Dining reservations — can you still make for others not in your cabin?

[McFins]

If you have a cabin of 2 people can you still make dining reservations for 6 people without having to pay when you make the reservation?  Reason for the question is because a friend said on a recent cruise it wouldn’t allow her to make a reservation for more than was in her cabin without making payment even though all intended to use their specialty dining credits.   In the past we could make a reservation for say 6 even though we were a cabin of 2 and then each would present their card for payment at the restaurant.    I’m wondering if it was just a system glitch or user error…or if the process has actually changed.   
Thanks as always for your help! 
 

[shof515]

yes you can. when you make a reservation online you select your party size as 6. when you are onboard the ship and in the actual restaurant is when you do the payment or use the dining credit

 

what could of happen in the past is the maybe the restaurant was already booked up for party of 6 thus showing no reservations. also if you do not make a restaurant in a certain order the system gets confused with the dinning package.

 

 

when you book reservations, book the fixed prices restaurants first and then al la carte last

[European_CruiseGirl]

I just made several reservations for 4 persons even though we are only 3 in our cabin. If what your friend told would be a new policy I would have ended up paying  always for the one extra person. I did not.

 

I wonder if your friend had already booked the a la carte restaurants and then tried  to book a fixed price restaurant after all his/her dining credits were used already? You have to book the fixed price restaurants always first, otherwise if you book more restaurant visits than you have credits you end up paying for the fixed price restaurant immediately up front when you book it.

Edited December 15, 2022 by European_CruiseGirl

[McFins]

50 minutes ago, shof515 said:

yes you can. when you make a reservation online you select your party size as 6. when you are onboard the ship and in the actual restaurant is when you do the payment or use the dining credit

 

what could of happen in the past is the maybe the restaurant was already booked up for party of 6 thus showing no reservations. also if you do not make a restaurant in a certain order the system gets confused with the dinning package.

 

 

when you book reservations, book the fixed prices restaurants first and then al la carte last

Thanks Shof, good to know.   I think it is possible they didn’t book the fixed price restaurant first 

[McFins]

47 minutes ago, European_CruiseGirl said:

I just made several reservations for 4 persons even though we are only 3 in our cabin. If what your friend told would be a new policy I would have ended up paying  always for the one extra person. I did not.

 

I wonder if your friend had already booked the a la carte restaurants and then tried  to book a fixed price restaurant after all his/her dining credits were used already? You have to book the fixed price restaurants always first, otherwise if you book more restaurant visits than you have credits you end up paying for the fixed price restaurant immediately up front when you book it.

Thanks CruiseGirl.  Very helpful.  I bet they didn’t book fixed price restaurant first.   

[mking8288]

1 hour ago, McFins said:

Thanks CruiseGirl.  Very helpful.  I bet they didn’t book fixed price restaurant first.   

To fix that, please have them call into NCL's helpline on dining reservation soon, and have them cancel those a la carte restaurant ones already made (i.e. Cagney's, LeBistro, La Cucina, etc.)   If preferred time slots/date choices are already limited, ask them to help book the fxed price restaurants first (i.e. Tappenyaki, Moderno, Q, etc.)  - before (re)booking a la carte ones.  Confirmations of the changes & new dining reservations should be emailed within a few hours or less, and also reflected on their Reservation planner's page when they logged into their MyNCL account(s).  

 

Only a fraction (1/4 to 1/3) of the available dining time slots are released pre-cruise for advance reservations, the rest only open up on embarkation - book them once onboard.  

[juju2454]

We called and just booked for 4 cabins of a total of 8 people. so yes you can and no we didn't have to pay anything.

[itsnotjustme]

I too recently booked 5 reservations, each for 4 people, while we only have 2 in our cabin.  No payment required.

[McFins]

Thanks, all for your updates, much appreciated.    

 

[McFins]

On 12/14/2022 at 10:15 PM, mking8288 said:

To fix that, please have them call into NCL's helpline on dining reservation soon, and have them cancel those a la carte restaurant ones already made (i.e. Cagney's, LeBistro, La Cucina, etc.)   If preferred time slots/date choices are already limited, ask them to help book the fxed price restaurants first (i.e. Tappenyaki, Moderno, Q, etc.)  - before (re)booking a la carte ones.  Confirmations of the changes & new dining reservations should be emailed within a few hours or less, and also reflected on their Reservation planner's page when they logged into their MyNCL account(s).  

 

Only a fraction (1/4 to 1/3) of the available dining time slots are released pre-cruise for advance reservations, the rest only open up on embarkation - book them once onboard.  

Thanks Mking.  

[McFins]

On 12/14/2022 at 10:34 PM, juju2454 said:

We called and just booked for 4 cabins of a total of 8 people. so yes you can and no we didn't have to pay anything.

Thanks juju!

[McFins]

On 12/15/2022 at 12:18 AM, itsnotjustme said:

I too recently booked 5 reservations, each for 4 people, while we only have 2 in our cabin.  No payment required.

Thanks so much