NCL Help From the RCCL Faithful

[sramadan]

Hello all, I am an RCCL cruiser recently back from a Freedom of the seas trip. Family are now getting together for a holiday trip out of new york in december. anyone know How is the NCL spirit? I have read reviews on cruisereviews.com and its seems everyone is dissatified with the ship/company. I am the one orginizing the trip, I dont want to be held accountable for ruining so many people (12) christman/new years. An advice will help. I know full well to compare freedom to this ship, is apple to oranges, however im more concered with the first time cruisers first impresions of cruising. Any helpp from the RCCL faithful with experience on NCL/spirit wil help.....I have also posted in the NCL board...thanks

[Nurse Daybreak]

My only real problem with NCL is the freestyle dining. We were a party of 6 and always had to wait for a table. After waiting 1 1/2 on the first night and 1 hour the second night we ate at the buffet after that. If you like traditional dining you may be dissapointed not having the same waiter, etc. The first night we didn't get in until 9 and the second night 8:30. wE just didn't like so much cruise time eaten up by waiting for a dinner table.

[Pisti]

Ask on the NCL board but I am almost certain that a party of 12 can make a reservation in the main dining rooms on the Spirit. There is a fellow named "Shoreguy" on the NCL board who will definetly know the answer.

I am sailing for the first time in 16 years on RCI in 2 weeks and for the first time in 20 years on NCL( Dawn out of NY )for New Year"s with the family. We are Celebrity and Carnival fans but out of NY and NJ no flying to get there...no hassle.

If you are with the family, you'll have a great time. Stop worrying.

[Samryer]

We went on the NCL Dawn out of NY over Thanksgiving a couple of years back.( the sister ship to the spirit) I loved the freestyle dining. We were a group of 11. We figured out early which restaurants we wanted to eat in each night and make reservations at least two nights in advance. We never waited more than 10 minutes to be seated.:)

[Nurse Daybreak]

I will say that I cruised 4 years ago on Majesty. I've been told that you can make reservations for the main dining room but at that time we were told we couldn't. Most likely because freestyle was relatively new then. We were able to make reservations at the speciality restaurants but there were only two at the time and neither of them had seating for 6. We did go to the pasta restaurant they had set up in one of the lounges and they sat us at a four top with one on the end and one (me) on the windowsill. Still that was the best food I had on the ship and rated as a top meal in my opinion. The Majesty is a older ship and was not originally designed for this type of dining venue therefore I believe our experiences may have been affected by this to some extent.

 

Like a previous poster stated you'll be with family. Sit back, relax have a great time and enjoy your family. Make lots of wonderful memories to cherish.

[little britain]

Ask on the NCL board but I am almost certain that a party of 12 can make a reservation in the main dining rooms on the Spirit. There is a fellow named "Shoreguy" on the NCL board who will definetly know the answer.

Yes, if you want to make it feel more like 'traditional' dining then it is possible to reserve the same table at the same time every night in the main dining rooms. This of course takes away the fun of deciding what restaurant you want to go to...:)

[snorklinbarb]

I will say that I cruised 4 years ago on Majesty. I've been told that you can make reservations for the main dining room but at that time we were told we couldn't. Most likely because freestyle was relatively new then. We were able to make reservations at the speciality restaurants but there were only two at the time and neither of them had seating for 6. We did go to the pasta restaurant they had set up in one of the lounges and they sat us at a four top with one on the end and one (me) on the windowsill. Still that was the best food I had on the ship and rated as a top meal in my opinion. The Majesty is a older ship and was not originally designed for this type of dining venue therefore I believe our experiences may have been affected by this to some extent.

 

Like a previous poster stated you'll be with family. Sit back, relax have a great time and enjoy your family. Make lots of wonderful memories to cherish.

 

You hit the nail on the head. The Majesty is an older ship and will be the next to leave the fleet as NCL continues building new ships. The Spirit is an absolutely stunning newer ship that is unique in any fleet with its Asian decor. It also has all kinds of specialty restaurants to offer, some surcharge and some no charge in addition to the regulard DR's.

 

We were on the Spirit in May after many times on the Dawn (larger than the Spirit with even more restaurant offerings). There are 2 main DR's with the larger Windows DR with great window tables for 2 along the sides and beautiful tables overlooking the aft. For a larger group, certainly talk to one of the maitre d's or the Restaurant Mgr. and they will try to help you. You can have a standing reservation for your party, but it'll be either quite early (5:30 or 6:00 or later around 8:30, but don't hold me to it).

 

Any evening you wish to dine in one of the alternate restaurants, just let the DR know you won't be there (if you have a standing rsvn). It's very advisable to pick a night or two your group would like to try them and make your rsvn asap as they do fill up. For example, the special Teppanyaki room (where the chef makes your meal in front of you) only has 10 seats and 3 seatings (5:30, 7:30, 9:30) so those go lickety split. They have copies of all the DR menus at the restaurant kiosk, so you can see what appeals to you.

 

There will be one optional formal night and about 30-40% do. Resort casual (dockers & polo) is acceptable even if you don't choose to dress up. If you eat in one of the alternate restaurants on optional formal night, they will serve you lobster tail along with whatever else you order.

 

Unlike the older ships, the Spirit is equipped with pagers at the DR. The one night I'd really recommend making a rsvn even for the DR (especially with a group your size) is optional formal night. Everyone tends to show up between 7 and 8 and the lines can start to form.

 

They have big boards that post the availability of DR seating - this tends to alleviate any lines as people can just choose another venue. Also, if you don't have a reservation at one of the specialties, and spur of the moment want to go, you can check availability.

 

I should have seen this on the NCL board and that's where I generally live.

 

Leaving from NYC is just super.:D