Same waiter and dinner time possible every night on NCL or no?

[bethfelk]

Hello,

We cruise mostly on Carnival and Princess but are considering NCL due to good dates and prices for us. However we are wondering what the Freestyle Dining looks like in practice. We are big fans of having the same waiter every night, especially bc I am gluten free and we've found it helps with that. On Princess they also have Dine My Way but it is very easy to get reservations for the same time, table, and waiter every night which is what we do. So I was wondering if the same is true on NCL, or if we should expect to have a different waiter every night? Are MDR reservations even a thing on NCL like they are on Princess?

Thanks in advance

 

[butterfly4108]

Just ask for your same waiter...they'll accomodate you.  I have allergies and always make sure I get the same waiter on NCL with no problem 😄 

[Laszlo]

4 minutes ago, bethfelk said:

Hello,

We cruise mostly on Carnival and Princess but are considering NCL due to good dates and prices for us. However we are wondering what the Freestyle Dining looks like in practice. We are big fans of having the same waiter every night, especially bc I am gluten free and we've found it helps with that. On Princess they also have Dine My Way but it is very easy to get reservations for the same time, table, and waiter every night which is what we do. So I was wondering if the same is true on NCL, or if we should expect to have a different waiter every night? Are MDR reservations even a thing on NCL like they are on Princess?

Thanks in advance

 

Not sure about the rest of the ship but in the Haven restaurant we had the same waiter for breakfast lunch and dinner

[schmoopie17]

At the check-in desk, ask to be seated at your favorite server's table. If he/she is not already booked up, it shouldn't be a problem.

[brookie848]

We've done this before on the Dawn. We had a server that was awesome and we just asked to be seated in her section every time we went to the MDR after that. The only time it was an issue was when she was also serving the Latitude Dinner with Officers -- I think we had to wait a bit that night.

[graphicguy]

If you can't get the same waiter, just ask the waiter assigned to you about your dietary requirements.  They'll accommodate.  Actually, every time I set down to dine the first thing my wait person asks me is if I have any dietary requirements.

 

So, shouldn't be an issue.

[ColeThornton]

Servers don't always work the same venue/shifts every day, it can change up.

[www3traveler]

Before you sail, contact the Access Desk (see website: Accessibility Cruising) and your room key card will be tagged that you need to be gluten free.  That way, whatever restaurant and waitstaff will know of your needs.

 

Works very well  I do it all the time.

[European_CruiseGirl]

On NCL you will have a special diets coordinator who will work with you and will find you regardless of the restaurant you eat. My DD is celiac so eats gf. The special diets coordinator is amazing. I have no idea how she finds us always. I do understand main dining rooms and speciality restaurants where we either have done a reservation or swiped a card on entry. But she found us multiple times even at breakfast time at the buffet when we just thought we’d grab some pre packaged gf serials and fruit for our DD to eat. Amazingly she suddenly appeared with DD’s favourite gf waffles and all the treats she had found out our DD usually wants. Etc etc. 
 

So on NCL you really do not want to have the same ”normal” waiter every night. You want to meet the special diets coordinator asap when you board and s/he will take care of your every meal whichever restaurant you might be at. 
 

 

Edited November 21, 2023 by European_CruiseGirl

[mjkacmom]

7 minutes ago, European_CruiseGirl said:

On NCL you will have a special diets coordinator who will work with you and will find you regardless of the restaurant you eat. My DD is celiac so eats gf. The special diets coordinator is amazing. I have no idea how she finds us always. I do understand main dining rooms and speciality restaurants where we either have done a reservation or swiped a card on entry. But she found us multiple times even at breakfast time at the buffet when we just thought we’d grab some pre packaged gf serials and fruit for our DD to eat. Amazingly she suddenly appeared with DD’s favourite gf waffles and all the treats she had found out our DD usually wants. Etc etc. 
 

So on NCL you really do not want to have the same ”normal” waiter every night. You want to meet the special diets coordinator asap when you board and s/he will take care of your every meal whichever restaurant you might be at. 
 

 

This ^^^.  I have 2 with celiac, NCL is amazing! Let them know before your cruise, go to a MDR for lunch after embarkment and the dietary manager will most likely come to your table. Mine ordered dinner and breakfast the day before, we preferred the buffet for breakfast so trays were delivered to our table, we’d give a call on our way and let them know where we’d be eating. We actually usually had the same servers each night, not sure if it was due to diet or because we were a party of 7, we never made reservations or waited for a table. We had the same experience on 3 different ships.

[Anoynmous Phoenix]

Personally I find very enjoyable just to turn up and get whoever is dealing with the table I am assigned to.   You get to meet a lot more servers and the talk always changes.

[cruiser2015]

14 hours ago, schmoopie17 said:

At the check-in desk, ask to be seated at your favorite server's table. If he/she is not already booked up, it shouldn't be a problem.

How does one have a "favorite server" when they have never even sailed with NCL before?

[schmoopie17]

7 hours ago, cruiser2015 said:

How does one have a "favorite server" when they have never even sailed with NCL before?

By going the first night and really liking that server and asking for them the next time. Been there, done that. Even when going to a restaurant in town I've never been to before and connecting with the server the first time.

 

Edited November 22, 2023 by schmoopie17

[Homosassa]

OP, we understand your preference for the same waiter.

 

Mt husband has a mushroom allergy and having the same waiter every night saves some of the nightly song and dance about his allergy and the fact that his meal was preordered the night before.

 

Our waiter already  knew and  had already checked his meal was prepared and also knew what other menu items contained any form of mushrooms.

 

Here is our experience on several NCL cruises which means YMMV:

 

Once we found a waiter we liked (sometimes first night, sometimes second night) we would stop at the check in desk on the way out and make a reservation for the next night.  As we preferred an early dining time (reservations were available outside the peak dining times of 6 - 8:30 PM, the same time was requested each night).

 

Because we were showing up on time for our reservations, after several days, the reservation was extended to a standing reservation.

 

The waiters on NCL do not have a set station, they rotate around the MDR. This means we had the same waiter every night, but our table was in different locations.

 

 

[bonvoyagie]

on our most recent cruise (Jewel in early July, AK) we were asked at every venue if we had any food allergies, and yes we were often seated in the same section with the same waiter most of the time.