New to NCL from DCL - What are the "Must Know" Differences

Hi all!

 

I'm a Platinum DCL cruiser who is currently booked on the Bliss for August 2019 - we're "managing" a large group of friends and family for an Alaskan sailing - many of whom have never cruised before. I'm so concerned that I'm not going to be able to effectively help them that I've booked the Escape for this fall out of NYC just to get a better feel for NCL (twist my arm, really).

 

With that said, I'm calling those who have cruised DCL to help me understand the must-know differences! No kids in our group so don't need info on that but everything else is fair game!

 

I'm concerned with understanding the dining since I'm used to DCL rotational. Do we need reservations? For just the specialty or even the MDRs? Reservations in advance or day of or.....?

 

What's this about the Vibe? Do we really need to worry about getting access? (No kids and like to relax so this sounds up our alley).

 

Reservations for shows? Again, in advance (when?) or day of?

 

Deck parties - do they send information closer to the cruise about themes, etc? I've seen White Hot mentioned and wondered how you know about it if you're a first timer.

 

Any other - oh, you'll notice THIS is different - tips from those who have sailed with DCL?

 

Appreciate it SO much and am looking forward to getting to know NCL. I love the Mouse but he's getting a little pricey so I'd love to love another line too!

 

Amy

You don't need reservations for the MDRs really, but you can make them. Can't hurt I guess. Sort of defeats the purpose of the anytime dining, but I don't have a problem with it. Helps me plan out the schedule.

 

It's either 90 or 120 days out that you can make reservations. Rules have changed so I'm not sure what it is right now (I see people report both and then argue about it). Anyways, reserve specialty dining and shows as early as you can. Unlike Disney, the auditorium can't fit half the cruise ship. And even with a reservation, you should still get there 30-60 minutes early to get a good seat. One trick, if you try to book on the app, is to do it while waiting to board the ship. The WiFi signal should reach you and you can book before the people trying to physically do it on the ship.

 

Soda is not free.

If you're a large group, Vibe might not be a viable option. They sell 70 passes total, and they sell out in minutes. You cannot pick them up for others (even my husband couldn't grab one for me, as I was a few yards away). So unless your group can all get there at once, you risk part of your group getting them and part being left out.

 

If your large group intends to dine together each evening, you might want reservations even for the MDR. If everyone is doing their own thing, they will not be necessary.

 

Another difference - there are no formal nights. Shorts are welcome in nearly all the restaurants, probably with the exception of the seafood restaurant (does this ship have Ocean Blue?) and Le Bistro specialty restaurants. Even those will allow nice jeans.

 

You'll find out about deck parties once you're on the ship, or else when someone returns from a cruise before yours and shares the information. As far as reservations for shows, there will be 2 or 3 big shows, and you will want to make reservations in advance for these. If not, you can stand in a standby line to get access when others no show. There will also be comedy and other smaller entertainment nightly in various locations that doesn't require reservations, or that can be reserved on the ship. These things can change, so hard to predict in advance. There will be lots and lots to do each and every evening.

Depending on how big your group is - reservations for everyone to eat together may leave you with little options. You can't book online for more than 8 (I think, might be 6) so you have to call and the large groups I've been with then get right at the beginning (530) or at the end (930). And walking up with more than 8 is almost always a wait and you still might have to be seated a distance from one another in order to not wait a long time.

 

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

What's this about the Vibe? Do we really need to worry about getting access? (No kids and like to relax so this sounds up our alley).

 

Unless you're in Haven, you stand little to no chance of getting Vibe passes. Priority boarding goes to Platinum and higher, and even if you're in the first group to board after them, chances are good that they will already be gone. People in the first group will actually run on board to get to Headliners quickly.

 

Reservations for shows? Again, in advance (when?) or day of?

The two big shows, you can get reservations online prior to the cruise. If they're "sold out" online, use a touchscreen on the ship, the iConcierge App or your stateroom TV to make reservations as soon as you board. For two out of the three cruises we've been on where the iConcierge App was available, it didn't work, because it didn't recognize my name/birthday combination -- it had someone else registered in my cabin, an error that was "cleared up" by the second day of the cruise.

 

Anything else that needs reservations (some cruises, you could reserve some of the comedy shows, other cruises, no) you can take care of once you're onboard.

I just returned from my first NCL cruise two weeks ago - I've only been on two DCL. NCL was nice and we had fun but the experience is different.

 

Definitely reserve any specialty dining as soon as it's available on the web site. Also, reserve any shows you think you might want to see. Everything filled up by the time I realized I could book other stuff on board. Some shows must be booked on board so do that ASAP.

 

We only had one meal in the main dining room and had to wait about 30 minutes for a table. We were a party of two. Reserve if you can.

 

The deck parties were a lot of fun. We stressed about what to wear but it ultimately didn't matter! I wish we would have skipped dresses and just packed shorts because the back of the ship was very windy.

 

My biggest takeaway from NCL is that the customer service attitude is just not the same as DCL. The spa messed up and gave our room key to someone else and then left us to deal with getting the charges reversed. It took three days and several trips to guest services! Another time, the ladies room was out of TP. We reported it to a male worker in the hall and he shrugged and said "well I can't go in there". I experienced lots of friendly service but the "extra mile" attitude was not there for me.

The differences that we like better with NCL are the dining, entertainment, and more casual vibe.

Dining-Eat whenever and wherever you want. NCL also has lots more choices then DCL when it comes to dining. There are at least 5 free options for the evening meal.

Entertainment-DCL only has 1 show that they perform twice each night. NCL has lots of options. Karaoke, comedy, musicals, theme parties, magicians, piano bars. Every night!!!

Casual vibe-We love not having to dress up for dinner. Nice shirts and shorts are excepted in almost every restaurant. Just don't wear a baseball hat to dinner, cause they will make you remove it.

We've done 38 DCL cruises and 23 on NCL so I can probably answer any questions you have. We don't normally cruise as a group but as others have said, if you want to all eat together try to make a res even at the MDR. Even if you eat really early the buffet has snacks pretty late and there is a 24hr comfort food type restaurant if you are hungry later. The biggest difference is you have the same dining team all cruise on DCL where on NCL it's different every night. Some you get to know and some you don't. Dinner doesn't take as long either. That's my husbands biggest peeve with DCL - the 2 hour dinners. You should try and make res for the specialties and main shows but if you can't make them ahead do it as soon as you get onboard. If that doesn't work the standby line for shows has always worked for us and I know people have had success getting into specialties by calling the day of. I'll know more about the Bliss in a few weeks - doing the inaugural.

I’ve not been on DCL. But compared to all the other cruise lines, NCL is different. Don’t think of it as a cruise with an assigned dining time, assigned wait staff, default show time, and the normal dress code issues.

 

Instead, think of NCL as a small city that travels. There are several dining options and you are free to go to any, wherever you want. If there’s a line you may have to wait for a bit, or you can just go somewhere else. On the newer ships they don’t have 1 theater w two shows a night that rotate daily. There are a handful of shows that play at various times and nights.

 

As far as the large group. Generally you don’t need reservations at the MDR, but if you want a large group to eat at the same time, it would be good to make a reservation. You will wait reservations for specialty restaurants. You should also make reservations for the shows. It’s free to make a reservation, it’s just for capacity control. But if you don’t have a reservation you have to wait in the standby line until they open to standbys at 10 minutes till the show time.

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

You don't need reservations for the MDRs really, but you can make them. Can't hurt I guess. Sort of defeats the purpose of the anytime dining, but I don't have a problem with it. Helps me plan out the schedule.

 

It's either 90 or 120 days out that you can make reservations. Rules have changed so I'm not sure what it is right now (I see people report both and then argue about it). Anyways, reserve specialty dining and shows as early as you can. Unlike Disney, the auditorium can't fit half the cruise ship. And even with a reservation, you should still get there 30-60 minutes early to get a good seat. One trick, if you try to book on the app, is to do it while waiting to board the ship. The WiFi signal should reach you and you can book before the people trying to physically do it on the ship.

 

Soda is not free.

Reservations can be made 100 days in advance for those booked in suites (not mini suites) and 90 days in advance for all others.

You don't need reservations for the MDRs really, but you can make them. Can't hurt I guess. Sort of defeats the purpose of the anytime dining, but I don't have a problem with it. Helps me plan out the schedule.

 

It's either 90 or 120 days out that you can make reservations. Rules have changed so I'm not sure what it is right now (I see people report both and then argue about it). Anyways, reserve specialty dining and shows as early as you can. Unlike Disney, the auditorium can't fit half the cruise ship. And even with a reservation, you should still get there 30-60 minutes early to get a good seat. One trick, if you try to book on the app, is to do it while waiting to board the ship. The WiFi signal should reach you and you can book before the people trying to physically do it on the ship.

 

Soda is not free.

 

Thank you! That's a good tip to try booking stuff while waiting to board.

 

 

It doesn't bother me to book dining, either. Just want to be able to give others in my group good advice.

 

 

For soda - is it free at the buffet venue? Could we fill up there "to go" like on DCL? We all have UBP so I think we'd be able to get sodas at bars anyway?

If you're a large group, Vibe might not be a viable option. They sell 70 passes total, and they sell out in minutes. You cannot pick them up for others (even my husband couldn't grab one for me, as I was a few yards away). So unless your group can all get there at once, you risk part of your group getting them and part being left out.

 

If your large group intends to dine together each evening, you might want reservations even for the MDR. If everyone is doing their own thing, they will not be necessary.

 

Another difference - there are no formal nights. Shorts are welcome in nearly all the restaurants, probably with the exception of the seafood restaurant (does this ship have Ocean Blue?) and Le Bistro specialty restaurants. Even those will allow nice jeans.

 

You'll find out about deck parties once you're on the ship, or else when someone returns from a cruise before yours and shares the information. As far as reservations for shows, there will be 2 or 3 big shows, and you will want to make reservations in advance for these. If not, you can stand in a standby line to get access when others no show. There will also be comedy and other smaller entertainment nightly in various locations that doesn't require reservations, or that can be reserved on the ship. These things can change, so hard to predict in advance. There will be lots and lots to do each and every evening.

 

Thank you. I wasn't considering Vibe for our large group on Bliss, more for my husband and I on Escape as our NCL "trial run". On Bliss, we'll have 24 people - all of whom know my husband and me but not necessarily each other, so we will not need to eat in a large group. Just want to be able to give people good advice, particularly those who have never cruised before and will have no idea what they are doing.

 

The relaxed dress code will be very welcome news!

Depending on how big your group is - reservations for everyone to eat together may leave you with little options. You can't book online for more than 8 (I think, might be 6) so you have to call and the large groups I've been with then get right at the beginning (530) or at the end (930). And walking up with more than 8 is almost always a wait and you still might have to be seated a distance from one another in order to not wait a long time.

 

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

 

Sorry I wasn't clear - we won't need to eat together - maybe in smaller groups like 6 or 8 as you mention - but I just want to be able to give general guidance of what they need to make reservations for and when. Sounds like specialty restaurants online when that is available and everything else on board.

 

For soda - is it free at the buffet venue? Could we fill up there "to go" like on DCL? We all have UBP so I think we'd be able to get sodas at bars anyway?

 

Soda isn't free anywhere. The buffet has coffee, hot water, milk, water, juices and sometimes iced tea, but no soda. You're correct about soda at the bars.

Unless you're in Haven, you stand little to no chance of getting Vibe passes. Priority boarding goes to Platinum and higher, and even if you're in the first group to board after them, chances are good that they will already be gone. People in the first group will actually run on board to get to Headliners quickly.

 

The two big shows, you can get reservations online prior to the cruise. If they're "sold out" online, use a touchscreen on the ship, the iConcierge App or your stateroom TV to make reservations as soon as you board. For two out of the three cruises we've been on where the iConcierge App was available, it didn't work, because it didn't recognize my name/birthday combination -- it had someone else registered in my cabin, an error that was "cleared up" by the second day of the cruise.

 

Anything else that needs reservations (some cruises, you could reserve some of the comedy shows, other cruises, no) you can take care of once you're onboard.

 

Thank you for responding. Will temper our expectations and hopes about Vibe. We are driving to the NY port from NH for the Escape cruise and will likely be there very early (just to be sure) so maybe there's an outside chance.

Soda isn't free anywhere. The buffet has coffee, hot water, milk, water, juices and sometimes iced tea, but no soda. You're correct about soda at the bars.

 

Oh, interesting. That's a definite change from what we are used to. I don't drink coffee and diet soda is my caffeine of choice. We'll make it work!

Soda isn't free anywhere. The buffet has coffee, hot water, milk, water, juices and sometimes iced tea, but no soda. You're correct about soda at the bars.

 

But they have the UBP, so soda is free everywhere (except room service?). At the buffet there is a drink area where you can ask for soda and they will scan your card (it's separate from the free drink area where there is water, tea, lemonade, etc). We've gotten a travel-type cup with our UBP before and had luck asking them to fill it at bars.

 

Your first non-DCL cruise, you will probably say at least once "this isn't how it's done on DCL". But if you go in with an open mind, you'll have a great time. I'd love to sail DCL again, but I can sail twice as often by not sailing with them :)

 

Best of luck!