Possible Newbie to NCL

[rs12065]

We are considering a cruise on the Getaway in early spring of 2015. We are veterans of numerous cruises on Princess, RCCL, Carnival and Celebrity.

We usually avoid any of the optional pay venues for dining and choose to eat dinners in the main dining room. I am looking for opinions on the food, service, etc on NCL and what we could expect should we choose to go on this cruise.

 

I am aware that there are numerous optional dining venues so I am not looking for input for these dining choices, only the main dining rooms on NCL

 

Any opinions would be appreciated.

 

 

Thanks in advance

[che5904]

I can only give you input on Carnival vs NCL.

 

I found them both to be equivalent in the MDR for dinners.

 

I found Carnival had a few more options at lunch with the deli and Guys burgers as well as the buffet. NCL has the buffet (more options buffet vs buffet) as well as their grills. But NCL has one MDR open on sea days for lunch which Carnival didn't so I would say they were equivalent for lunch time as well, just different options.

[roger001]

http://www.ncl.com/cruise-ship/getaway/overview?cheetahid=Ns41M9&cid=EM_MKD_N-A_N-A_EML_info_N-_getrev_GET022514_XXXXXXXX__C000002853

[LrgPizza]

We are considering a cruise on the Getaway in early spring of 2015. We are veterans of numerous cruises on Princess, RCCL, Carnival and Celebrity.

We usually avoid any of the optional pay venues for dining and choose to eat dinners in the main dining room. I am looking for opinions on the food, service, etc on NCL and what we could expect should we choose to go on this cruise.

 

I am aware that there are numerous optional dining venues so I am not looking for input for these dining choices, only the main dining rooms on NCL

 

Any opinions would be appreciated.

 

 

Thanks in advance

 

There are 3 main dining rooms on the Getaway: Taste, Savor, and The Tropicana Room. There are also other non-pay dining options available - Flamingo Grill, O'Sheehan's, and the Garden Cafe Buffet.

 

As far as the main dining rooms, you will show up and be seated whenever you want, which is different than the other cruiselines. You won't have the same table or servers or seating time.

 

Sorry I didn't answer about quality of food or service, as I've not yet been on Getaway, and only sailed NCL once. I just wanted to be sure you knew there wasn't just a single MDR.

Edited February 26, 2014 by LrgPizza

[rs12065]

[EQUOTE=roger001;41829205]http://www.ncl.com/cruise-ship/getaway/overview?cheetahid=Ns41M9&cid=EM_MKD_N-A_N-A_EML_info_N-_getrev_GET022514_XXXXXXXX__C000002853[/QUOT]

 

Just what I wanted (NOT).....a commercial from NCL...Why would you bother to reply like this? I am looking for honest opinions from NCL cruisers for dinner in the Main Dining Room, not what NCL is touting.

[Beaver1975]

That was quite the rude response to someone assisting you. :confused:

[SteveH2508]

Bearing in mind that this is my subjective opinion - NCL's MDR food is fine, generally on a par with Princess and a bit better than RCCL (I cannot comment on the other lines). It is not Michelin star but then no cruise line food is IMHO.

 

I've not had problems with cold food or long waits. On our last cruise they really seemed to be trying to up their game in the food stakes - they were always asking for feedback.

 

We have just booked another cruise with NCL. We are both foodies and would not return if the food was poor.

[fergusonvt]

Both my DH and I found them to be comparable to CCL and RCI. We liked NCL's food better especially in the MDR. NCL had more choices on the buffet than CCL especially at dinner time but was pretty comparable to RCI. As for service we have been lucky to experience great service on all 3 lines in our 4 cruises. We found that RCI was more expensive and felt we were really paying for the larger ship with more things to do although we prefer NCL's smaller ships.

Edited February 26, 2014 by fergusonvt

[jkgourmet]

I've also sailed all those lines you listed, but years ago. So I'll only compare celebrity vs. NCL as those are the two we have sailed within the last 14 months. Celebrity Summit 7 day Caribbean vs NCL Jade 21 day b2b Mediterranean.

 

We ended up liking the freestyle dining arrangement on NCL. Come when you want, dressed pretty much as you please. Some of the younger passengers wore some pretty ratty clothes in the MDR and it did make the cruise feel a little less special. I wish NCL enforced its own dress code better in the MDR.

 

NCL Service was sometimes slow, and decidedly less formal and professional than celebrity. This wasn't a biggie, and we really enjoyed being seated with different couples each night. Interesting people and interesting conversation.

 

I know others will disagree, but the MDR food on NCL was generally mediocre. Celebrity wins on that score hands down. MANY if our fellow passengers were equally underwhelmed with the MDR food. Yes, we are foodies but not food snobs (husband is also an ex butcher and was particularly unhappy with the steaks in the NCL MDR.).

 

That said, the price on NCL was a steal. NCL does many things very well, but food in the free venues is NOT one of them. Given the price we paid, we still felt we got a bargain.

 

And we would absolutely sail NCL again, as long as the price was cheap and the itinerary port intensive in places where we can seek out great lunches on shore (which was easy in the Mediterranean).

 

 

 

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Forums mobile app

Edited February 26, 2014 by jkgourmet

[roger001]

[EQUOTE=roger001;41829205]http://www.ncl.com/cruise-ship/getaway/overview?cheetahid=Ns41M9&cid=EM_MKD_N-A_N-A_EML_info_N-_getrev_GET022514_XXXXXXXX__C000002853[/QUOT]

 

Just what I wanted (NOT).....a commercial from NCL...Why would you bother to reply like this? I am looking for honest opinions from NCL cruisers for dinner in the Main Dining Room, not what NCL is touting.

 

Why..why would I reply like that??? Wait..wait...let me think. Oh yea. I got it! I have a family member who sailed on the Getaway two weeks ago. She was sooo excited and delighted with the ship, just this morning she sent me that link, which she thought....and I foolishly also thought ....was a good link to explore the ship if you haven't already been on her yet. And like you, we too are "veterans" of the cruise experience and while booking those many cruises (we're veterans, or did I mention that), I thought I had derived a great deal of useful information about particular NCL ships by looking at the NCL web site dedicated to the ship. It foolishly did not occur to me that I was only looking at commercial propaganda from NCL, I guess nothing factual or useful. I know better now.

 

And might I suggest, if in the future you do get replies to your questions, you consider that these replies were presented in a genuine effort to be helpful. And.....if you feel that these well intended responses don't cover your areas of inquiry satisfactorily, well....just ignore them then.

[dolita22]

We were just on the RCCL Independence a few weeks ago and have been on a couple NCL cruises. Food is subjective, but we enjoyed the MDR food on NCL much more than the MDR food on RCCL. We only eat in the MDR for dinner. NCL's MDR menu seemed to have more new options each night, and the standard options were all consistent and tasty. We loved the desserts, especially the chocolate truffle cake and the lemon sorbet! In contrast, we had one good meal in the RCCL MDR a few weeks ago, but otherwise, really disliked the food and the options...and we're not picky eaters. Many of the desserts on RCCL seemed to be gelatin based, and we weren't fans.

 

When comparing food on both lines, my husband gave RCCL a 4 out of 10. NCL was an 8 out of 10.

 

Again, food is subjective, but hopefully that helps some!

[sixesandeights]

 

As far as the main dining rooms, you will show up and be seated whenever you want, which is different than the other cruiselines.

 

Can we stop saying this? The other cruise lines mentioned ALL have My Time Dining. This is no longer an NCL only thing and touting it as such is a bit silly.

 

6&8

[sixesandeights]

That was quite the rude response to someone assisting you. :confused:

 

I didnt consider it help really. They asked for opinions, not a commercial. That in no way provided an opinion, customer insight, or at all addressed the question...

 

6&8

[sixesandeights]

Why..why would I reply like that??? Wait..wait...let me think. Oh yea. I got it! I have a family member who sailed on the Getaway two weeks ago. She was sooo excited and delighted with the ship, just this morning she sent me that link, which she thought....and I foolishly also thought ....was a good link to explore the ship if you haven't already been on her yet. And like you, we too are "veterans" of the cruise experience and while booking those many cruises (we're veterans, or did I mention that), I thought I had derived a great deal of useful information about particular NCL ships by looking at the NCL web site dedicated to the ship. It foolishly did not occur to me that I was only looking at commercial propaganda from NCL, I guess nothing factual or useful. I know better now.

 

And might I suggest, if in the future you do get replies to your questions, you consider that these replies were presented in a genuine effort to be helpful. And.....if you feel that these well intended responses don't cover your areas of inquiry satisfactorily, well....just ignore them then.

 

Your post did not at all address the question asked. They asked for personal opinions, not a post to the NCL site...

[jkgourmet]

Can we stop saying this? The other cruise lines mentioned ALL have My Time Dining. This is no longer an NCL only thing and touting it as such is a bit silly.

 

6&8

 

You're correct. However, the other lines don't do it as efficiently or smoothly. The other lines tend to put Anytime Diners at tables for two. As I said, we enjoyed dining with different couples each night, and this wasn't easily accomplished on other lines with AnyTime (or My Time or Select or Whatever) Dining.

Edited February 26, 2014 by jkgourmet

[LrgPizza]

Can we stop saying this?

 

 

No.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[Beaver1975]

Can we stop saying this? The other cruise lines mentioned ALL have My Time Dining. This is no longer an NCL only thing and touting it as such is a bit silly.

 

6&8

 

Sorry, but no. Other cruise lines have a variation of Freestyle that is limited to a select number of passengers. Whereas ALL NCL passengers have the option to eat where they want, when they want and with whom they want.

[meggie711]

We have cruised several times with RCCL, and most recently with NCL. I found the food on NCL to be great. We ate at O'Sheehan's darn near everyday for breakfast and lunch. We ate at some of the included restaurants for dinner, and also did a couple of specialties. The food was memorable, which I can't always say for what I ate on RCCL. I can honestly tell you what I ate for most of the meals, and the cruise was a year ago. lol

The service was fantastic. We have kept in touch with some of the crew members, and have nothing but good things to say about our cruise. We booked with NCL again, and had purchased a future cruise credit on that last cruise, as we were left with such a good impression. In talking with NCL as we booked this upcoming cruise, we have had great experiences with their customer service. I am very impressed with NCL.