dining costs?

[homer15]

hey everyone. i've never done a freestyle cruise before. do you have to pay each night to dine? if so, does that mean that everywhere you eat on the ship, you basically have to pay for it. on the cruise i've been on, the meals were included in the price of the cruise and we didn't have to worry about paying extra (unless we went to a special restaurant)

[Cosmopolitan]

Which ship are you cruising on NCL?

 

You will only pay a cover charge in the specialty restaurants if you choose to dine in them.

 

Main restaurants are no charge.

Room service is no charge

Buffet is no charge.

[homer15]

i'm looking at the star for a quick, cheap trip.

 

how does the main dining and buffet compare to the other restaurants?

[98Charlie]

There are a number of restaurants on most NCL ships that are included in the price of the cruise.

 

We have found the food on NCL to be very good to excellent in most of the included venues.

 

The Star is a favorite of ours:D Main Dining rooms are Versaille (more formal in decor) and Aqua (Contemporary decor). Food at the Endless Summer (Tex-Mex) was very good also. Blue Lagoon is open 24/7 for a bite. All together there are about 10 restaurants. I belive 3 have a surcharge.

 

Charlie

[KeystoneCruiser]

Star is my favorite ship. For dinner, there are two main restaurants (free) for which you do not make reservations. There is also the Blue Lagoon (a quick dinner type of operation that is open 23 hours....great for a late night bite.) - also free. The Buffet (Garden Cafe) is also free for all meals.

 

The specialty restaurants range in price from free to $12 to $20 per person per night. (some like Tepperanaki (sp?) have an ala carte price system). You need to make reservations for the specialty restaurants in advance. (24-36 hours I believe...policy has recently changed.)

 

LaTrattatoria (Italian) and Endless Summer (Tex-mex) are free specialty restaurants. There is also Soho, Cagney's Steak House, LeBistro, Bamboo and Tepperanaki. All of the last 5 have a surcharge.

 

Personally I love LaTrattatoria and Cagney's the best of the specialty restaurants.

 

Of course, if you don't want to you don't have to go to the surcharge restaurants and stick with the free ones (main, buffet, and 2 free specialty restaurants) and never pay a cent! On our first cruise on the Star, that is exactly what we did.

 

Btw: the specialty restaurants and Aqua Main restaurant are not open for breakfast or lunch. Breakfast and lunch choices are limited to the buffet, Blue Lagoon and Versailles Main Restaurant.

[homer15]

thanks guys.

 

what makes the star your favorite ship, if i might ask? aside from the fact that i'm considering cruising on it. haha

[KeystoneCruiser]

I have sailed the Star twice. I love the layout, easy to get around. (was on the Pride of Aloha...lots of dead ends.). I love the large number of dining choices. My cabin was spacious (had a BB and BA) and the layout was good. Especially the bathroom. The entertainment was good.

 

I like the Dawn (the Star's sister ship) very much too, but just something about the Star will always make her special to me.