Help needed with Freestyle Dining Concept on the Pride of Hawaii

[vickiw0318]

I am a RCI Cruiser who has friends going on the new Pride of Hawaii in June. I am trying to give them a heads up on how freestyle dining works.

 

From what I have gathered, NCL has several dining options. Specialty restaurants with cover charges, a traditional dining room, a buffet venue, etc. I have read reviews that state that reservations were made for each day's dining when a passenger boarded the ship. (That would seem to me to take a little of the "free" out of the experience.) The last one I read mentioned short waits even with reservations made on the first day.

 

So, how do my friends find out exactly what dining venues are available to them on the Pride of Hawaii? How do they find out times of operation? Do they really need to arrive with a list of where they want to eat on what day and at what time? What venues really do offer anytime dining;

i.e., they feel hungry and there's food available.

 

My friends will be part of a multi-generation group. I think there are nine of them. My friends' parents will be celebrating their 50th anniversary, so there are 2 "grandparents", my friends and their son, my friend's sister and her husband and 2 children (one of whom is in a wheelchair.) Do you all think it would be best if they just planned one or two special evenings together since this would involve reservations for nine?

 

Help! Please!

[Cuizer2]

I was on the Star in October 2005 and wrote a long review which goes into detail regarding Freestyle dining. It comes early in the review, so you do not have to read the entire review. Here is a link to my review ...

 

http://www.cruise-critic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=13327

 

This is from my review ...

 

What sets Norwegian apart from everyone else is the Freestyle dining. As I mentioned, there are ten dining areas. Six are free, four cost extra, and only three do not require reservations (Aqua, Versailles and the Blue Lagoon). It is noted that Norwegian does not allow blue jeans, tank tops, shorts, T-shirts or beachwear in any of the restaurants after 5:00pm. It is also noted that Aqua and Versailles (the two main restaurants) get very busy between 7pm and 8pm.

 

The advantage of Freestyle dining is you can eat when you want. However, that is only true in three of the ten restaurants. All the other restaurants require reservations. What is the difference between making a reservation and having a set dining time? Also, for groups this can be a problem. In traditional dining you show up at your table at the assigned time. You know the rest of your group will either already be there, or will arrive soon. With Freestyle dinning, your group has to decide where it wants to eat and when. If you have ever tried to get a group to agree on anything, you know what a chore this can be. Also, if your group is large enough, you can guarantee that someone will show up at the wrong restaurant at the right time, or show up at the right restaurant at the wrong time. For me, I dont like having to take time out of my day to make a reservation. The whole idea of cruising is to have a carefree vacation. I believe that having to make reservations takes away from that experience.

 

The ten restaurants are:

 

Cagneys - Steak House - $20 extra The Soho - Pacific Rim - $15 extra Le Bistro - French Cuisine - $15 extra Ginza - Asian Fusion Cuisine - $12.50 extra Teppanyaki - Cooking just for you - A la carte pricing Sushi Bar - Japanese Specialty - A la carte pricing Endless Summer - Tex-Mex cuisine - reservations required La Trattoria - Italian Cuisine - reservations required Aqua - contemporary cuisine Versailles - traditional cuisine Market Café - buffet Blue Lagoon - 24 hour sit down fast food

[elephant98]

For a better look at the dining options on the Pride of Hawaii, check out the reviews of the restaurants aboard the NCL Jewel, its sister ship. The offerings on both the POH and the Jewel look to be identical. Here are a few tips from my recent sailing onboard the Jewel:

 

(1) I made dinner reservations for each night of the cruise in the specialty restaurants (cover charge or not) on the first day of the cruise.

 

If you are booking any pre-cruise nights at an Oahu hotel through NCL, you might be able to make advanced reservations at your hotel. In January 2005, we sailed on the Pride of Aloha, and stayed at the Hilton Hawaiin Village for 2 days in advance of the cruise. NCL had a hospitality desk at the hotel where you could book excursions and make dinner reservations as well.

 

(2) To make things easy, you can make the dinner reservations from your stateroom on the telephone, or do it in person at the reception desk.

 

(3) Keep an eye out for "happy hour" discounts. When we sailed on the Jewel this past February, you could eat in any of the specialty restaurants for half the cover charge between 5:30 and 6:30 (except for the Teppanyaki room where they cook at your table). That worked out perfectly for us because, we liked to eat at 6:30 and then go to the later show in the Stardust Theater.

 

(4) When on the Jewel, I ate in every specialty restaurant onboard. Though these venues are obviously smaller than the 2 main dining rooms, each one was able to accomodate large groups (8 or more). Of course, space is limited so book early.

[Tak8]

For the restaurants that offered happy hour discounts, did you get the discount even if you booked in advance and didn't know the happy hour discount was going to be available that day

[Cuizer2]

For the restaurants that offered happy hour discounts, did you get the discount even if you booked in advance and didn't know the happy hour discount was going to be available that day

 

That is like asking if you went to a store to buy a wiget, expecting to pay $10, and when you got there the wiget was only $5. How much would you pay?

 

You pay the listed price. They don't quiz you to see if you know what the price is. The price is not hidden. The specials are listed in the Freestyle Daily and by the entrance.

[jaxon41]

I was on the Star in October 2005 and wrote a long review which goes into detail regarding Freestyle dining. It comes early in the review, so you do not have to read the entire review. Here is a link to my review ...

 

http://www.cruise-critic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=13327

 

This is from my review ...

 

What sets Norwegian apart from everyone else is the Freestyle dining. As I mentioned, there are ten dining areas. Six are free, four cost extra, and only three do not require reservations (Aqua, Versailles and the Blue Lagoon). It is noted that Norwegian does not allow blue jeans, tank tops, shorts, T-shirts or beachwear in any of the restaurants after 5:00pm. It is also noted that Aqua and Versailles (the two main restaurants) get very busy between 7pm and 8pm.

 

The advantage of Freestyle dining is you can eat when you want. However, that is only true in three of the ten restaurants. All the other restaurants require reservations. What is the difference between making a reservation and having a set dining time? Also, for groups this can be a problem. In traditional dining you show up at your table at the assigned time. You know the rest of your group will either already be there, or will arrive soon. With Freestyle dinning, your group has to decide where it wants to eat and when. If you have ever tried to get a group to agree on anything, you know what a chore this can be. Also, if your group is large enough, you can guarantee that someone will show up at the wrong restaurant at the right time, or show up at the right restaurant at the wrong time. For me, I don’t like having to take time out of my day to make a reservation. The whole idea of cruising is to have a carefree vacation. I believe that having to make reservations takes away from that experience.

 

The ten restaurants are:

 

Cagney’s - Steak House - $20 extra The Soho - Pacific Rim - $15 extra Le Bistro - French Cuisine - $15 extra Ginza - Asian Fusion Cuisine - $12.50 extra Teppanyaki - “Cooking just for you” - A la carte pricing Sushi Bar - “Japanese Specialty” - A la carte pricing Endless Summer - Tex-Mex cuisine - reservations required La Trattoria - Italian Cuisine - reservations required Aqua - “contemporary cuisine” Versailles - “traditional cuisine” Market Café - buffet Blue Lagoon - 24 hour sit down fast food

 

Read your entire review and thought it was excellent. Thanks to the OP and to the other posters for answering questions I have been posing for a couple of threads. This was super helpful!

[vickiw0318]

Just wanted to thank all of you who responded. You've given me a good idea of what to tell my friends who are not only new to NCL, but totally new to cruising.