Dining on NCL

[Sailing12Away]

For the folks who want to eat dinner exactly at 6pm every single night, just talk to the maitre'd on the first day of the cruise and request, if possible, the same seat every night at a fixed time. They will do their best to accommodate. 

 

If you want to dine with strangers, let them know you are open to seating with others. There are often times solo travelers looking for a dining mate who would gladly pair up with you. Most people don't want to eat with strangers, so if you tell them you would like that - it makes their job easier to fill tables.

 

There is no way I would ever pick a cruise where I had to commit to the same dining time every day. I don't want to skip a good local food find because I HAVE to eat dinner 2 hours later.

[Oakman58]

3 hours ago, CruiseMH said:

 

 

It is a great feeling if it works.

But if it doesn`t and you don`t get along with your table mates you are stuck with them for the whole cruise.

 

Not true, you can ask to be seated at a different table and in most cases you will be accommodated.

[itsnotjustme]

5 hours ago, MoCruiseFan said:

I could not imagine being forced to eat at a specific time or with the same people all week,  That sounds absolutely horrid.

We have done this on MSC and Carnival.  I was certainly not horrid for us, but we do prefer our own table and choice of dining times.

[Ellis1138]

15 hours ago, BandAgain said:

It all depends on the table mates. I have lucked out most of the time with scheduled times. I hate the time restrictions, but I do like establishing a relationship with waiters. I appreciate how they make the effort to accommodate wants/needs/requirements. It is so nice to have a lot of things established early. My upcoming NCL will be my first...so looking forward to seeing how I like "Freestyle Dining". 

 

If you have medical and dietary needs and food allergies, etc, fill out and submit this form to NCL. https://nclh.my.salesforce-sites.com/AccessDeskForm/

[Barb Nahoumi]

23 hours ago, dacf said:

We are wanting to sail the Mediterranean/Greek Islands in 2025.   We're used to dining on other ships with our fixed dining times.   This means same table, same table mates and same waiters throughout the cruise.   We really enjoy this because there is no waiting to be seated, you just walk right into the dining room and go to your table.  We get to meet and develop friendships with our table mates and a relationship with out waiter.  I understand that NCL does not do this but instead does just the anytime dining.   What is it like on NCL?  Are you waiting to be seated 10 min, 20 min or 30? or do you need to make reservations each night?

NCL  has Freestyle dining, which means that you can dine where you want to, when you want to, and with whom you wish to sit.  That said, you should make reservations as soon as possible for the specialty restaurants.  When we go to the MDR, the wait is never too long.  We get a table for 4.

[dbrown84]

I took my first cruise 12 years ago.  Before then, I wasn't interested in cruising because I didn't want to "dress up" for dinner (or anything), and I didn't want to be assigned a dinner time and table with strangers.  I then heard about NCL and freestyle dining, and I said that is for me.  After 9 cruises with NCL, I'm branching out and trying new lines, starting with MSC in June.  I'm not looking forward to the assigned dining, but I'm going to at least give it a try.  I suspect I will eat most of my meals in the buffet.  

[makeup face]

On 4/21/2024 at 9:35 PM, BandAgain said:

It all depends on the table mates. I have lucked out most of the time with scheduled times. I hate the time restrictions, but I do like establishing a relationship with waiters. I appreciate how they make the effort to accommodate wants/needs/requirements. It is so nice to have a lot of things established early. My upcoming NCL will be my first...so looking forward to seeing how I like "Freestyle Dining". 

My next cruise is on the Encore. And my  first with NCL . And first as a solo cruiser.  I to are looking forward to seeing how Freestyle will work for me. 

Edited April 25 by Host Jazzbeau
deleted signature, which was causing overflow

[N-8]

On 4/21/2024 at 9:35 PM, BandAgain said:

It all depends on the table mates. I have lucked out most of the time with scheduled times. I hate the time restrictions, but I do like establishing a relationship with waiters. I appreciate how they make the effort to accommodate wants/needs/requirements. It is so nice to have a lot of things established early. My upcoming NCL will be my first...so looking forward to seeing how I like "Freestyle Dining". 

Agreed. It was either a Carnival or RCL cruise but we were seated with an older couple who were SUPER nice BUT they slowed the service down to a crawl. Every night, they would order one appetizer. Finish it, then order another, finish it. Then sometimes a third. We had small kids at the time and not once did at least one of them fall asleep before dinner was served. I really enjoy NCL's freestyle dining. 

[DominicAUS]

I like meeting people and chatting over a drink and if it gets to let a do dinner, then great. As others have said I love being with my group and not be with others I have to make conversation over a long dinner and not being able to get out. 
 

Great that there are many cruise lines to suit all needs 

[blackwing]

On 4/21/2024 at 5:32 PM, Ellis1138 said:

NCL's Freestyle doesn't mean you never get the same waiter or you can never sit with others. You just need to tell them what you want. Sometimes, I sit alone and other times, I tell them I'm all right with sitting at a large table with others.

 

Funny enough, on the Escape, the restaurant manager decided it would be easiest (because of my food allergies) for me to dine at the same MDR, at the same table, at my preferred time, with one waiter. So it was almost like being on a traditional cruise, except that I was solo.

Yes, this is particularly helpful.  My son has food allergies, and on our two earlier NCL cruises, they made sure to give us a set time and a set table with the same waiter every night.  The waiter got to know him and how to handle his food.  At the end of each night, he brought us the menus for the next day so we could pre-order his food.  They would prepare his food separately in advance and ensure there was no cross contamination.  NCL does a great job with handling allergies.