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What is dinner with Officers like?

mizLORInj

By mizLORInj,
in Norwegian Cruise Line

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KeithJenner "Live from...." Rare

KeithJenner

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You have to go to the cruisenext desk and register for it.

 

As for what it is like, I have only done it once (when they invited us even though we hadn't put our names down). It was OK. We had a fairly junior member of staff, but it worked for us as he was seconded from the POA and we were doing Hawaii the following summer, so he had lots of tips and remembered us when we met him onboard the following year.

 

People grumble because you often get more junior members, or ones that they don't feel are I'm portent enough (shop manager etc), but they are all people and it depends on the person themselves rather than their job.

 

Give it a go.

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LGW59

LGW59

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25 minutes ago, KeithJenner said:

You have to go to the cruisenext desk and register for it.

 

As for what it is like, I have only done it once (when they invited us even though we hadn't put our names down). It was OK. We had a fairly junior member of staff, but it worked for us as he was seconded from the POA and we were doing Hawaii the following summer, so he had lots of tips and remembered us when we met him onboard the following year.

 

People grumble because you often get more junior members, or ones that they don't feel are I'm portent enough (shop manager etc), but they are all people and it depends on the person themselves rather than their job.

 

Give it a go.

IMO, such an utter waste of time

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lgdesign

lgdesign

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Posted (edited)

The few we've been to have been fun.  We had the security officer once... he was a hoot and had lots of discreet but fun stories.

 

And once (on Royal), we had lunch with not one, but two captains... it was an overlap week where one captain was handing over the ship to the next.  That was an intersting meal as a fun older couple at the table were presented with a crystal ship commemorating that voyage as their 50th or 60th (I think).  It was a crazy number of cruises. 

Edited by lgdesign
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poohdreaming

poohdreaming

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39 minutes ago, mizLORInj said:

So this is a Sapphire perk.  Will there be a note left in my cabin as to when this is scheduled?   

Who usually attends and what's the experience like?

 

 

 

 

Thought this was cancelled. If they do bring it back, these dinners with officers are just like any other dinners. You might get someone who is not so important on the cruise ship or someone who is important. You would just sit at the dinner table talking among other cruisers with this person.

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Corby114

Corby114

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This story doesn’t involve an officer’s dinner but was interesting involving my mother in law and the Head Chef on a seven day Carnival Caribbean sailing. Fifteen years ago my mother in law accompanied us on a Carnival sailing from Miami. My mother in law was born in Germany and spoke fluent German. During the sailing she spoke with the Head Chef who was Austrian. He explained to my mother in law that only two other crew members on the ship spoke German. He told her he taught the senior Indian chefs how to make all types of German cuisine. He asked her what she wanted and they could spend a few hours together. They decided on a specific German cake. The next day they met for coffee and cake. He had a senior staff member give a tour of the ship and a tour of the bridge. The chef told her he missed his family and enjoyed speaking to her.

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julig22

julig22

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Dinner with officers is a perk for Sapphire and above.  Behind the scenes ship tour is for Platinum and above.  Both have been suspended due to covid, no indication when they will resume.

In the meantime, you can go to the CruiseNext desk and they will give you a small amount of OBC instead, if you ask.

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weltek

weltek

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We've done this a few times in the past (as part of the "lottery" that's advertised on embarkation day). It was dining in the MDR with some junior officers and other cruisers...I think we were seated as a table of 6 with one officer and two other couples, or 8 with three total couples and two officers. Seems like we've gotten pretty much engineers. They are sometimes shy, sometimes outgoing. Always interesting to talk to someone from another country, but alas, it's also some small talk. There was free wine.

 

Twice was enough for us. I'd recommend doing it once for the experience, more often if you are lonely or super social, because you also meet other cruisers. 

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Crown Vic

Crown Vic

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23 hours ago, KeithJenner said:

People grumble because you often get more junior members, or ones that they don't feel are I'm portent enough (shop manager etc), but they are all people and it depends on the person themselves rather than their job.

Spot on, KJ.

After listening to folks try and impress Deck Officers and Bridge Officers with their “knowledge” about engineering, ships and/or sailing, it’s refreshing to dine with and converse with, for example, a Casino, Excursion or a Front Desk Manager. 

Don’t misunderstand me. Have had some superb evenings with Hotel Directors/General Managers and senior Bridge Officers. The evening is made ‘special’ not by the conceived ‘level of importance’ of the Officer but by the other guests, the Officer and the content and flow of the conversation. Cheers!

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swmichigan cruiser

swmichigan cruiser

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We have been fortunate to have dinner with officers quite a few times but the one that stands out the most was with a HD who we have become good friends with. We had our two oldest grandkids (17 and 15) on the cruise with us and he called us and invited us to dinner. So the five of us were eating and I made the mistake of using what I thought was regular pepper but it turned out it was super hot pepper that he uses. They got to bring me out another filet mignon. He still blames me and I still blame him.

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jskinsd

jskinsd

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23 hours ago, julig22 said:

Dinner with officers is a perk for Sapphire and above.  Behind the scenes ship tour is for Platinum and above.  Both have been suspended due to covid, no indication when they will resume.

In the meantime, you can go to the CruiseNext desk and they will give you a small amount of OBC instead, if you ask.

Why would they give you an OBC for not having dinner with the officers?  How much OBC do you receive?  Sounds like you just gave away a secret.  ✌️

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Travelicious "Live from...." Rare

Travelicious

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11 minutes ago, jskinsd said:

Why would they give you an OBC for not having dinner with the officers?  How much OBC do you receive?  Sounds like you just gave away a secret.  ✌️

It is for not giving you the perks that go along with the Latitudes status.  Also currently canceled are the wines around the world and the behind the scenes tour.  The OBC on the Breakaway last month was $25 per stateroom, not per person.

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julig22

julig22

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Posted (edited)
14 minutes ago, jskinsd said:

Why would they give you an OBC for not having dinner with the officers?  How much OBC do you receive?  Sounds like you just gave away a secret.  ✌️

For me, it was compensation for the behind-the-scenes tour that wasn't available; I won't be Sapphire until after my next cruise.  I got $25 obc.  I think someone said they got $50 - they were Sapphire, so eligible for the dinner as well.  But I was solo so don't know if it's a per person or per stateroom or ???

Secret - I don't know.  I got the info during the CC Meet & Greet.

Edited by julig22
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BirdTravels "Live from...." Rare

BirdTravels

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On 3/20/2022 at 1:18 PM, mizLORInj said:

So this is a Sapphire perk.  Will there be a note left in my cabin as to when this is scheduled?   

Who usually attends and what's the experience like?

It is really what you make of it. 
 

You need to sign up at the Cruise Next desk (preferably on embarkation day when you sign up for your behind the scenes tour). (Note that both were suspended for COVID, but the CDC guidance recently relaxed and they could resume now). 
 

You will get a call from the General Manager’s office part way through the cruise as to the date and time (usually conflicting with other plans). 
 

It is dinner in one of the Main Dining Rooms with the menu of the night there. They will serve wine with dinner. 
 

We normally sign up for it. Sometimes it is is cancelled due to lack of interest. 
 

I have always been totally disappointed that NCL does not place more emphasis on the event since it is for their “best customers”. But crew members take time from their rest periods to have dinner with passengers. 
 

We have had a few department managers. We have had a few store managers (who are not even NCL employees, just vendors). I think that our last pre-pandemic dinner was with a training officer and one of the junior bridge officers who just wanted to be done with the event. But, we always make the best of it. And had fun. 

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jskinsd

jskinsd

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3 hours ago, julig22 said:

For me, it was compensation for the behind-the-scenes tour that wasn't available; I won't be Sapphire until after my next cruise.  I got $25 obc.  I think someone said they got $50 - they were Sapphire, so eligible for the dinner as well.  But I was solo so don't know if it's a per person or per stateroom or ???

Secret - I don't know.  I got the info during the CC Meet & Greet.

Did you have to ask or was it just added to your account?  I would rather have the $50 OBC than dinner with an officer.  NCL should implement this new compensation as a regular perk.  Thank you for the info.✌️

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Yesimapirate

Yesimapirate

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Posted (edited)

On the Epic in December,  we were seated at the table next to a couple, the Captain and some crew at the Haven restaurant.   We were curious and asked the Concierge.  He told me the Captain sometimes looks through the list of Haven passengers for people he thinks would be interesting and invites them to dinner.  Apparently,  he often chooses people with Norwegian last names.

Edited by Yesimapirate
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MaryZ

MaryZ

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We've had dinner with the Beverage Manager and that was fun!  We've also had dinner with the captain and he was an immensely interesting guy.  Wide variety of job experience and hobbies.  We really enjoyed both.
Both times we were invited.  Both times we were in Haven.

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