O'Sheehans or Main Dining room on Epic open embarkation?

[doxiegal]

Hi everyone, We will be sailing on the NCL Epic this coming Saturday April 6th. Does anyone know if O' Sheehans or the main dining rooms are open for lunch on embarkation day. Traveling with my two elderly, physically challenged parents, and one of these areas might be easier for them to navigate on embarkation, then the buffet...Thanks for any input.

[www3traveler]

At least one of the MDR's and O'Sheehan's should be open for lunch.

[brookie848]

And don't believe any employee that tries to push you to the buffet. If you get a Daily when you check in, it will have the hours of restaurants open for lunch. Enjoy!

[Von & John]

Have a great trip with your parents...  Enjoy them while you can!

My mother loved the cruise we (my sisters & I) took her on...

2001 - 2 Adjoining Interior Rooms

Mom, (1) sister & 10-month old grandson

(3) sisters in adjoining room...

A little crowded - all beds were thankfully on the floor - they brought a roll-away in & placed between the 2 beds... 

Mainly a wall of beds 🙂

Wonderful Memories & Great Times had by All!!!

Unfortunately my mother never went on another cruise - but she loved to see the sunrise & sunset near the equator...

[bluesea777]

I don't think Manhattan (MDR) will be open but the Taste (the other MDR) will be.

 

ENJOY!!

[mdsgu]

Taste or Savor will be open.  Staff will try to turn you around, telling you "lunch is being served on Lido."  Ignore them and proceed on.  The only downside is that what you see on the menu on embarkation day for lunch will be the same thing you will see every day for lunch in the dining room -- it never changes.

 

We, too, have cruised with elderly parents, and it is a lot easier to relax in the dining room than to try to navigate the hordes at the buffet.

[bluesea777]

1 hour ago, mdsgu said:

Taste or Savor will be open.  Staff will try to turn you around, telling you "lunch is being served on Lido."  Ignore them and proceed on.  The only downside is that what you see on the menu on embarkation day for lunch will be the same thing you will see every day for lunch in the dining room -- it never changes.

 

We, too, have cruised with elderly parents, and it is a lot easier to relax in the dining room than to try to navigate the hordes at the buffet.

 

Epic has only two MDRs - Manhattan and Taste. No Savor on the Epic.

 

[mdsgu]

28 minutes ago, bluesea777 said:

 

Epic has only two MDRs - Manhattan and Taste. No Savor on the Epic.

 

My bad. Well, just proceed to Taste and don’t let anyone get in your way!

[bluesea777]

15 hours ago, mdsgu said:

My bad. Well, just proceed to Taste and don’t let anyone get in your way!

 

No worries.

 

One more thing - people in wheelchairs or on mobiles need to go to the forward elevators to go down to deck 5 where Taste MDR is located. The aft elevators do not go down to 5, it goes down to 6 and then you take the mid-ship escalator down to 5.

 

 

[KeithJenner]

Do people really have staff trying to send them to the buffet?

 

I see it mentioned here a lot, but I can honestly say that never in all of my cruises have I ever had any member of staff on embarkation day say anything to me about where I should eat.

 

I can imagine if you ask them that they may suggest the buffet, but do people really have staff offering them that info without asking?

[kochleffel]

4 minutes ago, KeithJenner said:

Do people really have staff trying to send them to the buffet?

 

I see it mentioned here a lot, but I can honestly say that never in all of my cruises have I ever had any member of staff on embarkation day say anything to me about where I should eat.

 

I can imagine if you ask them that they may suggest the buffet, but do people really have staff offering them that info without asking?

 

I haven't experienced that, either. (But I haven't asked, so I don't know what the reply would be if one did ask.)

 

People new to NCL who have cruised on certain other lines do need to be advised that a main dining room will be open. On RCI, for example, it isn't. The information is in the Freestyle Daily, which I have sometimes but not always received at the check-in desk, but a hungry person might not pause to read that far.

Edited April 2, 2019 by kochleffel

[kochleffel]

2 hours ago, bluesea777 said:

The aft elevators do not go down to 5

 

If anyone is wondering: that's because deck 5 aft is the kitchen for both Taste and Manhattan.

[FLAHAM]

6 minutes ago, kochleffel said:

 

I haven't experienced that, either. (But I haven't asked, so I don't know what the reply would be if one did ask.)

 

I have not had that, either.  I always ask what is open, ask to be pointed toward the open MDR, and have never had an issue.  Staff both inside and outside the MDR seem delighted to help.

 

[bebeccasue]

When I boarded the Jewel in Alaska, I asked which main dining room was serving lunch and was repeatedly told the buffet is open. They never told me which dining room was open so I went to find it myself.  Had a great meal!!!!

[doxiegal]

Good to know. Thanks everyone... We took a cruise out of Puerto Rico with my parents in Nov. on Freedom of the Seas, and only the buffet was open for lunch on embarkation day. Needless to say, it was a complete cluster headache, people cutting in front of you in line, the hordes of people dropping food on the floor. It was so awful, I didn't eat there ever again the whole cruise. I'd rather skip lunch then deal with that nonsense. At least, we can have a nice quiet lunch meal on embarkation. Thanks

[robin13]

On 4/1/2019 at 1:26 PM, brookie848 said:

And don't believe any employee that tries to push you to the buffet. If you get a Daily when you check in, it will have the hours of restaurants open for lunch. Enjoy!

 

This happened to me on The Escape last April!!  I asked an employee if the dining room was open and she said no that it was closed.  After I got to my cabin I looked at the daily paper and sure enough the dining room was open.  I was so mad as I had to fight the crowds in the buffet.  Lesson learned, I will always look at the daily paper for hours of operation.

[BirdTravels]

On the Epic, Taste opens at noon and O’Sheehans opens at 11:30. The buffet opens at 11:30. 

 

The push people toward the buffet because it can handle more people and turns quicker. On the Escape this week, there was a 30-45 minute wait for MDR seating once all of the tables were filled with “first shift”. 

[kochleffel]

3 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

On the Escape this week, there was a 30-45 minute wait for MDR seating once all of the tables were filled with “first shift”. 

 

Interesting. On the Epic at the end of February, fewer than 20% of the tables in the Taste MDR were occupied at all for embarkation-day lunch. (I was there before any of those who had arrived earlier could have finished, and because of conversation with a passenger at the neighboring table, stayed there past the closing time for lunch.)

[yearsofcruising]

After many NCL cruises , I do my homework and know the exact route to O'Sheehans for lunch. Gangplank straight up to O'Sheehans..Most new cruisers dont realize its open for breakfast even...March cruise was 2hrs late boarding..Ran to O'Sheehans to meet a friend..empty...

[misha1]

On ‎4‎/‎1‎/‎2019 at 3:34 PM, mdsgu said:

Taste or Savor will be open.  Staff will try to turn you around, telling you "lunch is being served on Lido."  Ignore them and proceed on.  The only downside is that what you see on the menu on embarkation day for lunch will be the same thing you will see every day for lunch in the dining room -- it never changes.

 

We, too, have cruised with elderly parents, and it is a lot easier to relax in the dining room than to try to navigate the hordes at the buffet.

Sheehans it is for us

 

Edited April 7, 2019 by misha1

[myjillian]

13 hours ago, misha1 said:

Sheehans it is for us

 

Ditto