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New to NCL, questions about freestyle and extra charges


psyfi

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We have never sailed NCL. we prefer Celebrity over Princess, and have chosen Princess because it has an itinerary we want. We are in our early 40's 2 adults no children. I have been wanting to sail on the Epic, but it hasn't been going where I want to go. So along comes the Breakaway to Bermuda. Perfect!

 

Here are my questions. I know they have yet to post specific prices for the 8-10 special restaurants but can anyone give me an idea of what to expect? $10? $25? or are they order a la carte and you pay for what you order? If this is the case, how are those prices compared to on land? I'm trying to adapt for having already paid for my meals and this being an added surcharge or more like a full cost of a similar meal on land (I hope that makes sense!) Are those restaurants also open for lunches? If so, Are the up-charge costs and the menus the same for lunch and dinner? Also, what else can I expect to pay extra for (I know the usual like drinks and excursions and tips), like do you have to pay extra to use the rock climbing wall? the ropes course? The water slide? Mini-golf? Just trying to determine a budget.

 

DH really likes the idea of not having to get dressed up. I understand the policy, but do people really actually go to nice restaurants like the steakhouse in shorts?

 

Thanks in advance. I'm sure these questions have been asked before but I went back thru 10 pages of posts and did not find the answers.

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Well, there are enough free dining choices that you never have to go to specialty dining. If you want to, they are always in the $10-25 range depending on the venue. They are not ala carte except for sushi. On the high end are the steakhouse's, usually a $25 charge, on the other end, Italian is usually $10 per person. The specialty restaurants are not usually open for lunch. Usually you do not pay for things like the water slide or rock wall. With Breakaway, none of that info is released yet, but it should be about the same as the other NCL ships. You can cruise for the week without spending anything extra except for the DSC which you probably know is $12 per day per person.

Normally there are only a couple of places on the ship that you cannot have dinner in shorts. You will enjoy NCL.

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You will probably find most specialty restaurants in the $15 to $30 range per person. They're not "all you can eat", but they're not ala carte either. You can normally order an couple of appetizers and deserts to go with your meal, but it's all included in the upcharge. The exception is Cagneys which, last I read, still charges a slightly higher surcharge for the lobster.

 

There may also be ala carte eating options on the ship. On the Epic they have the Noodle Bar (fresh made noodle dishes) for a few dollars per meal, and also an ala carte sushi bar.

 

It's important to note that ALL of these are optional and not required. The ship will have at least two main dining rooms and several other free dining options to choose from without spending an extra penny over your cruise fare. Again, on the Epic (the most recent comparison) there are about 20 dining options, with about a 50/50 split between pay and free. The specialty restaurants generally are not open for lunch, but the ala carte places usually are.

 

As for shorts in the specialty dining venues..yes, you will find some that will wear shorts when allowed. I think the only restaurant that doesn't allow shorts at any time is Le Bistro. However, you will find that most people dress nicely in the specialty restaurants (by nicely I mean better than the MDR and buffet), and some even dress up. I'm with your husband though...I'm on vacation and I'm not wearing a suit or tie anywhere. For the buffet I normally wore whatever I was wearing for the day (short, t-shirt). For the MDR I at least put on jeans. For the specialty restaurants I wore dockers and a polo. This was pretty consistent with what others wore.

 

Most activities are free on the ships, including the ones you mentioned. The exception is bowling on the ships that have it. That's $5 per game

 

Welcome to NCL! I'm a recent convert from RCI and it's now my line of choice primarily because of freestyle

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If you book a full suite you are entitled to have breakfast and lunch in Cagney's at no additional charge. It is a great perk.

 

If you are not in a suite you have many options for lunch and dinner from the fee-added to the free ones. You will have many choices. Whereas I don't dine wearing shorts, I do wear capris and sandals. And likewise wear a fancy dress and my Louboutins for a festive night out at Le Bistro. On NCL it is all about choice.

 

I prefer NCL, especially in a suite... Followed by Celebrity. Have never sailed Princess, sorry.

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Here are my questions. I know they have yet to post specific prices for the 8-10 special restaurants but can anyone give me an idea of what to expect? $10? $25?

As of my last sailing; Cagneys $25, Le Bistro $20, teppanyki $25 and Italian $10. I believe Moderno is also $20.

or are they order a la carte and you pay for what you order?

Only sushi is a la carte

Are those restaurants also open for lunches?

While the restaurants aren't open daily for lunch, you will find special event like a Jazz Brunch or a Murder Mystery lunch.

Also, what else can I expect to pay extra for (I know the usual like drinks and excursions and tips), like do you have to pay extra to use the rock climbing wall? the ropes course? The water slide? Mini-golf? Just trying to determine a budget.

Rock climbing and water slides are currently included in your cruise fare.

DH really likes the idea of not having to get dressed up. I understand the policy, but do people really actually go to nice restaurants like the steakhouse in shorts? It does happen. I'm not sure about The steak house, but Le Bistro has a dress code. A pair of docker type of pants are just fine.

 

Thanks in advance. I'm sure these questions have been asked before but I went back thru 10 pages of posts and did not find the answers.

You're welcome.

 

Haha, in the time it took me to do this Mike answered so much better than I. lol

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Thanks for the quick replies. I'm not opposed to doing specialty dining, more that I just didn't have any idea on how much to factor for. Some of the venues sound appealing like the churaschuria and teppanyaki places. We have done Sabatini's and crown grill on princess and Q-sine on Celebrity. Murder mystery sounds fun though!

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Psyfi, which sailing on Breakaway are you considering?

 

There will be 3 free dining rooms on the Breakaway -- Manhattan Room, Savor and Taste. I believe O'Sheehans Bar & Grill is ala carte, but not positive as the info is limited right now. Shanghai's Noodle Bar, Wasabi Sushi bar, Gelato and the Raw Bar are probably ala carte too. Someone else will probably chime in with info for that. Dining out in Bermuda can be quite pricey, so the specialty restaurants offer a really good value.

 

From my experience on the Jade and Pride of America, at least one of the main dining rooms and all of the specialty restaurants (except LeBistro) allow shorts at dinner, but wearing shorts is not the norm. I believe the dress code is more business casual at night. However, some people really like dressing up on cruises, and feel perfectly comfortable doing so. That's what freestyle is all about.

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We sailed recently on the Pearl. We ate at Cagneys, the Asian restaurant, and the Italian restaurant. I have to say that they were not worth the upcharge. They were perfectly good... but, no better (or marginally better) than the Indigo (where we ate more than the Summer Palace) and even, if you chose what you like, the buffet. The Italian restaurant was particularly disappointing--given that one of us has a fish allergy, so a very limited menu for us. My fish, salmon I think, was better than the fish on the buffet, but not better than the salmon and the seafood cannelloni I had at Indigo. What was nice about each restaurant? They were relaxed--each was about 1/3 full. Cagneys was fairly good... but heck, (for us) just not worth the upcharge and gratuities. We're not obnoxiously "foodie", but enough that I'd rather spend 3 times the money for a good steakhouse off ship, for example, than on ship as it just didn't merit the extra charge. If I had it to do all over again, an absolute no for the upcharge restaurants.

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We had OBC's to use up on our last cruise and we ate at Ginza (Asian) not once but twice because they were amazing. We ate a LeBistro and the mushroom soup alone was worth the extra charge. I thought Cagney's had a very good steak but the app choices and the soup selections were nonexistent for those of us who do not eat seafood. I would think that for $25 p/p there would at least be one non seafood option. As it was, DH ate mine and I had room for salad and my steak. No biggie...just sayin'

 

We are extremely frugal as a rule and like to plan in advance. We also never sail without OBC's to use.

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I prefer the specialty dining venues for three things: menu, service and atmosphere. I prefer a smaller, quieter venue to a dining hall. So, to me the upcharge should be measured by taking into account all three things.

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Thanks everyone! I did not know you can book specialty restaurants ahead so that's cool. Bakerintn I will check out that link. I also don't eat seafood, so I will be sure to check out the menus before I book any specialty restaurants. I'd like to do something different than what I can get at home, so I probably wouldn't do Italian and have never had a fantastic steak on a ship. But the brazillian steakhouse and Teppan grill sound cool and would give us a little variety. We enjoyed the old menu at Sabatini's on Princess and loved Qsine on the Celebrity Eclipse. We'll have to see. Thanks everyone for your comments.

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We did our first cruise on NCL cruise on the Star this past March after six Princess cruises which was a comp from a local casino and very much enjoyed the entire NCL experience especially the specialty restaurants. Our personal favorite was Le Bistro and we ended up eating there twice. The food, atmosphere, and service was excellent. We also ate at Cagney's and had great filets, and La Cucina which was good but likely would not opt for this dining experience again for the same reasons as you.

 

What we loved best about NCL compared to Princess is when we cruise we like to get away from it all which we found that was much easier to do on NCL especially when dining. If you want a quiet table for two they are pretty readily available in all the dining venues except maybe the buffet on NCL compared to Princess. And if you like a decent cup of coffee you can pretty much get it anywhere on NCL, plus we had a coffee pot in our minisuite which even that coffee was way better than the syrup coffee served on Princess. Also, you will not have to order an eggcrate like we have always had to on Princess to be able to sleep on their concrete beds as NCL beds are quite comfy. Being someone who has a fair amount of Princess experience under her belt and despite the coffee and the beds we did enjoy all our Princess cruises, but as we were, I think you too will be pleasantly surprised that you can have an equal to or even better cruise experience on NCL :)

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Nightengale212, thanks for a view similar to our own. We are not huge fans of Princess, if we had to choose solely by cruise line or cruise ship, but they have some great itineraries that keep us coming back.

 

Linda, glad it has been helpful to you as well!

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I like all the cruiselines you mention.

I know food is subjective, but I have to say to my tastes and those of my sailing pals, we liked NCL food the best. Yes, you can have lunch in Cagney's if you're in a suite, but the menu is the same every day. You can lunch in the dining rooms on NCL too. The buffet has a nice variety as well. Sometimes we go to an upcharge restaurant, sometimes not. I liked Tappenyaki and Moderno.

PRINCESS PIZZA ROCKS and there is NO comparison at sea! No one even comes close.

I wasn't sure about the whole "freestyle" thing myself, but I've loved it and gone back to NCL several times now. I liked not having to be dressed up that much as well. If I feel like it, great, but a lot of times I don't. I don't look sloppy in the restaurants--don't worry! LOL

Anyway, I'm glad I've tried all the lines to see what they're like for myself. My conclusion: they're all good and I love cruising on any line!

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