Bar Service in MDR

[salty dingo]

It's been a while since we have cruised NCL, but from what I recall on past cruises, at dinner a bar waiter (or waitress) would come by the table at some point, and take drink orders.

 

Is this still the case, or can you order bar drinks from the people who bring your food? How is the service? It it faster to just get up and go to a bar to get a drink refill at dinner?

 

Thanks for any recent experiences.

[FLAHAM]

Your waiter should ask you what you want to drink.  Have rarely if ever had a problem with speed of service.  Almost always asked if I want a refill during meal.  

[salty dingo]

Ok, thank you for that reply. Good to know the service is acceptable!

[mjkacmom]

On our last cruise on the Gem, we learned to order 2 drinks at a time, because we never had the opportunity to order a second. This was in the Grand Pacifica.

[salty dingo]

6 minutes ago, mjkacmom said:

On our last cruise on the Gem, we learned to order 2 drinks at a time, because we never had the opportunity to order a second. This was in the Grand Pacifica.

I had that experience as well in past cruises, but have not been on NCL in 7 1/2 years, so I was hoping it was better. Good thing the beverage package lets me order two at a time!

[DinaS]

5 minutes ago, mjkacmom said:

On our last cruise on the Gem, we learned to order 2 drinks at a time, because we never had the opportunity to order a second. This was in the Grand Pacifica.

 

That's a good point.  It was rare that we  had an opportunity to order a second drink when in the Grand Pacific on the Gem.  Food service was generally good, but the servers with the drinks were VERY busy, and flagging them down was a challenge.

 

Now that you are allowed to order two drinks per card, we will do that - we will order our cocktail and our wine at the same time!

[newmexicoNita]

we usually order just one, no problem with re-ordering later. We just catch our waiter when our first drink is about gone. Usually we only have 1 drink and one glass of wine at dinner anyway and often come into the dining room with one already. I guess it would be a good idea to order 2 at once, but they may get a little watered down if you order 2 

[bkrickles1]

On the Escape in July of 2018, we ate in one of the mdr's almost every night and I would walk in with a drink and then usually get a 2nd while dining. It was never a problem and much better than my experiences on rccl getting drinks in the mdr.

It's actually one of my pet peeves from rccl. Your waiter didn't get drinks and it was up to the 1 or 2 people designated for that task for the entire mdr, it seemed.

It wasn't bad on every sailing but it was on most. I had one sailing on the Liberty of the Seas several years ago where they learned my drink of choice for that cruise (Heineken) and it was waiting for me every night when I sat down. That was great but was not the norm in my experiences.

My suggestion to anyone would be to walk in with a drink so you're good to go when you first sit and let your waiter know that you'll be requiring another soon. Lol!!

[cliffd64]

19 minutes ago, bkrickles1 said:

My suggestion to anyone would be to walk in with a drink so you're good to go when you first sit and let your waiter know that you'll be requiring another soon. Lol!!

 

Always a good tip...  better to be prepared than to be waiting

 

[LrgPizza]

I've always found drink service to be slower than expected in the MDR, regardless of NCL ship. I usually make sure I pick one up on the way in. If I'm going to want a 2nd, I go ahead and order it at the time I'm ordering my meal. That way it usually comes right around when I'm ready for it.

Edited October 11, 2019 by LrgPizza

[CookieShip]

Sometimes the waiter would bring my drink (just soda though) and sometimes it would be the wine steward (again, just soda). Some waiters would bring doubles without asking too, which was nice. 

[schmoopie17]

For our group of six on the Bliss, we all had the beverage package. Each couple preferred a different wine at dinner. The waiter took our wine orders and then brought all three bottles to the table and left them. We loved that...😁

[salty dingo]

1 minute ago, schmoopie17 said:

For our group of six on the Bliss, we all had the beverage package. Each couple preferred a different wine at dinner. The waiter took our wine orders and then brought all three bottles to the table and left them. We loved that...😁

That's awesome! If they brought 3 bottles for 6 people maybe they would bring one bottle for the two of us.

 

Anyone else have a great waiter like that? I am sure it is easier on them to just bring the bottle rather than take repeat orders.

[jaja]

On 10/11/2019 at 7:54 AM, bkrickles1 said:

 

My suggestion to anyone would be to walk in with a drink so you're good to go when you first sit and let your waiter know that you'll be requiring another soon. Lol!!

This is what I do ....never a problem then waiting...😉