Specialty resturant reservations?

We are sailing March 5 on the Westerdamn. Can we book our speciality reservation before boarding or wait?

We are sailing March 5 on the Westerdamn. Can we book our speciality reservation before boarding or wait?

You can book at any point by logging in through HAL's website and purchasing a reservation. However if you received a dining experience as part of a promotion, those are generally assigned to you and you would have to see about rebooking once on board the ship. For example, my parents 40th anniversary dinner falls on Sunday Aug 28th, so we've asked HAL if they can have their reservation at the Pinnacle on that night, and ours as well, but we will have to see if that does in fact happen. Worst case scenario, we'll see about rebooking.

If you have a specific time for a Specialty Restaurant, it is wise to book online before you embark. If you you wait until you are aboard, you might find only available reservation times that you do not prefer.

I just booked the Pinnacle Grill for the last night of our cruise. Much to my surprise, I had to prepay online. Is this always the case? Is the same true for excursions?

I just booked the Pinnacle Grill for the last night of our cruise. Much to my surprise, I had to prepay online. Is this always the case? Is the same true for excursions?

It is, yes. Just like if you purchase any indulgences or bottles of wine to be in your stateroom, you are purchasing it now for while you are on your cruise. The same goes for excursions.

You do not have to buy now, but if you want to be guaranteed to have a spot on an in-demand excursion (ie. White Pass Route in Skagway), it is recommended. As well, it allows you to space out any spending if your finances are fluid.

We always pre-book specialty restaurants as soon as possible so that we can get the day and time we want.

I just booked the Pinnacle Grill for the last night of our cruise. Much to my surprise, I had to prepay online. Is this always the case? Is the same true for excursions?

HAL has always had it that you have to pre-pay all specialty restaurants, excursions and anything else you buy before the cruise.

If you want to change a specialty restaurant before the cruise -- you have to call Ship Services at 1-800-541- 1576 and they will credit the refund back to your credit card. Must be done at least 3 days before the cruise. After that the credit will appear on your shipboard account.

Excursions -- these can be cancelled online at HAL's site up to 3 days before the cruise. Once on the ship , on the first day you can cancel an excursion without any penalties -- refunded as a shipboard credit. After that, check the excursion booklet in your cabin to get the dates of when excursions can be cancelled with a 10% penalty. If you miss the deadline -- no refund.

We always pre-book specialty restaurants as soon as possible so that we can get the day and time we want.

We do the same. Although it is rare, we have seen nights booked up.

So have we.

It was really bad on the first week of our Eurodam cruises in October.

They even opened the Pinnacle Grill at 5 PM. They had to deal with tons of Explore4 program, the dining around program and 5 star Mariners getting 2 free dinners, etc.

As a result the Chef's Table wasn't available either of our cruises.

Thanks, everyone. I am used to Disney, which does not make you prepay for anything. Doesn't Holland's way of doing this make for a potential difficult situation when someone is expecting a large amount of OBC but cannot use it for pre-booked dining/excursions?

I was wondering the same thing.

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Thanks, everyone. I am used to Disney, which does not make you prepay for anything. Doesn't Holland's way of doing this make for a potential difficult situation when someone is expecting a large amount of OBC but cannot use it for pre-booked dining/excursions?

You are correct, Disney does it differently. But at the same time, since Disney does not make you pre-pay people can book several options and maybe not really intend to use them all. Maybe they can't decide which day they want to go to Palo so they book multiple. This can cause difficulty for DCL cruisers who are not eligible to pre-book as early as others based on the Castaway level. HAL's method may lessen this issue.

I'm sure there are pros and cons to both methods.

Thanks, everyone. I am used to Disney, which does not make you prepay for anything. Doesn't Holland's way of doing this make for a potential difficult situation when someone is expecting a large amount of OBC but cannot use it for pre-booked dining/excursions?

Yes, that is a problem when you have alot of OBC.

Research this board for ideas on how to turn OBC into cash (basically use the casino).

You are correct, Disney does it differently. But at the same time, since Disney does not make you pre-pay people can book several options and maybe not really intend to use them all. Maybe they can't decide which day they want to go to Palo so they book multiple. This can cause difficulty for DCL cruisers who are not eligible to pre-book as early as others based on the Castaway level.

Luckily, in my experience, this is not the case on Disney Cruise Line. In the Disney parks, however, overbooking dining is certainly a problem!

I booked Pinnacle and Tamirand ahead and will get credit back to my on board account but I wanted certain times and days. I might book both again when on board.When we had free Pinnacle dinners they were always scheduled too early or too late on the cards left in the cabin when we board.

We had our first cruise with HAL on the Veendam last Spring. We enjoyed it a lot and have booked another cruise on the Veendam in April. One thing we did notice was that the Italian Restaurant Canaletto was booked solid when we asked about making reservations other than the complimentary dinner that came with the Explore4 and one dinner we had happened to pre-book before the cruise. We tried several times hoping a spot -at any time, early or late- would open up, and none ever did. We were never able to book a dinner in Canaletto once on board. I learned from that and have pre-booked and paid for several dinners in Canaletto for our upcoming cruise. The food we had there and in the Pinnacle Grill was excellent, and both venues seemed to book quickly once we were on board the Veendam. Not sure which ship you are on but that was our experience with HAL and specialty dining. We also thought the buffet was pretty darned good, and enjoyed lunch and dinner in MDR. We felt that the food quality was better than what we have had in the past with NCL.

Lorie

We had our first cruise with HAL on the Veendam last Spring. We enjoyed it a lot and have booked another cruise on the Veendam in April. One thing we did notice was that the Italian Restaurant Canaletto was booked solid when we asked about making reservations other than the complimentary dinner that came with the Explore4 and one dinner we had happened to pre-book before the cruise. We tried several times hoping a spot -at any time, early or late- would open up, and none ever did. We were never able to book a dinner in Canaletto once on board. I learned from that and have pre-booked and paid for several dinners in Canaletto for our upcoming cruise. The food we had there and in the Pinnacle Grill was excellent, and both venues seemed to book quickly once we were on board the Veendam. Not sure which ship you are on but that was our experience with HAL and specialty dining. We also thought the buffet was pretty darned good, and enjoyed lunch and dinner in MDR. We felt that the food quality was better than what we have had in the past with NCL.

 

Lorie

When HAL runs the free specialty dining offers, these places fill up very quickly. All the more reason to book ahead. If there are no free dining offers outstanding, it is MUCH easier to get the time you want, even if you wait to book while onboard.

I booked Pinnacle and Tamirand ahead and will get credit back to my on board account but I wanted certain times and days. I might book both again when on board.When we had free Pinnacle dinners they were always scheduled too early or too late on the cards left in the cabin when we board.

Are you saying that if I am supposed to receive 1 Free Pinnacle Grill meal (when I booked the cruise), they will pre-book a day and time for me?

Are you saying that if I am supposed to receive 1 Free Pinnacle Grill meal (when I booked the cruise), they will pre-book a day and time for me?

Depends on which promotion is providing the dinner...

Are you saying that if I am supposed to receive 1 Free Pinnacle Grill meal (when I booked the cruise), they will pre-book a day and time for me?

We got ours with the Explore4 package and it was prebooked, but we were able to change it once onboard.

We also had the Explore4 program and got a free dinner in the Pinnacle when we were on the Eurodam.

We were assigned the first night at 5 PM. Since I had already pre-booked the Tamarind for the first night, we went down to see the Pinnacle manager. He would not change the day. So we had to change our Tamarind reservation to another night.