As the smallest of the mainstream cruise lines, Norwegian sometimes is treated like the runt of the litter. Just a follower that never gets credit for anything original.
We have been on Norwegian ships several times. We have seen its innovations first-hand, and then watched other cruise lines copy what NCL has created. You know what they say about imitation and how it’s the greatest form of flattery…so Norwegian must feel flattered.
There is a list of NCL firsts that we’re not going to delve into here, except for one.
Freestyle Dining.
Princess has Personal Choice Dining. Carnival has Your Time. Royal Caribbean has My Time. Holland America has As You Wish. Celebrity has Select. All of them are variations of 
the same thing — giving passengers a choice of when to eat dinner, and whom to eat dinner with.
NCL’s Freestyle Dining was first.
We know this because many years ago we went shopping for the opportunity to have dinner for two. No companions we’d never met, with whom we’d make small talk. At that time, only Norwegian offered it.
Today, it is wildly popular. Today, we’re starting to hear 
from cruisers who are having trouble booking cruise line X’s variation of Freestyle Dining, because it’s booked. SRO. Today, it’s in such demand that cruise ships aren’t equipped to handle it.
Something else has happened, coincidentally. More specialty restaurants. Correct us if we’re wrong, but specialty restaurants mean you pick your time to eat (and pay for it). You pick your dinner partners (or not). And when you do, the sheer numbers alone mean there is less demand for what was always the traditional dinner option…tables for four, six, eight or more, at set times.
Cruise lines (including NCL) are benefiting big time, because now they’re charging for this privilege. Whether the chicken (freestyle) or the egg (specialty) came first, we know who did come first.
Norwegian.