with all the advanced booking what happened to Freestyle?

[trish1c]

We were on the Epic in January. By the time we boarded we could hardly get reservations for anything. It was all booked up.

 

As we approach final payment for this January's cruise on the Getaway people on our roll call are already talking about what they have booked in advance.

 

It kind of makes me sad but also makes me frustrated. How the bleep am I supposed to know now -- in October -- when I want to see what show & at what time on my vacation next year? That's hardly freestyle to me. It basically means we will be blocked out of most shows again or I have to have this rigid, regimented cruise that revolves around a clock & a calendar, which is a particular p.i.t.a. because there are few clocks anywhere on board. :mad:

 

Is it just me? I liked the "old" option of looking at the Freestyle Daily during the day & deciding no more than an hour in advance what we were doing that night & when.

Edited October 27, 2015 by trish1c

[Moby0215]

I don't know about the epic but when I was on the breakaway they always had room for walk ups.

 

 

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[trish1c]

I don't know about the epic but when I was on the breakaway they always had room for walk ups.

They didn't. When I figured out what was going on immediately after muster the day we boarded, I tried desperately to book something / anything. Half the reason we went on that cruise was because DH loves stand-up so we thought it would be great for him to go to the shows on board. We got to see one & one musical, not even the one I really wanted. Every performance for every venue was sold out. It was very frustrating.

Edited October 27, 2015 by trish1c

[Moby0215]

They didn't. When I figured out what was going on immediately after muster the day we boarded, I tried desperately to book something / anything. Half the reason we went on that cruise was because DH loves stand-up so we thought it would be great for him to go to the shows on board. We got to see one & one musical, not even the one I really wanted. Every performance for every venue was sold out. It was very frustrating.

 

 

I'm not talking about making reservations on board I am talking about walking up to the show just a little before it starts. Because even if it is fully booked there are no shows.

 

 

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[NMLady]

We were on the Epic in January. By the time we boarded we could hardly get reservations for anything. It was all booked up. ...

 

Is it just me? I liked the "old" option of looking at the Freestyle Daily during the day & deciding no more than an hour in advance what we were doing that night & when.

 

That is one of the reasons I prefer the smaller ships -- no need to reserve anything except specialty restaurants ahead of time. And for our Le Bistro meals we don't book until the morning of, after we've had a chance to read the newsletter for the day to see what is going on that evening.

Edited October 27, 2015 by NMLady

[roger001]

We were on the Epic in January. By the time we boarded we could hardly get reservations for anything. It was all booked up.

 

As we approach final payment for this January's cruise on the Getaway people on our roll call are already talking about what they have booked in advance.

 

It kind of makes me sad but also makes me frustrated. How the bleep am I supposed to know now -- in October -- when I want to see what show & at what time on my vacation next year? That's hardly freestyle to me. It basically means we will be blocked out of most shows again or I have to have this rigid, regimented cruise that revolves around a clock & a calendar, which is a particular p.i.t.a. because there are few clocks anywhere on board. :mad:

 

Is it just me? I liked the "old" option of looking at the Freestyle Daily during the day & deciding no more than an hour in advance what we were doing that night & when.

 

I agree with you. We found that to be true on the Getaway last time. Waited until boarding to then decide when to use platinum specialty tickets. Found that unless we wanted to eat at 10 pm, just about everything was filled already. Our last cruise, Pearl, several of the specialty restaurants were completely blocked several nights (including Le Bistro our anniversary night), reserved for a large group from some business. Your last sentence is what it is all about for me.

[RuthlessBoss]

OP, you are so right.

 

I don't understand why people are making and NCL accepting reservations for the "Freestyle" main dining rooms.

[MagnoliaBlossom]

The Freestyle concept began its demise with the Epic. In truth, how else can you manage that many people? It is a sad thing that NCLs new ships are the antithesis of what brought so many cruisers to them.

 

I refuse to cruise the big ships for the time being. We are platinum and even onthe Star it was impossible to get our choice of dining on our recent 12 day cruise. Considering that we dine very early and tried to book immediately after boarding, that's pretty sad.

 

I k out hat time marches on and things change but this is an interesting turn.

[Sotermarler]

Yes! I hate pre-planning, some people love it but for me it's stressful. I just want to eat when I'm hungry and lounge when I want to.

I was new to cruising last year and didn't know to book anything. (I actually didn't even pick up the dailies until the 3rd day) We had luck walking up to the comedy club just before the show started and got in. We pretty much did that for everything. For this year I did book one show in advance because I don't want to take any chances but that's it. I don't want to stress so I'm going to take my chances again on the Escape.

[TNCruzer56]

We were on the Epic in January. By the time we boarded we could hardly get reservations for anything. It was all booked up.

 

As we approach final payment for this January's cruise on the Getaway people on our roll call are already talking about what they have booked in advance.

 

It kind of makes me sad but also makes me frustrated. How the bleep am I supposed to know now -- in October -- when I want to see what show & at what time on my vacation next year? That's hardly freestyle to me. It basically means we will be blocked out of most shows again or I have to have this rigid, regimented cruise that revolves around a clock & a calendar, which is a particular p.i.t.a. because there are few clocks anywhere on board. :mad:

 

Is it just me? I liked the "old" option of looking at the Freestyle Daily during the day & deciding no more than an hour in advance what we were doing that night & when.

 

Holly S___! Otter! New to NCL, but a veteran cruzer. Just what all do I need to book in advance for the Star in March. :mad:

[NLH Arizona]

I'm a huge planner and love that we can make dinner reservations 90 to 100 days prior to the cruise. I know what time the ship leaves a port, so it is very easy for me to make dinner reservations and it assures me that I can eat at the time I want to eat and to eat in the specialty restaurant I want to eat in. I would hate to wait until I was onboard and have someone tell me I had to eat at 5:30 or 9:00.

[rvsullivan]

Hard to imagine the issue? Only a quarter to a third of bookings are allowed for pre booking. The rest are "saved" to be booked on board. We have never missed a dinner reservation or show due to overbooking. A time or two, we might have wanted 6:30 and had to take 7 instead, but that's it. And yes, this has certainly been since the implementation of UDP. I'm guessing there might be some heavily booked trips that could be a little difficult to get into?

[TNCruzer56]

Do you have to reserve a time in the MDR?

-

Do you have to book evening shows?

[trish1c]

I'm not talking about making reservations on board I am talking about walking up to the show just a little before it starts. Because even if it is fully booked there are no shows.

 

Tried that too with no luck. DH did manage to get in to see one late night "adults only" comedy show. They let him stand in the back. You couldn't have paid me to go to that but he was happy enough.

 

We have never had a problem dining because we prefer to eat late anyway & if we do 1 specialty restaurant on board, it's a lot.

 

But I really don't get the allure of all this planning & ugh! scheduling on vacation. If I make all these advanced reservations I practically have to carry my smart phone around with me on the ship just to know what time & where I'm supposed to be. Vacation to me involves putting my electronic leash in a safe & looking at it plus email once per day.

Edited October 27, 2015 by trish1c

[kirsty_r]

generally though you can only book the main shows on EPIC in advance, last year it was true you could book 1 of each of the smaller acts in advance, but looks like all that is open this time for my January cruise is cirque and the theatre shows. I understand some seats are left behid so they aren't all booked in advance, and yes going to the shows 5-10 mins before to take the no shows seats are an option too. I've never not been able to get a seat at at least one showing of each of the different acts I wanted to see.

 

You can now book seats for MDR onboard on the day but not in advance, but again you can just walk up and maybe have a short wait for a table.

 

Some things still don't take reservations - like howl at the moon.

[dolita22]

I am a planner by nature, but found with cruising -- especially on the larger ships, which is what we've been on the last few sailings -- I'm better off not planning. Well, I take that back. We're sailing the Escape in two weeks, then again in January, and I've reserved one show for each sailing, but that's all.

 

As many people do, we cruise to relax and enjoy the ocean. We're more than happy to sit and relax on our balcony with a bottle of sparkling wine. If we decide on the ship that we'd like to see something we haven't reserved in advance, we've asked if there are openings last minute. Most times we've gotten in on standby, but I think there was one time on the Epic where we did not. (We don't dine in specialty restaurants; enjoy the MDR too much!) Some friends sailed with us on the Epic in January, and they reserved Blue Man Group before we sailed, but completely forgot about their reservation the day of. They were able to reschedule for later in the week without difficulties, so NCL does leave some spots open for reservations on board.

 

The reserving of shows happens on RCCL, too. We didn't realize the need to reserve anything in advance when we sailed on the Indy for our honeymoon last year, and they actually gave out tickets to the ice show we wanted to see. We waited on standby and got in, but yeah, learned that reserving isn't just on NCL.

[Sauer-kraut]

Holly S___! Otter! New to NCL, but a veteran cruzer. Just what all do I need to book in advance for the Star in March. :mad:

 

Do you have to reserve a time in the MDR?

-

Do you have to book evening shows?

 

The STAR is a smaller ship, so no, you don't pre-book the shows, there is enough room in the Theater to hold guests.

 

As to the MDR no you don't have to make a reservation, it will be crowded at the popular times and you might have to wait 10 minutes or so to be seated. Pre-booking the specialty restaurants would be a priority however.

[drvalo]

We were on the Epic in January. By the time we boarded we could hardly get reservations for anything. It was all booked up.

 

As we approach final payment for this January's cruise on the Getaway people on our roll call are already talking about what they have booked in advance.

 

It kind of makes me sad but also makes me frustrated. How the bleep am I supposed to know now -- in October -- when I want to see what show & at what time on my vacation next year? That's hardly freestyle to me. It basically means we will be blocked out of most shows again or I have to have this rigid, regimented cruise that revolves around a clock & a calendar, which is a particular p.i.t.a. because there are few clocks anywhere on board. :mad:

 

Is it just me? I liked the "old" option of looking at the Freestyle Daily during the day & deciding no more than an hour in advance what we were doing that night & when.

 

I completely agree. I felt last December like I might as well have been home in Chicago (even the entertainment was similar with BMG, Howl, 2nd City) and I don't cruise for that kind of experience. Having to plan everything and make reservations really ruined the rhythm and flow of the cruise and, honestly, turned me off the mega ships. However, I did find that even if I could not get dinner reservations when I wanted that did not mean there was not a table available at the time I wanted to eat. They do leave some tables free for freestyle. Of course, we like to eat earlier than some but that is because we really enjoy the shows and nightly activities and late dinner can conflict with those. Although, on the Epic, some evenings there was no show to see as we had seen or had reservations to see everything available. We truly missed that cruise rhythm.

[mpcaruth]

I agree with the OP, it does not feel like Freestyle AT ALL. We sail in January on the Getaway, and I felt like I had to go ahead and make reservations for almost every night. So, here I am looking at port times and how intensive or not our port day will be to decide which day to see the shows. And to add frustration, I will have to wait until we board to make reservations for the Illusionaire so that I can use our OBC. So... if I cannot get the night I want for the Illusionaire, the rest of the week's reservations will have to be changed.

 

I understand I can wait in line for no shows... but I don't want to risk not getting into a show. So, I feel forced to plan my cruise activities as heavily as I plan my port activities.

 

If all works out, I will be a happy camper. But I have a feeling I, like many others, will over reserve and end up canceling a reservation. BTW can you cancel a reservation on the day of, or do you just do a "no show"? A policy that encourages no-shows is a problem policy.

[electro]

I completely agree. I felt last December like I might as well have been home in Chicago (even the entertainment was similar with BMG, Howl, 2nd City) and I don't cruise for that kind of experience. Having to plan everything and make reservations really ruined the rhythm and flow of the cruise and, honestly, turned me off the mega ships. However, I did find that even if I could not get dinner reservations when I wanted that did not mean there was not a table available at the time I wanted to eat. They do leave some tables free for freestyle. Of course, we like to eat earlier than some but that is because we really enjoy the shows and nightly activities and late dinner can conflict with those. Although, on the Epic, some evenings there was no show to see as we had seen or had reservations to see everything available. We truly missed that cruise rhythm.

 

I agree with most of this except the part about leaving some tables for freestyle.

 

When I cruised the Epic in May we could not get reservations for the first 3 days of the cruise. Tried walking up to 3 different restaurants when the boards show availability and could not get a table.

We were told by the F and B manager that over a thousand people had the UBP on that sailing.

We are booked on the Breakaway in Jan/Feb with extended family but after that I think I will stick with the Jewel class ships.

Lois

[punkincc]

Holly S___! Otter! New to NCL, but a veteran cruzer. Just what all do I need to book in advance for the Star in March. :mad:

 

Only the ships including the Epic and those who came after have shows that offer reservations. You'll be fine on the Star just showing up at the theatre before show time. You have the option to make reservations for Specialty restaurants.

 

For everyone who is stressing out over "No reservations" available, the key word is "reservation". The allotted "reservation" slots at a particular restaurant may be booked for the time slot you request or even for the entire evening. That does not mean there are no seats available for walk up customers. Sometimes the reservation person will even say, "There is no 7:30 reservation available, but you can come at 7:30 and be seated". Of course there is no guarantee, but if you truly want Freestyle, then use the electronic availability boards and just be flexible about when and where and wing it. We have always gotten in with no reservation and no more than a short wait.

 

But, if a particular date and time is very important, anniversary or pre show dinner, etc, then just make reservations well in advance or plan a complimentary restaurant before or after. I would book the dinner show for sure, and any other theatre show offered for reservation. It is much better than having to show up at every show to stand in the standby line. A couple booked shows and dinners are not going to put that big a crimp in your Freestyle vacation. Much more relaxing than stressing out all week on the cruise over getting into shows and restaurants.

[SuiteCruiser]

Hard to imagine the issue? Only a quarter to a third of bookings are allowed for pre booking. The rest are "saved" to be booked on board. We have never missed a dinner reservation or show due to overbooking. A time or two, we might have wanted 6:30 and had to take 7 instead, but that's it. And yes, this has certainly been since the implementation of UDP. I'm guessing there might be some heavily booked trips that could be a little difficult to get into?

 

I tried to make a reservation for dinner the first night, right after boarding with the first group of Haven passenger, and the Cincierge could only get 5:30 or 9:00 for us. We then tried to book the entire week, once we realized the problem and it was the same throughout.

 

I think they've changed this 30% plan, at least on the larger ships.

[mypleasure]

What drew us to NCL in the first place was the Freestyle concept. We had never cruised before because we did not like the idea of fixed dining times, dress codes and tablemates. NCL offered us exactly what we wanted and we have stayed loyal because of this.

 

We are not a couple who plan our dining. We like to be spontaneous and decide what we fancy on the night and go when we are hungry. It is starting to turn me off cruising a little and definitely has put me off ever going on a megaship not that I had much interest in them anyway. I have 3 cruises with NCL booked and we will see what we experience is like for those.

[SeaShark]

We were on the Epic in January. By the time we boarded we could hardly get reservations for anything. It was all booked up.

 

As we approach final payment for this January's cruise on the Getaway people on our roll call are already talking about what they have booked in advance.

 

It kind of makes me sad but also makes me frustrated. How the bleep am I supposed to know now -- in October -- when I want to see what show & at what time on my vacation next year? That's hardly freestyle to me. It basically means we will be blocked out of most shows again or I have to have this rigid, regimented cruise that revolves around a clock & a calendar, which is a particular p.i.t.a. because there are few clocks anywhere on board. :mad:

 

Is it just me? I liked the "old" option of looking at the Freestyle Daily during the day & deciding no more than an hour in advance what we were doing that night & when.

 

 

The Freestyle Concept (If you can call it that. Let's face it, NCL didn't invent a concept here, they just copied what people do every single day and put it on a ship) simply means that YOU the guest make the decisions about when/where to eat, who to eat with, what shows to see, and how to dress instead of the cruise line making those decisions for you.

 

Allowing reservations is really a part of Freestyle...now you have the additional OPTION of scheduling things in advance...again only if YOU the guest choose to do so.

 

 

Try not to confuse the Freestyle Concept with the Spontaneity Concept.

[Zippeedee]

The Freestyle Concept (If you can call it that. Let's face it, NCL didn't invent a concept here, they just copied what people do every single day and put it on a ship) simply means that YOU the guest make the decisions about when/where to eat, who to eat with, what shows to see, and how to dress instead of the cruise line making those decisions for you.

 

Allowing reservations is really a part of Freestyle...now you have the additional OPTION of scheduling things in advance...again only if YOU the guest choose to do so.

 

 

Try not to confuse the Freestyle Concept with the Spontaneity Concept.

 

Yes, this! I thought "freestyle" was exactly as you described here. I can plan or not, but no one is telling me what to wear to dinner at 6pm every night.