Complimentary Dining Reservations

[ctyhrn]

I just was able to make reservations for Taste and the Manhattan room but the website only allowed me to make one of each. Can I not make reservations for every night? I understand the flexible dining concept, however based on very recent reviews on the Bliss I'm worried about waiting in line for an hour to get a table. I'm on a 7 night cruise and have 2 complimentary reservations and 2 specialty reservations but was hoping to get something set up for all 7 nights. 

 

Thanks!

[ggTexasGal]

21 minutes ago, ctyhrn said:

I just was able to make reservations for Taste and the Manhattan room but the website only allowed me to make one of each. Can I not make reservations for every night? I understand the flexible dining concept, however based on very recent reviews on the Bliss I'm worried about waiting in line for an hour to get a table. I'm on a 7 night cruise and have 2 complimentary reservations and 2 specialty reservations but was hoping to get something set up for all 7 nights. 

 

Thanks!

Call NCL (1.866.234.7350) to book the other restaurants that you want.

Just be aware that Pre-Cruise Reservations could (possibly) already be FULL, which will cause you to complete your other reservations on embarkation day.

 

[ChiefMateJRK]

1 hour ago, ctyhrn said:

I just was able to make reservations for Taste and the Manhattan room

Which ship is this that allows reservations at Taste?

[Sue Do-Over]

Customer service told us that just 25% of dining reservations are made available pre-sailing.  The remaining 75% must be made on board.

 

One work-around is to have your travel partner book dining some of the other nights.  Our group of four each book 2 reservations (table of 4), giving us coverage for every night.  The app doesn't keep track of who else is joining you at 'your' reservation, and the system doesn't care until it's time to swipe your card when you arrive for dinner.

 

If you have special needs, or a group of 8 or more, head for the concierge after you board.  A host will be set up with all the menus in one of the specialty restaurants that first afternoon, and can book into any venue. 

[ChiefMateJRK]

15 minutes ago, Sue Do-Over said:

Customer service told us that just 25% of dining reservations are made available pre-sailing.  The remaining 75% must be made on board.

Specialty dining or MDR?

[Sue Do-Over]

2 minutes ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Specialty dining or MDR?

We didn't get that much clarification... just that only 25% were released for pre-sailing bookings.

[KeithJenner]

Only a proportion of reservations are made available online, but the exact proportion is not known (people are told different amounts, seemingly based on guesses by the staff they are talking to).

 

Anyway, that isn’t the issue here. The online system only allows you to book each restaurant once, so if you want to book more than one reservation in one place then you have to phone or wait until onboard.

 

Having different people making the bookings doesn’t appear to work within a cabin (ie husband and wife both make reservations). It would work if you had people in different rooms doing the bookings.

Edited May 23, 2023 by KeithJenner

[genealogyfan]

43 minutes ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Which ship is this that allows reservations at Taste?

I was able to make reservations on the Epic before an April sailing. 

[carribeanpirate18]

New to NCL, we ahve specialty dinner reservatons made, do we need to make reservations for non Specialty dining nights?  Are walk ups available?

[LatinaInTexas]

I had the same issue could only book a few nights of my 9 night sailing. Used the chat option on the website and thru that they booked all my nights at the restaurants I wanted among the 3 restaurants.

Glad I did book ahead because when we went each night at 7:30 it was a 30 minute to an hour wait.

Manhattan room was very loud, hectic, and very slow service the 3 times we went there. Savor and Taste were great every time we went there.

[ChiefMateJRK]

32 minutes ago, KeithJenner said:

The online system only allows you to book each restaurant once, so if you want to book more than one reservation in one place then you have to phone or wait until onboard.

I know that you understand this stuff better than anybody Keith.  That said, I recently booked the Sun main dining room for six nights of an upcoming 10 day cruise.  The system didn't care.  We will cancel some of them once we plan our schedule a bit more.

[LatinaInTexas]

7 minutes ago, carribeanpirate18 said:

New to NCL, we ahve specialty dinner reservatons made, do we need to make reservations for non Specialty dining nights?  Are walk ups available?

If you like to eat around the same time each night and don't want to wait to be seated you can make reservations. You do not have to, you can just walk up and hope it's not a long wait.

[ChiefMateJRK]

26 minutes ago, genealogyfan said:

I was able to make reservations on the Epic before an April sailing. 

Thanks.

[KeithJenner]

51 minutes ago, genealogyfan said:

I was able to make reservations on the Epic before an April sailing. 

Also available for us on the Breakaway.

[KeithJenner]

48 minutes ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

I know that you understand this stuff better than anybody Keith.  That said, I recently booked the Sun main dining room for six nights of an upcoming 10 day cruise.  The system didn't care.  We will cancel some of them once we plan our schedule a bit more.

Yeah, there do seem to be a few exceptions to the rule. You certainly aren't the first person to report being able to make multiple reservations. There may be some ships where the restriction isn't there (we haven't worked out why it is there at all).

 

It doesn't seem to have been fixed generally though. We can't do it on our upcoming cruise, and there was another post recently from someone asking why they couldn't book restaurants after their first few - it was because they were trying to book repeats.

 

Edit - It just occurred to me that I have never tried this with the MDR's myself (I never usually reserve them), so just tested it by booking Manhattan for one night on our upcoming cruise (we will almost certainly use the reservation). When I then tried to add another night it wouldn't stay in the basket.

Edited May 23, 2023 by KeithJenner

[ChiefMateJRK]

48 minutes ago, KeithJenner said:

Yeah, there do seem to be a few exceptions to the rule. You certainly aren't the first person to report being able to make multiple reservations. There may be some ships where the restriction isn't there (we haven't worked out why it is there at all).

 

It doesn't seem to have been fixed generally though. We can't do it on our upcoming cruise, and there was another post recently from someone asking why they couldn't book restaurants after their first few - it was because they were trying to book repeats.

 

Edit - It just occurred to me that I have never tried this with the MDR's myself (I never usually reserve them), so just tested it by booking Manhattan for one night on our upcoming cruise (we will almost certainly use the reservation). When I then tried to add another night it wouldn't stay in the basket.

Thanks.  Likely just more NCL IT crazy.  I think I was also able to make multiple MDR bookings on the Bliss in April.  Like you, I generally don't reserve MDR, but it takes zero effort and at least gives us a placeholder if we like what the MDR is serving that night and want to eat at 5:30 to make it to some scheduled entertainment.  Sure, we might not wait regardless but it can't hurt.😎

[hallux]

1 hour ago, carribeanpirate18 said:

New to NCL, we ahve specialty dinner reservatons made, do we need to make reservations for non Specialty dining nights?  Are walk ups available?

You can ALWAYS walk-up.  There's no need to make reservations for the MDRs...

[alwalaska]

59 minutes ago, KeithJenner said:

 

Edit - It just occurred to me that I have never tried this with the MDR's myself (I never usually reserve them), so just tested it by booking Manhattan for one night on our upcoming cruise (we will almost certainly use the reservation). When I then tried to add another night it wouldn't stay in the basket.

That is interesting.  Most of mine worked this past Feb on the Dawn, with multiple nights in the same main restaurant, but there was one night when I couldn't book what I wanted.  I don't remember if it was one of the repeat locations, but that could explain it.  An email to my TA about options, and the next thing I know it was booked with the response, "NCL had problems at first getting it to book as well, but all is good now."   I wish they could be consistent and put explanations with things when something odd like this becomes a policy.

[ctyhrn]

17 hours ago, KeithJenner said:

Only a proportion of reservations are made available online, but the exact proportion is not known (people are told different amounts, seemingly based on guesses by the staff they are talking to).

 

Anyway, that isn’t the issue here. The online system only allows you to book each restaurant once, so if you want to book more than one reservation in one place then you have to phone or wait until onboard.

 

Having different people making the bookings doesn’t appear to work within a cabin (ie husband and wife both make reservations). It would work if you had people in different rooms doing the bookings.

Thanks that's exactly what I needed to hear. I didn't realize you could only book one reservation per restaurant ahead of time. Since it is just me and my husband it seems we will need to wait. Thanks again!

[ctyhrn]

17 hours ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Which ship is this that allows reservations at Taste?

The Bliss allowed me to make one at Taste and one at Manhattan. I didn't realize you could for the MDR either but I saw a post from a few weeks ago someone had mentioned it. Sure enough I go to NCL's website and there it was. 

[ctyhrn]

16 hours ago, KeithJenner said:

Yeah, there do seem to be a few exceptions to the rule. You certainly aren't the first person to report being able to make multiple reservations. There may be some ships where the restriction isn't there (we haven't worked out why it is there at all).

 

It doesn't seem to have been fixed generally though. We can't do it on our upcoming cruise, and there was another post recently from someone asking why they couldn't book restaurants after their first few - it was because they were trying to book repeats.

 

Edit - It just occurred to me that I have never tried this with the MDR's myself (I never usually reserve them), so just tested it by booking Manhattan for one night on our upcoming cruise (we will almost certainly use the reservation). When I then tried to add another night it wouldn't stay in the basket.

That's the EXACT issue I was having for my Bliss cruise in June. 

[ctyhrn]

**Update**

I was able to make reservations (mind you times were limited) for Taste and the Manhattan Room for other nights by asking a NCL representative in the chat on the NCL site. It was super easy and took about 5 minutes. Already showing in our itinerary on the website. 

 

I know you do not need to make reservations for the MDR however I had seen several reviews of the Bliss and people waiting over an hour to be seated. With such a big ship, and I'm sure it'll be full in June, I didn't want to risk it.

[MMackey348]

I have a reservation question and I don’t see it in the topics, so I’m asking here.  Sorry if I’m in wrong thread but I’m sure someone here can answer it.  
 

We are on the Bliss to Alaska in October this year.  I’d like to make reservations at a specialty restaurant for my mother’s 84th birthday.  The online reservation system only goes up to 8 people.  I need a reservation for 10.  If I call the dining reservation number 1.866.234.7350 at 120 days out (or whatever it is for platinum), will they be able to book it?   I’d really like to cross it off my list precruise.  

[KeithJenner]

11 minutes ago, ctyhrn said:

**Update**

I was able to make reservations (mind you times were limited) for Taste and the Manhattan Room for other nights by asking a NCL representative in the chat on the NCL site. It was super easy and took about 5 minutes. Already showing in our itinerary on the website. 

 

I know you do not need to make reservations for the MDR however I had seen several reviews of the Bliss and people waiting over an hour to be seated. With such a big ship, and I'm sure it'll be full in June, I didn't want to risk it.

Yes, they can book them if you call or through online chat. The restriction is only online.

Edited May 24, 2023 by KeithJenner

[genealogyfan]

2 hours ago, ctyhrn said:

Thanks that's exactly what I needed to hear. I didn't realize you could only book one reservation per restaurant ahead of time. Since it is just me and my husband it seems we will need to wait. Thanks again!

That isn't true. On my sailing on the Epic in April, I was able to reserve multiple days at the Taste, a couple days at the Manhattan and even two separate reservations for Le Bistro - all ahead of time.