What cruise lines offer flexible meals and dress?

Brenda J. wrote:

Is there a cruise line where formal nights are optional (ie. one could
eat at a buffet dressed in khakis and a golf shirt) and afterwards
still go to the production shows or other public rooms without feeling
underdressed?

Princess would be a good choice. I like Personal Choice dining, so we
can eat dinner whenever the time is right for us. On a couple of
cruises, we only ate one or two meals in the dining room, the rest of
our meals were in the buffet.

Becca -----good luck on your decision...

Sleazy3 http://www.cruisemaster.com/sleazy3.htm
MOAGC http://www.motherofallgroupcruises.com/
Miracle in May http://www.cruisemaster.com/miracle.htm

We also usually go on Celebrity but we tried the Radiance of the Seas to
Alaska this year. I think Royal Caribbean would meet your specifications.
They keep the buffet open for breakfast, lunch and dinner and don't require
reservation like the alternative dining on Celebrity. People did dress up
for formal night, but it wasn't as predominant as on Celebrity cruises.
They had many more families on board than the Celebrity ships I've been on
and the atmosphere was a bit more casual.

Sara

"Brenda J." wrote in message
...
My husband and I generally sail on Celebrity, but my parents want to
take the family on a cruise for their 50th anniversary. My parents
are generally casual people who do not enjoy getting dressed up. As
well, they much prefer buffets to ordering off a menu, and would feel
most comfortable on a ship that allowed them to eat at buffets for all
their meals. If their gratuities were automatically charged to their
account, that would probably be an added bonus.

We've previously sailed on Celebrity, Carnival and Norwegian, and each
of those lines at the time had an expectation that one dressed
formally on formal night, and dined in the dining room.

Is there a cruise line where formal nights are optional (ie. one could
eat at a buffet dressed in khakis and a golf shirt) and afterwards
still go to the production shows or other public rooms without feeling
underdressed?

We're looking within a Celebrity-type budget, and destination will
likely be Bermuda or southern Caribbean.

Any suggestions would be greaty appreciated.

Brenda J.

We also usually go on Celebrity but we tried the Radiance of the Seas to
Alaska this year. I think Royal Caribbean would meet your specifications.
They keep the buffet open for breakfast, lunch and dinner and don't require
reservation like the alternative dining on Celebrity. People did dress up
for formal night, but it wasn't as predominant as on Celebrity cruises.
They had many more families on board than the Celebrity ships I've been on
and the atmosphere was a bit more casual.

Sara

"Brenda J." wrote in message
...
My husband and I generally sail on Celebrity, but my parents want to
take the family on a cruise for their 50th anniversary. My parents
are generally casual people who do not enjoy getting dressed up. As
well, they much prefer buffets to ordering off a menu, and would feel
most comfortable on a ship that allowed them to eat at buffets for all
their meals. If their gratuities were automatically charged to their
account, that would probably be an added bonus.

We've previously sailed on Celebrity, Carnival and Norwegian, and each
of those lines at the time had an expectation that one dressed
formally on formal night, and dined in the dining room.

Is there a cruise line where formal nights are optional (ie. one could
eat at a buffet dressed in khakis and a golf shirt) and afterwards
still go to the production shows or other public rooms without feeling
underdressed?

We're looking within a Celebrity-type budget, and destination will
likely be Bermuda or southern Caribbean.

Any suggestions would be greaty appreciated.

Brenda J.

NCL offers "Free Style Dining"

"Free Style Dining means the choice is yours. With Freestyle Cruising,
you travel a world of dining options all in one week. From elegant
French bistros and Italian trattorias to sushi and tapas bars, and
more, there’s a different dining option for almost every night of your
cruise. With up to 10 different restaurants, each featuring a diverse
an ever-changing menu, you’ll always find exactly what you’re in the
mood for. And there are no fixed seatings. Imagine restaurants open
from 5:30 pm to midnight so that you can choose from an early dinner
before the show or a later romantic dinner for the two of you. And of
course there’s always the option of 24-hour room service. You’re free
to dine where, when and with whom you choose. Just as it should be on
your vacation. "


--
Rockstarnoir

Jaime Lynne
Executive Host
ValetNoir Inc.
1-888-623-1717
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Rockstarnoir's Profile: 487
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NCL offers "Free Style Dining"

"Free Style Dining means the choice is yours. With Freestyle Cruising,
you travel a world of dining options all in one week. From elegant
French bistros and Italian trattorias to sushi and tapas bars, and
more, there’s a different dining option for almost every night of your
cruise. With up to 10 different restaurants, each featuring a diverse
an ever-changing menu, you’ll always find exactly what you’re in the
mood for. And there are no fixed seatings. Imagine restaurants open
from 5:30 pm to midnight so that you can choose from an early dinner
before the show or a later romantic dinner for the two of you. And of
course there’s always the option of 24-hour room service. You’re free
to dine where, when and with whom you choose. Just as it should be on
your vacation. "


--
Rockstarnoir

Jaime Lynne
Executive Host
ValetNoir Inc.
1-888-623-1717
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rockstarnoir's Profile: 487
View this thread: 129389

Princess offers Personal Choice dining.

Princess offers Personal Choice dining.

"ppp-man" wrote in message news:EeyXc.57526$X12.47323@edtnps84...
We also usually go on Celebrity but we tried the Radiance of the Seas to
Alaska this year. I think Royal Caribbean would meet your specifications.
They keep the buffet open for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

While Royal Caribbean does have a buffet option for all three meals,
my experience (August 16-21, 2004 on the Enchantment) was that the
dinner buffet food was far inferior to the dining room food. We
decided to skip the dining room one evening because we had early
seating but didn't want to rush back to the ship, missing time in
port. Holy cow. The buffet (excuse my language) SUCKED! It looked
leftovers from lunches that were served days before. Selection was non
existent. I had expected that the buffet would offer a similar menu to
what was being served in the dining room, but in a more informal
atmosphere. No appetizers...not even a carving station like they had
every day at lunch. There was actually less and worse options at
dinner than there was during lunch hours. We both just took several
trips to the salad bar for our meal...I guess it turned out healthy,
anyway.

What's my point, other than to rag on RCI? I just wouldn't count on
RCI buffets for dinner every night. As the OP said, her folks would
rather eat buffets than sit down. Seems to me that RCI concentrates on
putting their best foot forward in the dining room for the evening
meal. Although there's a buffet available, I'd be hard pressed to
recommend it for all your dinners.

One of the ships I was on...I think it was Horizon, actually dressed
up the buffet restaurant for dinner...tablecloths and everything.
Overall, I was much more impressed with their buffets. And, probably
my favorite buffets are on HAL, especially when they include some
Indonesian and Filipino dishes.

Lee

reservation like the alternative dining on Celebrity. People did dress up
for formal night, but it wasn't as predominant as on Celebrity cruises.
They had many more families on board than the Celebrity ships I've been on
and the atmosphere was a bit more casual.

Sara

"Rockstarnoir" wrote in message
...

NCL offers "Free Style Dining"

"Free Style Dining means the choice is yours. With Freestyle Cruising,
you travel a world of dining options all in one week. From elegant
French bistros and Italian trattorias to sushi and tapas bars, and
more, there’s a different dining option for almost every night of your
cruise. With up to 10 different restaurants, each featuring a diverse
an ever-changing menu, you’ll always find exactly what you’re in the
mood for. And there are no fixed seatings. Imagine restaurants open
from 5:30 pm to midnight so that you can choose from an early dinner
before the show or a later romantic dinner for the two of you. And of
course there’s always the option of 24-hour room service. You’re free
to dine where, when and with whom you choose. Just as it should be on
your vacation. "


What you didn't say was that many of those options are "extra-charge"
restaurants.

--Tom

"Tom & Linda" wrote in message
. net...

"Rockstarnoir" wrote in message
...

NCL offers "Free Style Dining"

"Free Style Dining means the choice is yours. With Freestyle Cruising,
you travel a world of dining options all in one week. From elegant
French bistros and Italian trattorias to sushi and tapas bars, and
more, there's a different dining option for almost every night of your
cruise. With up to 10 different restaurants, each featuring a diverse
an ever-changing menu, you'll always find exactly what you're in the
mood for. And there are no fixed seatings. Imagine restaurants open
from 5:30 pm to midnight so that you can choose from an early dinner
before the show or a later romantic dinner for the two of you. And of
course there's always the option of 24-hour room service. You're free
to dine where, when and with whom you choose. Just as it should be on
your vacation. "


What you didn't say was that many of those options are "extra-charge"
restaurants.

--Tom



Since you are one for precise wording Tom, that should be "some" rather
than "many". For instance, of the 10 restaurants on the Dawn, only 3 are
"extra-charge". I don't consider that to be "many".

--
Greg
lid
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