Wrapping my head around "Freestyle"

[MrSnarkyPants]

Hi, most of my cruise experience has been on RCCL, so I'm new to all things NCL. But we decided to pull the trigger and booked an Alaska cruise last night for summer 2022.

 

I'm searching the forums to get caught up but I have freestyle questions. I see there are multiple main dining rooms that are complimentary. Is there any difference between these venues other than the furniture? Do they all serve the same menu?

 

The current promotion has 2 specialty dining meals included. I'm just trying to decide if it's necessary to buy another dining package to add some more to that or not.

 

But at least we have something on the calendar to look forward to.

Edited November 22, 2020 by MrSnarkyPants

[AKR2011]

6 minutes ago, MrSnarkyPants said:

Hi, most of my cruise experience has been on RCCL, so I'm new to all things NCL. But we decided to pull the trigger and booked an Alaska cruise last night for summer 2022.

 

I'm searching the forums to get caught up but I have freestyle questions. I see there are multiple main dining rooms that are complimentary. Is there any difference between these venues other than the furniture? Do they all serve the same menu? Same menu, but usually one requires you to dress up a little - no shorts or flip flops. Freestyle means no real formal nights, just a "Dress Up or Not" night and "Norwegian Night Out." On bigger ships, the formal dining room sometimes has performances, so that can be fun. Supper Club on bigger ships also may have a couple complimentary dinner shows with a standard menu. O'Sheehans/The Local (name depends on the ship) is 24 hours complimentary and offers casual pub fare without a rotating menu.

 

The current promotion has 2 specialty dining meals included. I'm just trying to decide if it's necessary to buy another dining package to add some more to that or not. That is up to you. On shorter sailings, 2 is probably enough to get a taste. The food in the main dining room is pretty great IMO, but it's really up to you. We typically do two week voyages when possible and book 4-5 specialties. When it's port intensive, we also choose to eat local instead of in a speciality on board, but again, the choice is yours.

 

But at least we have something on the calendar to look forward to.

Absolutely! Enjoy your trip. I have always wanted to do Alaska 😍

 

[complawyer]

usually, there are 2 main dining room but one is always slightly more elaborate or formal looking then the other. there is no dress up, and most of the eating venues do not require anything super dressy (that's part of the joy of freestyle) long pants and collared shirts will always get by.

 

there are 2 sides to the menu. i believe the right side shows the main course and that changes nighty. the left side in usually the salads appetizers etc and they usually stay the same. could be vice-virsa so dont hold me to it.

 

the specialty restaurants are wonderful.  if you have 2 dinners, i suggest cagney's and moderno,although some of the ships dont have a moderno.there is also le bistro, but whenever i've eaten there, they seem to have an attitude (or maybe it's just me) i love the teppanyaki and no matter what i always try and eat there at least once per cruise.

 

if your wallet allows, i would ad a few more dinners and try the other specialty restaurants

[vswan]

Been a couple of years since I've been on ncl, but I think that a lot of this varies by ship. Older ships do not have as many specialty restaurants as the newer ships. I remember taking the same ship two years in a row and the third free MDR had been converted to a specialty restaurant. So these things do change.

 

I believe the MDRs offer the same menu. There are generally 2 or 3 main entrees that are available every night in addition to the nightly specials. I think these change occasionally but I remember there being a steak, chicken and salmon choice. Have always been okay with the MDR choices. 

 

One thing I did enjoy is not going to the same dining room every night, even if you don't want to pay for the specialty restaurants.  

 

They usually serve breakfast in one of the MDRs. This is my husbands favorite. We generally avoid the buffet at breakfast. Nice to avoid the crowds and enjoy a quite start to the day. 

[vswan]

One other thing. You can make specialty dining reservations online before you go. This opens up prior to the cruise and in the past the reservations for the most popular places go quickly. Think it's 90 days prior. Not sure if this will be an issue with reduced capacity, but I would book as early as you're allowed.

 

I am booked for specialty dining on my Jan.2021 cruise which I assume - sadly - will be canceled.

[MrSnarkyPants]

49 minutes ago, vswan said:

One other thing. You can make specialty dining reservations online before you go. This opens up prior to the cruise and in the past the reservations for the most popular places go quickly. Think it's 90 days prior. Not sure if this will be an issue with reduced capacity, but I would book as early as you're allowed.

 

I am booked for specialty dining on my Jan.2021 cruise which I assume - sadly - will be canceled.

Thanks. Sounds similar to how things worked on the bigger Royal ships.

 

January, huh? Yeah that's going to be tight. Hopefully they'll let you move the booking forward without much fuss.

 

I don't have a cruise scheduled until New Year's going into 2022. I'm hoping that by this time next year things are in a better place, but it's hard to tell. It feels weird booking for spring 2022, too just because it's so hard to predict what cruising is going to look like, but I liked the price and the offers. It's not the cheapest cruise we've ever taken, but it's in line with what I had looked at a year ago.

 

My emotions feel different about booking this one. Usually I'm so excited. Now I'm questioning myself. Part of me feels guilty because this virus put a family member in the hospital and they're still feeling effects months later. We'll see how we feel about this over time, I guess.

[hallux]

2 hours ago, complawyer said:

usually, there are 2 main dining room

Some have 3, such as the Bliss (this might apply to all of the 'Away' class ships)

2 hours ago, complawyer said:

there are 2 sides to the menu. i believe the right side shows the main course and that changes nighty. the left side in usually the salads appetizers etc and they usually stay the same. could be vice-virsa so dont hold me to it.

Left side are the "standard" items - appetizers, salads, sides, etc.  There are also some entrees on the left, those are available every night.

Right side are the 'featured items' for a particular night, those change every night.

 

2 hours ago, complawyer said:

there is also le bistro, but whenever i've eaten there, they seem to have an attitude (or maybe it's just me)

It's a French restaurant, what did you expect?  Kidding aside, I enjoyed my visit to Le Bistro.

 

I'll add my own opinion of NCL's "Freestlye" in comparison to RCI's dining.  I found it to be quite relaxing, being able to show up for dinner whenever I wanted, at whichever venue I wanted (when I wasn't going to a specialty).  I'm not one to 'dress down' when dining out at home, and I bring that along on the cruise so the attire wasn't of concern.

Edited November 23, 2020 by hallux

[MrSnarkyPants]

27 minutes ago, hallux said:

I'll add my own opinion of NCL's "Freestlye" in comparison to RCI's dining.  I found it to be quite relaxing, being able to show up for dinner whenever I wanted, at whichever venue I wanted (when I wasn't going to a specialty).  I'm not one to 'dress down' when dining out at home, and I bring that along on the cruise so the attire wasn't of concern.

 

Yeah, back when going out to dinner was a thing we'd dress for the place we were going to. I'm not one to wear a suit and tie; a sport coat is more my speed. We've always done My Time on RCI because the early seating was always too early and late seating too late for us, so NCL should be easy for us to get used to.

 

We're booked on the Encore, so there are a lot of choices onboard. It will be interesting to see how they evolve as the ships return to service.

[BirdTravels]

3 hours ago, MrSnarkyPants said:

Hi, most of my cruise experience has been on RCCL, so I'm new to all things NCL. But we decided to pull the trigger and booked an Alaska cruise last night for summer 2022.

 

I'm searching the forums to get caught up but I have freestyle questions. I see there are multiple main dining rooms that are complimentary. Is there any difference between these venues other than the furniture? Do they all serve the same menu?

 

The current promotion has 2 specialty dining meals included. I'm just trying to decide if it's necessary to buy another dining package to add some more to that or not.

 

But at least we have something on the calendar to look forward to.

So it is like MyTime Dining. You eat when you are hungry and when it best fits your schedule. It works well in Alaska where your port times are different from day to day. 

 

If you are on a big ship out of Seattle (Bliss, Encore), There are three main dining rooms serving the same menu nightly. There is a 24-hour dining room with a separate menu. And the buffet. 

 

If you are on the Sun from Seattle or Jewel from/to Vancouver, there are two main dining rooms and a 24-hour dining room, an Asian dining room, and the buffet. 

 

On the Bliss and Encore, shorts are allowed in all dining rooms for all meals except the Le Bistro and Ocean Blue restaurants were gents are asked to wear long pants (jeans, dockers) to dinner. On the Sun and Jewel, shorts are allowed in all dining rooms for all meals except Le Bistro and the aft main dining room. The message is that dining is casual if you want. Some still like to get dressed up for dinner, and that is perfectly fine too. 

 

Specialty dining on NCL is similar to Specialty dining on RCL except that most NCL dining is a la carte (you order off a menu like at home and pay for each item you order). The dining package allows you to order multiple appetizers, one entrée, and dessert. Like RCL, the complimentary dining is included in your cruise fare and is perfectly fine for 3 meals a day. (We sail on NCL and RCL 5-6 times a year). The cruise line would definitely like you to spend money in their specialty dining rooms. The minimum number of additional meals is 3 if you buy another package. 

 

You should make dinner reservations exactly 120 days prior to departure.