freestyle not just at NCL

[98Charlie]

Regarding Princess Cruise Lines Personal Choice:

 

On the Dawn Princess there were two Main Dining Rooms. They were on two different decks with the Traditional directly above the Personal Choice. The floor plans were basically identical and the menues were the the same. Prior to the cruise you have to select either traditional or PC. When we entered the dining room (we took PC) you showed your room card. It indicated your choice. My understanding is that you could change your choice during the cruise but could not change back.

 

We enjoy the Freestyle type of dining and found Princess Personal choice to our liking. The food was good (except for prime rib), and you could actually make a reservation that they would "try to accommodate". We placed reservations for a specific wait team and were always seated with them at our requested time.

 

Note to Kayla's Mom - The phrase "Alternative Dining" is frequently used to indicate dining rooms that have a surcharge. But, it can also indicate anything other than the main dining room (e.g. the buffet, pizziria, BBQ).

[SecondMate]

This is getting off topic a bit, for which I apologize, but I'm kind of surprised that more lines haven't gone "resort casual always appropriate." Are NCL and Oceania the only ones?

 

I can understand enjoying traditional cruise ship dining (although I know I wouldn't), but I can't understand wanting to wear a jacket and tie, skirt, dress, etc. to dinner almost every night. Maybe most people don't dress up much for work anymore and find it fun to do so on a cruise ship. I have to dress up enough in the real world that I want to be comfy on a ship. It just seems like ships should be naturally easygoing environments, especially in warm and laidback places like the Caribbean.

 

Y'all's thoughts on this?

[Host CMLA]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by 98Charlie:

On the Dawn Princess there were two Main Dining Rooms. They were on two different decks with the Traditional directly above the Personal Choice. The floor plans were basically identical and the menues were the the same. Prior to the cruise you have to select either traditional or PC. When we entered the dining room (we took PC) you showed your room card. It indicated your choice. My understanding is that you could change your choice during the cruise but could not change back.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>I've read some threads over on the Princess board and a complaint I've read is that many people choose traditionl dining at first and then later in the cruise switch to PC dining and that causes long waits and lowered service levels for PC diners because so many people want to eat that way.

 

I think it's worth a look over on the Princess board for some first hand accounts.

 

Cecilia

 

I can be contacted at *****@aol.com

 

My Wedding!

 

[newmexicoNita]

When suits, ties, heels and hose were the working uniform my DH hated dressing up on cruise ships though he did love cruising. Then most companies went casual or part casual and the suits started to collect dust; he still hated dressing up on cruises and I hated lugging all that stuff or renting it from the cruise line. Now he is retired, wears his tux a few times a year and still hates taking it on vacation. This is one reason we love freestyle, but not the only reason. NMNIta ps I do think Oceania and NCL are the only totally casual lines. Maybe some of the real upscale ones also stress casual. NMNita

 

Commodore 1984, Costa 1985, RCL 1987, Chandris 1989, NCL 1989, Commodore, 1991, NCL 1997, Carnival 1997, Carnival 1998,NCL 1998, NCL 1999, RCL 2000, RCL 2000, NCL 2002,NCL 2003, Celebrity 2003, NCL 2004

[98Charlie]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> Originally posted by Host Cecilia: I've read some threads over on the Princess board and a complaint I've read is that many people choose traditionl dining at first and then later in the cruise switch to PC dining and that causes long waits and lowered service levels for PC diners because so many people want to eat that way.

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

 

We had read the same type of posts prior to our cruise on the Dawn Princess. We did not encounter any problem with "Cross-over" diners. I don't know if they were more alert or what. I do know that room cards were checked each evening as we entered the dining room. I really haven't been back to the Princess boards since our cruise. That was the first week of December 2003.

 

Of course our 1 week cruise was only 2% of the total sea time for the Dawn last year. It's possible that we were on the only week that didn't have a problem. I know that we had a fantastic time. (Then again, "A bad day on a cruise beats a good day at work.")

[OB10913]

Don't know why my post was pulled...just stated that we had a wait on Princess for freestyle dining as well. It seems to be the nature of the beast. Kinda like trying to get into a Broadway restaurant before the show!!! You have to expect a wait. So again if the waiting is too difficult ie for the very young or very old...Princess will not solve that problem.

Happy sailing!

[eric-n-beth]

When my DH and I cruised the Sea Princess, many passengers switched from traditional to personal choice. We had many long waits due to this issue. Hope this helps.

 

Eric and Beth

 

Seaward (Norwegian Sea) - Southern Caribbean - 1995

Norway - Eastern Caribbean - 2001

Sea Princess - Mexican Riviera - 2002

Norwegian Sun - Western Caribbean - 2004

 

Hoping our next cruise is in: