Can you use the dining credit perk on lunch?

[FSU Girl]

I'm going on my first Norwegian cruise that is a three night cruise and have three specialty dining credits to use. But I'm also in the Haven and would like to try their restaurant. Could I use one of the credits on lunch on our sea day? Are any of the specialty restaurants open for lunch? Or should I just do dinners each night and eat at the Haven restaurant for lunch?

[rtkenmore]

2 minutes ago, FSU Girl said:

I'm going on my first Norwegian cruise that is a three night cruise and have three specialty dining credits to use. But I'm also in the Haven and would like to try their restaurant. Could I use one of the credits on lunch on our sea day? Are any of the specialty restaurants open for lunch? Or should I just do dinners each night and eat at the Haven restaurant for lunch?

 

Never stayed in the Haven so can't speak to that but I can say that no speciality restaurants are usually open for lunch depending on which ship.  There may be one or two like Margaritaville that are open but I think even it has gone to a different pricing model and is not part of the SDP on most ships.

[casofilia]

It is very uncommon for a Specialty to be open for lunch.

[FSU Girl]

Hmm, if none will be open would you recommend just doing two specialty restaurants and one night in the Haven? We are sailing on the Epic.

[Two Wheels Only]

You can use a SDP for lunch IF you are on a ship that has specialty restaurants that are open for lunch that take the SDP.

I don't think that Epic has any, though (someone more familiar with Epic will give a definitive answer).

[Gampy1967]

If you are staying in a suite on a ship without the Haven (think Dawn) one of the specialty restaurants (usually Cagney's or Moderno) is open for suite passengers only for breakfast and lunch.

[rtkenmore]

40 minutes ago, FSU Girl said:

Hmm, if none will be open would you recommend just doing two specialty restaurants and one night in the Haven? We are sailing on the Epic.

 

I've sailed Epic twice (once on an eastern Carribean and once on a mid-western Caribbean).

 

I just checked the deck plans and I don't believe any of the speciality restaurants are going to be open for lunch.  Of the ones one board, I would definitely recommend Cagney's as a must do.  We love Cagney's and always save it as our final meal on the last day of a cruise.  Teppanyaki is good if you like the entertainment factor of hibachi grills and the food is usually plentiful and filling.  The other specialty restaurants on Epic could be hit or miss in our experience (Moderno is okay but it's a lot of meat; La Cucina is good if they have the newer updated and more old style Italian menu - they went through a phase with a new menu that wasn't nearly as good as it was the first time we had it; Wasabi is not an SDP option as it's only a la carte items; and Le Bistro just isn't our style).

 

Now one other option to consider is using one of your SDP meals at Cirque Dream and paying the additional uncharge.  We enjoyed Cirque Dreams both times we were on Epic and the food was pretty good too.  It's a set menu best I recall with just a few choices for the main course.

 

Hope that helps.

[FLcruisergrl]

The Epic doesn’t have any specialties open for lunch. If it were me, I’d do Haven, Cagney’s, and Le Bistro. Moderno was ok, but didn’t blow me out of the water, and I can get Teppanyaki and Italian on land anytime.

[FSU Girl]

17 hours ago, rtkenmore said:

Now one other option to consider is using one of your SDP meals at Cirque Dream and paying the additional uncharge.  We enjoyed Cirque Dreams both times we were on Epic and the food was pretty good too.  It's a set menu best I recall with just a few choices for the main course.

This show looks interesting, I'll have to see if it's showing on our cruise. Since our three night overlaps the 7 night the show might be later on in the cruise when we won't be onboard anymore. If we pick this does the additional charge get paid right away or once we are onboard?

 

17 hours ago, FLcruisergrl said:

The Epic doesn’t have any specialties open for lunch. If it were me, I’d do Haven, Cagney’s, and Le Bistro. Moderno was ok, but didn’t blow me out of the water, and I can get Teppanyaki and Italian on land anytime.

We have a lot of good Teppanyaki restaurants near us so it probably wouldn't make sense to do that one the cruise, although I do love that type of food. Do they include fried rice? I know some do and some don't since it's not authentic to Japan. 

 

 

[rtkenmore]

22 minutes ago, FSU Girl said:

This show looks interesting, I'll have to see if it's showing on our cruise. Since our three night overlaps the 7 night the show might be later on in the cruise when we won't be onboard anymore. If we pick this does the additional charge get paid right away or once we are onboard?

 

We have a lot of good Teppanyaki restaurants near us so it probably wouldn't make sense to do that one the cruise, although I do love that type of food. Do they include fried rice? I know some do and some don't since it's not authentic to Japan. 

 

 

 

You must be on a Mediterranean sailing if you have an overlap with a 7 day.  They rarely do anything like that in the states.  I would imagine at least one of the nights you would have the option for Cirque.  You could probably log into your My NCL account and see what nights are available.  The show is usually pretty good. It's not like a typical Cirque du Soleil show which a lot of people assume going into it..  But it's still entertaining.

 

We have a lot of good Teppanyaki around us too but I just enjoy the food and honestly, I prefer Teppanyaki more than I do Moderno, Le Bistro and some of the other choices.  Our top picks are always Cagney's, Los Lobos, Teppanyaki and La Cucina.  And YES, they include fried rice and I always get extra fried rice myself.  Typically, it's a miso soup, seaweed salad, entree choice (beef, shrimp, chicken, scallops, etc.), vegetables, fried rice and then a choice of desert (green tea cake or fruit sashimi).  It's always a lot of food especially if you request extra rice.

 

[xriva]

18 hours ago, Gampy1967 said:

If you are staying in a suite on a ship without the Haven (think Dawn) one of the specialty restaurants (usually Cagney's or Moderno) is open for suite passengers only for breakfast and lunch.

 

However, that's just for suites and Haven guests and is part of the fare. It doesn't require SDP credits. 

[Gampy1967]

15 minutes ago, xriva said:

 

However, that's just for suites and Haven guests and is part of the fare. It doesn't require SDP credits. 

I am quite aware of that.  The OP also asked if any of the specialty restaurants are open for lunch. If you are in a suite and/or Haven (which she is), one of them is.

 

[FSU Girl]

18 minutes ago, rtkenmore said:

 

You must be on a Mediterranean sailing if you have an overlap with a 7 day.  They rarely do anything like that in the states.  I would imagine at least one of the nights you would have the option for Cirque.  You could probably log into your My NCL account and see what nights are available.  The show is usually pretty good. It's not like a typical Cirque du Soleil show which a lot of people assume going into it..  But it's still entertaining.

 

We have a lot of good Teppanyaki around us too but I just enjoy the food and honestly, I prefer Teppanyaki more than I do Moderno, Le Bistro and some of the other choices.  Our top picks are always Cagney's, Los Lobos, Teppanyaki and La Cucina.  And YES, they include fried rice and I always get extra fried rice myself.  Typically, it's a miso soup, seaweed salad, entree choice (beef, shrimp, chicken, scallops, etc.), vegetables, fried rice and then a choice of desert (green tea cake or fruit sashimi).  It's always a lot of food especially if you request extra rice.

 

Yes, we are on the May 12 sailing from Barcelona to Rome. I think they have this since it's the first after the Transatlantic and they also have people getting on in Rome so those rooms would sit empty if they didn't offer the 3 night. It works perfectly for our honeymoon. We are doing the cruise, then a few days in Rome then 4 nights in Paris and 4 nights in London. It was a compromise of doing a cruise and land trip. 

 

We might do the Teppanyaki, its one of my favorite foods and would be a cool experience having it on a ship. The Fried Rice is my favorite part of the meal lol. We go to cirque du soleil shows every year when they travel by where we live so maybe we should skip that. 

 

 

[FSU Girl]

3 minutes ago, Gampy1967 said:

I am quite aware of that.  The OP also asked if any of the specialty restaurants are open for lunch. If you are in a suite and/or Haven (which she is), one of them is.

Yes we are traveling in the Haven. On the Epic which specialty restaurant is open for breakfast? 

[xriva]

1 minute ago, Gampy1967 said:

I am quite aware of that.  The OP also asked if any of the specialty restaurants are open for lunch. If you are in a suite and/or Haven (which she is), one of them is.

 

 

No, she asked if you can use a dining credit for lunch. Look at the subject line and her post. The answer is "No" because the specialties are not open at lunch for the masses. If you are in the Haven or a suite on a smaller ship, there may be a restaurant open, but it is complimentary and not open to the public - it doesn't required dining credits. She is also on the Epic so there is a separate dining room for the Haven. 

[ColinIllinois]

2 minutes ago, FSU Girl said:

Yes we are traveling in the Haven. On the Epic which specialty restaurant is open for breakfast? 

If you are in a suite on the Epic the Haven restaurant is where you can have breakfast.

Edited November 1, 2018 by ColinIllinois

[FSU Girl]

Thanks! Does anyone know if the menu in the Haven restaurant is the same for lunch and dinner or if they are different? We are have one sea day so we'll definitely be eating lunch there. If they are the same we could book three specialty restaurants, but if they are different I'll want to try the Haven for dinner too.

[ColinIllinois]

The lunch and dinner menus are different.  Just do a quick Google search and you'll find plenty of menu examples.

[rtkenmore]

22 minutes ago, FSU Girl said:

Thanks! Does anyone know if the menu in the Haven restaurant is the same for lunch and dinner or if they are different? We are have one sea day so we'll definitely be eating lunch there. If they are the same we could book three specialty restaurants, but if they are different I'll want to try the Haven for dinner too.

 

Typically the lunch and dinner menus are always different in the restaurants..  If you do a google search, be sure you try and location Mediterranean menus and not menus for their Carribean season.  Sometimes they do differ between locations.

[FSU Girl]

31 minutes ago, ColinIllinois said:

The lunch and dinner menus are different.  Just do a quick Google search and you'll find plenty of menu examples.

 

10 minutes ago, rtkenmore said:

Typically the lunch and dinner menus are always different in the restaurants..  If you do a google search, be sure you try and location Mediterranean menus and not menus for their Carribean season.  Sometimes they do differ between locations.

Thanks I'll do that! So we'll probably only do two Specialty restaurants for dinner so we can try the Haven out. Now we have to decide on which two lol. 

[FSU Girl]

One other question. Is there anywhere online I can mark that this is a honeymoon? Or do I need to call to have that noted on the reservation? I can't find it online so I'm thinking I'll have to call?

[rtkenmore]

10 minutes ago, FSU Girl said:

One other question. Is there anywhere online I can mark that this is a honeymoon? Or do I need to call to have that noted on the reservation? I can't find it online so I'm thinking I'll have to call?

 

I would think just call your TA or PCC and let them know to mark the reservation as a honeymoon trip.  Also, make your fiancé/husband buy you a Thermal Suite pass for the short trip.  The Epic has the BEST Thermal Suite in the company in my opinion.  I love laying out on the lounger's or day beds on the back of the ship in the thermal suite.  

[FSU Girl]

1 minute ago, rtkenmore said:

 

I would think just call your TA or PCC and let them know to mark the reservation as a honeymoon trip.  Also, make your fiancé/husband buy you a Thermal Suite pass for the short trip.  The Epic has the BEST Thermal Suite in the company in my opinion.  I love laying out on the lounger's or day beds on the back of the ship in the thermal suite.  

Thanks! And I'll pass the Thermal Suite idea along 🙂

[rtkenmore]

37 minutes ago, FSU Girl said:

Thanks! And I'll pass the Thermal Suite idea along 🙂

 

You can usually save a bit if you book in advance but you can also wait till you're on board and do a free tour usually just to see everything that is offered as well.

[FSU Girl]

16 hours ago, rtkenmore said:

 

You can usually save a bit if you book in advance but you can also wait till you're on board and do a free tour usually just to see everything that is offered as well.

That's good to know! Thanks!