Non-freestyle dining: Pros and cons

[dplb3]

My family and I have only taken one cruise, NCL's Star on the Mexican Riviera 10/25/08, so we only know freestyle cruising (the principal component of which seems to be "freestyle dining"). We would therefore welcome knowing about the alternative which, as I understand it, means assigned seating at some or all? meals, and perhaps more "at sea" activities. Can you help us with the pros and cons of non-freestyle dining?

[johnql]

Here's my take on the differences between Freestyle and traditional dining:

 

With Freestyle, you are free to dine where you want, when you want, and with whom you want. There are no fixed seating times, nor is there an assigned table with a fixed set of tablemates for the entire cruise.

 

 

Pros - You can eat when you're actually hungry or when it fits your schedule. No rushing to get ready after a late excursion. Or check out the night's activities and schedule your dining around what you want to do. You can even dine early (5:30 or so) and then grab a dessert (or another full meal, for that matter) at 9:30 if that's what you want. With traditional dining, you are offered a choice of two, fixed dining times (early or late, approx. 6 and 8) and you are assigned to a specific table for the duration of the cruise. All of this applies only to dinner.

 

Depending on your mood, choose an intimate table for two. Or arrange to have dinner with a couple that you just met on an excursion or onboard. Or, if you're feeling really sociable, ask to be seated at a large table. It's up to you.

 

Since you're not assigned to a specific table, there's no pot luck in getting assigned to a table filled with incompatible people. You may be lucky and get some wonderful people, but you may be unlucky. It should be noted that, if you really want to, you can ask to be reassigned to a different table. This is not uncommon and is not usually difficult to do following the first night.

 

Depending on the ship, Freestyle dining can offer you a multitude of dining venues with a wide range of cuisines.

 

 

Cons - If you want to dine at peak hours (7 or 7:30), you may encounter lines at the dining rooms to be seated. This is especially true for larger parties. For a party of two, such as myself, I've never had to wait longer than 5-10 minutes on 7 Freestyle cruises.

 

You will not receive that extra, personal touch from your wait staff since you won't have the same personnel every night. With fixed dining, the staff usually gets to know your idiosyncracies, your names, your background, etc. Many people like that.

 

You won't get to know the same set of tablemates (unless you make it happen). Some cruisers love having the opportunity to form friendships with their assigned tablemates. If you end up sitting with a series of different tablemates, you might get tired of the same old chit-chat that everybody goes through initially.

 

No age-old dining room traditions, such as the Baked Alaska Parade.

 

The older, smaller NCL ships (Dream and Majesty) were not designed specifically with Freestyle dining in mind. As a result, there are far fewer dining venues compared to the newer ships. This tends to exacerbate the problem with lines waiting to be seated since there are fewer options available.

 

I personally love Freestyle dining. It would be hard for me to go back to traditional dining unless the price and itinerary were too hard to resist.

 

As far as activities, I have never noticed any difference in number of activities between traditional cruising and Freestyle cruising.

[uppitycats]

I can't speak about the "at sea activities" as we rarely take advantage of them...

 

but the dining thing:

 

In traditional dining -- at least as it is done on Princess (I will state upfront that a) I love Princess!, and b) it's been 5 years since we sailed on a Princess ship, so it may be different now) --

 

there are two assigned dining times -- "early" (around 5:30-6:00..the ship will specify exactly what time), and "late" (around 7:30 - 8:00). When you book a cruise, you tell them which time you would like. You're not guaranteed that time, but if you book early, generally you'll get the time you want, either early or late dining. And then you'll be assigned a table. Again, if you book early (and book with a group, like your family), you can ask for a particular size table (4, 6, 8...sometimes 2, but those are pretty scarce). Otherwise you'll simply be assigned a table.

 

This means that -- if you want to eat in the regular dining rooms for dinner .. you must be at the door of the dining room at the time you've chosen (early, or late). Everybody who has chosen (or been assigned) that dining time will be there too. You go to your assigned table, and sit with whoever else was assigned to that table. You don't get to choose your tablemates (except as I noted above -- if you book early, and with a group, and all of you in the group book together).

 

So you have this group of strangers that you eat with every night. If you're lucky, you and they will get along fine. If you're not lucky, you'll be stuck with ....well, once we were stuck with people who were probably very nice, but we didn't speak German, they didn't speak English, and after the first awkward pleasantries, we all ate quickly and got the heck out of there. Another time the others were their own group, we (husband and I) were "odd couple out", and basically were ignored. A third time the folks were pleasant enough, but we had little in common, so we made small talk through dinner OK, but it was a bit uncomfortable.

 

And there's this: if someone who is assigned to the table is late ... or perhaps doesn't show up at all, and hasn't told anyone about that ... you won't get served right away. You'll sit around awkwardly, the waiter coming by every so often to check...until some unknown period of time has passed, it's assumed they're not showing up, and then you'll be served.

 

If you are off the ship -- you feel obligated to rush back. If you're on a tour (either ship-run or private), you feel obligated to rush back. If you're on the ship but in the middle of something (a stimulating conversation, for example), you feel obligated to end it and rush off to dinner. YOu come back from a tour tired, and just want to chill for awhile...you rush to dinner.

 

Because if you DON'T show up, you're making it difficult for your tablemates. And if you don't get there on time, you can't eat in the regular dining room (no, you can't get in to the later dining, if you're supposed to be "early"...and of course if you miss later, you're out of luck). Yes, there are other dining venues. Just as there are on NCL. But if you WANTED to eat in the "regular" dining room...you can't, unless you're on time.

 

And then there is the "entertainment". At least at the time on Princess -- again, I don't know if they still do this -- they feel obligated to "entertain" folks. Waiters will group up and break into song. Or they'll have this guy dressed in costume roaming around the dining hall, photographer in tow, taking pictures, even if you ask them not to. And the "parade" with "baked Alaska" desserts, at some point during the cruise. And the Head Waiter roaming around, fawning over people. Intrusive, to say the least.

 

We still love Princess. And would cruise on her again. But we REALLY like the freestyle dining experience....show up, be seated, be seated by ourselves or if we feel "chatty", with another couple or two...and show up when we want to.

 

The last time we sailed on Princess we did the traditional dining once..and then shifted to the "anytime dining", which is basically the same thing as "freestyle"...show up, be seated, and not have all the other stuff to deal with.

 

This is my opinion, of course. Others may...and probably will...be different.

[uppitycats]

I should say, by the way, that our "traditional dining" experience was much the same on Carnival. We last sailed on a Carnival ship about 4 years ago.

[CanadianTwosome]

For me, the only thing that ever happened to me as a result of traditional dining was, in my opinion, the biggest con against it. I was seated at a table with an insufferable boor. This man was loud, obnoxious, incredibly self absorbed, and completely lacking in table manners. I was young and inexperienced at the time and had no idea that I could ask to be moved - and honestly, it was long enough ago that there was only one dining room, so I'm not sure I could have been moved anyway. I did my best to ignore him and avert my eyes from his gaping maw while he chewed (and often continued to speak), but my absolute favourite thing about freestyle dining is the ability to choose my tablemates. :)

[A Sixth?]

For me, the only thing that ever happened to me as a result of traditional dining was, in my opinion, the biggest con against it. I was seated at a table with an insufferable boor. This man was loud, obnoxious, incredibly self absorbed, and completely lacking in table manners. I was young and inexperienced at the time and had no idea that I could ask to be moved - and honestly, it was long enough ago that there was only one dining room, so I'm not sure I could have been moved anyway. I did my best to ignore him and avert my eyes from his gaping maw while he chewed (and often continued to speak), but my absolute favourite thing about freestyle dining is the ability to choose my tablemates. :)

 

HEY GOOD TO HEAR FROM YOU AGAIN! :D

 

Did I tell the story about how my RCI tablemates kept stealing my food? :rolleyes:

[romrai]

When we were on the Pacific Princess and the service was outstanding. The waiter knew after the 1st day our preferences. But sometimes we just weren't hungry at our assigned time, or hungry earlier. We also became quite chumy with our tablemates and even kept in touch for years.

 

Then we "freestlye". Have to say, we loved the choice to eat when we were hungry. The down side is that we never got to know our tablemates and the waiters never knew our preferences. Also, we prepaid tipping, there was no incentive for waiters to try harder to please.

 

The next one was also freestyle. We met great people on one night and spent some land time together, but still not the great service we first had on Princess.

 

Last cruise we tried Carnival and regular sittings again. A direct contrast from our experiences on Princess. The waiter was terrible. He never made any attempt to find out our names or preferences. He would leave dirty dishes on the table, stop serving to sing and dance and frankly the worse service we had ever had in any restaurant. We were the first in the dining room and the last out every night. Our table mates were not exactly the friendly sort either.

 

So it doesn't matter one way or another, some days it couldn't be better, some could be worse. You can request the same waiter everynight and if you meet some others who you enjoyed their company, plan to dine together again.

[ialacruiser]

I've done NCL and Carnival and I *vastly* prefer freestyle. While our waiter on Carnival was lovely and it was nice that he knew we were vegetarians, I just don't like the idea of dining with strangers. I find it really awkward. Probably my least favorite part of "traditional" dining is that I think that the "be on time" thing is ridiculous. If you're assigned at 5:30, then at about 5:25, everyone is standing around near the elevators waiting for them to open the dining room. They don't open the doors even a few minutes early for people to get settled. The waiter comes over almost immediately to start service, so basically you can either stand around awkwardly waiting for the doors to open, or you can be late. :rolleyes: I *love* to be able to walk into a freestyle restaurant whenever we're hungry, get a table for 2, and have a lovely dinner at our own pace. Plus, you can get dessert first!

[CanadianTwosome]

HEY GOOD TO HEAR FROM YOU AGAIN! :D

 

Did I tell the story about how my RCI tablemates kept stealing my food? :rolleyes:

 

Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!! I'm not sure I actually want to hear about it but my natural morbid curiosity is dying to hear more!! :p

[richnorto]

I am new to this board. Please don't flame me because I have only cruised HAL and Princess for the last 12 years. Nothing personal - it just fit the schedule. I can talk a little about traditional vs. anytime.

 

HAL has both. Traditional is very nice because you have the same waitstaff throughout! They know to have iced tea/coffee/orange juice etc when you arrive. They can have a shrimp cocktail waiting or know you have a peanut allergy and tell you to avoid certain foods. They can bring coffee without being asked...because they know you. If you are a group of 2, you may be lumped with great people or losers or a family with whiny babies!!! We have always gotten a private table (for 5 -a 6 top) and the last time a delightful table of 10 with a couple we met on our last cruise! - What luck!

 

Anytime dining. You can eat early or late. You might or might not have to wait depending on reservations and how much you pass the maitre'd...? You can also enjoy dinner at your convenience within an hour of waiting at times.

 

I don't really think there is much difference between the different cruise line on seating - traditional or anytime. Pick what works and try to make the choice work in your favor!

[CanadianTwosome]

When we were on the Pacific Princess and the service was outstanding. The waiter knew after the 1st day our preferences. But sometimes we just weren't hungry at our assigned time, or hungry earlier. We also became quite chumy with our tablemates and even kept in touch for years.

 

Then we "freestlye". Have to say, we loved the choice to eat when we were hungry. The down side is that we never got to know our tablemates and the waiters never knew our preferences. Also, we prepaid tipping, there was no incentive for waiters to try harder to please.

 

The next one was also freestyle. We met great people on one night and spent some land time together, but still not the great service we first had on Princess.

 

Last cruise we tried Carnival and regular sittings again. A direct contrast from our experiences on Princess. The waiter was terrible. He never made any attempt to find out our names or preferences. He would leave dirty dishes on the table, stop serving to sing and dance and frankly the worse service we had ever had in any restaurant. We were the first in the dining room and the last out every night. Our table mates were not exactly the friendly sort either.

 

So it doesn't matter one way or another, some days it couldn't be better, some could be worse. You can request the same waiter everynight and if you meet some others who you enjoyed their company, plan to dine together again.

 

I think two of the most common comments I see when people compare traditional and freestyle are that the waiter does/doesn't get to know your preferences, and that bonds are formed with tablemates.

 

Well, there's no arguing with the first one. If having the same server every night that knows what you like to drink with your meal or what you take in your coffee is important, then traditional has definitely got the more appropriate product. This isn't important to me in the least; I certainly don't mind ordering what I want from new servers when I eat at restaurants on land. Having done traditional, I do understand that it kind of makes you feel special when it's done 'right', but it's just not something that matters to me. Keep in mind that I drink water with meals, which all servers bring me, and I don't drink coffee or tea, so nothing to know there! :p

 

The bonding, though... that one I actually think is better with freestyle. On our last two cruises - both NCL - we have met some wonderful people that we have stayed in contact with, and we met each of them participating in an activity that we shared interest in. We've met some wonderful people on our roll calls, at karaoke, at the pub crawls, at trivia... and chose to dine with some of them. Our family has probably spent less than half of our cruising meals 'alone', and all of the ones we spent with others we enjoyed thoroughly since we were with people who had more in common with us than an assigned dining time. :) Meeting people and getting to know them on cruises is one of the things I love about it; I just prefer to meet people on my own as opposed to being thrown together with strangers and hoping we'll get along.

[CanadianTwosome]

I am new to this board. Please don't flame me because I have only cruised HAL and Princess for the last 12 years. Nothing personal - it just fit the schedule. I can talk a little about traditional vs. anytime.

 

HAL has both. Traditional is very nice because you have the same waitstaff throughout! They know to have iced tea/coffee/orange juice etc when you arrive. They can have a shrimp cocktail waiting or know you have a peanut allergy and tell you to avoid certain foods. They can bring coffee without being asked...because they know you. If you are a group of 2, you may be lumped with great people or losers or a family with whiny babies!!! We have always gotten a private table (for 5 -a 6 top) and the last time a delightful table of 10 with a couple we met on our last cruise! - What luck!

 

Anytime dining. You can eat early or late. You might or might not have to wait depending on reservations and how much you pass the maitre'd...? You can also enjoy dinner at your convenience within an hour of waiting at times.

 

I don't really think there is much difference between the different cruise line on seating - traditional or anytime. Pick what works and try to make the choice work in your favor!

 

Welcome! Does this mean that you're going to try an NCL cruise? From the way you describe it, I think while the anytime dining is obviously an imitation of the freestyle concept, it's just that - an imitation. I honestly can't make a true comparison, since I haven't sailed a traditional line for a couple of decades, but in my experience, freestyle is much more than what you've described. :) I hope you'll try it though... then you can come back and tell us if you think they're different... and hopefully you'll like it!!

[lucycancruise]

We're such newbies when it comes to cruising (we've only been on one so far...the Pearl last Jan.) but I have to say the 'Freestyle' concept of dining is the main reason why we chose NCL. With two small children it's so hard to be at a specific place at a specific time. Plus, it's a vacation & who wants to be tied down to a schedule? We also liked the 'formal optional' dining & found that most people dressed v. nicely for dinner even though it wasn't required.

We haven't tried a traditional dining cruise, so I can't compare, but I had a great experience with the freestyle dining. I didn't feel the service was lacking at all, although we only ate in the specialty restaurants or the buffet w/ the kids. Our service was always either great or unexpectedly attentive & personalized. Waitstaff generally took the time to get to know us & our preferences, make recommendations on food selections, bring out extras of our favorite dishes, check back with us often, etc. The only place the service was slow & inattentive was at the Blue Lagoon, but my son was cranky at the time so a few minutes waiting felt like an eternity.

Overall, we would probably only consider cruising w/ lines that offered some flexibility with their dining plans.

[Warmer Climes]

On our last cruise (RCI) our tablemates were pretty annoying. They spent every meal complaining about how bad the food was compared to another ship they had cruised (and I mean each and every menu item, complained about in depth.) They seemed to hate every port, or at least they enjoyed trashing them. They were late or no-shows for many meals so we sat there waiting for them. I understand that we could have asked to be moved, but that would have been very awkward as their kids were the same age group as my daughter so I had to see them frequently at the kids' club.

 

I am an outgoing person and am fine with being seated with other people, but at least with Freestyle if we opt for dining with another party it's usually a one-time thing. Personally I am all for chit chat but not interested in forming lasting friendships with my tablemates, so after three nights of that family I longed for Freestyle. The NCL commercial with the blowhard going on about his sales figures always makes me laugh because we have definitely been there.

 

As far as having the waiter know my preferences, that means nothing to me. I am fine with ordering from a new waiter every night.

 

I read here how people have a problem getting a table with Freestyle, but after two NCL cruises I have yet to experience that. My vote is...Freestyle.

 

Barb

[Catnip]

I think it all boils down to personal preference and what fits your individual lifestyle the best.

On the lines that still have "traditional" dining, it is only for the evening meal..........breakfasts and lunches are typically the "open" seating concept, where you eat whenever you want and at a different table each day. And also, several of the lines that offer the "traditional" dinner seating also offer the "anytime/ my choice" open seating for dinner also. So, you can do either!

 

To me, I prefer the traditional dining at dinner....it is not an inconvenience to me to eat at 6:00, as that is when I usually eat at home and I'm hungry by then anyway. :)

I'm one of the ones that like to get to know my table-mates and not have to go thru the introductions and small talk with different people every night.

In all of my many cruises, I've only had 1 set of table-mates that were intolerable.........and we asked the Maitre D' to change us. We were at a different table the next night and we had a wonderful time!

 

 

So, different strokes for different folks! I'm just glad some of the cruise lines offer both dining choices on their ships and make everyone happy!

[cynbar]

DH and I love freestyle on NCL and anytime on Princess, but I do have to chime in here that not everyone feels that way. You probably won't hear from them here because tranditional diners tends to avoid NCL, for obvious reasons. But I'll try to chime in and defend them a little. Traditional diners feel that their service is better, that the waiters get to know their preferences and also are hoping for an additional tip at the end of the cruise. They also like the fact that everyone comes in and in general is eating the same courses at the same time, it seems less chaotic and disjointed. They hate waiting for a table or even being given a beeper, say it feels like a chain restaurant at home . And they enjoy the extras such as the Baked Alaska parade and the singing waiters.Most want to eat with others . What it all boils down to is, for them, traditional dining is a more elegant experience that they can't get at home. And if they get a bad table, they just ask to be moved (tables for 2 are also usually available in traditional, at least on Celebrity and Princess.) In my family, we believe that the flexibility makes up for the negatives, but I do agree that traditional gives you a more pampered feeling and better service.

[CTCruisers]

Can you help us with the pros and cons of non-freestyle dining?

 

We have sailed on Carnival and Royal Carribbean.

 

We had one cruise where the waiter would not start taking orders and serving meals until everyone at our table had arrived. We shared a large table with two familes. One of 3 and the other of 5. The family of 5 was always late and we never stayed for our entire meal as we wanted to see the shows on board.

 

The pros are that you can meet interesting people at assigned seating.

 

The cons are that you may not meet interesting people at assigned seating.

[cruzcntrl]

I've only ever been on CCL, so I'm very familiar with the traditional dining setup. And I largely agree with what everyone has said about it. Its not a bad thing, but perhaps not for everyone.

 

On my last cruise we only ended up eating in the dining room one night because my boyfriend hated being sat at a table with a bunch of strangers. I would have loved to go back for the food, but we ended up eating at the buffet every day for lunch and dinner just so we could have the flexibility to eat whenever we wanted and with whom we wanted.

 

For this reason we are very much looking forward to trying NCL's Freestyle concept on our cruise at the end of Nov.

 

Also, for the record, we aren't anti-social. We do like interacting with new people, but sometimes its just awkward to be forced into conversation at a dinner table. Its much more fun, in my opinion, if you can meet people and socialize without having it be so regimented and forced.

[uppitycats]

I really don't understand the folks who feel like their waiters, and their room stewards, need somehow to be their "friends". They feel put out if they get different waiters, or if they don't see the steward every day. I appreciate good service...and I really appreciate quiet unobtrusive good service. I am an individual...maybe I don't want coffee (or juice, or a shrimp cocktail, or whatever) at every meal, just because I ordered it once. I don't care if I don't see the room steward.. if the room is tidy, if I have what I need there, I'm happy. If I don't, generally I'm able to find the steward, or leave a note, and it's taken care of. And if not, a quick call to the front desk gets the job done. (Yes, I do tip the stewards extra at the end of the voyage, and yes I am cordial to them if I do see them...)

 

When we were on our recent cruise (NCL Jewel) we had different waiters every night .. who were efficient, over-worked to be sure (we were cruising in the midst of the virus issue on the Jewel), attentive...

 

but yes, I did occasionally have to ask for coffee, and sometimes the water glass got almost half-empty before they came around with more water (unlike the last Princess cruise where I could barely take a sip before the waiter was there refilling the glass!)..

 

and we saw the room stewards maybe 4 times during the 10 day cruise, and they never did formally introduce themselves...

 

yet somehow I survived just fine! :rolleyes:

[newmexicoNita]

Here's my take on the differences between Freestyle and traditional dining:

 

With Freestyle, you are free to dine where you want, when you want, and with whom you want. There are no fixed seating times, nor is there an assigned table with a fixed set of tablemates for the entire cruise.

 

 

Pros - You can eat when you're actually hungry or when it fits your schedule. No rushing to get ready after a late excursion. Or check out the night's activities and schedule your dining around what you want to do. You can even dine early (5:30 or so) and then grab a dessert (or another full meal, for that matter) at 9:30 if that's what you want. With traditional dining, you are offered a choice of two, fixed dining times (early or late, approx. 6 and 8) and you are assigned to a specific table for the duration of the cruise. All of this applies only to dinner.

 

Depending on your mood, choose an intimate table for two. Or arrange to have dinner with a couple that you just met on an excursion or onboard. Or, if you're feeling really sociable, ask to be seated at a large table. It's up to you.

 

Since you're not assigned to a specific table, there's no pot luck in getting assigned to a table filled with incompatible people. You may be lucky and get some wonderful people, but you may be unlucky. It should be noted that, if you really want to, you can ask to be reassigned to a different table. This is not uncommon and is not usually difficult to do following the first night.

 

Depending on the ship, Freestyle dining can offer you a multitude of dining venues with a wide range of cuisines.

 

 

Cons - If you want to dine at peak hours (7 or 7:30), you may encounter lines at the dining rooms to be seated. This is especially true for larger parties. For a party of two, such as myself, I've never had to wait longer than 5-10 minutes on 7 Freestyle cruises.

 

You will not receive that extra, personal touch from your wait staff since you won't have the same personnel every night. With fixed dining, the staff usually gets to know your idiosyncracies, your names, your background, etc. Many people like that.

 

You won't get to know the same set of tablemates (unless you make it happen). Some cruisers love having the opportunity to form friendships with their assigned tablemates. If you end up sitting with a series of different tablemates, you might get tired of the same old chit-chat that everybody goes through initially.

 

No age-old dining room traditions, such as the Baked Alaska Parade.

 

The older, smaller NCL ships (Dream and Majesty) were not designed specifically with Freestyle dining in mind. As a result, there are far fewer dining venues compared to the newer ships. This tends to exacerbate the problem with lines waiting to be seated since there are fewer options available.

 

I personally love Freestyle dining. It would be hard for me to go back to traditional dining unless the price and itinerary were too hard to resist.

 

As far as activities, I have never noticed any difference in number of activities between traditional cruising and Freestyle cruising.

John, I couldnt add a thing to what you have said, pros and cons: when I am at a loss for words, you know you have covered the subject, fully...oh, I do have one comment (of course) I do not think the Baked Alaska Parade and stuff like that is a negative, but guess it is to some people...After 10 cruises with it, I am glad not to have it anymore. I do think it is fun for kids...Maybe I am just not a kid at heart like I think of myself...

 

Nita

[islandgirlejfan]

On our first NCL cruise on the Leeward there was one couple out of a group of eight that complained about EVERYTHING! They didn't care for the shore excursions, the food, the staff.... pretty much if you named it, they had an issue with it. They had been on some pretty exclusive ships in the past, so I personally wondered why they had even bothered taking an NCL because it was way more mainstream than the ships they had been on.

 

At the time, my hubby was a junior computer analyst and at the time I was a preschool teacher/daycare director. The other people were more on the executive side of the office and even though we were about 15 to 25 years on the junior side from the rest of our table, all of us seemed to jell with of course the exception of this one couple. It was funny when they didn't come to dinner on formal night. We were all waiting for them to show up and they never did. Turned out when we compared notes, everyone was really tired of the negativity from them.....we thought it was just us! I remember the group picture looked so happy that I purchased the picture, even though I couldn't tell you one name of our partners, other than they were the nicest group! :)

 

I am very outgoing and conform usually pretty easy, but Freestyle has been wonderful. We talk to people on the ship and with this next one might be a little more social (we made the one on the Sky a little more about us;) ) but with Freestyle if we don't want to, we don't have to.

 

On our last cruise (RCI) our tablemates were pretty annoying. They spent every meal complaining about how bad the food was compared to another ship they had cruised (and I mean each and every menu item, complained about in depth.) They seemed to hate every port, or at least they enjoyed trashing them. They were late or no-shows for many meals so we sat there waiting for them. I understand that we could have asked to be moved, but that would have been very awkward as their kids were the same age group as my daughter so I had to see them frequently at the kids' club.

 

I am an outgoing person and am fine with being seated with other people, but at least with Freestyle if we opt for dining with another party it's usually a one-time thing. Personally I am all for chit chat but not interested in forming lasting friendships with my tablemates, so after three nights of that family I longed for Freestyle. The NCL commercial with the blowhard going on about his sales figures always makes me laugh because we have definitely been there.

 

As far as having the waiter know my preferences, that means nothing to me. I am fine with ordering from a new waiter every night.

 

I read here how people have a problem getting a table with Freestyle, but after two NCL cruises I have yet to experience that. My vote is...Freestyle.

 

Barb

[newmexicoNita]

We too feel we get to know more people by cruising freestyle. We have had table mates that we find lots in common with and enjoy getting together for drinks, breakfast or maybe dinner another night, and if we get at a table with people that are either, obnoxious or just plain nother like us, all we have to do is eat one meal with them.

 

Nita

[johnql]

I really don't understand the folks who feel like their waiters, and their room stewards, need somehow to be their "friends". They feel put out if they get different waiters, or if they don't see the steward every day. I appreciate good service...and I really appreciate quiet unobtrusive good service. I am an individual...maybe I don't want coffee (or juice, or a shrimp cocktail, or whatever) at every meal, just because I ordered it once. I don't care if I don't see the room steward.. if the room is tidy, if I have what I need there, I'm happy. If I don't, generally I'm able to find the steward, or leave a note, and it's taken care of. And if not, a quick call to the front desk gets the job done. (Yes, I do tip the stewards extra at the end of the voyage, and yes I am cordial to them if I do see them...)

 

When we were on our recent cruise (NCL Jewel) we had different waiters every night .. who were efficient, over-worked to be sure (we were cruising in the midst of the virus issue on the Jewel), attentive...

 

but yes, I did occasionally have to ask for coffee, and sometimes the water glass got almost half-empty before they came around with more water (unlike the last Princess cruise where I could barely take a sip before the waiter was there refilling the glass!)..

 

and we saw the room stewards maybe 4 times during the 10 day cruise, and they never did formally introduce themselves...

 

yet somehow I survived just fine! :rolleyes:

Totally agree. I fully appreciate a good steward who does his job well, but it makes no difference to me if I barely see him. As for waiters, I have no problem asking for what I want at dinner. I don't need the staff to read my mind.

 

John, I couldnt add a thing to what you have said, pros and cons: when I am at a loss for words, you know you have covered the subject, fully...oh, I do have one comment (of course) I do not think the Baked Alaska Parade and stuff like that is a negative, but guess it is to some people...After 10 cruises with it, I am glad not to have it anymore. I do think it is fun for kids...Maybe I am just not a kid at heart like I think of myself...

 

Nita

You're right. The entertainment by the wait staff can definitely be considered a pro or a con.

[arpie05]

My two cents is we sailed CCL three years ago and NCL 6 months ago and my cruise in January (booked in July) is back on CCL. We liked the dine anytime but always ended up at dinner when the dining room opened because we were hungry. I did NOT like the fact that almost all the other specialty restaurants cost extra to eat in. We did not eat in the buffet as we did on CCL but that's because we learned we liked to eat in the dining room.

 

I liked on the CCL trip sitting with people from somewhere else. Two ladeies we sat with were yahoos and didn't come half the time which was fine with us. They were the joke of the trip. On NCL we befriended 3 ladies in Seattle and made a point to dine with them several times. I missed having the same waitstaff at dinner and was amazed after 4 days when they would remember us from a previous meal because I didn't. I enjoy meeting people from other places in the world.

 

I would do NCL again but it would have to be a cheap trip to justify the cost for the extra restaurants. I'm looking forward to CCL so I don't feel nickle and dimed.

 

Also CCL doesn't charge for Sushi. We're looking forward to that and to tea time.

[newmexicoNita]

My two cents is we sailed CCL three years ago and NCL 6 months ago and my cruise in January (booked in July) is back on CCL. We liked the dine anytime but always ended up at dinner when the dining room opened because we were hungry. I did NOT like the fact that almost all the other specialty restaurants cost extra to eat in. We did not eat in the buffet as we did on CCL but that's because we learned we liked to eat in the dining room.

 

I liked on the CCL trip sitting with people from somewhere else. Two ladeies we sat with were yahoos and didn't come half the time which was fine with us. They were the joke of the trip. On NCL we befriended 3 ladies in Seattle and made a point to dine with them several times. I missed having the same waitstaff at dinner and was amazed after 4 days when they would remember us from a previous meal because I didn't. I enjoy meeting people from other places in the world.

 

I would do NCL again but it would have to be a cheap trip to justify the cost for the extra restaurants. I'm looking forward to CCL so I don't feel nickle and dimed.

 

Also CCL doesn't charge for Sushi. We're looking forward to that and to tea time.

 

For those who are sold on traditional dining, NCL is not for you, other than that I am not sure I understand what you are saying. Are you saying CCL has more free dining choices than NCL? On all lines, specialty dining rooms have extra charges, NCL just offers more choices. Certainly they have free dining as well, with several options.

 

Nita