What’s your favorite specialty restaurant for first night of cruise?

[NH Cruisers]

6 hours ago, sargemrs said:

I'm curious, no one has mentioned the Haven Restaurant, so are they not open the first night (we're in the Haven on our next cruise....1st time)  just wondering?

The Double Cut pork chop was my favorite in the Breakaways Haven restaurant.  That's were I eat lunch on embarkation day if staying in a suite.

[SLYScorpions]

21 hours ago, casofilia said:

We love Moderno.  A warning though don't eat too much from the salad area before you get the meat!!!  Another warning make sure you try the Seafood Chowder but again not too much.

Try to keep a "menu" on your table so you can see what you haven't tried.  Make up your minds of what you want to try and refuse the others till you have been through the ones you do want.

The garlic potato and the plantains are wonderful but again don't have too much.

 

It sounds fabulous! Thanks for the recommendations...We will have to try to pace ourselves!  I LOVE plantains! 

[SLYScorpions]

13 hours ago, newmexicoNita said:

We love Modenro's but it seems like they are struggling and some of the ships have taken it out for other restaurants. The salad bar is great and we have been very happy with the meat selection. Some think it is too rare, others not rare enough. WE have always asked for the beef to be rare and have gotten it that way. We do this at the very start of the meal. 

 

I can't wait to try it!  Thanks for your reply! 

[kismet618]

11 hours ago, sargemrs said:

Oh, OK.....I understand!!  We DO have 3 specialty restaurants perks but we were waiting until later in the cruise to decide when to use them, but just wondered why the Haven wasn't mentioned.....I understand it's supposed to be comparable and maybe better than the specialty restaurants so wondered.  Thanks for the replies.

I’m not sure when you’re sailing, but you may want to make reservations as early as your window opens, as a lot of spots fill up quickly for the specialty restaurant. I’ve found that a large majority of NCL passengers opt for the drinks and specialty dining packages, so there is a fair amount of competition for choice dinner times. For shows as well. That’s not to say you can’t get a table later Pre-cruise, or once onboard, but you may have to settle for a 5pm or 930pm reservation.  I hope you have an amazing cruise 😊. 

[sverigecruiser]

 

The Haven restaurant.

[newmexicoNita]

11 hours ago, trex-de said:

 

 

Funny. We are just the opposite with MDR the first and Asian the last.  Tradition.    We will be on the Dawn next. LOS LOBOS day 1.  Broken tradition. 

2 plus week for us and we will be on the Dawn. Los Lobos will be on Sunday night for us. Traditions are always fun and if we break them we start all over again. 

[kayteecat]

My strategy on our last cruise on the Escape was to go with what we think will be the most popular restaurant on the first night - so we went with Cagney's. We closed out with Moderno the last night, and since we were on an NYE cruise we had Le Bistro that night. My only mistake was that since we were sailing out of Manhattan, it was too cold on the first and last nights to eat on the Waterfront so I do regret not swapping that around. We did eat at Pinchos though, so we didn't completely miss out on the Waterfront experience.

 

I had my eye out for Food Republic and wasn't aware it was even open the first night! Next time I would definitely take advantage, that was one of our favorite meals.

[CozGurl]

We ate at Moderno's the first night and it wasn't great. We tried it one more night thinking it was just first night bad luck, but we still weren't crazy about it. Cagney's was way better. 

 

Our next cruise I think we'll do MDR or O'Sheehan's the first night. 

[don't-use-real-name]

On ‎1‎/‎16‎/‎2019 at 8:06 PM, casofilia said:

First night:- le Bistro.

I know there is a method to your madness - the Dress Code does not apply on the first cruise night.  LOL !

[casofilia]

@don't-use-real-name

 

I know there is a method to your madness - the Dress Code does not apply on the first cruise night. 

 

Am I that transparent?

[don't-use-real-name]

1 minute ago, casofilia said:

@don't-use-real-name

 

I know there is a method to your madness - the Dress Code does not apply on the first cruise night. 

 

Am I that transparent?

You forgot the "LOL" at the end of the post !  LOL !

 

And regarding being transparent - hope that wasn't the clothing ?  ROFLOL !!!

[Wheeling TravelingMom]

We booked La Cucina the first night. I have no idea if this was a good plan or not as this will be our first NCL. My reasoning is that we are flying from CO to Amsterdam and will be massively jet lagged. The carbs will likely be a good fit for getting something nice to eat and then crashing in our room to catch up. We have booked all the specialty rests over the 14 day cruise once. 

[KC12]

Have found Le Bistro the best Restaurant on the past two cruises.

variety of special items.  Escargot, lamb, steak and many others. We usually go at least twice

[Baatman]

On ‎1‎/‎16‎/‎2019 at 8:42 AM, havanadaydreaming said:

Cagney's is my favorite.   We tend to have a "liquid dinner" on embarkation day, followed by a few bites in the buffet right before closing. 

 

Cagney's is my favorite NCL restaurant but Teppanyaki is also quite good and my wife's favorite.  we usually do hibachi first and save steak for near the end of the cruise. 

 

 

Liquid dinner - LOL

[A4Audigirl]

Booked Los Lobos for first night on Bliss this Saturday 😊 First day casual!

[drvmywifecrzy]

I love Ocean Blue.  Can't beat the service and it sets the bar for the whole cruise

[yankees111]

You do realize the OP’s cruise was 14 months ago lol

[Roger88]

Usually I dont each much, especially on the first day. We prefer some place where coffee and tea are served with some nice cozy sofas just to stay there and chill for a few hours. I personally like watching people doing things while drinking tea =D Yeah, I might sound weird but this is how I like to spend my first day\night on board. I hate getting drunk the first day and other things related to it 

[UODuckMan]

45 minutes ago, yankees111 said:

You do realize the OP’s cruise was 14 months ago lol

haha, that's funny!  I guess we should have the posters rate their choices.  🙂

 

If we're in the Haven, we'll eat their the first night.  Otherwise, it's Le Bistro for us!!

[FLcruisergrl]

If we’re on a ship with a Haven restaurant, we do that. If not, it’s always Cagney’s.

[seaman11]

i dont go to specially dining the first night . though maybe i should.  i like to get  feel for the quality of the mdr, if it is acceptable for the rest of the cruise or not.  i normally go to speciallyty  2 -3 nights during the cruise. 

[Yorkvillain]

39 minutes ago, seaman11 said:

i dont go to specially dining the first night . though maybe i should.  i like to get  feel for the quality of the mdr, if it is acceptable for the rest of the cruise or not.  i normally go to speciallyty  2 -3 nights during the cruise. 

 

Are you going to the MDR on the first night of your May 20th cruise? 

[seaman11]

2 minutes ago, Yorkvillain said:

 

Are you going to the MDR on the first night of your May 20th cruise? 

yes , if its still on , then second night cucina and 3rd cagneys, and we will go from there if the mdr is fine ill eat there night 4-5 . 

[ashleyriley]

4 minutes ago, Yorkvillain said:

 

Are you going to the MDR on the first night of your May 20th cruise? 

I see what you did there. 😂 I think he should still try to get a res at La Cucina, personally. 

[WYB!]

I also tend to not go specality dining on the first night as the ship is still in US waters and you might pay an additional local state/federal tax.

 

- WYB