Experiences with Freestyle Dining on NCL

[zgwortz]

CCL Pride (March 2009) 200% "guaranteed" rate for solo = $2,598

 

Naturally, results may vary in any particular situation, but this is why I say that NCL's rates for solos are often very competitive with other major lines. (Disclaimer: I am not real familiar with Carnival's website or pricing policies, but the fare above was the lowest I could find today.)

 

Actually, the cheapest Carnival rate for a solo on that sailing is the 1A GTY rate (150%) of $1948.50. It *does* take a little bit of knowledge of the Carnival site to find it - you need to select the inside guarantee rate and change the category, but it's not particularly difficult.

 

I've considered taking an NCL out of Philly for convenience - if they ever do saiings some other time of year, and/or add a better itinerary, I may actually do that.

[zgwortz]

I just got off Crown Princess 10/26. Before leaving, I was concerned that I was wait listed for traditional seating for dinner, got some encouraging words from people here and actually ended up getting traditional dining in the end. So, the first night of the cruise, I went to the dining room and sat at my assigned table with 8 place settings. After waiting several minutes, the waitress asked if I would like to order since it appeared no one else was coming! There were numerous tables with empty seats among the full ones but the maitre d never attempted to find out if he could seat me with others, so I sat at the large table completely by myself throughout most of the meal. Right before dessert, two people came into the dining room and apologized profusely saying they'd been locked out of their cabin, had to wait for a technician to open it for them. It turned out they were very nice and we had our dinners together the rest of the week - but no one else showed up for the other 5 seats. I really felt the maitre d should have moved us to a smaller table or checked with some of the others who had empty seats to see whether they'd like to join us. It was very strange to sit there every night at the large table. Now, I had sailed on a 17 day cruise with NCL in 2006 and even with Freestyle, I only sat by myself 2 nights, once by choice and once because I'd arrived fairly late to eat. I really think I would have preferred to do the Anytime dining with Princess. I wouldn't have been obligated to eat with my dining partners - if I didn't show up, they would have had to eat alone since the other diners never showed up. I'd met other people on the ship who invited me to join them for dinner but I didn't feel I could do that to the other couple. I guess the moral of the story is, I'd wanted traditional seating so that I could meet & get to "know" other people, but other than the one couple, I didn't get the opportunity to meet anyone else (thru the dinner venue). I'm not complaining - the cruise was wonderful! And I did meet a lot of other people in different venues. But next time I will take Princess Anytime or NCL Freestyle.

 

I had a semi-similar experience going solo on Carnival - 6 person table, I was the only one to show up at first, but most of the other days we had 3 people, all solo travelers. (Carnival tries to sit solo travellers together) I checked with the asst. Maitre'd later on in the week and discovered that 5 had been assigned, but apparently 2 of them always ate in the Lido deck restaurant. In general, not a lot of people, but fun conversation was had anyway, and we tended to be served a lot faster than the rest of the dining room. *None* of us felt obligated to be there every evening, BTW, and each of us ate elsewhere at different points during the trip. I always brought a book just in case nobody else showed.

 

As a counterpoint, I'm told there were two full tables of solos at the early seating who were consistently there from the start. I suspect our late seating (8:15) might have been a bit too late for some. I'm going solo on my next trip and have early seating for a change, so we'll see what happens.

[jpg1747]

On my Carnival cruise last year I was a solo seated with 3 couples. We all showed up the first night. The next 2 nights it was one couple and myself. Since they had wanted a table for 2 I told them to go ahead and ask to be moved and I would do the same thing. The rest of the week I sat with 3 other singles. One was a woman whose son was in the show band. A couple of nights she invited him and some of his bandmates to dinner so I always had company at the table.

[mtwingcpa]

Actually, the cheapest Carnival rate for a solo on that sailing is the 1A GTY rate (150%) of $1948.50. It *does* take a little bit of knowledge of the Carnival site to find it - you need to select the inside guarantee rate and change the category, but it's not particularly difficult.

 

Aha! Thanks for pointing that out. Indeed, I was a little surprised that I couldn't find a 150% rate for that cruise.

[NRWPA]

From messages posted on our roll call, I and some other CC'ers were waitlisted for traditional dining. I can't understand why that was at all. Some people really wanted traditional dining and thru the week, there were several consistently empty and near-empty tables. One couple I met had received conflicting information - they were not certain until the second night that they could be seated in the traditional dining area. I think it was up to the maitre d to either ensure that tables of 2 people were at tables for 2 or 4, not at large 8 person tables and that people who had been waitlisted were contacted and told they could come to the traditional dining area. Maybe I expect too much? I won't complain any more - I did have a great cruise! I will just know next time when there is a choice of dining types, I will take the anytime/freestyle dining.

[yellowbird23]

I just came back from Spirit on a 13 nighter and I loved the Freestyle. Some nights I would eat in the dining room with a friend I met, other nights by myself. Most nights, I just went to Raffles, which suited me fine. To each his own, but I am not so sure that someone who likes company would care for the freestyle dining. For me, it was perfect (solo, at that)! Unfortunately, on this voyage I also got sick with an upper respiratory infection the second week and was confined basically to my room and ordered room service. The only thing about room service on NCL is their menu leaves a lot to be desired with respect to breakfast. There, RCL has them topped.

[navybankerteacher]

Assigned seating not only gives you a good chance to establish a group base (you can always change tables if the people are not compatible); it saves you from having to wait for seating -often over half an hour - unless you eat very early or late. I suspect that Holland America may rethink their switch to "As-you-wish" dining -- so many passengers (coluples as well as solo) have complained about the inability to get assigned seating.

[cruisegal3]

Hi I'm thinking about a cruise in Oct. 2009 from Philly to Bermuda on The Majesty. My big concern is freestyle dining. I am not a particularly outgoing person and I've always liked the "connection" with the same people at dinner. I definitely don't want to eat by myself. Can anyone give me some advice, suggestions and personal experience about this. Thank you.

 

I eat out on my balcony for many meals (very nice!), and at the buffet for other meals, reading a book.

 

I can't get myself into a dining room alone-- it is the only part of solo cruising I don't do. Pool, excursions, casino, etc are all fine solo for me.

 

Hope you get lots of suggestions, and have a great time!

 

Linda