Holland cruise line and caribbean

On Feb. 6, '03, I returned from a "South America Explorer" cruise on the Norwegian Dream with Vantage Deluxe World Travel (Boston, MA). I selected this ship and tour because of the destination, and I booked it while on a Holland America Line cruise to Iceland, etc., in the fall of 2002. I had no idea of the Freestyle Dining plan on board Norwegian Cruise Line's Norwegian Dream.

As a single traveler, I found the Freestyle Dining plan most difficult. For 23 days I would have different seating companions at every meal, if I chose not to eat alone. Even once a day, at dinner, that many times, it was uncomfortable to be always introducing myself. To eat alone, one had to stand in line early to get a table for two, and at every meal there were lines waiting to be seated.

The buffet dining room was a disorganized maze of people crowded into too small an area--very unpleasant dining there.

Due to these dining conditions, I often chose to have room service, causing extra service hours for the ship.

Another point--since people had waited so long in line for dinner, often they did not take dessert but went to the evening entertainment, returning to the dining room later for coffee and dessert, thus causing double seating, more linens, etc., for the ship.

Many passengers were dissatisfied with this dining plan and also with the suggested flat, $10-a-day tip. When I left, I felt I must tip extra to my fine steward, the beauty shop operators, etc.

I shall not book a cruise again with this Freestyle Dining plan.

CAROLYN KEARNS YOUNG

Dayton, OH

ITN sent a copy of the above letter to Norwegian Cruise Line and received the following reply.

Thank you for offering Norwegian Cruise Line the opportunity to address the letter you received from Ms. Carolyn Kearns Young regarding her cruise aboard Norwegian Dream.

We were very sorry to hear that her experience with our innovative Freestyle Cruising concept was not to her liking. Our purpose of implementing Freestyle Cruising is to provide passengers with new menus, new restaurants and more freedom of choice, which allows a guest to eat whenever, wherever and with whomever they wish.

We do understand that being a single passenger may become inconvenient in respects to introducing oneself to different dinner companions nightly; however, we still offer single seating with a moderate waiting period and room service.

Moreover, for passengers who enjoy traditional cruising, we have the Norway, sailing out of Miami to the Caribbean, which does not offer Freestyle Dining.

We appreciate our guests' comments and hope to have Ms. Young aboard our fleet sometime in the future.

HEATHER KRASNOW, Manager; Public Relations, Norwegian Cruise Line, 7665 Corporate Center Dr., Miami, FL 33126