Is "Freestyle Cruising" still a unique selling point of the line? If not, what is?

I enjoy my time with NCL and will likely be sailing more in the future, but is "Freestyle Cruising" still a unique selling point of the line?

Before sailing with them for the first time, I was told that the one thing NCL excels at relatively to Royal Caribbean and Carnival is the more relaxed "Freestyle Cruising" concept, which they pioneered. In general, it meant the following...

1. More flexible dining times and no fixed seating.

2. More casual vibe without strict dress codes.

3. Greater emphasis on alternative, paid dining options and variety.

4. Less rigid daily schedule.

I was very curious to learn what this meant on my NCL cruise. Honestly though, I've come to realize that the other lines have adopted similar policies over the years to the point where it no longer seems like "Freestyle Cruising" is a selling point of NCL anymore.

1. Other cruise lines have flexible time dining AND fixed seating. If you want, you can show up when you want to dine in the main dining rooms each day or, if you're like me and you prefer a fixed dining time, you can go that route too. So it seemed like NCL, forcing you to use the flexible dining time as the only option, is LESS "Freestyle" than the other lines.

2. Mainstream cruises haven't had the stuffy, formal dress codes for a long time. Royal has done away with the old "Formal Night" in favor of a more relaxed dress code in the main dining room. There are still themed nights including a "Dress your best" night in which, if you'd like, you can dress more formally knowing that's when others might be doing the same, but it's in no way required. Carnival has done the same.

3. NCL was supposedly known for having more complimentary dining options onboard to support if you didn't want to go to one of the traditional dining options like the main dining rooms. However, I didn't really find this to be the case. My last sailing on them was on Prima and there were the main dining rooms, the buffet, the Indulge Food Hall (which I liked), and The Local... That's it. Meanwhile, the last ship I was on from Royal Caribbean had more than 10. Yes, that ship was larger... but not so much larger as to where more than twice as many complementary dining options were necessary to maintain the parity. There were plenty of extra pay restaurants onboard, but is the implication you need to pay more to get the "Freestyle" benefit?

4. I'm not sure I get the "Less rigid daily schedule" thing... What does that mean? I didn't get a good answer onboard. You can obviously point to the lack of set dining times as an example (which, as we discussed, stopped being unique a long time ago). Outside that, it's not like they can have their entertainment schedule be flexible. Shows still happened at a set time. Same with other events, trivia, etc. One could argue that having a show shown at more times gives more flexibility... but they weren't shown any more than on other lines. In fact, some of the shows were only shown once in my sailing. If you missed it, you missed it. 

Now I recognize this all sounds kinda harsh, so I did want to recognize that I do very much enjoy my time with NCL. There are some more unique entertainment options, like the crew talent shows, that I haven't seen on other lines. I like venues like the Indulge Food Hall concept, even if it has some issues. I've gotten some amazing deals with the line compared to others, which is what drew me to them to begin with. I cruised solo and I do think NCL does the best when catering to solo cruisers. 

I just found myself pondering the whole "Freestyle Cruising" thing and questioning if that's really something we should be boasting as a differentiator of NCL from other lines today and, without it, what SHOULD we use as the real differentiator that NCL excels at that no other line does?