Freestyle cruising

ABOARD NORWEGIAN SUN -- Traditionally, dinner on a cruise ship is set for a specific time at a table with the same people for the entire cruise. Usually there are at least a few nights where formal dress in the dining room is required.

Norwegian Cruise Line offers a different system, which the company calls Freestyle Cruising. If you want to eat in a restaurant on an NCL ship, you show up between 5:30 and 10:30 p.m. and order off the menu. There is no dress code. You can ask for a table for two, or you can ask to sit at a large table and meet other passengers. The concept has proved so successful it is available on all 15 NCL ships. To fulfill passenger requests, several other cruise lines have also come up with alternative dining programs that offer more flexibility about where, when and with whom they dine.

The flexibility to relax until early evening, then dine when we were ready -- without having to pack five days' worth of formal wear -- fit well with what my wife and I like to do on vacation: let our whims drive the schedule.

We sailed to Mexico aboard Norwegian Sun last year. It was our first cruise, but not our last. We liked the freestyle system and we fell in love with cruising.

On Norwegian Sun, the two main restaurants, sports bar and a couple of other places offer great meals for which you do not pay extra.

For $10 to $20 per person, the ship has a handful of other specialty restaurants that include a steakhouse, sushi bar and French restaurant where reservations are recommended.

Most other major cruise lines also offer a variety of dining options for those who want to skip the formal seating each night. Those options usually include buffets and cafes where you can dine as often as you like for no extra charge, as well as specialty restaurants for which you pay a small fee. In addition, many cruise lines require formal dress for the dining room on only a couple of nights, with casual dress on other nights.

But under the traditional system, if you want to eat in the formal dining room, you can't change your seating time or table mates. Sitting with other passengers can be a wonderful way to meet new people, but there might be times when you'd prefer to eat alone, or where you're not a good match for the folks randomly assigned to your table. You might find yourself opting for the buffet even if you'd prefer the food in the dining room. The freestyle system avoids that problem.

"Ships are changing, people's tastes are changing. There's more of a casual atmosphere out there," said Bob Sharak, vice president for marketing for the Cruise Lines International Association. "All the cruise lines are attacking this from different angles with different options."

For example, Princess Cruises introduced Personal Choice Dining in which passengers can either use the traditional fixed seating plan, or call the maitre d' and make reservations for a specific time each night. Princess passengers can also just show up at a restaurant on board and see if there's a table available.

Holland America offers As You Wish dining that also permits guests to choose either the preset dining time or flexible seating, where they can make reservations on a daily basis or just walk up during dining hours to get a table. Holland America first offered As You Wish on its Noordam ship last year and is rolling out the program to other ships in the fleet.

Another aspect of NCL's freestyle program is a $10-per-person daily charge to passenger accounts to handle all tips. Some other cruise lines offer similar options, but it's usually not automatic.

Other observations my wife and I had as first-time cruisers:

• Cruise ship staterooms are small but make good use of space. The advantage is, you unpack once and travel to different destinations without touching your bags again.

• The cruise experience allowed us to sleep in, run on the track around the ship or work out in the exercise room, eat when we were ready and just spend time alone relaxing on the deck or at dinner.

• There were only a few times we felt significant swaying on Norwegian Sun, a large ship at 848 feet. Various products, from wristbands to over-the-counter pills such as Bonine, are available for those prone to motion sickness.

• The cruise industry follows various hygiene protocols to prevent outbreaks of gastrointestinal illness such as norovirus. But experts say frequent hand washing -- especially before eating -- is the best way for passengers to protect themselves. On Norwegian Sun, as on other vessels, hand-sanitizer dispensers are located all over the ship.

• Booking a cruise need not be complicated or expensive. You can use a travel agent, book it yourself through the cruise line, or use a Web site that offers various deals. In our case, a pop-up ad in an e-mail caught my eye for VacationsToGo.com, which advertises savings on cruises of up to 75 percent. I perused the trips and called the 800 number to talk to one of the agents. He said the company works with cruise lines to fill up rooms 90 days before the ships sail, which is where the savings come from. The price was $750 for both of us, including pre-boarding fees. Four weeks later, we were in Mexico.

• Shore excursions can add adventure and cultural experiences to your lazy days onboard. When we talked about what we wanted to do on shore, I learned about a dream my wife had: to ride horseback on a white sand beach. I had no idea. We signed up for a ride on the island of Cozumel, the second stop on the cruise. After a morning ride, we ate lunch at a resort and spent the afternoon on the beach.

A day earlier, down the coast, we took an hour-long ride on a tour bus and explored the pyramids of Chacchoben, one of the old main Mayan distribution centers for wood and jade in the Costa Maya region.

• We live in South Dakota, and we wanted to go somewhere warm to celebrate milestone birthdays and just get a break. Our ship departed from New Orleans in January.

It was a great way to escape the long Midwestern winter, and we'll be doing it again.

If you go

Cruises

Go: To relax and enjoy a flexible schedule on board

No: If you prefer land-based resorts to shipboard life

Need to know: Cruise Lines International Association, (754) 224-2200, www.cruising.org

Norwegian Cruise Line: www.ncl.com or (866) 234-0292. Freestyle Cruising: www.ncl.com/fstyle

Princess Cruises: www.princess.com or (800) 774-6237

Holland America Line: www.hollandamerica.com or (877) 724-5425

Carnival Cruise Lines: www.carnival.com or (888) 227-6482

Vacations to go: www.vacationstogo.com or (800) 338-4962

Motion sickness treatments: U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, wwwn.cdc.gov/travel/yellowBookCh6-MotionSickness.aspx

Norovirus: U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, www.cdc.gov/Ncidod/dvrd/revb/gastro/norovirus-qa.htm

Primer for first-time cruisers

More than half of those who've never taken a cruise would like to do so, according to a survey by the Cruise Lines International Association, or CLIA.

But if you've never cruised before, the concept might sound intimidating. How do you book? How do you dress for dinner? How much do you tip?

Here are five things first-time cruisers need to know.

1. Must I use a travel agent to book a cruise?

Every cruise line has a Web site. You can easily book your own trip.

But which cruise is right for you? Do you like partying in discos and bars, or would you prefer Tommy Dorsey-style music in the cocktail lounge? For shore excursions, are you up for kayaking, or do you want the trolley tour? Do your kids need a baby sitter, organized arts and sports activities, or a teen lounge?

You can research and compare what each ship offers, or get advice from Web sites, such as CruiseCritic.com or TripAdvisor.com.

But it costs nothing extra to consult a travel agent "and you've got a professional who may actually have seen or been on the ship doing the work for you," said Bob Sharak, CLIA's vice president for marketing.

2. Do I have to eat in the formal dining room with strangers and dress for dinner?

Most ships have various dining options: buffets, cafes, specialty restaurants and formal dining rooms. Many ships offer "dress casual" nights in the formal dining rooms. But even formal dress nights don't necessarily mean tuxedos and gowns; a suit or dress will do. (Some folks dress casually even on formal nights.)

Some cruise lines let you sit where you want in the dining room. If not, chances are you'll have fun meeting other people at your table.

The dining room can also help you avoid loading your plate repeatedly at the buffet. Portions are controlled (although you can always request more than one entree or dessert); and some menus highlight low-fat or low-calorie options.

3. What should I pack?

Bring flip-flops or other slip-on shoes, and a robe or cover-up for walking from the pool to your cabin.

Pack for the weather. A New York-Caribbean trip in winter means a few cold days at sea. Alaska in August? Bring rain gear.

Some ships have self-serve washing machines and dryers, some don't. Sending dirty clothes out to the ship's laundry can be costly, so bring enough clothing for your trip, or find a coin-op laundry in port. Your stateroom bathroom might have a pullout clothesline for drying swimsuits or hand-washed items.

If you want a clock by your bedside, bring one. Not all staterooms have them (though you can always arrange a wake-up call).

The stateroom bathroom will have shampoo and soap, but not necessarily free moisturizer and conditioner as you'd expect from a hotel.

4. Does the price include everything?

Cruise prices include the room, food and some beverages. Free drinks might include coffee, tea, iced tea, lemonade and, with breakfast, juice.

Luxury cruise lines don't charge extra for wine or liquor. On many other lines, you can't even get soda for free, but you can buy beverage packages with unlimited soda ($6 a day is typical).

You could spend a lot on alcohol, casinos, spas, Internet access, video games and shopping.

If you're on a budget, stick to free activities: pool, gym, shows and, in port, a stroll through town or the beach instead of that pricey helicopter tour.

If you want shore excursions, you'll find vendors offering tours in each port. They may charge less than the cruise line charges for similar outings.

But if you have your heart set on a certain activity, book in advance through the cruise line and consider it money well spent. Popular tours will sell out.

"If you're dying to do a glacier sightseeing trip in Alaska, you've booked it in advance and it's taken care of," said Sharak. "Or if your tour bus gets a flat tire and is tardy coming back to the ship, if you've booked it through the cruise line, that ship is not going to leave without you."

5. How much and whom do I tip?

Some luxury lines forbid tipping.

Other cruise lines recommend certain amounts. Some offer prepaid gratuity options or levy a service charge for dining room staff and the person who cleans your room. A typical tip for stateroom attendants is $3.50 a day; dining room staff tips run $5-$10 per day, with that amount shared by your waiter, wine steward and maitre d'.

With prepayments, you're charged a gratuity for each person in your party, for each day of the cruise. So even if your kids never eat in the formal dining room, prepaid tips will go to the servers on their behalf. You might be better off deciding on tips near the end of your cruise, in case it makes more sense to tip a buffet worker who delighted your children each night at dinner with a magic trick.