Tips on Making Specialty Dining Reservations?

[Lindy Sue]

First time on NCL and we are in a Club Level Balcony Suite.  I understand we will be able to make the Specialty Dining Reservations 125 days prior to sailing, but have heard it can be quite difficult to get certain venues.  We will be traveling on the Norwegian Sun.  Any tips, tricks or suggestions would be very much appreciated.  I have set my calendar timer for the first day we will be allowed to book.  One specific question - do the reservations open up at 12:01 AM on the day we can book or do they open later?  Thanks!

[zqvol]

42 minutes ago, Lindy Sue said:

First time on NCL and we are in a Club Level Balcony Suite.  I understand we will be able to make the Specialty Dining Reservations 125 days prior to sailing, but have heard it can be quite difficult to get certain venues.  We will be traveling on the Norwegian Sun.  Any tips, tricks or suggestions would be very much appreciated.  I have set my calendar timer for the first day we will be allowed to book.  One specific question - do the reservations open up at 12:01 AM on the day we can book or do they open later?  Thanks!

Reservations open at 12:01 Miami time. 
 

Booking at 125 days it is not difficult to get reservations. No need to stay up half the night. 

[JandC_Cruising]

1 hour ago, Lindy Sue said:

First time on NCL and we are in a Club Level Balcony Suite.  I understand we will be able to make the Specialty Dining Reservations 125 days prior to sailing, but have heard it can be quite difficult to get certain venues.  We will be traveling on the Norwegian Sun.  Any tips, tricks or suggestions would be very much appreciated.  I have set my calendar timer for the first day we will be allowed to book.  One specific question - do the reservations open up at 12:01 AM on the day we can book or do they open later?  Thanks!

If you plan on using any of your Specialty Dining meals for the "fixed price" venues (Tepanyaki or Moderno) you should book those first.  If you do more than your allotted SDP's, they online booking will try to charge you the dining expense upon booking if you do those last.

Example:

If you have two Specialty Meals each, and you wish to dine at Tepanyaki, Cagney's, Le Bistro, you should get Tepanyaki booked first, then the other two.  You will not be charged at booking. It doesn't matter the order in which you actually dine at them.  This is all about the order in which you book reservations.  .

When you are on the ship and dining, the host will ask you if you wish to use your SDP meal or if you wish to "pay" for the meal.  You can decide at the time of dining how you proceed.

 

If you reserve Cagney's, then Le Bistro first, and then try to book Tepanyaki, they online system will try to charge you the Tepanyaki fee...It's a quirk in the system.

.

 

[KeithJenner]

1 hour ago, zqvol said:

Reservations open at 12:01 Miami time. 
 

Booking at 125 days it is not difficult to get reservations. No need to stay up half the night. 

This.

 

There should be no problem getting what reservations you want. We can book at 125 days and I always book them at some point during that day, but never first thing. It is very rare to see any time unavailable for any restaurant.

[Lindy Sue]

Thank you all for the advice and information. I appreciate your help, suggestions and guidance.

[grouchomarx]

You’ll be fine. I booked most of mine only 6 weeks out and did the ones I couldn’t get online once I boarded and even changed some midweek. Always got what I wanted.  

[BirdTravels]

4 hours ago, Lindy Sue said:

First time on NCL and we are in a Club Level Balcony Suite.  I understand we will be able to make the Specialty Dining Reservations 125 days prior to sailing, but have heard it can be quite difficult to get certain venues.  We will be traveling on the Norwegian Sun.  Any tips, tricks or suggestions would be very much appreciated.  I have set my calendar timer for the first day we will be allowed to book.  One specific question - do the reservations open up at 12:01 AM on the day we can book or do they open later?  Thanks!

The only restaurant with very very limited seating is Teppanyaki. Book that at midnight US Eastern time if you want it (as your online trip countdown clock ticks to 125 days). Even if you see a generic “too early to book” go ahead and make your reservation. 

[Lindy Sue]

4 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

The only restaurant with very very limited seating is Teppanyaki. Book that at midnight US Eastern time if you want it (as your online trip countdown clock ticks to 125 days). Even if you see a generic “too early to book” go ahead and make your reservation. 

Thank you for this advice.  Another question for you, as you seem to be quite familiar with NCL - I was looking at the menu at Cagney's.  When we have the "free" Specialty Dining included, does this mean we are able to choose any entree or are their restrictions?  My husband does not eat beef, so it seems there are only 2 options for him.  There is one with several types of seafood, but the price is a little higher.  Thank you for any light you can shed on this matter.

Edited July 1 by Lindy Sue

[zqvol]

16 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

The only restaurant with very very limited seating is Teppanyaki. Book that at midnight US Eastern time if you want it (as your online trip countdown clock ticks to 125 days). Even if you see a generic “too early to book” go ahead and make your reservation. 

You don’t have to book at midnight unless you have a large party. 

[KeithJenner]

44 minutes ago, Lindy Sue said:

Thank you for this advice.  Another question for you, as you seem to be quite familiar with NCL - I was looking at the menu at Cagney's.  When we have the "free" Specialty Dining included, does this mean we are able to choose any entree or are their restrictions?  My husband does not eat beef, so it seems there are only 2 options for him.  There is one with several types of seafood, but the price is a little higher.  Thank you for any light you can shed on this matter.

There are no restrictions on the dishes you can order, but there may be an upcharge for some of them. Any upcharges will be stated on the menu.

 

Basically you get an appetiser, entree and dessert. The rules regarding sides, and whether you may be able to order an appetiser and a soup, for example, are not applied consistently. Your server will let you know their interpretation of the rules.

[dexddd]

Since the Sun, the hibachi place is small, although space added years ago, book that.

 

Also, the Italian place has a great venue.

[BenDover]

If you don’t get all the reservations you want - don’t freak out. Just make the additional reservations when you get on board - they reserve a big percentage of the reservations for onboard booking. Just do so right after you board. You can also change times if you are not happy with your initial reservation. 

[ksteskel]

On 7/2/2024 at 7:25 PM, BenDover said:

If you don’t get all the reservations you want - don’t freak out. Just make the additional reservations when you get on board - they reserve a big percentage of the reservations for onboard booking. Just do so right after you board. You can also change times if you are not happy with your initial reservation. 

We are new to NCL.  Where do I go on board to make the restaurant reservations? TIA!

[DorothyB]

14 minutes ago, ksteskel said:

We are new to NCL.  Where do I go on board to make the restaurant reservations? TIA!

It will depend on the ship (and maybe the itinerary)

[ggTexasGal]

20 hours ago, ksteskel said:

We are new to NCL.  Where do I go on board to make the restaurant reservations? TIA!

You should receive a Freestyle Daily as you check-in at the port.  You should be able to find the location(s) for making reservations listed in the daily.

[KeithJenner]

I’ve not been given a freestyle daily at check in on the last few cruises, but it is available on the app once you are onboard and join the WiFi.

 

Regardless, the location of the restaurant reservations is usually fairly clearly indicated on embarkation afternoon. I’ve never had any trouble locating it.

[GALSews]

On 7/1/2024 at 3:22 PM, KeithJenner said:

There are no restrictions on the dishes you can order, but there may be an upcharge for some of them. Any upcharges will be stated on the menu.

 

Basically you get an appetiser, entree and dessert. The rules regarding sides, and whether you may be able to order an appetiser and a soup, for example, are not applied consistently. Your server will let you know their interpretation of the rules.

The new menus do not separate appetizer from soup and salad. Everything is listed as appetizer and you are entitled to2 .This is the text from NCL's specialty-dining-pakages/faq. 

 

[KeithJenner]

29 minutes ago, GALSews said:

The new menus do not separate appetizer from soup and salad. Everything is listed as appetizer and you are entitled to2 .This is the text from NCL's specialty-dining-pakages/faq. 

 

Unfortunately, there is often a disconnect between what the website says and how it is interpreted onboard.

[fadingpengy]

On 7/2/2024 at 7:25 PM, BenDover said:

If you don’t get all the reservations you want - don’t freak out. Just make the additional reservations when you get on board - they reserve a big percentage of the reservations for onboard booking. Just do so right after you board. You can also change times if you are not happy with your initial reservation. 

We just got off the Joy this morning. My mother in law was told that they only book about 20% of the spots ahead of time and wouldn't let us book before boarding. We inquired as soon as we got on and we're told all the specialty restaurants were sold out. Really frustrating that we couldn't use our meal entitlements. Yes, we were a party of 10, but they didn't even have two smaller tables available??

[Wayward Son]

3 minutes ago, fadingpengy said:

Really frustrating that we couldn't use our meal entitlements. Yes, we were a party of 10, but they didn't even have two smaller tables available??

 

Did you demand to sit together? Did any given group of 2 or 4 try to make a reservation just for them? Are you really trying to imply that none of the 10 of you could get a reservation, anywhere, at any time, and never used your dining credits?

 

Wow.

 

[fadingpengy]

Just now, Wayward Son said:

 

Did you demand to sit together? Did any given group of 2 or 4 try to make a reservation just for them? Are you really trying to imply that none of the 10 of you could get a reservation, anywhere, at any time, and never used your dining credits?

 

Wow.

 

I'm implying that an extended family of ten could not be accommodated at any of the pay restaurants. I did look for two and even those were rare to find on the app. Most of those were 8pm or later too. We called and stopped in to check for cancelations too.

 

Oh! There was one night that Q had 10 people for 9:15pm.. Sorry, I don't want to be eating dinner at 10:00 at night 🤷‍♀️

[Wayward Son]

1 minute ago, fadingpengy said:

I'm implying that an extended family of ten could not be accommodated at any of the pay restaurants.

 

So you were demanding that all 10 of you eat together (at I assume a premium time slot) without making reservations pre-cruise. Yes, it should come as no surprise that you had a problem.

 

I don't know NCL's policy for groups of 10, or who told your MIL you couldn't book ahead, but in that case, you should have booked 2 tables of 6 and worked it out with the host once you boarded the ship. Live and learn.

 

[fadingpengy]

18 minutes ago, Wayward Son said:

 

So you were demanding that all 10 of you eat together (at I assume a premium time slot) without making reservations pre-cruise. Yes, it should come as no surprise that you had a problem.

 

I don't know NCL's policy for groups of 10, or who told your MIL you couldn't book ahead, but in that case, you should have booked 2 tables of 6 and worked it out with the host once you boarded the ship. Live and learn.

 

We were wanting to eat at the same restaurant in an combination of 10. We tried to make reservations ahead of time knowing it was an inconvenient size and were told "no, do it on the ship" by NCL. Yes, I suppose we could have tried to bother the reservation people for every combination of 10, but they seemed pretty steadfast with their "no availability" responses.

[M-KAY]

I made my reservations for the specialty restaurants on the NCL app - quick and easy!