Free Specialty Dining

[grossguy]

I haven't sailed NCL in a decade. The specialty restaurants used to have a cover charge and now the menus have a la carte pricing. For the free at sea, can you order anything off the menu or is there a maximum dollar amount?

 

We have one free meal for two. We have two young kids. Can they come to the restaurant with us and not eat at no charge? 

[graphicguy]

1 minute ago, grossguy said:

I haven't sailed NCL in a decade. The specialty restaurants used to have a cover charge and now the menus have a la carte pricing. For the free at sea, can you order anything off the menu or is there a maximum dollar amount?

 

We have one free meal for two. We have two young kids. Can they come to the restaurant with us and not eat at no charge? 

Dinners are for two.  Depends on the restaurant.   I think it stipulates an app, an entre and a dessert, or some combination.  Kids are not included!

[beentolong]

I think the kids 12 and under are free if they order off the kids menu.

[Biffire]

Some of the specialty restaurants do have a few entrees that you have to pay an extra charge for. We went to the seafood venue, and I used our FAS but had to pay extra for the lobster, (was not worth it).

[luv2kroooz]

You can order anything on the menu. However, some items contain what NCL calls a dining package upcharge. A 20% service charge is also on top of the surcharge, for your and my convenience. These upcharges seemingly change with the seasons. It might be shrimp one year, then crab cake the next, then a porterhouse, then a filet, a lobster tail....you get the idea. Rarely is the upcharge worth it's price. You'll likely find better quality at your local Mortons and Ruth's Chris.

Edited January 7 by luv2kroooz

[macewank]

No maximum dollar amount, but as others have stated, sometimes certain things will have an upcharge (a tomahawk ribeye in Cagney's for me once, as an example).

You're generally allowed to order an app, a soup, an entree, and a dessert.  The wait staff are usually a little flexible on this.  I've never been denied a 2nd appetizer if i asked nicely. 

[destar]

5 hours ago, graphicguy said:

Dinners are for two.  Depends on the restaurant.   I think it stipulates an app, an entre and a dessert, or some combination.  Kids are not included!

Right on, each person get an appetizer, soup/salad, entree and dessert. For the kids you have to pay.

[cruiser2015]

6 hours ago, grossguy said:

I haven't sailed NCL in a decade. The specialty restaurants used to have a cover charge and now the menus have a la carte pricing. For the free at sea, can you order anything off the menu or is there a maximum dollar amount?

 

We have one free meal for two. We have two young kids. Can they come to the restaurant with us and not eat at no charge? 

Ditto to all of the above comments.

Also note that generally, there are 2 specialties  that are still flat rate for the meal. Teppanyaki is one.

[KeithJenner]

Just a small clarification. The free at sea meals aren’t dinners for two. They are individual dinners that are given to the first two people on the booking and are linked to their individual accounts.

 

Its only a small difference, but it can make a difference when you are combining free at sea with other payment methods, or if people want to dine in different places (maybe if travelling as part of a larger group).

 

For example, we would sometimes just use one dining package meal whilst the other person shares a latitudes voucher with our son.

 

I don’t think this is particularly relevant to the OP, but may be useful to others.