What time to eat in MDR for lunch and dinner to avoid long waits?

[rocketlegs]

I've been reading lots of reviews of the Pearl, and it seems there's an issue with waiting an hour or more to get into the MDR and then service is slow.

 

What are the best times to eat lunch and dinner in the MDR to avoid long waits and slow service?

[JohnIreland]

Never seen a line at lunch or breakfast (except the final morning).

 

For dinner , go early or late to avoid a wait.

Edited January 13, 2014 by JohnIreland

[newmexicoNita]

You will never have a problem at lunch, most people will choose other options for lunch, there are so many: the buffet, Great Outdoors, Blue Lagoon, Modernos, etc. As for dinner, I guess we have just been lucky. All the years we have sailed NCL and enjoyed freestyle we have only had to wait more than 5 or 10 minutes 2 or 3 times and we have eaten early, late and middle of the dinner hour, with just the two or us or a group of 13. I do think very early or after 8:30 is the best. We usually eat about 6:30 to 7:15.

[PCLMassachusetts]

It really is no different than going out to eat at home. You can't expect to walk into a decent restaurant at home at 6 or 630 without a reservation and have no wait. Same thing on the ship. If go at a slightly off time like 530 or 730ish you shouldn't have an issue. Or you can make a reservation earlier in the day for time that you want.

 

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[johnql]

You will never have a problem at lunch, most people will choose other options for lunch, there are so many: the buffet, Great Outdoors, Blue Lagoon, Modernos, etc. As for dinner, I guess we have just been lucky. All the years we have sailed NCL and enjoyed freestyle we have only had to wait more than 5 or 10 minutes 2 or 3 times and we have eaten early, late and middle of the dinner hour, with just the two or us or a group of 13. I do think very early or after 8:30 is the best. We usually eat about 6:30 to 7:15.

This is my experience, too. On 11 NCL cruises, I have never encountered a wait that exceeded 10-15 minutes. I don't doubt that somebody has had to endure an hour wait but I believe that is very much the exception to the rule.

[SteveH2508]

It depends whether you are in US or Europe. Europeans tend to like to eat later - we were on the Spirit to the Canaries over New Year - we went to dinner at 6.30pm - no wait - came out at 8-ish - thee was a bit of a queue (5 mins tops).

Edited January 13, 2014 by SteveH2508

[limeyalchemist]

Also depends on which ship. The new ships, the Breakaway and likely getaway, have so many passengers that there were waits for us on Breakaway of around 30 mins plus back in November. Always make a reservation or eat early on these mega ships. Lots of competition for a seat at peak times.

[dalgirl]

Even on Epic, the only time we waited was around 10-15 minutes and they handed us a buzzer which included a free drink. We went, ordered our drink, it came and buzz, we were seated - took the drink to the table. DH loves to wait:)

 

The line may be to give them your cabin number and for them to look at their seating chart to figure out where to put you - some people consider this the "wait." If you are used to "traditional" dining then you are not going to like this aspect of freestyle. I would wait for more than 15 minutes every night not to be stuck at a table for a week with folks I don't want to eat with - to each his/her own.

[Demonyte]

It depends whether you are in US or Europe. Europeans tend to like to eat later ...

 

Southern Europeans and that originates mainly from the summer temperatures because at later hour it's nicer to eat as it gets cooler. We up here in the cold north traditionally eat around 6pm.

[SteveH2508]

Southern Europeans and that originates mainly from the summer temperatures because at later hour it's nicer to eat as it gets cooler. We up here in the cold north traditionally eat around 6pm.

 

Me too as a Brit - it gets a bit nippy here occasionally as well you know;)!