Specialty dining/Cagney’s questions on Epic

[p032504]

I have been given conflicting info from NCL & trying to clarify. If we eat at Cagney’s for our specialty dining perk, is the full meal (sides, salads, entree, dessert) included? Or is just the entree included & we pay extra for sides? 
Thanks.

[hallux]

You can order multiple apps and desserts and a single entree, per SDP credit.  At the very least, you can get an app, salad, entree and dessert.

[KeithJenner]

52 minutes ago, p032504 said:

I have been given conflicting info from NCL & trying to clarify. If we eat at Cagney’s for our specialty dining perk, is the full meal (sides, salads, entree, dessert) included? Or is just the entree included & we pay extra for sides? 
Thanks.

Out of interest did someone at NCL tell you that it only included an entree or was it just confusion caused by the misleading info on the NCL website?

[brooker]

Yesterday i was told by an NCL rep that you get unlimited apps, one entree and one dessert.  He also 

said that some dinners (e.g. surf and turf) require an extra fee.  

[p032504]

4 hours ago, KeithJenner said:

Out of interest did someone at NCL tell you that it only included an entree or was it just confusion caused by the misleading info on the NCL website?

Someone at NCL. I called twice. 

[KeithJenner]

31 minutes ago, p032504 said:

Someone at NCL. I called twice. 

Interesting, but unfortunately not surprising.

[hallux]

3 hours ago, brooker said:

He also 

said that some dinners (e.g. surf and turf) require an extra fee.

This is accurate.  Some appetizers do as well (jumbo crab cake at Cagney's for example).  It was worth the $5 charge for it, IMO.

[poohdreaming]

10 hours ago, p032504 said:

I have been given conflicting info from NCL & trying to clarify. If we eat at Cagney’s for our specialty dining perk, is the full meal (sides, salads, entree, dessert) included? Or is just the entree included & we pay extra for sides? 
Thanks.

Whomever you spoke to, perhaps got confused. There are 2 types of specialty dining perks. One is the dining cert. you would get if you are at the platinum tier. The other one is the free at sea one. 

[brookie848]

Go to the NCL site and print out the terms and conditions for the Specialty Dining perk. I do this for every cruise. That way if there is any question you have it in writing.

 

In general for the the perk/package, the only limitation is one entree. Some entrees/apps do come with an upcharge.

 

Plantinum dinners is where there are more limitations.

[p032504]

1 hour ago, poohdreaming said:

Whomever you spoke to, perhaps got confused. There are 2 types of specialty dining perks. One is the dining cert. you would get if you are at the platinum tier. The other one is the free at sea one. 

Thanks. We are not platinum, just using the Free at Sea, but also Haven guests. Thank you!

[p032504]

This is what I'm talking about: 

• Specialty Dining Packages include one main course per person at Cagney's and Le Bistro

What is a main course? Entree, or full app, salad, entree, dessert? It's really not clear. This is directly from the Terms & conditions.

[don't-use-real-name]

With the Platinum Sapphire Diamond Ambassador - dinner perks -

There are two certificates/offerings -

One at a upscale restaurant with a bottle of wine i.e. Cagney's Le Bistro

The other at i.e. Los Lobos La Cucina Moderno

 

Free at SEA is a new promotion details ? 

[KeithJenner]

4 hours ago, p032504 said:

This is what I'm talking about: 

• Specialty Dining Packages include one main course per person at Cagney's and Le Bistro

What is a main course? Entree, or full app, salad, entree, dessert? It's really not clear. This is directly from the Terms & conditions.

This is why I asked whether you were specifically told or whether it was the misleading info on the website.

 

What it is trying to say is that in Cagneys and Le Bistro you are limited to one entree, as in you can’t have two entrees. It doesn’t refer to the other courses as they aren’t limited.

 

It is very badly worded and has been for years. Barely a month goes by on here without someone querying that as they read it as saying only the entree is included. That isn’t the case. You are totally covered for apps, one entree, sides and dessert (other than a couple of specific up charges as mentioned earlier).

[Uff da]

19 hours ago, p032504 said:

I have been given conflicting info from NCL & trying to clarify. If we eat at Cagney’s for our specialty dining perk, is the full meal (sides, salads, entree, dessert) included? Or is just the entree included & we pay extra for sides? 
Thanks.

I can tell you what I ordered on Bliss. One appetizer - Shrimp Cocktail. One wedge salad. One Ribeye (way too big.) Three sides - loaded baked potato, zucchini (gag) and mushrooms.
My husband had crab cakes (with upcharge), salad, filet and two sides - some barley cheese thing and au grautin potatoes. Crab cakes were the only upcharge and we were good with that! Easily avoided if you need/want to. 
We ordered one dessert to split. 

Edited April 2, 2022 by Uff da

[david_sobe]

It seems some ships vary and people report different experiences.  When I was on the Encore in Feb 2020, at Cagneys we were told 1 appetizer, 2 sides, 1 entree and 1 dessert.   Others have reported they could get multiple appetizers, etc while others reported only 1 side.  It is confusing to keep up.

[KeithJenner]

27 minutes ago, david_sobe said:

It seems some ships vary and people report different experiences.  When I was on the Encore in Feb 2020, at Cagneys we were told 1 appetizer, 2 sides, 1 entree and 1 dessert.   Others have reported they could get multiple appetizers, etc while others reported only 1 side.  It is confusing to keep up.

There are two factors here.

 

Firstly, what you are told you can order if you ask. Personally I have never asked, so don’t have any experience of this, but the reports are varied. Some people are told that you can order anything and others are told that it is very restricted. I don’t think this varies by ship, it varies by waiter.

 

Secondly, what you are actually charged for. There is very little variation here (if any). I have even started a thread on this board asking if anyone has actually ever been charged for multiple entrees, sides or desserts, and only one person claimed they had been (it want clear that they weren’t actually talking about the platinum meal). This seems very clear, you can order multiple apps, sides and desserts. The evidence that they charge for multiples just doesn’t exist as far as I can see.

 

The only conclusion I can come to is that it is best not to ask. It just causes confusion. There is no limit stated in the T&Cs and no evidence of people being charged.

[Yinster]

12 hours ago, p032504 said:

Thanks. We are not platinum, just using the Free at Sea, but also Haven guests. Thank you!

If you are Haven then don't get the surf and turf in Cagney's as there's a supplement. You can eat that in the Haven restaurant for free

[david_sobe]

2 hours ago, KeithJenner said:

There are two factors here.

 

Firstly, what you are told you can order if you ask. Personally I have never asked, so don’t have any experience of this, but the reports are varied. Some people are told that you can order anything and others are told that it is very restricted. I don’t think this varies by ship, it varies by waiter.

 

Secondly, what you are actually charged for. There is very little variation here (if any). I have even started a thread on this board asking if anyone has actually ever been charged for multiple entrees, sides or desserts, and only one person claimed they had been (it want clear that they weren’t actually talking about the platinum meal). This seems very clear, you can order multiple apps, sides and desserts. The evidence that they charge for multiples just doesn’t exist as far as I can see.

 

The only conclusion I can come to is that it is best not to ask. It just causes confusion. There is no limit stated in the T&Cs and no evidence of people being charged.

I did not ask.  As soon as the waitress came to our table and saw we had the dining package she explained it right away.  It was the first words she spoke.  Apparently she was experienced with people asking questions and explained it even before asking us what we wanted to drink. 

Edited April 2, 2022 by david_sobe

[havanadaydreaming]

Off epic a month ago. First thing asked was food allergies? Then described the free at sea dinner (we have ate at Cagneys 4x on plan) which we politely listened too.  

 

I think we had app, salad, entree, 2 sides.  More than enough for us.  

[KeithJenner]

16 minutes ago, david_sobe said:

I did not ask.  As soon as the waitress came to our table and saw we had the dining package she explained it right away.  It was the first words she spoke.  Apparently she was experienced with people asking questions and explained it even before asking us what we wanted to drink. 

In that case I would just ignore them.

 

I genuinely wonder (and by saying this, I’m not in any way doubting other peoples experiences) why, in the many visits we have made to the speciality restaurants on NCL, none of the wait staff have ever entertained us with their made up rules on the dining package. We are often told the limits on the latitudes meal, but never with the dining package. It must be something about us. 🙂

[david_sobe]

10 hours ago, KeithJenner said:

In that case I would just ignore them.

 

I genuinely wonder (and by saying this, I’m not in any way doubting other peoples experiences) why, in the many visits we have made to the speciality restaurants on NCL, none of the wait staff have ever entertained us with their made up rules on the dining package. We are often told the limits on the latitudes meal, but never with the dining package. It must be something about us. 🙂

I am confused by your comments.  I dont see it as the staff making up rules.  I see it as being nice and efficient.  On a very busy night at Cagneys where almost the entire ship has the dining package, I found it refreshing the waitress came over to greet us and immediately explained what we could get.  It was extremely fair and I was not withheld anything that I wanted.  It all was included like the old days before the dining package.  One appetizer, one entree, 2 sides and one dessert is a full meal and then some 😉 

Edited April 3, 2022 by david_sobe

[KeithJenner]

4 hours ago, david_sobe said:

I am confused by your comments.  I dont see it as the staff making up rules.  I see it as being nice and efficient.  On a very busy night at Cagneys where almost the entire ship has the dining package, I found it refreshing the waitress came over to greet us and immediately explained what we could get.  It was extremely fair and I was not withheld anything that I wanted.  It all was included like the old days before the dining package.  One appetizer, one entree, 2 sides and one dessert is a full meal and then some 😉 

But the staff told you that there were restrictions to the dining package (one app, 2 sides, one dessert) which don’t exist. That is making stuff up. Those limits don’t exist and if you had ordered two apps then the system wouldn’t have charged you extra for them.

[david_sobe]

4 hours ago, KeithJenner said:

But the staff told you that there were restrictions to the dining package (one app, 2 sides, one dessert) which don’t exist. That is making stuff up. Those limits don’t exist and if you had ordered two apps then the system wouldn’t have charged you extra for them.

Thats not really true.  That is your opinion. Even in the old days when Cagneys charged only $20 for a cover...you only were able to get 1 appetizer per person.  My inlaws who dined with us were not charged for their soda.  Its not fair to say because it happened, its the rule.

By your opinion anyone can order 5 appetizers?  Probably not. The dining package lets you select certain options without additional fees.  Some appetizers had a $5.00 fee even with the dining package.  I think you are too focused on the vagueness of the package meaning anything that is not specifically prohibited is allowed.  That is not true.  

Once on the Jewel at a specialty restaurant, I was offered a second entre of ribs.  I was not charged.  Just because it happened does not make it the norm for every ship and every restaurant.  What was offered at Cagneys to us that night was extremely fair.  I would not have ordered anything different no matter what was explained about the dining package.  I took the explanation by the waitress as the glass half full.  You are looking at the glass half empty.  

[KeithJenner]

19 minutes ago, david_sobe said:

Thats not really true.  That is your opinion. Even in the old days when Cagneys charged only $20 for a cover...you only were able to get 1 appetizer per person.  My inlaws who dined with us were not charged for their soda.  Its not fair to say because it happened, its the rule.

By your opinion anyone can order 5 appetizers?  Probably not. The dining package lets you select certain options without additional fees.  Some appetizers had a $5.00 fee even with the dining package.  I think you are too focused on the vagueness of the package meaning anything that is not specifically prohibited is allowed.  That is not true.  

Once on the Jewel at a specialty restaurant, I was offered a second entre of ribs.  I was not charged.  Just because it happened does not make it the norm for every ship and every restaurant.  What was offered at Cagneys to us that night was extremely fair.  I would not have ordered anything different no matter what was explained about the dining package.  I took the explanation by the waitress as the glass half full.  You are looking at the glass half empty.  

I really don't want to argue about this. The information given by the wait staff is clearly unreliable, as it varies from person to person. That is why I called it "made up". If they were stating official policy then they would all be saying the same thing. If it isn't "made up" then lots of people are coming on cruise critic and lying about what they are told.

 

Until someone provides any actual evidence to show that there is a limit on the number of courses other than entrees with the dining package then I will continue to state the only conclusion that can be reached from the evidence we have (i.e. the written terms of the package and all the reported experiences that they don't charge for extras). It is as simple as that.

 

My glass is overflowing. I always go to the restaurants safe in the knowledge of what I can order and have never once been disappointed in that expectation. We actually rarely order multiples anyway but on the few occasions that we have done so my experience has been exactly the same as all the other reports on this board, and in line with the official written policy. I'm truly confused as to how you could take my position on this to be pessimistic. I am expecting a better result than you are, surely that makes me the optimist.

[hallux]

2 hours ago, david_sobe said:

Thats not really true.

or is it?  Ambiguity in a contract (the terms of the promotion) benefits the party that did not draft it.  In this case - the ambiguity is in the fact that there is no specific limitation indicated for apps or desserts so NCL can't point back to the terms of the promotion to say that there IS a limit, effectively putting no limit.  Does that mean people should go in with an SDP and order every app and every dessert and only have one bite from each?  No, that's just wasteful.  But if they want to order two?  Go for it!