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What freestyle means to me

BadKitteh

By BadKitteh,
in Norwegian Cruise Line

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BadKitteh

BadKitteh

Posted
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I have seen a decent bit of freestyle bashing lately. I thought about why I like dressing down so much and having so many options and realized it is because of my job. I wear a suit all day and when I am home or on vacation I don't want to wear heels, a jacket or anything remotely structured. I would live barefoot if I had the option! I don't want to be told when to eat or whom with. What if I didn't like my waiter or dinner companions? I would hate to be stuck with someone I did not care for for an entire week.

 

I know some people like structure or playing dress up, but vacation should be laid back.

 

Is it time for my next cruise yet? It just got very chilly in New England and I need out!

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Rounder

Rounder

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We live in the country, i don't even own a suit. Normal for me is jeans, cowboy boots, runners, t-shirt. I do have Sport jacket, and dress pants, they don't get worn much.:p We don't have a set time to eat. Sometimes when i am haying, or feeding, it could be very late before i come in for supper. :)

I have been on another cruise line, and was not impressed with having to wait to eat, Freestyle appeals to me. That being said i also understand a lot of people like to dress up, and have set times for dinning, good for them.

As far as the bashing goes i don't understand, why are they on NCL, they know about Freestyle, Ncl does not keep it secret ! Personally i would not cruise on a ship that didn't have what i wanted. Guess i'm stuck on stupid. Ha Ha.

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camz

camz

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At this point, it's Freeystyle or nothing............ We wouldn't have it any other way. Would not even consider the other lines that don't offer Freeystyle. But then again, who am I kidding, I wouldn't sail on anything other than an NCL ship! :)

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tbmrt

tbmrt

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1. Although we dress nicely for dinner, just not lugging a suitjacket and really dressy accessories is the big plus to me.

 

2. My 2 cents on assigned dinnermates on other cruiselines...

 

We were sat with two nice couples and two couples who did nothing but complain and be extremely rude to the waiters from the second we sat down to the time we left dinner the first night. I thought uh oh, this isn't going to work.

 

The next day we went to the maitre d and requested a table change. Although I felt awkward passing right by the first set of tablemates enroute to our new table, it was the best thing we did....Met some very nice people whom we still keep in touch with.

 

3. On our past NCL freestyle cruises, the waiter service was nowhere near as nice as on other cruiselines. There is something to be said for having the same waitstaff who remember your name, little dinner extras you like, chat w/you, etc. In most cases the NCL staff just rushed around with very little interaction and it was difficult to get their attention at times.

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time2cruise1

time2cruise1

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1. Although we dress nicely for dinner, just not lugging a suitjacket and really dressy accessories is the big plus to me.

 

 

3. On our past NCL freestyle cruises, the waiter service was nowhere near as nice as on other cruiselines. There is something to be said for having the same waitstaff who remember your name, little dinner extras you like, chat w/you, etc. In most cases the NCL staff just rushed around with very little interaction and it was difficult to get their attention at times.

 

Exactly the reason I love freestyle dining. I don't need to be the wait staffs best friend. After 5 or more cruises you figure it out. I call it the waiter hustle. The best are skilled at making sure you know about their whole family depending on them. They show great interest in you and your family. The real reason is to make sure you are not one of the dozens that don't show up the last night with an envelope. In a strange way it is sad.

 

Freestyle they know they will get paid. They will help each other out. The focus is get get our meals out at the pace we request. If I never hear another waiter singing on Italian night again I will be fine.

 

Dont get me wrong everyone should experience traditional dining at least once. I am glad I did and happier I don't have too again.

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BadKitteh

BadKitteh

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I don't like people telling me when I have to be hungry. I never had a set meal time since my schedule is never the same from one day to the next and I like having options. On the first day of my last cruise we went from one location to the next picking up a hot dog here, some salad there, some wings..whatever looked good. We realized later that night that we never had dinner and we were not only totally fine with that but thought it was great that we were able to be so involved and see a lot without having to come to a halt for an hour. :)

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groo

groo

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Posted
1. Although we dress nicely for dinner, just not lugging a suitjacket and really dressy accessories is the big plus to me.

 

2. My 2 cents on assigned dinnermates on other cruiselines...

 

We were sat with two nice couples and two couples who did nothing but complain and be extremely rude to the waiters from the second we sat down to the time we left dinner the first night. I thought uh oh, this isn't going to work.

 

The next day we went to the maitre d and requested a table change. Although I felt awkward passing right by the first set of tablemates enroute to our new table, it was the best thing we did....Met some very nice people whom we still keep in touch with.

 

3. On our past NCL freestyle cruises, the waiter service was nowhere near as nice as on other cruiselines. There is something to be said for having the same waitstaff who remember your name, little dinner extras you like, chat w/you, etc. In most cases the NCL staff just rushed around with very little interaction and it was difficult to get their attention at times.

 

I agree with the above. If MDR was important to my cruise, NCL would not be the line for me. I like Freestyle dining so I can go to dinner when I want, but the wait staff has been just ok on my NCL cruises. No complaints, just not special.

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willysgrandma

willysgrandma

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There are still many people who like to dress up on formal nights, and NCL STILL makes it possible by assigning one dining room on formal nights to those that want to dress up.

 

There are cruisers who like a more formal cruise. If that is the case, they shouldn't book NCL - plain and simple. As long as they are told what to expect before booking - there should be no disappointment about Freestyle cruising.

 

We also love not having to dress up. Having been a banker for many years, I HATED dressing up for a cruise. And you can bring less clothing not having to dress up too!

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time2cruise1

time2cruise1

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It's been a while since we last cruised NCL. Are the formal dining rooms filled with people in the evening?

 

They are but only a small percentage dress formal. The rest remain resort casual. All they do is request no shorts or jeans that night.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk - Jim

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1 HappyCruiser

1 HappyCruiser

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They are but only a small percentage dress formal. The rest remain resort casual. All they do is request no shorts or jeans that night.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk - Jim

 

I wouldn't think there would be to many people dressing formally but the last time we cruised NCL the only thing I wore were my jeans to dinner and I never paid much attention to formal or casual nights.

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newmexicoNita

newmexicoNita

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I have seen a decent bit of freestyle bashing lately. I thought about why I like dressing down so much and having so many options and realized it is because of my job. I wear a suit all day and when I am home or on vacation I don't want to wear heels, a jacket or anything remotely structured. I would live barefoot if I had the option! I don't want to be told when to eat or whom with. What if I didn't like my waiter or dinner companions? I would hate to be stuck with someone I did not care for for an entire week.

 

I know some people like structure or playing dress up, but vacation should be laid back.

 

Is it time for my next cruise yet? It just got very chilly in New England and I need out!

 

thanks, I don't think hubby and I would ever consider cruising again without freestyle. We don't need to play dress up, we don't need to lug all the fancy clothes, we don't need to sit with people we have nothing in common with every night and we don't need to have someone tell us when to eat and where. We have had a few cruises where we have spent 7 to 10 days at tables with people we either didn't like or at best had nothing in common with.

 

We also don't want to eat at 6:15 (too early) and 8:30 or whatever is way too late. Does service suffer some? Yes, I think so, but the pros way outweigh the cons and I do not believe the stories about people waiting 30 to 45 min or longer for a table. Maybe one night, but we have been cruising "freestyle" since it began, we have gone to dinner as early (on rare occassions) at 6pm and as late as 8pm, with 2 of us to 20 and only waited more than 15 minutes once, 15 minutes once and the rest of the time 0 minutes to 10.

 

Nita

Nita

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puddles99

puddles99

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The only reason my husband agrees to cruise is because he doesn't "have" to dress up! For me, vacation is about choices. Dressing up if I want to, and not dressing up if I just plain old don't feel like it! On my last cruise, I did step it up a notch or two a few nights, but I didn't have to invest in clothes I might never wear again and the choice was entirely mine. I imagine this will be even more important when I take my girls on their first cruise in a few months.

 

And like others have said, I enjoy the flexibilty of when, where, and with whom I eat. I've never been one to stick to the rules!

 

Lovin' my freestyle!

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