How will NCL Court Traditional Cruisers to Return to NCL?

[dznymom]

SueSea, loved your list as well and glad you, as most folks on this thread, got the humor :)

 

For the record, I just love to cruise, and would cruise with nothing but a cafeteria if that's all there was! Not only that, some of my best friends are traditional! But, coming up on close to 20 cruises, I guess I have become bored with the hoopla of traditional dining, and I prefer to do my own thing. That said, our last 2 cruises were traditional and we had a great time. I even convinced our die hard traditionalist buddies to take a night off from the dining room and hit up the buffet and they loved it. I may yet get them on NCL!!

 

I, too, would love to try Seabourne, Windstar or Crystal, but at this point in my life I prefer to cruise more frequently. I am quite sure I would thoroughly enjoy traditional dining on any of those lines!

 

Oh, and ;) is usually recognized as teasing, as opposed to :rolleyes: which indicates ridicule. Lighten up, people!

[negc]

I guess when all rational arguments fail the last resort is to ridicule anyone who happens to hold an opposing view. :rolleyes:

 

But it is so reassuring and comforting to be critical of things and people that are different from that to which we are accustomed.:(

 

It's funny... when Freestyle is attacked, it's ok and those who defend it are considered rude or childish.

 

BUT when traditional dining is attacked it is considered ridicule due to an opposing view.

 

I do believe on this thread that a supporter of traditional dining attacked Freestyle first.... so it is that supporter of Traditional Dining that you are rolling your eyes at.......

 

 

(btw, the scene explained on traditional cruises was pretty close to what I experienced on the Explorer of the Seas in July. Very much like a cattle call when the doors opened and all those fat cows in their stupid looking dresses rushed the dining rooms. Oh and let's not forget the waiter parades.... reminded my of the elementary school parades my daughter had been a part of!! The Passengers on RCCL were the rudest bunch of people I have ever met in my life. My travel agent agrees with me on that one btw!)

 

Actually it is either side that attacks a cruising style that the rolling eyes were aimed at. My point was that neither side needs to defend their choice by attacking another's different choice. But I do think that your rude comments about traditional diners is deserving of some criticism. Those same "fat cows in their stupid looking dresses" may be your table companions on your next NCL cruise, but I assume you believe that their being on NCL will make them less "fat" and their dresses less "stupid looking" and their behavior less rude. If you want to know who these :rolleyes: are for, it shouldn't be too difficult to figure it out.

However, the point of my original post was to have a discussion of ways that NCL fans believe that the new CEO can fulfill his stated objective of courting former cruisers to return to NCL. I don't think that insulting them is the way he intends to go.

[excitedofharpenden]

Wow that is really quite a scene. Not exactly what we have experienced when we have had traditional dining but is certainly in keeping with the those creative ad makers who so wildly exaggerate the kind of passengers to whom traditional dining appeals. I guess when all rational arguments fail the last resort is to ridicule anyone who happens to hold an opposing view. :rolleyes:

On some lines, both traditional dining and flexible dining seem to coexist reasonably well and I didn't notice that any of the proponents of either style wore horns or were otherwise out of the ordinary. In fact, unless they told me I doubt that I could guess which style of dining they were observing.:rolleyes:

But it is so reassuring and comforting to be critical of things and people that are different from that to which we are accustomed.:(

I totally agree. I've never seen it on any of my cruises either. Perhaps I've been lucky! I don't get the bashing, on either side of the fence. It seems the hotter under the collar one gets about defending their favourite choice the less true information is put out there.

 

There are proponents of traditional and likewise for Freestyle and that is fine. We have choices, but let's keep the facts full. For example to say:

For those who really want the closeness of a bunch of strangers at a table and love the wait staff calling them by name, stick with traditional.

 

Nita

misses the point of traditional dining entirely and why some people like it. In falling over oneself to defend this personal choice the facts get skewed.

 

Phil

[dfishner]

How did this post go from the new CEO of NCL want to court the traditional cruiser over to NCL to an attack on both? They are so different. As a very new NCL cruiser I was lured away from RCL because I wanted to try something different and to see what else was out there.

 

I found out over the last few cruisers we had taken that we did not want to dress up anymore and wanted to be more casual.. we decided to opt out on formal night our last few cruisers. On our last cruise we dined in the specialty restaurants 3 times and decided to try My Time Dining for the first time. We really liked going to dinner between 7-7:30 and we did each of those nights we dined in the Main dining room. I guess we are closeted Freestylers and did not know it.

 

I felt trying NCL was a natural for us and am looking forward to it. I am sure all those who are freestylers for a long period do not want to see a traditional setting on a NCL ship and I can understand that but many of the mass market cruise ships have gone to a more flexible dining program and those are the customers NCL should try and lure over like us. We enjoy dining with more flexibility. I would of not said that a year ago but as the cruise ships have evolved so have we.

 

I still will sail on RCL because we enjoy the overall experience and we made our own kind of freestyle experience on RCL and it worked for us. Going on NCL made sense to us, no set dining times, various restaurants to choose from and a more casual cruise experience. We were traditional diners awhile ago but found that we move past that, we found we can still have that flexibility with RCL but we will have more choices with NCL and that is a good thing.

[negc]

How did this post go from the new CEO of NCL want to court the traditional cruiser over to NCL to an attack on both? They are so different. As a very new NCL cruiser I was lured away from RCL because I wanted to try something different and to see what else was out there.

 

I found out over the last few cruisers we had taken that we did not want to dress up anymore and wanted to be more casual.. we decided to opt out on formal night our last few cruisers. On our last cruise we dined in the specialty restaurants 3 times and decided to try My Time Dining for the first time. We really liked going to dinner between 7-7:30 and we did each of those nights we dined in the Main dining room. I guess we are closeted Freestylers and did not know it.

 

I felt trying NCL was a natural for us and am looking forward to it. I am sure all those who are freestylers for a long period do not want to see a traditional setting on a NCL ship and I can understand that but many of the mass market cruise ships have gone to a more flexible dining program and those are the customers NCL should try and lure over like us. We enjoy dining with more flexibility. I would of not said that a year ago but as the cruise ships have evolved so have we.

 

I still will sail on RCL because we enjoy the overall experience and we made our own kind of freestyle experience on RCL and it worked for us. Going on NCL made sense to us, no set dining times, various restaurants to choose from and a more casual cruise experience. We were traditional diners awhile ago but found that we move past that, we found we can still have that flexibility with RCL but we will have more choices with NCL and that is a good thing.

 

Cheers to you for putting this thread back on course. I think we have a lot in common and we are looking forward to experiencing freestyle dining on our Spirit cruise and seriously considering my time dining on our future Royal Caribbean cruises. Change is the current theme everywhere and those of us who are unable or unwilling to adapt may have a difficult time. Change isn't necessarily good or bad but to some degree it is probably inevitable and to attack it blindly without at first taking a look at any proposed changes is totally unproductive. It will be interesting to see what, if any, changes, the new NCL CEO comes up with and whether or not they achieve their intended purpose. Judging from some of the responses on this thread, he may have taken on a very difficult task, but we wish him well.:)

[iheartbda]

Change isn't necessarily good or bad but to some degree it is probably inevitable and to attack it blindly without at first taking a look at any proposed changes is totally unproductive.

 

It may look like I'm veering off your original question but there is an end to my means.;)

 

Certainly at this point, no one knows what changes, if any, will take place. It seems that people are most worried about changes to freestyle dining which is why the question morphed into something different.

 

I can't in my wildest dreams imagine that freestyle dining would be changed from its present form and it doesn't need to be changed to lure traditional cruisers.... despite the feelings of some that they should not be lured and just go elsewhere. Simply offer set dining time as an option....another choice, which is the emphasis in the advertising now, do what you want, when you want.:)

 

No one knows what the "powers that be" are thinking but if there's talk about "courting" traditional cruisers, there must be some basis to it.

 

[Chalker Guy]

There is a market for both. Don't compromise the product, but its OK if NCL tries to win over the opposition. Freestyle is definitely different, and some love it and some hate it. We have experienced both and prefer freestyle, but expect to enjoy traditional again in the future. What you lose is the close relationships you develop on traditional ships with your dining wait staff and table mates, the waiter "shows", and the midnight buffets (except for the one night Chocoholic Buffet). What you gain is the opportunity to meet more people, choose to eat in either main dining room at any time from 5:00 til 11:00 (or the buffet), some good specialty restaurants (at extra cost), the opportunity to sit at a large shared table or a small private table, the ability to escape an obnoxious tablemate, the ability to go to whichever evening show fits your schedule for each day, and the ability to return to a nice restaurant after the show for a nice late dessert and capucino.

 

That said, we really preferred the older, smaller ships (Sea, Dream, and Majesty) that supposedly weren't designed for freestyle to the new class (Jewell). More ambiance, and more opportunity to request a shared table and meet new people. Would like to see NCL increase their market share by adding new smaller ships that go out of non-typical ports.

 

As to comps for high rollers and other big spenders, YES! I favor cheap vacations so I can take them more often and experience new places and people. I am not a gambler or a heavy drinker. However, I am grateful for those who pay the big bucks so NCL can still make a profit while I enjoy a quality but inexpensive vacation. Give them the perks, they pay for it!

[terrymtex01]

It's funny... when Freestyle is attacked, it's ok and those who defend it are considered rude or childish.

 

BUT when traditional dining is attacked it is considered ridicule due to an opposing view.

 

I do believe on this thread that a supporter of traditional dining attacked Freestyle first.... so it is that supporter of Traditional Dining that you are rolling your eyes at.......

 

 

(btw, the scene explained on traditional cruises was pretty close to what I experienced on the Explorer of the Seas in July. Very much like a cattle call when the doors opened and all those fat cows in their stupid looking dresses rushed the dining rooms. Oh and let's not forget the waiter parades.... reminded my of the elementary school parades my daughter had been a part of!! The Passengers on RCCL were the rudest bunch of people I have ever met in my life. My travel agent agrees with me on that one btw!)

 

Actually it is either side that attacks a cruising style that the rolling eyes were aimed at. My point was that neither side needs to defend their choice by attacking another's different choice. But I do think that your rude comments about traditional diners is deserving of some criticism. Those same "fat cows in their stupid looking dresses" may be your table companions on your next NCL cruise, but I assume you believe that their being on NCL will make them less "fat" and their dresses less "stupid looking" and their behavior less rude. If you want to know who these :rolleyes: are for, it shouldn't be too difficult to figure it out.

However, the point of my original post was to have a discussion of ways that NCL fans believe that the new CEO can fulfill his stated objective of courting former cruisers to return to NCL. I don't think that insulting them is the way he intends to go.

 

What I fail to understand is why either "side" TD or Freestyle would care enough about the other to attack them.. That is just silly to me. Who cares if one person like TD and one person likes Freestyle. There are cruiselines for both. Amazing to me.