Question on booking entertainment reservations

[CTCruisers]

We recently sailed on the Norwegian Escape. While we were steady cruisers booking two cruises a year, we recently had a three year gap due to health issues. So, I was out of loop with following Cruise Critic threads for information. We booked the Escape cruise as a celebratory vacation for our 40th anniversary and having a clean bill of health.

 

We are Platinum cruisers with NCL and when I looked at booking dining and entertainment 6 months prior to the cruise, the only show I saw as an option was the "After Midnight" show in the theater which I booked. Life was pretty hectic for the time leading up to the cruise, so I did not bother to see if any new entertainment options as it did not occur to me.

 

I was amazed after getting on board to find out that they now had "The Choir of Man" show as well as comedians and all required reservations but were totally sold out.

 

We were able to go to a late showing of "the Choir of Man" (a terrific show), but the only way to see a comedian was to wait on a stand by line (my wife cannot stand for any period of time). The comics were in the small room they use for the Howl at the Moon piano players and had limited seating.

 

If we were to book another cruise on one the NCL mega ships, how often should I be checking for newly added entertainment prior to the cruise sail date.

 

[BirdTravels]

19 minutes ago, CTCruisers said:

If we were to book another cruise on one the NCL mega ships, how often should I be checking for newly added entertainment prior to the cruise sail date.

CTCruisers,

 

Sorry you had problems getting in to see some of the shows on the Escape. Like other cruise lines, if you are on a mega ship, you need to book some of your entertainment. For NCL those ships are Epic, Breakaway, Getaway, Escape, Joy, Bliss, and Encore. 

 

Reservations for specialty dining and entertainment open 120 days prior to cruise (130 if you are in a Concierge Suite or Haven stateroom). Prime time dining and entertainment will sell out, so booking as close to 120 days prior to departure is a must. 

 

For entertainment, you can only book the two main theater shows, paid dinner shows (e.g., Cirque and the Escape Cabaret), and paid lunch shows (e.g., Wine Lovers the Musical, Murder Mystery (don't know if they even do those any more)) in advance. 

 

Pro Traveler: At check-in, grab a "Welcome Aboard" sheet (the one with the map of the ship). On the back of the map, there is embarkation day information including the location of entertainment booking. On most ships, they use the theater box office, but we have seen a couple of instances where they have moved to bigger rooms. 

AS SOON AS YOU EMBARK, head to the entertainment booking venue.  You can book your two main theater shows, comedy shows (early shows are family oriented, late shows are 18+), complementary dinner shows (Escape only), complimentary escape room sessions, Canvas by U painting classes - extra fee, paid dinner shows (e.g., Cirque, Escape Cabaret) - extra fee, paid lunch shows (e.g., Wine Lovers) - extra fee, go karts - extra fee, laser tag - extra fee, other entertainment (e.g., Prohibition the musical) - extra fee. Offerings vary by ship

 

Now that you have your entertainment sorted out, go to the dining reservation venue to change/adjust your dining reservations around the shows you just booked. Dining reservations are usually done in Headliners Comedy Club/The Social Comedy Club. However, there have been instances where they use the teppanyaki restaurant across the hall. 

Edited November 16, 2019 by BirdTravels

[CTCruisers]

5 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

Reservations for specialty dining and entertainment open 120 days prior to cruise (130 if you are in a Concierge Suite or Haven stateroom). Prime time dining and entertainment will sell out, so booking as close to 120 days prior to departure is a must. 

 

For entertainment, you can only book the two main theater shows, paid dinner shows (e.g., Cirque and the Escape Cabaret), and paid lunch shows (e.g., Wine Lovers the Musical, Murder Mystery (don't know if they even do those any more)) in advance. 

 

 

That is surprising.  We were one of the first groups of passengers to board the ship and yet everything was totally booked when I checked less than an hour after getting on board.

 

I just assumed that you could pre-book the comics and the Choir of Man shows since they were not available to book on board.

 

I guess free style is not available on the mega ships with so many passengers and small venues with limited seating.

[cruisinmeme]

BirdTravels advice is spot on. BTW do our booking as early as you can on the day they become available. I marked my calendar!! Believe it or not many times for dinner had already been filled up within the first 24 hours. We have a cruise on Getaway for December 8th and again on march 8th.  I have  our dinner booked for every night and shows booked for anything we can.  We never had to do this because we always sailed smaller ships.  Sailed Breakawy in June and nothing was booked ahead.  We got lucky and booked with the app as soon as we got on board.  That is another new feature we LOVED. The NCL app.

[shof515]

13 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

Pro Traveler: At check-in, grab a "Welcome Aboard" sheet (the one with the map of the ship). On the back of the map, there is embarkation day information including the location of entertainment booking. On most ships, they use the theater box office, but we have seen a couple of instances where they have moved to bigger rooms. 

AS SOON AS YOU EMBARK, head to the entertainment booking venue.  You can book your two main theater shows, comedy shows (early shows are family oriented, late shows are 18+), complementary dinner shows (Escape only), complimentary escape room sessions, Canvas by U painting classes - extra fee, paid dinner shows (e.g., Cirque, Escape Cabaret) - extra fee, paid lunch shows (e.g., Wine Lovers) - extra fee, go karts - extra fee, laser tag - extra fee, other entertainment (e.g., Prohibition the musical) - extra fee. Offerings vary by ship

 

Lucky on the big ships, you can do most of the reservations by using the touch screens near the elevators. prevents visiting the booking venue or box office