Free-Stlye Cruising - What's Your Opinion

[musclehead]

I'm a veteran Carnival cruiser, but I'm thinking about checking out what other lines have to offer. This whole "free-style" cruising methodology is intriguing, but I'm curious...do the various restaurants have costs on top of the cruise itself? We're used to the Carnival "eat until you puke" mentality, and not to say eating less would be bad, we don't want to go broke doing it!

 

Whatever you think...good or bad...how does NCL match up? Thanks everyone!

[electricron]

There's a free buffet and two main restaurants aboard NCL ships just like aboard Carnival ships. But NCL ships don't have defined seating times like Carnival ships. You dine when you wish to dine.

 

But, you must still consider the time limitations on when to dine without having to wait. It still takes two hours to dine at the main restaurants. For example, if the restaurant opens at 6 pm, the earliest diners will not finish until 8 pm. Don't show up 90 minutes after the restaurant opens and expect many empty tables.

Show up two hours after the restaurant opens and more and more tables will become available.

 

Many Carnival ships will have one surcharge "Supper Club" with far better menu choices than what you'll find at the free included main restaurants. With NCL, on most newer ships, you'll have t least four more choices.

A Le Bistro French restaurant, Cagney's Steakhouse, an Italian restaurant, and Asian restaurants; Chinese, Japanese style Teppanyaki, and a Sushi Bar. Some NCL ships offer a Pacific Heights restaurant, a low calorie, low fat restaurant, and some offer a Tex-Mex Tapas bar or restaurant. No other cruise line provides as many choices as NCL.

Many specialty restaurants charge a surcharge, just a few don't.

[Suzila]

We did our first freestyle cruise in August on the Pride of America. We loved freestyle dining so much, we turned around and booked another NCL cruise (Mexican Riviera) and just did that in April. Now we're specifically looking for another NCL.

 

In between the August NCL and the April NCL, we did a quickie RCL weekend cruise. Truthfully, we now feel 'spoiled' by the Freestyle cruising and will concentrate on cruising with them whenever possible.

 

Our two favorite restaurants were the Italian and the Tex-Mex. Both of those had no surcharge and we thought they probably should have...they were that good. We enjoyed Teppanyaki, that was $20/person surcharge, and the Asian was $10/person. We didn't care for Cagney's ($20/person), the steakhouse...we tried it in Hawaii and they didn't seem to be able to get their act together. they delivered the meat early, and the veggies late. We didn't give it another try in April, even though it was another ship. We don't care for French food.

 

You can always eat in the regular dining room, but the beauty and the attraction of NCL's Freestyle is that you can eat anytime and anywhere you want.

[CruisnGram]

Just want to chime in as someone who didn't use the surcharge restaurants at all on my first NCL cruise. Only those restaurants that were included in the price. No, I didn't eat till I puked...but I sure could have! You will get as much food as you'd like with no extra charge if that is your choice.

[Chipster2]

While we have enjoyed dining in some of the surcharge restaurants, I am certain that you will have more than enough choices without having to spend any additional money on food.

[NowVoyager908]

I really enjoyed freestyle. Yes, I did try the surcharge restaurants on both NCL cruises, but it was more out of curiosity, not because the food in the MDR's was inadequate in any way.

 

Casual dress combined with eating when, where and with whom you choose is a very inviting proposition. :D I look forward to sailing with NCL again in the future.

[Ms belp]

I love freestyle as well. I can't imagine anything else. I also never did a surcharge restaurant until my 3rd cruise, out of curiosity mainly. The free dining rooms were exceptional.

[stovemungen]

My wife and I just came home from our first NCL cruise (dawn 5/25-6/1) and for the most part enjoyed the freestyle cruising although there were some things we didn't like.

 

We liked the fact that we could eat whenever and wherever we liked. We went to cagney's twice, salsa and teppanyaki and thought the service and food was excellent.

 

Now some things we didn't like, some relate to freestyle others the food in general. We only went to the main dining rooms twice as we didn't really care for the selection of food and didn't want to keep ordering the same things from the always available menu. This was one reason we payed extra money to go to the specialty restaurants. When we did go to the dining room (aqua) things, to us, seemed chaotic in that it took awhile for the wait staff to come over to you. I don't blame the staff for this I just feel they have a lot more tables to attend to and are running around a lot more with freestyle vs. traditional dining. I feel they definitely could have used more staff and we noticed this on both nights eating in the main dining room. The 2nd night it took just under an hour to get a steak and tortellini for the 2 of us which compared to other other cruise lines we've been on is a long time.

 

Another thing to note which i'm not sure if it's a freestyle thing or not but there were a lot more people in jeans and shorts in the dining rooms. My wife and I could care less but from reading the forums here it seems a some people have strong opinions on this subject.

 

All together it was a good cruise and were already looking forward to going back to Bermuda at some point.

[2Cruise4Ever]

We love Freestyle. With two kids, it's much easier on our schedules not to have to be ready to eat at a specific time. We've eaten in most of the specialty restaurants on the Dawn and found them to be terrific. We also have eaten in the main dining rooms and found them to be terrific, too. I've sailed Carnival 2 times and loved both cruises. The main difference was the freestyle dining. But, last October, while on the Victory, DH and I were late for dinner every time because it was hard to get back into the swing of traditional dining. No biggie, though. We still loved the cruise.

 

Happy Sailing!!! :D

[blindrid]

We will do nothing else. If a cruiseline does not offer a similar i.e. freestyle, anytime, etc. We don't go on them.

 

As Carnival is testing their version as well, Ithink the majoirty will have some type across the board.

 

The one's with freestyle still have the buffets, you can order more entree's at the dining room and yes, the optional's do have surcharges. We normally do one or two surcharge ones and then go dining room the balance.

[CastawayCruiser]

We have done two traditional dinning cruises on Disney and Carnival. We loved the cruises but both times our assigned table mates were not a very good fit for us. It made dinner a bit uncomfortable and made me want to go to the buffet instead. Once we tried NCL it was all over. We cannot go back to being told when to eat and who we have to eat with. A table for two every evening - it doesn't get better than that! It seems most of the other lines are testing out a version of Freestyle but until it is truely "free" choice we will be staying where we are. Have a great cruise no matter what you decide...

[AFT_LOVER]

No formal wear to tug around in another suitcase. What a wonderful trip we had in CLE airport to CO to fly to Newark & then into Super Shuttle to the terminal. We each had a suitcase, poor husband was not tugging 2 of them around.

 

One late afternoon (5PM) we returned from a long walk around Bermuda. I was in a flowery top & wheat colored shorts that looked like a skort. Salsa's hostess walked over to tell us we could come in & sit & order, so we did. So dinner in shorts was OK. Tables for 2 are all over the place, so we can enjoy our time togther. We did invite friends to join us one night and no problem. To eat with the best waiter in the Venitian dining room was a joy, so we did for7 lunches & 4 evenings and ate at Salsa twice (the lobster tacos are to die for). Then we got a BOGO deal from the Rewards deposit deal at Baboo for some great Asian treats.

 

With the free coffee from the coffeemaker in our mini & free laundry since I always carry my small bottle of Tide & 4 dryer sheets. Just some many great tiems that other cruiselines charge for. Feel very special with NCL.

[pixiedustdawn]

No formal wear to tug around in another suitcase. What a wonderful trip we had in CLE airport to CO to fly to Newark & then into Super Shuttle to the terminal. We each had a suitcase, poor husband was not tugging 2 of them around.

 

One late afternoon (5PM) we returned from a long walk around Bermuda. I was in a flowery top & wheat colored shorts that looked like a skort. Salsa's hostess walked over to tell us we could come in & sit & order, so we did. So dinner in shorts was OK. Tables for 2 are all over the place, so we can enjoy our time togther. We did invite friends to join us one night and no problem. To eat with the best waiter in the Venitian dining room was a joy, so we did for7 lunches & 4 evenings and ate at Salsa twice (the lobster tacos are to die for). Then we got a BOGO deal from the Rewards deposit deal at Baboo for some great Asian treats.

 

With the free coffee from the coffeemaker in our mini & free laundry since I always carry my small bottle of Tide & 4 dryer sheets. Just some many great tiems that other cruiselines charge for. Feel very special with NCL.

The washing machines were free? What ship?

[chrisbd1]

The washing machines were free? What ship?

And dryers too! I know they're on the Dawn, Pearl, Jewel and Gem to name a few. I know the Jade doesn't have a laundry room. I'm not sure which other ships have laudry rooms.

[slk230]

The one thing I didn't care for with 'freestyle' is that with a different waiter each night, they never got to know your preferences.

We tried the 'premium' restaurants a few times but never thought the additional charge was worth it so we always dine in the main dining room now.

On 'another' line, I was brought coffee every night after dinner and didn't have to ask for it or even wait for it. The waiter brought it immediately after clearing my plate.

With freestyle, I had to ask for coffee every time and answer the same old question, 'cream & sugar?'

 

With the same waiter, I never had to ask if anything had mushrooms in it after the first night. (I am highly alergic) he told me in advance. With freestyle, I had to ask with each selection and the waiter didn't always know and had to go ask.

 

It's a small thing but having the waiter know what you like without asking for it is a nice touch. Having the same waiter also had benefits in that he often made me deserts that were not on the menu that night. If he knew I liked something from a previous night, he would offer it to me and have it made fresh just for me.

 

And with 9 cruises under my belt, I never had a table mate that made dining difficult. Boring? Sure. Know-it-all? Sure. But nothing I couldn't handle.

[newmexicoNita]

The washing machines were free? What ship?

The Jewel for one and I think most of the newer ships except the Jade.

 

Nita

[CruisnGram]

The one thing I didn't care for with 'freestyle' is that with a different waiter each night, they never got to know your preferences.

We tried the 'premium' restaurants a few times but never thought the additional charge was worth it so we always dine in the main dining room now.

On 'another' line, I was brought coffee every night after dinner and didn't have to ask for it or even wait for it. The waiter brought it immediately after clearing my plate.

With freestyle, I had to ask for coffee every time and answer the same old question, 'cream & sugar?'

 

With the same waiter, I never had to ask if anything had mushrooms in it after the first night. (I am highly alergic) he told me in advance. With freestyle, I had to ask with each selection and the waiter didn't always know and had to go ask.

 

It's a small thing but having the waiter know what you like without asking for it is a nice touch. Having the same waiter also had benefits in that he often made me deserts that were not on the menu that night. If he knew I liked something from a previous night, he would offer it to me and have it made fresh just for me.

 

And with 9 cruises under my belt, I never had a table mate that made dining difficult. Boring? Sure. Know-it-all? Sure. But nothing I couldn't handle.

 

To each his own, but I don't have a problem whatsoever saying, "could I have coffee please". I don't need my waiter to know my preferences and will trade that perk for the choice to eat whatever time I want. Early if I'm starved at 5:30 pm, or 9:30 pm if I had a late lunch. Nothing worse for me then coming back on board after a long shore excursion and having just a little time to shower, change and rush to a dining room at a set time.

[nicknack]

The one thing I didn't care for with 'freestyle' is that with a different waiter each night, they never got to know your preferences.

We tried the 'premium' restaurants a few times but never thought the additional charge was worth it so we always dine in the main dining room now.

On 'another' line, I was brought coffee every night after dinner and didn't have to ask for it or even wait for it. The waiter brought it immediately after clearing my plate.

With freestyle, I had to ask for coffee every time and answer the same old question, 'cream & sugar?'

 

With the same waiter, I never had to ask if anything had mushrooms in it after the first night. (I am highly alergic) he told me in advance. With freestyle, I had to ask with each selection and the waiter didn't always know and had to go ask.

 

It's a small thing but having the waiter know what you like without asking for it is a nice touch. Having the same waiter also had benefits in that he often made me deserts that were not on the menu that night. If he knew I liked something from a previous night, he would offer it to me and have it made fresh just for me.

 

And with 9 cruises under my belt, I never had a table mate that made dining difficult. Boring? Sure. Know-it-all? Sure. But nothing I couldn't handle.

You're clearly one of the small number of people incompatible with freestyle cruising. No disrepect intended, but if it bothers you to have ask for coffee each night, you have no business being on NCL.

[newmexicoNita]

We have cruised all the mass marketed lines and always check NCL first. Although everyone has his/her own ideas for us any disadvantages from freestyle are offset by the advantages. Like has been mentioned, you do not get the personalized service in some cases and do not get to know your wait staff, but in land based restaurants we normally do not get the same person over and over either. Freestyle can sometimes feel rushed or be a little slow, more so than tradtional dining.

 

Just to be able to eat when and where you want is worth so much. Sometimes you come back from a day of touring, want a quick shower, a drink and an early dinner, other times you feel like listening to music, spending time at a bar or in the casino and don't feel like eating till 8 or later, do what you want. Eat early, go back for dessert at 9:30 after the show. You don't have to worry about table mates you have nothing in common with and yes, it does happen. It can make for a very long cruise.

 

Most NCL ships will have the basic 2 main dining rooms, the buffet, Blue Lagoon, somewhere to get tapas and maybe one or two other free dining adventures (this keeps changing) add to that several sur charge dining rooms. I just don't think you can beat this, but give it a try and judge for yourselves.

 

I will tell you one thing, the cabins will be smaller than you have had before but the NCL crew members are wonderful, relaxed and very friendly.

 

Nita

[chrisbd1]

I have no interest in forming a relationship with my server, so Freestyle suits me to a T! I have had servers who I've had great conversations with, however. I like knowing they're friendly because they want to, not because there's a tip for them at the end of the cruise. Asking for cream and sugar takes about a second, so it's never been much of a problem for me to ask for it. I've never had a dish in the dining room that wasn't at least good. I love getting a table for two and have never had a wait nor been handed a pagers. I really hate the though of someone telling me where, when and with whom to eat.

[Suzila]

I also don't care to have a personal relationship with my waiter...in fact, sometimes it's a little bit awkward. If you order iced tea the first night and the waiter keeps bringing it to you every night thereafter, it's awkward to say, "I don't want iced tea tonight...bring me a soda".

 

I love the Freestyle dining, but have a question for you all. We were on NCL Star in April, and as i said before, the Tex Mex and the Italian had no cover charge. I read on another board just now that in May NCL started charging for ALL the specialty restaurants....true? It's not too much of a problem for me, just curious. Anyone know?

[98Charlie]

I'm a veteran Carnival cruiser, but I'm thinking about checking out what other lines have to offer. This whole "free-style" cruising methodology is intriguing, but I'm curious...do the various restaurants have costs on top of the cruise itself? We're used to the Carnival "eat until you puke" mentality, and not to say eating less would be bad, we don't want to go broke doing it!

 

Whatever you think...good or bad...how does NCL match up? Thanks everyone!

I would certainly suggest that you give NCL a try.

 

We have cruised most of the mass market lines and have always found something that sets each apart from the others. The Freestyle dining is the big difference with an NCL cruise. And, yes, there are some people who will absolutely not enjoy the experience. However, the reality is that most lines are more alike than they are different.

 

Some have more annoying annoucements than others. Some have more "active" activities (like a rock climbing wall). Some have a real piano bar instead of a "piano bar area". And so on and so forth.

 

Just don't necessarily buy in to all of the negative comments about any cruise line.

 

For example, we started cruising in December 2003 and heard from other cruisers that we should avoid Carnival at all costs. Images of drunken passengers, loud music everywhere, garish decor, etc. were some of the common themes.

 

Finally we booked Carnival Valor for our 16th cruise in November of 2006. We booked our first balcony also figuring that if we really didn't like the shipboard experience we could retreat to our cabin. The bottom line is that next January will be our 5th Carnival cruise:p

 

While we have cruised NCL more than any other line, it is not our only choice and no line is our real "favorite".

 

Happy sails whatever you choose,

 

Charlie

[98Charlie]

With the same waiter, I never had to ask if anything had mushrooms in it after the first night. (I am highly alergic) he told me in advance. With freestyle, I had to ask with each selection and the waiter didn't always know and had to go ask.

For you and anyone with a special dietary need on NCL I would suggest that you contact the Maitre d' as early as possible. It is his responsibilty to make sure that guests are satisfied with their dining experience.

 

My SIL is highly allergic to onions. We (DW, myself, Brother and SIL) cruise together once a year and the Maitre d's have always been helpful on each line. While we have never cruised with her on NCL, I feel certain that the Maitre d's that we have know would have been more than happy to help.

 

Charlie

[grandmaR]

I really like Freestyle dining.

 

I've done 4 NCL cruises, 1 RCI cruise and 4 HAL cruises. When you have compatible table partners, traditional dining can be fun. When you don't, it's a drag. Out of the 5 traditional dining, 2 of them were with my mom and dad and sister, and we had a table for 4. On the other three, we had wonderful table companions on two of them.

 

We like to sit with other people to eat, and when they will let us do that in Freestyle it works perfectly. If the people were incompatible with us, we didn't have to dine with them the next night. OTOH, we COULD find compatible people and meet them for dinner and eat with them if we wanted to.

[kamfan]

You're clearly one of the small number of people incompatible with freestyle cruising. No disrepect intended, but if it bothers you to have ask for coffee each night, you have no business being on NCL.

 

I am sorry you feel that way. :( This is the type of comment that reflects badly on those of us that like the line.

 

I for one, love the fact that I do not have someone breathing down my neck bringing me coffee that I did want one night, but not another night. But to shoot down someone else for liking it and then saying that they have no business on NCL is just wrong. :eek:

 

I think there is more than enough room on any line for people who like and dislike various things, but comments like yours, just drive people even more away from freestyle, or push them away from posting on threads like this. I know it would sure turn me off.

 

I really hope this was a simple transgression on your part on not a true indication of who you are. Happy travelling.