Freestyle or set dining time?

[legion3]

I understand the freestyle dining approach but I also read a recent review that the cruiser went to the venetian dining room on the Dawn and simply reserved or set a standard dining time for 6:30 and avoided the lines.

 

they did this as they had, like I also have, two young toddlers and thought it would be simple to keep a schedule.

 

So my question is have others done this? Any downside? Is this easy to do?

 

Thanks

[Anginette]

It can't officially be done. The reviewer might have arrived at the MDR and requested the same section each evening (which you certainly are able to do), but unless you're part of a large group, you can't make a standing reservation, and if there's a line, you'll still need to wait.

[Guindalf]

We've never done it (no kids), but it's easy to do.

 

Just go to the restaurant on the first night and tell them your request. You MAY be able to call and do it over the phone, too.

[newmexicoNita]

I understand the freestyle dining approach but I also read a recent review that the cruiser went to the venetian dining room on the Dawn and simply reserved or set a standard dining time for 6:30 and avoided the lines.

 

they did this as they had, like I also have, two young toddlers and thought it would be simple to keep a schedule.

 

So my question is have others done this? Any downside? Is this easy to do?

 

Thanks

 

My feeling, this defeats the reason for freestyle. We do, usually, eat at about the same time, but it can vary, sometimes we want to do a specialty restaurant or just simply chance our minds before dinner time. Of course with toddlers, that is a toally different situation. Do remember, officially this isn't done, so you will be at the mercy of the restaurant..It won't hurt to give it a try on the first afternoon, see what they say? Normally reserving ahead of time is for large groups only.

Nita

[mtwingcpa]

My feeling, this defeats the reason for freestyle.

 

I agree. If one wants a set dining time, make a reservation for a specialty restaurant or (and I say this with utmost respect) select a different cruise line.

 

I was once on an NCL cruise where they were allowing parties of ANY size to make reservations in the rear MDR. This didn't work very well in my opinion. They ended up with TWO lines outside the restaurant...one with reservation people and one with non. And they had an extra hostess at the top of the stairs to direct traffic and try to keep the peace.

 

It looked like they were taking maybe two parties from the reservation line, and then one from the non-reservation line, etc. So the reservation people probably got seated a bit quicker, but it didn't look like a smooth operation to me.

 

In my experience, if one arrives at the MDR when it first opens, you can usually be seated immediately.

[davy jones]

I take freestyle as people can dine when they want to. Each person is different. If someone wants to dine at the same time each evening, I don't see why a reservation could not be made. I can see people wanting the same time using freestyle for two reasons. First, is that their preferred time is not the same as traditional seating times (say 7PM, instead of 5:30 and 8). The other is that they wish to not have table mates for whatever reason. That's the beauty of freestyle. Everyone can choose what meets their needs.

[dcollette]

When we sailed on the Dawn, we sailed with all four of our children, two of them toddlers at the time. We were told you could make reservations for a certain time in the MDRs, but when I called to do this, I was told we could not. Now, I also understand that you can make reservations for parties of at least 6, so maybe that is why we were told we could. In any event, waiting with small children is not easy. You may get lucky if you ask during lunch when the dining room is open to see if they will let you. We just tried to go when the lines seemed shortest. You can always call ahead to the dining room to see how long the lines are and approximate wait time if you want. We did this and they would put our name down when we called as though we were already in line, so we were able to shorten our wait a little bit.

 

Hope this helps!

[legion3]

So there appears to be some confusion or disagreeing viewpoints on this. This review was for a 3/13 cruise.

 

I choose ncl more for the specialty resturants port of tampa and not so much for freestyle overall. That said the kids club does not take the children to dinner so arrangements need to be made for us to feed them then go to a specialty resturant. Just thought a set time would help with specialty reservations.

 

Im sure it will all work out with the dinners just was wondering about this concept.

 

The blue lagoon is fee free yes?

[Anginette]

So there appears to be some confusion or disagreeing viewpoints on this. This review was for a 3/13 cruise.

 

I choose ncl more for the specialty resturants port of tampa and not so much for freestyle overall. That said the kids club does not take the children to dinner so arrangements need to be made for us to feed them then go to a specialty resturant. Just thought a set time would help with specialty reservations.

 

Im sure it will all work out with the dinners just was wondering about this concept.

 

The blue lagoon is fee free yes?

 

You can make reservations in specialty restaurants at any time of your choosing, but you specifically asked about the MDR.

 

Yes, Blue Lagoon is free.

[punkincc]

So there appears to be some confusion or disagreeing viewpoints on this. This review was for a 3/13 cruise.

 

I choose ncl more for the specialty resturants port of tampa and not so much for freestyle overall. That said the kids club does not take the children to dinner so arrangements need to be made for us to feed them then go to a specialty resturant. Just thought a set time would help with specialty reservations.

 

Im sure it will all work out with the dinners just was wondering about this concept.

 

The blue lagoon is fee free yes?

 

So you intend to feed the kids in the MDR and then the 2 of you eat in a specialty restaurant? Don't know the ages of the children. Do they really care about the type of items typically found on the MDR menus? If not, why not just take them to the buffet where they can choose from a good selection of items. There will be some from the MDR menu as well. Yes the Blue Lagoon is free, good wings, burgers, soup, grilled cheese, etc. There is second MDR as well, which is smaller and more intimate that would be an option.

[BurtonRiderT6]

The blue lagoon is fee free yes?

 

 

Everything on the cruise line is free..................until the end of the cruise.:(

 

This should help answer all your dining cost questions.

 

http://www.ncl.com/sites/default/files/DiningGuide_03062013.pdf

[legion3]

Yeah the kids buffet or blue lagoon is likely the way to go. Then we should plan on dinner about 730 as the kids club reopens at 7

[Taryn and Sarah]

That may have been our review you mention initially. Our kids were 3 & 5 and having a "set" dinner time was helpful for us. I made arrangements with the maitre d the first night and had our reservations made just like making them for a specialty place. She even printed out each receipt with the day and time.

 

For us it was the way to go because our kids do well having a routine. We started dinner together, they ate their dinners while we started on salad or soup, and by the time they were done it was 7pm and they could go to the kid's area. That gave us time to finish our dinner without rushing and have dessert.

 

Don't get me wrong, freestyle is great, but for us on this trip we appreciated having a set time.

 

Venetian is definitely the way to go- it's a straight shot up the elevator to the kid's area :)

[Don Haynes]

My feeling, this defeats the reason for freestyle. We do, usually, eat at about the same time, but it can vary, sometimes we want to do a specialty restaurant or just simply chance our minds before dinner time. Of course with toddlers, that is a toally different situation. Do remember, officially this isn't done, so you will be at the mercy of the restaurant..It won't hurt to give it a try on the first afternoon, see what they say? Normally reserving ahead of time is for large groups only.

Nita

 

I agree Nita. Reservations for large parties is one thing, but doing so for everyone defeats the whole purpose of free style at the main dining rooms. It is my opinion if they do allow everyone to make reservations at the main dining rooms, they should be for late dining only, after 9 PM. That is after the first two or three waves of tables for free style is over.

 

If a couple wish to make reservations at 7 PM, do so at a speciality restaurant. Pay more for it. It is difficult, if not impossible, to make 7 PM reservations for small parties on weekend night at land based restaurants, why should it be easier at sea? During the week is another story at land based restaurants, but at sea every night is a weekend night at the main dining rooms.

[coaster]

Interesting. If Freestyle could include the folks that want a set time and those that want to show up at a random time each night, that could be Freestyle 2.0 (or 3.0 since most of 2.0 is longer with us). Why not accommodate those that want a set time? Would not it be in NCL's best interest to be flexible and accommodate the two different preferences in dining?

[GORDONCHICK]

In my discussions HDs and concierges, they have said that you can only make a reservation, standing or otherwise, in a MDR if you are in a party of 10 or more or are in a suite where the concierge would make reservations for you.

 

I agree that feeding children at either Blue Lagoon or the buffet works really well whether you're eating at a specialty restaurant or a MDR. That's what we did with our DS a few months ago. He was fine with not going to the MDR.

[Sauer-kraut]

Interesting. If Freestyle could include the folks that want a set time and those that want to show up at a random time each night, that could be Freestyle 2.0 (or 3.0 since most of 2.0 is longer with us). Why not accommodate those that want a set time? Would not it be in NCL's best interest to be flexible and accommodate the two different preferences in dining?

 

Because what if you decided one night you didn't want the traditional seating after all, since you were having fun in a port and just didn't feel like rushing to meet your set dining time. Or you decided to have a late lunch (or early lunch for that matter) and needed to change the time you were planning on eating dinner. Why mess with freestyle dining?? If you don't care for it don't book NCL or eat in specialty restaurants every night.

[Don Haynes]

Interesting. If Freestyle could include the folks that want a set time and those that want to show up at a random time each night, that could be Freestyle 2.0 (or 3.0 since most of 2.0 is longer with us). Why not accommodate those that want a set time? Would not it be in NCL's best interest to be flexible and accommodate the two different preferences in dining?

 

From what I have read on the other cruise line forums, it doesn't work. NCL would need a third main dining room for it to work properly. I believe it is the same with all of the rest of the lines as well. NCL does free style or anytime dining right, why change? What is so wrong with what every major land based restaurant does, open dining? What bothers me is those who like traditional dining, don't necessary wish to book at either 5:30 or 8 PM, but wish to choose 7 PM with NCL.

[Godiva830]

When I was on the Jewel I made dinner reservations every night. I ate in 2 specialty restaurants and the other 5 nights in the MDR. I would make my reservations around what activities were going on on the ship and shows I wanted to see. We were 2 people and we were staying in a suite. The concierge every morning greeted us in Cagney's and asked where we would like to eat that night and would make our dinner reservations for whatever time and dining venue we wanted. I was sailing during Presidents Week and the ship was sold out and crowded. That was a nice perk to have on a crowded sold out ship.

[GORDONCHICK]

When I was on the Jewel I made dinner reservations every night. I ate in 2 specialty restaurants and the other 5 nights in the MDR. I would make my reservations around what activities were going on on the ship and shows I wanted to see. We were 2 people and we were staying in a suite. The concierge every morning greeted us in Cagney's and asked where we would like to eat that night and would make our dinner reservations for whatever time and dining venue we wanted. I was sailing during Presidents Week and the ship was sold out and crowded. That was a nice perk to have on a crowded sold out ship.

 

The difference is you were in a suite. Someone not in a suite doesn't have that ability.

[puli]

It can't officially be done. The reviewer might have arrived at the MDR and requested the same section each evening (which you certainly are able to do), but unless you're part of a large group, you can't make a standing reservation, and if there's a line, you'll still need to wait.

 

Pardon my buting in ....but how does one make a standing MDR reservation for a large group (say for 14)? And, can you request a certain time , say 7 p m nightly?

[Jfchewning]

I don't have a whole lot of experience with this and what little experience I do have may be somewhat outdated but we just spoke to the Maitre d' the first night and it was arranged for the rest of the sailing. There were 14 of us and we could only get reservations for 8:30 or later (they may have allowed very early seatings as well but we preferred the later seating so we could relax and have a drink first). We didn't always have the same table or same servers, but they always had the table ready for us. We've done this on all three NCL cruises we've been on (Gem, Jewel and Dawn) and none of us were in a suite (except for once on the Dawn, but only one party was in the suite and the perks did not extend to the rest of the group).

 

Also, we generally fed the kids at the buffet and took them to the kids club before we ate. Given our late dinner hour, we may have indulged in just a few of the cookies at the kids buffet while the kids were getting their fill.

 

Hope that helps!

[puli]

Thanks Jfchewning,

 

We will try that . One couple in our group has a suite so perhaps the concierge can help!