Restaurant Reservations

We are taking our first cruise on Regent on Explorer in September. Which of the restaurants will require reservations?

All of them except Compass Rose.

Sette Mari will also not require reservations.

Reservations are required in Prime 7, Chartreuse and Pacific Rim

One dining reservation in each restaurant may be pre-booked online 75 days before the cruise; or 90 days out by those in Concierge suites, and above, and Silver SSS members

Additional reservations, if available, may be made once you are on-board

As already posted, the other two restaurants, Compass Rose and Sette Mari at La Veranda, do not require, or accept, reservations

Enjoy your cruise :)

I don't understand, if you pay in full let's say six month out why can't you make reservations? I know you can on another line.

What is there not to understand?

Each line has their own policies. I know some lines require you to dine at a set time every night. Those that cruise on that other line seem to just accept it

I don't understand, if you pay in full let's say six month out why can't you make reservations? I know you can on another line.

Well as I'm sure you know, Regent has a set schedule for these things. For my mid-January Mariner cruise, we do dining reservations in mid-October, a full two months after final payment is due in mid-August.

As long as it's a level playing field (within defined parameters), what difference does it make?

Well, if I going to pony up big bucks six moths or more (paid in full) I Should be able to make definitive reservations before those creeping up on final payment, that should be a benefit for Regent or any other line. After all they will have our money sooner rather then later. If I cancel before the final payments are due then that opening will go back to others who wait until final payment. If the line is going to keep my money for six months or more then I believe I/we should be able to have first choice at reservations. JMHO

This is an interesting segue into many of the discussions on this board. Commenters (including me about the Regent website) may have strong opinions about what Regent should do (or not do) but the reality is we are entering into a contract where Regent has identified the conditions that we MUST agree TO abide by (even if we don't agree WITH). Otherwise use your (my) money with an other offeror (cruise line) that we can better agree with the conditions.

Agree DeepFreeze63! I do have to laugh as this is the first time I've seen this "complaint" in all the years I've been on CC. Usually people complain that they don't want to decide 90 days in advance where they will want to dine once they get onboard the ship. One luxury line (think it was Seabourn) had a policy where everyone had to call a phone number once they boarded in order to make dining reservations. They had to put up with a busy signal for quite a while before getting through. On Silversea you cannot make a dining reservation until you board (unless this has changed in the past year or so).

As Keith1010 often reminds posters, it is nice to have choices of cruise lines!

If the line is going to keep my money for six months or more then I believe I/we should be able to have first choice at reservations

Why?

I'm very sorry, but I am having a real problem with the logic of connecting these two disconnected issues. :confused:

My understanding is that the objective of Regent's pre-booking system is to allow every guest to have the opportunity of at least one reservation in each speciality restaurant during the cruise

Why?

I'm very sorry, but I am having a real problem with the logic of connecting these two disconnected issues. :confused:

 

 

My understanding is that the objective of Regent's prebooking system is to allow every guest to have the opportunity of at least one reservation in each speciality restaurant during the cruise

Greetings from South Beach, flossie009. Prebooking doesn't really have much to do with providing individual reservations. The line knows how many seats each restaurant has, and that the number is sufficient to provide each guest with the correct number of reservations. However, setting up some before embarkation makes life easier for the staff. Hundreds of people making reservations on board might lead to mutiny. We haven't always made advanced reservations because we also like room service. We used to book a villa on NCL, the precursor of The Haven, and often dined in. On Oceania, Penthouse and up can order from any restaurant menu and be served by the butler. Not a bad deal.

We don't board Explorer until March. It's a TA, so we will make advance reservations. All those sea days!

 

 

One luxury line (think it was Seabourn) had a policy where everyone had to call a phone number once they boarded in order to make dining reservations. They had to put up with a busy signal for quite a while before getting through.

 

Which restaurant does this policy apply to? I've been a Seabourn regular for several years nnow and have never had to "call a number on boarding and put up with a busy signal." I'm curious to know which restaurant this was. Is it on the current Odyssey class ships?

Which restaurant does this policy apply to? I've been a Seabourn regular for several years nnow and have never had to "call a number on boarding and put up with a busy signal." I'm curious to know which restaurant this was. Is it on the current Odyssey class ships?

This was a few years ago and I read it on the Cruise Critic Seabourn board. Kindly let us know what the current policy is so that I don't misrepresent it in the future. Thanks!

This was a few years ago and I read it on the Cruise Critic Seabourn board. Kindly let us know what the current policy is so that I don't misrepresent it in the future. Thanks!

I think the long time Seabourn cruisers would know. I know when I pay for my cruise in full I can go online and book my reservations and times before those who have not paid in full. That is great for the line they have my money way in advance of final payment.

I think the long time Seabourn cruisers would know. I know when I pay for my cruise in full I can go online and book my reservations and times before those who have not paid in full. That is great for the line they have my money way in advance of final payment.

IMO, this is a non-issue for Regent passengers. We can book excursions 240 days in advance and air 270 days in advance (and it has nothing whatsoever to do with paying in full). This is yet another reason why your decision to not sail on Regent is likely a good idea. You are happy with Crystal and there is nothing wrong with that!

We are talking about restaurant reservations not excursions.

We are talking about restaurant reservations not excursions.

I know and I would not want to have to make dining reservations 6 months in advance. Just commenting that Regent does allow excursion and air reservations way in advance. While I suppose that making air reservations 270 days out is a good thing, having to make decisions for our March, 2017 cruise this month seems weird. Can't imagine making dining reservations in September for that cruise. We have 2 other cruises to think about between now and then.

Again, this is not an issue that any Regent passenger has brought up before. I would imagine that some Crystal passengers would not want to pay their cruise in full 6 months in advance. On Regent, if you did that, you could no longer take advantage of price reductions (unless you live in the U.K.). I suspect that Regent and Crystal are very different cruise lines - in many respects. I seem to remember that there is limit in terms of dining in specialty restaurants. If you exceed that limit there is a charge. We're happy that that rule does not exist on Regent.

Anyway, glad that you are as happy with Crystal as we are with Regent. Now on to other issues.

You keep bringing up Crystal and I have not. Since you did, the fact is you have two free visits on a thirteen day cruise and four if after fourteen and so fourth. If you want additional visits it is a $30.00 charge. On land the famous Nobu is at least $100.00 PP or more so for that extra visit it is a mere $30.00 per suite. On Silversea you pay for a speciality restaurant Champagne and on Crystal they have the Vintage Room which really beats any cruise line for well designed courses and high end wines. On the Serenity you also have Prego and Tastes.

You brought up Crystal....I did not not on this thread. I just said other lines and your information about Seabourn seems to be incorrect.

Each cruise line has their own way of doing things. I know we'd all like to cherry pick from each line but I always say be careful what you wish for because what one person thinks is preferred about a particular line another one might not.

I am one who is glad there are several differences between lines because we are all different and have different preferences and desires. Same is true about other products where there is a real difference.

I do want to note that on Silversea you not only pay for La Champagne but on the Spirit you pay for Seisin Restaurant. I was fine with that and understand the concept. The other restaurant(s) were inclusive

I don't believe that we cold make reservations on Silversea until 120 days out. By the way they don't confirm the time; just noted that on the request. No complaining but that is how it worked. Once on board, we got with the maitre d' to attempt to get the time we truly desired.

And on Crystal when the charges kick in it is $30.00 per person. Again, not complaining. Understand the concept.

For those of us who are fortunate enough to not only cruise but to take a luxury line aren't we all so very lucky.

I suspect that most of us could identify one or more items that we would prefer changed on any cruise line we sail, but as they say it is what it is. :)

Some are likely not deal breakers and a few might be. If they are, the good news is there are several lines to choose from.

Hopefully, there is enough to like about one or more lines of ones choice that overall they will be happy. :)

Keith

I suspect that most of us could identify one or more items that we would prefer changed on any cruise line we sail, but as they say it is what it is. :)

 

Some are likely not deal breakers and a few might be. If they are, the good news is there are several lines to choose from.

 

Hopefully, there is enough to like about one or more lines of ones choice that overall they will be happy. :)

 

Keith

I agree that there are many, many aspects to luxury cruising that will vary from line to line, and the secret is to find the one that pushes the most buttons. I don't think there's any one perfect line, but there are lines that are perfect (or almost perfect) for certain people. Truth be told, I'd probably be happy on ANY of the luxury lines, but I'm more happy on the one I'm most familiar with.

For those of us who are fortunate enough to not only cruise but to take a luxury line aren't we all so very lucky.

This about sums it up, doesn't it??

Keith, once again, thank you for finding the perfect words!

But is it fair to block a table---then cancel your cruise---thats like people booking a suite on two or three ships---than cancel 2 of them later. Someone that really wanted that suite didn't get it because someone only was thinking about them self.

And back on topic, I just made dinner reservations for our upcoming explorer cruise in September. It was totally painless. I got all of the times and dates I wanted. Everything was wide open.

We are on the TA cruise for 16 days and was surprised to find that we were limited to 3 (1 per specialty rest) reservations. It seems like in the past the number was increased for cruises over 10 days.