Anytime dining...Carnival/NCL

[Cotton]

While visiting my sister yesterday, I learned something I found interesting.

 

With all the new stuff about Carnival and anytime dining, I asked her about her recent NCL Spirit cruise. She said they had several different dining/restaurant venues, and they chose a different one every night. I had assumed there was no charge for this...wrong. Each one (French, Italian, Asian, etc.) had a cover charge from $10-$30, w/extra tipping involved.

 

Y'all may already know that, but I was surprised...thinking it was all included in the cruise rate; I don't believe their ads say there's an extra charge for anytime dining...? They had to make reservations like Carnival supper club. Anyhoo, I thought it was a little misleading.

[*Mach*]

While visiting my sister yesterday, I learned something I found interesting.

 

With all the new stuff about Carnival and anytime dining, I asked her about her recent NCL Spirit cruise. She said they had several different dining/restaurant venues, and they chose a different one every night. I had assumed there was no charge for this...wrong. Each one (French, Italian, Asian, etc.) had a cover charge from $10-$30, w/extra tipping involved.

 

Y'all may already know that, but I was surprised...thinking it was all included in the cruise rate; I don't believe their ads say there's an extra charge for anytime dining...? They had to make reservations like Carnival supper club. Anyhoo, I thought it was a little misleading.

 

 

You gotta PAY to not sit at the same table every night??

Do ya' havta pay 'em to stop kicking you, too??

:confused:

[mariemorgan]

Yes on the NCL spirit only the dining room, buffet, grill is free. All the other restaurants have a surcharge.

 

They have an asian restaurant, french, teppanyaki, steakhouse, sushi, & italian resturants.. all not included in the fare.

 

I had a coworker go on it.. and with his excursions, specialty restaurants, drinks.. his onboard account far exceeded his cruise fare.

[*Mach*]

Yes on the NCL spirit only the dining room, buffet, grill is free. All the other restaurants have a surcharge.

 

They have an asian restaurant, french, teppanyaki, steakhouse, sushi, & italian resturants.. all not included in the fare.

 

I had a coworker go on it.. and with his excursions, specialty restaurants, drinks.. his onboard account far exceeded his cruise fare.

 

Holy smokes!!! :eek:

[mariemorgan]

I know right! I told him next time try carnival!

[Getaway3]

We were on the NCL Spirit for a family cruise. We paid the extra $20 to go to the French Cafe because everyone on the boards said the chocolate dessert was worth the $20 pp. Well for our $20 we were not entitled to everything on the menu. There were up charges for the better things including the chocolate dessert that we wanted. Needless to say we were less than happy as we were not prepared to spend any more than the $20 and the extra tip. I didn't like the "freestyle" dining at all but that may have been because we had a large party of 14 and our service was horrible. Just my two cents for what its worth.

[Cotton]

Unlike me, my sister doesn't worry about money.:rolleyes: BUT, she said she and her friends were a little aggrevated that they were not made aware of the surcharges until they got on board, and they were constantly told you MUST try this one, that one, etc.

 

She said all were pretty good, but next time she'll probably stick w/the dining room as she has on theother lines she's been on, especially since the tip is not included in the surcharge.

[Maxax]

That's awful! I guess I didn't realize that ALL of the other restaurants had a cover charge! Looks like we WON'T be cruising with NCL!

[S.S.Oceanlover]

While visiting my sister yesterday, I learned something I found interesting.

 

With all the new stuff about Carnival and anytime dining, I asked her about her recent NCL Spirit cruise. She said they had several different dining/restaurant venues, and they chose a different one every night. I had assumed there was no charge for this...wrong. Each one (French, Italian, Asian, etc.) had a cover charge from $10-$30, w/extra tipping involved.

 

Y'all may already know that, but I was surprised...thinking it was all included in the cruise rate; I don't believe their ads say there's an extra charge for anytime dining...? They had to make reservations like Carnival supper club. Anyhoo, I thought it was a little misleading.

 

isn't there also a pay restaurant where you have to pay for over and above the cover charge for certain items like lobster?

 

Bill

[mariemorgan]

Yes.. I believe so.

 

Here's a link to the steakhouse menu

 

http://community.webshots.com/photo/fullsize/2269859410070058185hdiXZV

 

AT the bottom it says something about an additional charge above cover.. but doesn't say how much.

[zqvol]

Sorry but this is simply a very misleading thread. I have cruised NCL a number of times. They offer a variety of dining options. Approximatley 50% are no extra charge. They do have a number of speciality restaurants, but there is noreason to visit them if you do not want to. Crusing on NCL is just like on Carnival, you can spend as much or as little extra as you want.

[Kurbanfan]

Regarding anytime dining it is no different then Carnival except they have more specialty restaurants to choose from.......

You don't have to pay extra for anytime dining on Carnival, NCL, RCCL or Princess for that matter....

 

Just more options people........for some reason some people don't like more options on this board...........

[mariemorgan]

The coworker I had that went on the Spirit.. said only the main dining room and buffet/Grill were free and everything else had a surcharge.

 

So if he was wrong.. then he was wrong.. but he just told me what he experienced.. so I am just saying what I was told by someone who sailed on the Spirit.

[stlrboo]

Regarding anytime dining it is no different then Carnival except they have more specialty restaurants to choose from.......

You don't have to pay extra for anytime dining on Carnival, NCL, RCCL or Princess for that matter....

 

Just more options people........for some reason some people don't like more options on this board...........

I've been wondering the same thing! :o Have not sailed on NCL, but did a lot of investigating prior to booking our TA!:)

 

Our dear friends, who did the TA on the Jewel last year, only went to Cagney's Steak House twice ($20.00 pp charge), but the rest of the voyage ate in the restaurants that were included in the cost of the cruise.. They LOVED the concept..!!:D

[Kurbanfan]

I've been wondering the same thing! :o Have not sailed on NCL, but did a lot of investigating prior to booking our TA!:)

 

Our dear friends, who did the TA on the Jewel last year, only went to Cagney's Steak House twice ($20.00 pp charge), but the rest of the voyage ate in the restaurants that were included in the cost of the cruise.. They LOVED the concept..!!:D

 

Exactly! No different then paying for the one specialty restaurant on some Carnival ships:D

 

I agree with Zqvol.......this thread is misleading........

[lovemyfamily]

I have only cruised with NCL back in 01' and I want to say it was on the Majesty (but being a newbie I really didn't pay that much attention, I know bad me)....but at that time they did have two specialty resturants and of course the buffet as well as the anytime dining in the main dining room.

 

The anytime dining really worked well for us, and only one of the specialty resturants was there an extra cover charge per person. We didn't go to the one that required an extra charge so I really don't know if it was any better.

 

This time we are going on the Carnival Valor and am super excited. It is the first time I've had assigned dining times and a table.

 

I don't really have anything bad to say about our experience on NCL other than it was an older smaller ship, so it will be interesting to compare the two. I would imagine that since 2001 that a lot has changed with NCL.

[RutgersKittyn]

Just wanted to post my experience when we sailed on the Gem when she was brand-new last year. They had both an Italian and a Mexican restaurant that were free, in addition to the usual options (main dining rooms, buffet, grills, room service, etc). There were also several restaurants with surcharges (French, steakhouse, Asian). We loved having all of the options, especially on an 11-night cruise, and found ourselves back at the Mexican one having the "Il Popo" several nights!

[Cotton]

Sorry if my thread got misleading. Certainly didn't mean for that to happen.

 

What I think (and also my sister and her friends) is that NCL's advertising shows all the various restaurants - BUT - they make no mention of there being any sur charge.

 

She said they thought they would be going to the different venues included in the price they paid for the cruise.

 

I would be a little perturbed - after seeing NCL's ads. Seems to me THEY are the ones who are misleading.

 

Oh well....cruise on folks!:)

[Kace]

You can't trust "advertising" on any line to inform you of what you are getting for the money; you need to be a good consumer and do research. I cruised NCL, and got exactly what I expected ... because I had done research. There was a significant variety of restaurants available that were no-charge. We dined in both of the main dining rooms (which have different menus) as well as the Mexican and Italian restaurants. The steakhouse, Japanese and French restaurants had surcharges. We didn't see a need to frequent them, and still had a wonderful experience.

 

IMHO, the value of freestyle dining isn't the variety of restaurants; it's the freedom of eating when you want. However, I don't feel it works in all situations. When I was on NCL, we were a party of two. We were able to vitually walk in whenever we wanted and get a table (even at the alternative restaurants that suggested reservations). On Carnival I have sailed with groups of 8-15; it would be much harder to get a table for groups of this size without a significant wait.

[Willowbranch]

We went on NCL last year (the Pearl) & were so disappointed in the free style dining. Yes, they did have two free restaurants (the Mexican & the Italian), but if you wanted really good food, you had to go to the pay restaurants! We ended up eatting twice at the Mexican & twice at the Italian one. We ate in the dining room once & that was ENOUGH!! We were soooo disappointed. The rest of the time, we just ate at the buffet because we refused to pay extra just to be able to get good food to eat.

 

One morning, my husband actually witnessed a fight going on because people were in line to get reservations at one of the restaurants & the computer went down. They started getting upset because they had gotten up at 6:00 so they could be in the front of the line. Well, when the computer went down, they had to go to another station & now be in the back of the line. It was terrible! The only way that you did not have to wait in line to get a reservation if you paid mega bucks to be in the Villas, then the room steward or someone would do the reserving for you.

 

The only thing good about this ship was the hard ice cream at lunch, dinner, afternoon & evenings. Even my kids learned after the 2nd or 3rd day that the desserts looked BEAUTIFUL but TASTELESS!!!!!

 

We had a bowling alley on the ship which we thought would be fun.....they charged $5.00 a game & charged for shoes. We thought this was tacky!!

[jondirk]

We went on NCL last year (the Pearl) & were so disappointed in the free style dining. Yes, they did have two free restaurants (the Mexican & the Italian), but if you wanted really good food, you had to go to the pay restaurants! We ended up eatting twice at the Mexican & twice at the Italian one. We ate in the dining room once & that was ENOUGH!! We were soooo disappointed. The rest of the time, we just ate at the buffet because we refused to pay extra just to be able to get good food to eat.

 

One morning, my husband actually witnessed a fight going on because people were in line to get reservations at one of the restaurants & the computer went down. They started getting upset because they had gotten up at 6:00 so they could be in the front of the line. Well, when the computer went down, they had to go to another station & now be in the back of the line. It was terrible! The only way that you did not have to wait in line to get a reservation if you paid mega bucks to be in the Villas, then the room steward or someone would do the reserving for you.

 

The only thing good about this ship was the hard ice cream at lunch, dinner, afternoon & evenings. Even my kids learned after the 2nd or 3rd day that the desserts looked BEAUTIFUL but TASTELESS!!!!!

 

We had a bowling alley on the ship which we thought would be fun.....they charged $5.00 a game & charged for shoes. We thought this was tacky!!

 

Sorry the cruise wasn't as you expected. I guess every ship can have bad food from time to time. I've been on NCL twice and have absolutely loved the food. The main reason I booked with them twice in a row was specifically for the Freestyle Cruising. I just can't understand the interest in assigned seating times. It's an outdated concept that is slowly being phased out.

 

Even my cruise coming up in December will have Carnival's "Open Seating" option. I can't vouch for the food on Carnival but if it's as good as NCL's Sky or Dawn, then I'll be very happy.

[FlashbackAlternatives]

I was on the Gem for a 1-nighter this past Jan.

 

With the exception of the Main Dining Room, the Buffet, Grill, and a 24-hr 'comfort food' restaurant, ALL of the other restaurants now have a surcharge. The Mexican and Italian are no longer 'free'.

 

That said, I found the Main Dining room to be just fine (had lunch and dinner there). We also checked out the buffet (very nice - they had lox in the morning, unlike Carnival), and the 24-hr restaurant (good soup).

 

Waiting for the Aug 2010 schedules to be released - looking for an 8 or 9 day out of NYC (or Bayonne or Brooklyn). First choice is Carnival, but will look at NCL (if the Gem is still in NYC), Princess or RCL.

[FlashbackAlternatives]

The main reason I booked with them twice in a row was specifically for the Freestyle Cruising. I just can't understand the interest in assigned seating times. It's an outdated concept that is slowly being phased out.

 

While my Freestyle Cruising experience is VERY limited, I can see why people (myself included) still like assigned seating times.

 

I believe I would miss the 'relationship' established with he wait staff. Drinks waiting for you at your table, knowing that your daughter likes her sauce separate from the pasta, that you always want a Caesar Salad, etc.

 

Granted, this only takes place at dinner (I miss the days when you would have the same wait staff for breakfast and lunch), but it still adds something special to the meal.

 

That said, we may try NCL in 2010 - depending on what the schedule looks like in Aug out of NYC.

[deepnite10]

i had no problem understanding the Freestyle concept..that there

are surcharge restraunts should you decide to dine in them..

 

what irks me though is that i feel NCL has reduced the quality

of the main dining experience..that they are trying to people to

use the alternative dining venues to get a quality experience

similar to CCL..

 

other s may disagree..but, i can t really compare one to another

without sounding like im bashing..

[Cotton]

I was on the Gem for a 1-nighter this past Jan.

 

- they had lox in the morning, unlike Carnival),

.

 

Carnival does have lox and bagels in the dining room and from room service; not much familiar w/buffet.:)