explain freestyle dining to me

[lisareneeo]

Just off Royal Carribean Navigator (was very happy) Want to try a cruise with my family this summer. Children's ages 12 & 10

 

Please explain freestyle dining. I have a general idea but want details.

 

Also, are they ships ranked in class? Which ships have more amenities? Thanks,

Lisa

[electricron]

By class, in which way do you mean?

 

Basically, NCL ships fall into two different categories;

Built for Freestyle and pre Freestyle.

The remaining pre-Freestyle ships are the Dream, Majesty, and Pride of Aloha (ex-Sky). The Pride of Aloha was the first NCL ship to be refurbished and carry the Freestyle Cruising mark on it's side.

The Built for Freestyle ships are Spirit, Sun, Star, Dawn, Pride of America, Jewel, Jade (ex-Pride of Hawaii), Pearl, and Gem.

 

If you meant class by ship hulls:

Majesty class > Majesty

Dreamward class > Dream and Wind (now Superstar Aquarius)

Victoria class > Pride of Aloha, Sun, and Costa Victoria. The last was the first ship in the class and has never sailed for NCL.

Leo class > Spirit (ex-Superstar Leo) and Superstar Virgo. The last has never sailed for NCL.

Star class > Star and Dawn

Project America class > Pride of America

Jewel class > Jewel, Jade (ex-Pride of Hawaii), Pearl, and Gem. Note the Jewel class uses the same hull and machinery as the Star class, but NCL considers them a different class. All six ships based on this same hull were ordered in pairs, two at a time. The last two have rock climbing walls and bowling lanes.

 

The Jewel class ships are NCL newest ships. The Star class have mostly the same basic cabins, but there are differences at the very high end.

 

I believe all the Built for Freestyle ships will give you a great NCL Freestyle Cruising experience.

[NorthernNeighbour]

FREESTYLE basically means two things -- 1) you are NOT assigned a certain table or a set dining time -- you show up for dinner at anytime between approximately 5:30 PM and 10:00 PM in a choice of dining rooms; and 2) you do NOT have to rush right off the ship the moment it docks -- you can dis-embark (within reason) at your leisure.

[Beachbum1944]

It also means you don't have to get dressed up for dinner.

[mamadot]

Is it necessary to make reservations in all the dining venues? I read that into some of the replies but wonder about the dining rooms. :confused:

[Philob]

Is it necessary to make reservations in all the dining venues? I read that into some of the replies but wonder about the dining rooms. :confused:

 

Reservations are only at the specialty restaurants. No reservations are taken at the main dining rooms, except when you have a large party (usually 8 or more).

[Zeno]

Is it necessary to make reservations in all the dining venues? I read that into some of the replies but wonder about the dining rooms. :confused:

 

In a word - no - reservations are NOT necessary in ALL dining venues.

Details:

Unless you are in a large group (8 or more people) reservations are NOT needed OR encouraged in the DINING ROOMS. We have been on 3 NCL cruises and are a group of no more than 3 persons. Our longest wait to be seated in the dining rooms was less than 10 minutes.

However the "specialty" restaurants (some of which are 'included' and some of which are 'pay extra') are MUCH smaller than the dining rooms. Reservations are pretty much necessary (even for just two people). You may luck out and get in without a reservation by just turning up at a "specialty" restaurant without a reservation (my husband and I did once) but if you really want to dine in the "specialty" restaurants, make reservations and be prepared to be flexible about dates and times. Some of the "specialty" restaurants are quite popular.

[lukes]

Freestyle for dinning is very simple. You are free to choose when to eat, where to eat, with whom to eat and what to wear while eating.

 

What to wear - resort casual is always accepted, there are optional formal night(s).

 

With whom - your choice, family, friends, fellow cruisers etc; you can get a table for 1, 2, 3, ..... reservations are recommended for parties of 10 or more

 

When to eat - re: dinner, dinning rooms are open generally from 5:30 - 10:00.

 

Where - there is generally a wide range of restaurants to choose from: free: 1 - 2 main dinning rooms, buffet, room service

2-3 free specialty restaurants (reservations required)

2-3 fee specialty restaurants (reservations required)

 

Hope this helps

[lisareneeo]

Thanks everyone.

Which ships are most kid oriented? Which ships have the rock climbing and bowling alley?

 

Has anyone been on a Royal Caribbean ship that can compare NCL for me?

 

We have been on a 4 night Disney Cruise and loved it. I (with no kids) have been on RC Navigator.

 

Just trying to find a cruise for my family for this summer. My kids will be 12 & 10

 

Thanks again for everyones help!

Lisa

[mbisson]

In a word - no - reservations are NOT necessary in ALL dining venues.

.

 

 

Thank you Zeno. From posts by a few here I was under the impression that reservations were required in ALL dining rooms unless you're willing to wait for hours on end to get in ;)

[mbisson]

Has anyone been on a Royal Caribbean ship that can compare NCL for me?

 

Lisa

 

Hi Lisa, we've sailed 5 times on RCCL & 5 time on NCL. Our favorite ship so far is in fact the Radiance of the Seas. To me, the Jewel class ships are a lot like the Radiance. We've taken our kids on both lines when they were little (they're now not so little). They had a great time on each. However, I personally felt that the supervision levels (in the kids clubs) were better with RCCL. I walked in once to an NCL kids club and discovered that for a short period they were understaffed and the counselor was in one location and some kids were in another that couldn't be seen from the counselors location-they were basically going wild in that area-literally jumping on furniture. On later times when I dropped in, they were adequately staffed. But I was disturbed about that one visit. That was several years ago though, and probably is no indication that it happens anymore

 

To us now, the lines are comparable enough that I have no problems cruising either...but we seem to keep going back to NCL because we just enjoy freestyle

[nedleycan]

We have been on 2 Disney cruises (both ships) and 1 RCCL (Navigator last year) and just returned from the NCL Jewel. Our kids are 10 and almost 9. The kid's club is better on both Disney and RCCL in our opinion, but the Jewel was fine. The food is also better on Disney and RCCL than the Jewel. If you get a deal on NCL (as we did) then it is worth it. But for the same money, I would choose RCCL over NCL. However, we LOVED freestyle cruising.

 

One difference on NCL vs RCCL is that no restaurants on NCL are adult-only. I think that is a big shame. Cagney's was very good (as good as RCCL's steak house) but the Le Bistro wasn't very good (in our opinion). But, nothing could ever beat Disney's Palo (words can't describe it!).

 

The actual ships are very similar in service, cleanliness, etc.

 

If you have any other questions, please feel free to ask.

[Cuizer2]

Thanks everyone.

Which ships are most kid oriented? Which ships have the rock climbing and bowling alley?

 

Has anyone been on a Royal Caribbean ship that can compare NCL for me?

 

We have been on a 4 night Disney Cruise and loved it. I (with no kids) have been on RC Navigator.

 

Just trying to find a cruise for my family for this summer. My kids will be 12 & 10

 

Thanks again for everyones help!

Lisa

 

I was on the Navigator of the Seas in August 2004 and the Freedom of the Seas in June 2007. I have three future cruises with RCI booked (later this month, 2008 & 2009). I was on the NCL Star in October 2005 and will be on the NCL Jade in February.

 

The following is from my review of the NCL Star ...

 

What sets Norwegian apart from everyone else is the Freestyle dining. As I mentioned, there are ten dining areas. Six are free, four cost extra, and only three do not require reservations (Aqua, Versailles and the Blue Lagoon). It is noted that Norwegian does not allow blue jeans, tank tops, shorts, T-shirts or beachwear in any of the restaurants after 5:00pm. It is also noted that Aqua and Versailles (the two main restaurants) get very busy between 7pm and 8pm.

 

The advantage of Freestyle dining is you can eat when you want. However, that is only true in three of the ten restaurants. All the other restaurants require reservations. What is the difference between making a reservation and having a set dining time? Also, for groups this can be a problem. In traditional dining you show up at your table at the assigned time. You know the rest of your group will either already be there, or will arrive soon. With Freestyle dinning, your group has to decide where it wants to eat and when. If you have ever tried to get a group to agree on anything, you know what a chore this can be. Also, if your group is large enough, you can guarantee that someone will show up at the wrong restaurant at the right time, or show up at the right restaurant at the wrong time. For me, I don’t like having to take time out of my day to make a reservation. The whole idea of cruising is to have a carefree vacation. I believe that having to make reservations takes away from that experience.

 

 

Here is a link to the entire review (which is about 19 type written pages long) if you want to read it ...

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=13327

 

The bottom line for me was, the food and service in the main restaurant was the worst I have had in seven cruises, so I never returned. On five nights I paid extra and of course the food and service were excellent. The other two nights included a free specialty restaurant (good food and good service) and the first night which was the outdoor BBQ (very good food, average service).

 

I also did not like having to make reservations. That said, it was not a turn off for me. I am booked for a two week cruise in February on NCL. I prefer having a set dinner time. Others prefer having a flexible dinner time. To each his/her own. Remember, if you want to see the show, you still have to plan your dinner time around the show times.

[Leafpeeper]

Thanks everyone.

Which ships are most kid oriented? Which ships have the rock climbing and bowling alley?

 

Has anyone been on a Royal Caribbean ship that can compare NCL for me?

 

We have been on a 4 night Disney Cruise and loved it. I (with no kids) have been on RC Navigator.

 

Just trying to find a cruise for my family for this summer. My kids will be 12 & 10

 

Thanks again for everyones help!

Lisa

 

First, I would look for cruises from a port close to home.

We sailed NCL Pearl last month which is a new ship with bowling alley and rock climbing wall and wii games in the atrium on the jumbo screen.

 

NYC to Bermuda or Canada are great summer cruises.

 

Freestyle dining works great with kids because you can eat when everyone is ready instead of stressing about being on time. The Italian restaurant is free and very popular for families.

 

We have two cruises booked on RCCL next year but DH really enjoys his NCL cruises because we don't have to dine at a specific time and we can eat in a different style restaurant each night: Fench, Italian, Mexican, Japanese, Asian, Steak House, American/Dining Room.

 

We've found that there are things we like and things we don't like on every ship and every cruiseline. I'd love to have all the things I want on one ship, but that's impossible so I try to enjoy every cruise as much as possible. I especially enjoy sailing different cruiselines because of the variety of theater productions. Otherwise, it gets boring seeing shows over and over again. I do enjoy the hypnotist shows on NCL.