Freestyle Cruising - Questions ?

[mitchmagi]

Hi all ...

 

I quite like the concept of Freestlye Cruising ... how big of an advantange is it ?

 

*What other liners besides NCL offer the free choice of dining when & where you want ?

 

*What other liners besides NCL allow you to set your disembarkation time ?

 

Thanks

[Happy ks]

Other than NCL, Princess has "Personal Choice" dining. The advantage is that you eat when, where and with whom you want to dine with. The downside is that you have different servers at every meal, some people love getting to know their servers for the week. Another advantage is the choice to pay a little extra and dine at premium restaurants. Some people think the food is just as good at the included dining venues, we found the food to be far superior in the "extra fee" venues.

 

I think one major advantage is you don't have to worry so much about time. The traditional dining times on most cruise ships are either too early or too late for us. We try to choose the late seating so we don't have to rush back from shore to prepare for dinner. With Freestyle, you have none of those worries.

 

I will add that while I have been on one Freestyle cruise, I have not cruised with Princess, yet.

 

Someone else will have to answer your disembarkation question.

[musicmansmom]

i have not done the freestyle cruising yet but my 8 family members did on the diamond princess and did not like it. the only reason they were unhappy with it though was that it was very hard for all of them too get a table big enough for all of them to dine together. i think it would have been fun to split up, but they wanted to stay together and had to wait for long periods of time for a big enough table to open up. personally, i think i would like to give it a try. not having a certain time for eating and seeing the shows sounds good too me. let us know how your experience with it went when you get back :)

[wwinfl91]

All cruise lines let you set your disembarkation times to some extend. You usually answer a group of questions they send you a day or so in front of the last day of the cruise. Depending on your answers you are giving a disembarkation time based on your needs (flight times, etc.). After that has been assigned you can always go to the pursors office and ask for it to be changed because of changed circumstances. They will usually honor your request. Many cruise lines also offer frequent cruisers with the cruise line and people who book the most expensive cabins special priviledges for getting on and off the ship. This may even include getting priority seating at tender ports for these passengers. In a way it is similar to the old class system that used to exist on the classic transatlantic liners and still does on the Queen Mary II where the passengers who have the most expensive cabins eat in separate dining rooms with different menus.

 

By the way we have done two Princess cruises and done PC dining on both and really enjoyed the freedom and flexibility it offers. I wish more cruise lines would include it as an option.

 

Have a great next cruise.

[txstephie]

Freestyle was wonderful for DH and I. We just got back from sailing on the Sea, and we had no problems getting a table. We never had to wait and we always had the option of sitting alone, or sharing a table. I think the best thing about Freestyle is that when we got back on the ship after being in port was that we weren't rushed to get to the dining room.

 

As for disembarktion, we did the express disembarktion and that worked great. The ship cleared customs at 8:00 and we were in the car by 8:20!

[NJcruiser21]

I can't wait to sail NCL and freestyle. I booked a carnival cruise for next December but I'm thinking more and more about cancelling and booking another NCL cruise. for me, freestyle is the way to go. I would like to try traditional but I'm so weary of it.

[Andee]

Oceania also has open seating dining. There is no charge to eat in their specialty restaurants.

 

On Princess, you can make a reservation for the Personal Choice Dining, which would eliminate waiting for a table.