Specialty Dining with Kids

[Angela2017]

Hello,

 

My husband an I have the dinning package and I've already made our dining reservations for the two of us for our trip in December on the Gem. I read that children can order from the kids menu at every restaurant with out being charged the specialty dinning rate.

 

My question is what is the best way to add her to the reservation with out being charged for an extra person?  Can we just show up with her and hope they can accommodate an extra seat?  We are planing on dropping her off at splash academy while we dine, but things can always change and we may have her eat with us...

 

 

[1025cruise]

I think you need to pay and then get a credit back.

Keep in mind the kids menu is the same generic kids menu, not restaurant specific.

[All-ready2cruise]

59 minutes ago, Angela2017 said:

Hello,

 

My question is what is the best way to add her to the reservation with out being charged for an extra person?  Can we just show up with her and hope they can accommodate an extra seat?  We are planing on dropping her off at splash academy while we dine, but things can always change and we may have her eat with us...

 

 

Depending on which restaurant you're booking, there may not be any charges. If it's Cagney's, Le Bistro, or la Cucina, they're ala carte, no charges apply until you dine.  If it's Moderno or Teppanyaki, you'll pay up front.    

 

[paulis]

We've taken our son on many NCL cruises and you can simply make the reservation for the entire party size. You won't be charged for a child unless you order from the specialty menu. You can then order from the kids menu or you can even swing by to see what's on the menu at the non-cover restaurants (MDR/Taste/Savour) and order anything from those menus. Never had an issue - just ask, everyone is always accommodating. 

[mjkacmom]

If it’s a set price restaurant, you pay and will be reimbursed. For our family of 7, we had to pay for 8.

[Mom2kmo]

17 minutes ago, mjkacmom said:

If it’s a set price restaurant, you pay and will be reimbursed. For our family of 7, we had to pay for 8.

Why would you pay for 8 if you only had 7 dining?   

[mjkacmom]

15 minutes ago, Mom2kmo said:

Why would you pay for 8 if you only had 7 dining?   

Because booking online only gave the option of 8, not 7, and when I called I was told that was how the system was set up,

[whitsmom]

4 hours ago, paulis said:

We've taken our son on many NCL cruises and you can simply make the reservation for the entire party size. You won't be charged for a child unless you order from the specialty menu. You can then order from the kids menu or you can even swing by to see what's on the menu at the non-cover restaurants (MDR/Taste/Savour) and order anything from those menus. Never had an issue - just ask, everyone is always accommodating. 

We are on the Getaway next week and there are 11 of us so NCL groups department reserved our 3 specialty dinners for the group of us.  They told us that the 2 that are kids can ordered off the kids menu and not be charged for them.

[HuliHuli]

5 hours ago, 1025cruise said:

I think you need to pay and then get a credit back.

I disagree.  See the post by Paulis, which from multiple cruises of experience, is accurate.  You are not charged unless and until you order a meal from the specialty restaurants menu.

[BirdTravels]

12 minutes ago, HuliHuli said:

I disagree.  See the post by Paulis, which from multiple cruises of experience, is accurate.  You are not charged unless and until you order a meal from the specialty restaurants menu.

You are charged for fixed price restaurants (Moderno, Teppanyaki, dinner shows) 

[BirdTravels]

Kids can eat off the Kids Menu for free at any restaurant. 
 

[mjkacmom]

Just now, BirdTravels said:

Kids can eat off the Kids Menu for free at any restaurant. 
 

We were charged for all adults even though 3 were children 12 and under. Only 1 of them are off of the kids menu, so we were reimbursed onboard.

[KeithJenner]

Just to clarify regarding getting charged for Moderno and Teppanyaki when reserving.

 

You will get charged when reserving if you don't have the dining package. However, if you have the dining package (and still have credits left after taking into account the bookings you have made) then you don't get charged.

 

If the OP had reserved for their whole group when making their initial reservations then they wouldn't have been charged for Moderno or Teppanyaki, as they have the dining package.

[HuliHuli]

7 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

You are charged for fixed price restaurants (Moderno, Teppanyaki, dinner shows) 

Been there, done that at Teppanyaki, but was not charged for children eating off the kids menu.

[KeithJenner]

8 minutes ago, HuliHuli said:

Been there, done that at Teppanyaki, but was not charged for children eating off the kids menu.

The conversation is getting confused. Some people are talking about whether you get charged when reserving, whilst others are talking about what you actually get charged after people have eaten.

 

Clearly, if you order off the children's menu then there should be no charge. However, if you reserve a fixed price place online (and you don't have the dining package) then you will get charged at that point. In that case, the amount you have paid should be refunded onboard if they then order off the kids menu.

[Liljo22]

 FYI...I just went into MyNCL and tried booking a table for 4 at Moderno with my wife and I with SDP and my 13 and 10 year old.  They are not charging me upfront for either of my kids.  The payment page doesnt even have a place to put my card in.  It just asks if I want to add to my intinerary.

 

Edited November 12, 2019 by Liljo22

[HuliHuli]

21 minutes ago, KeithJenner said:

The conversation is getting confused. Some people are talking about whether you get charged when reserving, whilst others are talking about what you actually get charged after people have eaten.

 

Clearly, if you order off the children's menu then there should be no charge. However, if you reserve a fixed price place online (and you don't have the dining package) then you will get charged at that point. In that case, the amount you have paid should be refunded onboard if they then order off the kids menu.

Good observation Keith!

[KeithJenner]

19 minutes ago, Liljo22 said:

 FYI...I just went into MyNCL and tried booking a table for 4 at Moderno with my wife and I with SDP and my 13 and 10 year old.  They are not charging me upfront for either of my kids.  The payment page doesnt even have a place to put my card in.  It just asks if I want to add to my intinerary.

 

Yes, that is correct. If you have the dining package then you don’t get charged during online reservation, regardless of the number of people you are booking for. The system doesn’t know who you are eating with and just assumes that if you have the package then so does everyone else you are booking for.

 

its very handy if you want to wait until you board to get the dining package for some people to use up OBC.

[mjkacmom]

24 minutes ago, Liljo22 said:

 FYI...I just went into MyNCL and tried booking a table for 4 at Moderno with my wife and I with SDP and my 13 and 10 year old.  They are not charging me upfront for either of my kids.  The payment page doesnt even have a place to put my card in.  It just asks if I want to add to my intinerary.

 

But if you didn’t have the SDP, you would’ve been charged for 4 adults.

[Liljo22]

2 minutes ago, mjkacmom said:

But if you didn’t have the SDP, you would’ve been charged for 4 adults.

 

Yes but the OP has SDP.  They can book with their daughter and not have to worry about having to be refunded.  

[KeithJenner]

1 minute ago, Liljo22 said:

 

Yes but the OP has SDP.  They can book with their daughter and not have to worry about having to be refunded.  

Not necessarily.

 

You only don't get charged if you have credits still unbooked. If they have booked all their reservations then they have probably used their credits and therefore would be charged.

 

The other issue is that I don't think they can now make another reservation at the same time (assuming it is even available). I think they would probably have to call and cancel the original booking first, which may mean they lose the time slot totally if it has booked up.