I miss NCL

[Distinctive-Destinations]

5 hours ago, richg35 said:

And people can gripe about itineraries but for places like the Caribbean most people really don't care where they are going, they just want to get to a beach.

I live in Florida currently and have lived at or near beaches my entire life. Cruises that DO NOT have a beach are what I prefer. Completely disagree with your post here.

[ChiefMateJRK]

5 hours ago, richg35 said:

most people really don't care where they are going, they just want to get to a beach.

Most people?  Really?

[JSar]

8 hours ago, richg35 said:

I can only laugh about people who love NCL's "freestyle dining". AKA, make sure you make your specialty restaurant reservations well in advance if you actually want to dine at them at a time you want to. Or wait forever to be seated at a main dining room where you'll wait 30 minutes to order and receive completely mediocre food. I've found that "freestyle" cruising on NCL actually requires a lot of advance planning.

 

Aside from not having a casino, DCL outdoes NCL in every imaginable way - from ship design to the wonderfully creative dining rooms, etc. Disney cruises are a crafted experience from start to finish. NCL is not. And people can gripe about itineraries but for places like the Caribbean most people really don't care where they are going, they just want to get to a beach.

Well... so far.... I have always been able to eat where I want and when I want. Never waited 30 minutes to order OR to be seated. And not everyone finds the MDR to serve "completely mediocre" food. If I don't like what one dining room is serving, I go elsewhere - even the buffet. I haven't had to do a lot of advanced planning. Even when I do... I have done plenty of last-minute mealtime/location adjustments. But for me... flexibility and NOT SITTING WITH THE SAME STRANGERS all the time for meals is extremely important. There may be other cruise lines out there that do better, but my experiences on NCL have actually exceeded my expectations as I never thought I would enjoy cruising as much as I do. 

 

And I don't know about everyone else.... but I always REALLY care about WHERE I am going. I don't just go to hang out on a beach. I mean sure... that is great too... but I am there for the cultural experience and seeing more than just a beach. 

[wncretired]

13 hours ago, hoops71 said:

On 15 NCL cruises I have never waited longer than 5-10 minutes at the MDR.  Normally seated right away.

 

Same here. Just completed NCL Epic last week. Ten day Mediterranean cruise. Never waited more than 5-10 either. Specialty restaurants were very easy to book. We did 5 and got 4 nights exactly when we wanted them. The fifth was about an hour later than we liked. 

[DominicAUS]

7 hours ago, wncretired said:

Same here. Just completed NCL Epic last week. Ten day Mediterranean cruise. Never waited more than 5-10 either. Specialty restaurants were very easy to book. We did 5 and got 4 nights exactly when we wanted them. The fifth was about an hour later than we liked. 

Same here. Never waited for MDR table, mostly just for 2 or 4. 
 

I pick longer cruises, so fewer families etc. stopped making reservations for specialty restaurants and never waited for a table, walked in and got a table. My type of freestyle 

[PhillyTravelBug]

Back at Southampton and I see my good friend, NCL prima! My friends are on this after they saw our trip from last year. Disney was good, but not quite good enough to want to do another week long trip. I would be open to a long weekend from Florida if I had to. 
not sure why reviews say Disney food is exceptional, it is right on par with NCL.  Service and entertainment was outstanding throughout; this is something NCL has been willingly sacrificing. Overall ship, I will take NCL. A good and relaxing time though cheating on my go to cruise line.

[graphicguy]

I have sailed 5 lines.  They all have their strengths and weaknesses.  They all have changed over time.  Some changes good, some I didn't like.  But, change is the only constant.

 

I keep coming back to NCL because I have the best time on their cruises.  Not that I had bad times on the others.  I just have a better time on NCL.  I find their fares to be as good (many times better) than what I find on other lines.

 

Food is good.  Sometimes I find something I don't like.  But, that's the nice thing about having so many venues, I can always find something I like somewhere else.

 

If a bar is crowded, there's another one 75 feet away in either direction where I can get a drink quickly.

 

NCL Service has always been good when I've sailed.

 

In brief, I can always find something to complain about on any cruise.  I take the opposite view.  Look at all the good things you can enjoy.  I find more to enjoy on NCL than the others.  That's why I keep coming back.

[carohs]

I like anytime dining in theory, but being on the ship it didn't feel as "freestyle" as I had expected. For one, you never know who your wait staff is going to be. Some are comfortable making special requests but I am just not. Nor am I willing to wait for that server to become available or plan my dining time for when they're on shift. To me, that would defeat the purpose.

 

The other thing I noticed is that I more often than not would plan dining around activities rather than when I felt hungry. Several times we felt we didn't have time for the MDR and went to the buffet instead. Other times we went to the MDR but would feel rushed to eat because service took longer than expected. We also had perfectly timed experiences. The point is that trying to plan dinner with evening activities didn't feel so "free" to me because I prefer to have a meal in the restaurant for dinner (especially with the kids and having the extra help with napkin, refills, didn't like their plate, etc). On DCL the evening activities are planned around the fixed dining times with the main activities repeated so those dining have a chance to attend at the 2nd showing or vice versa. When I didn't have to "plan" my dining time and I could simply show up, walk to what I know is my table, and there's already water and a bread basket for me, that felt a lot more relaxed to me than anytime dining. Of course, I know I'm on the NCL board and people's opinions here are generally different than this.  

[detroitlions]

On 9/11/2024 at 8:56 PM, julig22 said:

I've found some of the specials at O'Sheehans/local are so much better than the MDR. But they don't always advertise them well so sometimes I have to search the ship to find out what they are serving - sometimes it's not even posted at the restaurant LOL. Service tends to be faster, especially if you are ordering the special. I've learned to go there for breakfast - much easier than waiting in the buffet for an omelet and then trying to find a table.

The last few cruises I have been on they no longer had the specials in the Local or Osheehans they were all in the buffet 

[graphicguy]

@carohs…I never could understand why it’s  important to have the same dining time and/or the same MDR wait staff?  But, go for it.  NCL’s Freestyle may not be for you!  No issues!

 

But, HAL may be the better choice for you.  They offer 2 specific seatings that you can work around your activities.  Plus, you’ll be able to have the same wait staff every night.

 

 

[detroitlions]

I have to admit the reason NCL pulled me in was the anytime dining and the unlimited drinks. 

I never liked assigned dining and being forced to have strangers at your table and the same waiters every day. And the drink limits are lame how many of us left a drink some where or did not like a drink and dumped it.

Carnival and Princess I will not go back on because of the above. Disney I will not go on for numerous reasons and the issues listed. There Are a couple other lines I will go on like Royal but I prefer NCL at the moment. It seems the food quality issues are hitting all lines so hopefully that gets resolved. 

[carohs]

7 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

@carohs…I never could understand why it’s  important to have the same dining time and/or the same MDR wait staff?  But, go for it.  NCL’s Freestyle may not be for you!  No issues!

 

But, HAL may be the better choice for you.  They offer 2 specific seatings that you can work around your activities.  Plus, you’ll be able to have the same wait staff every night.

 

 

It's not, per se. We don't eat at the same time at home every day either. I was comparing to DCL who also has two specific seatings. If you had asked me prior to cruising what I thought would work best for us, it would have been anytime all the way. We enjoyed our time on NCL! But if I reflect back on our different experiences, between the two cruise lines, we found that we in fact did enjoy set dining, and late set dining at that (grumbling tummies notwithstanding, of which soft serve ice cream was found to be the best remedy), more than anytime. I can't quite explain why it worked better (for us) and other than experiencing it ourselves, I wouldn't really be able to understand it either.  

[detroitlions]

4 minutes ago, carohs said:

It's not, per se. We don't eat at the same time at home every day either. I was comparing to DCL who also has two specific seatings. If you had asked me prior to cruising what I thought would work best for us, it would have been anytime all the way. We enjoyed our time on NCL! But if I reflect back on our different experiences, between the two cruise lines, we found that we in fact did enjoy set dining, and late set dining at that (grumbling tummies notwithstanding, of which soft serve ice cream was found to be the best remedy), more than anytime. I can't quite explain why it worked better (for us) and other than experiencing it ourselves, I wouldn't really be able to understand it either.  

With anytime dining you can also go at the same time everyday

[Ladyshopper23]

1 hour ago, graphicguy said:

@carohs…I never could understand why it’s  important to have the same dining time and/or the same MDR wait staff?  But, go for it.  NCL’s Freestyle may not be for you!  No issues!

 

But, HAL may be the better choice for you.  They offer 2 specific seatings that you can work around your activities.  Plus, you’ll be able to have the same wait staff every night.

 

 

The same MDR wait staff are really useful if you have any kind of special dietary requirement. I'm gluten free, and it so nice when you have the same wait staff every night and don't have to explain yourself over and over again to all different staff.
 

On our recent NCL cruises, we ended up being sat in the same area. In fact on Getaway we were actually allocated a specific table in the end and told we could go any time and it would be kept for us for that exact reason. We like to eat early anyway, so they didn't really have to keep it away from anyone else wanting to eat.

[PhillyTravelBug]

I like for our Celebrity cruise for next year, we had the option of a set dining time or anytime dining.  They may be a good alternative for me in the future along with NCL.  I am starting to feel really guilty now with all of this cheating as of lately.

[gilboman]

On 9/15/2024 at 1:52 AM, PhillyTravelBug said:

Back at Southampton and I see my good friend, NCL prima! My friends are on this after they saw our trip from last year. Disney was good, but not quite good enough to want to do another week long trip. I would be open to a long weekend from Florida if I had to. 
not sure why reviews say Disney food is exceptional, it is right on par with NCL.  Service and entertainment was outstanding throughout; this is something NCL has been willingly sacrificing. Overall ship, I will take NCL. A good and relaxing time though cheating on my go to cruise line.

What a disaster of a ship... Good luck playing hunger games to eat on the prima especially breakfast and lunch 

[mjkacmom]

1 hour ago, Ladyshopper23 said:

The same MDR wait staff are really useful if you have any kind of special dietary requirement. I'm gluten free, and it so nice when you have the same wait staff every night and don't have to explain yourself over and over again to all different staff.
 

On our recent NCL cruises, we ended up being sat in the same area. In fact on Getaway we were actually allocated a specific table in the end and told we could go any time and it would be kept for us for that exact reason. We like to eat early anyway, so they didn't really have to keep it away from anyone else wanting to eat.

My daughters have celiac and since we are a larger family it was easier to get a table in the larger MDR’s. We called ahead when we were on our way so the dietary manager knew when to serve the preordered meals. We usually had the same wait staff, but dined at different times on different days.

[graphicguy]

23 minutes ago, gilboman said:

What a disaster of a ship... Good luck playing hunger games to eat on the prima especially breakfast and lunch 

This made me chuckle.  On a cruise ship, and someone complains about not having enough food available.  And, the proverbial "my food was inedible".  Apparently, many folks never had to eat MREs in the field.

 

If you can't find anything to eat on a cruise ship, the issue isn't the cruise ship.

[hoops71]

Ha! We loved the Prima.  Especially the Indulge food hall concept. (That concept may be the future just as freestyle dining was).  Some growing pains with any new class of ship, but over all it was great.  I laugh when I see people call it a "disaster".  Would love to see an actual poll from people off the Prima and Viva

 

Edited Monday at 07:57 PM by hoops71

[complawyer]

hey graphic, i always maintain, (even though prima doesnt have a buffet per se) if you cant find somethingto eat at a buffet, you arent hungry.

 

by the way, while never having the pleasure of MRE's

 

i can assure you, ive had my fill of C-rations. 

[graphicguy]

4 hours ago, complawyer said:

hey graphic, i always maintain, (even though prima doesnt have a buffet per se) if you cant find somethingto eat at a buffet, you arent hungry.

 

by the way, while never having the pleasure of MRE's

 

i can assure you, ive had my fill of C-rations. 

You experienced the same delectables.  My MREs may have been better than your C-Rations.  That’s what they told us.   Not so sure, though!

 

Agree with you about those who complain they can’t seem to feed themselves on a cruise.  Must not be hungry!

[debenson0723]

6 hours ago, complawyer said:

hey graphic, i always maintain, (even though prima doesnt have a buffet per se) if you cant find somethingto eat at a buffet, you arent hungry.

 

by the way, while never having the pleasure of MRE's

 

i can assure you, ive had my fill of C-rations. 

Prima does have the Surfside Cafe and Grill, which is the buffet. They also have the Indulge Food Hall, 2 MDRs and the Local, all complimentary. You must not have left the Haven area on your Prima cruise. 😉

[complawyer]

debenson0723

 

i try not to leave the haven complex if at all possible.  LOL

 

Well maybe once in a while. 

[complawyer]

and graphic guy, brings back those wonderful memories, of breaking off a chunk of C-4 to heat up the can. oh! how i miss my P-38.

 

no self respecting grunt would be caught without one.

 

(25th infantry, affectionately known as 'the electric strawberry"

 

those were the days my friend!

[graphicguy]

9 hours ago, complawyer said:

and graphic guy, brings back those wonderful memories, of breaking off a chunk of C-4 to heat up the can. oh! how i miss my P-38.

 

no self respecting grunt would be caught without one.

 

(25th infantry, affectionately known as 'the electric strawberry"

 

those were the days my friend!

Whoa boy.....let's just say I'm glad those days are in the past.  LOL!