Escape Dining Reservations

[CruiserRob]

So I left booking my cruise a little late and there are very few reservations left for the specialty restaurants that we want to eat in.

Has anyone had any luck booking reservations when boarding the ship? We like to eat around 7:00 - 7:30

 

Robert

[mvh]

I'm in the same boat (no pun intended). I still have 79 days left and there is basically nothing available for any decent times. How can they call this freestyle if you have to book at midnight on the day they come available. I sure hope I'm wrong about NCL since this will be my first time with them. Lots of negativity recently, kinda scares me.

[Kdiamond55]

The only times you really have to book in advance is if you are adamant about eating during the prime times of 6:30-8. I have been on a ton of NCL boats (Escape included), have only actually made reservations a couple of times and have never not eaten at a specialty restaurant on any given night that I wanted to. Sometimes I had to wait until 9 or go early but I got in.

 

If you need a certain night and you need 7:00 then yes you should make advanced reservations. Otherwise you'll be fine waiting until you get on board. They have to keep a certain amount of reservations open for people who don't go online, etc.. Go to the restaurants when you board and book it then.

 

Don't let it worry you! Enjoy your cruise!

[kneught77]

So I left booking my cruise a little late and there are very few reservations left for the specialty restaurants that we want to eat in.

Has anyone had any luck booking reservations when boarding the ship? We like to eat around 7:00 - 7:30

 

Robert

 

I had just spoken to NCL a few days ago.. trying to change my reservation from 5 to 6. She said that they only open up about 30% of time slots for pre-booking. The remaining 70% opens up when people are on board.

 

So as soon as you can... once you are on the ship... book those reservations.. either on your iTV.. calling the help desk.. or going to the help desk.

 

You shouldn't have trouble finding a decent time.. assuming the group isn't too too large.. and you are open to different days.

 

Good luck! :D

[john kaz]

can reservations be made for the main dining rooms? and if so whe? and how many people can I reserve for? thanks John

[mrobstad]

Normally, reservations are not made for MDR. But, our Cruise Critic roll call has 50 people going to dinner together...it will be interesting o see how that works out!

[Warm-Water Diver]

already posted this on one of the other threads regarding same. Hope this helps you:

 

Already went through this as well on my 12/12 sailing onboard Escape. Was able to book a few nights and several were only 9:30pm so I waited til onboard to book the rest. They do hold more reservations after the initial pre-cruise reserv. spots are gone. But you do have to act fast.

 

Be ready. Download the Iconcierge app which is what I did and booked my remaining spots as I was waiting in the holding area before boarding. NOTE: I had to walk over to the window adjacent to the ship to get a strong enough ship wifi signal but it definitely did the trick.

 

Or just head to Headliners Comedy Club once onboard to book the dining and/or the Box Office to book the entertainment. Good Luck and enjoy your cruise

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[BirdTravels]

can reservations be made for the main dining rooms? and if so whe? and how many people can I reserve for? thanks John

 

 

You can book the main dining rooms just like the specialty dining rooms. Prebook online 90 days out (100 days for Havems guests).

 

 

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[BirdTravels]

already posted this on one of the other threads regarding same. Hope this helps you:

 

 

 

Already went through this as well on my 12/12 sailing onboard Escape. Was able to book a few nights and several were only 9:30pm so I waited til onboard to book the rest. They do hold more reservations after the initial pre-cruise reserv. spots are gone. But you do have to act fast.

 

 

 

Be ready. Download the Iconcierge app which is what I did and booked my remaining spots as I was waiting in the holding area before boarding. NOTE: I had to walk over to the window adjacent to the ship to get a strong enough ship wifi signal but it definitely did the trick.

 

 

 

Or just head to Headliners Comedy Club once onboard to book the dining and/or the Box Office to book the entertainment. Good Luck and enjoy your cruise

 

__________________

 

 

Use the touch screens located in all of the public areas. It is always strange to see long box office lines with a touch screen in the hall unused.

 

 

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[SNJCruisers]

Use the touch screens located in all of the public areas. It is always strange to see long box office lines with a touch screen in the hall unused.

Similar to people waiting in line at a movie theater, when there is sometimes a nearby kiosk that you can purchase your tickets using a credit card.

[CruiserRob]

already posted this on one of the other threads regarding same. Hope this helps you:

 

 

Be ready. Download the Iconcierge app which is what I did and booked my remaining spots as I was waiting in the holding area before boarding. NOTE: I had to walk over to the window adjacent to the ship to get a strong enough ship wifi signal but it definitely did the trick.

 

 

__________________

 

Thanks for the suggestion as I was wondering if the Iconcierge app worked in the waiting area. Since I am trying to get Vibe passes, I plan to be at the port early, so I'll try book reservations that way :)

 

Robert

[mvh]

This whole thing amazes me. NCL's claims to be different by having anytime dinning. What a joke. Anytime means anytime between 5:00 and 5:30 or 9:30 and 10:00. Nowhere in between unless you make a reservation 90 days out. Not 89 days out, because they will be gone by then. Sure, everyone will say 'just make reservations as soon as you get on the ship". Isn't everyone else doing that too? So, now you in the same boat with everyone else again. I am really trying to go into this cruise with an open mind, but so far this has been the most stressful cruise I have ever taken. Now I have to worry about the shows being cancelled, which I have never heard of before except for bad weather during the diving show on the Oasis and Allure. I really hope I am wrong about this cruise. I promise that I will admit it if I am wrong and let everyone else who feels the same way know.

[punkincc]

This whole thing amazes me. NCL's claims to be different by having anytime dinning. What a joke. Anytime means anytime between 5:00 and 5:30 or 9:30 and 10:00. Nowhere in between unless you make a reservation 90 days out. Not 89 days out, because they will be gone by then. Sure, everyone will say 'just make reservations as soon as you get on the ship". Isn't everyone else doing that too? So, now you in the same boat with everyone else again. I am really trying to go into this cruise with an open mind, but so far this has been the most stressful cruise I have ever taken. Now I have to worry about the shows being cancelled, which I have never heard of before except for bad weather during the diving show on the Oasis and Allure. I really hope I am wrong about this cruise. I promise that I will admit it if I am wrong and let everyone else who feels the same way know.

 

 

Freestyle dining is pretty much like dining at home. If you try to make it any more than that, you are going to be disappointed. You decide where you want to go and you decide when. You are not being told to show up at 6:00 pm every night at a table of 10 strangers. At home, you either call and make a reservation and take what is available, or you just show up and wait until they have availability, perhaps as long as 2 hours or more. NCL COULD book ALL availability precruise, really shutting you out perhaps, but they do not. They give everyone a fair shot by only booking around 20 - 30 percent precruise and leaving the rest to be booked on board. Personally, I don't believe they even totally book the venues onboard ever, as too many people report just walking up and getting in after being told there was no "reservation" available. We've done it ourselves. And, we have never waited more than 15 minutes as a walk up on an NCL ship, vs the 2 hours at home.

 

So just relax. With 70% availability, I can't imagine that you can't get reservations on embark day. Many people on the ship have no desire to eat in a specialty, and many already have their reservations made, so not "everyone" on the ship is going to be booking.

Edited January 8, 2016 by punkincc

[mvh]

Well put. My biggest concern is that so many people got the SDP as a free perk that it will be that much tougher. However, I am really looking forward to this cruise and I will be very open minded. I have no problem waiting a while since there are so many bars I can go to while I wait. It's not like sitting in a lobby at home.

[SNJCruisers]

So just relax. With 70% availability, I can't imagine that you can't get reservations on embark day. Many people on the ship have no desire to eat in a specialty, and many already have their reservations made, so not "everyone" on the ship is going to be booking.

There have been reports on the boards that people have been "shut out" at getting into Cagneys or Le Bistro for the entire time of their cruise. Even though you say that "many people on the ship have no desire to eat in a specialty", I feel the opposite is true to a certain degree because of the 4 day SDP package promotion. Those savvy cruisers that booked with 2 perks are choosing the UBP and the SDP as their two perks because it offers the most value. Only a small percentage of cruisers care about wifi and 25 pp towards a cruise line jacked up price wise shore excursion is not really a value either. Unless there is a cruise line exclusivity factor involved, you can find better deals more often than not booking independent shore excursions.

[guner]

I was told not to worry about making reservations for dining by the NCL person I spoke to. He said it wouldn't be a problem to do once onboard. I did call back and forced him to make them for me. He was only able to make 4 of the 7 nights of our specialty dining package. I said not a problem i can make the rest on the ship. Nope!!! Once on board all dining was booked up before we even boarded. Everyone was mad! I was happy at that point to even have the 4 I had! So we go to double check them at one of the restaurants only to be told that all 4 of our reservations were made for only 1 person not 7 people in our party! Very disappointed and finally spoke to a manager at one of the restaurants and she was able to fix it for us for only 3 of the 4. I don't like the anytime dining. Prefer to have a dining set time and make reservations ahead of time for specialty dining. The first night we waited over 45 minutes for the dining room.

[punkincc]

I was told not to worry about making reservations for dining by the NCL person I spoke to. He said it wouldn't be a problem to do once onboard. I did call back and forced him to make them for me. He was only able to make 4 of the 7 nights of our specialty dining package. I said not a problem i can make the rest on the ship. Nope!!! Once on board all dining was booked up before we even boarded.

 

The dining was all booked up before you boarded? I'm not sure how to square this with NCL's policy of booking only 25 to 30% of availability precruise. Unless people used Iconcierge in the waiting areas pre boarding and booked all 70% of the remaining seats, and that would be a little unbelievable.:).

 

Did you have a dining package? If you were truly unable to fully utilize the dining package for all nights paid for, NOT because they only had time slots not to your preference, but because they flatly said there is no availability, and this on embark day, then I would be asking for a refund for those days. While the package states there is no refund for unused days, it also states that a reservation request made 24 hours or more in advance is guaranteed. Not that YOUR desired time is available, but that a time is available at some point on your requested evening. And don't forget, "no reservations are available for 7:30" does not mean that table's are not available for walk ups at 7:30. We have done it many times.

 

To the poster who complained of a 45 minute MDR wait, that is a choice made by the cruiser. You can choose to stand and be miserable, or you can choose to take a short walk down the hall where you will find two other MDRs, probably with no waits, or simply have a coctail somewhere and listen to some music in the interim, or change your dining time. The options are plentiful if you have some flexibility.

Edited January 9, 2016 by punkincc

[grammyfrimpy]

Hearing everyone's frustrations about dinner reservations is frustrating to me. The Escape accommodates LOTS of cruisers and we all knew that before we booked our cruise. It's fairly logical that everyone on board cannot get a reservation exactly as desired........just as if you were in NY or Vegas or anywhere else that have desirable and popular dinner venues, the perfect dinner time is not always available. RELAX ~ BE FLEXIBLE ~ THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX ~ ENJOY YOUR CURISE. There's plenty of food on the ship and none of us will go hungry. Love the one(s) you're with. They are more important than getting into a specific restaurant at a specific time.

[JOLTnPEST]

We got blocked out of everything but bayamo one night for our escape cruise. It really turned me off to Norwegian. The haven concierge said everything was booked up besides bayamo when we wanted to change times one night.

 

 

I really wish Ncl would not allow reservations until the morning of. What's the point in free style when you have to stress out over booking meals and book them 90 days out.

[Warm-Water Diver]

Hearing everyone's frustrations about dinner reservations is frustrating to me. The Escape accommodates LOTS of cruisers and we all knew that before we booked our cruise. It's fairly logical that everyone on board cannot get a reservation exactly as desired........just as if you were in NY or Vegas or anywhere else that have desirable and popular dinner venues, the perfect dinner time is not always available. RELAX ~ BE FLEXIBLE ~ THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX ~ ENJOY YOUR CURISE. There's plenty of food on the ship and none of us will go hungry. Love the one(s) you're with. They are more important than getting into a specific restaurant at a specific time.

 

Respectfully, I think you're missing the point. Many of the people complaining (including me) are trying to book the specialties since they bought the SDP for any given number of nights. The complicating factor is you have to plan and take into account dining times which become very important when you're also planning to attend a show, venue (expl Supper Club, Levity Comedy, Theater show etc) on the same night. Being forced to take an extra early (5:30, 6pm) or much later (9, 9:30pm) dining time (and that's if you were even able to book a time since many nights are completely unavailable at some point during the cruise) means you most likely will not be able to attend your targeted show/venue for that evening/s. THAT in itself is a much bigger loss or issue than just not getting your anticipated dining time. It's like you're minimizing that actual issue at hand.

 

So just to reiterate. It not only ruins the dining experience, it will also ultimately ruin your evening plans for a show/comedy. I believe that is unacceptable when NCL promotes the Freestyle concept: dine anywhere you want, with anyone you want, at any time that you want, while wearing anything you want

[SNJCruisers]

So just to reiterate. It not only ruins the dining experience, it will also ultimately ruin your evening plans for a show/comedy. I believe that is unacceptable when NCL promotes the Freestyle concept: dine anywhere you want, with anyone you want, at any time that you want, while wearing anything you want.

I was under the impression that shorts could not be worn in the Specialty venues, am I wrong with this assumption?

[LMaxwell]

I was under the impression that shorts could not be worn in the Specialty venues, am I wrong with this assumption?

 

You should not assume. One or two will not allow shorts but the rest are fine.

[SNJCruisers]

You should not assume. One or two will not allow shorts but the rest are fine.

So, are Cagneys and Le Bistro the non short wearing venues and shorts are ok in Teppanyaki, Moderno and La Cucina? If you're going to correct my assumption, at the very least be venue specific with your answer. Thank you.

[LMaxwell]

So, are Cagneys and Le Bistro the non short wearing venues and shorts are ok in Teppanyaki, Moderno and La Cucina? If you're going to correct my assumption, at the very least be venue specific with your answer. Thank you.

 

Le Bistro I believe is no shorts. The others I think are allowed. The Aft MDR does not allow shorts. Double check to be certain. On sailings five days or less (other ships) shorts are OK in all venues.

[SNJCruisers]

Le Bistro I believe is no shorts. The others I think are allowed. The Aft MDR does not allow shorts. Double check to be certain. On sailings five days or less (other ships) shorts are OK in all venues.

We are tentatively sailing on the Escape next January and probably not eating in any of the MDRs. Obviously there will be first hand experience reports on the boards about which venues do not allow shorts. The specialty restaurants on Celebrity as well as the steakhouses on RCI and Carnival do not allow shorts. I assumed that NCL had the same policy.