Feeling like "freestyle" isn't so freestyle....

[laurabegorrah]

I was on the Star a few weeks ago and I couldn't find any record of my reservations on the iConcierge app, not even the ones I made on the app itself. I obviously can't use it right now, but do you remember how you looked them up?

 

I thought for sure I saw them in there...but I might be smoking crack lol. It was a year ago, and my brain sometimes makes things up.....If it doesn't have a daily reservations tab somewhere, it really should. We should suggest that!

[Tutontow]

I agree. The whole scheduling requirement was the worst thing about the Epic. We have decided to try to steer clear of those large ships.

 

I haven't sailed on NCL yet, our March cruise will be our first with them after numerous CCL cruises. For us we feel making reservations to shows and restaurants ahead of time will be better for us. I have read the shows on the Epic are really worth seeing. I have been on at least 15 CCL cruises and have never seen a show and often we wind up eating pizza and sandwiches late because we never made it to dinner. We spend a lot of time in the casino and we both feel the NCL way will force us to honor our reservations at specialty dining and it will force us to leave the blackjack table and see some good shows I would have missed otherwise.

[lovedestiny]

We've sailed on Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Princess and NCL.

 

While NCL talks all about being Freestyle, I found it more difficult to book specialty restaurants, especially for a group of 6, book shows, get turned away for not having reservations, etc. If you want to get everyone in to the things you want it's helpful to book in advance, like before your vacation starts....but you often forget what you booked for when once you're aboard. Also, you may feel like 5:30 dinner reservations are great 2 months in advance but that day you nap at 5pm and oops, missed it.

 

Anyway, just curious if anyone else actually found figuring out what's included, what costs more money, what needs prebooked, etc more annoying than just being able to show up at any show or restaurant when you want???

 

Also NCL talks like you can't dine on other ships whenever you want. Well we haven't had a fixed MDR time on any ship in years, all seem to offer some sort of "my time" dining.

 

Just my 2 cents.

 

I believe that NCL is freestyle. You can eat anytime you want. You may not get into where you want to go, but if you're hungry you can swing by a few places and they will be able to accommodate you.

As far as booking and reservations are concerned for shows, I don't know what you mean. I have always heard that there are standby lines for people that don't have reservations. We have done it in the past for comedy shows, and I've seen people do it even for larger scale shows b/c persons book and end up not going.

Everything in life involves planning, and a cruise is no different. Before I sailed my 1st time I did a lot of research to be able to soak in as much as I could. We went to all the free dining places, we went to most free shows etc. You have to plan and prepare to get your moneys worth. When you go on my ncl website they constantly encourage you to book in advance. Once you do all your bookings you can even print out an itinerary of what you planned. So if you napped for somewhere you reserved, that's really on you.

[KeithJenner]

I haven't sailed on NCL yet, our March cruise will be our first with them after numerous CCL cruises. For us we feel making reservations to shows and restaurants ahead of time will be better for us. I have read the shows on the Epic are really worth seeing. I have been on at least 15 CCL cruises and have never seen a show and often we wind up eating pizza and sandwiches late because we never made it to dinner. We spend a lot of time in the casino and we both feel the NCL way will force us to honor our reservations at specialty dining and it will force us to leave the blackjack table and see some good shows I would have missed otherwise.

 

 

 

Yes, I agree with this.

 

The idea of not having any fixed plans is nice, and it works well sometimes, but there have been many occasions where we end up spending ages trying to decide what we want to do, and then ending up doing nothing.

 

Since we started prebooking our meals we have actually eaten in the restaurants much more often and use the buffet a lot less. I much prefer it that way.

[kathybelcher2433]

The NCL form of freestyle perfectly fits my need balance planning and control with the ability to change as needed.

 

At the 90 day mark, I booked the first 7 nights of an 11 night cruise for dinners in specialty and the MDRs. That way I stopped thinking about it. But I know I can always change and move things around once on board. And the last 4 unbooked nights are to allow for places we really liked during the first 7 nights to repeat. Works for me!

 

 

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[trish1c]

When the freestyle concept was introduced every other line had traditional dining only. That was why we started with NCL.

 

As the ships got bigger & reservations became required we felt left out of various activities because before our 1st voyage on a mega ship we didn't make any reservations in advance. Then by the time we boarded we were closed out of everything. That sucked.

 

For our 2nd mega-ship trip we made the required reservations in advance but that was simply annoying. On vacation we prefer not to schedule anything more than a few minutes in advance which no longer works on NCL. We had to be here & there at specific times. It made freestyle -- which I enjoyed as "unscheduled" -- feel a lot less free.

 

My life is measured by where I have to be all the time during the work week so the lack of structure on vacation was appealing.

 

After this next cruise we're probably going to take a break from cruising for a while, or at least switch lines, but it would take an awful lot to get us back on a mega ship. Too much structure. Didn't feel like "freestyle" at all but an extension of my regimented life.

 

Other people are happy with this system. The system won't change so we have to take it or leave it.

[Nola26]

i dont remember seeing my reservations on the app either

 

i DO wish they had MDR menus on the app or tv screen . why in the world dont they? is it technologically impossible?

 

I could make reservations on the app, not sure about seeing my plans. I have definitely booked show and shoreX via the app.

 

The ncl site says menus are there, but I didn't look for them. On the Dawn I'd just stroll by Aqua at some point and decide if I would eat MDR or something else that night. We never looked for menus on the Getaway/Escape, just went to MDR and enjoyed.

[ilsh75]

When the freestyle concept was introduced every other line had traditional dining only. That was why we started with NCL.

 

 

 

As the ships got bigger & reservations became required we felt left out of various activities because before our 1st voyage on a mega ship we didn't make any reservations in advance. Then by the time we boarded we were closed out of everything. That sucked.

 

 

 

For our 2nd mega-ship trip we made the required reservations in advance but that was simply annoying. On vacation we prefer not to schedule anything more than a few minutes in advance which no longer works on NCL. We had to be here & there at specific times. It made freestyle -- which I enjoyed as "unscheduled" -- feel a lot less free.

 

 

 

My life is measured by where I have to be all the time during the work week so the lack of structure on vacation was appealing.

 

 

 

After this next cruise we're probably going to take a break from cruising for a while, or at least switch lines, but it would take an awful lot to get us back on a mega ship. Too much structure. Didn't feel like "freestyle" at all but an extension of my regimented life.

 

 

 

Other people are happy with this system. The system won't change so we have to take it or leave it.

 

 

Agreed

[L1211]

First, I'd just like to clarify that I hate mean people

And for the life of me, I can't understand why some who cruise so often, experiencing such lavish relaxation, feel so compelled to post such snarky replies to legitimate questions. That aside, not everyone on cruise critic is an a$$. Now, to reply to your completely legitimate question that I too experienced. I'm lucky, my dearest sister is a NCL junkie, sailing 4 to 5x a year with her family. So, as a novice, I had an excellent resource. I am a planner, but not a "set your clock for exactly 90 days out" planner so I found only 5:30 and 9pm reservations available for Pre-book. Frustrating. And made me ask the same questions you are asking. But, my wise sister assured me, it was not as hard as it seems. Only about 30% of available reservations

Are online for prebook. That means you can easily book whatever you want on embarkation day. Tip, stand close to the glass wall in the cruise terminal and connect to the ship's internet from the cruise terminal. From there, using the NCL app, you can book anything, at anytime you want. Now, you still have to plan. Because if you wait, Forget it, it will be full. But, this allows you to do your pre-planning through cruise day and still get whatever reservations you want. Not completely making it "free" in freestyle "free" but much more flexibility than what you find in advance. Enjoy your cruise!!

[PlayCousin]

I travel solo and have never had reservation issues on either the larger ships (Breakaway, Getaway, Epic) or smaller ship (Gem). They can almost always make room for one whereas making room for six is a tad bit trickier.

[AandBmom]

Pardon me for asking, but how do you function in your everyday life? How do you remember which restaurant and time you made a reservation at for Friday night? What about doctor's appointments? School conferences? Appointments to have the HVAC guy come to service your system? What you need to get from the grocery store or Target?

 

Do you write anything down, or do you just make appointments and then rely on your memory or wait for them to call you to remind you?

 

I have never forgotten to go to anything on a cruise. It's extremely easy to go to MyNCL, print out your listing of booked dining reservations and show times and bring the papers with you onboard.

 

I do agree that the specialty restaurants tend to book up. But even then, on the first day, you could just go to the guy taking reservations in the Atrium and see what is available. Or even just show up at the restaurant. With the fairly newish a la carte system and not needing to pay in advance, plenty of people make reservations and then just change their minds and not show up.

 

Ironically I'm quite type A and very organized. I have 4 kids and a very demanding job so on vacation I pack away all phoned, agendas, etc.

 

I get why people are frustrated with my post.

 

I'm happy to read others have felt this way too. I think ppl are correct that this feeling is more apparent on the larger ships. Something I hadn't considered.

 

Thanks for the input folks.

Edited January 12, 2017 by AandBmom

[AandBmom]

I was on the Star a few weeks ago and I couldn't find any record of my reservations on the iConcierge app, not even the ones I made on the app itself. I obviously can't use it right now, but do you remember how you looked them up?

 

I couldn't either. Reservations weren't displayed on the app or tv. I assumed they would be do i didn't write them down.

[AandBmom]

When the freestyle concept was introduced every other line had traditional dining only. That was why we started with NCL.

 

As the ships got bigger & reservations became required we felt left out of various activities because before our 1st voyage on a mega ship we didn't make any reservations in advance. Then by the time we boarded we were closed out of everything. That sucked.

 

For our 2nd mega-ship trip we made the required reservations in advance but that was simply annoying. On vacation we prefer not to schedule anything more than a few minutes in advance which no longer works on NCL. We had to be here & there at specific times. It made freestyle -- which I enjoyed as "unscheduled" -- feel a lot less free.

 

My life is measured by where I have to be all the time during the work week so the lack of structure on vacation was appealing.

 

After this next cruise we're probably going to take a break from cruising for a while, or at least switch lines, but it would take an awful lot to get us back on a mega ship. Too much structure. Didn't feel like "freestyle" at all but an extension of my regimented life.

 

Other people are happy with this system. The system won't change so we have to take it or leave it.

 

This is basically what I meant.

[luckyinpa]

 

As the ships got bigger & reservations became required we felt left out of various activities because before our 1st voyage on a mega ship we didn't make any reservations in advance. Then by the time we boarded we were closed out of everything. That sucked.

 

For our 2nd mega-ship trip we made the required reservations in advance but that was simply annoying. On vacation we prefer not to schedule anything more than a few minutes in advance which no longer works on NCL. We had to be here & there at specific times. It made freestyle -- which I enjoyed as "unscheduled" -- feel a lot less free.

 

.

 

i've never been on any other ship than BA so my experience is zero. but my impression of other ships is that you have fixed time dining with perhaps a bit of a flex schedule to choose for the MDR.

 

however how are the specialty places done on other ships? dont they take reservations or is it that there are so few people on the ship that you dont need them and can walk up like you prefer to do? it will be a while before i cruise again but i'm still doing all the research i can.

[perkydebrajean]

I understand what you are saying. My husband and I did an 11 day cruise in 2014 and had purchased the dining plan that covered each night of our cruise. We never made reservations before we got on the ship because I have no idea when I'm going to be hungry. Only twice while on the ship did we use the concierge to make reservations. That was on the Gem.

 

The next year we did another cruise but this time on the Spirit. We were in a suite and once again never pre-booked dining. But there were a couple of nights that the Concierge couldn't even get us in. Even she was surprised that by 9am Cagney's was totally booked for the day.

 

In my opinion I think that since the constant promos being offered, so many people choose the specialty dining as one of their choices which makes them harder to get into.

 

I truly hate pre-planning my meals while on vacation. I have to do it Monday through Friday at home.

 

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[Missymo]

Everything is usually found is on an email or cruise planner. I make paper copies of every restaurant, tour, show, excursions, payments etc and have it arranged in a soft planning folder that I keep and easy to access. (Forget save a tree lol )It has saved me more than once. Especially on private tours in foreign countries. Sometimes drivers want to be shown if paid deposit. Or in full. One never knows. It is always brought with me onto the ship where it can be referred to or I can use the cruise planner on the tv

 

 

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Edited January 12, 2017 by Missymo

[shark with a laser]

i've never been on any other ship than BA so my experience is zero. but my impression of other ships is that you have fixed time dining with perhaps a bit of a flex schedule to choose for the MDR.

 

 

 

however how are the specialty places done on other ships? dont they take reservations or is it that there are so few people on the ship that you dont need them and can walk up like you prefer to do? it will be a while before i cruise again but i'm still doing all the research i can.

 

 

On NCL, all dining is at the time you prefer. I don't know that the MDRs take reservations, but they also don't have scheduled seating like on other lines. On the mega-ships you need advance reservations for specialty dining because of the size of the venues vs the number of people onboard who want to eat at those venues. On the smaller ships, advance reservations aren't as necessary if you're flexible with your times. Teppanyaki is the only restaurant I was unable to get a same-day reservation for. Anyplace else, no problem. I might have said I wanted a 7:00 seating and ended up with 6:45 or 7:15. I'm not sure I'd try walk-up with no reservations at some of them, though.

 

 

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