1st time on NCL

[Cruisin'Kim]

Hi everyone, I had a few questions for everyone that has sailed on NCL before, I've been on Celebrity and RCL, but this will be my first time on NCL, we're really looking forward to it!

 

My first question, may seem a little silly, but do they have good hair dryers in the cabins? The reason I ask is because I have long, thick hair, and if I don't blow dry it, it will be permanetly wet the whole cruise! (Celebrity had a wall dryer that wouldn't move 1 hair, let alone a whole head, and Royal Caribbean had "regular" ones that worked very well). If I don't have to pack a hair dryer - one less thing!

 

My second question is - everyone has mentioned the sail away BBQ by the pool, (it sounds great), but I was just wondering if they also offer lunch in the bufft on sail away day?

 

Last question, and I know it has a lot to do with individual taste, but we have a balcony cabin, not a suite, and looking on this forum, I've gotten the general opinion that if you want to dine at a specialty restaurant and your not in a suite, you have to do it early - so I'm trying to decide which ones are important to us, I think it would be great to try Salsas once, and Le Bistro seems to be a "must", and perhaps the Itialian one as well. I'm going with 2 other couples, 1 gentleman in our group is diabetic, so we will probably be eating early, around 5:30, is it true that reservations are easier to get at that time? What do you all think?

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Kim.:D

[cliffd64]

Hi everyone' date=' I had a few questions for everyone that has sailed on NCL before, I've been on Celebrity and RCL, but this will be my first time on NCL, we're really looking forward to it!

 

My first question, may seem a little silly, but do they have good hair dryers in the cabins? The reason I ask is because I have long, thick hair, and if I don't blow dry it, it will be permanetly wet the whole cruise! (Celebrity had a wall dryer that wouldn't move 1 hair, let alone a whole head, and Royal Caribbean had "regular" ones that worked very well). If I don't have to pack a hair dryer - one less thing![/quote']

 

Well, depends on the ship... some are better than others. With your hair, I would pack your own to be safe.

 

My second question is - everyone has mentioned the sail away BBQ by the pool' date=' (it sounds great), but I was just wondering if they also offer lunch in the bufft on sail away day?[/quote']

 

Lunch is available in several places, including the buffet, one of the main dining rooms, blue lagoon (where available) as well as the sail away BBQ.

 

Last question' date=' and I know it has a lot to do with individual taste, but we have a balcony cabin, not a suite, and looking on this forum, I've gotten the general opinion that if you want to dine at a specialty restaurant and your not in a suite, you have to do it early - so I'm trying to decide which ones are important to us, I think it would be great to try Salsas once, and Le Bistro seems to be a "must", and perhaps the Itialian one as well. I'm going with 2 other couples, 1 gentleman in our group is diabetic, so we will probably be eating early, around 5:30, is it true that reservations are easier to get at that time? What do you all think?

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Kim.:D[/quote']

 

Reservations for 5:30 PM can certainly be made for specialty restaurants... just make sure you call/go early and you should be fine.

[Cruisin'Kim]

Thanks cliffd64! We can hardly wait! Our cruise is the highlight of our year every winter - 4 months still to go, I'll just have to keep looking at the boards to help the time pass............................

[want2cruiseagain]

We had a really nice hairdryer on the Jewel. My question is, we had a balcony on deck 9. Are all the dryers in all the rooms the same?

[garycarla]

Regarding early reservations.

 

It is not so much you have to EAT early, but you need to make those reservations early in the cruise before they are all gone. Actually, as they fill up, often the only ones left are LATE in the evening.

 

As to eating in general, being a first time cruise you should not pass up the free dining in the free restaurants. The vast majority of the passengers eat there and do just fine.

[Cruising89143]

Thanks cliffd64! We can hardly wait! Our cruise is the highlight of our year every winter - 4 months still to go' date=' I'll just have to keep looking at the boards to help the time pass............................[/quote']

 

Kim, I was on the Dawn back in July. My first NCL cruise in 13 years. It was a good experience overall I and enjoyed the Freestyle dining concept. Worked out great. I also liked the Dawn. She does not have the WOW factor of RCI but still a nice ship.

[TPEINC1958]

Regarding early reservations.

 

It is not so much you have to EAT early, but you need to make those reservations early in the cruise before they are all gone. Actually, as they fill up, often the only ones left are LATE in the evening.

 

 

 

Let's correct this bit of mis-information!!

 

Reservations are made for that day or the next. So, on Monday you can make reservations for Monday evening or Tuesday evening and Tuesday you can make reservations for Tuesday evening or Wednesday evening and so on.

 

So, you do not have to make your reservations early in the cruise before they are all gone.

 

John

[TPEINC1958]

About the blow dryer. There is a wattage issue that pertains to a maximum wattage that should be used or you could trip a breaker for a large portion of your neighbors. A person who must not be named had all of this information and I can't remember what it was.

 

John