Restaurants

[wernew2cruising]

How do you find out which restaurants are speciality and which are included? I have looked online and unless I am missing something I am not finding which is which. We are looking at the 9 day Pearl next November? Thanks for your help.

[Cuizer2]

I am not sure where you have been looking, the information is not that hard to find. Here is a link to a professionally written review, written by ...

 

--by Cruise Critic contributor Jana Jones, who has also written for a variety of publications, including Vacation Agent, UK's Travel Holidays and Ocean Drive Magazine.

Last Updated: 04/23/07

http://www.cruisecritic.com/reviews/review.cfm?ShipID=378

 

Here is the dining section of the review ...

 

Dining

It would be easy to provide a laundry list of the restaurants on Pearl, a Freestyle ship with loads of dining spots, but it wouldn't paint a complete picture. The options run the gamut from a chi-chi and clubby steakhouse to a 24-hour comfort food diner, from an elegant French-inspired bistro to a fabulous Teppanyaki bar. Of course there are standard dining rooms as well, a big one with windows on three sides at the aft called Summer Palace, and a smaller, more intimate one (Indigo) midship. But on Pearl, as on most of NCL's ships, it's all about the choices.

 

Some of the specialty restaurants have a surcharge, mostly between $10 and $20, and for the more popular ones (Teppanyaki, for example), reservations are requisite. Non-surcharge dining still offers plenty of choices, and we found our meal at the no-charge Italian restaurant, La Cucina, to be one of the best we had onboard.

 

In fact, I could have dined solely on the antipasto plate offered there, with olives, sun-dried tomatoes, a couple of thin slices of Parmesan Reggiano, marinated mushrooms and artichoke hearts, thin slices of Parma ham and carpaccio, and rolls and breadsticks with olive oil and balsamic vinegar for dipping. The meat dish (veal) was impressive too, but even better was the perfectly al dente side of linguini carbonara that I chose.

 

Equally enticing were the spicy rice noodles I had at Lotus Garden (surcharge: $10); the noodles were in a coconut milk broth and the dish reminded me of a Thai Tom Kha soup … spicy-sweet and coconut-y. My traveling pal had sea bass and a newly made friend, who joined us there for supper, had the Peking duck, both of which looked wonderful. The dessert pancakes were the perfect ending.

 

Other no-surcharge restaurants include Mambo's (Tex-Mex) at which I can heartily endorse the shrimp fajitas, which arrived sizzling and with the usual accompaniments of guacamole, cheese, salsa and sour cream. Another meal of note at Mambo’s: Il Popo, a version of which -- Firestar -- used to be available in Le Bistro. It's an elaborate meal of meat and vegetables (mostly pepper and onion chunks) hung on an iron stand and flamed with tequila.

 

Laurel and I also dined at Cagney’s Steak House (surcharge is $20 unless you get the Surf 'n Turf, in which case it's $25). I always get the New York strip, and I’m always happy with it; Laurel gave up her usual fish to try the veal chop, which she proclaimed the best she's had -- ever. And one big point of interest here: When you order the Surf 'n Turf, you don't get one of the rock lobster tails that are typically served on lobster night in the main dining rooms. You get half of a decent-sized crustacean, complete with claws and metal claw-crackers.

 

This ship has taken the typical Lido Deck "buffet" dining venue to new heights. Gone are the kiosks that are found on the other two Jewel-class ships (Jewel and Pride of Hawaii), and the smaller Pride of America, which look nice in principle, but are chaotic in practice. Pearl's designers brought back linear counters, but NCL doesn't want the Garden Cafe to be called a buffet or cafeteria; it’s a restaurant with "action stations." Servers stand behind the counters, where small amounts of freshly-made meals are put out at one time and served. There are stations for salads, sandwiches, fresh pasta, carved meats, soups and vegetarian dishes, Asian food, hot dogs, hamburgers and desserts.

 

Two items of interest: For some reason NCL has decided to do away with trays. Plates are fairly small, though, so plan on returning to the lines once or twice. Also, for sanitary reasons (and to avoid the sticky, gross mess), there are no self-serve soft ice cream machines on Pearl; hard scooped ice cream, with toppings, is available much of the day, either in cones or in bowls.

 

Traditionalists can have dinner every night at the same time, in the same place; just let the maitre d' know in advance. Otherwise, the multitude of restaurants allows for some adventurous options. We're pleased that NCL has gone back to the reservation system that allows you to make plans one day in advance; for awhile, you had to book all of the alternate restaurants for the whole cruise as soon as you boarded, and what kind of Freestyle is that? Still, we've heard that if you don't call precisely at 8 a.m. for plans for the following night, you may not get the reservations you desire. We only made reservations once and had no problem just showing up at our restaurant of choice the other times, but we didn't choose to dine at peak periods (between 7 and 8 p.m., for example). We usually ate earlier or later. And speaking of earlier, the surcharge restaurants (with the exception of Teppanyaki and the refined "tasting menu" at Le Bistro) offer a two-for-one special from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. If you're concerned about springing for the $20 meal at Cagney's, this is your chance to try it for $10….

 

Breakfast and lunch are served via open-seating at one of the two traditional restaurants, but most take advantage of the Garden Cafe and aft deck Great Outdoors Cafe when the weather is good. There's also a Continental breakfast served in Bar City, with rolls, croissants, juice, coffee, tea, bagels, cream cheese and smoked salmon. The bars aren't open yet, and it's a quiet, pleasant place to have a morning munchie. Suite guests (penthouse and above) can have breakfast and lunch in Cagney's, with a special menu designed just for them, with items like crab cake and eggs Benedict for breakfast and blackened snapper sandwiches for lunch, served in the toney atmosphere of a private club. For those in regular cabins (from insides to mini-suites), room service choices are dreadfully slim, especially for breakfast. You can get rolls, toast or muffins, yogurt, a choice of three dry cereals, milk, coffee, tea or hot chocolate, and something called "orange juice cocktail." We ordered rolls one morning, and we got 'em ... no butter, no jam. Ugh. Happily, the rest of the menu, while horribly limited, does have a couple of standouts: The ramen noodles with green onions is fabulous, loaded with white-meat chicken, and perfect if you've got the sniffles or want something hot and homey. Ditto the grilled cheese sandwich from the kids' menu -- yum. Suite guests get a much more extensive room-service menu, with hot items like eggs and bacon for breakfast, and steak sandwiches or burgers for lunch, and can order meals from the restaurants during serving times.

 

There's a well-stocked grill out on the pool deck which serves roasted chicken, hamburgers, hot dogs, salads and dessert items during most of the day, and a limited breakfast in the mornings.

[Leafpeeper]

2 Dining Rooms = free/no reservations

 

Italian & Mexican = free/reservations required

 

Asian/Thai= $10pp/reservations required

 

Japanese (cook at table)= $20 or $25/reservations required

 

French = $15pp/reservations required

 

Steak House = $20 or $25/reservations required

 

Reservations can be made 24 hours in advance by cabin phone or at purser's desk. Cancelations can be made up to 5pm.

 

Try it, you might like it. If you want traditional dining (same time and same table each night), tell the Maitre'd in the main dining room on the first day of your cruise, which is printed on your Freestyle Daily.

[can'twaittogoagain]

This is from my Freestyle Daily from 10/07:

 

I. Freestyle Dining: Free of charge

Main Dining Rooms: Summer Palace

Indigo (also serves lunch from noon-1:30)

(both serve 5-course meals at dinner.)

Garden Cafe: buffet/station style: breakfast/lunch/dinner

 

 

II. Specialty Restaurants that are free:

Mambo's Restaurant: Tex Mex

La Cucina: Italian

(just my opinion...either of the above 2 restaurants are winners!)

 

III.Specialty Restaurants that charge a cover charge:

Lotus Garden: Asian/$10.00

Shabu-Shabu: Mongolian hot pot/$10.00

Sushi Bar: Sushi/$15.00

Cagney's Steakhouse:steakhouse/$20.00

Le Bistro/French cuisine/$15.00

Teppanyaki/Japanese/$20.00

 

IV.Other restaurants for "whenever you are hungry" and are also free:

Blue Lagoon Cafe/lite bites/burgers and fast wok dishes. (Has good fish and chips. I had a nice salad and very good soup there.)

Great Outdoors (weather permitting)

Topsiders/late night snack

The Grill/afternoon snacks

This is a quote from the Freestyle Daily on the Pearl in October:

"Dress Code: After 5p.m. no shorts, tank tops or track suits are permitted in any of our restaurants except Garden Cafe. After 5:00 p.m. presentable jeans are permitted in all restaurants except Summer Palace Dining Room."

 

But, the above was from October....I don't know if the cover charges are still accurate.....

 

Hope you have a great cruise.....:)

[wernew2cruising]

2 Dining Rooms = free/no reservations

 

Italian & Mexican = free/reservations required

 

Asian/Thai= $10pp/reservations required

 

Japanese (cook at table)= $20 or $25/reservations required

 

French = $15pp/reservations required

 

Steak House = $20 or $25/reservations required

 

Reservations can be made 24 hours in advance by cabin phone or at purser's desk. Cancelations can be made up to 5pm.

 

Try it, you might like it. If you want traditional dining (same time and same table each night), tell the Maitre'd in the main dining room on the first day of your cruise, which is printed on your Freestyle Daily.

Thank you so much. This is the information I was trying to find. Trying to figure out which line to cruise next Thanksgiving..down to NCL or Holland America.

[wernew2cruising]

This is from my Freestyle Daily from 10/07:

 

I. Freestyle Dining: Free of charge

Main Dining Rooms: Summer Palace

Indigo (also serves lunch from noon-1:30)

(both serve 5-course meals at dinner.)

Garden Cafe: buffet/station style: breakfast/lunch/dinner

 

 

II. Specialty Restaurants that are free:

Mambo's Restaurant: Tex Mex

La Cucina: Italian

(just my opinion...either of the above 2 restaurants are winners!)

 

III.Specialty Restaurants that charge a cover charge:

Lotus Garden: Asian/$10.00

Shabu-Shabu: Mongolian hot pot/$10.00

Sushi Bar: Sushi/$15.00

Cagney's Steakhouse:steakhouse/$20.00

Le Bistro/French cuisine/$15.00

Teppanyaki/Japanese/$20.00

 

IV.Other restaurants for "whenever you are hungry" and are also free:

Blue Lagoon Cafe/lite bites/burgers and fast wok dishes. (Has good fish and chips. I had a nice salad and very good soup there.)

Great Outdoors (weather permitting)

Topsiders/late night snack

The Grill/afternoon snacks

This is a quote from the Freestyle Daily on the Pearl in October:

"Dress Code: After 5p.m. no shorts' date=' tank tops or track suits are permitted in any of our restaurants except Garden Cafe. After 5:00 p.m. presentable jeans are permitted in all restaurants except Summer Palace Dining Room."

 

But, the above was from October....I don't know if the cover charges are still accurate.....

 

Hope you have a great cruise.....:)[/quote']

Thank you for this. I do have a question if you don't mind. Is there any type of formal night anymore?

[Cuizer2]

Thank you for this. I do have a question if you don't mind. Is there any type of formal night anymore?

Formal night is optional on NCL.

[salty dingo]

What is formal? I have no idea what you are talking about :D !

[CruiseHealing]

We're pleased that NCL has gone back to the reservation system that allows you to make plans one day in advance; for awhile, you had to book all of the alternate restaurants for the whole cruise as soon as you boarded, and what kind of Freestyle is that?

 

Last year on the Pearl we made all of our reservations upon boarding. We liked it because we knew where and when we were going to eat and we got this chore out of the way early. Are you saying that NCL no longer lets you make resevations upon boarding?

 

I have heard that making reservations in the morning, be it at the pruser's desk or by phone, is a night mare. I have read that it is difficult if not impossible to get through and then the restaurants are all booked up. Any tips or comments on this?

[Cuizer2]

Last year on the Pearl we made all of our reservations upon boarding. We liked it because we knew where and when we were going to eat and we got this chore out of the way early. Are you saying that NCL no longer lets you make resevations upon boarding?

 

I have heard that making reservations in the morning, be it at the pruser's desk or by phone, is a night mare. I have read that it is difficult if not impossible to get through and then the restaurants are all booked up. Any tips or comments on this?

 

The quote you attribute to me I never said. On the Star in October 2005 I made all my reservations in the morning and never had any trouble getting through. Only once did I not get my first choice of seating times.

[can'twaittogoagain]

Thank you for this. I do have a question if you don't mind. Is there any type of formal night anymore?

 

I Think there were 2 nights on our 9-day cruise that were dress up optional. We don't do the dress up thing, so I may be wrong on the number... I do know that some people do choose to dress up.. I saw ladies in everything from short cocktail dresses to long gowns and men wearing suites and tuxedos.

 

You do what you want....dress up or not...either is acceptable!

 

I'm just crazy enough that if I wanted to wear a long gown every night, I would!

:)

[mississauga]

Thank you for this. I do have a question if you don't mind. Is there any type of formal night anymore?

The first sea day is usually a " dress up or not".

 

I have heard that making reservations in the morning, be it at the pruser's desk or by phone, is a night mare. I have read that it is difficult if not impossible to get through and then the restaurants are all booked up. Any tips or comments on this?

 

Reservations are not made at the purser's desk. You can either do it by phone or in Mambo's for the day of and for the next day. It is not a nightmare. Whenever I went, there was never more than 2 people in line ahead of me. All the menus are there for you to view so you can decide which restaurant you wanted to book for.