What is your opinion on Specialty restaurant plans ?

[KittyloverCA]

Not sure if I’d buy it, maybe but it seems they off the plans for free often. We got it for free for 2 of us so bought plans for the kids too as it seemed like the best way to go

 

I think the specialty restaurants are quite a bit better

[BNBR]

Completely relate. We live in Manhattan and eat out probably 6 times a week and generally travel to "the ethnic community" for the authentic product if that's what we want. There's no way "cruise food" can compete with what I get at home. The only thing we can't get here is "a buffet" (except for Indian), so I'm trilled with "take as much of what you want" on the Lido. We rarely do the MDR or the specialty restaurants although, being platinum, we are entitled to 2 per cruise. In addition, I'm very health conscious, and I've never seen anything healthy (except for the Brazilian buffet) on any of the ship menus.

 

So....my opinion: Specialty dining is unnecessary and a complete waste if you want healthy food.

 

You are completely missing the point. Who cares if you have better dining locally? Specialties offer a better experience compared to the MDR. For many the upcharge is minimal and worth the better experience. You have a bed at home, right? Probably nicer than the cruise ship bed.. Why go sleep on a boat?

[zackarykeef]

If you do want to do Cagney's, make sure you pay attention to when the reservations open up. It fills up fast. We don't have a reservation for that one and I swear I was making reservations the first week that they were available. I also found that some restaurants were only available on the app and some were only available on the website. It may have been some weird glitch this summer, but it was ongoing for a week or 2. So.... pay attention to the dates, and try the app and the website. Or, I suppose you could call and talk to a human. :)

 

Just FYI, NCL only opens a small percentage of the dining reservations online ahead of time (I've heard like 20-30%, but don't quote me on that). The rest are available once you board. I never make them ahead of time, because I can't plan that far in advance what I'm going to want to eat when :') As soon as we board, we go to the first wall kiosk we can find and book to at least have spots. We've changed multiple times on board and have never had problems getting tables, as we have wanted to add people or sit with friends we made on board. Don't stress too much about reservations in advance!

[hannibal54]

I don't use them.

[Jana60]

First Time on NCL.. We will be sailing on the Bliss next year. and I see there are specialty restaurant plans that we can purchase before sailing to use. Last cruise was on Carnival and we ate at the steak house & the Chef's Table .. and had a great meal .. I am trying to decide if you think these packages are worth the money ??? Or should we just stick to the free dining ?

 

 

 

 

My favorites are Teppanyaki, Cagney’s, and Le Bistro in that order. I’ve gone to the Chefs table on Carnival and it was fun but the food was not as good as any of my 3 favorites!

 

 

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[yearsofcruising]

always and with the meal perks for me , I go to ALL of them at least once.

[lantzalot]

Not sure if I’d buy it, maybe but it seems they off the plans for free often. We got it for free for 2 of us so bought plans for the kids too as it seemed like the best way to go

 

I think the specialty restaurants are quite a bit better

 

 

 

We did not buy it for our kids. We got ours for free. I’m glad we didn’t buy it for the kids because the wait staff was all very creative with getting most of what the kids ordered included into our plans. For instance we could have ordered two appetizers each, plus entree, and dessert (maybe even multiples?). So that was more than we’d ever need. They’d figure out how to make their food count as one of our appetizers or occasionally all we had to pay for was one of their entrees. And the food was reasonably priced. At the Q the only extra we paid for all four of us was a $13 salmon entree. At Los Lobos, my son wanted nachos which was an appetizer but giant! So they made that one of my apps. And they added chicken to it by calling it an add on to a salad that I didn’t even get. So his was free. We paid for my other sons $9.99 burrito. And they gave us an extra free guacamole because the waiter was having fun with my kids. :) And we also didn’t get them a soda package and they just put their sodas on our drinks package that we also got as a perk.

 

 

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[daveispar]

We were on the Bliss for their Panama Canal Cruise in May. We had the specialty restaurant package. It was very good, but, I'm very easy to please. But, there was one thing I was very disappointed about ! No where on the Bliss could you get a LOBSTER ! It used to be standard practice cruising, Lobster night ! Now you can't even buy it ! NCL should be ashamed ! We're going on the Spirit in October, it may be our last NCL Cruise. As much as I like NCL, THEY DO NICKEL AND DIME you to death. We like Princess, too, so, maybe, we'll switch completely to them ! We took an Oceania Cruise had Lobster everywhere, even a couple of Buffet nights with lobster ! Oh, the specialty seafood restaurant on the Bliss did have a lobster roll, whoopee !

 

 

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[Susandt]

Anybody have links to menu

 

 

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[lantzalot]

I thought the menus in Savor/Taste/Manhattan were really boring and stuffy. I was disappointed with them. We ate in Savor once and it was one of the most forgettable of the trip. And my son's Hake (fish) was very overcooked and dry. The salmon at the buffet was much better. Honestly I preferred the Local to the MDRs.

[lantzalot]

Anybody have links to menu

 

 

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https://eatsleepcruise.com/2018/06/norwegian-bliss-restaurant-menus-and-guide/

[Susandt]

Anybody have links to menus

[lantzalot]

Anybody have links to menus

 

 

 

I just posted them for you above

 

 

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[opa&oma]

Thank you, lantzalot!!

[4774Papa]

First Time on NCL.. We will be sailing on the Bliss next year. and I see there are specialty restaurant plans that we can purchase before sailing to use. Last cruise was on Carnival and we ate at the steak house & the Chef's Table .. and had a great meal .. I am trying to decide if you think these packages are worth the money ??? Or should we just stick to the free dining ?

We like to visit some of the specialty restaurants on NCL cruises. You normally get a discount from purchasing. One thing that I don't like is that if you try to reserve tables, frequently NCL only opens up 30% of available tables prior to the cruise, so you have to go immediately to reserve your dining as soon as you board the ship. There is usually a line and it can be a pain in the ---

[beerman2]

We like to visit some of the specialty restaurants on NCL cruises. You normally get a discount from purchasing. One thing that I don't like is that if you try to reserve tables, frequently NCL only opens up 30% of available tables prior to the cruise, so you have to go immediately to reserve your dining as soon as you board the ship. There is usually a line and it can be a pain in the ---

Or you can plan a little and book the first morning reservations open (120 days before cruise).

 

Worked perfect got the times, dates, places we wanted by doing it that way.

 

Took about 5 minutes to do.

[4774Papa]

Or you can plan a little and book the first morning reservations open (120 days before cruise).

 

Worked perfect got the times, dates, places we wanted by doing it that way.

 

Took about 5 minutes to do.

First Morning? We wanted to book for dinner.

 

I tried to book earlier than 60 days, but could not until 60 days prior. Apparently, unless you are in a suite, its 60 days.

 

We have a group of 6 and for four nights that I booked, two nights I was able to book for 6, not at the times I wanted, but the times weren't terrible. The other two nights, I had to book for four, so we will change as soon as we board.

[BirdTravels]

We were on the Bliss for their Panama Canal Cruise in May. We had the specialty restaurant package. It was very good, but, I'm very easy to please. But, there was one thing I was very disappointed about ! No where on the Bliss could you get a LOBSTER ! It used to be standard practice cruising, Lobster night ! Now you can't even buy it ! NCL should be ashamed ! We're going on the Spirit in October, it may be our last NCL Cruise. As much as I like NCL, THEY DO NICKEL AND DIME you to death. We like Princess, too, so, maybe, we'll switch completely to them ! We took an Oceania Cruise had Lobster everywhere, even a couple of Buffet nights with lobster ! Oh, the specialty seafood restaurant on the Bliss did have a lobster roll, whoopee !

Don't quite understand how the lack of lobster equates to nickle and dime. We sailed on the Bliss to Alaska and didn't spend any nickles or dimes. We were actually in the gift shop tying to spend some of our non-refundable OBC because we didn't spend any nickles or dimes.

[Beth-H]

We recently cruised to Alaska on the Pearl. We had 3 specialty dinners for two as part of our package. We chose La Cuchina, Teppinyaki and Moderno. We booked on line so we could get the times and days we wanted. La Cuchina was fine and the service was nice. I did not think the Teppinyaki was as good as Benihana and because there are two tables in a small space it can get very noisy. I will say the cooks were fun and did a great job. Also that night our daughter left right after the cook served her main course. They ended up comping her meal (she started feeling sick) which surprised me since they had cooked it. We didn’t ask for the comp they offered. Moderno is great if you are a meat lover. No problems getting as much as you want. I actually liked their salad bar much better and would have been happy with that alone. The grilled pineapple was really good as well. Our daughter did not join us for that meal which was good as she wouldn’t have eaten much. If we go with NCL again we would probably stick to MDR or buffet. The one time we went to the MDR it was quiet and we had a great time talking with the servers. At the buffet we headed towards the back dining area where we could always find a quiet table next to a window. We tend to eat around 6:30 or 7:00 so maybe miss the main rush.

[lantzalot]

First Morning? We wanted to book for dinner.

 

 

 

I tried to book earlier than 60 days, but could not until 60 days prior. Apparently, unless you are in a suite, its 60 days.

 

 

 

We have a group of 6 and for four nights that I booked, two nights I was able to book for 6, not at the times I wanted, but the times weren't terrible. The other two nights, I had to book for four, so we will change as soon as we board.

 

 

He meant make your bookings the first morning the bookings open up. Not book a breakfast.

 

Also you might call and ask about changing tour reservations now. Talking to a live person can magically open things up.

 

 

 

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