mcd2745

At Walt Disney World, they had a very similar problem several years back. Reservations at their restaurants were getting incredibly difficult to get. Yet, all the anecdotal evidence suggested that most restaurants were normally only half-full despite being fully booked. Another parallel is that this really became a problem when Disney started offering their dining package for "free" (you had to forego any other discounts/promos to get it) as a promotion - much like NCL has been doing recently. It became evident that the problem was clearly people booking reservations at multiple restaurants for each night of their trip to give themselves options (although a good chunk of the blame for that also falls on Disney for opening up the reservation window 6 months out, leading to the sentiment of "how do i know where i want to eat in 6 months? so i'll just book a reservation everywhere 6 moths out and decide at the time where we want to go"). So the resulting problem was, not surprisingly, that very few people were cancelling the reservations that they weren't going to use. If you're a jerk who is selfish and inconsiderate enough to book reservations at 4-5 different restaurants a night in the first place, it's highly unlikely you're going to have the decency to cancel the unused ones. So eventually, Disney required you to give a credit card number for each reservation and if you don't cancel by the day before, you get slapped with a $10 pp no-show fee (also updated their systems to not allow you to have multiple reservations at the same time). Viola! All of a sudden reservations became much easier to get.

There is one other thing that has to be considered..

 

NCL has what 14? 16 ships? with more on the way. DCL has 4. It's a LOT easier to produce a higher end and more consistent product among a smaller fleet, even without the backing of Disney Corporate...

 

For those who don't know...DCL does have 2 more ships on the way - albeit 5 years away,

Is there free wi-fi there?

Only in the beach villa

 

Pool cabanas also. But it in either case...hard to call it "free".

Just responding to the the title of this thread...I would say while I wouldn't consider DCL more "luxurious" (neither qualify as "luxury" IMO), they simply do pretty much everything...better.

Food quality is probably the only thing about equal. However, pretty much everything else - service/staff, entertainment (shows, plus movie theaters), kids clubs (if for no other reason than not closing for stretches during the day - although it's much more than that), staterooms (including the TV channels), check-in/embarkation/disembarkation, private island - Disney does better. MUCH better in some cases, such as service and pleasantness of staff.

I sailed the Getaway in January. We reserved and paid for Moderno ahead of time online for my birthday. When we showed at our reserved time of 7pm, we were told they couldn't find our reservation! I was ready to run back to cabin to bring my receipt of reservation and payment, when they said they had room to seat us anyway. Thank goodness! It turned out to a fabulous night and dinner.

 

 

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It wasn't dining reservations, however we had pre-ordered stuff (bottled water package, photo package, soda package for the kids) online a couple of weeks prior to our Getaway cruise last week that apparently never went through. Even though I had a printed confirmation page, they had no record of it on the ship. Clearly, they have some major system issues.

I could have booked restaurants in advance and even book specialty on each night of the cruise

 

but we are getting in "musical chair" kind of game here . They are out of spots on day 3, which means booking in advance for me just make someone else with SDP to stand and wait ...

may be they don't have enough waiters

may the their reservation logic is faulty..

..but it really does not work well..

Most likely it's the final choice..."D. All Of The Above"

We were on the Getaway last week also. Reservations at the specialty restaurants were tough to come by, yet it was true they were always at least half-empty. We wanted to go to Moderno one night. The day before we went, the earliest reservation we could get was 8:30. At 7pm, we dropped our daughter off at the club at 7pm (because for some reason they close from 5-7pm...but don't get me started on that) and decided to go straight to the restaurant to see if maybe they could get us in a little earlier. They sat us immediately as the place was half-full at the most. We went to La Cucina a couple of nights later...less than half-full again even though completely booked. What I think is happening with the (free - with promos) dining packages, people are reserving multiple specialty restaurants per night well in advance and then deciding at the moment which one they will go to.

Yours is one of multiple posts that mention huge increases in DSL cruises . I was under the impression that they were always sky high and more then the rest . No ?

 

They were always higher than the rest. However, the last 5 years or so, the year over year increases have been crazy. Anyone would understand a small, token increase annually, however, they have raised prices dramatically for several years running now.

We just got off the Getaway yesterday. We had done 4 DCL and 3 RCCL cruises previously. I feel like I could come up with the perfect ship & experience (for our family, at least) by combining elements from all 3 lines (however, I think the most elements would likely come from DCL). Probably the only thing I would take from NCL is the "Freestyle" approach to dining where you can go to any restaurant at any time and not herd like cattle to a main dining room at two specific times. From DCL, I would take the larger staterooms & split baths, the kids clubs - and most importantly their continuous operating hours, though I would add a late night service (even for a fee) that the others have - the different shows, the characters, the pleasant staff and the higher level of service they provide (service on the Getaway was generally AWFUL all the way around), the look and decor of the ships, and of course Castaway Cay - the gold standard of private islands. From RCCL, I would take the layout and design of their ships. They seem to do a great job with crowd flow and not having areas seem too crowded - particularly even up on the pool deck. I'll take their casino, too. Also, the Royal Promenade as a sort of central hub of the ship with shops, pizzeria, cafe, etc. is a great feature that we love. There is usually an English-style pub there also that I would replace with O'Sheehans from NCL (okay, so 2 things from NCL), a 24-hour venue with a bar, some food, and some games (darts, pool/billiard, air hockey, arcade style basketball games, skeeball, and mini-bowling). Neat place to hang out late-night instead of some loud club-type place.

DCL is, on the whole, the superior product IMO. They way we look at it, if we (a family of 4) could do a 7-nt on NCL, RCCL, or even Carnival (the Vista really interests us) for approx $3500 or so (all 3 usually are in the same ball park in pricing), we would have no problem going to around $5000 for DCL. However, DCL is more likely to be in the $7000 range. That's tough to justify.

We found the island to be beautiful, boring and overpriced. We would much rather go to mainland Belize or Great Stirrup Caye (where food and drinks are included -alcohol too if you have the UBP).

Safe sailing

 

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We were just there 5 days ago and I feel the exact same way (maybe us folks from Queens just think alike ;)). It is absolutely beautiful to look at as you look out at from the ship while docking - as it should be, being such a new development. However, the drinks are an absolute joke. Badly overpriced and ridiculously watered down. It may be naive not to expect them to be a little watered down and overpriced, but this is just robbery. I think you could have 20 margaritas and wouldn't even have the slightest buzz going. The service was a disaster also. The server on the beach that took care of many of the people in our group got most of the orders wrong and then mixed up everyone's bills. As for the beach, the sand is coarse like gravel and the water is no clearer than a beach here in the NYC area. Incredibly disappointing. The only saving grace is the pool - which is fantastic. I wouldn't be surprised to see in the future...people rushing off early to secure lounges around the pool and avoiding the beach entirely.

Appreciate the review. We are also veterans of DCL (and have done a few on RCCL) who will be sailing on the Getaway (our 1st NCL cruise) in just over 3 weeks.

The closing of the kids club from 12-2 & 5-7 on sea days (they do the same on RCCL) is something that is extremely annoying. Seems backwards to me - they should be doing that on port days, and staying open all day on sea days.

As you said, it makes it very difficult to do things during your sea day if you wanted to do something sans kid(s). You would have be very rigid with your schedule, basing everything around those closures. Kind of the antithesis of "Freestyle" if you asked me.

I had a very nice spontaneous discussion with a NCL Hotel Director on a recent sailing. We were sitting in the Atrium having a drink and he came over to introduce himself, totally out of the blue. We discussed a lot of things just in a general sense. The topic of the kids club came up and we asked about the reason for the closing at meal times. He explained that among the reasons were; pickiness of children, distance of Splash Academy from most kitchens, food allergies and overall liability involved. He also pointed out that the kids club doesn't have anywhere to store dirty dishes or condiments that might be required by some. It made sense to us and I felt it was a good explanation.

 

We eat as a family most nights but choose our special adult dinners to be later in the evening since most Splash Academy hours start at 8pm.

I'm not sure I buy that explanation completely. First off, I don't think it should be the responsibility of the kids club to feed the kids at those times. It's still the parents responsibility to ensure their children eat. Most of time, parents drop children off shortly after eating anyway. I still believe the closures are primarily about cost cutting/saving.

I agree with Hamptin Inn Plantation, stayed there and it was a great location, free shuttles from airport to hotel and the to the pier the next day. Plantation is a great option.

We're looking for a hotel for a pre-cruise (out of POM) night after flying into FLL in February. Looks like a good location and prices are a little more reasonable than other areas. Downside appears to be the usual shuttle companies that are recommended on these boards to go from FLL area to POM don't pick up from hotels in this area.

:confused: Why exactly do you feel the time that they close for meal breaks infringes on your freestyle experience. Nobody marches you and your family to a eating venue and force you to sit down. We were just on the BA 9/4-9/11, and various other ships utilizing the kids programs and I saw them do a lot in the closure times definitely not cutback as they were in their working very hard changing the room over for the next theme of the day. My family and I eat at unconventional times as well but we worked that around the splash schedule so if they started a program in the splash at 5 then guess what my kids didn't get there til later and it was just fine. and for the time it was closed that was time we used to do family activities because it was a family vacation. Not adults being on vacation with NCL as a full time baby sitter

I guess it was inevitable that at some point a judgemental poster would come along with some kind of snarky, self-righteous remark. Our daughter loves the kids clubs - on all ships we've been on. She would love to be in there most of the day. Our son (now 14), on the other hand, didn't really care for them and would hardly go at all. We'd never leave either of them in there for a minute if they didn't want to be there.

On sea days, we prefer to sleep a little later, and take our time in the morning before going to breakfast. We probably don't normally get to breakfast until after 10am on sea days and as a result will not finish until around 11am or later. So, if our daughter wants to go to the club after breakfast (and odds are she will), it's pointless because they will be closing in less than an hour for "lunch". We just finished eating. We have no interest in lunch at this time. On all our other cruises (but I'll focus on the RCCL cruises since they employ the same operating hours at the clubs), we always chose late/second dinner seating (as two working parents, we normally eat late dinner fairly late at home, so we're used to it). The clubs would be closed during the early/main seating dinner time. It's another time that would be a prime time for us and our daughter to make use of the club as she could be in there as the rest of us prepared for dinner. Then, they re-open while we would be eating dinner.

To me, it basically, at best assumes, or at worst attempts to dictate, that families with children who would want to go to the clubs follow a very rigid schedule - that you basically have to eat your lunch and dinner at those specific times. That comes across as the antithesis of what "Freestyle" is meant to be. That is all. Does it ruin the cruise in any way? Of course not. It is a little disappointing though.

Up until a few years ago, they did have continuous hours. Supposedly, parents were leaving kids in the clubs for hours on end, so they started closing them here and there.

Our daughter would love to be left in there all day, if we allowed it. Anyway, I don't believe the cruise lines felt it was their responsibility to close in order to get parents to pick up their kids during the day. If I had to guess, I'd bet it's about cutting costs.

They do not eat in the club, it closes for a couple of hours around lunch and dinner. Your children will not be together (I think it's 3 - 6, 7 - 9, 10 - 12). NCL is very strict on this, need to have a birthday to move up. When you drop them off, they will ask you where you might be reached (cabin, bar, restaurant...).

I don't understand that (and same thing frustrated me on RCCL). To me, that represents the opposite of "Freestyle" cruising. It's basically telling everyone that they should be eating lunch/dinner at those specific times. What if we sleep in and eat a very late breakfast? So then, after breakfast, our daughter goes to the club and they close in 30 minutes for "lunch". Well, we don't want lunch. We only just finished breakfast. And when they close for "dinner"...again what if you're not eating at that time? So they're basically trying to pigeon-hole all families with Splash Academy age children into a defined schedule. Not very "Freestyle" IMO. Kids clubs (on all cruise lines) should have continuous hours.

Try the bread pudding

Love bread pudding! Did you get it at one of the MDRs...buffet...specialty restaurant?

Thank you both.

Done a few cruises each on RCCL & DCL. We're taking our first NCL cruise on the Getaway in February, and starting to really dive into our research now that summer is over and this is the next big vacation on our schedule.

My main concern centers around dining as it seems that will be the primary difference from our previous cruises. Do I need to make dinner reservations for every night? I know there are 3 "MDRs" on Getaway...but you are not assigned to any? For breakfast...what are the options outside of the buffet?

Besides dining, I'm guessing most of the other aspects of the cruise will prove to be more similar to the other lines than different. Is that assumption correct? Hoping some of you who are familiar with NCL and the other lines can provide a high-level rundown of the major differences.

We also need a room for Saturday night of President's weekend (2/18/17 - a valuetrips blackout date). Prices are borderline absurd. I suppose we can possibly find something slightly more reasonable somewhere between FLL and POM. However, then we're looking at adding a rental car. So that would likely erase any savings from the hotel cost. So, I'm pretty much resigned to the fact we'll be paying through the nose no matter what we do.

I can't tell if maybe this is a joke I'm just not getting

Wasn't a joke.

I don't think the idea of MV onboard is as a place to party or linger, it's a place to separate you from your money for the nachos and margarita as quickly as possible.

They only want to to separate people from their money through 4pm? I think you would find a lot of people in there there in the evenings. Closing during dinner hours is understandable I guess...but then why not re-open later? Something like 9pm - 2am.

Is it true they will open be open until 4pm? I can understand that being the case for the locations in the ports since everyone is generally headed back to ship by that time. That makes sense. On the ship(s)...that makes zero sense. They should be open until 4AM daily.

Appreciate the review. We are going on out first NCL cruise on the Getaway in February. We have done a few cruises on RCCL & DCL. So trying to get a handle on as many similarities and differences as we can.

I also think there is a lot more interest for the summer months as opposed to the fall. Just not as many people looking into it, plus the prices for the fall should be a little more reasonable (if there is such a thing with DCL). They really exploit the summer time cruisers.

For us it depends when we get in. Most of the time we were getting in later so we stayed close to MCO, usually the Residence Inn which has some suites.

 

Last time we got in around noon so we stayed closer to the port.

Agree with this.

If we are flying into MCO earlier in the day, we will rent a car, and stay in Cape Canaveral. You have several good options there - Residence Inn probably suits your wants/needs the best.

If our flight is landing in the evening...we'll stay at the Hyatt inside MCO and in the morning, take DCL transfers to the port.

We are very selective in how we approach Disney. I'm willing to pay a modest premium (125% of comparables)' date=' and have been able to do so by booking early (first hour if possible) and combining it with departure ports that are accessible from NYC and are interesting to me.

 

We did the Canadian maritime cruise from NY at a reasonable rate, and the same with Puerto Rico; the European cruises have gotten outside my comfort zone, ditto the 2017 southern Caribbean. We rotate Disney with NCL and RCCL to keep things fresh.

 

When the new ships come on line, we'll look for opportunities on Fantasy and Dream.[/quote']

 

 

We certainly have a differing opinion on what constitutes a "modest premium". We too are willing to pay a (what we consider to be a "modest") premium for DCL. However, for me, that means 30-50% above the cost to sail on other lines.