Free dining

[arran28]

As this is our first time cruising NCL previously Celebrity and Royal Caribbean cruises where the dining was fixed dining and flexible, we wondered what arrangements were for dining on Norwegian Star. We are sailing on 14 th May 2017. Looking forward to your comments. :D

[ray98]

You go eat when you are hungry. Pretty easy.

[anandaindonesia]

Even if you are not hungry but want to eat, go to the restaurant and eat. 😀

 

Sent from my SM-G610F using Tapatalk

[hawkeyetlse]

Get familiar with all the dining options on your ship, some are free and some are extra charge. Some have the same food every night, others have a daily menu. All of the dining options will be in your Freestyle Daily with locations and hours every day.

 

It's basically up to you to decide when and where and what you want to eat. But keep in mind that everyone else on board is doing the same thing, and that means that most venues get crowded at peak times. You can avoid having to wait or getting turned away either by avoiding peak times, or by making reservations ahead of time. Lots of people complain about this, and they think that the ship should somehow make sure that there is always immediate availability for any number of walk-ins, at all dining venues, at all times. These people either believe that the ship is a magical fairy land, or they simply don't understand how numbers work.

[sandyh85]

Like was said above, research the options and cost of each dining option on your ship. Menus can be found fairly easily online ahead of time for research ideas. Once onboard, it can be worth a trip in the morning to the venue itself to check out what is for dinner that night. The MDRs in particular, as it can be tough to guess online ahead of time.

 

Reservations can be made in advance for most. Personally, when travelling in a large group, we like having reservations so we all have somewhere to meet up for the night, and to discuss our days. When I travel in pairs or solo, I only usually reserve the "must-dos" on my list, and Teppanyaki (it is limited seating, so tends to book up quickly).

 

If you have decided against reservations, know that a short wait is likely, so you don't go in with unreasonable let expectations. There are electronic boards around the ship that show how busy or popular a venue is - use them! Worst case scenario, you are never far from a bar (in fact, many restaurants have one eight by the door). Get a pager, then relax with a cocktail and people (or ocean) watch!

 

 

Sent from my SGH-I337M using Tapatalk

[Eleteace]

Hey hey, I've done my best to answer this question here: http://cruisingisntjustforoldpeople.co.uk/2017/01/18/ncls-freestyle-dining-explained/ (got some first time NCL tips on there too)

 

I won't bother boring you by writing out what has been said again :). I've never had more than a 10 minute wait though, maybe because I only dine as 2 or 4 and usually quite early (around 6).

 

Hope this helps!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[arran28]

Thank you all for your help and ray98 and anandaindonesia yeah we do know to eat when we are hungry!!!!!!. We were confused this cruise because we have always on our last cruises to either book dining in advance or been given the option to book flexible dining on board but our travel agent couldn't give us much help as to booking before we went or on board. She give us information about specialists restaurants tho. Once again thanks for the information.