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MS Europa 2 dining


ededmd
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Hello all,10 July is coming soon for boarding EUX1717.

 

 

Even having cruised the Europa 2 before I am still not clear exactly how to secure dining reservations once on board. I cannot seem to locate this information in written form. As such I turn to my fellow cruisers.

 

 

When do I do this?

(If it matters I'll share, we'll be taking the ship transportation from the Novotel Monte Carlo Welcome Point.)

Where?

With whom?

 

 

On our last cruise we were a larger party (8) and the International Hostess made the arrangements in the first 2 hours after group embarkation.

Even so there were some challenges with securing reservations.

No dinner availability in Restaurant Tarragon at all and inability to seat us together in Restaurant Serenissima.

 

 

Be assured that acceptable solutions were proposed.

We were accommodated at Restaurant Tarragon in the Grande Reserve room for a private lunch.

We were seated at two adjacent 4 top rounders which allowed some sense of proximity - though two 4 top squares pushed together would have been more ideal of course.

 

 

This time around we are a party of four and I expect fewer self imposed constraints will make thing easier.

Still I'd feel better if you all would "walk me through it" as I intend to coordinate this myself this time.

 

 

Not likely desiring to repeat at Sakura.

We thought it was "fine" but preferred the other venues.

 

 

Am interested most in experiencing Tarragon and Serenissima for dinner at least once each.

 

 

We did Elements a few times for lunch and found that a good option. Don't necessarily need dinner there.

 

 

Would like to eat dinner a few times in Restaurant Weltmeere.

 

 

Enjoyed many meals lunch and dinner at Yacht Club and my late rising son and I enjoyed our late breakfasts in Sansibar.

 

 

Thanks!

 

 

n.b. for others unaccustomed to the line, there are no advance reservations before boarding.

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To a certain extent the ease, or otherwise, in making a dinner reservation at one of the speciality restaurants will be partially dependant on how full the ship is on your particular cruise.

 

The Tarragon tends to be the most popular probably due to it having been voted a couple of years ago, by a German Organisation, as the best restaurant at sea.

 

I have found that as soon as people have boarded they make their way to the specific specialty restaurant where the restaurant manager will be waiting to make reservations.

 

As for the Weltmeere, I am not sure if one can make reservations for it.

 

As a solo traveller I have never had a problem obtaining a table there.

As it is not the practice on the Europa 2 to share a table, I have been sat at a table for four from which the other three place settings have been removed.

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may i - strongly ? - advice to board as soon as possible at 4PM !

i do not know if in Monte Carlo the embarkation procedure is done on the ship in the Piano bar lobby or in the terminal as there is ample space for the desks. ( done by SB and Crystal )

Try to point your dates for both the restaurants . There is now an assistant to the maitre d'h ( a secretary ) taking care of those reservations and she was available at the embarkation procedure in Athens . I like to go to Serenissima for lunch so i only made a reservation for Tarragon not eating Oriental at all.

The only difference in Tarragon : the famous steak tartare is done in the galley for lunch , while for dinner it can be done table side .

So try to find her after embarkation ..."asap"

yes it is very true you cannot made bookings in advance on line - contrarely to some other lines you are not depending on a TA sending or forwarding the tickets with codes to you.

I think the only ones able to book quite in advance are the owners suites as they can also book tables in Yacht Club both for lunch and dinner.

I you are a party of four you can now book a table outside in the Yacht Club as well - only for dinner. The non smoking area is gone ( sold out ) very quickly!! Those bookings are done by the assistant maitre in charge of the Yacht Club. Especially caviar night is VERY busy :cool: as the servings were quite generously served with Russian wodka aside ( do not take a glass by yourself as sometimes they are cooling the glasses with ice water :D)

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vistaman,

 

Is the system whereby the assistant to the maitre d'h makes reservations for the speciality restaurants an addition to, or a substitute for, the making of a reservation direct with the manager of a specific restaurant?

 

One person dealing with four restaurants has the potential to create bottlenecks.

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If I remember correctly, the managers were at the entrance of their restaurants and took reservations last February during lunch. I am sorry I can't be more precise. On the second leg of our cruise, the ship was full so were Serenissima and Tarragon in the evening. At lunch, ample space in all specialty restaurants and no reservations necessary.

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If I remember correctly, the managers were at the entrance of their restaurants and took reservations last February during lunch. I am sorry I can't be more precise. On the second leg of our cruise, the ship was full so were Serenissima and Tarragon in the evening. At lunch, ample space in all specialty restaurants and no reservations necessary.

 

It may well have changed since my cruise in July 2016, but the lunch time menu in Tarragon, and Serenissima, was a restricted one.

 

On more than one occasion I have had lunch in them, and have been the only diner.

 

I don't know if it has changed since my cruise in 2016, but, being on back to back cruises, I found that it was possible during the first cruise to make reservations for dinner during the second.

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i noticed people were making reservations in the various speciality restaurants as well at the desk of the manager

 

occasionally if a port function is done for a lot of people ( i expect this procedure in antwerpen and in amsterdam ) Tarragon is closed and weltmeere is open for lunch , however that is very occasionally

other difference in tarragon : for lunch there are bistro style napkins , for dinner white ...:D

the cheese trolley is the same

in Yacht Club there are up to 14 cheeses for dinner

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Thank you all for the guidance.

 

The info about reservations for the outdoor Yacht Club tables at dinner is most useful and if I read that before I forgot.

 

I was not looking for a reservation at Weltmeere as I don't believe they're available but just included that for completeness.

 

When floridiana talks about the managers taking reservations during lunch I am a bit confused.

Perhaps there was a morning boarding time on your cruise?

 

Embarkation in Monte Carlo is between 17.00 -18.00 hours.

The included transportation from the welcome point hotel leaves at 17.15.

If I understand vistaman correctly we should seek our own transfer to the port to "beat the crowd"?

 

vistaman - you talked of boarding at 4p. Is boarding actually possible before the embarkation hours published in the printed Travel Plan?

Or in my case should I just be there checking in at 17.00 / 5p?

 

And yes I recall the Owners Suites x 2 had perpetual all day long reserved signs on the two round tables just outside in the Yacht Club.

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ededmd,

 

in Athens i beat the crowd :evilsmile: - a taxi from the meeting point to Piraeus was only 15 €

 

so far embarkation on Hapag Lloyd was always at 4 PM ( exception made for 2 short cruises ex Hamburg ) and i never had an embarkation in Monte Carlo with HL so far as ms Europa ( the older one ) always did use Nizza.

- Europa 2 is far too big for Nizza port.

the problem in Monte Carlo is : there are not so many taxis and ratherdifficult to catch maybe easier by a hotel desk - usually aside the casino you can see a queue

 

the decision is entirely yours ... wishing you a great cruise and great gastronomy with of course a visit in the French and Italian restaurant on board. I also hope more international guests will attend the party reserved for non German speaking guests . Last time : 3 out of some 20 people?

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  • 4 weeks later...
Busy Monday back to work.

Will try to get a recap up soon.

In short, fantastic cruise.

Looking forward to the fall release for summer 2019 to pursue the next booking.

 

great to hear - will beat the crowd :) in Bilbao - once again

i think previews for the 2 are only available in November - first the "Europa" - the older formal one is released as done every year .

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