Free Style Dining on NCL?

Question

this will be my first "free style" cruise. i had always ask for the late seating for dinner on my other cruises. i've been reading other posts on how some folks had to wait in line to be seated for meals. what is the best time to go to a sit down dinner and not have to wait? there will be 6 of us in our group....so far. thanks.

Answer 1

I have been on about 8 NCL cruises and more than half of those have been since they started "freestyle" cruises. Frankly I do not care for it at all for several reasons. Although NCL advertises freestyle as though its radically different from other cruise lines on all activities, the only real difference is the options for the dinner meal. So their ads are intentionally deceptive.

Second, it appears to me that one of the main reasons for freestyle is to get people to go to the other "specialty" restaurants where there is fee/service charge/gratuity, or whatever you want to call it, that is pretty hefty. Its usually $15 to $20 per person EACH time you go. So you could spend a bundle on a long cruise eating in the specialty restaurants.

Then with freestyle there is the matter of not having YOUR table and YOUR waiter for dinner each night. I just personally prefer to get to know MY waiter and have him/her and their assistant come to know what I want at dinner time. For example, if I want iced tea or wine with dinner they will make sure that I have it. Of if they know I want a roll but no butter then its made that way.

And the there is the matter of service versus gratuities. With freestyle you will more than likely have a different table and waiter each night. But they add a standard gratuity fee of $10 per person each day to your tab. So if you have 5 different waiters, and different levels of service, who really gets the gratuity who deserves it. Its just going into a pot that they all get a share of; thus there is less incentive for good service.

Now I have personally had the same problem as others with having to wait in line for a table when its freestyle. And one of those times was on a formal night when we were dressed formal and a bunch of folks ahead of us were in jeans and Hawaiian shirts. On one evening we sat a while waiting for a table and then just decided to go eat at the buffet.

On our last NCL cruise I did find out that even with freestyle you can go to the main dining room and make a reservation. So after the first couple days we did that and made them for 6:00PM when the dining room first opened.

So for your cruise I suggest that you go to the dining room as soon as you are on ship, and its open, and make a daily reservation for your group, just like its required for the specialty restaurants.

Answer 2

We were on NCL several years ago to Caribbean. Free Style Cruising means you don't have a reservation for dinner, just go to the restaurant of your choice and wait to be seated. Sometimes they take you right away and other times you have to wait. There were about four different choices of restaurants included in fare. You shouldn't have to pay extra if you do your homework. As far as cruising in Hawaii, I highly recommend it. We just were there for Halloween. You've got to visit Hilo Hattie's on whatever Island you visit. It's for tourists, but you'll love the stores.

Answer 3

the free style dining is really good. most of the time theres very little lines, most restaurants have to be booked in advanced, so they're already prepared. the reservations can be made only the day before, so do it once you go near the ground floor. its mainly the breakfasts that are really crowded. if you go to the restaurant that's open for breakfast, there's a long wait. otherwise its best to stay in the buffet for that. there's a lot more food to choose from.