Thread: Dawn 6-15-08

I keep looking for info on the dine ashore. I had printed up all the rules and even have a list of the restaurants and menus. This was from the NCL site. I know I stumbled on it, but now I can't find it.

Originally Posted by musicgirl

I keep looking for info on the dine ashore. I had printed up all the rules and even have a list of the restaurants and menus. This was from the NCL site. I know I stumbled on it, but now I can't find it.

They printed it up in the brochure on the Bermuda page. I hope that means it is still in action. I can ask my cruise consultant, Andrea, she can answer general questions

Originally Posted by musicgirl

Here are a few hints I've stumbled upon!

Garden Cafe-there is a NY deli in the back and some of the best desserts

There are 2 for 1 deals in the pay restaurants for certain times.

Martini and Margarita tastings are very good

I'm taking beach towels since even though they provide you with pool towels, if yours gets taken it is $25!!! Yikes! I have a teen son, who are they kidding!!

This is the kind of stuff I'm looking for! Have you played Quest? I see it mentioned on a lot of cruise sites.

If it isn't served by a guy with an accent, it isn't a NY deli.

Are the 2 for 1 nights usually at-sea nights? I might be able to trade 'special dinner' nights with my SIL. Ah, dinner in a real restaurant without someone putting their fingers in my water glass...

How did you find out about the Margarita tastings? Is that in the dailies or one of those secret thingies?

$25??? Are their towels that good??? I know they've been having deck chair problems. Just get new deck chairs! People want to sit and lounge outdoors, this is not new.

I haven't play Quest but I've heard great things about it.

Ok, so it's not in NY, but they say the deli has some great sandwiches.

I think the 2 for 1 specials can be for any night. However, I think it is random and based on how ressies they have.

The drink tastings are pretty common on most cruises now. I did a martini on a DCL cruise. It wasn't good! Regular martinis and Dirty martinis will never pass my lips again! Now give me a chocolate martini and you'll have to get me 2!!! Most people who have written reviews give them a 2 thumbs up.

The towels are nothing special, but I guess people were taking them home. So they decided to charge for them. But that means I now have to "watch" my stuff in fear that someone may take mine by mistake or to replace their own. I will probably bring towels since I won't be bringing any formal clothes!!

I don't mind dressing up, but I can go casual by wearing a skort and a nice top and sandals. All things that I can plan for walking around during the day. But Bill and Andrew's suits are soooooo heavy!!! One pair of their size 12/13 shoes takes the place of all of my shoes!!! Both of them are looking forward to NO formal nights. We teach at private schools and the high school has the boys wear monogrammed pants,dress shoes, button down collar shirts with a tie. So I know Andrew appreciates not dressing up! I'll pack probably 2 pair of khakis for each of them and they can wear polos for dinner. Good enough!

Originally Posted by ThatBrunette

They printed it up in the brochure on the Bermuda page. I hope that means it is still in action. I can ask my cruise consultant, Andrea, she can answer general questions

Hmmmm I'll have to check it out because it was driving me crazy last night!

See if you can bring it up again.

I also noticed you can only use 1 voucher per adult per cruise. I wonder if that is meant for those only there on 1 day rather than 3?

Ok, one of these days I gotta get my smiley people back.

Anywho....we did the martini tasting on the Pearl and it was great. I didn't care for the traditional martini or the dirty martini but the others were great! $15 for 4 or 5 (I kinda forget cause I got a little looped) and a great time was had by all. Our youngest son even bought! He was 23 at the time so no worries. If you go, I suggest getting to the designated bar plenty early so you can get a seat. The bartender we had was fabulous. She explained everything, what went into particular flavors, yada, yada, yada. Just don't follow the martinis with mind erasers like our sons and my husband did. Not good! Funny, but not good! They also have margarita tastings for the same price but on different days. We were on a 5 night cruise and I think they did them both twice.

I can dig out my daily newsletters and look some general stuff up for you all if you want. If I remember right the specialty restaurants were 1/2 price from 5-6 (as long as you were seated by 6, didn't have to finish by then) on almost every night. We were on the Pearl so the restaurants were different I imagine but we went to the French place and it was fab!! The steak place wasn't too shabby either. Great service! If you like coffee, NCL had really, really good coffee. I usually only drink coffee first thing in the morning but I got to craving theirs all times of the day. Yes, it was that good.

I don't know how it will work on the Dawn but on the Pearl they had TV screens around the ship telling what the wait times were for various restaurants. Don't trust them! One night we wanted to go to the italian place and the TV's were showing immediate seating for large parties. We had 6 in our group. We got everybody there and the screen still said it was a go. They said nope! My father-in-law isn't able to walk long distances very well so we were kinda miffed. The head waiter took pity on us and got us in somewhere else (they held a table) and reserved us for 2 nights later which they normally don't do. You normally have to reserve on the day you want it. I would recommend calling early in the day to reserve where you want to dine. Otherwise we never had a problem though.

Anything else you want to pick my brain about feel free. Its been about a year but I'll do my best to remember.

Thanks Janet!!!

Janet, you are faboo for sharing your information! Were the tastings listed in the dailys (dailies)? I might need it by the tie we get there.

We will have a party of 9 so, reservations will be a must no matter where we go. Hopefully, DS, DH, and myself will try to sneak in a few family dinners when we can. I'm looking forward to seeing the kid's buffet in the Garden Cafe.

Thanks again for all the info. If you still have the newsletters, I'd be curious as to what the ship offered. Why, yes, I love to overprepare!

Okay, I found an old NCL document for the Majesty's shore excursions. One the page is a link for the dine ashore program but, the link is broken. I'm guessing they forgot the page existed. The document mentions what to do if you miss a meal because of a shore excursion.

NCL Freestyle Bermuda Dining This link lists the restaurants participating. It is from 2006, I think. Some of the links on this page are broken but, it looks like it was the original 'official' page for NCL.

Hmm, only 134 days left to pack.

Okay, I have read a bit about upselling. How and when does that happen? Does NCL attempt to make deals with the passengers directly? We got our tickets through AARP (my MIL) online. I am so tempted to upgrade to a balcony. I'm not sure if toddler and balcony are a good mix. If they offer us a good deal, I might be more tempted. Eh, just wishing out loud.