Best Night to Book Alternate Dinning?

[milokama]

Hi There,

New to Cruise Critic. New to Cruising. So excited... 8 months and counting down... hurry, hurry, hurry! Alaska in May '12 on Infinity.

 

I want to book a specialty dinner or two. There are so many experienced cruisers here I wanted to know if there was a better night to dine in SS or Qsine in lieu of SS or Qsine.

 

I don't want to miss something spectacular in the MDR because we booked on a "wrong" night.

 

Any suggestions would be most helpful.

 

Mahalo!

[colocop004]

I try not to book alternative dining on the formal nights....

[dkjretired]

I've booked on the first night and had good luck. Usually not very crowded.

[Xport]

And the Alaska itinerary for next year seems to be unchanged...

 

Scheduling could, of course, change but the formal nights for us were Saturday and Wednesday--the two days at sea...

[riandei]

I've booked on the first night and had good luck. Usually not very crowded.

 

On our last cruise they offered specials on the first night when you boarded

[Jborosara]

any formal night so i don't have to dress up ....

[librarylady19]

any formal night so i don't have to dress up ....

 

I believe dress code in the specialty restaurants follows MDR. In my experience, pax tend to dress nicely in the specialty restaurants every night. You would really would look underdressed in jeans.

[auggiemom]

You can now dress smart casual on formal nights in the specialty restaurants.

[Jborosara]

the more i get told i "can't" or "shouldn't" do something (even if it is so NOT against the rules) - the more i just ache to do it.... thinking of wearing jeans to Qsine when we go in February:-)

[Lsimon]

A few recommendations:

 

If you are scheduled for traditional dining it is nice to be there the first night or two to meet your table mates and wait staff. With select anytime dining this is less of a concern.

 

We usually like dining in the main dining room on formal nights although have spent some nice formal nights in the specialty restuarants as well. They usually have nicer menus on formal night in the MDR. On most cruises with 2 or more formal nights 2 of them will be on the second night of your cruise and the second to last night of your cruise. Exceptions to this are rare but occasionally happen when these days are port days and there is a sea day adjacent. However the very first and the last night on board are never formal nights.

 

Other than the above, any night is likely as good as another. We do avoid the specialty restuarant when we're at a port where we're expecting a long and busy day, such as some major European ports as we're often tired and often have a nice lunch out at some of these ports in any event.

[milokama]

On our last cruise they offered specials on the first night when you boarded

 

So do you recommend not pre booking but waiting until we board to make reservations?

 

Insoooo love a deal :p

[ghstudio]

If they offer a special, they will refund the difference to your account. Also if you book each restaurant and they offer a package on the ship, they will adjust the prices with a credit to your account. We like to do the special restaurants on sea days and formal nights. Formal night meals in the MDR are not all that exciting, and dinner at Murano or one of the other specialty restaurants is always far far better.

 

The only reason to wait to book the restaurants is if you have an on board credit...because if you book them online, they will charge your credit card now vs charging against your OBC. Even that really isn't a problem because if you don't spend your OBC on drinks/shore excursions, you can withdraw the unused portion in the casino for a 3% charge.

[Lolotte]

We like to go on the last evening , it makes the evening special and it is a nice place to have our last dinner with our friends.

[dkjretired]

I believe dress code in the specialty restaurants follows MDR. In my experience, pax tend to dress nicely in the specialty restaurants every night. You would really would look underdressed in jeans.

 

Sandi:

 

Dress code for all Specialty restaurants has been smart casual every night for awhile now. As you say however, many do get dressed up.

 

Was looking at the spreadsheet the other day, thanks for keeping that up, its a great service.

[FrankinPA]

the more i get told i "can't" or "shouldn't" do something (even if it is so NOT against the rules) - the more i just ache to do it.... thinking of wearing jeans to Qsine when we go in February:-)

 

It all depends on how important it is for you to be the center of attention. Some other things you should not do is spray paint your initials on the side of the ship or carve your initials in the table tops. And you certainly should not remove your clothing and "streak" the ship. None of these are specifically listed in the rules. Which of these do you think you might also do? If none of these, what else do you have in mind to attract attention to yourself?

[Jborosara]

Franklin -

 

my point was that I prefer not to dress up and was quickly admonished that even if i went to a specialty restaurant, i would still be required to follow the formal dress code. that is absolutely not the rule - the rule is that smart casual is now allowed in specialty restaurants any night, including formal nights, so basically, i will pay 80 bucks for the privilege of NOT dressing up to miss one of the nights with the nicest menu in the MDR. frankly, my statement that i choose to do specialty dining on formal nights is a statement of respect to those people who get their panties in a wad about formal dress - i'll follow the rules - but i'll not be lectured about how following the rules still isn't enough.

[Jborosara]

And for the record....I didn't say i wanted to draw attention to myself - only to be offered the same respect i was trying to show the formal crowd by making another dining choice at no small cost to myself... this whole formal bit is the ONLY thing i don't like about cruising, but i am bound and determined NOT to let it ruin my vacation....

 

again - i will follow the rules if only out of respect to those who have such a strong opinion about it...but i won't be guilted into going above or beyond and will demand the same respect in return...

[bdpnatl]

We never book an alternative restaurant on the first night in order to meet our the other people at our table in the MDR. We do like to book into them on the formal nights or one of the sea days. We prefer sea days so we are not tired from an excursion and can fully enjoy the restaurant.