A Question regarding Freestyle Dining

[Kenlorz]

I'm a pretty new cruiser (one cruise... Allure of the Seas... AWESOME!). We are considering a cruise on the Breakaway next year because it is an easy drive for us living in PA and the entertainment looks fabulous (we love NYC style entertainment). However, one thing we LOVED about the Allure was the specialty dining venues. We dressed up every single night.... not tux and long gown dressed up, but sport coat and tie for DH and a cocktail dress and heals for me...and we ate fabulous food with very attentive servers in a great and intimately romantic environment of the specialty restaurants. We are now hooked on this type of cruise environment. It was very romantic and special for us.

 

All that to say...

From the little I've read on NCL, I see that they have freestyle dining, which if I understand correctly is that you eat when and where you want and wear what you want. I see from some of the threads I've read that the normal attire is a lot of nice tops and polo shirts for the most part. My question, how about in the Specialty Venues? Is that what the majority of people wear? Or is it a good mix of people "dressing up" like we do and those who in casual? Or would we be the odd ducks in the room? In all of the specialty dining venues on the Allure, we were the norm with about 85% of the room dressed in a cocktail dress or shirt & tie. Can you give me an idea of what we would expect?

[valleyvillage]

You would NOT be out of place! Especially in Le Bistro and Cagney's. I think you would love the ambiance.

[darrengs]

...Or is it a good mix of people "dressing up" like we do and those who in casual?...

 

I would say this is a fair statement. You definitely would not be out of place in sports jacket and cocktail dresses.

[laurenpattycakes]

I would say this is a fair statement. You definitely would not be out of place in sports jacket and cocktail dresses.

 

Agreed. I always dress up when in Cagney's and the one time I dined in Le Bistro, I was dressed up as well. :)

[Anginette]

The slobs - and let's be truthful, there ARE slobs - mainly stay at the buffet so that they can "load it up."

 

You will find people dressed casually (but not sloppily) in all of the specialty restaurants. You'll also see people a bit more dressed up. Your DH might be the only man in a tie, but you'd by no means be out of place. Some of the specialty restaurants are quite beautiful.

[Stephanieandjason]

We dressed up in a similar manner to your preferred dress in the main free restaurants as well as 3 specialty restaurants and never felt out of place! They're nice places so to us, it feels like you SHOULD dress up.

[punkincc]

Most people look pretty spiffy at dinner. A smattering of ties and suits here and there. Nice dresses and pants, dress shirts and pants or nice tropical style shirts. Much better than I typically see at home, that's for sure!

[Cruisin&Relaxin]

I'm a pretty new cruiser (one cruise... Allure of the Seas... AWESOME!). We are considering a cruise on the Breakaway next year because it is an easy drive for us living in PA and the entertainment looks fabulous (we love NYC style entertainment). However, one thing we LOVED about the Allure was the specialty dining venues. We dressed up every single night.... not tux and long gown dressed up, but sport coat and tie for DH and a cocktail dress and heals for me...and we ate fabulous food with very attentive servers in a great and intimately romantic environment of the specialty restaurants. We are now hooked on this type of cruise environment. It was very romantic and special for us.

 

All that to say...

From the little I've read on NCL, I see that they have freestyle dining, which if I understand correctly is that you eat when and where you want and wear what you want. I see from some of the threads I've read that the normal attire is a lot of nice tops and polo shirts for the most part. My question, how about in the Specialty Venues? Is that what the majority of people wear? Or is it a good mix of people "dressing up" like we do and those who in casual? Or would we be the odd ducks in the room? In all of the specialty dining venues on the Allure, we were the norm with about 85% of the room dressed in a cocktail dress or shirt & tie. Can you give me an idea of what we would expect?

 

Why does it matter how the other pax are dressed if you like dressing up every single night? If you like to dress up, dress up. If you don't, don't. It's FREESTYLE.

[kba1988]

why does it matter how the other pax are dressed if you like dressing up every single night? If you like to dress up, dress up. If you don't, don't. It's freestyle.

 

like !!

[fabby50]

I also think it has to do with what cruise route you're taking and what time of year. If you're going to a hot environment, during school break, I think you see a lot more people dressed casually than if you go to Alaska during a time when the kids are in school and the crowd is a little older.

 

That said, I have seen lots of people in suits and ties or jackets and very nice dresses, no matter the location. I don't recall seeing very many men wearing shorts in the specialty restaurants.

 

Also, since people have to pay more for luggage now, I see more posts about people skipping the suits/tuxes/ties, etc. I think you can still rent a tux on board if you choose.

[youngestof9]

I wore a dress almost every night to dinner. Sometimes specialty, sometimes MDR. DO IT!

[hartsnvt]

The slobs - and let's be truthful, there ARE slobs - mainly stay at the buffet so that they can "load it up."

 

You will find people dressed casually (but not sloppily) in all of the specialty restaurants. You'll also see people a bit more dressed up. Your DH might be the only man in a tie, but you'd by no means be out of place. Some of the specialty restaurants are quite beautiful.

 

So when I go to the buffet, I am there to "load it up"? Pretty disparaging remark to lump everyone who eats there as a slob. The NCL buffet has some of the best food on the ship at times. And the variety is second to none. I never saw a "slob" at the buffet and went there for breakfast every morning. I guess since I ate there I was a "slob", but i would rather be a slob than a snob anyday!

[jtheile]

So when I go to the buffet, I am there to "load it up"? Pretty disparaging remark to lump everyone who eats there as a slob. The NCL buffet has some of the best food on the ship at times. And the variety is second to none. I never saw a "slob" at the buffet and went there for breakfast every morning. I guess since I ate there I was a "slob", but i would rather be a slob than a snob anyday!

 

Great post.

 

 

I would hate to see how I would be classified. On my cruise last week I ate in one of the dining rooms every night, but usually ended up in the buffet for round 2 of dinner and dessert an hour or so later. A couple of nights I even made it to the Blue Lagoon around midnight for wings and cheesecake.

[Anginette]

So when I go to the buffet, I am there to "load it up"? Pretty disparaging remark to lump everyone who eats there as a slob. The NCL buffet has some of the best food on the ship at times. And the variety is second to none. I never saw a "slob" at the buffet and went there for breakfast every morning. I guess since I ate there I was a "slob", but i would rather be a slob than a snob anyday!

 

:rolleyes: I said that slobs go to the buffet, not that everyone who goes to the buffet is a slob. Don't affirm the consequent.

[punkincc]

Thus far, on the 3 NCL ships I've been on, the number of passengers I would classify as slobs, possibly 2 or 3 out of roughly 6,000. They are few and far between.

[jtheile]

:rolleyes: I said that slobs go to the buffet, not that everyone who goes to the buffet is a slob. Don't affirm the consequent.

 

 

Slobs also go to the main dining rooms and the specialty restaurants. So I don't see the reason for you making such a remark.

[Anginette]

Slobs also go to the main dining rooms and the specialty restaurants. So I don't see the reason for you making such a remark.

 

No, the people I'm referring to wouldn't be admitted to the MDR or specialty restaurants.

 

You seem to be taking this personally.

[Twinks17]

No, the people I'm referring to wouldn't be admitted to the MDR or specialty restaurants.

 

You seem to be taking this personally.

 

So do the slobs sit in their own area in the buffet?? If the 'people you are referring to wouldn't be admitted to the MDR or speciality restaurants'...are they actually allowed to mix with other humans? Wow I paid all that money out to enjoy a freestyle cruise and I will not be permitted to enter any other eatery than the buffet...what a shame!!...no shame on you for such a rude comment!

[Anginette]

So do the slobs sit in their own area in the buffet?? If the 'people you are referring to wouldn't be admitted to the MDR or speciality restaurants'...are they actually allowed to mix with other humans? Wow I paid all that money out to enjoy a freestyle cruise and I will not be permitted to enter any other eatery than the buffet...what a shame!!...no shame on you for such a rude comment!

 

They wouldn't be admitted because they would be breaking the dress code, which says you must wear certain articles of clothing, such as shoes, and you may not wear other articles of clothing, such as torn wifebeaters. If that applies to you... how unfortunate.

[trish1c]

You will be fine. It's my experience that the bulk of passengers sailing out of NY dress the way they would at home which is the style you describe. NYC is not a particularly casual city.

[jtheile]

No, the people I'm referring to wouldn't be admitted to the MDR or specialty restaurants.

 

You seem to be taking this personally.

 

No not personal for me. As I posted before I ate dinner in a main dining room everynight, so I must not meet your definition of a slob. And I don't feel the least bit guilty if I did "load it up" because I'm sure the 1 1/2 hours in the fitness center each morning at 6 offset the extra calories, which included 1 hour on the excercise bike so I could keep my training program.

[hartsnvt]

:rolleyes: I said that slobs go to the buffet, not that everyone who goes to the buffet is a slob. Don't affirm the consequent.

 

Wow! I had to look that one up:

 

 

Affirming the consequent, sometimes called converse error or fallacy of the converse, is a formal fallacy of inferring the converse from the original statement. The corresponding argument has the general form:

If P, then Q.

Q.

Therefore, P.

An argument of this form is invalid, i.e., the conclusion can be false even when statements 1 and 2 are true. Since P was never asserted as the only sufficient condition for Q, other factors could account for Q (while P was false).

To put it differently, if P implies Q, the only inference that can be made is non-Q implies non-P. (Non-P and non-Q designate the opposite propositions to P and Q.) Symbolically:

(P ⇒ Q) ⇔ (non-Q ⇒ non-P)

The name affirming the consequent derives from the premise Q, which affirms the "then" clause of the conditional premise.

 

 

Maybe I should take a poll to see how many people knew what you were talking about here.

[hartsnvt]

great post.

 

 

I would hate to see how i would be classified. On my cruise last week i ate in one of the dining rooms every night, but usually ended up in the buffet for round 2 of dinner and dessert an hour or so later. A couple of nights i even made it to the blue lagoon around midnight for wings and cheesecake.

 

like!!!!

[azpilot]

Well call me a slob then.. burp! :cool:

[Twinks17]

The slobs - and let's be truthful, there ARE slobs - mainly stay at the buffet so that they can "load it up."

 

Slob...

noun

 

a person who is lazy and has low standards of cleanliness:

a slob and expects others to clean up after him..

 

can't see where it says wears torn jeans and 'loads it up' on an NCL cruise...people choose to wear clothing they are comfortable in and choose to eat where they want to eat, if we want to dress up we dress up, if we don't want to we don't have to. We are on a freestyle vacation!....Don't judge people ..you may be very surprised by whom you judge.