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Mack704

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Posts posted by Mack704

    Specialty Restaurants on Spirit One Warning

    in Norwegian Cruise Line

    Posted

    A couple of questions please:

     

    1) Did you sit patiently for the entire hour or did you question the waitstaff or the matre'd after a reasonable time? I would have inquired after 15-20 minutes at the most. After 1/2 hr. I would have left and asked for a refund.

     

    2) When the lasagna finally arrived and turned out to be bad, did you send it back and request a replacement, or did you just accept it and let it ruin your dinner?

     

    Or did you wait the hour, accept the food and just complained (or warned us) about it now on Cruise Critic? I've read on these boards at least 100 times NCL would rather you let them try to correct the situation when it happens, instead of stewing in it and take it to these boards after.

     

    Harvey

    Escape menus?

    in Norwegian Cruise Line

    Posted

    I finally finished my review. I put in every menu I found including the whole room service menu. It´s deck by deck with restaurants and bars featured seperately. Our cabin plus some of the show cabins are featured also. Text is in German but google translate works pretty well.

     

    steamboats

     

    !!!!KKGg

    Breakaway 8/30 to 9/6 - random thoughts

    in Norwegian Cruise Line

    Posted

    In Moderno's, the maitre'd came by to check on us, and I told him that I was waiting for at least one of the meats to come by. He went off to search for the server, who STILL never came. About 15 minutes later, he came back and asked if I'd gotten what I was looking for, and when I told him no, he went in search of the server and made sure that they came by. My point being - the maitre'd was aware, and still not very effective in remedying the situation - at least not on the first try. And Moderno's was not overhelmingly crowded that night - there were many empty tables. I was just not impressed with the restaurant overall. Even going up to the salad bar, many of the dishes sat in need of refurbishment. In general, the restaurant was just not well attended to.

     

     

    Sorry you had less than a great experience there. I would have thought they'd fix the problem(s) quickly. No excuse for not attending to the buffet. Apparently, the entire restaurant was having an off day.

     

    Also, I've seen several complaints about small portions in complementary restaurants on these boards. Puzzling to me. Didn't mean to offend you.

     

    Harvey

    Breakaway 8/30 to 9/6 - random thoughts

    in Norwegian Cruise Line

    Posted

    Just off the Breakaway this morning. This was my 4th time on the ship and 2nd trip to Bermuda, so rather than a full review, I thought I'd post some random thoughts and observations. I'm happy to answer any specific questions.

     

    Embarkation was organized, quick and relatively painless. We were in boarding group 18 and were on the ship by noon. We had a quick lunch in O'Sheehan's.

     

    Stayed in an angled balcony room on deck 10. Room was fine, extra balcony space was nice, but not exponentially more than in a standard balcony. Room steward was visible throughout the cruise and did a nice job keeping the room stocked and tidy.

     

    Had the UBP, although it was wasted on me (didn't get more than 2 or 3 drinks per day max). No problem with service at the bars when I went up. As expected, charged tax in NY, but all other charges were zeroed out (although they gave me a check for inventory purposes every time I placed an order).

     

    On sea days the pool area was crowded (to be expected) and chair hogs out in full force. Dd enjoyed the water slides, even when there was a line. Never had to wait too long to get on the ropes course. Didn't do rock climbing this trip, so don't know how the waits were there.

     

    Lucked out with weather in Bermuda, although it looked ominous two of the mornings, it cleared quickly. Had a great day at Horseshoe Bay, and also did the Restless Native catamaran cruise, which was the highlight of our time in Bermuda.

     

    Ate breakfast in the buffet most mornings, although it was crowded. Selection was good and staff was great about clearing tables quickly. Had 2 breakfasts in O'Sheehan's. The portions there were incredibly small and service was spotty.

     

    Had 5 dinners in the MDRs. Service was friendly, but slow. Although there were often long lines, we never really had to wait long for a table. Only once did my server ask if we wanted drinks with our meals. Enjoyed the food for most of our meals. Had one dinner in La Cucina which I enjoyed, a service there was great. Had one dinner in Moderno (which I had never tried before) and was very disappointed. Although our waiter was very nice and stopped by often, we were seated towards the back, and the servers with the skewers of meat hardly came by, even when our cards were turned to green.

     

    Thoroughly enjoyed entertainment - went to Burn the Floor, Rock of Ages, Howl at the Moon, and several of the "game shows" held in the atrium in the evenings.

     

    All in all, another great trip on the Breakaway, and the week flew by.

     

     

    Just a couple of reactions to what you've stated here: in O'Sheehan's, if portions were incredibly small, on the second visit I would've ordered doubles. And in Moderno's, after a few minutes of the meat servers hardly coming by, I would've alerted the Maitre'd. I'd bet that situation would've been remedied in a hurry.

     

    No reason to be so accepting, and then complaining here afterward. It's your vacation. And they want to take care of you...for you to be happy.

     

    Harvey

    Review: Breakaway August 23-30, 2015

    in Norwegian Cruise Line

    Posted

    They were very busy and by the time the server came back - we had had enough. I guess I could have sent back the chicken parm or asked for more sauce but at that point I really couldn't be bothered. We had this our last night - reservations were pushed back to 7:45 due to shows changing their times. Maybe if we had eaten there earlier in the weeek it might have been different.

     

    I probably wouldn't have bothered either. It just seems a bit unfair to not give the restaurant a chance to to rectify the situation, but then come on CC and complain about it. Especially the sauce for the calamari. In restaurants in my town, marinara is usually served with calamari. I guess in your town too.

     

    Harvey

    Review: Breakaway August 23-30, 2015

    in Norwegian Cruise Line

    Posted

    We were also on this sailing.

     

    We had the 3 dinner package - Le Bistro (unfortunately they don't change their menu so probably won't go again - but was very good) Cagney's (excellent) and La Cucina - (terrible - calamari was cooked nicely but served with a mayo based dip instead of marinara and the chicken parm was dry with very little sauce and seemed like it was reheated)

     

    At La Cucina, at the time you were served the calamari, could you have requested marinara sauce, and did you? And when you were served the chicken parm, again, could you have requested additional sauce, and did you? Or even send it back for a fresher, more moist entre'? Just curious if the restaurant offered you those options.

     

    I had a chicken parm sandwich for lunch at Carrabbas once. It seem a bit dry. I requested additional sauce and they gladly brought some.

     

    Harvey

    Room service and to go food

    in Norwegian Cruise Line

    Posted

    Just saw this on another site

     

     

    "I am on the Gem right now. I asked at guest services about this and they told me the room service charge will go into effect next cruise (May 2) and it is true that restaurants will no longer let you take leftovers back to your cabin or have them sent there."

     

    Geri

     

    OP, what other site did you see this on? Can you provide a link or quote it? My thoughts are that your intention was to 'incite a riot'. And you were quite successful in doing so. Very entertaining! This group of CCers is quite willing to debate issues in change of policy. But was/is there?

     

    Harvey

    Coffee

    in Norwegian Cruise Line

    Posted

    DW and I love our coffee in the morning. We put out the room service door hanger every night and use the delivery as our wake up call every morning. There's no extra charge, (except a dollar or two tip, which is optional).

     

    We've done this on all five cruise lines we've sailed with. It works like a champ, and usually the coffee is not too bad. You can write special instructions, i.e. extra Splenda, extra 1/2 & 1/2, etc. and they always comply.

     

    As an alternative, we've called room service the night before, gave our morning order and what time and that works just as well.

     

    Harvey

    Can I sail on Norwegian and NOT go freestyle?

    in Norwegian Cruise Line

    Posted

    It's not even MDR staff... We had the same server in the MDR once that we had in Le Bistro later! They rotate all over.

     

    OK! I stand corrected. OP, it looks like your task cannot be accomplished on the Breakaway. You may make a MDR reservation for the same time every night. You may also establish your own dress code for yourselves alone. But it appears all of the waitstaff are floaters. Therefore, no guarantee on the same waitstaff every night.

     

    Good luck and happy cruising!

     

    Harvey

    Can I sail on Norwegian and NOT go freestyle?

    in Norwegian Cruise Line

    Posted

    A conversation with the maitre d' can't guarantee the same table and waitstaff each night. Waiters on NCL are rotated to various stations and even to different dining rooms during the course of the cruise.

     

    If that's true, maybe then the conversation should be with the waiter themselves; to find out which MDR they'll be in the next day, dine at that MDR, and then request from that dining room's Maitre'd said waiter. There has to be a way! The staff aim to please.

     

    Harvey

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