Escape specialty dining - is it "necessary"?

[MarkusToe]

We are new to NCL - coming from X

 

we got the UDP for our Escape sailing Nov 26

 

I've seen 3 free spec. restaurants - right?

Do we have to do the reservation there upfront the sailing or on board?

Any recomendation for restaurants?

ONe part of the party is fish the other meat.....like surf &turf :)

[Cruise Crazy Family]

Someone told me that if we bring our two children (7&9), they can simply pick from the MDR kids' menu and we won't have to pay extra for them. Can anyone confirm that? We are thinking of getting the specialty dining perk but we are hesitant.

[LrgPizza]

Someone told me that if we bring our two children (7&9), they can simply pick from the MDR kids' menu and we won't have to pay extra for them. Can anyone confirm that? We are thinking of getting the specialty dining perk but we are hesitant.

 

 

That's correct.

 

Also, lots of people feed the kids in the buffet, then send them to the kids club while the parents dine alone. Just another option.

 

 

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[aubreyc1988]

Do you think we'd be missing out if we only take advantage of the all-inclusive options for dining? My husband is concerned that because there are so many not-included dining options on the Escape, if we only eat in the main dining room we will either have long lines all the time or have limited food choices. Thanks for your thoughts!

 

No, it's not needed - i felt like the MDR was very good, and even the buffet was probably one of the best i have had on a cruise ship. O'Sheehan's is a great free option with decent tasty selections.

 

I never had a wait time on the Escape for the MDR/Buffet/O'Sheehan's. If one dining room has a wait, just go to the other one right across from it and see if they can get you in, both have identical menus posted out front

 

and if you don't like the food, splurge and go to a specialty, but it's definitely not a NEED - I personally would recommend one trip to Food Republic though :)

[Two Wheels Only]

Someone told me that if we bring our two children (7&9), they can simply pick from the MDR kids' menu and we won't have to pay extra for them. Can anyone confirm that? We are thinking of getting the specialty dining perk but we are hesitant.

 

No matter which restaurant that you are in, your kids can pick from the kids' menu without charge.

 

[lisakoivu]

I've been on at least six (maybe more, I don't count) NCL cruises, and I have never eaten in a specialty restaurant. We eat in O'Sheehan's on prime rib night, usually grab something from the buffet on Port Days (because we're usually too beat to change clothes) and eat in the MDR the balance of days. We rarely even venture to the Manhattan room - it's loud - we stick to Taste and Savour. I've never waited, that I can recall, but we eat early, around 6.

 

If I've never had it, I can't miss it? What I object to more than paying for specialty dining is the reservations thing. I'm on vacation, and my idea of that, which may differ from others, is that I don't want to be on a schedule. I want to eat when I'm hungry. So people go on cruises for different reasons and some are foodies and want those paid experiences, which is great for them, but I have never felt I was missing out by sticking to the MDRs/O'Sheehan's.

[DMH15]

For me, it's not all about "better food". Although, I do have my "favorites" in each one that I don't want to miss. It is also about the atmosphere. A smaller venue is quieter and more pleasing IMHO. I also have found the service to be more polished. In the MDR servers have to go to a distant galley, in the specialties they are never far off.

 

I don't mind the MDR... can always find something good to eat, but to me the specialties are just more, well... special.

[Maddysdaddy]

Sailed with my wife and daughter on the Escape back in March and ate at three specialties, Moderno, Le Bistro and Teppanyaki. In hindsight, the meals at all three were 'fine' but the quality of food was not better than what we were served in the MDR's - which we found to be perfectly acceptable "banquet" dining.

 

Teppanyaki was on par with similar venues at home, and our local churrascarias (I'm a meatatarian) and French restaurants serve significantly better meals than we received at Moderno and Le Bistro.

 

Were we to sail on the Escape again, I wouldn't feel any pressing need to dine anywhere other than the MDR's - except for Food Republic, which we quite enjoyed, but isn't part of the SDP.

[Cubechick]

+100. I will probably eat a Food Republic 3 times on my next Escape sailing. Even without being able to use the UDP.

 

+1000 :D The food at Food Republic was the best food I've ever had on a cruise ship. I just hope the product doesn't get diluted over time....

[juksing]

All good advice here. For us we have only sailed NCL once but were exclusively Specialty dining. We loved it, we found it quiet and relatively speedy and we had a lot of dishes we liked. On our upcoming cruise we are on the UDP so have already pre-booked a specialty every night. We were planning on trying tapas place for maybe one meal and with all the positive reviews here am now probably going to add Food Republic as well.

 

On our prior cruise we heard a lot of comments regarding the "bad" MDR food. But from all the recent reviews it seems like NCL has "upped" the complimentary dining quality and selection so i think no matter what choice you make you will probably be happy. I heard recently on the Seafood Buffet they were offering King Crab Legs so that sounds yummy, although may be gone by now.