Email Maiter D?? Traditional Dining?

[rhinomike]

We are going to be on the Star cruising to Mexico. We like the traditional dining. A set time, same table, same waiter. One of our favorite things of the cruise. I know many like freestyle but we do not. We normally sail on Carnival for this reason. We have been on NCL before but we had 10 people. When we booked our cruise they let us do traditional dinning because of our large group. But this time there are only 6 of us in my family. They won't let us do it. They said we can request it once we board. I doubt it will be a problem since we like to eat early. Probably right when the MDR opens. On Carnival you can email the Maiter D with any dining request. Is that possible on NCL? Does anyone have an email address to the Maiter D on the Star? Thank you.

[rhinomike]

Also I have read here that there are 2 dining rooms on the Star. One is more formal and one is less formal. Is this true? Which dining room is LESS formal? Thanks again.

[jlacy1987]

Also I have read here that there are 2 dining rooms on the Star. One is more formal and one is less formal. Is this true? Which dining room is LESS formal? Thanks again.

 

The two main dining rooms on Star are Aqua and Versailles. Aqua is the more casual of the two.

[rhinomike]

The two main dining rooms on Star are Aqua and Versailles. Aqua is the more casual of the two.

 

Great. Thank you.

[RJ2002]

We are going to be on the Star cruising to Mexico. We like the traditional dining. A set time, same table, same waiter. One of our favorite things of the cruise. I know many like freestyle but we do not. We normally sail on Carnival for this reason. We have been on NCL before but we had 10 people. When we booked our cruise they let us do traditional dinning because of our large group. But this time there are only 6 of us in my family. They won't let us do it. They said we can request it once we board. I doubt it will be a problem since we like to eat early. Probably right when the MDR opens. On Carnival you can email the Maiter D with any dining request. Is that possible on NCL? Does anyone have an email address to the Maiter D on the Star? Thank you.

 

I don't have the email of the Maitre D, not sure if anyone would. However, I do think you will have success in being able to arrange for the same table each evening. If any of your party are in a suite, then you could arrange it through the Concierge.

[luddite]

We are going to be on the Star cruising to Mexico. We like the traditional dining. A set time, same table, same waiter. One of our favorite things of the cruise. I know many like freestyle but we do not. We normally sail on Carnival for this reason. We have been on NCL before but we had 10 people. When we booked our cruise they let us do traditional dinning because of our large group. But this time there are only 6 of us in my family. They won't let us do it. They said we can request it once we board. I doubt it will be a problem since we like to eat early. Probably right when the MDR opens. On Carnival you can email the Maiter D with any dining request. Is that possible on NCL? Does anyone have an email address to the Maiter D on the Star? Thank you.

 

If you want the treaditional cruise line dining experience, NCL isn't the cruise line that you want to travelling.

[weltek]

This is a bit of an unreasonable request to arrange ahead of time, given that NCL is very clear "traditional dining" is not what they do. HOWEVER, cruisers have had some success in doing this, though the same server cannot be guaranteed every night. Staff can be pulled to another dining venue or shift, so it's not 100% the same staff every night.

 

Once on board, you can ask the MaitreD for a good server that you can request most nights, but then you may have to wait a bit to get into his/her section. If you are willing to dine before 5:45 (you said you like to dine early, so this should be easy), I suspect this will be easier. Then you can tell your server that you are trying to mimic the experience of more traditional dining and hope to see him/her the rest of the week for dinner. That gives the server a "hint" to remember your preferences if he/she can.

 

As someone mentioned, if you or someone in your party is in a suite or a Platinum member, this will all be easier as you can ask the concierge to help you.

[GPPhilly]

On the Breakaway, they had it in the dallies that if you wanted to set a up the same time each day to eat and to share or not share a table. You were to go to the customer service desk. Also, there were certain times that you could arrange to eat at. I think it was 5 - 6pm.

[GORDONCHICK]

One suggestion if you can't get it arranged on the first night would be to chat with the F&B Director at the meet & greet which is usually held the following day. So be sure to get involved in your roll call and if someone sets up a meet & greet with NCL, the officers will show up. Sometimes they show up a little early. The F&B Director will have 3.5 stripes on his shoulders. Since I don't know when you're sailing, I'm not sure who that could be.

[RJ2002]

One suggestion if you can't get it arranged on the first night would be to chat with the F&B Director at the meet & greet which is usually held the following day. So be sure to get involved in your roll call and if someone sets up a meet & greet with NCL, the officers will show up. Sometimes they show up a little early. The F&B Director will have 3.5 stripes on his shoulders. Since I don't know when you're sailing, I'm not sure who that could be.

 

This is a good idea. At our meet & greet on the Star, we were all given a printed card with all the managers' phone numbers. NCL seems to be eager to keep CC'ers happy ;)

[Demonyte]

Also I have read here that there are 2 dining rooms on the Star. One is more formal and one is less formal. Is this true? Which dining room is LESS formal? Thanks again.

 

While you already got the names, on all NCL ships the aft MDR is the formal one and one(s) midship are less formal (one midship MDR on older ships, two on newest ships).

[Barb Nahoumi]

Our group was in suites on the Dawn last April. We were able to reserve dining times in the MDRs through our concierge. We didn't get the same table or servers every night,

but we were near windows with ocean views.

 

Our servers were very friendly, knowledgable about the various dishes, and attentive to special diet restrictions-----no sauces, salt, etc.

 

Although NCL does not have traditional dining, they should be able to make some arrangements for you. If you have concierge service, make reservations through him or her. Otherwise you can talk to the maitre' d.

[rhinomike]

Thanks everyone.... Yeah having the same servers every night is probably asking too much. I understand they move around quite a bit..... So I would be happy with just having a set time everyday. Maybe the same table.... We will probably eat around 5:30 (or 5 if the MDR is open that early).....

[rhinomike]

If you want the treaditional cruise line dining experience, NCL isn't the cruise line that you want to travelling.

 

 

Yes I agree.... If you note I said we normally sail with Carnival. But NCL has a better itinerary for this particular cruise. So we are going with NCL. We have sailed on the Star before and enjoyed it. We just prefer the more traditional dining experience.

[GORDONCHICK]

Thanks everyone.... Yeah having the same servers every night is probably asking too much. I understand they move around quite a bit..... So I would be happy with just having a set time everyday. Maybe the same table.... We will probably eat around 5:30 (or 5 if the MDR is open that early).....

 

One MDR will open at 5 and the other at 5:30. I do believe the mid-ship MDR opens first. But the opening time will be posted outside each.

[rhinomike]

One MDR will open at 5 and the other at 5:30. I do believe the mid-ship MDR opens first. But the opening time will be posted outside each.

 

Great. Thank you.

[luddite]

Yes I agree.... If you note I said we normally sail with Carnival. But NCL has a better itinerary for this particular cruise. So we are going with NCL. We have sailed on the Star before and enjoyed it. We just prefer the more traditional dining experience.

 

Traditional dining is a BIG deal for my in-laws. They cruise on Holland America ships.

You won't have a problem getting a table at 5:30.

[rhinomike]

Traditional dining is a BIG deal for my in-laws. They cruise on Holland America ships.

You won't have a problem getting a table at 5:30.

 

 

Thank you.

 

We are thinking about trying Holland America. We have heard good things about it.

[sdmike]

As stated, don't expect to get the same server even if you go to the same dining room at the same time. They move around. As an early diner you will have NO problem getting table...probably the same one..when you arrive. Note: there is sometimes a short line with the dining room first opens, but if you arrive 15 minutes later you'll walk right in.

 

So, the best way to have a set dining time is arrive at the same dining room at the same time :) However, unlike traditional dining you won't be sharing a table with strangers. You can, however, join up with others you meet on the cruise if you want.

 

People think freestyle means free-for-all. It doesn't. It just means you have more control over when, where, and with whom you eat.

[pris993]

We are going to be on the Star cruising to Mexico. We like the traditional dining. A set time, same table, same waiter. One of our favorite things of the cruise. I know many like freestyle but we do not. We normally sail on Carnival for this reason. We have been on NCL before but we had 10 people. When we booked our cruise they let us do traditional dinning because of our large group. But this time there are only 6 of us in my family. They won't let us do it. They said we can request it once we board. I doubt it will be a problem since we like to eat early. Probably right when the MDR opens. On Carnival you can email the Maiter D with any dining request. Is that possible on NCL? Does anyone have an email address to the Maiter D on the Star? Thank you.

 

We recently did a cruise on the Jade. Like you we like traditional dining, we had not been on NCL in 10 years. On our first day aboard we talked with the Matre'd in the MDR about getting a set time, table. Only option was to come when the MDR opened, for us this was not what we wanted as we prefer a later time. Sounds like that would work for you.

[jame_g]

I realized that NCL had Nick characters on some ships. But I didn't realize that Mater from Cars was on them too! What about Lightning McQueen?

 

 

Oh, my bad. Sorry. Misread. You were asking about the Maitre d'.

 

 

:p:D:eek:

[jdvmd]

Thanks everyone.... Yeah having the same servers every night is probably asking too much. I understand they move around quite a bit..... So I would be happy with just having a set time everyday. Maybe the same table.... We will probably eat around 5:30 (or 5 if the MDR is open that early).....

When we have found a serving team that we liked, we just asked for a table in their section. The sections and tables change but the team is the same.

[Demonyte]

When we have found a serving team that we liked, we just asked for a table in their section. The sections and tables change but the team is the same.

 

The team is not necessarily always the same, on our 12-night repo cruise last year we had amazing waitress in midship MDR and we ate there with our group on most nights but when we asked to be seated in her section, at least one night we heard that "our" waitress was not working in there that night.

[jdvmd]

The team is not necessarily always the same, on our 12-night repo cruise last year we had amazing waitress in midship MDR and we ate there with our group on most nights but when we asked to be seated in her section, at least one night we heard that "our" waitress was not working in there that night.

 

A well deserved night off!

I was only speaking of our experiences on the Sky (twice) Sun (twice). Epic, Dawn and Pearl. Also, they may have to work in a totally different be in venue from night to night.