Freestyle Complimentary Dining - Escape

[Treacher1]

We have a cruise booked on Escape to Bermuda.  We DO have our specialty restaurants booked, as well.  For the nights we are dining in Savor, Taste, or Manhattan Room - we do NOT have reservations.  We prefer to decide WHEN to eat based upon what time we get back to ship from excursions, beach, etc.  Then I saw a video someone produced that said it is highly suggested to make reservations even in the complimentary restaurants.  Please advise - if we wish to dine between 6 and 6:30 will there be long lines, long waits?  Please share your experiences when you did not book ahead.  Thanks for any advice - much appreciated!

[jbethel11]

4 minutes ago, Treacher1 said:

We have a cruise booked on Escape to Bermuda.  We DO have our specialty restaurants booked, as well.  For the nights we are dining in Savor, Taste, or Manhattan Room - we do NOT have reservations.  We prefer to decide WHEN to eat based upon what time we get back to ship from excursions, beach, etc.  Then I saw a video someone produced that said it is highly suggested to make reservations even in the complimentary restaurants.  Please advise - if we wish to dine between 6 and 6:30 will there be long lines, long waits?  Please share your experiences when you did not book ahead.  Thanks for any advice - much appreciated!

The premise of NCL's "Freestyle Dining" expresses no need to make reservations for Complimentary restaurants, show up when you want, like a land-based restaurant. Remember, Taste, Savor and the Manhattan Room all feature the same menus, so if there is a long line for one restaurant, go to the adjacents!

[drvmywifecrzy]

Will vary by cruise but 630 to 730 would be peak time because they are just starting to turn tables for those seated at 530 and on

[myra711]

Not only did we not have to make reservations for the complimentary restaurants, we made walk-up changes to the day and time for specialty restaurants on the Escape with not problem.  In one case, we thought that we were early by a half hour, and it turned out that we were wrong by one day and a half hour!  

[yearsofcruising]

12 hours ago, drvmywifecrzy said:

Will vary by cruise but 630 to 730 would be peak time because they are just starting to turn tables for those seated at 530 and on

Don't really need reservation unless traveling with a group..Had 8 with 2 grandkids at Specialty & complimentry restaurants..Did not need big ship lines with kids..PCC booked all venues for me..Just easier...

[JamieLogical]

The only reason you would need reservations in any of the MDRs would be for large groups. I have sailed on the Escape four times so far and never had a wait of more than maybe three minutes for a table for two or four. And I tend to eat at the most "common" dinner times, around 6:00 or 6:30.

[LrgPizza]

I've never made reservations for the MDR. We are a party of 2 or 3. I've never waited more than a couple minutes, with the exception of one time when we waited about 15. (That was when the theater let out, and everyone seemed to arrive at the same time. It simply took a few minutes to seat the mob. No big deal.)  We only eat in the Manhattan Room, so I can't comment on the other 2.

[JamieLogical]

12 minutes ago, LrgPizza said:

We only eat in the Manhattan Room, so I can't comment on the other 2.

 

Manhattan Room seems more popular than Taste/Savor usually, so if you *are* going to have any sort of a wait, it's likely to be there.

[bkrickles1]

same as everyone else here, never made reservations for mdr's on Escape.

We sailed last July and walked up to the Manhattan Room 3 times between 6 and 7 and never waited more than a couple of minutes.

Skyline bar is right next to Manhattan Room and great for a pre dinner drink and was always practically empty at dinner time.

[bambiying]

We ate at Taste and Savor a few times.  We ate at the Manhattan Room once and hated it due to noise and never went back.  No big wait at T and S, and if there is, there's a great bar right outside them that makes a killer Cosmopolitan.