Can anyone explain the freestyle dining on Norwegian cruises?

We have cruised Disney and RCCL lines before, but just booked our first cruise on Norwegian and just not quite sure how the freestyle dining works... Any imput and/or recomendations would be greatly appreciated...

Thanks, Chuck

It means you eat when and where you want. No "assigned " tables or restaurants.

Thank you. That's what I figured just wanted to confirm.

They don't have traditional seating like other cruise lines, so that means no assigned dining times, no assigned tables and no assigned table mates. You just go to the dining room anytime between the hours the dining room is open and they sit you at a table and there you go.

It means it's like going to the local mall and picking one of the restaurants located there to dine in. You walk in, ask the receptionist for a table, and in most cases, wait until one becomes free. About as exciting and special as dining on any weeknight at any mall in any city. The only difference is that their "Denny's quality" restaurants are included with the cruise fare, but for the better ones you will have to pay extra for your meal.

On NCL you choose when and where you dine. You also choose who you wish to dine with. There is one MDR and Le Bistro which will have a more dressy dress code. All the rest of the dining options allow anything from shorts and jeans to formal....so freestyle also includes how you dress.

There is a thread on this subject on the NCL board that may be helpful to you. Check it out at the link below.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2053305

Happy cruising!

Thank you all for the responses. Gives us a clearer picture of what to expect. Greatly appreciated !

Our experience was this: Unless we wanted to dine at 5:30 or 9:30, we got a beeper and it "beeped" anywhere from 20 to 45 minutes after we got it. The joke got to be that "Anytime Dining" meant that the "anytime" was anytime they were ready to feed us. Most other lines have set seatings with an anytime option. I wish NCL would have their anytime but offer a set seating option as well, even if it were just one section in one of the dining rooms. I would be very happy to make a commitment for the duration of the cruise for a specific time as long as when we showed up, we were seated. However when we made a reservation for a sur-charge restaurant, we were seated right away.

Our experience was this: Unless we wanted to dine at 5:30 or 9:30, we got a beeper and it "beeped" anywhere from 20 to 45 minutes after we got it. The joke got to be that "Anytime Dining" meant that the "anytime" was anytime they were ready to feed us. Most other lines have set seatings with an anytime option. I wish NCL would have their anytime but offer a set seating option as well, even if it were just one section in one of the dining rooms. I would be very happy to make a commitment for the duration of the cruise for a specific time as long as when we showed up, we were seated. However when we made a reservation for a sur-charge restaurant, we were seated right away.

It's nice to read an opposing view. Thanks for posting your opinion.

It's nice to read an opposing view. Thanks for posting your opinion.

Anytime dining is one of the primary reasons we avoid NCL. Our experience has been that, unless you show up very early or rather late, you wind up waiting anywhere from 15 to 45 minutes for a table. You get a beeper - making the experience much like an Applebee's on a very busy Friday evening (except for the fact that the food isn't as good).

O....You get a beeper - making the experience much like an Applebee's on a very busy Friday evening (except for the fact that the food isn't as good).

LOL! Hit the nail right on the head with that one!

I guess it all depends on the person, but I enjoy the idea of not having to be ready at a certain time for dinner or worry what type of people I will be seated with at dinner, I also do not care if a waiter remembers if I like bottled water v. Tap v. This or that. I honestly do not get the gripe about different waiters that everyone always mentions when comparing ncl freestyle to other lines set dinning. I like to be able to pay for something if I want it and even if I do not I am able to find something I want somewhere. I guess I'm just easy going and don't need the bells and whistles and waiters dancing on tables to keep me happy. I like being away from work and on vacation whether or not I'm on ncl or wherever. I don't eat @ Applebee's every other night either.

Also, we must have a really crappy Denny's here, because the food I've had is better on ncl.

Anytime dining is one of the primary reasons we avoid NCL. Our experience has been that, unless you show up very early or rather late, you wind up waiting anywhere from 15 to 45 minutes for a table. You get a beeper - making the experience much like an Applebee's on a very busy Friday evening (except for the fact that the food isn't as good).

Wow! I wouldn't mind waiting 15 minutes but 45 is ridiculous! It is really an eye-opener to hear "the rest of the story" about free style dining!

Our last NCL cruise was Christmas 2013. We found the meals in the MDR to be very good-comparable to other lines. We found the service to be better-it was faster with no endless waiting during courses. We found the food was always delivered hot-especially at breakfast. We NEVER waited more than 10 minutes to be seated (2 of us). We did not like their buffet very much. Poor selection, poor set up. Dinner for us is usually around 7PM. Did not see any of those beeper things.

Perhaps things have changed since then.

It means it's like going to the local mall and picking one of the restaurants located there to dine in. You walk in, ask the receptionist for a table, and in most cases, wait until one becomes free. About as exciting and special as dining on any weeknight at any mall in any city. The only difference is that their "Denny's quality" restaurants are included with the cruise fare, but for the better ones you will have to pay extra for your meal.

Our one experience with a flexible dining situation on a cruise was a few years ago on Princess when we didn't clear the waitlist (we booked less than two months before the cruise). On the two week cruise we had only two waits to get a table (and we even often to share), but half of the nights, we just went to the buffet. If we had assigned dining, we would have gone to the main dining room every night just as on our other cruises.

After we got home and were eating lunch in our mall food court, we were talking about our cruise and the only negative we could think of is that dining anytime style was totally ordinary and not special like traditional. Hubby even said, "It was no different from going to any restaurant back home." Traditional dining makes dinners on a cruise ship special to us.

After we got home and were eating lunch in our mall food court' date=' we were talking about our cruise and the only negative we could think of is that dining anytime style was totally ordinary and not special like traditional. Hubby even said, "It was no different from going to any restaurant back home." Traditional dining makes dinners on a cruise ship special to us.[/quote']

 

I agree with you 100%. I go on cruises because they are a way to break out of the daily routine at home. A cruise gives me experiences I can't get at home. I find that traditional dining each evening feels like a special event. The way people describe dining on NCL's ships, there is absolutely nothing special about it. No different then going out to a Denny's or Applebee's at home, or maybe the occasional upscale restaurant that every town has. It's the same experience as if they stayed at home. If they are so satisfied doing the same thing they do at home, why even bother to cruise? :confused:

 

One of the several reasons you won't catch me on an NCL ship. They dumb down the cruising experience too much for my tastes.

I have done the traditional dining and the anytime dining. I prefer the traditional ~ makes it seem a little more special. That being said ~ I think more cruise lines should give you the option to choose early sitting, late sitting or anytime dining when you book. I think it also cuts down on the wait time since the whole ship is not on anytime dining. *Note that whatever you choose when you book is how you dine for the cruise ~ you don't get to flip flop back and forth between traditional and anytime.

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I have done the traditional dining and the anytime dining. I prefer the traditional ~ makes it seem a little more special. That being said ~ I think more cruise lines should give you the option to choose early sitting, late sitting or anytime dining when you book. I think it also cuts down on the wait time since the whole ship is not on anytime dining. *Note that whatever you choose when you book is how you dine for the cruise ~ you don't get to flip flop back and forth between traditional and anytime.

 

 

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Sadly, there is some flip-flopping. With flexible dining being an option, it means that there are fewer assigned dining spots. Often on HAL assigned dining is not available if you book close to sailing date. The frustrating thing is that a number of assigned diners wind up not using their assigned spaces for much of the cruise - either because they prefer the informal Lido or a specialty alternative for many of their dinners. Of course, they cannot be required to eat in MDR every night, so there is no easy solution.

Wow! I wouldn't mind waiting 15 minutes but 45 is ridiculous! It is really an eye-opener to hear "the rest of the story" about free style dining!

I have to say that I have never waited more than 15 minutes on NCL and that was one time on NCL Epic on Dress Up or Not Night in the Manhattan Room. They gave us a beeper and a coupon for a free glass of champagne at the bar (pop for the kids). All other times we were seated right away. We tend to dine at different times depending on our schedule for that day. One of the reasons we love freestyle...that and the relaxed dress code.

Wow! I wouldn't mind waiting 15 minutes but 45 is ridiculous! It is really an eye-opener to hear "the rest of the story" about free style dining!

Yep, those long waits have been my experience as well. It's funny when you read the NCL boards on threads about Freestyle. The champions for NCL like to say "do what you want when you want" and then turn around and say it's your fault for waiting so long because you wanted to eat between 6 and 8. :rolleyes:

Yep, those long waits have been my experience as well. It's funny when you read the NCL boards on threads about Freestyle. The champions for NCL like to say "do what you want when you want" and then turn around and say it's your fault for waiting so long because you wanted to eat between 6 and 8. :rolleyes:

That makes me think of the guy who goes into a diner for the "All you can eat" special. When he asks for seconds the waiter tells him, "Sorry, management says that is all you can eat." :D

Granted it's been "a number of years", when I was on the NCL Star their anytime dining was nothing more than a high school cafeteria.:eek: You picked up a tray & a plate, then slid your tray along the line then told the servers what you wanted and they loaded your plate. The only difference was there wasn't a cashier at the end of the line. I've not sailed with NCL since.

Granted it's been "a number of years", when I was on the NCL Star their anytime dining was nothing more than a high school cafeteria.:eek: You picked up a tray & a plate, then slid your tray along the line then told the servers what you wanted and they loaded your plate. The only difference was there wasn't a cashier at the end of the line. I've not sailed with NCL since.

I take it you never ate in the Main Dining Room?

OP, Freestyle dining is like eating at your favorite restaurant but showing up without reservations. If you are hungry when everyone else is then of course there will be a wait. If we receive a pager than we go to the nearest bar and have our pre-dinner drink there. Obviously Freestyle is not for everyone but we like it.

As much as some people complain about traditional dining times my experience with My Time Dining was that most people wanted to eat at traditional dining times so generally there was a wait. What bothered me more then that though I felt rushed to open up more tables for those waiting. While I don't expect the servers to know what I am drinking but on the NCL ship I was on I had to stop a server to get my water refilled.

Shak