Am going on 11/6 cruise out of Houston.
I know NCL has "Freestyle Cruising" style meals, but does that mean formal dinners have been eliminated? I really don't want to take a tuxedo if I don't have to.

Johncruise11/6,

welcome to Cruise-Chat.com.

There are still formal dinners on NCL, but they are held in one of the main dining rooms only. That means, if you don't want to participate, you don't have to as at least one main dining room plus the alternative restaurants offer casual meals.

With all the dining options, is it worth the trouble of taking a tuxedo? How is the food in the formal dining room compared with the other choices?

Johncruise11/6,

it is worth taking a tuxedo if you would like to - otherwise it isn't. It's not like on many other lines where there is just the possibility to avoid participating in the formal dinners by choosing the buffet restaurant.

Assuming that you will be going on "Norwegian Sea", one of her main dining rooms will offer the formal dinner once or twice per cruise, while the other one will offer a similar if not identical menu but without the need to dress up. In addition to that, for a nominal fee, one can also have dinner in the alternative restaurant, Le Bistro. I would recommend going there at least once, as from my experience (not on "Norwegian Sea" but on several other NCL ships) Le Bistro offers a very good dining experience that is well ahead of what is offered in the regular dining rooms (which I would consider standard cruise fare that is neither bad nor particularly memorable).