Spirt - numerous issues

[snooper1225]

First, I would like to thank everyone who posts reviews. It is very nice of you to take the time to do so and it is extremely helpful to those of us who are waiting to board.

 

I am cruising on the Spirit 3/12/06. Although this cruise is very convenient leaving from New York (mainly because my husband will not get on an airplane), I do not share everyone's opinions about ncl being so great. I have been on the Dawn for the last 2 years. I have cruised many times before on several different cruise lines. It's not that I don't like ncl, but it is my least favorite. I hope I don't get bombarded with angry responses, here goes:

 

I don't really like the freestyle dining. I like that you can eat whatever time you want, but I don't like that you don't sit with other people. In the past, I have made some of my best friends at my dinner table. I wish you could have your choice, that would be better. I also feel that the waiters do not go out of their way too much. I think that this has alot to do with you not sitting at the same table every night and also because their tip is automatically taken out of your credit card, I don't think that's such a great idea either. I have also seen a difference with the cabin steward and I think it's because of the tipping as well. I am not saying that they are not friendly but I think they're more friendly and accommodating on other cruise lines. (for example RCCL and Celebrity).

 

I know these things aren't the most important things, overall we still have a great time of course.

 

I hope I didn't insult anyone. I think ncl is wonderful for offering these cruises out of New York. These are my opinions, that's all. Maybe someone has some advice?

 

thanks so much

[tinkerbelldee]

I am not trying to be rude, but what was the point of your post?

 

Freestyle cruising is not for everyone. If you don't enjoy it, then you should cruise on traditional lines.

 

Coming on to a board of NCL cruisers and saying that you don't enjoy the cruise line but are cruising on it anyway seems futile and is an invitation for flaming.

 

I love freestyle cruising and will never cruise on RCCL or Celebrity.Should I book a Celebrity cruise and then hop over to their board and tell everyone that I dislike traditional dining?

[cuccicruisers]

Snooper...you may request in the dining rooms to be seated with others. Is not the same as a traditional dining room but you may find some satisfaction that way. My husband loves to schmooze so we don't have a problem meeting people no matter where we are.

[snooper1225]

Tinkerbell, I guess you are right, I did not mean to upset you, really. I thought that maybe someone else could see the differences as well. Maybe have some suggestions,

I never said I didn't like the cruise line, just that there were some issues

[cruisingfromMN]

Snooper...you may request in the dining rooms to be seated with others. Is not the same as a traditional dining room but you may find some satisfaction that way. My husband loves to schmooze so we don't have a problem meeting people no matter where we are.

 

AND, if you find waitstaff that you enjoy, you can request to be seated in their section every night. Whenever possible your wish will be granted. In our case, that sometimes meant waiting a little bit.. but no big deal.

 

NCL offers the best of both worlds of traditional dining and Freestyle.

[tinkerbelldee]

Sorry, double post.

[tinkerbelldee]

Tinkerbell, I guess you are right, I did not mean to upset you, really. I thought that maybe someone else could see the differences as well. Maybe have some suggestions,

I never said I didn't like the cruise line, just that there were some issues

 

You most certainly did not upset me. But when you post that a title such as you did, you should expect a bit of flaming. The ship does not have issues. It is you that has issues with the ship.

 

I hope that you enjoy your cruise. Vacation is what you make of it.

[SailAways]

I am cruising on the Spirit 3/12/06. Although this cruise is very convenient leaving from New York (mainly because my husband will not get on an airplane), I do not share everyone's opinions about ncl being so great. I have been on the Dawn for the last 2 years. It's not that I don't like ncl, but it is my least favorite.

 

I don't really like the freestyle dining. I like that you can eat whatever time you want, but I don't like that you don't sit with other people. In the past, I have made some of my best friends at my dinner table. I wish you could have your choice, that would be better. I also feel that the waiters do not go out of their way too much.

I know these things aren't the most important things, overall we still have a great time of course.

 

Not being an East Coast person, I am wondering if NCL is your only option out of New York? If there are other options, why do you stick with a cruise line which seems inferior to you as far as your remarks are concerned?

 

It would seem that you are convinced before the fact, that you will not enjoy your upcoming cruise as much as if you were on one with traditional dining. You know what - with this attitude, you surely will not.

Try to enjoy this cruise more than your previous two - Join others at their tables, and ask to be seated at larger tables in the dining rooms. While in the buffet, always seat yourselves at a table with others.

You may be in for a very pleasant surprise.

Good Luck To You!:)

[mintjulip123]

Hi Snooper,

 

You may want to join our Roll Call for the sailing on the 12th. We have a CC Meeting arranged for Monday at 11:00 am.

 

Karen

[Host CMLA]

I hope I didn't insult anyone. I think ncl is wonderful for offering these cruises out of New York. These are my opinions, that's all. Maybe someone has some advice?

I'm not quite sure what you want to come from your post. What do you want advice on? You don't like certain things about NCL. That's OK. Freestyle isn't for everyone. And you don't think the service is as good because of the gratuity added to your onboard account. Fair enough. Not everyone agrees but it's fine if you feel that way. As you said, those are your opinions. But what do you want advice about? I guess the obvious advice would be to cruise on a line you like better. ;)

[cruiser12]

We like freestyle. It gives us a bit more freedom. I have cruised on other cruiselines. They are all different. It is what you prefer. As far as the east coast, we now have Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Holland American, Celebrity and on occassion The Queen Mary and The Princess line. The choice is yours. If for some reason you are new to cruising, you can not believe all the changes over the years with all of the cruise lines, it will amaze you! ! ! ! Change is good, but not always. We were on the NCL Majesty last year(2X'S)the service was the best ever. Excellent all the way around. NCL Dawn was no different and that was just after the BIG WAVE. Looking farward to April, our next cruise on NCL. Friends of ours will be cruising on Royal Caribbean the one thing they say they miss is the freestyle. EVERYONE ENJOY ! ! ! Think of all the people who have not yet had the pleasure.

[trex-de]

Choices. I really like that about NCL. I do not need to make friends at dinner on a cruise. I have plenty of friends. I see NCL as a hotel and restaurant on the sea that takes you to great places.

 

If other cruise lines did the same, I would go with them. It just so happens that NCL fit MY preferences. Good for them. Good for me and my wife.

[pool girl]

Actually the freestyle concept is why we choose Ncl because my husband likes to keep to himself somtimes. Mostly it is the freedom of when to eat rather than where. We do not have traditional meal times in my home so having dinner earlier or later in the evening fits for us. Still I hope you enjoy your cruise. A vacation is what you make of it.

[fussybee]

Hi Snooper,

 

You may want to join our Roll Call for the sailing on the 12th. We have a CC Meeting arranged for Monday at 11:00 am.

 

Karen

HI, Since this is my second cruise I'm not sure exactly what roll call is as well as the cc meeting. Could you please explain it to me? If it is a meeting of people who read and post on CC than I do think i would love to meet everyone. Where do we meet? I am sailing on the Spirit March 12th. N

[jeannep]

Snoop,

 

There are alot of lines leaving from NYC now and going to many different places.

 

We have gone on other lines and we have always enjoyed sitting with the same people every night. Freestyle really is different but I do have a suggestion for you.

 

JOIN YOUR ROLL CALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am sure they are going to have some sort of get together where you will meet everyone. This way when you go around the ship you will probably bump into all your new friends. 2 years ago, on a roll call for the Dawn, someone asked a question. I told her she could email me if she had other questions. By the time we met on the pier before boarding we were already great friends. CC brought us together. Last year our rollcall had a meeting the 1st day and 20 of us met. Alot of us joined the martini clinic together, murder mystery dinner, met for lunch and had a party in the Garden Villa. It really added to our enjoyment. TRY IT!!!

 

Enjoy!

Jeanne

[Nectarologist]

I'm not quite sure what you want to come from your post. What do you want advice on?...But what do you want advice about? I guess the obvious advice would be to cruise on a line you like better. ;)

I assume she was looking for constructive criticism such as that provided in posts 3 & 5, not looking to hear go to another cruise line.;)

 

Snooper, the CC get together is great advice. The freestyle might work out better than you had hoped since you may meet people there you'd like to dine with, and then be able to make a convenient time to dine with them as opposed to another line where that wouldn't be an option.:)

 

I'd also like to add (in general) that I feel bad that posters have to walk on eggshells when saying anything non-positive about NCL. I don't see why one should need to apologize in advance or expect flaming just b/c the title to their post states "numerous issues"? Face it NCL has problems just like any other company in this world. The NCL die hards should be glad that snoop is trying to find a way to make the best of what she sees as negatives; she could always simply trash NCL. But anyone doing that is just out to spread false lies if their post total is below 25 (another common jab that cracks me up).:cool:

[ute_fan]

My suggestions for increasing the chances you will like your upcoming NCL cruise are included in the list above. We've found that finding a server we like and asking to be seated in their section on a nightly basis does provide more of the traditional "service" that other lines offer (even though we've never tried any of the other lines :D ). Our friends made that recommendation to us, and it's worked out very well for us.

 

As far as finding tablemates, I would encourage you to join the roll-call for your sailing date. On our last cruise, we had a roll-call of about 20 cabins. Out of that group, there were 2 other couples, in particular, that we enjoyed spending time and dining with. We prefer not having to dine with assigned tablemates, but meeting someone on-line prior to the cruise, getting to know them a little bit, and then actually getting to meet them in person worked out very well for us. We ate dinner probably 4 or 5 nights with one of the couples, and 2 or 3 nights with the other couple. This way, we had the flexibility of eating with just our family a couple of nights, and with friends the remainder of the cruise.

[Seago2]

 

I'd also like to add (in general) that I feel bad that posters have to walk on eggshells when saying anything non-positive about NCL. I don't see why one should need to apologize in advance or expect flaming just b/c the title to their post states "numerous issues"? Face it NCL has problems just like any other company in this world. :cool:

 

I agree. To be fair, I think the NCL board is the nicest and calmest of the mass market lines. If she had gone to the CCL board... :eek:

 

I have been watching this thread over the last 24 hours and I don't see any difference between what the OP said and what many other people say. In fact- was there anything different said? No. Same complaints.

 

Like other posters I am in favor of freestyle dining. I don't like to sit with strangers at dinner. I LOVE to meet new people, but would rather do it in the lounges, by the pool... any place but being thrown together at dinner. I am not a fan of the farce that is the mandatory gratuity. I feel it is just part of the price of the ticket and treat it as such. I tip extra to the cabin steward, waiter, and many of the other people I see on a less regular basis.

 

Hope everyone is having a nice Saturday morning!

[pool girl]

I agree. To be fair, I think the NCL board is the nicest and calmest of the mass market lines. If she had gone to the CCL board... :eek:

 

I have been watching this thread over the last 24 hours and I don't see any difference between what the OP said and what many other people say. In fact- was there anything different said? No. Same complaints.

 

Like other posters I am in favor of freestyle dining. I don't like to sit with strangers at dinner. I LOVE to meet new people, but would rather do it in the lounges, by the pool... any place but being thrown together at dinner. I am not a fan of the farce that is the mandatory gratuity. I feel it is just part of the price of the ticket and treat it as such. I tip extra to the cabin steward, waiter, and many of the other people I see on a less regular basis.

 

Hope everyone is having a nice Saturday morning!

How much do you tip a cabin steward? Also I too like to tip extra for good service. Mostly because I don't know how much the staff gets from our automatic tip. I hope Ncl divides it up. Does anyone know?

[Seago2]

How much do you tip a cabin steward? Also I too like to tip extra for good service. Mostly because I don't know how much the staff gets from our automatic tip. I hope Ncl divides it up. Does anyone know?

 

They say it is divided up (you can look it up on the site) but who knows who gets what. If you want to see what I think about this process, go here: http://cruise-chat.com/groupee/forums/a/tpc/f/738601132/m/1881037451/r/8911064851#8911064851

 

I tip diofferent amounts depending on how many people are in my party. For two people, 7 days, I would tip the cabin steward 25-50 depending on what I asked him to do, the level of service, etc.

[smeyer418]

How much do you tip a cabin steward? Also I too like to tip extra for good service. Mostly because I don't know how much the staff gets from our automatic tip. I hope Ncl divides it up. Does anyone know?

 

I believe its 3.50 for the room steward, 3.50 for the waiters 2.50 for the bus staff and .50 for the maitre d. With all the postings by employees no one has ever said it doesn't go all to the staff...If they do a good job I always leave extra for the room staff. Sometimes I give extra to certain wait staff....

 

normally between $40-60 per week(for two)

 

I am glad its mandatory!

[mintjulip123]

HI, Since this is my second cruise I'm not sure exactly what roll call is as well as the cc meeting. Could you please explain it to me? If it is a meeting of people who read and post on CC than I do think i would love to meet everyone. Where do we meet? I am sailing on the Spirit March 12th. N

 

Here is a link to our lively roll call!

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=266583

 

Cruise Critic Meeting:

Monday,3/13,Time:11:00am-12:00pm,Location:Clipper Conference Room

 

Hope to see you there!

Karen

[twinss]

We are booked on the April 16 Spirit out of NY. This is our second cruise. Our first was with Carnival and we honestly couldn't say anything bad about it. We had a great time. We are going with NCL this time, based on the advise of a friend and avid cruiser (she's been on the Dawn 4 times). We are anxious to try out the freestyle dining. However, we did come to know the family who sat next to us at dinner every night on Carnival. Also, we formed a good friendship with our waiters, whom we served us every night. So, it's up to us to decide which we prefer. I'm glad to be able to experience the two worlds for myself.

 

Thank you for sharing your opinion.

[7SeasLover]

Snooper,

 

Many people who cruse NCL do so because it's freestyle. Seems odd that you created this post then asked not to be bombarded. Oh well.

 

Freestyle does not mean you can't sit with other people, nor that you can't have the same waiter. All you need do is ask for a specific table, every night at whatever time. The troubl with that is that you have to eat there every night at that time or lose the table.

 

As the other poster said, you can have your same table every night any time as long as you're willing to wait for it.

 

My first preference for a cruise is NCL for the very reason that it is freestyle. I've booked 7 cruises on NCL so far, and 5 or 6 with other lines. I still prefer NCL. Again, it's personal preference.

 

As for the waiters providing less sevice, this doesnt have to be the case for you. If you ask for a specific table at a specific time, you should tip that waiter separately. At least we did whenever we've made these types of dinner arrangements. If you want super service, leave tip each night. We do that in Vegas with free drinks. We never want for something to drink while gambling.

 

You should try NCL one more time and try these suggestions for dinner. You may come away with a different opinion. My husband and I work with so many people all day and all night that we love just enjoying each other and we always ask for a table for two. After 34 years, I still find it romantic sitting with my husband, holding hands across the table by a window as the sea rolls by. Gosh! Isn't it time to pack yet!!!

 

Good luck on your future NCL cruises.

[Host CMLA]

I assume she was looking for constructive criticism such as that provided in posts 3 & 5, not looking to hear go to another cruise line.;)

I asked a serious question of the OP. When she responds, I'll see if I have any advice for her. In the meantime, I'm not sure what kind of advice to give to someone that thinks service is lacking because of the auto gratuity. And my advice of going on a cruise line that you do like was not negative or mean to the OP at all. It's very sound advice for someone that doesn't like NCL but it was also said tongue in cheek; note the smiley face at the end of what I wrote. So again, I'll wait to see what the OP responds with and see if I have any advice for her.