Margaritaville to American Diner

[luv2kroooz]

2 hours ago, YankeesFan4Life said:

Hope they reconsider this as a non-upcharge spot...might make more people a lot happier...

Not to mention it would reduce overcrowding in the overcrowded Garden Cafe. Carnival does a nice job of this with the "free" Guy Fieri Pig and Anchor joint.

[gatorchinsky]

I know NCL wants to get as much money from cruisers as possible but Margaritaville and/or American Diner always seem to be empty so what’s the point.  They cannot be making any money from these.  That space could be better used for something that the passengers actually want and would use.

[shof515]

34 minutes ago, blcruising said:

Not to mention it would reduce overcrowding in the overcrowded Garden Cafe. Carnival does a nice job of this with the "free" Guy Fieri Pig and Anchor joint.

in additional to this, on some ships they have the Chinese and Italian restaurants have a free lunch . carnival really has a good handle and understanding on how to provide alternative lunch options to less the buffet crowds

 

i wish Norwegian does something similar 

[elwood_98034]

The busiest we saw the AD on the Joy was on embarkation day when Haven guests were given lunch there. It was dire, and pretty much a ghost town for the rest of the trip. I would just go to the buffet. Their burgers were pretty rank, but the Indian was good.

[Zippeedee]

American Diner made sense when the Joy was set up for the Asian market. It makes no sense at all to me now. Do they really think all we want to eat is fast food? They really can't dumb down the menus much more without turning the whole ship into a mall food court.

[shof515]

3 minutes ago, Zippeedee said:

American Diner made sense when the Joy was set up for the Asian market. It makes no sense at all to me now. Do they really think all we want to eat is fast food? They really can't dumb down the menus much more without turning the whole ship into a mall food court.

 

somehow someway johnny rockets is successful on Royal ships and it looks like Norwegian tried to follow them with this diner 

[Mkogler]

On 2/17/2020 at 3:23 PM, schmoopie17 said:

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

Today my app for our March Escape cruise shows both American Diner and Margaritaville

[TenForward]

On 2/18/2020 at 7:26 AM, Judes95 said:

 

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!!

 

How did this work out for you?  Was it busy?  Open for breakfast?   I really enjoyed Margaritaville as a quiet alternative to the Garden Cafe for breakfast.

 

We just booked for Easter week on Escape and it's showing both Margaritaville and American Diner.

 

[PelicanBill]

Breakway was converted and AD is operating on the current sailing. Menus were posted on another place which shall not be named.

[schmoopie17]

1 hour ago, Mkogler said:

Today my app for our March Escape cruise shows both American Diner and Margaritaville

 

And just like that, the Escape is showing American Diner when I logged in today. Wonder how they managed to pull off the transition while sailing around Europe with no open days.

Edited February 22, 2020 by schmoopie17

[shof515]

1 minute ago, schmoopie17 said:

 

And just like that, the Escape is showing American Diner when I logged in today. Wonder how they managed to pull off the transition at sea...

 

all they are doing is changing signage onboard the ship and maybe some small decor change. when the breakaway converted the free uptown grill to margaritavilla they did the change at sea or in port 

[geegee1]

On the app it had it listed as AD for the Bliss, this past week - 2/16 - 23, it was still branded on board as Margaritaville.  The few times we walked by, didn't see many people in it

[BirdTravels]

19 hours ago, TenForward said:

 

How did this work out for you?  Was it busy?  Open for breakfast?   I really enjoyed Margaritaville as a quiet alternative to the Garden Cafe for breakfast.

 

We just booked for Easter week on Escape and it's showing both Margaritaville and American Diner.

 

When we were on the Encore, we ate at the American Diner for lunch twice. I would not say it was “busy”, but it wasn’t empty. 
 

We enjoyed the nice, quiet lunch watching the sea.  We already drop a chunk of change for the cruise so a few dollars for a nice lunch does not bother us. For us, we much prefer the AD over the old Flamingo Grill and Uptown Grill of the past. 

[krittykat]

I was looking forward to sitting in the bar at Margaritaville on the Getaway for my 4/12/20 cruise.  Was not planning to eat there since I have eaten at the restaurants on land and they are really nothing special but the drinks are fun. I love Jimmy Buffet music and a boat drink in the Caribbean  - listening to that music  - we were looking forward to.
Now this American Diner - looks cute but - why pay $12 for a cheeseburger you can get complimentary at O'Sheehans.  Not for me, thank you.  Will get my drinks elsewhere, I guess.

[insidecabin]

Add a $10 SDP then  get a full meal at AD with tip for $12.

 

 

 

[tomservo]

3 hours ago, insidecabin said:

Add a $10 SDP then  get a full meal at AD with tip for $12.

 

 

 

 

What does this mean? Sorry I'm not following.

[insidecabin]

Someone has pointed out you can upgrade your free at sea SDP with extra diners.

 

7+ night cruise you get at least 3SDP included with free at sea.

 

The dinners 4 and 5 cost $15, 6+ $10 each 

 

That is all you ever have to pay for a lunch or dinner at the paid for restaurants you just upgrade your SDP with more dinners if you are going to eat at them

[Mjka]

This is showing for Breakaway March 28

[Bostonjetset]

19 hours ago, krittykat said:

I was looking forward to sitting in the bar at Margaritaville on the Getaway for my 4/12/20 cruise.  Was not planning to eat there since I have eaten at the restaurants on land and they are really nothing special but the drinks are fun. I love Jimmy Buffet music and a boat drink in the Caribbean  - listening to that music  - we were looking forward to.
Now this American Diner - looks cute but - why pay $12 for a cheeseburger you can get complimentary at O'Sheehans.  Not for me, thank you.  Will get my drinks elsewhere, I guess.

I never understood this either. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not opposed to paying a fair cover charge for a speciality restaurant and usually do at least once per cruise on any line. But this a la carte business that NCL “pioneered” is ridiculous to me. The prices are close to what you would pay on land in many cases but you’ve already paid for meals as part of your fare. I live in the Boston area which is one of the most expensive regions of the US and even here you can find lunch specials where a good burger is $12 or less. 

[insidecabin]

1 hour ago, Bostonjetset said:

I never understood this either. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not opposed to paying a fair cover charge for a speciality restaurant and usually do at least once per cruise on any line. But this a la carte business that NCL “pioneered” is ridiculous to me. The prices are close to what you would pay on land in many cases but you’ve already paid for meals as part of your fare. I live in the Boston area which is one of the most expensive regions of the US and even here you can find lunch specials where a good burger is $12 or less. 

Free at sea and SDP solves the problem. 

People don't need to pay the  a La carte prices. 

 

[Bostonjetset]

15 minutes ago, insidecabin said:

Free at sea and SDP solves the problem. 

People don't need to pay the  a La carte prices. 

 

Correct but that doesn’t apply to everyone as not everyone has the SDP for one reason or another. I still maintain that the fixed cover charge was more beneficial to passengers, especially when one takes into account one had already paid for meals as part of their fare. A small cover over and above the base fare presumably provides for better ingredients, better atmosphere, and enhanced service from what one would find in the included venues. The current prices in many of NCL’s specialty restaurants are akin to eating out on land when starting from a base of $0. One is not starting from zero on a cruise when it comes to food. 

[Zippeedee]

5 hours ago, insidecabin said:

Someone has pointed out you can upgrade your free at sea SDP with extra diners.

 

7+ night cruise you get at least 3SDP included with free at sea.

 

The dinners 4 and 5 cost $15, 6+ $10 each 

 

That is all you ever have to pay for a lunch or dinner at the paid for restaurants you just upgrade your SDP with more dinners if you are going to eat at them

Where are you doing this? All I see in my account is a minimum three meal plan for $118.

[SplashOfWater]

5 minutes ago, Bostonjetset said:

Correct but that doesn’t apply to everyone as not everyone has the SDP for one reason or another. I still maintain that the fixed cover charge was more beneficial to passengers, especially when one takes into account one had already paid for meals as part of their fare. A small cover over and above the base fare presumably provides for better ingredients, better atmosphere, and enhanced service from what one would find in the included venues. The current prices in many of NCL’s specialty restaurants are akin to eating out on land when starting from a base of $0. One is not starting from zero on a cruise when it comes to food. 

When we first started cruising with NCL I remember they had very reasonable $10-$20 cover charges at their specialty restaurants...no a la carte pricing. It was affordable to go to Cagney's and only pay a $20 cover charge and have whatever you wanted. Now, there is no way I would go to Cagney's without the SDP, and pay those inflated prices.

[insidecabin]

2 hours ago, Zippeedee said:

Where are you doing this? All I see in my account is a minimum three meal plan for $118.

Still waiting for a reply that says how upgrading a free at sea SDP to more meals is done 

[Zippeedee]

2 hours ago, akmarshall said:

When we first started cruising with NCL I remember they had very reasonable $10-$20 cover charges at their specialty restaurants...no a la carte pricing. It was affordable to go to Cagney's and only pay a $20 cover charge and have whatever you wanted. Now, there is no way I would go to Cagney's without the SDP, and pay those inflated prices.

I also think the outrageous prices raise expectations for an extremely high quality experience, food and service, that just doesn't seem to exist anymore.