Specialty Dining questions

[TrinaLC]

Is the “included” specialty dining meal for two, or is each “meal” per person?  So if I have two available, is that me and a guest twice, or just once for both of us?

 

Also, looking at specialty for my upcoming cruise it lists pricing for le Bistro and Cagneys “by item” (a la Carte). Does not allow me to select as one of my included options. 
 

Am I looking in the wrong place and if so where do you find the link to make resies for specialty dining included in ones package?

 

TIA

[ggTexasGal]

1 minute ago, TrinaLC said:

Is the “included” specialty dining meal for two, or is each “meal” per person?  So if I have two available, is that me and a guest twice, or just once for both of us?

 

Also, looking at specialty for my upcoming cruise it lists pricing for le Bistro and Cagneys “by item” (a la Carte). Does not allow me to select as one of my included options. 
 

Am I looking in the wrong place and if so where do you find the link to make resies for specialty dining included in ones package?

 

TIA

Hopefully, the Terms and Conditions shown below help to answer some of your questions...

If you are traveling solo, the meal is for you only, and a "table-mate" would need to have their own package. 

As for making reservations, you may do that online when logged into your account around 120 days prior to your cruise date (or when your FINAL PAYMENT is due).

If you are closer to sail date, have logged into your account and found the "Food and Beverage" link? You should be able to also find access to making reservations there.

.
*** Terms and Conditions:
Specialty Dining Package Package Meals Retail Value20% Gratuities

3-6 Nights1 Meal / Any Stateroom$50.00 per person$10.00 per package

7-11 Nights1 Meal / Studio, Inside, Oceanview$50.00 per person$10.00 per package

7-11 Nights2 Meals / Balcony & Above$89.00 per person$17.80 per package

12+ Nights2 Meals / Studio, Inside, Oceanview$89.00 per person$17.80 per package

12+ Nights3 Meals / Balcony & Above$119.00 per person$23.80 per package

 

Applicable to guests 1-2 on the reservation

Dining package is applicable to guest ages 2 and older

Package prices are subject to change

Guest is responsible for 20% gratuities on the retail value of the Specialty Dining Package prior to cruise

20% gratuities on the retail value of the Specialty Dining Package are included when booking through the Australia office

For Casino booked reservations – promotion code CASFAS will be added under referral code CASUPALL on sail lengths 7 nights or longer for Balcony and above staterooms

Packages are based on a per meal basis

Any Harvest Caye bars, restaurants, or venues, The Bake Shop, Ice Cream Bar, Gelato, specialty items in the Asian restaurant, Special Occasion/Holiday menus (New Year's, Christmas, etc.),

Jazz Brunch, Wine Lovers and Murder Mystery lunches, and beverages are not included as part of the Specialty Dining Packages

Guests are permitted to pre-reserve specialty dining with entertainment included However, the guest is responsible to pay the full retail value

If the guest chooses to use the reservation as part of their specialty dining package, they will need to make these arrangements once onboard

Specialty Dining Packages include one main course per person at Cagney's and Le Bistro

Additional main courses will be charged at the a la carte price listed on the menu

There is no minimum or maximum to the number of meals that can be redeemed in a day, however each meal is counted towards the package

[TrinaLC]

Thanks!

[KeithJenner]

2 hours ago, TrinaLC said:

Also, looking at specialty for my upcoming cruise it lists pricing for le Bistro and Cagneys “by item” (a la Carte). Does not allow me to select as one of my included options. 

When you reserve a restaurant, you are not selecting any of them as being included in the dining package, you are just reserving the table. How you pay for it is decided at the restaurant. Just book whatever restaurants you want and they will use your dining credit earn you eat.

[hallux]

2 hours ago, KeithJenner said:

Just book whatever restaurants you want and they will use your dining credit earn you eat.

The only caveat is if you want to book a mix of a-la-carte and cover-charge restaurants and don't have dining credits to cover all nights you want to book.  Book cover-charge venues FIRST as the system will assume you're using the dining credit for those.  If you book a-la-carte first and 'run out' of credits before booking cover-charge venues you will be charged the cover charge at the time you make the reservation. 

[TrinaLC]

Thanks!

[BirdTravels]

6 hours ago, TrinaLC said:

Is the “included” specialty dining meal for two, or is each “meal” per person?  So if I have two available, is that me and a guest twice, or just once for both of us?

 

Also, looking at specialty for my upcoming cruise it lists pricing for le Bistro and Cagneys “by item” (a la Carte). Does not allow me to select as one of my included options. 
 

Am I looking in the wrong place and if so where do you find the link to make resies for specialty dining included in ones package?

 

TIA

The specialty dining package that comes with Free at Sea is for two dinners for Guest 1 and Guest 2 in a cabin. 

 

It does NOT allow you to "take a friend" that isn't Guest 2 in a cabin. 

 

Exactly 120 days prior to departure, you log on to your account and make dinner reservations. You decide how you will pay for dinner at time of service (package meal or room charge). 

 

You can use your dining credit at all specialty restaurants. 

 

[tzeb]

Is there a way to make a reservation for 2 different cabins?  We are going with friends and want to eat together.

[MNcruisingcouple]

5 minutes ago, tzeb said:

Is there a way to make a reservation for 2 different cabins?  We are going with friends and want to eat together.

 

Just make reservations for the number of people.  They don't need to know about cabin numbers until you arrive at the restaurant.

 

[mbflyflyaway]

So if I’m reading this correct, if we make a reservation at a restaurant that is a la cart (seems all but Teppanyaki on the Joy), it’s “worth” up to $89 per meal? Thanks for posting that as I missed the T&C apparently. Someone stated that you can’t use the meals for non-named parties, but here’s my question, we are in a room of 4 (including our two teenage kids), so we have 4 total meals included. When I go to book reservations at a restaurant (Teppanyaki), it says it’s cost is $0 so I assume it knows we have the credit…and let’s me choose either 2 or 4 guests. I was assuming that means we can in fact use all our meals at once to include our kids. Anyone able to confirm this?

 

if it’s the same at an a la cart place, I’d probably book Cagney’s as it seems to be a better deal thank Teppanyaki….

 

Thanks in advance for your input!

[KeithJenner]

1 hour ago, mbflyflyaway said:

So if I’m reading this correct, if we make a reservation at a restaurant that is a la cart (seems all but Teppanyaki on the Joy), it’s “worth” up to $89 per meal? Thanks for posting that as I missed the T&C apparently. Someone stated that you can’t use the meals for non-named parties, but here’s my question, we are in a room of 4 (including our two teenage kids), so we have 4 total meals included. When I go to book reservations at a restaurant (Teppanyaki), it says it’s cost is $0 so I assume it knows we have the credit…and let’s me choose either 2 or 4 guests. I was assuming that means we can in fact use all our meals at once to include our kids. Anyone able to confirm this?

 

if it’s the same at an a la cart place, I’d probably book Cagney’s as it seems to be a better deal thank Teppanyaki….

 

Thanks in advance for your input!

No, you can’t use your free meals for

your kids. They are non transferable and you will be charged for anyone without the package at the restaurant.

 

The reason why you aren’t getting charged when booking is that you are just reserving a table for that number of people. The system makes no assumptions regarding who you are taking so doesn’t know who will or won’t have the package, so it just basis the charge on whether you have it or not. It will either charge for everyone or nobody.

 

The charge incurred when booking isn’t the final charge. It can be refunded onboard (if you use the package after paying when booking) or you can be charged onboard in your situation.

Edited December 1, 2022 by KeithJenner

[hallux]

7 hours ago, mbflyflyaway said:

So if I’m reading this correct, if we make a reservation at a restaurant that is a la cart (seems all but Teppanyaki on the Joy), it’s “worth” up to $89 per meal?

There's no set $ value at the a-la-carte venues.  Order what you want, with the only limitation being a single entree, and some items do carry additional cost that is not covered by the package..

[mbflyflyaway]

Thanks so much for the clarification! Guess it’s time to buy the kids some specialty dining packages as they love the meals as much as us.

[PandaBear62]

17 hours ago, hallux said:

There's no set $ value at the a-la-carte venues.  Order what you want, with the only limitation being a single entree, and some items do carry additional cost that is not covered by the package..

 

To be specific.......at the a-la-carte venues, you could order 2 appetizers, a soup and a salad (for example?) Or, at La Cucina, a soup, a salad, a pasta, main course and all the desserts? 

 

I'm not saying I could even eat that much, I just want to understand the promotion.

 

Thanks.

[KeithJenner]

1 hour ago, PandaBear62 said:

 

To be specific.......at the a-la-carte venues, you could order 2 appetizers, a soup and a salad (for example?) Or, at La Cucina, a soup, a salad, a pasta, main course and all the desserts? 

 

I'm not saying I could even eat that much, I just want to understand the promotion.

 

Thanks.

I’m not aware of anyone stretching the limits to the extent of “all the desserts”, and I’m sure that there would be a limit somewhere as to what they allow you to order, but yes you can order multiples of everything except entrees.

 

Some staff apparently say that you can only order one app or dessert. I say apparently because for some reason they have never said it to me. They are incorrect though and if you order more then you don’t get charged. There are people on this board who regularly order more without charge.

[PATRLR]

4 hours ago, KeithJenner said:

Some staff apparently say that you can only order one app or dessert. I say apparently because for some reason they have never said it to me. They are incorrect though and if you order more then you don’t get charged. There are people on this board who regularly order more without charge.

As a  point of reference, recently on Encore we ordered extra appetizers at Cagneys and Ocean Blue and were not charged.

[warpgh1864]

8 hours ago, PandaBear62 said:

 

To be specific.......at the a-la-carte venues, you could order 2 appetizers, a soup and a salad (for example?) Or, at La Cucina, a soup, a salad, a pasta, main course and all the desserts? 

 

I'm not saying I could even eat that much, I just want to understand the promotion.

 

Thanks.

While at Cagneys,  Mom and I would order a app a soup a salad and then the main and a desert.  They let us add extra sides or steak sauces and it was all covered.  This was pre Covid but we did squeeze in extra soup and salad.  But in the end we were so stuffed that we didn't eat breakfast and barely had lunch the next day!  Our eyes were bigger than our stomach.

Cagneys is the best and the French restaurant is second.

[BirdTravels]

8 hours ago, PandaBear62 said:

 

To be specific.......at the a-la-carte venues, you could order 2 appetizers, a soup and a salad (for example?) Or, at La Cucina, a soup, a salad, a pasta, main course and all the desserts? 

 

I'm not saying I could even eat that much, I just want to understand the promotion.

 

Thanks.

The “limit” is you can order one entree. Some waiters will try to tell you you can only get one app. That is not consistent with the terms and conditions of the package. We ignore them and order what we want and have never been charged. 

Here’s an example (a dining package is worth while):

 

[BirdTravels]

9 hours ago, mbflyflyaway said:

Thanks so much for the clarification! Guess it’s time to buy the kids some specialty dining packages as they love the meals as much as us.

Double check your reservation. There were periods when all passengers in a cabin got the dining credits. Look at your amenities receipt (or call and have NCL email you a new one). 

[cruiseny4life]

7 hours ago, KeithJenner said:

Some staff apparently say that you can only order one app or dessert. I say apparently because for some reason they have never said it to me. They are incorrect though and if you order more then you don’t get charged. There are people on this board who regularly order more without charge.

I understand why you say "apparently," since it hasn't happened to you. I was really surprised to have a server tell me this at Cagney's (April, Getaway) on our first cruise. We ordered within the parameters. I did attempt to push back a little by swapping a side for a salad. He wouldn't do this, so my husband ordered the salad I wanted (he hates salad). 

 

After being on these boards I learned the terms and conditions allow you to order as much as you want, aside from the entree. Our server in La Cucina (Sept., Getaway) told us we could only get two items from the left side of the menu. Well, based on my education (from you, and others), I didn't ask if they could do something. I just ordered extra appetizer and voila, it was included. 

 

The servers aren't necessarily your friend. You need to know the terms and conditions. I'm glad I do now, but as others have stated, it's a lot of food! This fat and happy cruiser can only do one extra appetizer (split with his fat and happy husband). I don't think we'd be able to get more food in our bellies than that! 

[Solo Cruiser Memphis]

Apologies in advance if this has already been answered.  I'm traveling solo in a Spa Balcony cabin. I have the specialty dining perk but can someone explain why i don't I qualify for 2 meals since I am in a cabin for 2 and paying extra for my room? Only 1 meal is on my reservation.

[hallux]

@Solo Cruiser Memphis How many nights is your cruise?  All categories on 3-6 night cruises only get 1 meal.

https://www.ncl.com/about/terms-and-conditions/promotions

 

If you originally booked a Studio then used the upgrade program to go to the Spa Balcony you may not qualify for the additional meal(s).

[Solo Cruiser Memphis]

thanks! It is a 5 night cruise and booked originally in the spa balcony.

[Solo Cruiser Memphis]

Thanks all!  I called NCL directly.  They said the promo was per person and not per stateroom which is why I'll only get one meal.  Shucks.

 

[KeithJenner]

41 minutes ago, Solo Cruiser Memphis said:

Thanks all!  I called NCL directly.  They said the promo was per person and not per stateroom which is why I'll only get one meal.  Shucks.

 

That will be the case for almost everything. Despite any solo supplement you pay, most (if not all) of these things are per person. It is just the way it is.