On another thread here I said we had no plans to cruise in 2015.

jacketwatch · January 25, 2015

So we spontaneously decided to book a cruise today. Its May 2 out of Miami on the NCL Getaway. Its our 1st NCL cruise and its such a cool looking ship so we are very excited for this one. This is not so much for the ports, Nassau, St. Thomas and Tortola, but also for the ship itself. So as this is our 1st on free style any tips from experienced NCL cruises for restaurants, shows etc. would be appreciated. :smile:

Shari2 · January 25, 2015

Congrats on the booking, Larry. I haven't been on the "Getaway" but I have heard good things about her. Have fun!

jacketwatch · January 26, 2015

Congrats on the booking, Larry. I haven't been on the "Getaway" but I have heard good things about her. Have fun!

Me too Shari. Actually in the latest issue of CN Traveler mag NCL ranks 2nd only to Disney which is much more $$ for large cruise lines.

Shari2 · January 26, 2015

Wow...I didn't know that. NCL has come a long way. Cool!

WeCruiseToo · January 26, 2015

So we spontaneously decided to book a cruise today. Its May 2 out of Miami on the NCL Getaway. Its our 1st NCL cruise and its such a cool looking ship so we are very excited for this one. This is not so much for the ports, Nassau, St. Thomas and Tortola, but also for the ship itself. So as this is our 1st on free style any tips from experienced NCL cruises for restaurants, shows etc. would be appreciated.

Hi Larry, spontaneously booking a cruise is one of the most fun things we can think of! Norwegian has some good promos right now; did you get a dining/drinks/credit deal?

I’m sure you know the basics of Norwegian’s Freestyle Cruising: no main dining room, no set dining times, very little dress code, etc. The downside is, depending on what you want to do, this could mean a lot more planning for you. We love going to the shows when we cruise and with traditional dining you rarely need to think about your schedule because the show will be timed after (or sometimes before) you eat.

We loved the shows aboard Norwegian Getaway; “Legally Blond” and “Burn the Floor” are both well worth seeing. We didn’t do the “Illusionarium” dinner show ($25-$30pp) but people seemed to love it. You should look at your itinerary and pick times to reserve these shows online as soon as you can. If you really plan to do “what you want, when you want” like they advertise, you could end up missing a lot. Also, even with a reservation you’ll see people lining up for shows well before the doors open; I believe your reserved seats are released 10-15 minutes before showtime and given to walkups. I don’t want this to sound like a negative, it actually goes fairly smoothly if you know what to expect. The other entertainment (comedy club, dueling pianos, fireworks) we were able to see without any issues.

So now it’s up to you to plan your dinning around the shows you’ve booked, and you don’t always know how long a meal will take so you need to pad it with enough time.

A lot of experienced “traditional” cruisers say Norwegian “forces” you to go to the specialty restaurants but that’s not true at all. We have never had a bad meal at one of their included restaurants. One of the three main included restaurants requires men to have close-toed shoes at night (weird, right?). I leave my sandals in the cabin at night just in case that’s the restaurant with no line. If there’s little wait time you should always pick the Tropicana Room for dinner if you don’t have specialty plans; they provide entertainment there that really makes the meal more memorable. When you walk up to any of these dining venues, if you’d like to or don’t mind dinning with others let the hostess know, you’ll likely be seated quicker.

Regarding the specialty dining options, we have friends who dine out at home almost every night so they love paying for these (the charge is a fraction of what they’d pay at home) but we rarely dine out (because we’re saving up for our next cruise!) so we’re a little picky. Our favorite is Moderno Churrascaria ($20pp) for its value versus similar shoreside eateries. We’ve been on 12 Norwegian cruises so far and have tried most of the specialty restaurants so let us know if you’re on the fence about paying for one.

Other tips for Norwegian Getaway: waterslides are fun at any age, a photo of you on the ropes course will be priceless, the Ice Bar is very fun ($ upcharge) even if you don’t drink.

Most importantly, you’re on vacation. Relax, enjoy, have fun. Let us know if you have any questions at all. Happy cruising!

jacketwatch · January 26, 2015

Great advice, thank you.

We do plan reserve the shows we want to see ahead of time. Good to know about the 15 minute time limit for them.

We took the $200.00 OBC. Pretty good I think.

It seems like dinner seating is like breakfast seating in the MDR. We like to meet people so that's cool.

I like smart casual so no sandals for me at dinner. LOL.

Cheers, Larry

KeithnRita · January 26, 2015

Larry, congratulations for your latest booking!

DebbieandJerry · January 26, 2015

Congrats on your booking. We found the "free-style" to not be so easy, until we figured out what we had to do. Make your dinner reservation the night before. If you wait and head to the dining room that night, you might have a 45-60 minute (or longer) wait. The smaller dining room filled up first and we had difficulties getting in to that one most of the time.

WeCruiseToo · January 29, 2015

It seems like dinner seating is like breakfast seating in the MDR. We like to meet people so that's cool.

It really is like that but with everyone going to the dining room instead of the buffet. Also, there are a lot more small tables. As a couple (especially since you’re flexible about dining with others) you’ll be fine getting seated. We've found if you have more than four people in your group though, getting a table can be a real challenge.