Norwegian Cruise Line is known for its Free Style cruising. They have no set dining times or formal nights. You go to the dining room at whatever time you choose. There may be a line. In that case, you will have to wait and then be given the next available table. You will have a different wait staff each night. If you are like us and prefer to have the same wait staff each night, you show up when the dining room opens and ask for the table you had on a previous night. Keep in mind that if you don’t arrive at the same time every night, chances of getting the same staff are slim. There are two dining rooms that serve the same menu. One of the dining rooms enforces a dress code; long pants, no flip flops, no tanks. With the exception of the first night, you will be asked to go to the other dining room if you are wearing any of those items. The other dining room is not as strict. A lot of people that we have talked to, on our previous cruises, rave about the food on NCL saying that it is so much better than the food on other cruise lines. We tend to disagree, so we asked if they eat in the complimentary restaurant or the specialty (pay) restaurants? Their response is mostly the specialty restaurants….there you have it! We have eaten in a few pay restaurants on NCL. The food is exceptional and no doubt better than the dining room. We can tell you that if you come across O’Sheehan’s or The Lotus Garden on an NCL ship be sure to give them a try. Both restaurants are complimentary and the food is very good. If you are a big eater, you may have trouble with the portion sizes in the dining room or the complimentary restaurants. Don’t let that concern you. There is no limit to the number of entrees you can order.
The rooms on NCL are a little smaller than the other cruise lines we have been on. Since we don’t spend much time in our cabin, it has never bothered us. Here’s an example; The Norwegian Sky came out in 1995 and is 832′ long with interior cabins range 121 -147 SF (Oceanview cabins are slightly larger than that, balcony cabins are slightly larger than both and so on) while the Carnival Imagination, which came out in the same year and is 855′ long, has interior cabins of 186 SF.
We have always enjoyed the entertainment on NCL. We saw ‘Oh What a Night’ (a tribute to Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons) and Terrance B (a hypnotist). Those are the most memorable shows. My husband is very skeptical about hypnotists, but a friend of ours (who we were with unless we were sleeping) was put out while sitting next to us!
The crew on Norwegian has always been friendly, accommodating and entertaining. They play the guitar and sing as you enter/leave the buffet providing service with a smile while they sanitize your hands….Happy, Happy, Washy, Washy!
Norwegian Cruise Lines is definitely worth trying, especially if it is your first cruise. Besides, for the right price any cruise is worth a shot!