Freestyle 2.0 in action on the Gem

[buddyjo143]

NCL's comments in blue, mine in red base on our two day Boston cruise.

 

We thought some of the "goodies" might be because it was Gem's inaugural cruise in Boston. I am happy to see that this will be fleet wide.

 

 

 

NCL will immediately begin to roll out Freestyle 2.0 fleet wide. Highlights of the different onboard initiatives include:

-- Freestyle Dining:

 

-- An increased investment in food of $50 million before we deliver our first F3, equating to a 20 percent increased investment in food per passenger per day plus major fleet-wide capital investments; Food was very yummy in the Garden Buffet. Loved all the choices. (Didn't care for the Orchid Garden but we are spoiled by living near Chinatown.)

-- Lobster Galore - Lobster in the main restaurant on multiple days and in one restaurant every night of the cruise; (Didn't try the main restaurant but did see lobster on the menu on the first night.)

-- A signature specialty dish in every restaurant (i.e. 48oz Porterhouse in the steak house, chocolate fondue tower in the action station restaurant)(Chocolate fondue tower at the buffet. A server ran skewers of fruit and served it on a plate. No worry about someone else's yucky fingers in the chocolate.)

 

-- An enhanced nighttime dining/ambience in the action station restaurant with table cloths, muted lighting and enhanced service; (I thought that was normal....very nice touch. Made it a different, night time experience if you aren't dining in a restaurant.)

-- One or two alternative restaurants open for lunch on sea days;(Well, since we had two sea days....yes, there were alternative restaurants open on the sea day.)

-- A new and expanded room service menu;(Didn't order but you could get a burger, hot dog, sandwiches, "eggs all day" along with at least 3 dessert choices.)

-- A "bubbly welcome" - a welcome aboard glass of bubbly for everyone;(Saw the bubbly, don't drink it, wondered if you had to pay for it. Very nice that they didn't. Again thought it might be because the ship is brand new.)

-- A Taste of Freestyle on embarkation day - samplings from all of the specialty restaurants;(Didn't experience that.)

-- A major hardware investment to bring all buffets to Norwegian Gem/Norwegian Pearl "action station restaurant";

-- An investment in back of house to refine the reservations process and system.(Easy to make, easy to cancel.) -- Stateroom Experience:

-- An upgrade in bedding and sheets, pillows, duvets;(Bedding was nice and new but I liked Carnival's pillows so much I bought them for home use.)

-- An upgrade in towels and bathrobes;

-- An upgrade in in-room amenities including coffee maker and expanded TV offerings;(We had a coffee maker and there were several tv stations available along with pay movie offerings.)

-- Addition of sofa beds to suite categories.

 

All, in all, we liked NCL so much we bought one of those certificates to take another cruise. We just have to decide when and where to fit another one in.:p

[greywillow]

Nice. Thanks for the quick assessment of NCL's new updgrades.

[scopewest]

Thanks for the info.

[angeljt]

Yes, thanks for the info. Sounds like you enjoyed the Gem. Are you going to try her for a longer cruise?

[buddyjo143]

Yes, thanks for the info. Sounds like you enjoyed the Gem. Are you going to try her for a longer cruise?

 

We like the idea of sailing out of NY in the winter since flying can be tricky.

 

We also want to see Alaska.

 

Don't know yet. Will have to see what we can book before the certificate expires.

[petesweet]

I read it quickly and was interested, but I'm not sure if most of these benefits are for everyone or just for those on a certain level. There is a reference to Lattitude members (which we are), but are there LEVELS within that category?

 

Sounds nice if they have stuff like the fondue tower on our Jewel Baltics cruise.:)

[angeljt]

We love cruising out of NY, but it was even better going out of Boston for us.

Good luck with your next cruise. We just used our certificate to book the Gem in April.

It was funny to see the video with snow on the pool deck. :eek: I liked the one of the crew taking a picture in the snow too. I'm sure they don't see that too often.