On board perk - Wifi vs Specialty Dining

[tampagirl2]

Hi,

 

We are new to NCL and have a cruise booked for June 2019. We are a family of 4 with a then 5 and 6 year old. We are not drinkers. On this cruise we were able to get 3rd and 4th guest free. I also picked the free Wifi as my husband likes to keep in touch with work. We also have a $140 on board credit. I didn't pick specialty dining as I thought we'd have to pay for our kids. From further reading it seems they can get kids meals for free? Now I'm wondering if we should switch? Are the restaurants a lot better? Can you make reservations even without the package? We will be on Jewel.

[RaiderDuck]

We LOVE the specialty restaurants, but not everyone does. The big question is whether you'd be happy with what's offered in the MDRs, O'Sheehan's (the free pub), Chin-Chin (the free Chinese restaurant) and the buffet. If so, I'd keep things the way they are.

[BirdTravels]

Hi,

 

 

 

We are new to NCL and have a cruise booked for June 2019. We are a family of 4 with a then 5 and 6 year old. We are not drinkers. On this cruise we were able to get 3rd and 4th guest free. I also picked the free Wifi as my husband likes to keep in touch with work. We also have a $140 on board credit. I didn't pick specialty dining as I thought we'd have to pay for our kids. From further reading it seems they can get kids meals for free? Now I'm wondering if we should switch? Are the restaurants a lot better? Can you make reservations even without the package? We will be on Jewel.

 

Kids can eat off the kid’s menu at all restaurants for free.

[Two_UW_Badgers]

Yes, my kids have ordered off the kids menu at La Cucina (free). We also ordered my son calamari since it’s his favorite and although we made it clear it was for him, it was comped.

 

Tangent question: is the dining package perk on 10-night Cruises always 4 nights of dining? My gratuity is $16.80pp but doesn’t say the number of nights.

[BNBR]

I don't remember the exact numbers, but note that the "free" wifi isn't unlimited. It's pricey to upgrade the "free" benefit to unlimited, actually. If you want to do specialty dining, I would do the numbers and see if they work out better just buying wifi separate and getting the dining package as a perk or not.

[tampagirl2]

Thank you! We will probably want unlimited WiFi, so will look into that.

 

Can you make reservations for specialty dining without the plan?

[BNBR]

Thank you! We will probably want unlimited WiFi, so will look into that.

 

Can you make reservations for specialty dining without the plan?

 

Yes, you can pay for specialty dining as you go. Note that the plan gives you, I think, 3 nights specialty dining. The upgrade to unlimited WiFi was well over $100, maybe around $200 if I recall... and that was with the free wifi perk. It's a requirement for me, too.

 

Others may be able to chime in on what is the better offer. If you only wanted 1 night specialty, for example, the WiFi may come out way ahead.

[Sauer-kraut]

If you are doing specialty dining without a package just know that most of the restaurants are "a la carte" meaning each item has a price, and you will pay (just like any land restaurant). Teppenayki will have a flat fee but you do need to make reservations early as the seats are very limited.