New to NCL and was looking at my reservation, next August and...

[RaiderFaninNM]

I saw a room upgrade and tried to input my info and it told me my reservation is not eligible?

[TQuila]

The app is misleading - upgrades aren't actually available until after final payment, if then.

[FLAHAM]

Have to wait until invited to bid on upgrade.  Usually a couple of months before cruise.

[RaiderFaninNM]

1 minute ago, TQuila said:

The app is misleading - upgrades aren't actually available until after final payment, if then.

 

1 minute ago, FLAHAM said:

Have to wait until invited to bid on upgrade.  Usually a couple of months before cruise.

Thanks didn't think about that, our cruise is next August 1st time with NCL....

 

Is that about the time the dining options open?

[cruiseny4life]

Also depends on how you booked your room. Some travel agent bookings aren't allowed to participate in the upgrade process. 

[FLAHAM]

23 minutes ago, RaiderFaninNM said:

 

Thanks didn't think about that, our cruise is next August 1st time with NCL....

 

Is that about the time the dining options open?

If you are in a balcony or lower, dining reservations open at 120 days before embarkation.

[RaiderFaninNM]

6 hours ago, cruiseny4life said:

Also depends on how you booked your room. Some travel agent bookings aren't allowed to participate in the upgrade process. 

 

6 hours ago, FLAHAM said:

If you are in a balcony or lower, dining reservations open at 120 days before embarkation.

I booked through NCL and their personal planner or whatever they are called.

 

I am in a balcony room...

[TheDawg79]

14 minutes ago, RaiderFaninNM said:

 

I am in a balcony room...

So you are looking about April-ish. If you try to make a dining reservation right now, it should show you the date you can begin to make them. 

[ChiefMateJRK]

6 hours ago, FLAHAM said:

If you are in a balcony or lower, dining reservations open at 120 days before embarkation.

Unless you're Platinum or above.

[RaiderFaninNM]

20 minutes ago, TheDawg79 said:

So you are looking about April-ish. If you try to make a dining reservation right now, it should show you the date you can begin to make them. 

It just says not available at this time, will definitely look in April, thanks..

10 minutes ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Unless you're Platinum or above.

Brand new to NCL, this is our 1st time....

[ColdCruise]

After final payment if you’re on a roll call and people say they’re getting reservations and you still can’t do it online, CALL or chat NCL and ask them to help. We’ve had to do that a couple times.

[cruiser2015]

5 hours ago, RaiderFaninNM said:

It just says not available at this time, will definitely look in April, thanks..

Brand new to NCL, this is our 1st time....

No, April is too late.

Dining reservations (specialty venues) open at 120 days before sailing (125 for platinum or cabins CBS & above).

If you wait until April, they will all be gone (at least the times most people desire). Book as soon as the window opens.

There will still be many slots available once you board - but way better to lock them up in advance.

[RaiderFaninNM]

11 hours ago, cruiser2015 said:

No, April is too late.

Dining reservations (specialty venues) open at 120 days before sailing (125 for platinum or cabins CBS & above).

If you wait until April, they will all be gone (at least the times most people desire). Book as soon as the window opens.

There will still be many slots available once you board - but way better to lock them up in advance.

We sail in August so April seems right, good to know we can book when on board...

[cruiser2015]

1 hour ago, RaiderFaninNM said:

We sail in August so April seems right, good to know we can book when on board...

Oh, okay. I thought you were sailing in April.

Again, if you are in balcony cabins and below, it opens @ 120 days. Your NCL account page will show the exact day count.

And it opens at midnight on day 120. Be prepared to jump on it.

[zqvol]

Just now, cruiser2015 said:

Oh, okay. I thought you were sailing in April.

Again, if you are in balcony cabins and below, it opens @ 120 days. Your NCL account page will show the exact day count.

And it opens at midnight on day 120. Be prepared to jump on it.

Just remember that 60% - 70% of reservation times are held back and not available until you board the ship

[ChiefMateJRK]

16 minutes ago, zqvol said:

Just remember that 60% - 70% of reservation times are held back and not available until you board the ship

This is total urban legend, perpetuated by NCL agents.  If you want to eat before 8 or 9 at night, make the reservation online as soon as it is available.

[zqvol]

20 minutes ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

This is total urban legend, perpetuated by NCL agents.  If you want to eat before 8 or 9 at night, make the reservation online as soon as it is available.

Total truth

[ColdCruise]

On 12/19/2023 at 3:03 PM, ChiefMateJRK said:

This is total urban legend, perpetuated by NCL agents.  If you want to eat before 8 or 9 at night, make the reservation online as soon as it is available.

 

On 12/19/2023 at 3:23 PM, zqvol said:

Total truth

And if you still can’t get the times you want in,one, use the chat function or call. I was able to get several reservations that showed unavailable online that way.

 

Also if you want to secure MDR times they can only be booked online, could not make them on the ship, even using the concierge (suite, not Haven). Although that usually isn’t needed, but I like to have an eating plan so I fill every evening on my cruise planned.

[UKstages]

it's not an urban legend that restaurant reservations are widely available in person on day 1.

 

what is not known is the percentage of reservations that are held back.

 

the key to getting restaurant reservations on day 1 is to board as early as possible and head straight to the reservation desk or call room service, which, on most ships, will also handle restaurant bookings. you can certainly "protect" yourself by booking any restaurant at an undesirable time if that's all that's avaialble online. and then you can change that reservation once onboard.

 

also, availability varies widely based on a number of factors, not the least of which are the number of passengers, the size of the ship and the size of the restaurant.  i recently booked an away class ship 45 days out and had a full array of restaurants and times available, including 6, 7 and 8 PM reservations at cagney's, which is usually the first to book up.

[complawyer]

hey raider fan! i'm just slightly confused(maybe just a little to much christmas cheer last night) 

 

are you talking about a cabin upgrade?  if so, and your sail  date is over 120 days away, you can cancel your cabin, get a full refund an rebook the cabin you are looking to upgrade to. 

 

other posters are correct, you may be offered a chance to bid for an upgraded cabin. be aware if you do so, and your bid is accepted, your actual cost is 2x what you have bid.

 

if youre talking about dinner reservations, there are a few designated areas on board where you can make reservations once you get on the ship. (usually around the guest  services desk, or in or next to the buffet). after almost 30 ncl cruises, i have found the most difficult reservation was for teppanyaki, although their quality seems to have gone down, so i try and bypass that restaurant. i cannot speak about the newer restaurants on the newer ships. 

I have also posted this before (some other posters have blasted be for being pretentious) but i find a well places $20 bill in the hands of a maitre'd usually will get me a reservation. also, if you happen to be in a cabin that offers concierge service he/she can  probably pull a rabbit out of a hat and get you 

into a restaurant. I do recommend either cagney's or le bistro (or both)

[ChiefMateJRK]

6 hours ago, UKstages said:

it's not an urban legend that restaurant reservations are widely available in person on day 1.

 

what is not known is the percentage of reservations that are held back.

Well, it may all depend on where and when a person wants to book.  I almost always book them 125 days in advance, so rarely have to depend upon the onboard booking.  That said, in April we were on a B2B and decided to change our plans and book Ocean Blue in the 5:30 - 6:00 window for one of the seven nights.  We were absolutely the first in line at around 10:00 am and all they had were 9:00 bookings, and those only on a few nights.  This was the Bliss.  I don't think any percentage is "held back" (despite phone agents telling folks otherwise).  I just don't believe that advance booking demand will consume all available reservation times on most cruises.  YMMV.

[debenson0723]

Last year on the Prima we were sitting in Starbucks around 10:30am discussing dinner. No reservations for that night but were thinking about Hasuku (teppanyaki restaurant). Went on the app and lo and behold, 4 seats available that night at 6pm. Booked it on the app, which then opened up our 4 seats at 6pm on another night (let the hostess know when checking in that night that we wouldn't be using our other reservation). People change their plans all the time so if there is a venue you want, keep checking. Same with the show stand by line...people change their plans, forget they have a reservation, are still at dinner, etc. 

[KeithJenner]

On 12/26/2023 at 1:18 AM, ChiefMateJRK said:

Well, it may all depend on where and when a person wants to book.  I almost always book them 125 days in advance, so rarely have to depend upon the onboard booking.  That said, in April we were on a B2B and decided to change our plans and book Ocean Blue in the 5:30 - 6:00 window for one of the seven nights.  We were absolutely the first in line at around 10:00 am and all they had were 9:00 bookings, and those only on a few nights.  This was the Bliss.  I don't think any percentage is "held back" (despite phone agents telling folks otherwise).  I just don't believe that advance booking demand will consume all available reservation times on most cruises.  YMMV.

The evidence that bookings are made available on board the ship which weren’t available to pre book is fairly overwhelming, in my experience. I often adjust bookings when onboard or make bookings to avoid having to prepay and restaurants which had nothing available for months have invariably got almost full availability onboard.

 

I don’t believe that this is due to cancellations as we are always amongst the first few onboard.

 

The proportions which people say they have been quoted is clearly nonsense, as I’ve seen percentages quoted from 10% to over 50%. Also we all know that NCLs systems are notoriously unreliable (and at times random), so it is no surprise to me that on occasion the bookings may not be held back, but I would be absolutely amazed if it wasn’t true that some reservations are usually held back for booking onboard,

 

I wonder whether, in your example, you may have been a little too early and they hadn’t released them yet.

Edited December 27, 2023 by KeithJenner

[ChiefMateJRK]

12 hours ago, KeithJenner said:

I wonder whether, in your example, you may have been a little too early and they hadn’t released them yet.

Yep.  Who knows?  It's NCL. 🤣 

[Liljo22]

On 12/19/2023 at 2:03 PM, ChiefMateJRK said:

This is total urban legend, perpetuated by NCL agents.  If you want to eat before 8 or 9 at night, make the reservation online as soon as it is available.

I disagree.  Before my Prima cruise last week, everything was booked up for all the restaurants except for a few that had 9 or 9:30 available.  Once on board, reservations were wide open for all restaurants.  

Edited December 27, 2023 by Liljo22