Bidding for shows and dinner

[dpepper64]

We are currently plattium and understand that you can prebook our dinner reservation at 125 days but what about the shows?

[Dcoy]

Currently no one can prebook shows before boarding. 

[MoCruiseFan]

You do not need to BID for dinner or shows.

[Travelling2Some]

Holy crap!  The title of this thread was scary.  Don't give them any ideas!

[The Traveling Man]

Prior to the suspension of sailing due to COVID it was customary that any passenger booked on a cruise could make reservations for dinner and / or shows 120 days prior to sailing.  Those who were Platinum (or maybe it was Platinum Plus) could book five days before that and those traveling in the Haven could book 130 days before sailing.  Since the return to sailing, however, many cruises have not provided for any advance reservations, or in some cases reservations only for dinner only.  Sometimes the reservations only became available a few weeks before embarkation instead of 120 days.

[MoCruiseFan]

22 minutes ago, The Traveling Man said:

Prior to the suspension of sailing due to COVID it was customary that any passenger booked on a cruise could make reservations for dinner and / or shows 120 days prior to sailing.  Those who were Platinum (or maybe it was Platinum Plus) could book five days before that and those traveling in the Haven could book 130 days before sailing.  Since the return to sailing, however, many cruises have not provided for any advance reservations, or in some cases reservations only for dinner only.  Sometimes the reservations only became available a few weeks before embarkation instead of 120 days.

Since I started cruising NCL in 2011 I have never seen the ability to reserve shows pre-cruise.

[IronRobi]

8 hours ago, MoCruiseFan said:

Since I started cruising NCL in 2011 I have never seen the ability to reserve shows pre-cruise.

Strange, I've booked them on every NCL sailing I've ever done up until the most recent upcoming cruise.

[shof515]

8 hours ago, MoCruiseFan said:

Since I started cruising NCL in 2011 I have never seen the ability to reserve shows pre-cruise.

when i first sailed on breakaway back in 2014, i need reservations to see the shows

Edited October 10, 2022 by shof515

[BirdTravels]

57 minutes ago, IronRobi said:

Strange, I've booked them on every NCL sailing I've ever done up until the most recent upcoming cruise.

You need to reserve shows on the mega ships including Epic, Breakaway, Getaway, Escape, Joy, Bliss, Encore, Prima, Viva. If you are on small ships, show reservations are not needed. 
 

They do it for crowd control. 
 

And the math is simple. For Broadway shows like Six, Jersey Boys, Burn the Floor, Choir of Man, they show 4 times during a 7-day cruise. The theater holds about 800 guests. Therefore there are 3600 seats available. On a full cruise, there are 4590-+ passengers. Like the Titanic, there are not enough seats for everyone, so reservations are strongly recommended. 

Edited October 10, 2022 by BirdTravels

[Oxo]

Why can't we make entertainment reservations online?

We can make dining, excursions, etc., online.

Covid has nothing to do with online reservations. 

[CaptainBazz]

40 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

You need to reserve shows on the mega ships including Epic, Breakaway, Getaway, Escape, Joy, Bliss, Encore, Prima, Viva. If you are on small ships, show reservations are not needed. 
 

We have sailed on the Escape, Encore and Bliss this year and were not able to book shows prior to boarding. In fact once onboard there was no reserving shows...it was first come first served. However I will say the cruises were only about 50-60% full so that may have been a factor. I am sure if the ship was full it may be different.

[Oxo]

19 minutes ago, CaptainBazz said:

We have sailed on the Escape, Encore and Bliss this year and were not able to book shows prior to boarding. In fact once onboard there was no reserving shows...it was first come first served. However I will say the cruises were only about 50-60% full so that may have been a factor. I am sure if the ship was full it may be different.

We were on Breakaway Sep 4 - 18,  2022, B2B.

We could not book online.

Once on the ship, both cruises, during the first 2 hours, entertainment reservations were booked up. 

Ship had 2,800 passengers.

How is that possible?

[Gladys Kravitz]

From what I hear about The Prima and passengers not being able to get in to the shows or even the comic, bidding on a spot in the audience may not be that far off. 😞 

[CruizinSusan70]

17 hours ago, MoCruiseFan said:

You do not need to BID for dinner or shows.

That would constitute another revenue stream.  I'm surprised that the bean counters had not thought of this previously.

[CruizinSusan70]

11 hours ago, MoCruiseFan said:

Since I started cruising NCL in 2011 I have never seen the ability to reserve shows pre-cruise.

 

2 hours ago, IronRobi said:

Strange, I've booked them on every NCL sailing I've ever done up until the most recent upcoming cruise.

 

2 hours ago, shof515 said:

when i first sailed on breakaway back in 2014, i need reservations to see the shows

Have sailed on the Escape three times back in 2016 and 2017 as well as the Bliss in 2019.   Needed reservations for the two theater shows as well as the comedy shows and could pre-book them beforehand.   Can't do it for our upcoming Prima cruise, but just got a 930 am check in time for our 10/31 sailing.   Hopefully there will be some slots left for the steerage people after the Haven occupants get their seats.

[Travelling2Some]

For me, the inability to make advance show reservations (and coordinate them with your dining reservations and times in port) is pretty annoying.  Lots of people are planners by nature and like to put their ducks in a row ahead of time.  Having to scramble for shows and then adjust dining times is not a relaxing way to start a vacation.  At least we here on Cruise Critic are aware of this and less likely to miss out.  I feel badly for those on their first cruise with no idea that they have to do this as soon as they board.

[ggTexasGal]

5 minutes ago, Travelling2Some said:

For me, the inability to make advance show reservations (and coordinate them with your dining reservations and times in port) is pretty annoying.  Lots of people are planners by nature and like to put their ducks in a row ahead of time.  Having to scramble for shows and then adjust dining times is not a relaxing way to start a vacation.  At least we here on Cruise Critic are aware of this and less likely to miss out.  I feel badly for those on their first cruise with no idea that they have to do this as soon as they board.

I feel exactly the same way!

[CruizinSusan70]

5 minutes ago, Travelling2Some said:

For me, the inability to make advance show reservations (and coordinate them with your dining reservations and times in port) is pretty annoying.  Lots of people are planners by nature and like to put their ducks in a row ahead of time.  Having to scramble for shows and then adjust dining times is not a relaxing way to start a vacation.  At least we here on Cruise Critic are aware of this and less likely to miss out.  I feel badly for those on their first cruise with no idea that they have to do this as soon as they board.

The frustrating thing for me was the days adjustment that dining reservations could be done.  Our last NCL cruise was on the Bliss in Feb of 2019, when the slots were at 90 days.  Of course it's now at 120.  Did not know so the early slots were all taken.   We have 11 nights worth of specialty meals on the Prima.  We got 4 and paid for an extra 7.  The 7 night package is close to reasonably priced.  Much better than say a 3 or 4 day package.

[JamieLogical]

If you are on one of the larger ships, as soon as you get onboard, go to one of the touch screens near the elevator banks to make you show reservations.

[The Traveling Man]

11 hours ago, MoCruiseFan said:

Since I started cruising NCL in 2011 I have never seen the ability to reserve shows pre-cruise.

It's usually only required on the larger ships such as Epic, Breakaway class and Breakaway Plus class, but we have reserved in advance on several occasions.

[Oxo]

1 hour ago, Gladys Kravitz said:

From what I hear about The Prima and passengers not being able to get in to the shows or even the comic, bidding on a spot in the audience may not be that far off. 😞 

NCL tried years ago to charge for certain shows. It went over like a lead balloon. If they try something like this or that again, I will go to my other options.

[CaptainBazz]

7 hours ago, Oxo said:

Ship had 2,800 passengers.

How is that possible?

Wow...completely different experience from us. Were the shows only on a couple of times during the week? People must have been scrambling to book a show as soon as they got on board.

[Oxo]

3 minutes ago, CaptainBazz said:

Wow...completely different experience from us. Were the shows only on a couple of times during the week? People must have been scrambling to book a show as soon as they got on board.

Yes, shows on a couple times a week.

When using the onboard screens many people have problems with them. The screens are slow, card reader poor, info displayed not totally correct. 

So, go to a location to get NCL staff to help you book your requests.

 

[dbrown84]

7 hours ago, JamieLogical said:

If you are on one of the larger ships, as soon as you get onboard, go to one of the touch screens near the elevator banks to make you show reservations.

can you also use the app once you're connected to the ship Wifi?

[MoCruiseFan]

7 hours ago, The Traveling Man said:

It's usually only required on the larger ships such as Epic, Breakaway class and Breakaway Plus class, but we have reserved in advance on several occasions.

 

I have been on all of those ships and no pre-booking of shows was ever offered.