffet -- as well as in other areas that may supply food when the Dining Rooms and/or Buffet are closed. If you worry about not finding a table, why not have one of your group go ahead and sit at a big enough table until you are all there?:)

[billfish]

Was on the Majesty last September had had the pleassure of meeting the Director of of Food Operations. We spoke of my concerns with Freestyle dinning. He explained that it is indeed a challange on the smaller ships.

 

But overall we found that other than the one Dressup / Formal night at peak time 7 pm had no problems.

[mbisson]

I believe they are initiating on the other ships too. The 11/3 sailing on the Spirit had the restaurant screens in working order.

 

 

to me, that's great news. We've only been on one cruise with them (Jewel) but we used them a lot (even though sometimes they weren't accurate, it was still a help). At that time they also had that info on one of the tv channels in the cabins. Are they still doing that?