new to NCL

[misha1]

Good morning Norwegian Cruise line fans...DH and I will be booking the Pride in Hawaii for March sailing in 2011. We have not sailed on NCL, only RCCL and Celebrity. We have never done freestyle cruising and I had a quick ?? or two. Are there still "formal nights"? Or, how you dress is dependent upon which restaurant you dine in? I assume there is a dress code in some of the restaurants? Is there still assigned seating in the MDR or is that first come first serve? Does the ship remain open for returning from port during the night on the overnights on the islands? For example, if we do not embark until 2 am in Maui, is this possible? I guess that is a few more than a couple ??? Thanks in advance for your help. Julie

[AFT_LOVER]

is the dress code. Resort Casual is the term used. Ladies in dresses or slacks with blouse or nice shirt. Men in slacks with polo shirt of dress shirts. No coats or ties needed.

 

If you want to dress formal, go right ahead. We don't. No need for extra luggage to carry suits, gowns, jewelry, shoes, etc.

 

Shorts are OK for breakfast or lunch but slacks for dinner if not a skirt or dress.

 

Good morning Norwegian Cruise line fans...DH and I will be booking the Pride in Hawaii for March sailing in 2011. We have not sailed on NCL, only RCCL and Celebrity. We have never done freestyle cruising and I had a quick ?? or two. Are there still "formal nights"? Or, how you dress is dependent upon which restaurant you dine in? I assume there is a dress code in some of the restaurants? Is there still assigned seating in the MDR or is that first come first serve? Does the ship remain open for returning from port during the night on the overnights on the islands? For example, if we do not embark until 2 am in Maui, is this possible? I guess that is a few more than a couple ??? Thanks in advance for your help. Julie

[uppitycats]

Good morning Norwegian Cruise line fans...DH and I will be booking the Pride in Hawaii for March sailing in 2011. We have not sailed on NCL, only RCCL and Celebrity. We have never done freestyle cruising and I had a quick ?? or two. Are there still "formal nights"? Or, how you dress is dependent upon which restaurant you dine in? I assume there is a dress code in some of the restaurants? Is there still assigned seating in the MDR or is that first come first serve? Does the ship remain open for returning from port during the night on the overnights on the islands? For example, if we do not embark until 2 am in Maui, is this possible? I guess that is a few more than a couple ??? Thanks in advance for your help. Julie

 

There are no "formal" nights on any NCL ships. They do have what they call "dress up or not" nights, at which time you can, if you wish, dress as formally as you want. Depending on the itinerary, some folks dress up a lot, other folks remain casual.

 

The dress code for NCL is described on their web site as "resort casual". Meaning no shorts for dinner in any of the restaurants, including the MDR, but nearly anything else is acceptable. On our last NCL cruise we did see people dressing up more when going to the specialty restaurants. I know we did, but we were celebrating an anniversary and so would have dressed up to go out to dinner at home, too.

 

As for "assigned seating in the MDR"..that is the whole point of Freestyle! there IS no assigned seating, no "early" or "late" dining assignments, no sitting at tables with folks you don't know, trying to make small talk about things that you have no interest in!

 

When the dining room is open for dinner (depending on the ship, 5:30 or 6:00 p.m to 9:00 or so), you do like you do here in Wisconsin (I see you're from Wisconsin, too) -- you show up, a host/hostess greets you, asks "how many in your party?" and seats you accordingly. If you're just a couple, you'll be seated at a table for 2. If you've met friends on the cruise and want to eat with them, you'll be seated at a table to accommodate the size of your group.

 

If you show up at "prime time" -- around 6:30 -- there may be a wait -- again, just like at a land-based restaurant. Otherwise, within 5 minutes you'll be escorted to a table, and handed menues.

 

If you show up as a couple and decide you want to share, want to meet new people, you can tell that to the hostess, and if there are others who are also willing to share, then you'll be seated together.

 

I can't help with the overnight question; we've not been on a cruise where the ship is in port overnight...

[OKCThunder]

Pride in Hawaii

 

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