Is Norwegian cruise Line the only line with free food, except for a few restaurants?

Question

My daughter seems to think that every other cruise line, has just restaurents you pay for, no free buffets, ice cream bars etc.

Answer 1

I have been on almost 20 cruises and many of them have been on NCL ships with the freestyle cruising.  There is little or no difference between freestyle cruising and cruising on any other cruise line with respect to food.  The price of your cruise regardless of the cruise line includes your cabin, ALL meals (except the specialty restaurants), all shows and entertainment, and use of all facilities on ship.   ALL cruise lines have a buffet area that is open from breakfast to dinner time and a main dining room that is open for dinner and some days lunch also.  All of these eating places are always free on all ships, and all ships have 24/7 free room service food.

On NCL ships the major difference is that you do not have to select a time for dinner as you must on most other cruise lines.  You just go to dinner when and where you want to go.  On Norwegian there are places where you can eat free 24/7.  There are places where you can eat free 24/7 on EVERY other cruise line.  NCL has some "speciality" restaurant, like French, Sushi, Italian, where you must pay a fee ($10 to $20 per person each visit) to eat.  All other cruise lines also have one or more specialty restaurants that charge a similar fee.  NCL tends to have more of these alternative eating places.

After you pay your cruise fare the things that you will have to pay for are:

GRATUITIES: They will amount to about $10 per person in your cabin per day; about $70 each for the week. When you check in at the pier they will set up an on-board charge account for you to cover any and everything you may buy on ship. They will issue you a "cruise card" which will also serve as your room key and pass to get on and off the ship. At the end of the cruise they will add the gratuity to your tab and you can pay with a credit card or cash, your choice.

ALCOHOLIC DRINKS AND SOFT DRINKS: Coffee, tea, milk, juice, and lemonade and punch will be provided free but you must pay for drinks (alcoholic beverages) and they will add a 15% gratuity to each drink of soft drink order. You can save on drinks by ordering them in a plain glass rather than the souvenir glasses they often use. You can also save money if you can by taking a six-pack of bottled water and soft drinks with you in your carry on.

PHOTOGRAPHS: Cruise lines will take plenty of photographs of you all over the ship, in the dining room, and as you exit the ship in ports. These will cost a lot, like $15 to $20 for most. Skip them and save yourself a lot of money. Take your own camera and have the other passengers photograph you on and off the ship.

TOURS/EXCURSIONS: These are listed on your cruise line web site and you can reserve them well before the cruise and pay for them also. If you wait until you are on ship to book tours they will be charged to your on board account (then you can pay cash to settle your account on the last day)

SOUVENIRS: Anything you buy on ship from a gift shop or duty free shop goes on your on board account. Things that you buy on shore you pay cash or credit card for.

CASINO: If you plan to gamble on ship you will need cash for that.

OTHER:  If you want/need to have your hair done, get a massage or wrap, or any services from the spa, you will have to pay for them. You can use the gym free but the spa stuff cost big bucks. Ships now have internet cafe and some have WiFi but the there is a fee for internet access and it is very expensive (like about $50 to $60 an hour). You cabin will likely have a minibar with soft drinks and munchies; you have to pay for them (but there is free room service 24/7).

Answer 2

By "free" I assume you mean included in the price of the cruise.  All cruise lines include the meals in the price of the cruise.  Some cruise lines have alternative restaurants that charge an extra fee.  However, these restaurants are optional.  

Norwegian has more extra cost restaurant choices than the other cruises lines.  For example, Carnival has one per ship, but on less than half of the fleet.  Royal Caribbean has one or two per ship, but again, not on all ships.  Typically Norwegian has about three.  But again, these are optional.  You can eat in the main dining room or the buffet for free (actually the cost of the meal is included in the cost of the cruise) on all the cruise lines.

As you might correctly assume, these extra cost restaurants offer better food and service than the "free" restaurants do.

Answer 3

I have been on Carnival and Princess. Both have all meals included. Both have the dining room and buffet options. There are specialty restaurants and ice cream/coffee that you pay extra if you would like. Norwegian is the only line that offers freestyle dining. This just means that you do not have a set time to go to dinner in the dining room. You either make reservations or show up and take the next available table. Princess has the option of choosing a set early/late time or what they call "anytime dining."  You choose one style at the beginning of the cruise and then stay with it until the end.

Answer 4

No cruise line has 'free' food, in the sense that you pay for meals included with the fare.

Most cruise lines now include the price of meals in the cruise price.  In other words, once you have paid for the trip, the meals are 'free'.  On some, this even includes sit-down dinners (not just buffets).

There are still extras like special restaurants (you pay extra for the extra service, not for the food) and service bars (like ice cream, specialty coffees).

In general, booze is never free.

Answer 5

this site has useful cruise information

http://allcruiselines.info