Dinner with the Officers & Wines Around the World

[Giladj]

Sorry if this has been covered but I did not see it in the first dozen pages. We are Saphire with NCL so are entitled to Dinner with officers and Wines Around he World according to the Latitudes Benefits page. We last sailed with NCL last fall and they were not doing either of these. 

 

My question is, are these two Latitudes Perks back? And can anyone give me recent feedback on the experience? We are booked on a B2B2B (30 day cruise this fall on the Star and wondering if these are worth booking at least once, if they are now being offered.

 

Thank you!!

[BirdTravels]

29 minutes ago, Giladj said:

Sorry if this has been covered but I did not see it in the first dozen pages. We are Saphire with NCL so are entitled to Dinner with officers and Wines Around he World according to the Latitudes Benefits page. We last sailed with NCL last fall and they were not doing either of these. 

 

My question is, are these two Latitudes Perks back? And can anyone give me recent feedback on the experience? We are booked on a B2B2B (30 day cruise this fall on the Star and wondering if these are worth booking at least once, if they are now being offered.

 

Thank you!!

They are being offered on most ships (I can't speak specifically to the Star)

 

Sign up at Cruise Next on embarkation day for your cruises. On big ships, both sell out. 

 

 

An example of the Wines around the World activity.... Escape May 2023

 

[dexddd]

it would be nice if you could book online ahead of time but plan on first day going to desk waiting in line.

[Giladj]

Thank you. I appreciate the feedback and info.

 

[RedRover96]

10 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

Sign up at Cruise Next on embarkation day for your cruises. On big ships, both sell out. 

For Wines Around he World is the sign up for all @ the Cruise Next desk?.  We are only lowly Silver but would enjoy the tasting. Hopefully available on the Jade....

 

RedRover

[Catchum]

Always make cruise next my first stop on board, DH gets a couple of drinks for us so the line moves fast! Sign up for what ever you are entitled to, also the place to find if you get an extra bag of laundry on a longer cruise.

[Rob_H]

16 hours ago, Giladj said:

My question is, are these two Latitudes Perks back? And can anyone give me recent feedback on the experience? We are booked on a B2B2B (30 day cruise this fall on the Star and wondering if these are worth booking at least once, if they are now being offered.

 

Yes, both Wines Around the World and Dinner with Officers are back, on the Star.  You sign up for both (and Behind the Scenes Tour, if you want that) by joining the long queue at the Cruise Next desk on embarkation night.  You usually won't know what day the Dinner with Officers is until later, could mess up your speciality restaurant plans. 

 

Wines Around The World is usually very oversubscribed as so many people are eligible.  The concept of introducing you to wines with interesting talks about each has gone, now it's "here's the name of the wine, drink up, move on, we've got another group to get through".  Speed wine tasting, many call it.  Each group is way too large, extremely crowded.  We've mostly stopped going (which, of course, is the intention: make the "benefits" of status not worth claiming).

 

Dinner with Officers on the Star is done differently from most ships. On most ships, it's a group of around 4-8 people with one or two officers, so a smallish table, in one of the main dining rooms.  Usually good conversion, and we enjoy it.

 

On the Star, it's "Dinner in the same room as an Officer".  About 20-24 people sitting around a giant table in a room off the MDR, with one officer (perhaps the HR person, or a junior engineer) and maybe the cruise next manager.   None of the other officers want to attend, we were told. Only those sitting immediately next to the officer have any hope of talking with them in the noisy room, otherwise it's basically just a big shared table with fellow guests (worse really as the big table means you can only talk to those adjacent to you). We were back to back on the Star for four cruises this June, we gave up going to the dinner with officers as well.  

 

Not just the Star, but many ships will schedule all the events at the same time, to reduce participation.  One ship we were on recently, long cruise with multiple sea days, scheduled everything for Day 2:  Behind the Scenes tour, wines around the world, sail and sustain (Diamond and up), Latitudes party.  Too much alcohol in one day for most!

 

 

Edited August 30, 2023 by Rob_H

[Giladj]

Thanks everyone for reminding me what wines around the world is. My wife and I now remember the experience and have decided to pass. I guess I would rather order a glass of wine and enjoy it in a quiet setting. 
 

we will try for the dinner with the officers on the first cruise and see what that is like. Thank you all for adding your input!

[schmoopie17]

It also matters on the itinerary if you will be able to sign up for WATW and the Ship's Tour Example:

 

We embark in Civativwhatever on a cruise that starts in Barcelona. The people who embark in Barcelona will have first dibs on those two events. Since this will be our first Platinum cruise, missing those will be a big disappointment.

[BirdTravels]

8 hours ago, RedRover96 said:

For Wines Around he World is the sign up for all @ the Cruise Next desk?.  We are only lowly Silver but would enjoy the tasting. Hopefully available on the Jade....

You sign up for entitlements at the Cruise Next Desk (behind the scenes tour, Wines Around the World, Dinner with the Officers, Sail and Sustain Mixology Experience) depending what Latitudes tier you are at Platinum and above. 

 

Silver members get to go to the Latitudes party (i.e., none of the above). 

[dexddd]

15 hours ago, Rob_H said:

 

Yes, both Wines Around the World and Dinner with Officers are back, on the Star.  You sign up for both (and Behind the Scenes Tour, if you want that) by joining the long queue at the Cruise Next desk on embarkation night.  You usually won't know what day the Dinner with Officers is until later, could mess up your speciality restaurant plans. 

 

Wines Around The World is usually very oversubscribed as so many people are eligible.  The concept of introducing you to wines with interesting talks about each has gone, now it's "here's the name of the wine, drink up, move on, we've got another group to get through".  Speed wine tasting, many call it.  Each group is way too large, extremely crowded.  We've mostly stopped going (which, of course, is the intention: make the "benefits" of status not worth claiming).

 

Dinner with Officers on the Star is done differently from most ships. On most ships, it's a group of around 4-8 people with one or two officers, so a smallish table, in one of the main dining rooms.  Usually good conversion, and we enjoy it.

 

On the Star, it's "Dinner in the same room as an Officer".  About 20-24 people sitting around a giant table in a room off the MDR, with one officer (perhaps the HR person, or a junior engineer) and maybe the cruise next manager.   None of the other officers want to attend, we were told. Only those sitting immediately next to the officer have any hope of talking with them in the noisy room, otherwise it's basically just a big shared table with fellow guests (worse really as the big table means you can only talk to those adjacent to you). We were back to back on the Star for four cruises this June, we gave up going to the dinner with officers as well.  

 

Not just the Star, but many ships will schedule all the events at the same time, to reduce participation.  One ship we were on recently, long cruise with multiple sea days, scheduled everything for Day 2:  Behind the Scenes tour, wines around the world, sail and sustain (Diamond and up), Latitudes party.  Too much alcohol in one day for most!

 

 

If you are seated with a Cruise Next person do they try to sell you certs during dinner?

[Always Cruising]

Not when I've been at the dinners.  Guests usually try to outdo each other talking about their previous cruises.  I usually do the dinners, because they're entertaining,  but when most at the table are braggarts, it isn't as pleasant as the times I've had a convivial group.