First time on NCL, Dining Reservation Question

[crystalaziza]

On 7/7/2021 at 7:39 AM, hallux said:

That's the biggest load of BS I've ever heard!

WHAT????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

[nolatravelgirl]

On 7/7/2021 at 1:55 AM, rscales2 said:

I’m going on a 7 day cruise in February on the Epic. I love the food on the Epic. I’m going on the Prima in September. My NCL Cruise Consultant said they may not have complementary dinners. 

Not to be pedantic but there is a difference between complimentary and complementary. What your consultant may have been referencing is that NCL may not be offering the "Free at Sea" choice of free specialty dining on Prima.

 

Complimentary means “expressing a compliment” or “favorable.” It can also mean “free” in reference to items or services provided as a courtesy. Complementary refers to enhancing or emphasizing the qualities of another person or thing.

[KeithJenner]

30 minutes ago, nolatravelgirl said:

Not to be pedantic but there is a difference between complimentary and complementary. What your consultant may have been referencing is that NCL may not be offering the "Free at Sea" choice of free specialty dining on Prima.

 

Complimentary means “expressing a compliment” or “favorable.” It can also mean “free” in reference to items or services provided as a courtesy. Complementary refers to enhancing or emphasizing the qualities of another person or thing.

You can certainly get free at sea offers on the Prima. Many of us have booked already.

 

Almost certainly, there is a confusion driven by the fact that only a few venues have been announced so far, including the MDR's and buffet. Maybe they were saying that none have yet been released, or maybe they were making an assumption based on this.

[ChiefMateJRK]

On 7/7/2021 at 12:45 AM, KeithJenner said:

I would take what you are told by NCL staff with a shovel of salt.

I think that there is a distinction to be made between customer service (i.e. reservations) staff and PCC's.  My PCCs have ranged from simply redundant to awful.  I believe that in many cases they are simply commissioned sales people intended to sell cruises to folks who haven't a clue what they want.  I'm sure that there are some that add value, I've simply never encountered one.

[complawyer]

i would agree with your analysis on the shovel, but would consider a wholly different compound to use it with

[KeithJenner]

1 hour ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

I think that there is a distinction to be made between customer service (i.e. reservations) staff and PCC's.  My PCCs have ranged from simply redundant to awful.  I believe that in many cases they are simply commissioned sales people intended to sell cruises to folks who haven't a clue what they want.  I'm sure that there are some that add value, I've simply never encountered one.

I’ve spoken to some NCL staff who have been fairly knowledgable, and very few who have been really bad.

 

However, we know from these boards that many give completely incorrect info. I assume it is due to lack of training (and the fact that many won’t really be all that interested).

 

A lot of time is spent on here correcting duff info that people have been given by NCL staff. This one reminds me of the time that someone came on here to say that they had been told that the only ship NCL would have in Europe the following year was the Epic. At the time that was the only ship announced, so the staff member had obviously assumed that was it, despite the fact that there were a group of ships not yet announced for that year.

 

I assume this is a similar case. No MDRs have been announced and the staff member has noticed this but hasn’t realised that there are lots of venues not yet announced.

 

As is fairly standard for such staff, they aren’t let into secrets in advance. Even if NCL were going to get rid of complementary dining I can’t imagine that they would have told the booking staff at this point.

Edited July 12, 2021 by KeithJenner

[fshagan]

23 hours ago, KeithJenner said:

A lot of time is spent on here correcting duff info that people have been given by NCL staff. This one reminds me of the time that someone came on here to say that they had been told that the only ship NCL would have in Europe the following year was the Epic. At the time that was the only ship announced, so the staff member had obviously assumed that was it, despite the fact that there were a group of ships not yet announced for that year.

 

I assume this is a similar case. No MDRs have been announced and the staff member has noticed this but hasn’t realised that there are lots of venues not yet announced.

 

Another common problem in customer service is simple miscommunication.

 

What the rep says: "I don't know if the Prima will have free meals in the main dining rooms."

 

What the customer hears: "Once again, NCL has a cut back and this time it's taking away free meals in the MDR."

 

The rep says it because they haven't seen it specifically mentioned, and the rep doesn't have enough knowledge about the company to realize that of course, they always have free meals in the MDR. The rep is a minimum wage, call center employee who just started working at NCL and doesn't know that free meals have been a thing for the last 50 to 75 years.

 

The customer hears the more stringent version because of their frustration with the company over the years in chipping away at things included in the fare (like room service).

[DCGuy64]

On 7/12/2021 at 5:00 PM, complawyer said:

i would agree with your analysis on the shovel, but would consider a wholly different compound to use it with

Possibly a word with the same number of letters and the 1st and last ones being identical? 😆

[complawyer]

si senor, you have masterfully read my mind. not only  that, but  one of the main selling points (if not  the MAIN selling point) of any cruise line  is food, food, food.

 

there may be some changes in the buffet, or service in a main dining room,   BUT!!!!!

i cant imagine any cruise line sailing without free dinners in main dining rooms.  

[rscales2]

I’m really looking forward to cruising again no matter what the dining situation. 

[lexxfield]

I agree with JamieLogical and others that reservations are not needed in the main dining rooms.  That is one the great advantages to NCL's Freestyle concept.  I have been on five NCL cruises and I have only had to wait twice to be seated.  If one of the three main dining rooms is full, a strategy that works well is to see if you can be seated at either of the other two.  As I mentioned, I have only had to wait twice out of 35 times when all three dining rooms were full. One time, the wait was five minutes, the other time about ten. 

[delaware32]

We have made main dining room reservations when we had a group in excess of 4 people . Any other time really isn't necessary . One might have a bit of a wait if an early dining time is desired but even then it's not all that long,