First time on NCL

[prov2727]

On 1/19/2021 at 10:57 AM, Crazy planning mom said:

I have been able to make main dining reservations 90 days out.

I have as well (last sailed 1/2020).

[bcwife76]

Uh, no crab legs and lobster? Dude, I mean....come ON!!! 

 

Hehheh, ok ok I guess I'll survive 😉 Next you're going to tell me there's no caviar either (to be fair, that's only in Palo, the adult-only brunch on Disney ships)

 

I don't think I'll miss it, there seem to be a LOT of food options! Cagney's Steakhouse, I see this is on every NCL ship and talked about a lot so I assume this should be added to our dining reservations?

[hallux]

3 minutes ago, bcwife76 said:

Cagney's Steakhouse, I see this is on every NCL ship and talked about a lot so I assume this should be added to our dining reservations?

I liked it, but I'm no steak expert by any means.  Some say you can get a better steak at other venues (Le Bistro?  I didn't have steak there when I went).  What other venues were you considering?  I've been on Bliss 2x but have not tried 3 of the specialty venues (Teppanyaki, Ocean Blue and Los Lobos).

[bcwife76]

2 minutes ago, hallux said:

I liked it, but I'm no steak expert by any means.  Some say you can get a better steak at other venues (Le Bistro?  I didn't have steak there when I went).  What other venues were you considering?  I've been on Bliss 2x but have not tried 3 of the specialty venues (Teppanyaki, Ocean Blue and Los Lobos).

So far Cagney's was the only one on our list (since I've heard countless people talk about it), but haven't narrowed down which other ones to try (we get 2 'free' meals each as part of our booking, though are definitely willing to try more than the 2 'free/included'.) Not really interested in Teppanyaki as we have done that several times 'on land' haha Italian I figure you can get anywhere, too. but Le Bistro I think looked nice.

[hallux]

@bcwife76 Le Bistro was nice, definitely a night you would consider dressing nicer for, the venue has a more upscale feel to it.  La Cucina, IMO might be one of the best values with the dining package.

 

If you want to try Q, go out of pocket!  The meals there are just not that expensive.

 

If you Google "Norwegian Bliss Menus" you can see the menus and the prices for the different items.  ProfCruise is the 3rd result, that's where I was looking.

[jemz1949]

The mention of touchscreens makes me wonder as to whether or not they will "survive" or be operational until Covid is under control.....maybe we can all wear rubber gloves with our masks?  

[All-ready2cruise]

54 minutes ago, jemz1949 said:

The mention of touchscreens makes me wonder as to whether or not they will "survive" or be operational until Covid is under control.....maybe we can all wear rubber gloves with our masks?  

Why? Touch screens have been around for years ... with covid, yes, you need to wash your hands after using one if done outside your own space, however, you can do it in your cabin as well.  No contact required outside your own space.  

[hallux]

Maybe MicroBan or some other company makes a product they can apply to the screen (either spray-on or like a screen protector for your phone) that will provide ongoing antibacterial properties for extended periods.  My workplace has applied this kind of self-disinfecting wrap on door handles, push-bars and elevator buttons in addition to having stands with 1-gallon pump bottles of sanitizing gel at each entrance.

 

Or - they place hand sanitizing stations next to the touchscreens and you sanitize before and after.  You can also bring your own little, or not so little, bottles of sanitizer to use.

 

But, we're now derailing the topic...

[bcwife76]

4 hours ago, hallux said:

Maybe MicroBan or some other company makes a product they can apply to the screen (either spray-on or like a screen protector for your phone) that will provide ongoing antibacterial properties for extended periods.  My workplace has applied this kind of self-disinfecting wrap on door handles, push-bars and elevator buttons in addition to having stands with 1-gallon pump bottles of sanitizing gel at each entrance.

 

Or - they place hand sanitizing stations next to the touchscreens and you sanitize before and after.  You can also bring your own little, or not so little, bottles of sanitizer to use.

 

But, we're now derailing the topic...

It's ok 🙂 When someone mentioned it above my first thought was 'how cool' and my second was 'eww Covid, maybe not' lol I mean, I DO still think it's cool but you make valid points 😉

[AstoriaPreppy]

22 hours ago, bcwife76 said:

Cagney's Steakhouse, I see this is on every NCL ship and talked about a lot so I assume this should be added to our dining reservations?

Cagney's is *super* popular on NCL. It's good, and probably worth using one of your dining credits on. Le Bistro is also very good, and usually easier to get into than Cagney's. Moderno (Brazilian churrascaria) is fun with a family, but the meats can vary in quality widely depending on the night (not sure if the Bliss has one). La Cuccina is not my favorite, as we've had some really poorly done dishes here too many times to recommend. 

Re: your joke about crab and lobster, it's more setting up realistic expectations in terms of comparison to Disney. NCL has a lot of choices, but the food in general is not at the same level as to what you'd get in a MDR like Tiana's or Animator's Palate on Disney Cruise Line. You certainly won't get anything close to Palo or Remy's on NCL. 

[hallux]

1 hour ago, AstoriaPreppy said:

Moderno (Brazilian churrascaria) is fun with a family, but the meats can vary in quality widely depending on the night (not sure if the Bliss has one)

No Moderno on Bliss...

[bcwife76]

Thanks everyone who has responded so far, lots to mull over! I'm truly not going to try and compare our NCL experience to Disney, I really am excited to try a new cruise experience.

[Farts]

On 1/18/2021 at 11:50 PM, bcwife76 said:

We have sailed Disney several times but now as our kids are getting older, we want to branch out. Just booked NCL Bliss for March 2022 out of Los Angeles. I just have a few questions pertaining to dining and entertainment.

 

-speciality dining I can book starting at 120 days out from the cruise, correct?

-main dining rooms (looks to be 3 of them) no reservations correct? just show up and hope for a table?

-we also have to book tickets to the shows (but that's not an extra cost I believe). Is that also at the 120 day mark?

-luggage tags - are they mailed to you (that's what Disney does)?

 

I've been lurking around the boards for a while so I think I've gleaned a good amount of info so far, but those were the main questions I had, thanks in advance 🙂

I like NCL. It's my favorite line. 

 

Just a warning. NCL may be a downgrade from Disney depending on your tastes. 

 

I LOVE Indian curries. It's my favorite food second only the fillet mignon. For me, NCL curry is the absolute best I have ever had around the world. Better than the states, UK, and India since it strikes a balance of clean and authentic. They also had saffron on my rice last time. Not sure if it was real though tbh given the price of saffron. Their beef curry is my absolute favorite. So for me, it's not a huge downgrade compared to what I get. But I can see how it may be a downgrade to those who don't like ethnic food.

[bcwife76]

5 hours ago, Farts said:

I like NCL. It's my favorite line. 

 

Just a warning. NCL may be a downgrade from Disney depending on your tastes. 

 

I LOVE Indian curries. It's my favorite food second only the fillet mignon. For me, NCL curry is the absolute best I have ever had around the world. Better than the states, UK, and India since it strikes a balance of clean and authentic. They also had saffron on my rice last time. Not sure if it was real though tbh given the price of saffron. Their beef curry is my absolute favorite. So for me, it's not a huge downgrade compared to what I get. But I can see how it may be a downgrade to those who don't like ethnic food.

We love indian cuisine so this makes me happy for sure 🙂 Do you get these dishes from the main dining room or one of the specialty restaurants?

[Farts]

7 hours ago, bcwife76 said:

We love indian cuisine so this makes me happy for sure 🙂 Do you get these dishes from the main dining room or one of the specialty restaurants?

It is a part of the buffet. Lol. So it is included. It’s typically in the back. It is so delicious that I crave it once every 2 weeks. Their curries are thick and so yummy. It’s high quality and not watery. The beef curry is like beef stew chunks. And the curries are always fresh and warm. So good. For me it is better than most specialty restaurants. I schedule my daily eating routine around their curries. 

[Bonita232]

I really enjoyed los lobos when we went on the bliss in February! And Cagney's was delicious and worth using the dinner package as it is one of the pricier restaurants. Q's was good not outstanding but I would defiantly ordered the hot brownie and ice-cream again if I had tried it before the last evening I probley would have went there at least a night or 2 to have just that brownie lol. Sadly I am not a big fan of the MDR free style of coming when you like, we didn't wait to long to get in 15-20mins maybe BUT the time it took to get our food was just outrageous over an hour. We ended up only eating in the main dinning room once in the 2 weeks 

[AstoriaPreppy]

2 hours ago, Bonita232 said:

We ended up only eating in the main dinning room once in the 2 weeks 

Literally my first NCL experience. I looked at my husband after our first MDR dinner and said “we can never do this again.” Especially compared to every other cruise line, the NCL main dining room experience... has a lot of room for improvement. 

[bcwife76]

Ugh, that's not great. We'll be travelling with two kids (but not like they are young so they can wait for a meal like the rest of us haha). We don't usually wait very long for meals in the MDR's on Disney, but of course there are exceptions, sometimes the kitchens just get backed up. I do appreciate the two dining times on Disney (we always choose the second one) so having to show up and cross our fingers would be a pain. Ah, first world problems, right?!