Reservations and Wait Times

[comfixit]

I have read several people say that they had to wait quite a long time and others say that they were fed quickly. I am suspecting this has something to do when people choose to eat.

 

What are the typical dinner hours? What experiences can be shared about the apx times you ate, the wait time and if you had reservations or not?

[electricron]

I have read several people say that they had to wait quite a long time and others say that they were fed quickly. I am suspecting this has something to do when people choose to eat.

 

What are the typical dinner hours? What experiences can be shared about the apx times you ate, the wait time and if you had reservations or not?

 

Typical dinner times start around 5:30 pm till 10:00 pm or so.

Each day could be different, so check your Freestyle Dailys.

 

It's been my experience the restaurants are full 30 to 45 minutes after opening. It can take up to two hours to eat that many courses, 90 minutes if you skip a course or two. So, the first diners will not finish, and open a table for others, for at least 90 minutes.

You can do the math, there's a 30 to to 45 minute period of time when the restaurant is full. So get there early, within 30 minutes of the opening of the restaurant, or wait 90 to 120 minutes after it opens to get in line.

To summarise and be safe, show up between 5:30 pm to 6:00 pm, or wait till 7 pm to 7:30 pm to get in line. Those that get in line at 6:30 pm will have a long wait.

[comfixit]

I am guessing the specialty restaurants when you have reservations do not have this problem?

[electricron]

I am guessing the specialty restaurants when you have reservations do not have this problem?

 

Yes, you don't. But one pays extra for a reservation system.

[Zeno]

My experience has been that for us (we are fairly early eaters) the best time to arrive for dinner is around 6PM. At that time we never had to wait. At 7PM, we had to wait about 5 minutes.

[logcabin]

My wife and I tended to wait until 8-8:30 to eat. It was always perfect time as we never waited more then 5 minutes at the longest. With a huge lunch each day, and an afternoon snake, 8pm was a good time. We found that the rush was over at this time and was less crowded, less noisy, etc. We will continue to eat later on NCL. Just works better for us.

[joemedic]

Remember, too, that you do not have to wait at the doorway of the resteraunt (like so many people do). You can go to a lounge and have a drink wait to be called. If you have many people in your group, the one couple can wait and have a dink and then call the others via the telephones scattered around the ship when the table is ready.

 

When we were on the Dawn we only waited one time and that gave us just enough time to have a glass of wine. We tended to go before 6 or after 7:15 (ish).

[cliffd64]

With a huge lunch each day, and an afternoon snake, 8pm was a good time.

 

 

Ahhh yes, the famous NCL Reptile Buffet... one of our all-time favorites! ;)

 

Sorry ... just couldn't resist :D

[cliffd64]

Sometimes the one of the main dining rooms is more crowded depending on their proximity to the photography on formal night etc...

 

The longest we ever had to wait for a seat was about 15 minutes on the Wind... the rest of the time we were always seated within a few minutes at the worst.