Just back from the Jewel

[luv2bcruzng]

It has been about 5 years since we last cruised with NCL and we were extremely disappointed. Much has declined - the food and service especially.

 

Our main grip was that the last two days of our cruise were days at sea. The last day we were ondeck at 8:30am trying to find two deck chairs. There were none to be found on the pool deck (12) and decks 13 or 14. We ended up sitting up reading at the Great Outdoors Cafe taking up space that people needed to use to eat breakfast.

 

At 10am we tried again to no avail. We ended up finding the last two seats available on deck 7 -the promenade deck. These chairs are not fully reclining, so everyone uses a second chair to put their feet up on.

 

We tried all the decks again at 12:30. No seats- finally we stopped someone from the bar service dressed all in white and told him why are there not enough seats for people? We had discovered on deck 14 aft the chair "graveyard". Stacks of damaged chairs (at least 200) - obviously they had not been replaced. This guy got a couple of bartenders and went to the graveyard and found us two chairs that were not damaged! They dropped them down and left us - boy they were not happy having to find some chairs.

 

On all our walks around the decks we found people just laying out on their towels on the floors in every little nook and cranny. Also heard stories from people witnessing fights because someone had removed someone else's towel from their reserved chair. Also heard from someone who circled the decks at 7:30 am and the chairs were all gone by then. This is absolutely ridiculous to have to lay on the floor or fight to get a chair or wake up with the sun to get a reserved chair.

 

What has happened to NCL in the past five years?

[2boyzmom]

It has been about 5 years since we last cruised with NCL and we were extremely disappointed. Much has declined - the food and service especially.

 

Our main grip was that the last two days of our cruise were days at sea. The last day we were ondeck at 8:30am trying to find two deck chairs. There were none to be found on the pool deck (12) and decks 13 or 14. We ended up sitting up reading at the Great Outdoors Cafe taking up space that people needed to use to eat breakfast.

 

At 10am we tried again to no avail. We ended up finding the last two seats available on deck 7 -the promenade deck. These chairs are not fully reclining, so everyone uses a second chair to put their feet up on.

 

We tried all the decks again at 12:30. No seats- finally we stopped someone from the bar service dressed all in white and told him why are there not enough seats for people? We had discovered on deck 14 aft the chair "graveyard". Stacks of damaged chairs (at least 200) - obviously they had not been replaced. This guy got a couple of bartenders and went to the graveyard and found us two chairs that were not damaged! They dropped them down and left us - boy they were not happy having to find some chairs.

 

On all our walks around the decks we found people just laying out on their towels on the floors in every little nook and cranny. Also heard stories from people witnessing fights because someone had removed someone else's towel from their reserved chair. Also heard from someone who circled the decks at 7:30 am and the chairs were all gone by then. This is absolutely ridiculous to have to lay on the floor or fight to get a chair or wake up with the sun to get a reserved chair.

 

What has happened to NCL in the past five years?

 

Sorry to say but the chair hog issue is not only on NCL. Had the same issue on Crown Princess last year with almost 4000 people on board!!

[luv2bcruzng]

We usually sail on HAL or RCCL and even Princess and can usually find somewhere to sit on deck. Maybe if NCL would repair the broken chairs there would be adequate seating.

[newmexicoNita]

If you can honestly say you have no problems with chairs on other lines you are very lucky. The only time of HAL we had no trouble was the day we were tendered so passengers could do the private Island. We choose to wait awhile, but by the time we wanted to go the weather changed and they brought all the guests back.

 

We have always had the same problem when staying at resorts on the islands or in Las Vegas.

 

AS for NCL going down hill in the past 5 years, I guess it does depend on what individuals expect, the time of cruising and the situations: Cruising during the holidays never is the best time to go, I know sometimes there is no choice, but the crew members are overworked, the pool area is packed and the showroom and casinos the same. We actually think NCL has gotten better since the wrinkles with freestyle have been ironed out the the ships are mostly new one designed for freestyle.

 

It is too bad you find NCL less to your liking than years ago.

 

Nita

[DAGVBSB]

On all our walks around the decks we found people just laying out on their towels on the floors in every little nook and cranny. Also heard stories from people witnessing fights because someone had removed someone else's towel from their reserved chair. Also heard from someone who circled the decks at 7:30 am and the chairs were all gone by then. This is absolutely ridiculous to have to lay on the floor or fight to get a chair or wake up with the sun to get a reserved chair.

 

What has happened to NCL in the past five years?

 

This is not a gripe about your obvious definate problem, but I am interested in hearing more to see where the problem is:

 

Question: Were all the loungers and chairs "reserved" or were there actually people sitting on them?

 

If there were actually people sitting on them, then it is indeed a problem of too few chairs, BUT if there were no people sitting in them and they were just reserved by people, then we are back to the chair hog issue and the inconsiderate people who think they have the right to reserve a chair all day and use it maybe 30 minutes!!

 

I though NCL had posted signs that things would be removed from chairs if they sat empty for more than 30 minutes? And I had read somewhere that they were enforcing that rule. Maybe it is time for that once again.

[wack001]

I wonder after reading your post, where u and cruisingbob on the same ship?

after reading his in deptt I booked my Jewel next month.

http://www.*****/2007/12/ncl-jewel-9-day-caribbean-review.html

[Jetswdo]

I took the 14 day holiday cruise on Jewel. I'm on the internet now because of a double the minutes offer that expires at 10:00---

 

The main thing I didn't like about this cruise is that the pool areas are crowded, and unless you go late in the day, it is problematic finding deck chairs. Also the pools are VERY salty. But there were other things that I did like more than other cruises. The food was/is quite good, as a rule. I factored in the specialty restaurants prices within the total price of thiis cruise, making use of thr 2 for 1 specials, etc. Also the beds were very comfy, as opposed to Princess or Royal Caribean. Most of the staff does try hard to please. Also, this ship does seem to constantly "nickel and dime" you which is very annoying. The cruise director, Paul Baya, is very good. Two shows were very good for a cruise ship: Band on the Run and Cirque Bijou. The comedian that appeared twice during the 9 day southern carribean was very funny. He was David Naster. It appears that the same shows are on the 5 day part, which is a disappointment. But we are having a nice time. Anita

[luv2bcruzng]

When we went on deck at 8:30 am to find chairs, they were all taken but with no bodies on them. Towels were used to tie two chairs together by the armrests or bags were left on chairs. Later in the morning most of the chairs were taken up with people using them. Of course as lunch approached chairs were vacated by bodies but towels were used to reserve them again.

 

In the very fine print on the last page of the newsletter there is some verbage about not reserving chairs and the 30 minute rule but it is not at all enforced and really no one would see it on that page. There are no posted signs by the pool.

 

The shows by the Jean Ann Ryan dance group were the best of any cruise that we have been on. We only go to those shows and skip the rest.

 

Freestyle cruising has its advantages, but definitely the wait staff knows they are getting their tips no matter what kind of service they perform. Some try harder than others. The same would apply to our cabin steward -service was definitely not there. Pool towels are a precious commodity and you are warned over and over not to leave them anywhere. They were to be swapped out daily by the room steward. Ours forgot to leave us towels on two separate occasions and we trembled at the thought of having to pay for additional towels. We called down to the front desk and explained that we never received towels and they were brought up to our cabin. Then this happened a second time. The tip is there no matter what kind of service you receive.

[newmexicoNita]

When we went on deck at 8:30 am to find chairs, they were all taken but with no bodies on them. Towels were used to tie two chairs together by the armrests or bags were left on chairs. Later in the morning most of the chairs were taken up with people using them. Of course as lunch approached chairs were vacated by bodies but towels were used to reserve them again.

 

In the very fine print on the last page of the newsletter there is some verbage about not reserving chairs and the 30 minute rule but it is not at all enforced and really no one would see it on that page. There are no posted signs by the pool.

 

The shows by the Jean Ann Ryan dance group were the best of any cruise that we have been on. We only go to those shows and skip the rest.

 

Freestyle cruising has its advantages, but definitely the wait staff knows they are getting their tips no matter what kind of service they perform. Some try harder than others. The same would apply to our cabin steward -service was definitely not there. Pool towels are a precious commodity and you are warned over and over not to leave them anywhere. They were to be swapped out daily by the room steward. Ours forgot to leave us towels on two separate occasions and we trembled at the thought of having to pay for additional towels. We called down to the front desk and explained that we never received towels and they were brought up to our cabin. Then this happened a second time. The tip is there no matter what kind of service you receive.

2 things I will point out for what they are worth: this chair thing, as we have all mentioned, happens on every cruise and every resort. Yes, even at 8 or 8;15am the lounges will have towels on them with no bodies. Of course it pisses all of us off and no, the 30 minute rule is not enforced. did you even think of just getting fresh towels and grabbing the lounges yourself. As for the freestyle and service, auto tips are on most lines now and nearly every cruise line has some form of freestyle. If one opts for flex dining on any line the tipping will work the same. Did you know you can request the same table and or wait staff every night if you find some one you really like? Most people dont' know this.

 

Nita

[starfamily]

Hi Reba, I am not sure if you were on our cruise, but we got off the jewel this weekend, did the nine day stretch over christmas and then it continued on for five more days after we left.

I would definately agree that there can be congestion by the pool area, especially when the ship is at sea, we only went down there once, when we were docked in barbados and we were waiting for my ring to be set.

 

The pools are salt water but I didn't find it overly salty, although I didn't drink it-lol just put some moisturizer on after we went in.

 

Personally I preferred to just hang out on our own area, I always had a lounger and plenty of sun and quiet

 

We did notice a huge difference between how the different cabin classes were treated. We were fortunate to be in a position where we always had a table and great service but did see many people turned away that didn't have that magic cruise ship cell phone with them. I have said it many times and will say it again, NCL really needs to work on their food, if you are going to have such a difference in quality from the surcharge to the main restaurants then you should have a program where people could buy a dining package or something in advance.

 

My husband was shocked when we went to the main dining room one night (let alone tangos the king of cold cheese wiz) as to quality of the entire experience was, let alone the food. It was night and day.

 

In MY opinion it is just wrong that a family who saved all year to just get ON the ship could not eat the same food I was able to enjoy because it would cost them 20.00 per person more each night. We are fortunate with only one child so we were able to eat in the pay restaurants most nights (and in Mamas which was EXCELLENT) but if I had three children with me it would have been impossible. In the end our cruise tab was still about the cost of an inside cabin (still in sticker shock on that one lol) but we did have a great time. EVERYONE should be able to experience that level of service. The choice should not be gourmet vs. cafeteria food- again just my opinion.

[coffeebean]

When we went on deck at 8:30 am to find chairs, they were all taken but with no bodies on them. Towels were used to tie two chairs together by the armrests or bags were left on chairs. Later in the morning most of the chairs were taken up with people using them. Of course as lunch approached chairs were vacated by bodies but towels were used to reserve them again.

 

In the very fine print on the last page of the newsletter there is some verbage about not reserving chairs and the 30 minute rule but it is not at all enforced and really no one would see it on that page. There are no posted signs by the pool.

 

The shows by the Jean Ann Ryan dance group were the best of any cruise that we have been on. We only go to those shows and skip the rest.

 

Freestyle cruising has its advantages, but definitely the wait staff knows they are getting their tips no matter what kind of service they perform. Some try harder than others. The same would apply to our cabin steward -service was definitely not there. Pool towels are a precious commodity and you are warned over and over not to leave them anywhere. They were to be swapped out daily by the room steward. Ours forgot to leave us towels on two separate occasions and we trembled at the thought of having to pay for additional towels. We called down to the front desk and explained that we never received towels and they were brought up to our cabin. Then this happened a second time. The tip is there no matter what kind of service you receive.

 

You can go to the purser's desk and have the auto tip removed from your account if your service was not satisfactory. Crew members are aware that this can and has been done. That is their incentive for doing a good job. I only takes a couple of times for a crew member to be "burned" with no tip for them to realize, they must give good service. On all 7 NCL cruises, I have always had good to excellent service from crew members. DH and I tend to smile, converse and show interest in the crew members and their homeland. Many times good service has alot to do with the vibe you give back to the crew.

[newmexicoNita]

You can go to the purser's desk and have the auto tip removed from your account if your service was not satisfactory. Crew members are aware that this can and has been done. That is their incentive for doing a good job. I only takes a couple of times for a crew member to be "burned" with no tip for them to realize, they must give good service. On all 7 NCL cruises, I have always had good to excellent service from crew members. DH and I tend to smile, converse and show interest in the crew members and their homeland. Many times good service has alot to do with the vibe you give back to the crew.

another way to handle poor service: the comment cards do wonders. If cabin attendants or wait staff get complaints their contracts are not renewed. There is a big demand for these jobs. That is why, when you do take time, liike you and I do, to visit with the crew most will let you know they have been with the cruise line 5,10 or even more years.

 

Nita

[FIRELT5]

If you can honestly say you have no problems with chairs on other lines you are very lucky. The only time of HAL we had no trouble was the day we were tendered so passengers could do the private Island. We choose to wait awhile, but by the time we wanted to go the weather changed and they brought all the guests back.

 

We have always had the same problem when staying at resorts on the islands or in Las Vegas.

 

AS for NCL going down hill in the past 5 years, I guess it does depend on what individuals expect, the time of cruising and the situations: Cruising during the holidays never is the best time to go, I know sometimes there is no choice, but the crew members are overworked, the pool area is packed and the showroom and casinos the same. We actually think NCL has gotten better since the wrinkles with freestyle have been ironed out the the ships are mostly new one designed for freestyle.

 

It is too bad you find NCL less to your liking than years ago.

 

Nita

 

 

No problems with the chair Hogs on our recent Voyages to the Carribean with the Hal-Noordam, Cunard QM2 :)

[Supercilious]

We were on the Jewell Eastern Cariibbean cruise that left the day after Thanksgiving. We heard that the cruise just before ours was very crowded and had many, many children on it. I would imagine the Christmas cruise would be similar.

 

Just a few comments regarding what has been said above.

 

Food

 

I certainly would not consider the food in Tsar's and Azura to be "cafeteria" food. In fact, after trying Tango's, Mama's, and Chin-Chin and being disappointed, we ate in the main dining rooms the rest of the cruise. We did find the service varied in Azura. One night we had painfully slow service and another night (while doing the Murder Mystery Dinner) we had painfully fast service. Of all the restaurants we ate in we liked the ambiance and plushness of Tsar's.

 

I've been on 10 NCL cruises and have always found the food to be very good - not gourmet but almost never disappointing. If you go onboard expecting Thomas Keller or Mark Miller, you should probably be on Silversea or Seabourn.

 

One thing I did notice on our cruise was the large number of people who would fill up at the buffets in the late afternoon with mountains of food on their plates. I would assume that many of these people never had dinner at all on those evenings. On our cruise, we had a number of very serious eaters. And, we never had a problem getting into any restaurants we wanted even though we had a party of 6. Only on the night of the Captain's dinner did we have to wait and that time was spent pleasantly in the Martini bar.

 

Towels

 

Our steward did not replace our pool towels on a couple of nights but we had no problem getting new ones from him the next morning. He told us there was often a shortage of them at the end of the day until the old ones were laundered. This was the first cruise that I had been on where each cabin was assigned pool towels. I think it is a positive step and really reduces the number they have to launder because so many inconsiderate passengers would take many at a time and just leave them behind when they left their loungers, getting new ones when they returned from lunch or their naps.

 

We also found that by exchanging our towels with the towel attendant by the pool each afternoon, we never had to rely on our steward who had enough on his plate as it was.

 

Lounge Chairs

 

We never had a problem finding one. This shortage on the other cruises must have been due to the crowded nature of the holiday sailings. The dificulty we experienced was finding somewhere to lie out in the sun without having the music of the steel band blasting away with the speakers at clipping level. Also, the cruise staff using the mikes at full amp during the deck games was really annoying. This had never really been a problem on our other NCL cruises.

 

To get away from the noise, one had to go up to deck 14 towards the bow but this area tended to be very windy. The best spot we found was on deck 15 - the only place to really get out of the wind and away from the noise. However, there were only about 10 loungers up there.

 

We found the service on the Jewel to be of very high quality. If we ever had any problems, they were handled in an efficient, speedy, and courteous manner.

 

We had a great cruise and hope to take another soon. By the way, we took the Jewel because we wanted the three days at sea. If you fly to San Juan, you only have a 7 day cruise and just one sea day. If people are not used to being out in the real ocean, they might reconsider taking this cruise.

[newmexicoNita]

No problems with the chair Hogs on our recent Voyages to the Carribean with the Hal-Noordam, Cunard QM2 :)

We didn't have as much trouble with HAL as other lines. I think it had to do with the age of the cruisers and their likes and dislikes. Soaking up sun wasn't their thing. We didn't have trouble on the Jewel coming across the northern Atlantic either 2 years ago; reason, how many people worshipe the Sun when the weather sucks. That being said, even our experience on HAL did leave a lot to be desired. We saw lounges, by the pool daily with no one using them, yet they were marked in some way. This is just the nature of the game, and I hate it. I am sure the younger the crowd and the busier the ship, the worse the problem. One of our time shares is having a huge problem with this. I have to admit last spring we did go down to the pool once, about 7:30am and mark our lounges even though we would not be using them for at least an hour. We had no choice.

 

Nita

[2boyzmom]

We didn't have as much trouble with HAL as other lines. I think it had to do with the age of the cruisers and their likes and dislikes. Soaking up sun wasn't their thing. We didn't have trouble on the Jewel coming across the northern Atlantic either 2 years ago; reason, how many people worshipe the Sun when the weather sucks. That being said, even our experience on HAL did leave a lot to be desired. We saw lounges, by the pool daily with no one using them, yet they were marked in some way. This is just the nature of the game, and I hate it. I am sure the younger the crowd and the busier the ship, the worse the problem. One of our time shares is having a huge problem with this. I have to admit last spring we did go down to the pool once, about 7:30am and mark our lounges even though we would not be using them for at least an hour. We had no choice.

 

Nita

 

Even though there are four of us- we never take up more than two chairs knowing how hard they are to find. Just the way we were raised to be considerate of others. Yes- it's truly amazing that some slobs keep junk on chairs all day yet are never seen at the pool!

Yup- the old timers on HAL are smarter than us and won't lay out and fry for hours in the sun!

[luv2bcruzng]

My husband and I both filled out the comment cards. Under "comment" there was barely enough room for everything we had to say, so instead I wrote "Please call me to discuss our cruise". How long do you think I will have to wait to get that phone call returned??????????

 

This was our 6th cruise on NCL and the food quality has definitely deteriorated. What happened to the lobster night? Now it is callled "Seafood Extravaganza" - a conglomerate of shrimp, scallops and a piece of lobster tail. What happened to the days of the Captain's Reception and Dinner? You use to go to the showroom, have pictures taken with the captain and have appetizers and cocktails and then go to a great dinner. This is just two of the changes over the years. There were plenty more.

 

We ate in Le Bistro - $20 for normal charges or for an additional $10 per person you had two other choices to eat but the entire party must order the same entree! We ordered the chateaubriand. The poor waitress brought it out on a cart steaming hot. She tried cutting it into slices, was destroying the meat, left it sitting there to go find a "better" knife. Came back and continued to destroy the meat. It would have been comical except we were paying for this service! That would be a training issue.

[newmexicoNita]

My husband and I both filled out the comment cards. Under "comment" there was barely enough room for everything we had to say, so instead I wrote "Please call me to discuss our cruise". How long do you think I will have to wait to get that phone call returned??????????

 

This was our 6th cruise on NCL and the food quality has definitely deteriorated. What happened to the lobster night? Now it is callled "Seafood Extravaganza" - a conglomerate of shrimp, scallops and a piece of lobster tail. What happened to the days of the Captain's Reception and Dinner? You use to go to the showroom, have pictures taken with the captain and have appetizers and cocktails and then go to a great dinner. This is just two of the changes over the years. There were plenty more.

 

We ate in Le Bistro - $20 for normal charges or for an additional $10 per person you had two other choices to eat but the entire party must order the same entree! We ordered the chateaubriand. The poor waitress brought it out on a cart steaming hot. She tried cutting it into slices, was destroying the meat, left it sitting there to go find a "better" knife. Came back and continued to destroy the meat. It would have been comical except we were paying for this service! That would be a training issue.

The capt cocktail party with pictures disappeared many year ago, as soon as freestyle became the trend. He is still available for pix on the first formal optional night, but no, not like the olden days. The first time it wasn't there I was a little disappointed, then I realized unless it is your first cruise how many times do you need your picture taken with the captain. I guess there are still those who are impressed with this tradition. AS for the Lobster night, I enjoyed the seafood extravaganza, I actually enjoyed it more than some of the Lobster I have had on NCL as well as other ships. To me, frozen lobster tails are not a delicacy . This is only my opinion. I have also heard RCI has cut back on the Lobster, but NCL will be adding Lobster, a lot of it, when freestyle 2.0 in implemented.

 

The one thing that is hard for many is realizing all the cruise lines have cut back on many things, food being the number one. I have clients that just returned from a Celebrity transatlantic cruise: they had a great time, are the type that always do and among my favorite clients. They did say, they were very surprised by all the cut backs on Celebrity since early in 2007. I have others coming back from Princess with similar comments. Again, I am repeating what clients tell me as well as what I have experienced the past 2 or 4 years. I do agree the food qualtiy on NCL isn't as good as it was 5 years ago, I also beleive this is the case with all lines as I just memtioned. I still have yet to cruise a line with bad or unacceptable food.

 

Nita

[newmexicoNita]

Reba,

 

When will you hear back? I would suspect never. I don't know what you mentioned in the comment cards, but I also do not know what good it would do NCL to call you. Normally they will respond if there is something they can do to help you with a problem, otherwise I doubt they would have a reason to respond. That is just my feelings. I do agree they really do not give us much room to make comments, on the other hand they are not looking for us to write novels. I guess that is why there is so little room.

 

It is also a little tough for any business to address situations when the jest of the comments are negative as I woudl suspect yours was, from your comments. Though your complaints were serious to you I think many would find them more like minor inconveniences and not anything that would affect the overall cruise experience.

 

Nita

[Xelcaz]

It must be me but... I was just on the Gem & last yr on the Dawn - both xmas trips both FULL SHIPS - perhaps I am not on everyone else's schedules but, lounges were typically available, I never waited more then 5 mins for a table - ok ok I could not get a table at cagneys cuz I waited until the day of.. oops my bad - oh well better luck next time..

 

I do notice Now they SCAN your cards (they did not do this on the dawn in 06) at the rest's & reservations and guess what If your not in a minisuite or better I guess you wait(I tested it once by giving DHs card she said apx 45 min wait for main rest, then I said oh do you need mine too and handed her my card) DHs card was the kids room (cat II inside cabin) and mine was an AF mini suite..we figured with the 45 min wait we'd go check out pics, we were seated in less then 5 minutes..

 

They pampered us, each and everywhere we went... I don't think waited, I got nothing but ass kissing...

 

hmmmmm guess u get what you pay for.. what cabin style were you in?

[newmexicoNita]

It must be me but... I was just on the Gem & last yr on the Dawn - both xmas trips both FULL SHIPS - perhaps I am not on everyone else's schedules but, lounges were typically available, I never waited more then 5 mins for a table - ok ok I could not get a table at cagneys cuz I waited until the day of.. oops my bad - oh well better luck next time..

 

I do notice Now they SCAN your cards (they did not do this on the dawn in 06) at the rest's & reservations and guess what If your not in a minisuite or better I guess you wait(I tested it once by giving DHs card she said apx 45 min wait for main rest, then I said oh do you need mine too and handed her my card) DHs card was the kids room (cat II inside cabin) and mine was an AF mini suite..we figured with the 45 min wait we'd go check out pics, we were seated in less then 5 minutes..

 

They pampered us, each and everywhere we went... I don't think waited, I got nothing but ass kissing...

 

hmmmmm guess u get what you pay for.. what cabin style were you in?

The card scan thing is interesting. I think they have scanned ours the last couple of cruises, but I had no idea why. No, we have never waited more than a few minutes either. Once, on the Jewel, we wanted to eat about 6:30 or so, we were with 20 from our Meet and Greet and it was the last formal optional night, we did wait about 15 or 20 minutes even with reservations. That was the only time. We have eaten from 5:30 to as late as 8 and had anywhere from 2 to 6 of us.

 

On the Star in Sept we couldn't get reservations in the Italian restaurant either, like you we were trying for the last night.

 

Nita

[jgraf77]

I will be on the Jewel on 2/29/08, I have had the same problem on other cruises, with people hogging the chairs. They leave their towels and stuff on them. Well I am about to change all of that on my cruise. When I see a set of chairs empty, I will empty their stuff myself! It is time these people start living by the rules! The ship doesn't owe you a seat for the whole day, just when you want to sit. Bring all of these people on, I'm ready for them!:cool: Most of these people are rude anyway's! Time to return the favor!

[muffinlover]

My family and I will be on the 2-29-08 Jewel cruise as well.

Last year on RCCL's Navigator I moved some towels after I asked the woman next to the chairs if any one had been using them, she said no one had been there for 1.5 hrs. We used the chairs for over an hour and no one ever came back for the towels. I have seen abandoned books, sandals etc...I think people simply forget or they get caught up in other activities on the ship.

[luv2bcruzng]

We did ask the hostess why they were scanning cards and she gave us two reasons:

1. The boards thruout the ship could show accurate counts as to how filled the restaurants were (why didn't they scan us on the way out then?)

2. In case we needed to be reached "they" would know we were in the dining room eating.

 

As a party of two we never had to wait in either of the main dining rooms. We usually showed up around 7 to 7:30 and were seated promptly without a wait. The hostesses were always so obliging also.

[DAGVBSB]

 

I do notice Now they SCAN your cards (they did not do this on the dawn in 06) at the rest's & reservations and guess what If your not in a minisuite or better I guess you wait(I tested it once by giving DHs card she said apx 45 min wait for main rest, then I said oh do you need mine too and handed her my card) DHs card was the kids room (cat II inside cabin) and mine was an AF mini suite..we figured with the 45 min wait we'd go check out pics, we were seated in less then 5 minutes..

 

I certainly hope that they are not scanning cards and allowing mini suite people shorter waits. That is just plain wrong! It simply brings the class system onto a cruise ship and that goes against my entire belief in cruising.

 

NCL loves to bring up the fact that Freestyle Dining is just like on shore dining. At your typical on shore restaurant, is your table wait diminished because you live in a certain part of town???

 

Like the other poster who said she is ready to confront chair hogs, I will be ready on my next NCL cruise (if I have to wait in line.) I will definately confront anyone who comes to the restaurant after me and is seated ahead of me. (of the same party size that is.....) Get ready NCL for a scene if you are implementing this ridiculous idea. Colin is showing his ineptness at being President once again......