Still need to make reservations for main dining rooms?

[tallnthensome]

First time on NCL coming up with Freestyle. Do you actually need to make reservations (for us 4) earch night in the complimentary dining rooms? I thought these 3 room on the Escape were a sort of "come in when you're ready to eat" type of deal. Am I wrong and do you need to make reservations weeks in advance for main dining rooms?

[CP3o]

I thought I'd make "just in case" reservations at what guessed would be popular time to help avoid a wait..... But I was surprised only showing 530 and a super late time to book , which I doubt would have a wait anyway. I ended up booking one night. You might want to step thru process online just to see what's available and if know those aren't good times, try again onboard.

 

 

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[navybankerteacher]

On Gem in Februsry the hostesses would "take" reservations - but not "keep" them. I suspect that they had found that people who made reservations sometimes did not show up at the particular time, so there was no point in making others wait when there were available tables.

 

If you showed up at a popular time, having made a reservation made no difference - you still had to wait. If you showed up when no one was in line you got seated pretty quickly.

[bruadhin]

On Gem in Februsry the hostesses would "take" reservations - but not "keep" them. I suspect that they had found that people who made reservations sometimes did not show up at the particular time, so there was no point in making others wait when there were available tables.

 

If you showed up at a popular time, having made a reservation made no difference - you still had to wait. If you showed up when no one was in line you got seated pretty quickly.

 

So basically I shouldn't bother making any reservations? It is just 3 of us, so I assume we won't have a hard time getting a table at most times?

[Mistizoom]

So basically I shouldn't bother making any reservations? It is just 3 of us, so I assume we won't have a hard time getting a table at most times?

 

I don't think you should worry about it. On the Getaway with 3 of us we were able to walk in to the MDR and eat when we felt like it without a wait, and the times varied though it was never very late, usually between 5:30-6:30 pm.

[tinkr2]

I don't think you should worry about it. On the Getaway with 3 of us we were able to walk in to the MDR and eat when we felt like it without a wait, and the times varied though it was never very late, usually between 5:30-6:30 pm.

 

But thats really early and not considered a prime time for dining. I expect it gets more challenging at 7.

I have all sorts of terrible reservation times bc there is 8 of us and we just booked for May 15th.

[JustAllie]

I remember there being some kind of display on the ship you could see that would indicate how long the wait was at each of the restaurants.... Am I misremembering that??

 

I do recall that 7:00 PM reservations were scarce, so if there's some reason why you want to dine at that time, I'd make reservations as soon as you can (either online or as soon as you board the ship).

[cruisecrazypat]

Being 'used' to assigned dining times and booking a first last minute cruise on Dawn, I was just getting ready to ask this question myself :)

 

Hubby and I are not late eaters, usually 5 - 6 pm so should not be a problem I guess.

 

Thanks so much for asking the question.

 

Pat

[npater]

We usually will make reservations at either Savor or Taste (smaller dining rooms) the first day because it is always crazy the first night for dinner on the Breakaway, the first night in Bermuda and the day we leave Bermuda.

[LakeWobegon]

On a packed Escape last week, we never had to wait to get a table in MDR once and we ate there most nights at varying times. I would say, though, if you find a waiter/serving team you like, then see if you can make reservations in their section/station. To me, its worth it if the service is exceptional. We had one making napkin animals for our kids, getting desserts for them not on the menu, and all sorts of other fun dining shenanigans. We asked for them the second night and got squeezed into their section. And again. Other nights, other wait staff barely noticed we were there. The service was good overall, though.

Edited April 7, 2016 by LakeWobegon

[Philob]

Hubby and I are not late eaters, usually 5 - 6 pm so should not be a problem I guess.

 

The only problem is that probably 4-500 people also have the same time in mind ;)

[Two Wheels Only]

On Gem in Februsry the hostesses would "take" reservations - but not "keep" them.

 

2 Seinfeld references in one? :D

 

 

 

meets...

 

 

 

Seinfeld? Four?...

[npater]

We book the reservations on the NCL Website before we sail, it is just much easier for us, because there could be that time where u have to wait and don't want to miss any show reservations that u have made.

[navybankerteacher]

2 Seinfeld references in one? :D

 

 

 

meets...

 

 

 

Seinfeld? Four?...

 

You caught me.

[bonvoyagie]

In the past, you could only make reservations in the MDRs if you had a large party and wanted to all eat together at the same time each night of the cruise.

 

Otherwise it was show up and wait- or not.

 

We tend to like our dinner around 6:00 (or earlier) on all of our cruises we have had no problems showing up at 5:30 (when the open) and getting a table right away. we have also had no problems with getting reservations in the for pay venues for 6:00 either.

 

That said, we have not cruised on the newer ships so perhaps with double the pax there is double the problems when it comes to dining.

[NurseDave]

Being 'used' to assigned dining times and booking a first last minute cruise on Dawn, I was just getting ready to ask this question myself :)

 

Hubby and I are not late eaters, usually 5 - 6 pm so should not be a problem I guess.

 

Thanks so much for asking the question.

 

Pat

 

We found at that time the rooms were never full. All the activities we wanted to do were in the evening so we ate early in order to hit them all.

[blackwing]

We had a party of 6 on Escape last week. We ate between 6 and 7:30 every night. No reservations. No wait.

[Maddysdaddy]

My Wife, Daughter and I had dinner at the Manhattan Room on the Escape three times last week (with a full ship), and arrived at various times between 5:30 and 8:30. We had no issues being seated immediately at a 4-top.

 

If you have a larger group, I'd think about booking a reservation, but for 4 or less, if they weren't needed last week, I can't imagine that they're ever needed.

[Wendy61ncl]

NCL Freestyle dining gives us from 5:30-10:30 nightly at all the venues. If you are trying to book online before you cruise, don't worry if you do not see much availability as you get closer to your cruise. They only open up about 25% of seating capacity for pre-booking. It's easy to get reservations once you get on board, and you can also monitor walking times on the large flat screens near the stairs and elevators. If one restaurant is busy, and there's a wait time, the desk clerk can look up the other restaurants and tell you what's available to walk right in. 7 PM is a popular time but you can always hit the buffet before then for a snack go to the 730 shows and then go to dinner after.

 

 

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[luddite]

We have never seen one of the dining rooms that was full with no seats available.

[tinkr2]

NCL Freestyle dining gives us from 5:30-10:30 nightly at all the venues. If you are trying to book online before you cruise, don't worry if you do not see much availability as you get closer to your cruise. They only open up about 25% of seating capacity for pre-booking. It's easy to get reservations once you get on board, and you can also monitor walking times on the large flat screens near the stairs and elevators. If one restaurant is busy, and there's a wait time, the desk clerk can look up the other restaurants and tell you what's available to walk right in. 7 PM is a popular time but you can always hit the buffet before then for a snack go to the 730 shows and then go to dinner after.

 

 

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Thats good to know if the number is real and not a guesstimate bc on Oasis and Allure there were nights that 2 of us could not get seating at some of the places. And now we have 8!!!! :pBut I like your buffet and show tip also lol

[cpcmaestro]

We made complimentary dining room reservations online for 5 out of 7 nights via the website prior to our cruise last week. The reservations didn't lessen our wait time whatsoever. Every time without fail we were put into the same line (the only line) behind all walk-ups who came before us. So far as we can determine, complimentary dining room reservations for less than large parties are useless. Don't bother...just walk up.

 

Does anyone know why NCL accepts reservations from smaller parties for the complimentary main dining rooms when they don't hold or keep them? :confused:

[SquishTheWhale]

On the Epic we dined around 7- peak time- every night, and never waited for a table. Sometimes when we left at 8.30ish there seemed to be a little queue but I would be very surprised if they waited for more than 5 mins. The dining rooms are huge and the tables turn around constantly. You really don't need to bother booking unless, as previously mentioned, you have a party of 8 or something.

 

The restaurant that had the biggest queue was Shanghai's- people would queue up before opening every night! We went in for lunch one day though with only a 5 min wait.