Question for those who went NCL to Royal

[Beer Belly]

What was the biggest adjustment you had to make ?. We bought the Drink Pkg (ouch !.....but it evens out the cost, prefer no worries). We are concerned about the "My time dining", we prefer the "Freestyle", only reservations for Specialty dining, nothing formal, more casual.

[billslowsky]

1 hour ago, Beer Belly said:

What was the biggest adjustment you had to make ?. We bought the Drink Pkg (ouch !.....but it evens out the cost, prefer no worries). We are concerned about the "My time dining", we prefer the "Freestyle", only reservations for Specialty dining, nothing formal, more casual.

It's more similar than it is different.  We prefer to lock in our dining times the first night on my Time dining,  Wear pretty much whatever you want regardless of the "suggested theme" for the night.

[Beer Belly]

Thank you. If we pick, let's say 6:30, but do not make it on time, no harm no foul, we come later and wait in line ?. Can we have a table for two, or are basically forced to dine with others ?

[EllieinNJ]

1 hour ago, Beer Belly said:

Thank you. If we pick, let's say 6:30, but do not make it on time, no harm no foul, we come later and wait in line ?. Can we have a table for two, or are basically forced to dine with others ?

We mostly sailed with NCL but sailed RCI when cruising opened back up after COVID because of the lower prices.  We really loved it.  We had made reservations in the MDR for 7:45 every night because that was the only time available on line but sometimes showed up at 7:30 and was seated right away.  We had a table for two and was seated at the same table every night.  We did one specialty and told the waiter the night before so they could release the table for that night.  Sometimes we were a little late but they never gave away our table.  But one night the people before us at the table decided to linger into our time so we accepted another table for that night.

[Grumpella]

I have done 7 ncl cruises and 2 rccl cruises.

 

In my opinion, besides like you mentioned the alcohol, I feel that the internet, dining packages and excursions are more expensive on rccl.  

 

I also prefer the freestyle dining.  I had a 5:30 seating on the Anthem of the Seas last month and I missed it twice because of late excursions. I was told that I would have to eat at the buffet on those nights.

 

That being said, I know someone else on our cruise who either talked to someone different or was very pushy and got to eat in the MDR after missing their seating.  It was not that big of a deal to me so I didn't say anything.

[nelblu]

1 hour ago, Grumpella said:

I also prefer the freestyle dining.  I had a 5:30 seating on the Anthem of the Seas last month and I missed it twice because of late excursions. I was told that I would have to eat at the buffet on those nights.

Not sure that is right.  You should have spoken to a supervisor as there are always empty tables on any night.  When we sailed on Anthem, we booked the Kennedy Space Center, and we knew that we would miss the traditional 5:30 dining time.  We advised our Headwaiter the night before and he made arrangements for us to dine in the MDR once we arrived from the tour.  Both waiters and headwaiter for that dining section were professional and understanding.

[Grumpella]

The ship was completely booked, so I’m sure that had something to do with it.

 

Like I said, not that important to me. I was tired and wanted a quick dinner anyways.

[ngrund]

23 hours ago, Beer Belly said:

What was the biggest adjustment you had to make ?. We bought the Drink Pkg (ouch !.....but it evens out the cost, prefer no worries). We are concerned about the "My time dining", we prefer the "Freestyle", only reservations for Specialty dining, nothing formal, more casual.

Keep in mind that unlike with NCL with RCL bottled water and specialty coffees are included in the drink package. Also if I recall correctly, the drink price limit was less restrictive on RCL when we wanted a higher-end liquor. I hav only gone on one RCL (Oasis), but they had a much broader selection of beers. Most were bottles/cans,but it was nice to have a wider choice

[mjkacmom]

40 minutes ago, ngrund said:

Keep in mind that unlike with NCL with RCL bottled water and specialty coffees are included in the drink package. Also if I recall correctly, the drink price limit was less restrictive on RCL when we wanted a higher-end liquor. I hav only gone on one RCL (Oasis), but they had a much broader selection of beers. Most were bottles/cans,but it was nice to have a wider choice

I thought RCL was $14 and NCL $15?

[ngrund]

13 minutes ago, mjkacmom said:

I thought RCL was $14 and NCL $15?

Yes, what I should have said is that RCLs listed menu prices were more reasonable so more was under the limit.

 

[bstreep]

We did a NCL trip from Vancouver to Seward (Anchorage) that ended 3 days ago.  We get on RCCL on Friday to make the same trip back.  
 

We anticipated that RCCL would win this one handily.  But NCL has come out with a very strong round. We booked these cruises and they were within $50 of each other. The “ free at sea” is a big play.  The alcohol is tips only on NCL. Best deal right now on RCCL is $63pppd.  That’s not gonna happen.  Shows on NCL were good, food was really much better than previous cruises.  The “miss” on NCL is that we didn’t see Hubbard Glacier, and the other cruise ships did. NCL chickened out. And that’s a HUGE miss.  But still, the bar was set pretty high. 
 

On NCL, just pay the buck or 2 upcharge. Tip in cash, it might quit happening. 
 

We’ve been told that if you are going to miss your dinner time, just let them know and walk up.  

[mike123abc]

It is hard to compare RCL with NCL pricing on drink packages and wifi.  A la carte RCL is less expensive on both, but NCL has the bundled "Free at Sea".  The drink package is not really free on NCL since you have to pay the gratuities for the "free" package based on the a la carte price.  NCL gives minutes of wifi not an unlimited package unless you pay an upcharge to convert it.  The conversion price is less than the RCL price, so some savings, but not as much as it seems if you want unlimited.

 

You have to compare the fares for the itineraries for RCL you have to add in the cost of the drink package and wifi, plus whatever allowances for shore excursions and specialty dining.  With NCL you have to add in the drink package gratuities and the cost of converting the WiFi minutes to an unlimited cruise package.

 

I find some cruises are less with RCL and some with NCL.  If you are not a drinker, RCL probably wins most price comparisons.  Especially once you hit 80 nights and start getting 4 free drinks a day, many will not need a drink package then, just buying a la carte any extras.

[Cruise a holic]

We have sailed on both but many more Royal cruises.  We found on NCL if you aren't sailing in the Haven, not a good cruise.  The ships IMO are poorly designed.  Crowds everywhere and the pool is so small for non Haven guests.  People were lying on towels on the pool deck as not enough chairs or room.   Food not great- even in Have.  Regular cabins seemed very small.  

 

Perhaps the newer ships are better designed, but I think I will continue to sail on Celebrity and Royal.

Edited August 13, 2023 by Cruise a holic

[broadwaybaby123]

So to explain the dining situation a little bit better, you basically have 2 options: Traditional (or "Fixed") Dining, which basically means that you'll be at the same table every night in the same dining room, no reservations needed.  You can, however, tell your wait staff the night before if you plan on using other venues the following night.  There's usually an early or late seating.

 

The second option is "My Time Dining", which basically means that you make reservations that night or just show up to the venue (similar to Freestyle Dining).  The downside of this is you're not guarantied a spot at the venue since they seat those of us that prefer Traditional Dining first.

 

As far as the attire, it's strongly suggested that you follow it so you don't feel out of place, however, if you decide not to follow it (say you wanted to dress casual on a formal night), then you wouldn't necessarily be reprimanded.  The only exception might be if whatever you're wearing is a health or safety issue for the other passengers and staff.

[ngrund]

With My Time Dining you can make reservations before the cruise through their app, I have my reservations already set for next June. This may depend on the ship, but the ones I've been on have a sepaarte dining room or floor for My Time Dining.

[Liljo22]

On 8/13/2023 at 7:48 AM, broadwaybaby123 said:

So to explain the dining situation a little bit better, you basically have 2 options: Traditional (or "Fixed") Dining, which basically means that you'll be at the same table every night in the same dining room, no reservations needed.  You can, however, tell your wait staff the night before if you plan on using other venues the following night.  There's usually an early or late seating.

 

The second option is "My Time Dining", which basically means that you make reservations that night or just show up to the venue (similar to Freestyle Dining).  The downside of this is you're not guarantied a spot at the venue since they seat those of us that prefer Traditional Dining first.

 

As far as the attire, it's strongly suggested that you follow it so you don't feel out of place, however, if you decide not to follow it (say you wanted to dress casual on a formal night), then you wouldn't necessarily be reprimanded.  The only exception might be if whatever you're wearing is a health or safety issue for the other passengers and staff.

Yes they are similar but NCL does the Freestyle dining better than MTD.  The big difference between My Time Dining and Freestyle dining is that all MDRs on NCL are Freestyle while the MTD is only a portion of the dining room after the early Traditional time.  NCL never needs a reservation for their MDRs. If one is full at the time, there are others to seat you. 

 

On my last Oasis cruise, MTD didn't start until 6:45 so if you had reservations for a show and needed to eat early, you pretty much were left with the buffet or paying.  We had the early showing of Aqua 80 and ended up paying for Playmakers because there was no way we would make it even if we showed up just as they started seating MTD.  

 

MTD is not necessarily bad.  Its just NCL does it better.  

[BirdTravels]

The cruise lines are similar. Royal, in general, is playing catch-up with NCL on evolving the cruise experience for the contemporary cruiser.
 

NCL Freestyle dining 100% better. Food similar. 
 

NCL specialty dining superior. 
 

Royal entertainment much better on the bigger ships. 
 

NCL a thermal suites 1000% better. 
 

Royal offer sales on most packages and shore ex. From the minute you book to the moment you depart, you’ll get the Sale Sale Sale emails every day or two. So much that you may miss important denials because you just treat them as spam. 
 

Royal allows you to bring your own  water and soda onboard. 
 

NCL Haven far superior to most RCCL suite services. 
 

Royal solarium areas far superior. 

[TripsYouMustDo]

I've done 6 cruises on NCL and switched to RCCL last year. I prefer RCCL. (I switched due to horrible customer service issue on the last NCL cruise they failed to resolve, won't go into details here). I find RCCL customer service superior so far. I've done 6 RCCL cruises now as well. 

 

Honestly I never have issue with My Time Dining in MDR. Just got off of Quantum which was pretty full yet we had minor wait to get seated only the first night, none after that, once bothered to make reservations once.

 

Entertainment and activities (especially sports) are much better on RCCL. NCL is way behind, even with second-rate musicals they bring onboard. NCL is much more stuck-up about not letting people take pictures of videos in the shows, and also about dress code in MDR. I was turned away from MDR once because I forgot and wore shorts on NCL. On RCCL that's unheard of. Not that it's that big of a deal. 

 

As other folks mentioned, RCCL lets you bring on 2 bottles of wine and a 12-pack of soda. That's enough for my wife and I for the cruise. They also allow drones (NCL doesn't).

 

In general NCL seems more stuck-up and restrictive to me. 

 

I can't comment on the drink package costs. We don't drink much, and sometimes end up giving away the bottles of wine we brought with us because we never end up drinking them. I know we were going to do "free at see" once on NCL but the cost of the tips would've been much more than what we would've spent on drinks for the entire cruise if we didn't get the "free" alcohol.

 

Honestly for me the "adjustment" was mostly very positive in favor of RCCL. I'm never going back to NCL. NCL does seem cheaper sometimes, especially their last minute deals.

[mjkacmom]

5 minutes ago, TripsYouMustDo said:

I've done 6 cruises on NCL and switched to RCCL last year. I prefer RCCL. (I switched due to horrible customer service issue on the last NCL cruise they failed to resolve, won't go into details here). I find RCCL customer service superior so far. I've done 6 RCCL cruises now as well. 

 

Honestly I never have issue with My Time Dining in MDR. Just got off of Quantum which was pretty full yet we had minor wait to get seated only the first night, none after that, once bothered to make reservations once.

 

Entertainment and activities (especially sports) are much better on RCCL. NCL is way behind, even with second-rate musicals they bring onboard. NCL is much more stuck-up about not letting people take pictures of videos in the shows, and also about dress code in MDR. I was turned away from MDR once because I forgot and wore shorts on NCL. On RCCL that's unheard of. Not that it's that big of a deal. 

 

As other folks mentioned, RCCL lets you bring on 2 bottles of wine and a 12-pack of soda. That's enough for my wife and I for the cruise. They also allow drones (NCL doesn't).

 

In general NCL seems more stuck-up and restrictive to me. 

 

I can't comment on the drink package costs. We don't drink much, and sometimes end up giving away the bottles of wine we brought with us because we never end up drinking them. I know we were going to do "free at see" once on NCL but the cost of the tips would've been much more than what we would've spent on drinks for the entire cruise if we didn't get the "free" alcohol.

 

Honestly for me the "adjustment" was mostly very positive in favor of RCCL. I'm never going back to NCL. NCL does seem cheaper sometimes, especially their last minute deals.

Wow you really don’t drink much at all if $21 (so less than 2 drinks) would be more than you would spend on drinks, sodas, mock tails (plus being able to bring on unlimited bottles of wine for free). Some NCL ships have 1 MDR that doesn’t allow shorts for adults. I think of NCL as being very casual.

[TripsYouMustDo]

4 minutes ago, mjkacmom said:

Wow you really don’t drink much at all if $21 (so less than 2 drinks) would be more than you would spend on drinks, sodas, mock tails (plus being able to bring on unlimited bottles of wine for free). Some NCL ships have 1 MDR that doesn’t allow shorts for adults. I think of NCL as being very casual.

That's correct, I don't drink two drinks a day every day, and certainly don't need unlimited bottles of wine. As I said, we don't always drink the two bottles we are allowed to bring onto RCCL. If I need to drink to have fun, I booked the wrong cruise. I do drink, I just don't need to drink on a cruise. If anything, I'll have a couple of local beers in funky/famous/interesting bars in ports of call. 

 

I believe most NCL ships have multiple restaurants requiring formal attire, e.g. pants for gents (e.g. the french restaurant,  "Le Bistro", the steakhouse (whatever it's called), etc.). 

 

NLC is "kind of" casual, but having cruised on all four budget/mainstream cruise lines, i.e. Carnival, MSC, RCCL and NCL I find that NCL is the most stuck up and snobby out of all four.