Oasis/Allure Show Reservations Questions

[gcuecruise]

I am very familiar with RC but we are going on our first big ship cruise and the whole "make your show reservations online" system is new to us. I understand you can only make one reservation per guest per show. So with that, I have some questions:

 

1. Is it difficult to get into shows that you do not have reservations for? i.e. Is it easy to be a walk-in?

 

2. There are a number of afternoon shows that we are eyeing because we have kids (who love such shows and would rather be in the theater with us than in the kid's club). There are a lot of 10:30pm shows (and us having late dinner seating which we can not change since early seating is closed) which are too late for the kids, who will likely fall asleep during the show.

 

Are the afternoon shows (e.g. 2:30pm Hairspray) really popular or are they not as popular or about the same as all other shows?

 

3. How exactly does it work if you do not have a reservation for a show? Do they make you wait outside waiting until just before the show to see how many seats are left?

 

4. I guess in general I'd like to hear some experiences so we know what exactly to expect regarding the shows on the big ships.

 

Thanks for reading.

[Dinkachu]

We have reservations on Allure in December....and I have tickets reserved to all shows. If we are unable to attend we call and let them know in Guest Relations. People without a reserved spot (you don't reserve a seat, just a spot in the theater) wait in line outside the theater. I have often seen folks turned away when there are not enough places for them on Freedom and Mariner and Allure has even more passengers. Some shows are late. We began cruises when our son was 7 and when he was young, if we had a show he wanted to see (the ice show, for example) we had him take a long nap in the afternoon so he could enjoy the show and we'd let him sleep in the next day.

 

If you really want to see a show I would make a reservation. If you cannot use it, someone will fill your spot. Then, you won't be disappointed!

 

Enjoy...

 

Soon.. Allure, 2011

Radiance, Mar. 2011

Freedom, Dec. 2010

Legend, Aug 2010 Carnival- :(

Mariner, Dec. 2009

Grandeur, Dec. 2008

Mariner, Dec. 2007

Wonder, Mar. 1999 (Disney)

[Langley Cruisers]

Basically, it comes down to this: you reserve a "spot" in the venue (not a particular reserved seat) because the ship has so many passengers it just makes sense to spread them out over the course of several shows. You do not have to reserve on the smaller ships (smaller than Freedom class) because it just isn't necessary.

 

I suggest you reserve your shows, knowing that you are absolutely free to change your plans if you want to. Who knows, this many months ahead, what a particular day will bring you? Honestly, you might book a 10:30 pm show and then be too tired to see it. It happens. In this case, you do not have to notify anyone; if you do not show up, your "spot" will be given to someone who is waiting in the standby line, which they let in about 15 minutes before the show starts.

 

I know it's hard to think about your plans months ahead of time, but just reserve and then decide later. Better to have that reservation than to not have one, I say. And please try not to stress over this. It's just not a big deal. ;)

 

Have fun.

[silentbob007]

In my experience on Oasis ... there were plenty of "standby" seats for the shows in the large theater ... now they may not have been in the best position in the theater, but there were seats available. They opened up the line to stand-bys something like 10-15 minutes before the scheduled start of the show.

 

You definitely need to consider making and keeping reservations for the ice show and comedy show. They are much smaller venues and fill very quickly.

 

For the aqua show, I thought there were some stand-by seats, but they were on the hard benches (every other row) and not the nicer seats.

[fdthird]

On the Allure last June we had reservations for one show of Chicago and one of Blue Planet. Saw Chicago 3 times and Blue Planet twice by waiting on the standby line. If you don't have a reservation just plan on getting to the standby line 30-45 minutes before show time and 10-15 minutes before the show starts they will let you in. Not the same choice of seats, but we always got in.

[firefly333]

There are also other "shows" during the afternoon, for instance splish splash, is a comedy show with the divers/swimmers that you just show up for and sit where you want.

[gcuecruise]

Thanks everybody! I have a better understanding now.

 

One more question.

 

If you have a reservation for a show it sounds like you could lose your seat if you show up a little late. Is that correct?

[Langley Cruisers]

If you have a reservation for a show it sounds like you could lose your seat if you show up a little late. Is that correct?

 

 

Your place in the theater is reserved, not a specific seat. Indeed, for the best choice of seats you may want to line up early. They will let the "reserved" line in first, and then the standby line will be let in 15 minutes prior. Of course, if you show up later rather than earlier, your choice of seats will not be as good.

 

All in all, you're still standing in a line, no way around it. ;)

[Ginnyfyr]

Thanks everybody! I have a better understanding now.

 

One more question.

 

If you have a reservation for a show it sounds like you could lose your seat if you show up a little late. Is that correct?

 

They started releasing seats to those without reservations at 10 mins to showtime, so you definitely want to be there at least 15-20 minutes prior to make sure you get a seat (or seats together...if you are more than 3 people, might want to get there even sooner). We were on the 9/10 Oasis sailing and I was amazed at how long some of the lines were for people without reservations, specifically for the comedy show and the skating show. Better to make a reservation and then cancel it once onboard if you don't think you'll use it than to end up waiting 20 mins in line and find out the show is full! I would think afternoon performances would be less busy than evenings, but again, I'd make the reservation just to be sure. Enjoy!

[bamboo29]

How far in advance can you make online reservations?

[Clarea]

How far in advance can you make online reservations?

It's not a consistent number of days in advance. I think Royal opens a several sailings at once, every few weeks. Our sailing opened about 90 days in advance. All you can do is keep checking daily. The comedy show books up very quickly.

[vickiw0318]

I have a question about the ressies for the Headliner Show. I see that a show by this name was offered on consecutive days. Does it work the same as the others - i.e., same "Headliner" on each of the days or are there actually two Headliners performing on different days?

[enyliram]

How far in advance can you make online reservations?

 

for our oasis dec 17th 2011 we completed all our show reservations a few days ago.

[silentbob007]

The headliner show will be the same for the entire cruise.

[gcuecruise]

for our oasis dec 17th 2011 we completed all our show reservations a few days ago.

 

same cruise here enyliram!

[OCruisers]

Thanks .... Helpful Thread!

[Cruisenut1966]

same cruise here enyliram!

 

I'm there also...

[vickiw0318]

The headliner show will be the same for the entire cruise.

 

Thank you!