I need real info on freestyle dining

[Ms belp]

I love NCL. Your post didn't make it clear whom you were speaking to. I thought OP was incredibly arrogant. His favorite term seemed to be "PITA". I didn't know what that stood for, sorry to say. Figured it out. Read his first post if you haven't already!:mad:

[Don Haynes]

What happens on the other lines when you are a half hour late? Do you eat at all in the main dining rooms?

[Ms belp]

Someone edited his OP. Most of his "snarky" comments have disappeared. PITA!:p

[Luv4dacruise]

That may change when Freestyle 2.0 is completely in place. The upgrades include a 20% increase in food per passenger, per day. That's significant.

Yes, they will finally be on-par with the other lines. I read an article, must of been a year or so ago in the travel section, actually, might have been the businss section of the Boston Globe, and it gave a run down on what each of the "Biggies" spent on food per passenger per day. RCI, Carnival and Princess were pretty much right on par with each other with a difference of maybe 50c. NCL on the other hand was spending about $3 less than the others. Celebrity came in abiout $1.25 ahead of everyone. This will be a MAJOR improvement for NCL and i for one am really looking forward to it. Happy Cruising!

[insidecabin]

The recomendation to have a chat about a standing reservation once on board is good, but if any of the group has a suite then you will have concierge available to make this happen rather than one of the group having to try and do it.

 

Another option is to book the Garden villa and then you can have all your meals at your own dinning table.

[mcpepe]

We are a group of 9 who would like to cruise together the week of Christmas 2008. Please don't suggest another date. It's not what we want. The casual crusing experience on NCL appeals to us, but we are afraid that the whole dining issue will make our experience unpleasant. Dining is a big issue. We like fine food and the kids really enjoy the meals on their cruises.

 

We have cruised on Carnival and Princess and enjoyed both lines.

 

I would like your real life experience with freestyle dining. We like to eat between 6:30-7:30. Any earlier is to early and any later the younger kids are exhausted. How difficult is it to get seated, and how far in advance do you need to make reservations?

 

To me, if I can't eat when I want, OR dinner is a big PITA I would skip NCL. Also-what is the food like? Can anyone share what the menus were like?

 

Having just got off the Sun for a New year's cruise, this is my advice:

 

If you'd like to eat in the main dining rooms, Seven Seas and Four Seasons, no reservations are needed or necessary.

 

However, for the specialty restaurants, you can make reservations for the same day AND NEXT DAY. The desk for specialty restaurant reservations opened early, anywhere from 7:10 to 7:30 on the Sun. We didn't have a problem as long as we GOT THERE AT THE ABOVE MENTIONED TIMES. Most restaurants were already booked if you tried to get in same night since everyone made reservations for the next night. If you wait until Noon or so to try to get into a specialty restaurant you may be out of luck.

 

Now before someone says it's not that difficult, let me remind them the poster is on a holiday cruise, as I was. You had to plan, especially with a large group. I had no trouble making a reservation for East Meets West, the steakhouse on the Sun....but I was there at 7:20 am at the desk to make it and even then I was given a choice of 5:30 or 9:30.

[mcpepe]

Personally I love Freestyle Cruising for the following basic reasons:

 

1.) You can dine with WHO you want. No set tablemates who you are forced to eat with.

2.) You can eat WHERE you want. Up to 10 different dining choices depending on the ship.

3.) You can eat WHEN you want. No set dining times and no setting your schedule to make sure you are there when they tell you to be.

4.) No being herded like cattle into public rooms waiting to disembark. You can remain in your cabin until called to disembark.

and my favorite:

5.) You can dine HOW you want. No mandatory Formal nights. You can wear resort casual (polo shirts, kahki pants, sneakers) to dinner EVERY night in EVERY venue. No being forced to go to the buffet just because you aren't dressed up. If you like to dress up....then go for it. You can dress any and every night that you want! It is totally up to you as to how you dress.

 

Freestyle is fast becoming the future of cruising. Princess, Royal Carribean, and even Holland America have all adopted parts of the Freestyle Concept with more on the way to those cruise lines. Look for Celebrity to be next. If it wasn't successful (or popular) would those other lines be copying it???

 

Having done two freestyle cruises on NCL and with one more already booked, I cannot see me ever going back to traditional cruising!

 

I find freestyle equivalent to a land based resort, where you basically came and went as you wanted. On a land based resort you usually need reservations for specialty/popular restaurants as well.

[wack001]

I doubt people read my blog with the info or just write what they feel.

Here is from my blog at ***** and i have cruised with large and small groups.

 

"“Freestyle” cruising is the concept that NCL promotes and the idea is that you can dine wherever, whenever. What you need to know is that all this “Freestyle” comes with a not-so-free price tag. For free, besides the buffet and the two main dining rooms (which have identical menus, just different decor) you have a choice of an Italian and a Spanish/Mexican Tapas restaurant (I did not eat at either the Italian or Tapas place as my research had indicated they were both just “ok” at best). For a cost of $15-$20 + per person you can eat at your choice of five specialty restaurants (Le Bistro-French, Cagney’s-Steak house, Chin Chin-oriental fusion, a Sushi bar and a Japanese Teppanyaki place). Depending on what you order in these restaurants there may be an additional charge for the “upscale menu”, so your bill could be $40+ per person.

Per the Freestyle dress code, no jeans or shorts are allowed during dinner in the main dining rooms (they enforce this so be forewarned), but jeans are allowed in the pay restaurants (money always talks). I would say about 75% of the passengers were nicely dressed during the evening hours.

Another negative of the Freestyle concept that I do not like is the wait staff rotation. They are rotated nightly between stations in the main dining rooms, so if you want to sit at the same table hoping to get the same waiter two nights in a row it is impossible. I personally do not like this; I like to get to know my waiter and vice versa; it makes for a smoother and more pleasant dining experience. To insure that my party of 6 was always seated together for dinner, a non peak dinner time (same time every night) was reserved with the maitre d’ on the first night.

 

These are the facts. you make a choice.

go to my blog at cruisingbob and leave your comments.

[coffeebean]

"That may change when Freestyle 2.0 is completely in place. The upgrades include a 20% increase in food per passenger, per day. That's significant."

 

Coffee- that is interesting. I haven't been to CC in about 9 mos. so I hadn't heard of this.

 

If what you say is true then they are very smart. I hope that is the case.

 

When are these changes supposed to take place?

 

boa...

 

I guess you haven't seen the article about NCL's Freestyle 2.0 upgrades. Here is a link...

http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20071219006036&newsLang=en

[coffeebean]

Do people like freestyle or do they just tolerate it? It sounds like a colossal PITA to me.

 

We haven't looked at specific ships yet, I was trying to gather information before I call my TA. She doesn't love NCL and freestyle dining is one of the reasons she gave me for disliking it. I didn't want to just get her opinion but it does really sound like a PITA, plus I don't want to have to pay extra for every meal just to avoid a long wait.

 

DH and I absolutely LOVE Freestyle and NCL is our top choice for a cruiseline because of Freestyle dining. We only cruise on NCL's newest ships, however, because these ships were built FOR Freestyle dining, offering many dining venues. We haven't traveled with a large party, however, just the two of us. Folks traveling in a large group can make reservations in the main dining room so that is should be very easy.

[coffeebean]

It's not true that we had no choices on Carnival or Princess. Carnival had 4 different seatings (2 early, 2 later, with staggered times). Princess had 2 seatings and also had anytime dining, which is similar to freestyle. Plus both Carnival and Princess had specialty restaurants on board. We did not try either but they were there.

 

We found the food good on Carnival, better on Princess. Neither was exceptional all the time but both were better than average, with some excellent meals to be had on both lines.

 

Princess offers flexibility with the time you dine, not with the dining venues. On Princess, you have the choice of one main restaurant for the anytime dining. Of coarse, Princess has a specialty restaurant just like all the mass marketed lines have now. Princess also has the buffet as an alternative dining venue just as all the mass marketed lines have. That is where the similarity ends. NCL's ships built for Freestyle dining, have several different dining venues which offer different menues, decor, ambience and a totally different dining experience.

 

I have cruised on Princess and did anytime dining. The experience on Princess did not come close to the dining experience and flexibility NCL offers.

[old sole]

It's not true that we had no choices on Carnival or Princess. Carnival had 4 different seatings (2 early, 2 later, with staggered times).

 

 

But none of them are the 6:30-7:30 window you specified in your original post. If you go at 5:45, 6:15, 8:00, 8:30 like the designated times on Carnival you will have no problem. I think you would be able to work out a standing reservation for you group anyway, but at the seating times comparable to Carnival's there really shouldn't be an issue.

[coffeebean]

Yes, I love Freestyle.

 

If you had ever sat at a table for eight with four noxious little brats with terrible parents, you'll know why I prefer a table for two.

 

electricron...

DH and I also request a table for two. We do however, get a larger table when we dine with folks we meet on the ship. It is our choice to dine with the folks we meet and we choose our dining companions. This is why we love Freestyle.

 

We have never had to wait for a table in the "open seating" venues because we dine at off peak time.

[coffeebean]

It's a PITA; I'd skip NCL and stay with your other cruise lines.:rolleyes:

 

 

Ms belp

When you dine in land based restaurants, do you have a standing reservation with the restaurant or do you choose to dine in different restaurants for different cuisine and ambience??? Just wondering.

[oLEEander]

Originally Posted by Ms belp

It's a PITA; I'd skip NCL and stay with your other cruise lines.:rolleyes:

 

Ms belp

When you dine in land based restaurants, do you have a standing reservation with the restaurant or do you choose to dine in different restaurants for different cuisine and ambience??? Just wondering.

 

I believe Ms belp was being a bit facetious (please note the eyes toward heaven smiley). I read her remark as being .. Just go on believing it's a PITA, so I can go on enjoying all the benefits of freestyle without having to share them to much. ;)

[amjdcm]

We are a group of 9 who would like to cruise together the week of Christmas 2008. Please don't suggest another date. It's not what we want. The casual crusing experience on NCL appeals to us, but we are afraid that the whole dining issue will make our experience unpleasant. Dining is a big issue. We like fine food and the kids really enjoy the meals on their cruises.

 

We have cruised on Carnival and Princess and enjoyed both lines.

 

I would like your real life experience with freestyle dining. We like to eat between 6:30-7:30. Any earlier is to early and any later the younger kids are exhausted. How difficult is it to get seated, and how far in advance do you need to make reservations?

 

To me, if I can't eat when I want, OR dinner is a big PITA I would skip NCL. Also-what is the food like? Can anyone share what the menus were like?

because you are traveling with a large group dinner may be a problem. I just got off the ncl pearl this December and I have booked her for the 12-21-08 Christmas sailing. i did notice that large groups were having problems booking the dinning venues. especially for the latter times. however, you are wanting to book dinner at a relatively early time. the latter you want to eat the harder it is. while 6:30 in not late, you may have less trouble if you wanted to dine at 6:00pm. it is just 30 minutes earlier but if you can swing it you should have not problem getting seated. just think about how difficult it would be if you were at a popular location where the dinning options are limited. if you are wanting to dine at prime time, not matter where you are land or sea, you would have problems getting a table. just remember that no matter what cruise line you use, if you are not doing the same time, same table dinning, (sometimes referred to as "traditional dinning", you are going to have trouble.

[3GR8Sons]

Please stick with your favorite cruise lines. Otherwise, you might be a PITA on my cruise! I've never seen a post as arrogant as yours.

 

What do you find arrogant?

[3GR8Sons]

Having just got off the Sun for a New year's cruise, this is my advice:

 

If you'd like to eat in the main dining rooms, Seven Seas and Four Seasons, no reservations are needed or necessary.

 

However, for the specialty restaurants, you can make reservations for the same day AND NEXT DAY. The desk for specialty restaurant reservations opened early, anywhere from 7:10 to 7:30 on the Sun. We didn't have a problem as long as we GOT THERE AT THE ABOVE MENTIONED TIMES. Most restaurants were already booked if you tried to get in same night since everyone made reservations for the next night. If you wait until Noon or so to try to get into a specialty restaurant you may be out of luck.

 

Now before someone says it's not that difficult, let me remind them the poster is on a holiday cruise, as I was. You had to plan, especially with a large group. I had no trouble making a reservation for East Meets West, the steakhouse on the Sun....but I was there at 7:20 am at the desk to make it and even then I was given a choice of 5:30 or 9:30.

 

 

YIKES!!!!! Who gets up at 7:20 in the morning when they are on vacation? Is it easy to make reservations for the next day?

[3GR8Sons]

Someone edited his OP. Most of his "snarky" comments have disappeared. PITA!:p

 

I'm really confused. Can you PLEASE tell me what the snarky comments were? I did not edit my post. I pride myself on being nice to people both on line and irl. I am really confused about what you find so offensive about my posts?

[electricron]

electricron...

DH and I also request a table for two. We do however, get a larger table when we dine with folks we meet on the ship. It is our choice to dine with the folks we meet and we choose our dining companions. This is why we love Freestyle.

 

We have never had to wait for a table in the "open seating" venues because we dine at off peak time.

 

I thought I wrote I love freestyle, too.

It was on a traditional dining ship when I met the four brats and two lousy parents. That's why I love getting a table for two, and Freetyle Dining.

 

If I meet other passengers I wish to dine with, and they also wish to dine with me, we do it. But I will never again wish to have the cruise line make that arrangement. It's usally a flop and a disaster.

 

Don't parents teach their children table manners anymore?

[3GR8Sons]

To those of you who gave me good feedback, THANK YOU!!! I really appreciate you taking the time to answer my questions.

 

I am really not sure about freestyle dining. We skipped the anytime dining on Princess because we really didn't want to get stuck waiting for an hour with five hungry kids. Like NCL some people love the anytime dining and others hate it.

 

I think that if dh and I were cruising without the kids freestyle would be a great option. It sounds great to be able to eat at different times each night. However, as long as we are cruising with 5 kids it seems like it would be way more trouble than it's worth. It's a shame because some of the NCL ships sound really nice.

[mcpepe]

IPer the Freestyle dress code, no jeans or shorts are allowed during dinner in the main dining rooms (they enforce this so be forewarned), but jeans are allowed in the pay restaurants (money always talks). I would say about 75% of the passengers were nicely dressed during the evening hours.

.

 

 

On the Sun last week, the only restaurant that said "no jeans for dinner" was the Seven Seas main dining room. The other main dining room, Four Seasons allowed jeans.

[mcpepe]

YIKES!!!!! Who gets up at 7:20 in the morning when they are on vacation? Is it easy to make reservations for the next day?

 

I do. :D I work nights at home so it's nice to see the mornings on vacation and not sleep half the day away as I am forced to do at home.

 

To answer your question, on our cruise, MOST specialty restaurants were booked if you tried to make same day reservations. This was a New year's cruise and everyone wanted to eat specialty it seemed. So it was easy to make reservations for the following day IF I was up and at the desk early. This was my experience only.

 

I talked to the girls at the specialty desk later in the day when they weren't busy and they said it was really bad this week. My husband watched a woman, who we dubbed "the teppanyaki lady," holler and carry on b/c she couldn't get a teppanyaki reservation. It was ridiculous. They actually had to call the tall, burly maitre'd to help handle the situation. Who knew teppanyaki could cause such wrath? :rolleyes: Come to find out, again b/c I talked to some staff members later.....they'd all heard about her....she actually COULD get a reservation, but not at the actual teppanyaki table. On the Sun, there is room for only 11 people at the actual teppanyaki table, and then there are regular tables away from it that you are served the same food. Hence the hollering and carrying on my husband witnessed.

[DAGVBSB]

Personally I love Freestyle Cruising for the following basic reasons:

 

1.) You can dine with WHO you want. No set tablemates who you are forced to eat with.

2.) You can eat WHERE you want. Up to 10 different dining choices depending on the ship.

3.) You can eat WHEN you want. No set dining times and no setting your schedule to make sure you are there when they tell you to be.

4.) No being herded like cattle into public rooms waiting to disembark. You can remain in your cabin until called to disembark.

and my favorite:

5.) You can dine HOW you want. No mandatory Formal nights. You can wear resort casual (polo shirts, kahki pants, sneakers) to dinner EVERY night in EVERY venue. No being forced to go to the buffet just because you aren't dressed up. If you like to dress up....then go for it. You can dress any and every night that you want! It is totally up to you as to how you dress.

 

Freestyle is fast becoming the future of cruising. Princess, Royal Carribean, and even Holland America have all adopted parts of the Freestyle Concept with more on the way to those cruise lines. Look for Celebrity to be next. If it wasn't successful (or popular) would those other lines be copying it???

 

 

DAG is totally correct on all his points, but this is why I simply tolerate Freestyle: (and please keep my views in perspective. We may be booking a third NCL cruise for March.)

 

1 I don't mind being forced to sit with others. I've enjoyed it on my past cruises. Admittedly if I'd had a bad experience I might think otherwise.

 

2 I find the food to be good but not excellent so giving me 8 good or average choices with only a one or two excellent choices (IMO) is no better than having one excellent place to eat. Plus in traditional cruising the dining room may always be the same, but the food is just as varied.

 

3 I don't mind a set time for Caribbean cruises. Usually they aren't that port intensive. And on traditional cruises you never have to wait for a table. Now, for our Hawaiian cruise I thought this was a TOTAL plus. When you're in port for more than a few hours, eating anytime you want is fantastic.

 

4- I don't have strong feelings about this.

 

5. Again, I like dressing up so I really enjoy the formal nights.

 

In other words I don't view Freestyle as a monumental improvment b/c I had no problems with traditional cruising to begin with.

 

I think other lines are copying NCL b/c the idea of Freestyle is great. I think their problem is in the execution. But perhaps their response to that is this "Freestyle 2.0." When we went on the Dawn in 2002 it was maybe the 3rd sailing and I believe Freestyle was relatively new. We were never told we could make a standing reservation and our TA was a member of our group.

 

But this is why we have choices. And we vote with our dollars. Though if the OP chooses to try NCL I will be interested to hear what he says.

 

I doubt people read my blog with the info or just write what they feel.

Here is from my blog at ***** and i have cruised with large and small groups.

 

"“Freestyle” cruising is the concept that NCL promotes and the idea is that you can dine wherever, whenever. What you need to know is that all this “Freestyle” comes with a not-so-free price tag. For free, besides the buffet and the two main dining rooms (which have identical menus, just different decor) you have a choice of an Italian and a Spanish/Mexican Tapas restaurant (I did not eat at either the Italian or Tapas place as my research had indicated they were both just “ok” at best). For a cost of $15-$20 + per person you can eat at your choice of five specialty restaurants (Le Bistro-French, Cagney’s-Steak house, Chin Chin-oriental fusion, a Sushi bar and a Japanese Teppanyaki place). Depending on what you order in these restaurants there may be an additional charge for the “upscale menu”, so your bill could be $40+ per person.

Per the Freestyle dress code, no jeans or shorts are allowed during dinner in the main dining rooms (they enforce this so be forewarned), but jeans are allowed in the pay restaurants (money always talks). I would say about 75% of the passengers were nicely dressed during the evening hours.

Another negative of the Freestyle concept that I do not like is the wait staff rotation. They are rotated nightly between stations in the main dining rooms, so if you want to sit at the same table hoping to get the same waiter two nights in a row it is impossible. I personally do not like this; I like to get to know my waiter and vice versa; it makes for a smoother and more pleasant dining experience. To insure that my party of 6 was always seated together for dinner, a non peak dinner time (same time every night) was reserved with the maitre d’ on the first night.

 

These are the facts. you make a choice.

go to my blog at cruisingbob and leave your comments.

 

 

This is one of the best discussions that we have had on this Freestyle subject on this board. (usually they turn downright nasty.)

 

If you take my post, Boa's post and wack001's post, you can see a good cross section of what different people like and dislike about Freestyle. As we have said many times, Freestyle is not for all and some people like parts of Freestyle, but hate others.

 

Thank you all for these great comments and examples!

[flashdog_1]

Pardon me for not being hip but I only know pita to be a bread. Catch me up, please. Thanks.

 

Oh I just figured it out.. Pain in ........