Thinking of giving NCL a try

[cheeriooldchap]

Hello,

 

I'm saving for a holiday with the other half next summer.

 

We've been told by a few different sources that we'd enjoy cruising and that we should sail with NCL because we like to eat late, and we're not that arsed about dressing up. (It's a holiday so we want to let our hair down. Haha!)

 

After doing a bit of reading on the matter I found that 'Freestyle Cruising' NCL offers has been adapted on to pretty much every cruise line now.

 

Another consideration is that we live in the UK and don't fancy the idea of flying half way across the world just to board a ship, so we'd like to embark from Dover or Southampton.

 

My main question is, what separates NCL from other cruise lines?

 

Cheers! ;)

[Ewoodspark]

It was only the freestyle concept of NCL that persuafed DW to go a cruise in the first place. The idea of dressing up to order and having to dress in certain ways on certain nights was a real no-no. Also we would have hated to be seated with complete strangers whilst dining and being stuck with either early or late sittings.

We now love the idea of casual dressing although we always at least go smart casual to the dining rooms in the evening. The idea of simply deciding on the day when you want to eat and where. We have never used the specialty restaurants as we find the food excellent in the MDR's and the buffet. We order 4 bottles if wine on our first day which is $88 + 15%. When you see programmes on TV of other cruise lines with all the guys in penquin suits and the ladies in long ball gowns, it just shows us the complete difference. There is no way in the world that DW would go on one of those cruises.

Enjoy your NCL cruise in the future

[maywell]

They do freestyle dining right by having so many options whether its breakfast, lunch, dinner or a simple snack. If place is overcrowded and no seating, there's probably another place that has seats or room to eat.

 

I'll be honest, there's not much difference between the big 3 (Carnival, Royal and NCL) except that NCL doesn't have traditional dining time (can make reservations to be similar to traditional dining but not the same time) and Carnival has the least amount of places to eat (depending on the ship), and Royal has more bells and whistles due to thier ships gigantic size. It really does depends on what you want and valuable more during your vacation.

 

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[Susie51]

If you like solarium pools, then RCI would be a better choice for you. Freestyle cruising isn't only about the food,but also you can choose what you want to wear.

 

NCL seems like a good choice for you.

Edited November 12, 2014 by Susie51

[Linda the Book Lover]

I like different cruise lines for different reasons. IMHO I think NCL does a better job in handling freestyle dining which the DH and I both love. After years of dressing to the nines we had smiles on our faces as we packed away our formal and semi formal gear (though I still like to look at our formal pictures;)).

 

I agree with the other posters in looking at the many other options and deciding what meets your wishes aside from eating. I love the spa and some lines and also some ships within a cruise line are better than others.

 

More than dining and dressing for me it is the itinerary and embarkation city. Enjoy planning!

[Shawnino]

+1 to LtBL.

 

All the mass-market lines do a serviceable job or they'd be out of business. NCL likely has more dining options than most, and on the larger ships at least, the production shows seem to be well regarded. I would plan based on the itinerary that suits you best. Speaking only for myself (lots of people do ocean crossings with no ports of call and love it) it's more about the ports of call than the name of the ship on whose pillows I lay my head.

[SteveH2508]

Others have covered the dining aspect - I would add the thing that keeps us coming back is the crew. They seem to enjoy their work and they are friendly and will always 'go the extra mile' if they can.

 

We always feel welcome on board and pampered - just what you need on a holiday!

 

As a Brit, you may find a few things strange so a quick heads-up on one or two things to note.

 

The tipping culture and add-on gratuities upset some people. Pay the service charge of $12pppd and you are sorted (pre-paying is a bit cheaper - £7 as opposed to $12). Drinks get a 15% gratuity added on but the prices are not bad (remember they are in US dollars not £ Sterling).

 

Decent tea can be a problem (if you drink the stuff) - decent bacon is rare to impossible to find (but the Canadian ham works as a substitute at breakfast) - Marmite and good marmalade are not understood.

[rajones007]

Others have covered the dining aspect - I would add the thing that keeps us coming back is the crew. They seem to enjoy their work and they are friendly and will always 'go the extra mile' if they can.

Yup, that's the first thing I thought of too. When we sailed the Crown Princess the crew were nice, but seemed indifferent...or something. Nobody really stood out from another. It's hard to put in words and I've never been able to put my thumb on it. To put it bluntly - an NCL crew would put them to shame.

 

To pile on the NCL dining; Freestyle is what it's all about for me. That's the deal breaker right there. My experience on Princess with their Anytime Dining and another family members experience with Carnivals attempt simply proves the Freestyle Dining concept is one of those things you can't do half-assed. It has to be all or nothing.

 

I'm all about tradition and stuff like that. I understand the traditions behind old school cruising and dining being a social occasion requiring your best Sunday duds. I get that and can see how it appeals to some. However, for ME to actually put on MY suit and dress for MY dinner is a whole other ball game. That isn't me. My monkey suit is for weddings and funerals only. That's it.