What do you think is the biggest misconception about Freestyle Cruising?

[hotspur]

The biggest misconception is that there is a misconception that the service is worse.

 

IT IS WORSE. I have been on freestyle more than a half dozen times, and I can very confidently say that:

 

1) You will frequently wait 30 minutes for a table while half the dining room is empty.

 

2) You can wait 30 minutes for your dessert and coffee for no reasonable reason. It is not uncommon for your waiter to inexplicably caporize. In fact, uneven dining service is the most glaring difference between freestyle and traditional.

 

3) Your cabin steward will not bring the few things you requested on the first request. However, the overall cabin service is no different.

 

I sail NCL because the pros of freestyle far outweigh the negatives. I love the flexibility of dining times, and the fact that I am not required to dress up.

 

This said, I think they should work on two issues:

 

1) Improve the dining service

 

2) Try to seat small groups/couples with others in the dining room. They do on the smaller ships, but not on the larger ships.

 

If they did these two things, freestyle would be flawless.

This posting sums up in one place several of the misconceptions about freestyle. Dining room service on NCL, as Cecilia pointed out in her initial posting, is every bit as good as other mass-market cruise lines--without the bowing, scraping, and fawning that some apparently crave but I find annoying. We've never waited more than ten minutes to be seated in a main dining room on five NCL cruises, four of them on ships not built for freestyle. We've always been able to share a table if we were so inclined, even on Jewel. Dining room service is no more uneven than on traditional dining lines (our server on Celebrity was very good; on HAL not so good)--except there if you get indifferent servers you are stuck with them every night. Cabin stewards have been uniformly helpful and friendly--as good as we had on Celebrity or HAL.

 

We've never experienced the issues cantwaitt has described, indicating that it's dangerous to generalize based on your individual experiences. And it is this kind of generalization that causes these misconceptions.

[vacation luvver]

<<Well, of course you're right, but that's really splitting hairs. So let's say you paid for Appleby's and ended up at Ruth's Chris. For an additional $20 you'd consider it one heck of a deal.>>

 

I don't think I'm splitting hairs at all. Once I booked a European tour that included a theater ticket in London. I asked if we would be allowed to choose from a selection of shows and a selection of dates and I was told yes. But when I arrived in London, I was given a ticket to a show, and that was that. No choice as to the show or date. That didn't really bother me, but when I got home and told someone this, he said that I shouldn't really have expected to be able to make a choice, because the ticket was free. I said that it wasn't free - I had paid for it in the cost of my tour.

 

On another European tour, a lot of dinners were included, and at the last included dinner, I said that I couldn't wait for the next day, when I would be able to eat whatever I wanted for dinner. "But you'll have to pay," another tour member said. "These meals were free." "They were not free," I answered. "We paid for them in the cost of the tour."

 

If I bought (at an auction, for example) a voucher for a meal at Appleby's and was told that I could upgrade it to a voucher at Ruth's Chris for $20, it might be a heck of a deal, but I certainly wouldn't run around telling everyone that I bought a meal voucher at Ruth's Chris for only $20 - what a fantastic bargain!!!

 

<<I cruise solo 99% of the time and prefer NCL for that very reason. I don't feel terribly out of place because I am not "coupled" or "companioned." I can choose to do what I like when I like and no one looks at me as though I am lacking something.>>

 

No one ever looked at me as though I were lacking something, with the exception of one waitress in the dining room. As usual, I went into the dining room and requested to be seated with strangers. As usual, the hostess looked at me as if I had three heads and said that if anyone showed up and said that he/she/they wanted to be seated with strangers, he/she/they would be seated with me. As usual, the waitstaff immediately took the other placesettings off the table after I was seated, even though I tried telling them that strangers might be coming by soon to be seated with me. And no so usual, the waitress asked me very loudly, "Where is the rest of your party?" Unless she asked every other person (solo, in a couple, or in a group) the same question, then she was looking at me as though I was lacking something.

 

<<I also request to dine at a table with others when I go into the main dining room and I have made some lovely friends that way. I do agree that it is more difficult in the specialty restaurants not to be solo, but I manage there too. When I feel like it, or when I don't feel like visiting with new people, I take a book up to the buffet and I'm perfectly happy.>>

 

I didn't eat in any of the specialty restaurants, but I can see that it would be impossible to eat with strangers if you have to make a reservation. As I said, when I asked to be seated with strangers in the main dining room, it never seemed to work out. And I didn't like eating at the buffet, because if I forgot to get a spoon or needed another napkin or glass of water or something, if I got up to get it, my meal would be gone by the time I got back to the table, something someone who has an eating companion doesn't have to worry about.

 

<<If you need to be seated at the same table every night, Freestyle might not be right for you. There are 21 other CLIA-member cruiselines that can accommodate you though, so you do have choices.>>

 

I have no need to be seated at the same table every night. I wouldn't even be complaining about this except for the fact that the NCL employees assured me on the phone before my cruise that there would be absolutely no problem sitting with strangers in the dining room, that it was done all the time. If they had been truthful with me and said that the chances of getting strangers to WANT to sit with me (when they were so thrilled with "freestyle" and not having to sit with pesky strangers anymore) weren't so good, I would have known what to expect (a lot of meals by myself).

 

I like NCL and am sailing again with them in July, but I will be with a friend, so I don't have to worry about eating practically all of my meals alone. It should be a nice change!

[Jana]

 

If I bought (at an auction, for example) a voucher for a meal at Appleby's and was told that I could upgrade it to a voucher at Ruth's Chris for $20, it might be a heck of a deal, but I certainly wouldn't run around telling everyone that I bought a meal voucher at Ruth's Chris for only $20 - what a fantastic bargain!!!

 

Ok! OK! Uncle! We actually said the same thing, you just want to be argumentative about it, LOL. But it does bring up another question, if you will. Let's say that I pay $850 for an inside guarantee and you pay $4000 for a penthouse suite. Does that make your meal in the "incuded" restaurants exponentially more expensive than mine?

 

 

I like NCL and am sailing again with them in July, but I will be with a friend, so I don't have to worry about eating practically all of my meals alone. It should be a nice change!

 

I'm going with a friend on my next one too, and am looking forward to the companionship. It will be a nice change as long as I can get some alone time! I never had a problem joining a table in the main restaurants, maybe I just chose times that were easier? Maybe fewer large groups eating at once?

[Jana]

 

If I bought (at an auction, for example) a voucher for a meal at Appleby's and was told that I could upgrade it to a voucher at Ruth's Chris for $20, it might be a heck of a deal, but I certainly wouldn't run around telling everyone that I bought a meal voucher at Ruth's Chris for only $20 - what a fantastic bargain!!!

 

Ok! OK! Uncle! We actually said the same thing, you just want to be argumentative about it, LOL. But it does bring up another question, if you will. Let's say that I pay $850 for an inside guarantee and you pay $4000 for a penthouse suite. Does that make your meal in the "included" restaurants exponentially more expensive than mine?

 

 

I like NCL and am sailing again with them in July, but I will be with a friend, so I don't have to worry about eating practically all of my meals alone. It should be a nice change!

 

I'm going with a friend on my next one too, and am looking forward to the companionship. It will be a nice change as long as I can get some alone time! I never had a problem joining a table in the main restaurants, maybe I just chose times that were easier? Maybe fewer large groups eating at once?

[mousey]

I sailed on the Dream out of Houston last April (Spring Break) with my DH and DS (11 yrs.). The most we ever waited for a table was 15 mins. That wait was for the Italian restaurant, which is much smaller than the main dining rooms but is not an "extra pay" specialty one. Also, that night was "formal optional". Every other night we were seated almost immediately if not within 3 to 5 mins. At first we were concerned about freestyle dinning since it was our first experience with it. We thought we might end up sitting alone every night and would miss the fun experience of meetng new people (which is something we very much like to do). However, we absolutely loved it! We were able to eat anytime we wanted The two times we encountered a dining room where there was a wait, we just went over to another one and were seated right away. Also, when you are forced to sit with the same people night after night on other cruises, you never know who you are going to be seated with. Only once were we seated with people we felt uncomfortable with (they were making inapprpriate conversation for an 11 yr. old and were a little high) Normally this wouldn't bother us and we would have been laughing with them, but we had our child with us and even though we asked nicely they wouldn't stop. Thank goodness the next night we didn't have to sit with them - because of freestyle. Freestyle dining was really fun because as we made friends on the ship we were able to make plans to meet for dinner and sit together. This is something you can't do with other cruise lines.

 

As to service, on our first night out my son fell in love with a chocolate dessert. The waitress, without being asked, brought him TWO MORE! He was in heaven. Needless to say, we left her an extra tip. On formal night we had lobster, we were raving about how much we love lobster but rarely get to eat it. The waiter, again without our asking, brought us seconds! On one or two occasions when my son and I tried something we didn't like our wait person bent over backwards to see what else could be offerred that we might like. Loved that!

 

Also, something that wasn't mentioned. A misconception is that if you buy an all you can drink soda card, you will have to wait forever to get it at dinner or at the bars, because they want to sell you drinks. Wrong, We always got our drinks when we asked for them in a normal amount of time.

 

Bottom line - we LOVE FREESTYLE DINING!:D

[mbisson]

On formal night we had lobster, we were raving about how much we love lobster but rarely get to eat it. The waiter, again without our asking, brought us seconds!

 

That exact same thing happened to me as well (on the Jewel about 13 months ago). Then, believe it or not, as we were finishing up and preparing to leave the dining room, she brought me another one (to go). I was stuffed

 

-Monte

[vacation luvver]

<<Let's say that I pay $850 for an inside guarantee and you pay $4000 for a penthouse suite. Does that make your meal in the "included" restaurants exponentially more expensive than mine?>>

 

No, I would say that we were paying the same amount of money for our meals (and entertainment and everything else), and the extra $3,150 that I paid went towards the cost of my room (and any butlers or concierges or anyone/anything else that came with a penthouse suite).

 

<<Only once were we seated with people we felt uncomfortable with (they were making inapprpriate conversation for an 11 yr. old and were a little high) Normally this wouldn't bother us and we would have been laughing with them, but we had our child with us and even though we asked nicely they wouldn't stop.>>

 

Now how do you like that - I wasn't seated with strangers as a solo cruiser, but the THREE of you were! And what's funny is that one time, when I was with one dining companion, and another time, when I was with two dining companions, we were asked if we would sit with strangers (and we did). I have no idea why that never happened when I went into the dining room by myself.

 

I guess those people wouldn't stop talking because they felt that they were on vacation and they could do whatever they wanted within reason. Maybe that's what they thought "freestyle" means. Did any of the ship's employees ask them to stop talking?

 

It's good to know about getting seconds on the lobster. I'll ask for that next time.

[megessey]

So maybe a misconception can be that if there is a wait, you have to stand and stare at the wall while you wait? Why not go have a drink at the bar, or grab a snack at the buffet? Unless the pager system IS the misconception? :confused:

 

Yes, that's right, I'm quoting myself :D Just wanted to re-up this one, because I'm really asking -- do you or do you not get pagers from the maitre'd if there's a wait in the dining room?

[mbisson]

Yes, that's right, I'm quoting myself :D Just wanted to re-up this one, because I'm really asking -- do you or do you not get pagers from the maitre'd if there's a wait in the dining room?

 

You do on the newer ships, but not on the older ones.

 

-Monte

[newmexicoNita]

Biggest mis-concept: the wait time is forever: Bull: the other mis-conception: you are forced to eat in the specialty restaurants to get decent service and food....NMNita

[hotspur]

It's good to know about getting seconds on the lobster. I'll ask for that next time.

You can ask for seconds on ANYTHING. Or one of this and one of that. Or thirds. I know of someone who had seven lobster tails on Dream. Sick the next day, however.;)

[TDSeest]

I think you're right, most complaints probably do come from the smaller ships not designed for free-style. We've been on the Dream & that's where our 10 minute wait was! The Sun's our favorite ship and we're going again 2/11 and can't wait. Enjoy your cruise!

 

The Sun is the best. I'm anxious to see what they've done with it in dry dock. I was on it for my 6th time in December, and it was still good then.

[SoCal Cruiser78]

One thing I'm not clear on about Freestyle in the main dining room. I've read here that you can request the same time and server every night, but can you request the same table and tablemates every night, like on a more traditional line? Or do you get the same time and server but a different table and tablemates every night?

 

I'm considering the POH for the 7-night itinerary (the 15-night on other lines is hard for me schedule-wise), but prefer traditional dining. Thanks in advance.

[cod]

To Cecilia's initial statement, I'd like to say the following.

 

Yes, I've had a couple of 'not real swift' or 'indifferent' waiters on NCL cruises but I've also had a few that would qualify as the best yet! At least with "freestyle", you aren't stuck with a bad one for an entire cruise! That was the case on our 16 night Carnival cruise!!

 

And for the record, I like freestyle dining. We eat early and never had to wait more than a few minutes for a table, and even that was rare.

 

And - again for the record! - I just like NCL! They have the best ordur...oh, heck...SNACKS for their latitudes 'return guest party' of any cruiseline....including shrimp cocktail. (We were impressed!) I have no idea what it was that Carnival was passing around at theirs..they served two unrecognizable items, one worse than the other.

 

Just MHO!

[cod]

Double post, deleted one.

[cod]

To Cecilia initial statement, I'd like to say the following.

 

Yes, I've had a couple of 'not real swift' or 'indifferent' waiters on NCL cruises but I've also had a few that would qualify as the best yet! At least with "freestyle", you aren't stuck with a bad one for an entire cruise! That was the case on our 16 night Carnival cruise!!

 

And for the record, I like freestyle dining. We eat early and never had to wait more than a few minutes for a table, and even that was rare.

 

And - again for the record! - I just like NCL! They have the best ordur...oh, heck...SNACKS for their latitudes 'return guest party' of any cruiseline....including shrimp cocktail. (We were impressed!) I have no idea what it was that Carnival was passing around at theirs..they served two unrecognizable items, one worse than the other.

 

Just MHO!

[MrPete]

Not sure if this is a misconception or not.

 

I read some posts that people say you must wait to be seated, some mentioning obscene wait times. Then I see others come back and say you can avoid that if you get there by 5:30-6:15.

 

Somehow, to me, that defeats the purpose of my idea of eating when I want, and I might as well have assigned seating at let's say 6.

[silkhair1]

I agree with most of the postings.

[shoreguy]

Not sure if this is a misconception or not.

 

I read some posts that people say you must wait to be seated, some mentioning obscene wait times. Then I see others come back and say you can avoid that if you get there by 5:30-6:15.

 

Somehow, to me, that defeats the purpose of my idea of eating when I want, and I might as well have assigned seating at let's say 6.

 

A perfect example of a misconception;)

[Don Haynes]

If you read very closely, outside of Hawaii very few of the regulars here have encountered a long line, only the one post wonders claim a long line. They may have waited ten or fifteen minutes, but they will exagerate this time up to a hour. If they have to wait more than 5 minutes for the next course, they will exagerate this to half a hour.

 

Frankly, I don't trust the reviews from first time posters which are totally negative, with lots of exageration compared to the balanced reviews of long time posters. Do you? I have seen on many message boards trolls who post just to stir up the pot.

 

You'll notice many compare dining times on cruise ships with over 1000 seats in the main dining rooms with restaurants they frequent at home which have less than 200 seats. You tell me, do you expect faster service in a 1000 seat restaurant or a 200 seat restaurant. Keep in mind on a cruise ship every night is Friday night, there are no Monday nights.

 

At home most of the large chain restaurants charge more for their dinners because they overfill their plates, forcing many to use doggy bags. Most of the time you don't have room in your tummy for desert after dining on a salad and a steak entree.

 

On cruise ships portions are much smaller, thus most of us order several courses, the fruit, the salad, the soup, the steak entree, and the desert. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out several courses take more time than a couple of courses.

 

One and a half to two hours is common on cruise ships, yet most of us can finish a meal at home in a restaurant in less than a hour. Its totally different!

 

We should bend to the cruise lines if you want an enjoyable meal, the cruise lines can't bend to us. They are feeding at least five times as many.

[cantwaitt]

Even more worrisome are the serial posters who will defend NCL prtactices in cult-like fashion, thus skewing the true picture for people who want objective, accurate information.

 

If I get to a dining room at 7:30 and am seated at 8:15, my math computes to 45 minuites, not 5 minutes. If I wait from 9:15 until 9:55 for my dessert, that computes to 40 minutes.

 

Maybe my watch speeds up on cruise ships. Ah, that's the problem. My watch. OK, sorry, the service just became perfect!

[cantwaitt]

To imply -or worse, to state outright- that NCL offers these choices simply to wring a few dollars out of its passengers is just silly.

 

 

Are you naive, or unfamiliar with capitalism? Of course this is all about making more money. The cruise industry is a business. I have no trouble with NCL and all other cruise lines trying to make more money from the passengers. That's their free market right. And my free market right as a passenger is not to spend the money.

 

At the end of the cruise, I then decide whether to sail on NCL again or not, based on every factor, including costs of extras. My decision is to keep sailing on NCL because the pros outweigh the cons.

 

But, to suggest that the pay restaurants don't exist to make money is bizarre and naive.

[Retired not Expired]

Even more worrisome are the serial posters who will defend NCL prtactices in cult-like fashion, thus skewing the true picture for people who want objective, accurate information.!

 

Then again we have those who would label those of us who have never had the experience like you've described in order to discredit us as nothing more than cheerleaders skewing the true picture, or the picture as you want it known..

 

I've never had your waits and I don't eat every night at the same time. We go when we are hungry or around our schedule for others things.

 

The only time I've had a wait for dessert is when the waiters were singing and dancing on a traditional line.

 

Sorry, but this is another misconception. That all that have had positive experiences are cult like or cheerleaders.

[dwrist]

I've been reading dozens of reviews lately for NCL and other lines that have some type of Freestyle concept worked into their style. I've seen many comments, especially about NCL, that just don't ring true or are flat out wrong. What do you think is the biggest misconception about Freestyle Cruising?

 

I think the biggest misconception about Freestyle Cruising is that because the tips are added as a convenience to the consumer, the staff doesn't try as hard. I think nothing is farther from the truth. Having the tips added automatically is a convenience and the staff still has to try because their portion of the tip pool is dictated by guest comments and seniority. If they don't perform, they'll lose their job. I also think that someone that enjoys their job will do a good job no matter what. Tips won't affect that.

 

This thread isn't meant to start fights about dress codes, etc. It's a place to try and debunk the myths and help out new cruisers. :)

 

I need to change my prospective on cruising.

The biggest misconception of freestyle cruising is it is all about food and dining. Sorry there is more to life and cruising on NCL than that. ;)

[Browezilla]

...NCL Freestyle cruises are more about freedom of choice. We have decided not to try other cruise lines, NCL makes our vacations fun with choices we make, not NCL making them for us...

Interesting. NCL actually does make a lot of decisions for you, how much you'll pay (cruise, surcharges, beverages, etc.), when you'll see entertainment, ports, how long you'll be in ports, etc. Also, other lines give you freedom of choice as well. Many lines have alternative restaurants, 24 hour pizzarias, buffets instead of main dining, etc. I think it is a matter of degree. NCL offers more variety.