why is there a way to make dining reservations for complimentry dinng

why does it say reservations highly recommended for manhatten taste and savor should i make reservations. i thought you just go when you like. :confused::confused::confused::confused:

anyone :confused::confused::confused::confused::confused:

If you want to eat at a specific time and not wait in line, then make a reservation. You can now do this in advance. If you want to make a show, having a dinner reservation is a good idea. The new reservation policy is a bit of a step back from total freestyle.

ty i just dont know what the menus will be on certain nights and sometime we just like to eat at the buffett.:confused::confused::confused:

It is something that many of the passengers have asked for in the past - the possibility to make reservations also for the MDR. So NCL is just following up on requests by offering this. That doesn't mean that you have to do it - it just means that you can if you want to.... I don't see why that should be taken as a negative thing... :)

I made reservations for one night in the manhattan room because there are 8 of us and we wanted to do it the same night we are seeing ROA so we wanted a specific time and with 8 people don't want to wait to long.

Here's our experience.

We were a group of 10 family members sailing on Breakaway this past July.

No reservations, first night.

We show up at Manhattan Room all together about 7:30 for dinner.

They take our name, we wait 10 minutes (spent reading the menus) and are then seated at one table with very prompt service.

We only had reservations for Cagney's and La Cucina. Seated immediately at reserved time. Window table? No problem.

Savor was our favorite. No reservations. No wait.

Hope this helps!

Have fun!

~Robin

Every Day at Sea is a Great Day

ty i think ill just make a reservation on the night we see roa :D

why does it say reservations highly recommended for manhatten taste and savor should i make reservations. i thought you just go when you like.

It's because NCL wants to attract new customers away from traditional cruise lines and in the process is also alienating people that have chosen NCL because of Freestyle Cruising.

For example we (Platinums on NCL, have cruised with them exclusively so far) are now trying Celebrity because besides the more relaxed dress code, NCL's product isn't that special anymore for example compared to X and their Select dining - if the reservations to MDRs are available and recommended, it's the same for us to have those on a different cruise line.

Also X offers often a lot better booking perks than NCL (we now have a complimentary beverage package for both of us after booking a balcony cabin for our upcoming Reflection cruise - NCL did that to us once but even then it was limited to few ships and Haven suites only).

why does it say reservations highly recommended for manhatten taste and savor should i make reservations. i thought you just go when you like. :confused::confused::confused::confused:

It is go when you like but be prepared to wait a significant amount of time to actually get a table. Sorta defeats the whole freestyle concept.

From what I've read only a certain percentage can be reserved. So the majority of people can still do free style. My party and I are just gonna freestyle it. We may look at the menu to decide where to eat but we aren't reserving because we don't want to be on someone else's time. There is 11 of us and we just don't know what everyone is going to want to do.

why does it say reservations highly recommended for manhatten taste and savor should i make reservations. i thought you just go when you like. :confused::confused::confused::confused:

If you don't go at peak hours and you just want to play it by ear, you should be able to do that with little trouble. If you expect to eat at 630PM, you might find yourself waiting a little longer. At the very least you can make reservations same day (early in the day) once you are on the ship. Don't feel obligated to make reservations now unless like another poster said...you need to make it to a show at a certain time. There are a gazillion eating venues and you'll find some place you like at the time you want to eat. :) If you truly want to be freestyle it requires a little bit of flexibility but NCL does not allow for all seats in these venues to be booked to capacity so there will be plenty of opportunities to try the restaurants you want to try.

It's because NCL wants to attract new customers away from traditional cruise lines and in the process is also alienating people that have chosen NCL because of Freestyle Cruising.

 

For example we (Platinums on NCL, have cruised with them exclusively so far) are now trying Celebrity because besides the more relaxed dress code, NCL's product isn't that special anymore for example compared to X and their Select dining - if the reservations to MDRs are available and recommended, it's the same for us to have those on a different cruise line.

 

Also X offers often a lot better booking perks than NCL (we now have a complimentary beverage package for both of us after booking a balcony cabin for our upcoming Reflection cruise - NCL did that to us once but even then it was limited to few ships and Haven suites only).

You can't make all the people happy all the time. If I have a show scheduled I don't want to worry about seating and finishing our meal in time for our show. On the other hand, if I have nothing in particular going on that day, I appreciate their ability to accommodate a little bit of spontaneity.

You can't make all the people happy all the time. If I have a show scheduled I don't want to worry about seating and finishing our meal in time for our show. On the other hand, if I have nothing in particular going on that day, I appreciate their ability to accommodate a little bit of spontaneity.

Of course you can't make all the people happy, but NCL has fundamentally changed the inner workings of Freestyle Cruising by allowing MDR reservations also to other passengers than VIPs and large groups. When they try to accommodate new passenger demographics, they are turning their back to the old ones.

What I'm after is equality - everybody should be on the same line what comes to getting to dinner at their desired time.