1st cruise on NCL?

[refman]

we are considering booking an NCL cruise on the DAWN next year, we`ve only been on HAL in the past so any info would be appreciated. the owners suite looks great and we`re wondering about the perks it comes with. how are the staff and does freestyle dining work as well as it sounds. also no suit required on formal nite? THANKS to all in advance.

[Zeno]

we are considering booking an NCL cruise on the DAWN next year, we`ve only been on HAL in the past so any info would be appreciated. the owners suite looks great and we`re wondering about the perks it comes with. how are the staff and does freestyle dining work as well as it sounds. also no suit required on formal nite? THANKS to all in advance.

 

I have not been on the Dawn but have been on 3 NCL cruises. Before my NCL cruises I had been on 3 'traditional' cruises. I LOVE Freestyle dining and much prefer it to traditional. However some people try Freestyle and decide that they prefer 'traditional' - so it is hard to predict whether you will like it or not. We never had to wait longer than 5 minutes to be seated in the dining rooms and we dined at times ranging from 5:45 - 7:30 PM (when WE wanted to eat). One caution, on our last cruise we ate at about 6PM on Captain's Dinner night and were seated immediately BUT when we left not long after 7PM, we saw many people lined up to be seated. It seemed to us that on that specific night (probably because of the lobster) everyone decided to eat in the dining room at "prime" time. On that specific night I would advise you to eat early or late. Suits are never required.

[KeystoneCruiser]

Let me try and explain Freestyle Dining since it is possibly the biggest difference between NCL and the other lines.

 

I love Freestyle and that is why I only cruise on NCL.

 

Freestyle is all about your choice. Freestyle gives you the choice to eat WHEN you want, with WHO you want, WHERE you want, and HOW you want.

 

1.) You do not have assigned dining times. You can go the main restaurants anytime that they are open (5:30-9:30) and simply tell them how many of you there are and they will seat you, just like a shoreside restaurant. Unless you are a large group, you cannot make reservations in the main dining rooms. Sometimes this can cause you to wait a few minutes (usually less than 20) for a table if you dine during the peak hours of 6:30-8:00.

 

2.) You do have to make reservations for the Specialty Restaurants and most of them have a cover charge of $10-20 per person. (but that is only for the entree, you can have as many apetizers, salads, sides and desserts that you want.). You can make these for the entire week when you board. Not all specialty restaurants have a cover charge (LaTrattatoria for example) but all require reservations. There is an Italian one, a steakhouse, a tex-mex, and an asian one, just to name a few.

 

3.) You do not have assigned tablemates. You can dine with just your family or perhaps the friends you met that day. They have tables from 2 people to 10 people. You can also request to be seated with new people if you like. You usually do not have the same waiters each night, but you can request them!

 

4.) You can dress as you like. (within limits) All formal nights on all NCL ships are OPTIONAL in all dining venues. You do not have to dress up and can still eat anywhere. On formal night, only about 40% of the passengers will dress up and that will range from tuxes to shirt/tie. The other 60% will be in resort casual.

 

With that said, you do have to dress in at least Resort Casual every night to dine in the restaurants. Resort casual simply means no shorts, jeans or t-shirts. Polo shirts, sun dresses, kahkis, and sneakers are all perfectly acceptable! I have never worn any more than a polo shirt, kahkis and sneakers to any meal on five NCL cruises! You will not feel out of place! The best part...the chance to dress as you feel comfortable.

 

(btw: if you have to wear jeans or shorts, you can then choose to dine in the Blue Lagoon (diner) or the buffet for dinner!)

 

5.) Finally, disembarkation. You can remain in your cabin until you are called to disembark. No more being herded like cattle into public rooms waiting to be called. Enjoy the last morning in your cabin!

 

Hope this helps. Please fire away with any questions regarding Freestyle!

[98Charlie]

4.) You can dress as you like. (within limits) All formal nights on all NCL ships are OPTIONAL in all dining venues. You do not have to dress up and can still eat anywhere. On formal night, only about 40% of the passengers will dress up and that will range from tuxes to shirt/tie. The other 60% will be in resort casual.

We have been on 5 NCL Freestyle cruises (plus S/S Norway, traditional dining only) and have found one dining room (eg. Four Seasons on Majesty) was designated as "Formal Only" on formal nights. Tie and jacket were required.

 

The menu was the same in both dining rooms.

 

We enjoy both Freestyle and Traditional cruises. We have found that even though NCL promotes their Freestyle "stay in your cabin until you are called" option, the stewards are in a hurry to get you out and turn the cabin over. Went to breakfast on disembarkation day on one cruise and came back to find the room made up, our carry on luggage stacked neatly and our Freestyle Dailies and other info that we had saved (left neatly on our desktop) had been tossed.

 

Charlie

[Zeno]

We have been on 5 NCL Freestyle cruises (plus S/S Norway, traditional dining only) and have found one dining room (eg. Four Seasons on Majesty) was designated as "Formal Only" on formal nights. Tie and jacket were required.

 

The menu was the same in both dining rooms.

 

We enjoy both Freestyle and Traditional cruises. We have found that even though NCL promotes their Freestyle "stay in your cabin until you are called" option, the stewards are in a hurry to get you out and turn the cabin over. Went to breakfast on disembarkation day on one cruise and came back to find the room made up, our carry on luggage stacked neatly and our Freestyle Dailies and other info that we had saved (left neatly on our desktop) had been tossed.

 

Charlie

 

On our 3 NCL cruises we were never "rushed" by our steward and we were always amongst the last to leave - so I think you had bad luck.

One of our stewards asked if he could make up the room while we were at breakfast - fine with us. When we returned the room was cleaned but nothing (and we had left Freestyle Dailies etc out) was thrown out just tidied around except what was in the trash. Another just asked us for our "colour" - so he would know what time we vacated the room.

[cruiserssandr]

We have been on 5 NCL Freestyle cruises (plus S/S Norway, traditional dining only) and have found one dining room (eg. Four Seasons on Majesty) was designated as "Formal Only" on formal nights. Tie and jacket were required.

 

The menu was the same in both dining rooms.

 

We enjoy both Freestyle and Traditional cruises. We have found that even though NCL promotes their Freestyle "stay in your cabin until you are called" option, the stewards are in a hurry to get you out and turn the cabin over. Went to breakfast on disembarkation day on one cruise and came back to find the room made up, our carry on luggage stacked neatly and our Freestyle Dailies and other info that we had saved (left neatly on our desktop) had been tossed.

 

Charlie

Also have never felt rushed to leave. Came back from breakfast and they and done most of the room except the bathroom. Our free style dailes were stacked neatly where we had left them.

[98Charlie]

so I think you had bad luck.

Probably so on that cruise with the disposed Dailies and other items (not valuable) that were removed from the room during our absence.

 

However, on all of the cruises, the stewards really seemed to check in too frequently to see if we had left. Please understand that the stewards have never been rude. But, it has been our experience, that they seem to really want you to move on.

 

We enjoy NCL Freestyle cruising but have found this aspect to be not necessarily as advertised.

 

Charlie