Questions...procedure for dining reservations

[bangzoom6877]

Some questions for the 90-day advance reservations (specifically on the Breakaway, if that makes a difference)...

 

1. If we want to make a reservation for 11 people in Cagney's, but the online system only allows reservations for up to 8 people, should I make the reservation for 8 and then add 3 more when we board?

2. If we have 11 people eating in the MDR (specifically Manhattan Room on the Breakaway if that makes a difference) at the time the MDR opens for dinner, should I make the reservation for 8 online and then add 3 more when we board?

3. What time of day at the 90-day mark does the online system open for dining reservations? Is it midnight, or is it later in the morning? Should I make the reservations as soon as the system is available online, or is it ok to wait...meaning, would there still be availability?

4. Do we have to pre-pay for specialty restaurants when making the reservations since we don't have the UDP? If so, what is the cancellation policy just in case someone or ll of us can't make it?

5. If we have to wait until we board to make the reservation for 11 people at Cagney's, what is the likelihood of being able to get a table for 11 people at the time the restaurant opens? Or for being able to add 3 more to our party if we can only reserve for a party of 8? We will be on the Breakaway in July and we will have an 18-month-old baby in our party, so we are dining early when we all dine together.

6. Is it possible to make dining reservations over the phone instead of online in order to reserve for a party larger than 8 people? Or is that the limit for advance reservations?

[SissasMomE]

1 - no, don't do it this way. They may not be able to accommodate you. Make the reservation for 12, and cancel 1 when you board. I know you have to pay it in advance, but, especially with a group this large, this is the way to do it.

 

2. - same answer. Make it for the 12, and cancel 1 when onboard.

 

3. - it varies. Sometimes it's even a day or 2 after the 90-day mark. It's not strictly 90 days. It goes by a computer program, so your guess is as good as mine. I always make mine as soon as I am able.

 

4 - yes, you have to pre-pay if making the reservations online. I believe the cancellation policy is 24 hours; however, if you take care of your cancellations as soon as you board, it won't be an issue. They are really flexible with this. I sat down to dinner at Cagney's and left before we ordered. I was sick and just couldn't do it. My husband didn't even ask them to remove my charge - they did it on their own.

 

5 - early dining times usually do not have a problem. What is early to you? 4 or 4:30? No problem. Once you start getting into the dinner hours of 5 or 6pm, you may have an issue. Get the reservations now. At least, that is what I would do. Just FYI - I never saw a restaurant booked up at 5pm (except Teppanyaki).

 

6 - call them and ask!

Edited March 8, 2015 by SissasMomE

[bangzoom6877]

1 - no, don't do it this way. They may not be able to accommodate you. Make the reservation for 12, and cancel 1 when you board. I know you have to pay it in advance, but, especially with a group this large, this is the way to do it.

 

2. - same answer. Make it for the 12, and cancel 1 when onboard.

 

3. - it varies. Sometimes it's even a day or 2 after the 90-day mark. It's not strictly 90 days. It goes by a computer program, so your guess is as good as mine. I always make mine as soon as I am able.

 

4 - yes, you have to pre-pay if making the reservations online. I believe the cancellation policy is 24 hours; however, if you take care of your cancellations as soon as you board, it won't be an issue. They are really flexible with this. I sat down to dinner at Cagney's and left before we ordered. I was sick and just couldn't do it. My husband didn't even ask them to remove my charge - they did it on their own.

 

5 - early dining times usually do not have a problem. What is early to you? 4 or 4:30? No problem. Once you start getting into the dinner hours of 5 or 6pm, you may have an issue. Get the reservations now. At least, that is what I would do.

 

6 - call them and ask!

 

Thank you! I wasn't aware that you could make a reservation for 12. I thought the limit was 8 people, from what I've read here on CC.

 

About pre-payment...we have a few children in our party. The baby definitely won't be ordering off the specialty restaurant menu, and there's definitely a chance that one of my sons (age 8 when we go) will want something from the usual MDR children's menu instead of the steakhouse menu (sometimes he wants steak, sometimes he doesn't, unlike my 10-year-old who loves steak...it's his favorite food actually). Will they remove the charge for the kids who don't order from the specialty restaurant menu? I know normally kids are half price. Also, when making the reservation online, do we indicate children and adults and they charge accordingly? Does the payment go directly to my credit card for immediate payment when I make the reservation or to my onboard account and it's just charged to the cabin and part of the bill onboard?

[alexspepa]

 

Will they remove the charge for the kids who don't order from the specialty restaurant menu? I know normally kids are half price. part of the bill onboard?

 

I can't answer most of your questions as we have not been on NCL in about 25 years - but I would imagine that the answer to this one is that the kids will be charged. I think it would be not about what they eat, but about the seat they are in...in other words they are taking up space that could be occupied by a paying customer.

 

I hope you enjoy your cruise, and if someone else chimes in that I am mistaken then great!

[SissasMomE]

Thank you! I wasn't aware that you could make a reservation for 12. I thought the limit was 8 people, from what I've read here on CC.

 

About pre-payment...we have a few children in our party. The baby definitely won't be ordering off the specialty restaurant menu, and there's definitely a chance that one of my sons (age 8 when we go) will want something from the usual MDR children's menu instead of the steakhouse menu (sometimes he wants steak, sometimes he doesn't, unlike my 10-year-old who loves steak...it's his favorite food actually). Will they remove the charge for the kids who don't order from the specialty restaurant menu? I know normally kids are half price. Also, when making the reservation online, do we indicate children and adults and they charge accordingly? Does the payment go directly to my credit card for immediate payment when I make the reservation or to my onboard account and it's just charged to the cabin and part of the bill onboard?

 

Oh ok. I didn't realize there was a limit to 8 people. I would definitely call them and ask then. The payment goes immediately to your credit card when you make the reservation. I always print my confirmations and bring them with me, just in case. I'm not sure about the charge being removed for kids that order off the MDR. I am almost positive there is no charge when they do that (mine would only eat chicken fingers when she was younger, so I understand!!). I'd give them a call. Let the other CC members answer about the charges. They know more than the NCL people do, but definitely call and ask about making your dining reservation for your large party.

[jjikids]

You have to pay if you book online but there are no children prices online. Children who eat off the MDR menu do not pay. Others are charged 1/2 price. If it was my family, I would book when I boarded the ship. No sense paying for children and paying all the money so far ahead.

[bangzoom6877]

You have to pay if you book online but there are no children prices online. Children who eat off the MDR menu do not pay. Others are charged 1/2 price. If it was my family, I would book when I boarded the ship. No sense paying for children and paying all the money so far ahead.

 

What if I do what I originally asked, and set up the reservation for the maximum allowed 8 people? That way, when we board I can add 3 more to the reservation, plus the baby will still be free and also my son if he orders off the MDR children's menu. I'm worried about waiting until we board to book the reservation for all 11 of us, as I'm nervous about availability at 5:0-6:00pm and the baby has to eat by a certain time. I know how popular Cagney's is, so I'm expecting it to book up fast. I'm not sure the capacity of the restaurant, but the a Breakaway has a lot of passengers, and with the current promo I'm sure plenty will have the UDP and will be dining in specialty restaurants each night.

[DrNora]

You should call.

It isn't a matter of the baby not paying or the kids eating off a kids menu...if you book 8 , they have 8 spaces. It is not so easy to just move everyone around and make a table for 11 . I would imagine if you book 8 and try to add 3 that they will split you up . Depending on who else is dining and what size tables are reserved it may be impossible to meet your needs .

 

Call- it doesn't take too long to do it over the phone .

 

There are various older threads here about large- group dinner ressies. Some of the posts were a coueonths back

 

If you don't want to pay in advance then make sure you are getting that reservation as soon as you can when on board!

 

 

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[DrNora]

Since you aren't all on one reservation I assume- if you want to you can book 8 and someone else 4, or 6 and 6..

They don't ask for names, just party size

You could then approach once inboard and ask if the can have the tables near each other ...or together..

Just a thought.....

 

 

 

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[Sparkygirl]

Make sure if you make multiple reservations that you go to the restaurant onboard and have them combined. Our blended family of 7 almost didn't eat our last night at a specialty restaurant together. I booked for the 4 in my room, step kids mom booked for the 3 in her room. Our reservations were linked we didn't think anything of it until at the restaurant and last minute shuffling had to happen to make it work.

 

 

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Edited March 9, 2015 by Sparkygirl

[bangzoom6877]

Thank you everyone. I'm going to call NCL and see how this works. I am skeptical though...sometimes they don't know what they're talking about and if you call three times with the exact same question, you get three different answers. Do they even take dining reservations over the phone?

[cruise crazed]

Email groupeventbreakaway@ncl.com. Let them know when and where you want to dine and thye will make the reservations and send you a confirmation. We traveled with a large group last year and they were very helpful.

[bangzoom6877]

Email groupeventbreakaway@ncl.com. Let them know when and where you want to dine and thye will make the reservations and send you a confirmation. We traveled with a large group last year and they were very helpful.

 

Thank you very much for this information! :)

[bangzoom6877]

I called my TA today to see if she could do the reservations for us, or if she knew how we could go about it. She said that one of us could make one reservation for 6 and another one of us could make a reservation for 5 for the same time. She said that since our cruise reservations are cross referenced, we should be cross referenced for dining as well.

 

I am going to send an email to the address in the above post and see what NCL says. Thank you!!

[SissasMomE]

I called my TA today to see if she could do the reservations for us, or if she knew how we could go about it. She said that one of us could make one reservation for 6 and another one of us could make a reservation for 5 for the same time. She said that since our cruise reservations are cross referenced, we should be cross referenced for dining as well.

 

I am going to send an email to the address in the above post and see what NCL says. Thank you!!

 

That is not correct. If you do this, you will have a table for 6 and another for 5. Do as several people told you and call NCL.

[goofy4mickey]

Totally OT Bonnie but I think we "know" eachother from the Disboards:D (username jjohnson) &

We'll be sailing on the Breakaway in September.

Edited March 11, 2015 by goofy4mickey

[bangzoom6877]

Totally OT Bonnie but I think we "know" eachother from the Disboards:D (username jjohnson) &

We'll be sailing on the Breakaway in September.

 

Yes we do!!! :)

[bangzoom6877]

That is not correct. If you do this, you will have a table for 6 and another for 5. Do as several people told you and call NCL.

 

I sent an email to the address in an above post. There's gotta be a way to do this. I'm sure large parties are common. If I don't hear back in the next few days then I'm going to call NCL.

[bangzoom6877]

Just an update...I heard back from NCL today. They said that we should each make our own reservation for the same day and time. So I would make it for 4, my sister for 5 and my mother for 2 people. They said that when we board, we should go to the restaurant reservation desk and have them make sure we will all be sitting together at the dinners, because they don't assign seating until the day of the dining reservation.

 

So according to this person who responded to my email, they don't allow dining reservations for more than 8 people in advance. I think I should still call, yes?