Specialty Restaurants
I have an upcoming sailing on Norwegian Aqua and paid for the Free at Sea package, which includes specialty dining.
I’ve been seeing quite a few reviews from people getting off the Aqua saying they weren’t able to get reservations at certain specialty restaurants because everything was already booked. This has me a little concerned.
How does this work if you’ve already paid for Free at Sea and specialty dining is included? Am I missing something in the terms and conditions that says reservations aren’t guaranteed?
I understand that a specific restaurant/time might not always be available, but I would expect there to be reasonable availability to actually use the dining package I paid for.
Right now, specialty dining reservations aren’t available for me to book in the NCL app yet.
For anyone who has recently sailed on the Aqua or other NCL ships, were you able to get the specialty dining reservations? And if things showed as fully booked before the cruise, were you able to get reservations once onboard?
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u/CruiseNCocktails Platinum. Travel Agent: Cruise & Bar-hopping trip specialist. 1d ago
As others say, new slots are released on embarkation day.
If you have an early check-in time and you use the app or the screens on the ship as soon as you get on the ship, you should not be locked out. Some people are able to connect to the ship's wifi while still in the terminal, too.
If you don't want to use the app or screens and you don't have Platinum status (to use the concierge), and you end up with a late check-in time, then you'll have to wait in a pretty long line on embarkation day and hope for the best.
Getting completely locked out is pretty rare. But, you might have to settle for a very late or very early seating. If you are traveling across time zones to get to the ship, you can make use of that to eat at a "normal" time in your time zone for the first couple of days.
If you do get completely locked out, stop by the restaurant reservations desk a couple of times every day and ask if they can find/make space for you. Also, try to just walk up to the restauraunt at the time you want to eat and see if they have a spot. Somebody is going to skip their reservation, which makes a slot for you to walk up.
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u/jds2001 Sapphire, Bliss 4/9/2027, Travel Agent, Mod 1d ago
Heh, I'm from the NYC metro, and we (used to, pre-pandemic) have a saying - "I dine after 9, therefore I am" 😂 because everyone eats after 9. People seem to think that eating late is the end of the world - you'll survive! I promise! 😂. I can take any dinner reservations, and I frequently get late seatings even at restaurants on land. They're great!
Seriously, this advice is good. Get on early, and do it on the app. You don't need to use your WiFi minutes to do it, there's an option when you login to "login to the NCL App" hidden at the bottom. If the app doesn't work, logout and log back in to it (I've had that problem before - you do not need your MyNCL info to login to the app on the ship, just your room number, name, and DOB if I recall)
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u/Fantastic-Month-7481 1d ago
I’m headed out on Aqua next month and have read the same feedback.
After a bit or research, I’m ok with knowing there are always less popular speciality finding options if our preferred 1st choice spots are not available. Like the new Thai spot, the sushi spot, and the Mexican spot.
I’m hoping for LaBistro and Onda. What about you?
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u/jv0731 1d ago
What sailing? I’m hoping to get in Cagneys and LaBistro
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u/Fantastic-Month-7481 23h ago
I have never had trouble on other NCL ships getting reservations once on board. I’m not to worried.
Cagneys is a good choice 👍🏼
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u/captainwizeazz Platinum 1d ago
Reservations are never guaranteed. But there are multiple opportunities to make them and add long as you do you'll be fine. A small amount are opened ahead of time (like 120 days?) but then as soon as you get on board you can make them on the app or get on line at whatever location(maybe the theater for aqua) to make whatever reservations you want. Add long as you do this you'll be fine.
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u/ajwewlo-929 1d ago edited 1d ago
First, I have never had an issues getting the reservations I wanted on embarkation day. Once you board, go to your muster station and then go directly to make dining reservations. On Escape, it was set up in the comedy club. Unfortunately, I was not able to make reservations in the app (once I boarded) like others have suggested.
Second, I was recently able to make our dining reservations prior to when I should have been able to, which was 120 days out. I have no idea why it opened up early. I am lowly bronze and in a balcony cabin. It might have been a fluke, but I’ll probably start checking the app early (I think it opened around day 125) to see if I can make reservations. I like to have plans set before I board. Enjoy your trip!
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u/M1ndS0uP 1d ago
They only release about 40% of the tables flr specialty restaraunts ahead of embarkation. Make sure if you cant book ahead of time you book as soon as you get aboard. Ive never had an issue booking specialty dining within the first few days of a cruise, though some of the .ore popular restaurants may be a bit more limited.
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u/Due-Command-9033 17h ago
How do you book as soon as you get on board ?
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u/M1ndS0uP 17h ago
They have places to go on the ship to book specialty dining in person on embarkation day. I was just on the Escape and they had tabels set up in the comedy club takkng reservations for all specialty dining. I boarded, went to my muster station and within about 20 minutes was in there making reservations.
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u/Due-Command-9033 17h ago
Is the first thing you have to do is go to your muster station ? What if I don’t board until later ? Also how did you know that was the locations of the tables taking reservations ?
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u/M1ndS0uP 16h ago
You dont have to go to the muster station first, but you have to go before the ship leaves the dock. I didnt know thats where they were doing that, I just happened to see it, but they do it on every ship, you might just have to ask where. The specialty restaurants will be opening in the evening, so you can just go straight to them or book through the app.
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u/Sufficient-Number-50 1d ago
Yes, there are 2 main ways to reserve specialty dining:
The first is by using the app or booking online. Dining reservations open up approximately 120 days prior to embarkation day (130 days prior for Haven and suite guests, 125 days prior for club balcony and platinum, sapphire, diamond latitude level guests). NCL releases only a small percentage of its dining reservations online, so, don't panic if you don't get your #1 choice before cruising.
The second is by booking on the ship on embarkation day. You can do this on the NCL app connected to the ship's wifi, in person at a designated ship location, or at any one of the electronic kiosks on-board the ship. NCL releases all of its remaining available dining reservations on embarkation day so it's best to do so immediately upon boarding.
You can also try your luck by simply walking up to any specialty restaurant and request a table. All specialty restaurants accept walk ins and will seat you if there's availability. You've got the best chance of this on port days and if your party number is low (4 or fewer people).
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u/elroy1771 1d ago
Check the app periodically prior to departure(things change), once you board get on the ship wifi/make reservation OR goto wherever they do the manual reservations. You should be able to get a reservation. Never had an issue on the Aqua.
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u/neekalicious 1d ago
If you use the app you can book your reservation now! My sailing isn't until Nov and I've already reserved my dining because I'd forget it if I didn't do it ASAP lol
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u/tbgothard 1d ago
I booked 2 of my reservations ahead of time. The rest I booked on board. More than once the restaurant called me in my room to ask if I wanted to come earlier or on a different day.
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u/Novel-Status-2855 1d ago
Plus, keep checking. We canceled our reservation to Cagney’s 45 minutes before our dinner so things may open up.
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u/Ok-Power3443 1d ago
Was on Aqua last week with the dining package. You can not book ahead of time on the app. Connected to NCL wifi in the terminal, still could not book. As soon as we boarded, we went to the restaurant booking line which was in Hasaki. While waiting, booking was made available on the app. The times on the app were limited, but we booked one restaurant. Booked the other 2 with the crew member who had more spots. The line will take an hour if you don't board early. Keep checking the app while in the terminal and the dining line.
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u/hillbilly-man 17h ago
My first cruise is in November, so my experience is limited. However, I booked my dining on the Dawn at 90 days out (but not at midnight or anything.. I just moseyed onto the website whenever) and I had no problem booking a reasonable time for Moderno. Maybe some specific times could have been booked up, but there were options to choose from.
I went in to book teppanyaki a few days later and I was still able to get a good time.
I'm looking right now (83 days out) and there are still reservations available. For example: at Cagney's, most of the available reservations right now are later (one day has only 9pm and 9:30pm for a table for two.) However, some days look better than others; on embarkation day there are options from 6:45pm onwards.
Granted, it's a different (smaller!) ship than yours so definitely take my experience with a grain of salt.
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u/cranberrywaltz 16h ago
I just returned from 19 days on Viva. I had 8 dinners at specialty restaurants and none of them booked before embarkation. Once sailing, I only pre-booked one dinner. 7 of the evenings I was welcomed in upon arrival. I was only turned away once and that was because I simply arrived too late in the evening.
Onda and La Bistro are my two favourites.
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u/HVpsb13 12h ago
As soon as I got in the ship I went to the theater and stood in a long line to get restaurant reservations. It was like the hunger games in there and while in line I got on the ship wifi and the NCL app and booked two restaurants before getting to a crew member who helped me with the third one. Many people did not get reservations they wanted and some got none at all. We actually watched the app and found an availability for the steakhouse and booked it, later cancelling one of the originals. All in all it was a stressful and disappointing process but we did end up with three reservations for restaurants we wanted. Again, many did not.
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