Reservations at Taste main dining for the Epic

[Nanookz]

This will be our first time with NCL and the freestyle dining. Is it necessary to make reservations for Taste or can you just walk up? If so what kind of wait time could I expect?

 

From the website we have the ability to make the reservations but our party size of 6 doesn't match with the times that we want because of shows.

[Demonyte]

No need for reservations, wait times depend completely on the time and what other passengers have decided to do.

 

We usually eat around 6pm or 6:30pm and while there have been some queues to MDRs, we have rarely been given a beeper but we have gotten a table as soon as the queue has moved up.

[TheWulf]

The MDR busy times tend to be 7-8pm. If you show up around that time, you may get a beeper.

 

Max I've had to wait was about 30-40 minutes. Sometimes you'll go right in, other times it'll be very busy. Overall not a big problem, it's just one of the pitfalls of freestyle dining.

 

It's slightly worse on NCL than other cruise lines because NCL is exclusively freestyle, where as other lines most of the ship is on traditional dining so the freestyle waits tend to be a bit lower (I've never once waited more than 5-10 minutes on Princess).

 

Overall not a big deal for us though. By the time dinner time rolls around, there isn't much else to do that we need to rush for in the evening. The only exception is if you have a show reservation, in which case just go off-peak hours and you're fine.

Edited January 14, 2015 by TheWulf

[SaveFarris]

Is it necessary to make reservations for Taste or can you just walk up? If so what kind of wait time could I expect?

 

We sailed Epic in December and never made a reservation in the MDR. Of course, there were only 2 in our party and allegedly the boat was only 75% capacity, so your mileage may vary.

 

And yes, the dress code in Taste is lax enough for shorts at dinner.

[racin_onthebrain]

You can ONLY make reservations for dinner show and specialty restaurants. You can't make them for the MDR's or the buffet. But you can see on the interactive screens throughout the ship if the MDR's status are green-yellow-red....open, busy, waiting

[jcroff1]

You can ONLY make reservations for dinner show and specialty restaurants. You can't make them for the MDR's or the buffet. But you can see on the interactive screens throughout the ship if the MDR's status are green-yellow-red....open, busy, waiting

 

When I log into My NCL I can make reservations for both main dining rooms online, we have one at the Manhattan club for 7pm the first night.

[brookie848]

You can ONLY make reservations for dinner show and specialty restaurants. You can't make them for the MDR's or the buffet. But you can see on the interactive screens throughout the ship if the MDR's status are green-yellow-red....open, busy, waiting

 

This is no longer true. Reservations have been accepted in MDRs for at least several months now.

[KeithJenner]

When I log into My NCL I can make reservations for both main dining rooms online, we have one at the Manhattan club for 7pm the first night.

 

 

Yes, you have been able to prebook MDRs since mid last year.

 

To answer the original question, if you generally eat at around 7-9 and know when and where you will want to eat then it may be worth booking, but otherwise I'd just go with the flow.

 

If you eat fairly early then there is no need to book. We eat early and have never had to wait at all to get in.

 

You will always be able to get in at busier times, but may have to wait a bit. It's worth checking out all the MDRs as sometimes one is a lot busier than the other.

Edited January 29, 2015 by KeithJenner