To eat or not to eat...

[akbrown1972]

Hey Guys, I am now 52 days away from my Cruise on the getaway and I need to choose on what to Eat on the ship...

 

So do we (my wife and I) take out the NCL dinner package for 3 dinners at £46 pounds each our do we wait and see how MDR are and the buffet stations any feedback welcome. ..

[Greciangirl]

On the same cruise with you and received the udp for free when we booked but had we not received this perk free we would probably chance the mdr and maybe just have paid for one specialty restaurant on board.

 

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[cb at sea]

I would wait...if the included food suits you....no need to spend the extra money! If not...you can pay for the specialty foods!

[drvalo]

Hey Guys, I am now 52 days away from my Cruise on the getaway and I need to choose on what to Eat on the ship...

 

So do we (my wife and I) take out the NCL dinner package for 3 dinners at £46 pounds each our do we wait and see how MDR are and the buffet stations any feedback welcome. ..

 

We almost always find something to eat in the MDR and, honestly, the buffet is pretty good. Plus now there is the Asian restaurant to change it up some. And, of course, OSheehan's. We never go hungry and always find something good to eat...if we don't like it, we get something else. :)

[Husky61]

If you can afford it, spend your money the way you want.:)

[murcor]

We are completely happy with the complimentary offerings. No need to spend the extra $$ for us

[maywell]

For my 1st trip with NCL, I didn't buy the original 7 day dining package to just check things out for future trips - Glad to report, I don't need the specialty dining at all since complimentary dining and choices are pretty good.

 

If you feel that complimentary dining is not good for you and your wife - I say buy the SDP. But if you're both not sure - hold off and try the complimentary dining 1st. Never know, you both might like the MDR, buffet, grill, Asian bar and/or O'Sheehan's.

 

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[MAPCruises]

I totally agree with the above posts. It is a personal preference. We are traveling with my parents this cruise and they are perfectly happy with the buffett or the MDR so that is what they are doing. Me and my husband like the ambiance of the specialty restaurants and trying different things (all paired with wine for each course from the UBP of course) So we bought the 4 night dining package. Your cruise is about what you like to do! Have fun and enjoy it!

 

 

I do think that the specialty restaurants are a good deal. Me and my husband went out to dinner last weekend, had nothing super fancy, got 1 salad, 1 sushi roll, 1 appetizer, 1 entree, 1 desert (we split all of the above) and 1 glass of wine each and the bill was over $100. On the ship you can get an unlimited (mostly) really nice multi course meal, good wait staff, good ambiance for +/- $40 - Sign me up

[Quilting_Cruiser]

When I went on my first NCL cruise (last year), I purchased UDP because I was looking forward to trying the specialty restaurants--that's the main reason I chose NCL for that cruise. I'm a bit of a foodie, so it just made sense to me. Another factor for me was that I was traveling solo and liked the idea of the more intimate setting for meals since I was eating by myself. I was really glad I purchased the UDP and enjoyed each restaurant (except La Cucina). This was before SDP had been introduced and I believe the only option other than "pay as you go" with the specialties was to purchase UDP for all nights of the cruise. It was a great way to try the different restaurants and see if I liked them.

 

For my next NCL cruise in a few months, I haven't purchased a dining package. I likely will but for only about half the days and will also try the MDR this time. I definitely want to go to a couple of the specialty restaurants again but I like the idea of having a few evenings (it's a 10-day cruise) where I can eat in the MDR, buffet, etc. It really comes down to personal preference--dining is such a subjective thing that you're the only one who decide what will work best for you. As others have said you can make that decision once you're on board and try the MDR so you can make an informed decision.

 

Enjoy!

[4774Papa]

For a 14 cruise we usually buy the three specialty meal package, yet eat most of our meals in the MDR. This gives us a nice mix. NCL's specialty restaurants are generally superior to the MDR on quality. For some, it is worth spending a little more.

 

One issue with dining in specialty restaurants is if you made new friends on a cruise that eat in the MDR. If you go to a specialty restaurant, you are not with your new friends.

[akbrown1972]

Thanks all...I think we will hold of until we get on the ship...

Can't wait only 51 days to go...

[casofilia]

We are both just Platinum so have cruised a little. Before we were Platinum we always ate in the MDR for all three meals every day. There has only been 1 meal that we were unhappy about. Some have been brilliant, many very good and almost all the rest good; only a very few have just been edible.

 

Last time we had four free Specialty Restaurant Platinum meals and they were really good. However the extra cost, had we had to pay it, would not have been worth it when compared to the free meals in the MDR.

 

Try the MDR (and/or the buffet) on this your first cruise; if you feel that you are not getting meals to your satisfaction then try the Specialties. But you shouldn't have to!!

 

Mike

[mrobstad]

I guess I'm the dissenting opinion.....id book now so u get the times you want. Cagneys books up fast. For me, I dine at the specialities all 7 nights....the food is far superior and I love dining outside.

[anonmom]

Personally, I don't see the point in paying for extra food when you haven't even tried the complimentary food. I'm going on my first cruise on the Jade in January and but the time I try all of the different complementary options once or twice, the 7 nights will be over.

 

I would never tell anyone where to eat or how to spend their money when they have tried something and just don't like it, but I really do not understand the people who say "we've been on this number of cruises and have never eaten in the MDR/buffet/cafe/pub". To each their own, but that just seems silly.

[cruise9876kend]

I've always found the main dining room fine and never needed a upcharge restaurant but as the cruise I'm going on in two weeks included drinks package and pre paid tips we thought we would see what all the hype is about either way u won't go hungry there is plenty of options just enjoy ur time away

[legion3]

Don't care for the MDR's on NCL

 

Don't like buffets period.

 

NCL= Specialty Restaurants

 

Otherwise no other reason to sail NCL for us. You can survive on the free stuff and have moments of culinary success.

 

 

Phooey on NCL for making cruising difficult and annoying.

[mrobstad]

I'm with u, legion 3, but there's one other reason for me....the studio cabins. I start with a studio and the 150% single supplement, and then try yo snag a balcony. It's worked twice so far! On other cruise lines, it's 200% for a single traveler.

[fmrlkr]

Depends on what you like to eat. On our last cruise we had the UDP included free so we ate at the specialty restaurants. We found that our favorite was Le Bistro. We also liked LaCucina but were not impressed by Cagney's which is the most expensive. If you think you want to eat at a steakhouse 4 nights then get the package and book Cagney's now, that would be a good value.

 

For those interested, we were on the Jewel, a 10 day Alaska cruise. The food in the MDR for breakfast and lunch was good, the buffet was the best of any NCL cruise we have taken. The service was also the best of any NCL we have taken, with the exception of Cagney's. The waitress barely paid attention to us and she was the only crew to talk to us. We were seated next to the dirty plate station. There was confusion over what we ordered. It did not look to us as if anyone was getting really good service. The food was okay for steakhouse fare. At Le Bistro and LaCucina the food was very good, the staff was exceptional, when we would see them around ship they would greet us by name, they knew what we liked and got it for us.

[4774Papa]

Don't care for the MDR's on NCL

 

Don't like buffets period.

 

NCL= Specialty Restaurants

 

Otherwise no other reason to sail NCL for us. You can survive on the free stuff and have moments of culinary success.

 

 

Phooey on NCL for making cruising difficult and annoying.

Normally, we love the specialty restaurants, but my Son was on a recent Sun, Alaska cruise and said le Bistro and la Cucina were not good at all and the MDR was actually better.

[LrgPizza]

Normally, we love the specialty restaurants, but my Son was on a recent Sun, Alaska cruise and said le Bistro and la Cucina were not good at all and the MDR was actually better.

We much preferred the Manhattan Room (MDR) on Escape over Le Bistro. Better food, better service, better atmosphere.

 

We sailed twice with UDP, and then on our most recent cruise we ate specialties 4 of 10 nights. We have decided that we are pretty much done with specialty restaurants now. We don't find the value in them.