A ? for NCL Fans

[mj]

I have never cruised on NCL. So, what is it that you like about NCL compared to the other lines? Love to hear your opinion. Looking to try NCL for the first time next year, possibly the Dawn.

[sverigecruiser]

Freestyle dining.

 

No singing and dancing waiters.

 

The suite life.

[thescot123]

1. Freestyle - eat when you want, no set times.

2. Casual dress even in main dining rooms.

3. Excellent crew who always smile and go that extra mile.

4. Beautiful ships.

5. Officers who are always around, always willing to help and give you their direct phone numbers in case of issues.

6. Excellent cruise critic meet & greets which NCL setups.

[camz]

NCL's Freestyle Cruising Concept is essentially more than just dining options. Freestyle Cruising is the cruise experience. Dress up or not, dine when you want, no clocks, no worries. After all, this is what vacation is all about. In addition, NCL has the friendliest crew at sea and beautiful ships.

[Shelli]

I've been on 16 cruises on pretty much all the mass market lines. Although my first and third cruises were on the dear, departed Norway in the late 80s, I hadn't been on NCL since it instituted Freestyle. I had very low expectations when we went on the Norwegian Jewel nearly 2 years ago... and boy, was I pleasantly surprised!

 

I think the biggest surprise was the attitude of the staff. Every single cruise line employee we encountered was friendly and eager to please. Their behavior made me feel as though I were on the highest-end cruise line ever, rather than on the least expensive cruise I'd been on so far. It truly made that cruise one of my very favorites!

 

NCL was the first cruise line to introduce alternative fee-based dining more than 20 years ago, and at this point, they've pretty much made it an art form. I really like the choices of restaurants and their very reasonable prices. Although on the Jewel we chose to dine only at one of them, it was a great experience, and we have two picked out to try on our Star cruise in September.

 

You might think the restaurant choices would make the main dining room less desirable... but we didn't find that to be the case at all! Everything we tried was excellent; the staff was amazing and offered to basically customize our menus by adding sides or even extra main dishes to our orders.

 

I'm a big NCL fan these days-- I expect you will be as well after you cruise with them!

[mj]

I've been on 16 cruises on pretty much all the mass market lines. Although my first and third cruises were on the dear, departed Norway in the late 80s, I hadn't been on NCL since it instituted Freestyle. I had very low expectations when we went on the Norwegian Jewel nearly 2 years ago... and boy, was I pleasantly surprised!

 

I think the biggest surprise was the attitude of the staff. Every single cruise line employee we encountered was friendly and eager to please. Their behavior made me feel as though I were on the highest-end cruise line ever, rather than on the least expensive cruise I'd been on so far. It truly made that cruise one of my very favorites!

 

NCL was the first cruise line to introduce alternative fee-based dining more than 20 years ago, and at this point, they've pretty much made it an art form. I really like the choices of restaurants and their very reasonable prices. Although on the Jewel we chose to dine only at one of them, it was a great experience, and we have two picked out to try on our Star cruise in September.

 

You might think the restaurant choices would make the main dining room less desirable... but we didn't find that to be the case at all! Everything we tried was excellent; the staff was amazing and offered to basically customize our menus by adding sides or even extra main dishes to our orders.

 

I'm a big NCL fan these days-- I expect you will be as well after you cruise with them!

 

I compared Carnival, NCL, and RCCL and looked at the cheapest balcony category. NCL came in the lowest. Even factoring in 3 or 4 nights at the speciality restaurants.

[luddite]

Freestyle and the crew.

[xenagurl]

Perfectly worded and my reasons as well!

 

NCL's Freestyle Cruising Concept is essentially more than just dining options. Freestyle Cruising is the cruise experience. Dress up or not, dine when you want, no clocks, no worries. After all, this is what vacation is all about. In addition, NCL has the friendliest crew at sea and beautiful ships.

[Coastalbreezes]

I love the many (and delicious!) dining options, the extraordinarily friendly staff and crew, the Casino at Sea Program (the best at sea as far as I am concerned) and the convenience of sailing from ports close to home.

 

Tracy