Margaritaville to American Diner

[Capefearshore]

Any more information on the transition away from Margaritaville to American Diner fleetwide? Someone mentioned the Breakaway would switch shortly, any others?

[RHilla619]

The word around here was the franchising/naming rights contract with Margaritaville came to an end, and Norwegian decided not to re-up the contract. Not surprising as the restaurant was almost always empty, busiest I ever saw it on Getaway & Escape was in the morning for the "secret" buffet. So any ship that had a Margaritaville will be switched to American Diner, if it hasn't happened already. Bummer for me, as a big fan of Jimmy's music it was nice to hang at the bar there for a bit each day.

[Montanagirlalways]

Yes. Too bad. But I think they killed it with a cover charge. Also the locations on the ships weren’t very good in my opinion

[Mike_DeA]

3 minutes ago, Montanagirlalways said:

Yes. Too bad. But I think they killed it with a cover charge. Also the locations on the ships weren’t very good in my opinion

 

$15pp was a bad idea.  If they would have settled on something in the $8-10 range it may have worked better.

[Capefearshore]

Thanks for the replies. I agree that the cover charge killed this space. This would have been a great time to come up with a new concept. I'm not a huge fan of American diner. I actually enjoyed Margaritaville before the cover charge increase.

[broadwaybaby123]

I'm kind of mad that they took it away!  I'm such a huge Jimmy Buffet fan and was looking forward to eating at my first Marguaritaville At Sea!  I've done others on land, but the chain isn't up here in the NH area, so I go to one every chance I get!

[luv2kroooz]

So, now we can pay to eat the same food we could get at our local Denny's. Thanks, but no thanks.

[Laszlo]

56 minutes ago, broadwaybaby123 said:

I'm kind of mad that they took it away!  I'm such a huge Jimmy Buffet fan and was looking forward to eating at my first Marguaritaville At Sea!  I've done others on land, but the chain isn't up here in the NH area, so I go to one every chance I get!

 

Don't worry, you guys up in NH have the best Beef Tips in the world. Just got back from a week up skiing in Jackson and we brought back 20lbs of them. You can't get that at Marguaritaville Lol

[schmoopie17]

Just looged into my account for our May 3 Escape cruise in the Mediterranean. Margaritaville is still showing as a dining option.

[tallnthensome]

3 hours ago, broadwaybaby123 said:

I'm kind of mad that they took it away!  I'm such a huge Jimmy Buffet fan and was looking forward to eating at my first Marguaritaville At Sea!  I've done others on land, but the chain isn't up here in the NH area, so I go to one every chance I get!

You would have been terribly disappointed...... Horrible.

[Sand and Seas]

We didn't try the American Diner on our Encore cruise but might in the future.  The menu didn't really appeal to us.

I wish they would come up with something more fitting for this open-air venue.   When Getaway and Breakaway launched, this spot on the ship was a great place to visit for breakfast or lunch.   The Getaway had a Cuban influenced menu which we really enjoyed.

 

I hope they continue to have the mini breakfast buffet🤞

[kickbutt10]

I just checked our May 10th Breakaway dining options.  American Diner is now showing.  Haven guests were offered free lunch on embarkation day at Margaritaville.  I wonder if American Diner will be offered now?  I would be game to try it for free but I haven't heard anything that would make me want to pay an upcharge.  I will miss the watermelon margaritas but that is about it.

[casofilia]

If they did potato skins like we had on the PoA many years ago that would be a draw for me especially if free.  Surely they wont put on a cover charge on an American Diner.

[gmbhardy]

17 minutes ago, casofilia said:

If they did potato skins like we had on the PoA many years ago that would be a draw for me especially if free.  Surely they wont put on a cover charge on an American Diner.

 

The American Diner is a la carte. It will end up costing you a lot more than Margaritaville.

[tallnthensome]

5 hours ago, gmbhardy said:

 

The American Diner is a la carte. It will end up costing you a lot more than Margaritaville.

 ....... and will be equally as unused as its predecessor. NCL must seem to think that customers just didn’t like the venue while in reality it was the upcharge for things you could get elsewhere on the ships for Free. It made no sense then nor now and the future. You won’t catch me paying for a cheeseburger on a cruise with fare already paid. 

[pe4all]

The upcharged turned us off, so we did not partake in Margaritaville.  $60 (4 people) may not sound too bad, but when there is so much "free" food (and better food) elsewhere on a ship, that is where we would go.  Would rather spend that $60 towards a specialty restaurant.  Not too sure I would eat at a diner, either.

[FLAHAM]

58 minutes ago, tallnthensome said:

 ....... and will be equally as unused as its predecessor. NCL must seem to think that customers just didn’t like the venue while in reality it was the upcharge for things you could get elsewhere on the ships for Free. It made no sense then nor now and the future. You won’t catch me paying for a cheeseburger on a cruise with fare already paid. 

Hopefully, the Diner cheesburgers will be better than the terrible buffet cheeseburgers, where passengers have to unwrap a slice of cheese themselves and stick it--unmelted--on the barely acceptable burger.  

[vpearlkc]

23 minutes ago, FLAHAM said:

Hopefully, the Diner cheesburgers will be better than the terrible buffet cheeseburgers, where passengers have to unwrap a slice of cheese themselves and stick it--unmelted--on the barely acceptable burger.  

Why not hit the O'Sheehans or whatever the name has changed to for a decent bar burger. I don't think I have ever ate a burger at a buffet.

[Judes95]

 

Does anyone know if the Diner will be open for lunch?  We leave on Saturday on Breakaway.  In the past we have had lunch at Margaritaville day ship leaves because it was less crowded than buffet and I loved their margaritas.  So bummed!!

[YankeesFan4Life]

I think the American Diner is a terrible idea as an upcharge restaurant.  We went by Margaritaville on BA every morning when we walked the track, and never saw it as appealing.  There were many other free dining options on the ship, and never gave it a second glimpse.  We were on the RCL Adventure of the Seas a couple years ago and they had Johnny Rockets, similar concept to the renderings I've seen of the American Diner, and it too was an upcharge.  The only thing that was good about it were the milkshakes were included in their beverage package.  I'll stick to the buffet, MDR's, O'Sheehan's and whatever specialty dining option I get as Free at Sea.  Hope they reconsider this as a non-upcharge spot...might make more people a lot happier...

[SplashOfWater]

On the Getaway, Margaritaville replaced a great complimentary venue called the Flamingo Grill. It had a Cuban theme with a bar and small buffet. They had the best fried sweet plantains! I believe the Breakaway had a NY-style deli prior to Margaritaville. It's a shame they don't bring back these unique free dining options.

[shof515]

37 minutes ago, akmarshall said:

I believe the Breakaway had a NY-style deli prior to Margaritaville. It's a shame they don't bring back these unique free dining options.

on the breakaway they had the uptown bar and grill. i loved that place when i was on the breakaway in 2014.

 

They should really make it another free venue as that will help lessen the crowds at the main garden cafe buffet 

[JamieLogical]

Wow, I am jealous of the people who got to sail on the Breakaway when the Uptown Bar & Grill was there. That looks great!

[gmbhardy]

3 hours ago, tallnthensome said:

 ....... and will be equally as unused as its predecessor. NCL must seem to think that customers just didn’t like the venue while in reality it was the upcharge for things you could get elsewhere on the ships for Free. It made no sense then nor now and the future. You won’t catch me paying for a cheeseburger on a cruise with fare already paid. 

 

We actually enjoyed our lunch at the Diner on the Encore. Used our SDP. The menu has a lot more than just burgers. We had lobster rolls for an appetizer and they were very good. I also had a seafood platter that was better than Ocean Blue. 

[KarlChilders]

Never ate there except for breakfast and the one time we ordered the Volcano nachos (which were decent) from the barman, but I will miss the Incommunicado and Don't stop the Carnival drinks from the bar.