Specialty Dining 1-1-1

[Yesimapirate]

Simple solution: after the Specialty restaurant, go to the MDR.

 

After the MDR, go to the Haven Restaurant (if you are in the Haven).

 

Next, go to the buffet. 

 

I'm not suggesting you actually eat at all the places.  Maybe just half a fork full of whatever you order.  I'm simply suggesting that you play by NCL's rules.  

Edited January 11, 2023 by Yesimapirate

[New2cruise2022]

4 minutes ago, Yesimapirate said:

Simple solution: after the Specialty restaurant, go to the MDR.

 

After the MDR, go to the Haven Restaurant (if you are in the Haven).

 

Next, go to thr buffet. 

 

I'm not suggesting you actually eat at all the places.  Maybe just half a fork full of whatever you order.  I'm simply suggesting that you play by NCL's rules.  

I don’t know if this is precocial or many people will do it, but it is possible that this change will lead to:

1) Less people upgrading to FAS+ or purchasing specialty dining which would result in less revenue overall, less revenue captured by committed labor in specialty dining, and increased strain on MDR and Buffet,

and/or

2) Specialty dining playing by the rules, plus additional food in included venues at MDR and buffet, which may be wasted. 
 

I would opt for one or two more sides or a a soup AND a salad in the Specialty Dining versus an entire meal in the MDR. 
 

PS — with all of this cost cutting and policy shifts, the Haven is probably next for reduced services and stricter enforcement of T&C. 

[BirdTravels]

1 hour ago, RocketMan275 said:

You paid $24.95 for a bowl of cat food?

Next time just go to Kroger and get a can of Fancy Feast.  

You won't notice the difference.

Food of the Gods!

[cruiseny4life]

20 minutes ago, New2cruise2022 said:

PS — with all of this cost cutting and policy shifts, the Haven is probably next for reduced services and stricter enforcement of T&C.

Already is! Two pieces of pork belly versus the used to be three pieces. I'm not sure how we will ever survive.

[PATRLR]

4 minutes ago, cruiseny4life said:

Already is! Two pieces of pork belly versus the used to be three pieces. I'm not sure how we will ever survive.

Well, I assume that means you are "done" with NCL, right?  😉

 

[DCGuy64]

2 hours ago, RocketMan275 said:

You paid $24.95 for a bowl of cat food?

Next time just go to Kroger and get a can of Fancy Feast.  

You won't notice the difference.

Right? Foie gras = blech! 🤮 Same with Scotch, that stuff is NASTY. However, to each his own, and I'd agree that charging folks more and getting less is not cool. At some point, people need to vote with their feet. One annoying trend I'm starting to see is some grocery items being sold at the same price as before, but with less content. Also not cool! NCL's pricing is still reasonable enough for us that we'll keep going. We paid less than $900 pp for a Club balcony suite. Heck, the beverage package alone would have been $99 pppd + gratuity, so for 9 days, it would have been over $1,000. That's still a heck of deal, in my opinion.

[wally4ever]

55 minutes ago, Yesimapirate said:

Simple solution: after the Specialty restaurant, go to the MDR.

 

After the MDR, go to the Haven Restaurant (if you are in the Haven).

 

Next, go to the buffet. 

 

I'm not suggesting you actually eat at all the places.  Maybe just half a fork full of whatever you order.  I'm simply suggesting that you play by NCL's rules.  

When I went as a solo cruiser last spring, I kind of did this... I went with the solo group and had appetizers in the main dining room and be social, then I went to a specialty dining room to pig out!

[seemoreroyals]

1 hour ago, BirdTravels said:

Food of the Gods!

All of our cats agree with you.  

[dbrown84]

4 hours ago, sailorusvi said:

I agree.  It's a choice. 

 

I personally would never pay that much for steak at a Ramsey restaurant, but in the summer we happily spend that much (or more per person) at Le Bernardin (NYC restaurant).    Everyone has different things they find value.  You do you (and do research so you are not surprised when the bill comes!

 

That said, I would definitely be calling out the F&B manager on the 3 zucchinis slices. Not even 3 zucchinis, 3 zucchini SLICES.  Hubby is a chef and calculates food cost all the time, we "get" inflated prices, but that was beyond ridiculous.

the three slices of zucchini was pretty funny when I ordered it.  I wasn't upset or anything because I'd ordered multiple sides.  I treated it like tapas.  Now, if they truly enforce the 1-1-1-1 rule and that is the size of the sides, yeah that's a problem.  And I also didn't get how you offer asparagus in the seafood restaurant but not the steakhouse

[dbrown84]

1 hour ago, wally4ever said:

When I went as a solo cruiser last spring, I kind of did this... I went with the solo group and had appetizers in the main dining room and be social, then I went to a specialty dining room to pig out!

I did the same on my last cruise.  One night, the burn the floor dancers were performing in the MDR so I went with the solo group to watch and just ordered a soup before heading to moderno

[sailorusvi]

47 minutes ago, dbrown84 said:

the three slices of zucchini was pretty funny when I ordered it.  I wasn't upset or anything because I'd ordered multiple sides.  I treated it like tapas.  Now, if they truly enforce the 1-1-1-1 rule and that is the size of the sides, yeah that's a problem.  And I also didn't get how you offer asparagus in the seafood restaurant but not the steakhouse

I just showed my husband the picture of the zucchini.  His first response was "nice pans".  🤣

[dbrown84]

15 minutes ago, sailorusvi said:

I just showed my husband the picture of the zucchini.  His first response was "nice pans".  🤣

OMG.  I laughed so hard I just chocked

[curlstravel]

Is it true that pizza is considered an entree in La Cucina?  I was going  to try it on my next cruise but not if I have to give up my entree.

[cruiseny4life]

4 minutes ago, curlstravel said:

Is it true that pizza is considered an entree in La Cucina?  I was going  to try it on my next cruise but not if I have to give up my entree.

Yea, it was either pizza or an entree. At least that's how it was in September on Getaway.

[Warm-Water Diver]

Thought I'd provide an update on the new SDP 111 from our recent cruise.

 
Just off the Encore (1/22 through 1/29).

I had 3 nights of specialty dining reservations. Each evening was started with our waitress scolding us that we could "ONLY" order 1 appetizer, 1 entree' and 1 dessert. Each night I explained that we were Platinum and we paid for the SDP and UDP 6 months prior to the cruise and that we didn't think it was very fair for NCL to go in and update their website 2 weeks prior to our cruise and restricting what we could order off the menu (without formal notification), not to mention that we didn't feel we should be penalized for ordering a few more apps during our meal.

 

First and second night we were warned and scolded but I told the waitress we would be ordering a few apps (more than 1). Both nights, no added fees; Cagney's and Le Bistro.

3rd night. Severe scolding at Ocean Blue. Offered my opinion and feelings once again. Warned us we would be charged. Our party of 3 were charged for 3 extra appetizers (we each ordered 2 very small appetizers, 1 entree, 1 dessert), albeit the appetizer portions at all 3 restaurants have been severely downsized, adding insult to injury.

 

The specialty dining options are really what brought us to NCL back in the early 2000's. Sadly NCL's monetary and most recent policy changes regarding the specialties are pushing us to spend our hard earned cruise money somewhere else. I think it might be a good time to for us to go back to MSC and Celebrity.

 

Sidenote: The cuts to the entertainment on board were extremely noticeable as were the increased "convenience" fees... 🙂

Edited January 30, 2023 by Warm-Water Diver

[Sydneyberlin]

On 1/12/2023 at 8:13 AM, Yesimapirate said:

Simple solution: after the Specialty restaurant, go to the MDR.

 

After the MDR, go to the Haven Restaurant (if you are in the Haven).

 

Next, go to the buffet. 

 

I'm not suggesting you actually eat at all the places.  Maybe just half a fork full of whatever you order.  I'm simply suggesting that you play by NCL's rules.  

That’s exactly what we will do. Same with the strange new rule that you can only have one bottle of wine or champagne with dinner on the Booze Plus package- we’ll just go for a “second dinner” somewhere else or annoy the wait staff with constant requests for more drinks by the glass. 

 

It really annoys me when companies suddenly apply the stinge after we as customers have paid. Such behaviour just entices us to “play back the game” and we’re usually really good at this. 
 

Production show now also gone which was very much still advertised when we paid our cruise fare? Mhm, I think we need a few new whiskie glasses at home 😈

[3OfDiamonds]

I think I’m just going to order what I want, answering any scolding with that I was never noticed of any changes between when I booked and my upcoming cruise, and that it isn’t ok for them to inflict new charges/restrictions after I booked (especially if not notified of any such changes… email is a thing) and then ask for a manager if they do try to charge me 🧐  If they come back at me with something like “well the terms and conditions say we can” I’ll be like “… nah, **** that, doesn’t make it ok”.  If they make things a pain for me g-d only knows how well I can reciprocate 😇✌️

[Two Wheels Only]

11 hours ago, Warm-Water Diver said:

First and second night we were warned and scolded but I told the waitress we would be ordering a few apps (more than 1). Both nights, no added fees; Cagney's and Le Bistro.

3rd night. Severe scolding at Ocean Blue. Offered my opinion and feelings once again. Warned us we would be charged. Our party of 3 were charged for 3 extra appetizers (we each ordered 2 very small appetizers, 1 entree, 1 dessert), albeit the appetizer portions at all 3 restaurants have been severely downsized, adding insult to injury.

 

Thank you for the update. I'm not surprised that both things happened on the same cruise. 

[Mafe]

12 hours ago, Warm-Water Diver said:

Thought I'd provide an update on the new SDP 111 from our recent cruise.

 
Just off the Encore (1/22 through 1/29).

I had 3 nights of specialty dining reservations. Each evening was started with our waitress scolding us that we could "ONLY" order 1 appetizer, 1 entree' and 1 dessert. Each night I explained that we were Platinum and we paid for the SDP and UDP 6 months prior to the cruise and that we didn't think it was very fair for NCL to go in and update their website 2 weeks prior to our cruise and restricting what we could order off the menu (without formal notification), not to mention that we didn't feel we should be penalized for ordering a few more apps during our meal.

 

First and second night we were warned and scolded but I told the waitress we would be ordering a few apps (more than 1). Both nights, no added fees; Cagney's and Le Bistro.

3rd night. Severe scolding at Ocean Blue. Offered my opinion and feelings once again. Warned us we would be charged. Our party of 3 were charged for 3 extra appetizers (we each ordered 2 very small appetizers, 1 entree, 1 dessert), albeit the appetizer portions at all 3 restaurants have been severely downsized, adding insult to injury.

 

The specialty dining options are really what brought us to NCL back in the early 2000's. Sadly NCL's monetary and most recent policy changes regarding the specialties are pushing us to spend our hard earned cruise money somewhere else. I think it might be a good time to for us to go back to MSC and Celebrity.

 

Sidenote: The cuts to the entertainment on board were extremely noticeable as were the increased "convenience" fees... 🙂

Hi,

is there also some limitation in ordering sides and sauces at Cagney's?

Edited January 30, 2023 by Mafe

[Cruising Lynne]

I am some one who was surprised that specialty dining ever became so popular. I never understood why so many people were willing to pay extra for it. It has led to lesser quality in the MDR. That said, I do enjoy my Sapphire specialty dining, but never do any other specialty dining. One reason is that I do not like having reservations to worry about. Takes away from the freestyle aspect of our cruise. 

 

Being informed of the 1-1-1 rule is not the same as being scolded though. I just hope that when they are in a better financial position, they start to add back what has been taken away. 

[Cruising575]

Just got off the Escape 1/21-1/28. We were told about the 1-1-1-1 rule, but at Cagney's when I asked for the vegetarian entrée our server half-jokingly said I could have as many sides as I wanted because of that and I had zero issues getting a salad and 3 sides instead of a seafood starter.

[farmecologist]

On 1/11/2023 at 12:13 PM, BirdTravels said:

Every steakhouse we eat at on land charges for each side. Your entrée gets you a piece of meat. And we are happy to pay for a side on land and at sea. 

 

At a recent dinner at Ramsay steakhouse, we even paid for a side of Foie Gras with our rib eye, along with potatoes and asparagus. 

 

 

 

I guess I could understand the 1-1-1-1 rule under the guise of "less food waste" IF they also did this in the MDR.  It is really quite an odd disconnect...which really makes no sense.  

🤔

 

 

 

Edited January 30, 2023 by farmecologist
edit

[Warm-Water Diver]

1 hour ago, Mafe said:

Hi,

is there also some limitation in ordering sides and sauces at Cagney's?

Sorry, I honestly didn't order any "sides" at Cagney's (just got the filet) so I don't know if they would prohibit multiples. I do enjoy appetizers in advance of the main entree' however and that is mostly what my post was about.

[Warm-Water Diver]

13 minutes ago, farmecologist said:

 

I guess I could understand the 1-1-1-1 rule under the guise of "less food waste" IF they also did this in the MDR.  It is really quite an odd disconnect...which really makes no sense.  

🤔

 

 

 

I'd agree with your assessment as well and it pains me to see so much food wasted by fellow cruisers, Especially at the buffet and complimentary dining. I usually skip breakfast and lunch in order to enjoy a full dinner experience. I rarely leave "anything" left on my plate. No waste of food here. If I think that I might not like a particular appetizer/entree, I simply don't order it.

[drwbrt]

On 1/3/2023 at 9:49 PM, Back to school said:

Interesting, terms and conditions different dates.  Booking six months ago.  I want 2 appetizer, no soup and salad!

We were on Bliss last week. We had three specialty reservations and had no problem with a polite request. We did the reverse at Cagney's and asked for a soup and salad in lieu of an appetizer. My recommendation would be something like: "None of the soups or salads really interest me, would it be ok if I got two appetizers instead?" I think including the instead helps them know you're not trying to be unfair. 

 

We had success, we wish you the best of luck.