New restaurant reservation system on Pearl?

[excitedtocruise]

grandmacruiser wrote that there is a new system of making reservations on the Pearl, you can only make them 24 hours in advance. How does this work and where do you make them?

[LateCruiser]

grandmacruiser wrote that there is a new system of making reservations on the Pearl, you can only make them 24 hours in advance. How does this work and where do you make them?

 

See my comment on the thread "Just back from the Pearl - Absolutely Fabulous!". Also, you can go to the reservation desk in Mambos on Deck 8, or call the reservations number from your cabin (we did both).

[HopSingh]

We were very worried about having to make reservations for the whole 9 day cruise on day 1 of the cruise. How freestyle is that? However, at Mambo's, deck 8, where you make reservations, we were quickly informed that the reservation system had been changed to where you could only book reservations 24 hours in advance. The only time we did this was on lobster night, the second day, and it was made the day of in the early afternoon for 7:15 PM in Indigo, which happens to be PRIME TIME for eating. We didn't make any reservations at any of the other restaurants, and we ate at the Garden Cafe, Indigo, La Cucina, Mambos, and the Blue Lagoon. We were a party of 2. Unless you have more than 4 people, or are inflexible with a need for certain time every day, then, you really don't need reservations. At least we didn't need to and we never had to wait. I was so happy that they changed it to this way, at least everyone had the opportunity to eat at different venues. As LateCruiser stated, you could book reservations over the phone, which was on the speed dial on the phone in the cabin, or you could go to Mambo's on deck 8 and you could view the menu's as well as make your reservations.

[calmac]

This was the way reservations were made when we went on our first cruise (summer 2005). Personally, I much prefer this reservation system and it probably gives a more "freestyle" impression to those new to NCL. It will be interesting to see if it is introduced fleet wide.

[excitedtocruise]

Thanks for the info. We are cruising with 8 (ages from 5 to 75) so I will probably need to make reservations, but at least I don't have to make them all on the first day. This makes a lot more sense. Freestyle dining will be a little harder because of our numbers, but now we can decided a day in advance during the cruise instead of making all of our reservations on first day. It looks like NCL is listening!

[newmexicoNita]

Well, on our first freestyle cruise the 24 hour policy was in affect and seemed we had more trouble getting reservations: we finally had to use the conceirge to make them for us one time; Although I agree it sounds more freestyle I just hope it works better than it did the first time we tried it. Time will tell I guess. NMnita

[excitedtocruise]

I just want to make sure that I understand this....If I call on Saturday morning at 8:00 a.m. I can make reservations for all of Saturday and all of Sunday, then I would call on Sunday morning to get reservations for Monday, etc...? Now, if I want to eat at Mambo's on the first night, would I still go to Mambo's when I get on the ship and make reservations for Friday night and Saturday night? I am probably making this more complicated than it is, but like I said traveling with eight and five being kids, meal time is complicated in the very best of situations.

[lbrandon]

I thought the main dining rooms didn't take reservations. Do they only take reservations on lobster night or do I have to make reservations there for other nights too?

[mlbcruiser]

Latecruiser, do I have it right that you don't have to make reservations for lobster night in the main dining room, or would it be wise? (We're sailing in March so I imagine the ship will be a bit more full than it has recently been due to more people w/kids sailing. ) We will probably eat in the main dining room about half the time. Do you think the "wait monitors" around the ship helped a lot and for all of the restaurants? I'm glad they switched things, too. Otherwise things would be all booked up all wk. and any semblance to Freestyle would be down the tubes. I just hope it works better than when NMNita went! Thanks for the update!

[newmexicoNita]

I just want to make sure that I understand this....If I call on Saturday morning at 8:00 a.m. I can make reservations for all of Saturday and all of Sunday, then I would call on Sunday morning to get reservations for Monday, etc...? Now, if I want to eat at Mambo's on the first night, would I still go to Mambo's when I get on the ship and make reservations for Friday night and Saturday night? I am probably making this more complicated than it is, but like I said traveling with eight and five being kids, meal time is complicated in the very best of situations.

I think you have it down pretty well. Remember though, this refers to speality dining rooms only, not the main dining rooms. For that I would suggest you talk to the matre D' as soon as your board. You are correct, dining with 8 can be a bigger challenge than with 2 or 4. NMnita

[HopSingh]

The policy applies to all eating venues except the Garden Cafe (buffet / action stations) and to the Blue Lagoon (24 hour venue). Yes, you have it right, once you step on board, make reservations for that night as well as the next night. I think it's a good thing, it allows people to experience more of the eating venues that way. Both the Summer Palace and Indigo are the "main restaurants" and although it states so in the Freestyle Daily that reservations are not required, we wanted to make sure we ate lobster at the time we wanted (7:15 PM) instead of taking a chance to see what transpired. Just our personal preference to do so, not a requirement.:)

[RSWBADGER]

grandmacruiser wrote that there is a new system of making reservations on the Pearl, you can only make them 24 hours in advance. How does this work and where do you make them?

 

It makes me wonder if the change had anything to do with some of the "Lively" threads earlier on the Cruise Critic board, which this subject was debated.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=470556&highlight=dining+reservations

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=450871&highlight=dining+reservations

[LateCruiser]

Latecruiser, do I have it right that you don't have to make reservations for lobster night in the main dining room, or would it be wise? (We're sailing in March so I imagine the ship will be a bit more full than it has recently been due to more people w/kids sailing. ) We will probably eat in the main dining room about half the time. Do you think the "wait monitors" around the ship helped a lot and for all of the restaurants? I'm glad they switched things, too. Otherwise things would be all booked up all wk. and any semblance to Freestyle would be down the tubes. I just hope it works better than when NMNita went! Thanks for the update!

 

We used the wait monitors on several occasions and they seemed to be accurate. The first night out everything was filling up early, but the wait monitor for Cagney's showed a lot of open seating. So we went up there and sure ennopugh, we got right in. Like HopSing said, you may need to just have a little flexibility.

[thewolffs]

My parents were just on the Star and they said they could only make reservations 24 hours in advance as well. They tried on a couple of different days and were always told that they could only make them for that day or the next day.

[RSWBADGER]

We used the wait monitors on several occasions and they seemed to be accurate. The first night out everything was filling up early, but the wait monitor for Cagney's showed a lot of open seating. So we went up there and sure ennopugh, we got right in. Like HopSing said, you may need to just have a little flexibility.

 

We would Dial 050 from our phone in the morning to make the evening reservation in the Main Dining Rooms, then we would have no wait when we arrived to dinner.

[HopSingh]

The policy applies to all eating venues except the Garden Cafe (buffet / action stations) and to the Blue Lagoon (24 hour venue). Yes, you have it right, once you step on board, make reservations for that night as well as the next night. I think it's a good thing, it allows people to experience more of the eating venues that way. Both the Summer Palace and Indigo are the "main restaurants" and although it states so in the Freestyle Daily that reservations are not required, we wanted to make sure we ate lobster at the time we wanted (7:15 PM) instead of taking a chance to see what transpired. Just our personal preference to do so, not a requirement.:)

[marathon_1]

Do you know if they still offer the 50% of cover charge if you eat between 5:30-6:00

[mlbcruiser]

Are any of the specialty restaurants also open for lunch?

[LateCruiser]

Do you know if they still offer the 50% of cover charge if you eat between 5:30-6:00

 

Are any of the specialty restaurants also open for lunch?

 

The only night this was offered was on the last night of the cruise. I believe the time was from 5:30 to 7:00.

 

I don't believe any of the specialty restuarants are open for lunch. Anyone that on with us have better info?

[JudyOh]

marathon_1 - 50% off was offered on the second last night (Friday) and again on the last night (Saturday) between 5:30 and 7:00.