specialty dining

[bones774]

on a 21 day cruise how many dinners are included in the specialty dining package?

what would be equivalent cash cost of those dinners onboard?

it would cost me about $230 more to have that package added to my booking.

[BirdTravels]

33 minutes ago, bones774 said:

on a 21 day cruise how many dinners are included in the specialty dining package?

what would be equivalent cash cost of those dinners onboard?

it would cost me about $230 more to have that package added to my booking.

I assume that you are asking about the Free at Sea promotion? You would get 5 free meals at a cost of $25.80 per person. 

 

Specialty Dining Package

Sail Length	# Of Dining Package Meals		Retail Value		20% Gratuities
3-4 Nights	1		$44.95 per person		$8.99 per package
5-6 Nights	2		$79 per person		$15.80 per package
7-8 Nights	3		$99 per person		$19.80 per package
9-10 Nights	4		$114 per person		$22.80 per package
11+ Nights	5		$129 per person		$25.80 per package

 

If  you are taking about just buying a package, you can by 3 meals to 21 meals (add 20% gratuity to the prices below). 

Item #	Description	Per Person Price
3UDP	3-Meal Specialty Dining Package	$99.00 USD
4UDP	4-Meal Specialty Dining Package	$114.00 USD
5UDP	5-Meal Specialty Dining Package	$129.00 USD
6UDP	6-Meal Specialty Dining Package	$139.00 USD
7UDP	7-Meal Specialty Dining Package	$149.00 USD
8UDP	8-Meal Specialty Dining Package	$159.00 USD
9UDP	9-Meal Specialty Dining Package	$169.00 USD
10UDP	10-Meal Specialty Dining Package	$179.00 USD
11UDP	11-Meal Specialty Dining Package	$189.00 USD
12UDP	12-Meal Specialty Dining Package	$199.00 USD
13UDP	13-Meal Specialty Dining Package	$209.00 USD
14UDP	14-Meal Specialty Dining Package	$219.00 USD

(call for 15 o 21 meals)

 

Most restaurants are like restaurants at home. You pay for what you order (a la carte). Starting on post #23 on the link below, you'll find some menus from NCL restaurants. There are a few (Teppanyaki, Moderno) which are fixed price. The most expensive meal we have had was about $85 per person at Ocean Blue. 

 

[bones774]

yes, free at sea, so it's definitely not worth the extra cost added to cabin package.

since you brought it up, I was talking to a guy on board once and he had rung up a huge seafood bill at the oceans restaurant yet he only paid a very small charge in total for the meal. are you familiar with what he did, some sort of package deal?

[Sailing12Away]

1 hour ago, bones774 said:

on a 21 day cruise how many dinners are included in the specialty dining package?

what would be equivalent cash cost of those dinners onboard?

it would cost me about $230 more to have that package added to my booking.

Are you saying the charge for the "free" meals is showing up as $230? That doesn't sound right. 

 

Did you also add on the free drink package? Because that's about the cost of the drink package - not the specialty dining. As bird said above, the dining promotion will cost you about $25, for ~$200 worth of food (a good deal if you want to eat at those places and not worry about the bill).

 

The "free" drink package costs much more (but is definitely worth it in my alcoholic eyes).

[bones774]

1 hour ago, Sailing12Away said:

Are you saying the charge for the "free" meals is showing up as $230? That doesn't sound right. 

 

Did you also add on the free drink package? Because that's about the cost of the drink package - not the specialty dining. As bird said above, the dining promotion will cost you about $25, for ~$200 worth of food (a good deal if you want to eat at those places and not worry about the bill).

 

The "free" drink package costs much more (but is definitely worth it in my alcoholic eyes).

if I add $230 to my ticket price I can add one free at sea(solo).

you got me lost with what you added after that? 25 for 200?

[Port Power]

28 minutes ago, bones774 said:

if I add $230 to my ticket price I can add one free at sea(solo).

you got me lost with what you added after that? 25 for 200?

 

You pay $230 extra to choose a "free at sea" option.  If the dinner package, you will then also have to pay the 20% gratuity on top -- which is $25.80 for the 5-meal plan.  If you choose the drinks package, the 20% is greater again.  So no, it does not seem worth it.  Save on the ticket price and buy a meals package if you want to dine around.

[bones774]

can i buy dining package onboard?

[ColeThornton]

1 hour ago, bones774 said:

can i buy dining package onboard?

 

 

https://www.ncl.com/specialty-dining-package/faq

[Cindy]

How does it work if I have the 3 Specialty Dinner Package included, but I want to reserve 4 specialty dinners? Can I add a meal to my package? Specify which three meals I want my credits to be used for? Are the credits automatically applied to the first three meals? It makes sense to me to have my dining credits applied to the a la crate dinners, and then pay the flat rate for the fourth if that’s possible.

 

Sorry if this information is readily available. I read the FAQ but didn’t see this addressed.

[KeithJenner]

22 minutes ago, Cindy said:

How does it work if I have the 3 Specialty Dinner Package included, but I want to reserve 4 specialty dinners? Can I add a meal to my package? Specify which three meals I want my credits to be used for? Are the credits automatically applied to the first three meals? It makes sense to me to have my dining credits applied to the a la crate dinners, and then pay the flat rate for the fourth if that’s possible.

 

Sorry if this information is readily available. I read the FAQ but didn’t see this addressed.

You can’t add another meal to your package. You have to either buy another package or pay for the extra meal.

 

You can specify which meals you use the package for. The staff will probably assume you want to use the package, but just tell them that you want to pay outside the package. To be sure they have done it correctly, make sure they bring you a bill to sign, that hasn’t been zeroed out.

[Cindy]

2 minutes ago, KeithJenner said:

You can’t add another meal to your package. You have to either buy another package or pay for the extra meal.

 

You can specify which meals you use the package for. The staff will probably assume you want to use the package, but just tell them that you want to pay outside the package. To be sure they have done it correctly, make sure they bring you a bill to sign, that hasn’t been zeroed out.

 

Thanks, Keith!  I’m planning our first NCL cruise, and I’m trying to figure everything out!

[KeithJenner]

3 minutes ago, Cindy said:

 

Thanks, Keith!  I’m planning our first NCL cruise, and I’m trying to figure everything out!

I’m going to complicate this a bit for you now, but it’s worth saying as it may save you some hassle.

 

If you are planning on prebooking your meals (which I would recommend as long as you are happy to have it scheduled) then you should consider the order you book things.

 

The link in my signature gives more details (ignore the bit about platinum), but if you are booking more meals than you have dining credits for then you may get charged when booking. That may or may not work for you.

 

Briefly, the fixed charge restaurant that you are planning on eating at is charged to you when reserving, unless you have dining credits to cover it (this is purely for the purpose of deciding whether to charge you on reserving, not how it is ultimately paid for).

 

As a result, if you want to have that meal charged to your onboard account, reserve it before the others. If you want to pay for it before the cruise then do it after the others.

 

I hope that makes sense. It can sometimes be difficult to explain clearly.

[Cindy]

Great information...thanks!

[ajsland5]

Thanks to everyone for the great information. Like @Cindy, I am planning my first NCL cruise and had some of the same questions.

 

@KeithJenner, I have a 2 meal SDP and have made 3 specialty reservations. From your post, I see that I can choose which meal is not applied to the plan. In your experience, what would be the better value...I have reservations for Cagney’s, Le Bistro, and Teppanyaki. Should I stick with applying the a la carte meals to the SDP? Thanks! 

[KeithJenner]

1 hour ago, ajsland5 said:

Thanks to everyone for the great information. Like @Cindy, I am planning my first NCL cruise and had some of the same questions.

 

@KeithJenner, I have a 2 meal SDP and have made 3 specialty reservations. From your post, I see that I can choose which meal is not applied to the plan. In your experience, what would be the better value...I have reservations for Cagney’s, Le Bistro, and Teppanyaki. Should I stick with applying the a la carte meals to the SDP? Thanks! 

It obviously can depend on what you order in the a la carte places, but assuming you have a fell meal (app, entree and dessert) then yes, Teppanyaki is likely to be the cheapest of those, so I’d use the SDP in the a la carte places.

 

That has the additional advantage of meaning you can just order without worrying about the prices (subject to the upcharge items appearing on the menus now).