Lots of Q's - 1st time with NCL

[AZDCruiser]

My husband and I have pretty loyal to Royal Caribbean, but have found we can get a really good deal with NCL with the Harrah's Total Rewards card (20% off for Diamond level).

I've picked the Norwegian Dawn out of Miami - 7 Day Eastern to Samana, St. Thomas, Tortola, and Stirrup Cay.

 

We've never been on NCL and don't know anyone who has. I'm really impressed with the "Freestyle 2.0" marketing they have going now...we are younger cruisers (28 and 30 yrs old) and enjoy a relaxed, yet trendy and sort of upscale environenment.

I'm loving what I'm reading about the Jazz Brunches on seadays, the new entertainment (Second City especially), the in-room fruit basket, the "not waking up at the crack of dawn" debarkation option, the Evian spritzers at the pool..etc.. We LOVE the idea of freestyle dining too!

Have you all noticed they really have these things or only on certain ships, etc.? Like the Wii with the big screen or the Evian at the pool...is that a marketing ploy that is only on certain ships or is this fleet wide?

 

Also, can anyone tell me some things about that itinerary (did E. Carib on RCCL and had different stops..Tortola looks wonderful!) and also, are there a lot of kids on NCL - are they behaved? We will be going end of January.

Also if anyone has copies of the "dailies" -- don't know what NCL calls them-- can you point me in the right direction..I like to check out the day's plans.

 

Thanks in advance for all your help! I'm in cruise planning mode and cannot get enough info on NCL. :rolleyes:

[AZDCruiser]

Also..could someone explain a little more clearly how the freestyle dining works?

I read from their site, there is a traditional "dining room" and you can eat there every night at the same table if you want...but you can also eat in other restaurants.

 

Do you have to make reservations for each night if you aren't eating in the dining room? How many of these are an extra charge? Which ones are the best on the Dawn? Which ones would you avoid?

which place has the best breakfast?

 

(I LOVED the Italian restaurant and steak restaurant on the Mariner - RCCL....so I wouldn't mind paying a surcharge for extra good food)

 

Thanks!

[AZDCruiser]

No one?? :(

[bakerintn]

I have not sailed under Freestyle 2.0 but ...

 

For the ports, I would check the Destinations boards on Cruise Critic. Lots of info there for all the places that you are going.

 

NCL staff does not seems to do anything about unruly youngsters -- there are rules and policies, but not generally enforced.

 

The pool area on the Dawn is very crowded. Before 2.0, it was also very noisey with entertainment (could not carry on a coverstation without shouting across the table). For peace and quiet, you might want to check out the adult-only pool in the spa --- you pay extra, but typically very few pay, so it is a great, relaxing spot.

 

The main dinning room is very large and noisey -- more so than with fixed seatings, because there are always people coming and going and dishes being served and cleared. For lunch, the tables at the rear of the ship have great, large windows overlooking the wake -- a nice place to be, in my opinon. Having the same table won't happen unless you make a reservation in the main dinning room in advance, and maybe not then. You clearly won't get the same wait staff in any case.

 

On the Dawn, the Aqua is also an included dinning room and is much smaller scale, and more to my taste, but no views. Great for later night dinning on sea days (nothing to see anyway).

 

Breakfast --- Room service is always good, but an inside cabin really does not have any place to eat except your lap. I liked the breakfasts in the main dinning room, but often ate at the buffet for variety and early coffee. The buffet is much faster, but it is a buffet. The buffet does have 'action stations" where things like omelets are made to order for breakfast. I always loved the french toast --- even in the Blue Lagoon fast food place (same everywhere).

 

The included restaurants are the main dinning room, the Aqua, the buffet, the blue lagoon, poolside BBQs and the hamburger grill by the upper deck pool bar (although somewhere I remember hearing that has been closed under 2.0???). The rest are some kind of upcharge. In Cagney's there is an additional charge for ordering their special selections (like surf and turf) on the 'right' side of the menu.

 

You should be able to find scans or photos of menus online -- look at photobucket, for example.

 

The excursions that we did (don't know what you like) were:

 

Samana -- 4x4 self drive safari

Tortola -- on our own -- taxi to brewers bay then to Marina Cay

St. Thomas -- yacht racing experience and self-walking tour near havensight

Great Stirrup Cay -- ship did not stop there due to weather -- added another sea day.

[megessey]

No one?? :(

 

SHHHH! We're all watching the Olympic Opening Ceremony! :p

[ilmsg]

I just wanted to say love your little BT in your avatar! :D I have one too!

[newmexicoNita]

My husband and I have pretty loyal to Royal Caribbean, but have found we can get a really good deal with NCL with the Harrah's Total Rewards card (20% off for Diamond level).

I've picked the Norwegian Dawn out of Miami - 7 Day Eastern to Samana, St. Thomas, Tortola, and Stirrup Cay.

 

We've never been on NCL and don't know anyone who has. I'm really impressed with the "Freestyle 2.0" marketing they have going now...we are younger cruisers (28 and 30 yrs old) and enjoy a relaxed, yet trendy and sort of upscale environenment.

I'm loving what I'm reading about the Jazz Brunches on seadays, the new entertainment (Second City especially), the in-room fruit basket, the "not waking up at the crack of dawn" debarkation option, the Evian spritzers at the pool..etc.. We LOVE the idea of freestyle dining too!

Have you all noticed they really have these things or only on certain ships, etc.? Like the Wii with the big screen or the Evian at the pool...is that a marketing ploy that is only on certain ships or is this fleet wide?

 

Also, can anyone tell me some things about that itinerary (did E. Carib on RCCL and had different stops..Tortola looks wonderful!) and also, are there a lot of kids on NCL - are they behaved? We will be going end of January.

Also if anyone has copies of the "dailies" -- don't know what NCL calls them-- can you point me in the right direction..I like to check out the day's plans.

 

Thanks in advance for all your help! I'm in cruise planning mode and cannot get enough info on NCL. :rolleyes:

Well I am sure you will get lots of advise and suggestions: From the bottom up: the dailies are called "freestyle daily and like all ships are the secret to a fun filled cruise: Kid: end of January, not many. There may be a few schools with a winter break, but not too many. Unless it is spring break, mid summer or sometime like that the ship will not be over run with kids and for the most part those cruising are well behaved. You may find a few splashing in the pool or making themselves very apparent in the hot tubs, but we have never had a lot of problems.

 

You are right, Tortola is a wonderful port, especially if you venture over to Virgin Gorda. My only complaint, not all the natives love the cruise passengers and can be a bit rude, but the island is awesome. we have cruised 20 plus times and Virgin Gorda is close to the top of the list for us.

 

We have seen second city in Las Vegas, if you are into skit type of comedy you can't beat it.

 

Freestyle isn't for everyone but it certainly has it's advantages. You can choose to eat at 6pm after a very long day of sight seeing or you can relax in your cabin, go to a bar, watch the sunset, whatever and enjoy dinner at 9pm. You can eat by yourself or ask to be seated with others. I just can't ay enough about it, plus not having to drag along the formal attire. Some miss not getting to know the wait staff, but this does not bother us. If you take time to ask your wait people about themselves you will be amazed at how much they like to talk and how good the service can be. Make sure you enjoy buffalo wings or fish and chips in the Blue Lagoon.

 

I hope this gives you some start on what you can expect. I will say one thing, you mentione upscale, I consider NCL more of a relaxed, enjoy yourself, energy filled cruise than a really upscale experience.

 

Nita

[Beachbum1944]

[My husband and I have pretty loyal to Royal Caribbean, but have found we can get a really good deal with NCL with the Harrah's Total Rewards card (20% off for Diamond level).

I've picked the Norwegian Dawn out of Miami - 7 Day Eastern to Samana, St. Thomas, Tortola, and Stirrup Cay.

 

We've never been on NCL and don't know anyone who has. I'm really impressed with the "Freestyle 2.0" marketing they have going now...we are younger cruisers (28 and 30 yrs old) and enjoy a relaxed, yet trendy and sort of upscale environenment.

I'm loving what I'm reading about the Jazz Brunches on seadays, the new entertainment (Second City especially), the in-room fruit basket, the "not waking up at the crack of dawn" debarkation option, the Evian spritzers at the pool..etc.. We LOVE the idea of freestyle dining too!

Have you all noticed they really have these things or only on certain ships, etc.? Like the Wii with the big screen or the Evian at the pool...is that a marketing ploy that is only on certain ships or is this fleet wide?

 

Also, can anyone tell me some things about that itinerary (did E. Carib on RCCL and had different stops..Tortola looks wonderful!) and also, are there a lot of kids on NCL - are they behaved? We will be going end of January.

Also if anyone has copies of the "dailies" -- don't know what NCL calls them-- can you point me in the right direction..I like to check out the day's plans.

 

Thanks in advance for all your help! I'm in cruise planning mode and cannot get enough info on NCL.

/QUOTE]

 

We are basicly beach people. On Samana we did the beach escape. Very nice beach. Everything you need is there. St. Thomas we took the ferry to St. Johns. Beautiful beach there. Tortola we have gone to Cane Garden Bay and Brewers Bay. Both are beautiful beaches Cane Garden Bay is more crouded. Next trip we are going to The Baths at Virgin Gorda. We have never been to Stirrup Cay.

 

We have not experienced 2.0 yet, so can't comment on that. We have cruised the middle of Jan., and haven't seen a lot of kids. You can do asearch and find the dailies here.

 

Freestyle is great. We don't like to rush fr dinner after returning back to the ship, so you can go eat anytime you want. Leave all your fancy cloths home too. Resort casual is all you need.

 

You can check out Samana and Tortola photos in our photos link below.

[watchdiva]

The Dawn is a great ship and when we were on her 6/08 most of the 2.0 changes had been implemented. The pool area can be crowded unless you go out early like we do (8-11AM). It's a great place to lounge in the early morning with a good book or just people watch. I'm glad they've done away with pool games (belly flop, etc) - it's a more peaceful relaxing atmosphere. And yes, they did walk around with Evian spritzers and on our cruise we did see ships officers removing towels from chairs that weren't occupied while they strolled the pool area (around 10:30-11AM I guess everyone else wakes up, comes to the pool and searches for a chair) - I hope that this practice will become more widespread.

 

In Tortola we did a private catamaran excursion to the Baths in Virgin Gorda - awesome! In St. Thomas a few years ago we did a private sailing trip - only 6 pax (including DH and I) - it was one of the best excursions we've ever done. We have a stop at GSC on our next Pearl cruise and already know that we won't go to the island (been there/done that) but instead enjoy having the ship almost entirely to ourselves while the pax are on the island.

 

Freestyle rocks! We like the options for dining and not needing to eat on a fixed schedule. Resort casual (we live in SoFla) is much more what we're used to and fits our style better - yet, on "dress up or not night", if we WANT to dress up we can. It's all about choices.

 

The Spa on the Dawn is great and this last cruise we bought the week-long passes ($140/couple). I don't think we've ever seen more than 8 people in there at any given time. The view from the loungers (the spa in at the very back of the ship) is incredible and again, a great place to just "be". The hot stone massage is great and DH had his first ever full-body massage on this trip; we were never once asked if we wanted to purchase product. I've found that if you tell them straight-up at the end of the session "thank you it was great and thank you for not trying to sell me products", that your attendant takes the hint (at least that's been our experience). We went to the spa daily just to relax in the hot tub, sauna/steam rooms, etc.

 

Try the specialty restaurants (at least once) - Cagney's and LeBistro are our favorites....

 

Best of all, have a great cruise and then come back and share your review with us:) .

[JoJo1554]

Hi-

We are just off the Dawn. 3rd time we were on her and I love it. I've also been to all of the stops on your cruise. Make sure you get off at the private island early. We waited and ended up on the side with a ton of rocks. The tender onto the private island is cool because it drives right up onto the beach...unlike any tender I have been on. St. Thomas is my favorite. The shopping is great and the island is beautiful. Meagan's bay can get very crowded if you plan to go there. Never got the chance to go to the baths in tortola because I have a little one under 2, but heard they were fabulous. I do plan to go next time I am there. You need to do the Cayo Levatado beach excursion in Samana. The island of Samana is very underdeveloped and you will not find anything to do there. I love 2.0 the glass of bubbly when you get on the ship and the beds are great! Slept like a baby. The beds stunk before 2.0. As for night life I'm not sure...we're Casino goers!

[i luv the sun]

AZDcruiser,

 

I haven't been on the ship you are booked on, but we did an Alaskan Cruise on the Sun in July. Here is a bit of info about us & cruising

 

Our first cruise was with RC and we had an awesome group at the dinner table which made it the best vacation ever.

 

Our 2nd cruise was on the Emerald Princess and the traditional dining was full so we ended up with anytime dining. Sometimes we sat alone, other times we shared a table. It was very different because it was harder to make friends to hang out with during other activities. While we met some very nice people at dinner, most were not of our generation and not interested in the same activities we were.

 

Our last cruise was with NCL. One thing to watch for - in the dining room they didn't come with a jug of ice water, they came with 2 types of bottled water. We asked for regular ice water, no problem. Another couple didn't realize that was an option and ended up paying for the water...,

 

The Sun had two dining rooms, one was more casual than the other and this is where we ate. We loved getting the same service and menu without having to "get ready" for dinner each night. We also knew what to expect in terms of meeting people.

 

We didn't realize we could stay on the ship so late on debarkation day and had made other plans...this time we plan to stay onboard longer and enjoy every possible extra minute on the ship.

 

There were Wii competitions a number of days in one of the lounges, mostly there were kids playing, but a couple of adults. There were 600 children out of 2300 people on the sun, and we rarely saw them...there is an adult pool and a family pool side by side. On the Alaska cruise we didn't use the pool much so this wasn't an issue, but there were children in the adult pool much to DH dismay...

 

We really enjoyed NCL and are booked on Oct. 28 repositioning from NY to Miami. I haven't been to any of the ports you are visiting so can't comment.

 

Hope you enjoy your 1st NCL cruise!

 

Nancy

[MrLee]

As for night life I'm not sure...we're Casino goers!

 

 

We are also but I've been curious...just what goes with the Monte Carlo night? Is it specials in the casino or a party or...?

[greywillow]

Also..could someone explain a little more clearly how the freestyle dining works?

I read from their site, there is a traditional "dining room" and you can eat there every night at the same table if you want...but you can also eat in other restaurants.

 

Do you have to make reservations for each night if you aren't eating in the dining room? How many of these are an extra charge? Which ones are the best on the Dawn? Which ones would you avoid?

which place has the best breakfast?

 

(I LOVED the Italian restaurant and steak restaurant on the Mariner - RCCL....so I wouldn't mind paying a surcharge for extra good food)

 

Thanks!

Main dining rooms on NCL ships are open seating. There is no need to make a reservation. If there are two of you, you can ask for a table for two. If you meet new friends on the trip, you can go with them and get a table for four, six, or whatever. If you go as a couple but would like to sit with others, you can ask to join a table and be seated with others.

 

In the specialty restaurants, it's wise to make reservations in order to be assured of getting a table. These restaurants are smaller and can sometimes be booked.

 

Opinions on the specialty restaurants are very much dependent on the individual. Someone accustomed to authentic Italian home-cooking might be disappointed in the Italian restaurants. Others might love the food there. We have always been pleased by NCL's steakhouse (often called Cagney's) and their French restaurant, Le Bistro.

 

Go with an open mind. Try everything. Have fun. It's a vacation.

[AZDCruiser]

I just wanted to say love your little BT in your avatar! :D I have one too!

 

 

That pic is not my BT, but I thought he was cute and he looks just like my little guy. I LOVE BT's also..cannot imagine having a different breed now.

Don't know what I'd do without his happy face and his snoring nights :D

[AZDCruiser]

Thanks everyone! I was worried I would get no responses -- forgot the Olympics were on ;) -- Not really my thing, I guess!

 

As for the pass for the spa - is that only to use the indoor pool? You have to pay to also use the hot tub, sauna, steam room? That is free on RCCL, so I assumed it was free on NCL also. I liked to get in the steam room sometimes after a lot of walking.

 

I know we'll have fun regardless - any day at sea is better than a great day at home! I'm excited to see Samana and especially Tortola...I plan on going to the Baths. We are also beach ppl, so even if there is "nothing" in Samana, I will enjoy the beaches and the nature.

 

I'm very excited to try the freestyle dining - at first I thought we were into the traditional style of dining, but the last 2 cruises had couples that weren't really talkative and hardly came to dinner, so it wasn't very enjoyable. DH and I had more fun eating at the buffet alone or at the specialty restaurants last time. DH will be happy to leave his suit at home too! I'm very much into resort casual, so that will be great. I'm hoping ppl aren't too sloppy though :rolleyes:

[watchdiva]

The spa pass entitles you to use all the facilities (steam, sauna, jacuzzi, thalassotherapy pool, scented showers) and the lap pool. I don't recall seeing anyone use the lap pool but the water was warm.

[JoJo1554]

We are also but I've been curious...just what goes with the Monte Carlo night? Is it specials in the casino or a party or...?

 

 

It was very loud! I don't think they had any specials (I get my drinks for free) but they did have random people dancing in the casino. It was a little strange...fun but hard to play table games because of the enormous speakers they put in the casino. People were asking if they could turn the music down. They had 2 nights like this I think the other night was the "white hot" night where everyone dressed in white.