Maybe it would be better if NO reservations were allowed?

[ute_fan]

Electricron -- your comments make me wonder if the restaurants in Utah are that different from the rest of the nation -- and yes, many things in Utah do tend to be strange :D . Admittedly, we don't dine in a lot of 5* restaurants here -- there probably aren't many -- but, with the exception of large parties, a lot of the restaurants here don't take reservations at all. I'm talking mostly about the chain restaurants, like Olive Garden, Chili's, etc. They're first come, first serve. Some of them have a "on my way" policy, where you can call when you're leaving your house and they'll add your name to the waiting list, but it's not a confirmed reservation.

 

Even the nicer restaurants, which do take reservations, don't take them for several days in advance, unless it's a group function of some sort. We've never had trouble calling in the morning of a special event, like an anniversary, and being able to get a reservation for that evening. The only possible exception might be for holidays like New Year's Eve, but those holidays appear to be the exception rather than the rule.

 

If I had visitors in from out of town, and was planning on taking them to the nicer restaurants in town, eating at a different one every night, I wouldn't even consider making reservations for the entire week. Instead, we'd decide that morning where we wanted to go, and call in after the restaurant opened for the day. Maybe this whole concept, with such widely different opinions, is being driven by the different way that things are handled in different home locations???

[maja651]

I'll disagree for argument sakes.

 

I keep stating the reservation system should be like what you see ashore.

I haven't seen many restaurants ashore limit reservations to the day of.

They all will takes reservations days and weeks in advance.

As it is, making you wait to the first day of the cruise is fair for everyone except the ignorant, or those who refuse to do any research in advance, but that's just my opinion.

 

OK, BUT, the restaurants on the ships are NOT like those on shore....the ships have a captive audience, with limited restaurants to choose from. I do not think you can compare reservation systems of restaurants off shore to the reservations systems of the ship's restaurants.

 

Also, maybe I took this the wrong way, but I am offended by your last statement calling those who have not researched ahead of time ignorant, or assuming they "refuse" to research ahead of time? Have you thought about those people who do not have time to research? What about those who aren't aware of these types of boards with this information? What about those who are not Internet savy, who would never think of going on a board like this? What about first time cruisers? I will be going on my first cruise with NCL, and lucky for me I found these boards. But, as I have never cruised before, I just "stumbeled" onto cruisecritic by accident. There may be many who have never even heard of this site. To say they are ignorant, or accuse them of refusing to research ahead of time does not seem right to me. I hope I took your comments the wrong way.

 

Michelle

[ute_fan]

Michelle --

 

It's for exactly those people you mention who are first time cruisers on NCL, who don't understand how the reservations policy works, who may not be computer users or didn't have the luck to find this board that I posted on this thread to begin with. For example, we ate breakfast with a perfectly charming couple from New Zealand on our recent cruise. It was their first cruise and they had no idea that cruise critic existed until we told them about it. They had tried to make reservations on Monday afternoon for Le Bistro-- only to be informed that it was totally full for the week. Does this make them "ignorant?" I guess yes, in the technical definition of the term, as they were without knowledge, but they were quite disappointed.

 

We either talked with or overhead several other similar comments during the week. Most of these people, admittedly, were new to NCL and didn't know about cruise critic, but the common theme throughout their comments was that they would be trying another cruise line instead of coming back to NCL to see if they preferred the other lines' dining polices. If NCL is interested in retaining these first-time cruisers they need to make some sort of modification to the current policy.

[electricron]

OK, BUT, the restaurants on the ships are NOT like those on shore....the ships have a captive audience, with limited restaurants to choose from. I do not think you can compare reservation systems of restaurants off shore to the reservations systems of the ship's restaurants.

 

Also, maybe I took this the wrong way, but I am offended by your last statement calling those who have not researched ahead of time ignorant, or assuming they "refuse" to research ahead of time? Have you thought about those people who do not have time to research? What about those who aren't aware of these types of boards with this information? What about those who are not Internet savy, who would never think of going on a board like this? What about first time cruisers? I will be going on my first cruise with NCL, and lucky for me I found these boards. But, as I have never cruised before, I just "stumbeled" onto cruisecritic by accident. There may be many who have never even heard of this site. To say they are ignorant, or accuse them of refusing to research ahead of time does not seem right to me. I hope I took your comments the wrong way.

 

Michelle

 

I'm sorry you didn't like the use of the word ignorant.

 

But let's consider a small popular restaurant ashore in a large city again. There are restaurants in Dallas you have to book days, if not weeks, in advance.

 

Then you conveniently glossed over the major point in my argument. If you must wait to reserve a table until 24 hours in advance, there will be lines at 6 pm every night at the reservation desk for those wishing to reserve a table the following night. It doesn't matter what the time is you can start to reserve a table, smart people, those who go through the trouble to find out, will find out when to do so, will form up long lines, and book all the restaurants up. Ignorant ones will not. You still will not be able to reserve a table at the best times just by showing up at your leisure.

 

If you drop reservations completely, and go to first come -- first serve, there will be long lines outside every restaurant, filling up and blocking the passageways. Then everyone would be angry!

 

Either way, you get long lines and angry passengers. With the ability to reserve a table on the first day for the entire week, you experience the long lines for reserving tables on just that one day, not every day of your cruise.

 

You experience long lines every day as it is; waiting for tenders, waiting to go ashore at a pier, waiting at the buffet, waiting to enter the main restaurants; why add another long line unnecessarily?

 

Ignorant means the opposite of smart. Sorry, I could find other words in the dictionary, but ignorant means uneducated, which is not as bad as calling them dumb, stupid, morons, or zeros. I did try to use a less offensive word in my first post.

[tomluvsaida]

As mini-suite passengers I guess we could have made our reservations through the concierge but what's the point? It would probably take me more effort to find the concierge than to just make the reservations like I did. I just went to the first restaurant I could find when boarding and made them. There was no line and took about two minutes.

[hamiltito]

When you attend a theatre performance/concert...best price..best seats

 

I don't take issue with Norwegian giving some preferential treatment to suite passengers. However, your analogy is flawed, becase when I buy $5 baseball tickets or $10 basketball tickets, I know perfectly well that my seats for the game won't be as "good" as those of people who paid $100 to sit directly behind the backstop or $800 to sit courtside.

 

It's not nearly as obvious when you book a non-suite on a ship that others in higher paying rooms have better access to reservations in restaurants. Is it obvious that they have a nicer room? Yes. But any other benefits at the expense of other passengers aren't nearly as obvious when you are booking, or even then quite often until you read about them on the internet.

[sjbdtz]

I agree that perhaps they have the tables, but not the staff? Maybe NCL needs to look into the staffing in the restaurants?

 

 

A cruiseship has a finite number of staff onboard. If 3 waiters have the flu, or are otherwise unable to report for a shift...what is the ship to do? Have a mechanic moved from the engine room to Le Bistro?

 

Almost certainly there are tables held for priority passengers (and you don't have to be in a suite...to be one of them). In fact last year (when we had an inside cabin), we met the F&B director at the CC meeting and had just learned that we couldn't get into Le Bistro that night because it was full.

 

10 minutes & 1 phone call later, we were having a wonderful dinner for 2, at a table for 6. :D

 

This year we had a suite and were told by our concierge that a 6pm dinner was not available, but we could have a 5:30. So we took the rez, got there at 5:45, started eating at 6:30 (drinks, etc. first)...then mentioned we couldn't stay for dessert because we wanted to see the show....they told us Go, See the Show & come back for dessert...we'll hold your table open.

 

So why they couldn't accommodate us starting at 6pm remains a mystery...but they managed to accommodate us from 5:30 - 11:00pm. :rolleyes:

 

Maybe it's cause we're nice, onboard.... :eek:

[electricron]

As mini-suite passengers I guess we could have made our reservations through the concierge but what's the point? It would probably take me more effort to find the concierge than to just make the reservations like I did. I just went to the first restaurant I could find when boarding and made them. There was no line and took about two minutes.

 

Didn't you find it convenient to make all your restaurant reservations for the entire week all at once? Would you have preferred having to do so every day instead?

 

Not only is it easier for you, it's also easier on them.

[uneamie]

Ignorant means the opposite of smart. Sorry, I could find other words in the dictionary, but ignorant means uneducated, which is not as bad as calling them dumb, stupid, morons, or zeros. I did try to use a less offensive word in my first post.

 

 

Perhaps the word "uninformed" would be a more dignified label to place on people who have no access to internet or time to do all this research. The word "ignorant" seems demeaning to me. :rolleyes:

However, I must make a comment on the 24 hour reservation notice which I and my husband experienced on the Dawn on an 11 day cruise. Can't say that all the popular dining times were always available....but we never waited in any lines to make our reservations and the only restaurant that was a challenge to book was the Tepanyani...which we eventually got a ressie at 8 PM. I found this system quite fair...perhaps on a shorter cruise it would be different. The passengers on our cruise had 11 days to dine so there was probably no urgency to book immediately.

[sjbdtz]

I'm sorry you didn't like the use of the word ignorant.

 

But let's consider a small popular restaurant ashore in a large city again. There are restaurants in Dallas you have to book days, if not weeks, in advance.

 

It doesn't matter what the time is you can start to reserve a table, smart people, those who go through the trouble to find out, will find out when to do so, will form up long lines, and book all the restaurants up. Ignorant ones will not.

 

Ignorant means the opposite of smart. Sorry, I could find other words in the dictionary, but ignorant means uneducated, which is not as bad as calling them dumb, stupid, morons, or zeros. I did try to use a less offensive word in my first post.

 

 

1. Ignorant means lacking in knowledge. Knowledge < > smart. That's the problem. KNOWLEDGEABLE people will book asap, while those ignorant of the ability to book, will fail to do so, to their detriment.

 

2. American Express Platinum has a program called Fine Dining. Most likely many of those Dallas restaurants have a reserved seat for Amex Platinum customers, available UP UNTIL 24 hours in advance, at which time it is released for general availability.

 

3. My favorite restaurants locally all have a Reservations button on their websites, where they will accept a reservation up to a year in advance.

[electricron]

Perhaps the word "uninformed" would be a more dignified label to place on people who have no access to internet or time to do all this research. The word "ignorant" seems demeaning to me. :rolleyes:

 

And I would certainly agree, but at the time of my post, didn't come to mind.

 

To add, NCL years ago had time limitations. Either it did't work smoothly, or they had so many requests to be able to reserve tables for the entire cruise.

There have been many who have requested the ability to reserve tables prior to their cruise, like they can for shore excursions. I am against that, as I didn't think it would be fair to late bookers.

 

I believe NCL has come up with a as fair a system possible. Having to wait until you're aboard the ship gives everyone an equal chance. The idea that having to wait until a specific time will not solve the problem, as most new NCL passengers who didn't take the time to discover when before the cruise starts, aren't likely going to take the time after the cruise starts either.

[dwrist]

What happened to TA's and Cruise Consultants giving the info to the clients when booking? If people have no access to internet to book with NCL(which is not working now) they use someone to book through. As far as not having time and ability to research, they have time to find CC after the cruise to post their (one post wonder) of complaints, cleanliness of the ship, food, reservations for restaurants, drink prices, dress code, etc.

 

Maybe people need to read all the info available when they receive their docs(yes my email docs had information on them about the cruise experience):)

[dwrist]

edited to remove double post---sighinggggggggggggggg

[ute_fan]

I'm a little curious about one thing - how in the world is a brand-new NCL passenger, who doesn't know about cruise critic, supposed to find out that they need to make reservations for the entire week as soon as they board the ship? I don't recall it being mentioned in my pre-cruise information packet anywhere, and it's kind of unrealistic to suppose that everyone who cruises is computer savvy enough to find this board before they cruise.

 

In any case, since we're presuming that they don't come aboard with that knowledge, how about making it easier for them by providing them with that knowledge? How about putting a reservation desk in the embarkation area where everyone has to pass by it? Sort of an assembly line process -- here's where you fill out your paperwork and get your picture taken, here's where you get your room key, here's where you can choose to sign up for the specialty restaurants if you're interested in doing so?? If that doesn't work logistically, how about at least handing out a brightly colored paper stating that "If you want the best chance of getting a reservation at a specialty restaurant, make those reservations today at (wherever that location is) or by calling (telephone number) from your cabin phone."

 

Obviously, that doesn't do anything at all for those of us who don't want to schedule our reservations for the entire week, but it at least ensures that everyone who comes on board has the knowledge that they need to deal with the current system.

[electricron]

I'm a little curious about one thing - how in the world is a brand-new NCL passenger, who doesn't know about cruise critic, supposed to find out that they need to make reservations for the entire week as soon as they board the ship? I don't recall it being mentioned in my pre-cruise information packet anywhere, and it's kind of unrealistic to suppose that everyone who cruises is computer savvy enough to find this board before they cruise.

 

In any case, since we're presuming that they don't come aboard with that knowledge, how about making it easier for them by providing them with that knowledge? How about putting a reservation desk in the embarkation area where everyone has to pass by it? Sort of an assembly line process -- here's where you fill out your paperwork and get your picture taken, here's where you get your room key, here's where you can choose to sign up for the specialty restaurants if you're interested in doing so?? If that doesn't work logistically, how about at least handing out a brightly colored paper stating that "If you want the best chance of getting a reservation at a specialty restaurant, make those reservations today at (wherever that location is) or by calling (telephone number) from your cabin phone."

 

Obviously, that doesn't do anything at all for those of us who don't want to schedule our reservations for the entire week, but it at least ensures that everyone who comes on board has the knowledge that they need to deal with the current system.

 

If they didn't have internet access, they had to have used a telephone to book their cruise from a travel agent. Just about every travel agent will ask you to call them if you have any questions, that they will be very happy to answer any question. About reservations at speciality restaurants, about shore excursions, about insurance, just about anything.

 

But the passenger booking the cruise has to ask them. It's not like they don't have any resources available to them.

[star7228]

A cruiseship has a finite number of staff onboard. If 3 waiters have the flu, or are otherwise unable to report for a shift...what is the ship to do? Have a mechanic moved from the engine room to Le Bistro?

 

That is a good point, and I like your example of just going with the flow and taking the res. at 5:30 instead of 6. Flexibility is key to everything in life, including enjoying one's cruise vacation! :)

[hamiltito]

This year we had a suite and were told by our concierge that a 6pm dinner was not available, but we could have a 5:30. So we took the rez, got there at 5:45, started eating at 6:30 (drinks, etc. first)...then mentioned we couldn't stay for dessert because we wanted to see the show....they told us Go, See the Show & come back for dessert...we'll hold your table open.

 

So why they couldn't accommodate us starting at 6pm remains a mystery...but they managed to accommodate us from 5:30 - 11:00pm. :rolleyes:

 

Maybe it's cause we're nice, onboard.... :eek:

 

Perhaps this is an example of why they underbook restaurants. Maybe if people honoured the time for which they made their reservation (for example showing up at 5:30 for a 5:30 reservation instead of showing up late because you weren't happy with the time they gave you) they would be able to seat a few more parties per restaurant each night.

[angelsx4]

I agree with Ute on this one. We were on the boards long before our cruise and knew we need to make reservations, but had no idea they would be booked up ALL week long by the second day. We lucked out with an 8:30 at Ginza(it was worth the wait btw) but it was hard to get. We were on the Star and it La Trattoria was booked the entire week, same with Endless Summer. I like the idea of half reservations/half walk-ins. It could also help keep the reservations on time.

[ute_fan]

I agree, they could ask their travel agent, assuming that their travel agent knew enough about the specific way that NCL works to give them good information. However, as a fairly new cruiser, I remember how totally new everything seemed before our first cruise. If we hadn't been going with friends who were seasoned cruisers, I wouldn't have even known what questions to start asking. Also, just because someone may have booked their cruise on the internet, possibly through one of the big online travel sites, doesn't necessarily translate into being computer savvy enough to find a site like cruise critic.

 

For those of you who think the system is working just wonderfully and that no modifications are needed, that's fine. I think there are also quite a few of us who think it needs some tweaking. While I don't think that a "no reservation" system would be a perfect solution, neither do I think that having a small group of informed cruisers book a different specialty restaurant for every night of the week (and yes, I realize that is an exaggeration), thereby consuming the available capacity of the specialty restaurant system is working either.

[sjbdtz]

Perhaps this is an example of why they underbook restaurants. Maybe if people honoured the time for which they made their reservation (for example showing up at 5:30 for a 5:30 reservation instead of showing up late because you weren't happy with the time they gave you) they would be able to seat a few more parties per restaurant each night.

 

We weren't late because we weren't happy, we were late because we weren't ready.

 

And we were only 10 minutes late, AND phoned the restaurant to confirm we were en route.

 

so relax.

[Vyhanek]

If the food were better in the main dining rooms then there wouldn't be the insane NEED for eating in the specialty resteraunts. Kind of like 10 years ago when the food was still good in the dining rooms, the Specialty Resteraunts were never crowded, always easy to walk right into.

 

I'd be willing to spend another 100 bucks per cruise to get decent food again. This would never work though unless there was a food police auditing NCL, because as soon as we were charged a bit more for good food they would hack right into that money to make their profits look better.

[mbisson]

If the food were better in the main dining rooms then there wouldn't be the insane NEED for eating in the specialty resteraunts. Kind of like 10 years ago when the food was still good in the dining rooms, the Specialty Resteraunts were never crowded, always easy to walk right into.

 

.

 

I wonder how many specialty restaurants there were on NCL ships 10 years ago? Anyway, if a person so elects, they could eat in the specialty dining room for less than $100 for a 7 day cruise.

 

-Monte

[Fran0521]

I wonder how many specialty restaurants there were on NCL ships 10 years ago? Anyway, if a person so elects, they could eat in the specialty dining room for less than $100 for a 7 day cruise.

 

-Monte

 

We started cruising on the SS Norway in '86 with the last one being in '98 at that time there was only one specialty restaurant called the Le Bistro.

 

With the inception of Freestyle we have worked out a system for ourselves which we feel works great for our needs. :)

[electricron]

I agree, they could ask their travel agent, assuming that their travel agent knew enough about the specific way that NCL works to give them good information. However, as a fairly new cruiser, I remember how totally new everything seemed before our first cruise. If we hadn't been going with friends who were seasoned cruisers, I wouldn't have even known what questions to start asking. Also, just because someone may have booked their cruise on the internet, possibly through one of the big online travel sites, doesn't necessarily translate into being computer savvy enough to find a site like cruise critic.

 

For those of you who think the system is working just wonderfully and that no modifications are needed, that's fine. I think there are also quite a few of us who think it needs some tweaking. While I don't think that a "no reservation" system would be a perfect solution, neither do I think that having a small group of informed cruisers book a different specialty restaurant for every night of the week (and yes, I realize that is an exaggeration), thereby consuming the available capacity of the specialty restaurant system is working either.

 

I'll agree. If the food at the Main Restaurant was better, less would want to dine at the Speciality Restaurants. But I wouldn't necessarily wish to see sushi, or frog legs, caviar, or escargots as a choice every night at the Main Restaurants. That's what these Speciality Restaurants are for. If these items were present just once on the menu at the Main Restaurants, there would still be a demand for these items on the other nights. Some just aren't happy with Beef Wellington or Beef Straganoff, they have to have steaks every night.

 

If they can find a travel agency on the web, they should be able to find cruise critics. I just did a Google search for "cruise tips" and cruise critic came up number seven. I will not mention the other sites, but my preferences were set for 10 per page. So it was on the first page of the search.

 

I bet the other sites would suggest reserving a table for a speciality restaurant on the first day too.

[tomluvsaida]

If they didn't have internet access, they had to have used a telephone to book their cruise from a travel agent. Just about every travel agent will ask you to call them if you have any questions, that they will be very happy to answer any question. About reservations at speciality restaurants, about shore excursions, about insurance, just about anything.

 

But the passenger booking the cruise has to ask them. It's not like they don't have any resources available to them.

Somewhere along the line they get some paperwork with their cruise documents either online or in the mail. All the information they need about making reservations for specialty restaurants can be given to them then just like they do for excursions now.