When you book 3 specialty restaurant deal why do you have to eat in one first...

[hotlipss]

We have never sailed on Celebrity before but from what I'm reading in my reservation is that if I buy the 3 restaurant deal I have to book and go to one the first night?why is this ,can it not be second or third night..after I'm tired of the dining room and want a change?we are on a 10 night on Equinox in April and would like to take advantage of the deal ahead of time..cause from what I understand is that this deal isn't available on the ship?...any info you have would be helpful :) thanks

 

 

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Edited February 26, 2015 by hotlipss

[yorky]

Are you sure it's only the first night ? We booked the five dinner package and it was first or second night.

[hotlipss]

Looks like the second night is formal night on our cruise so definitely don't want to miss that in the dining room

 

 

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[ChrissieB]

We booked the specialty package of three immediately as we boarded but didn't have to go the first night.:)

[Rufferto]

If the for-a-fee restaurant reservation list is short, they will offer discounts on board for that night's dinner. These discounts will be comparable to what you save with the dinner package. Be warned that it is not a guarantee that discounts are offered and sometimes one restaurant will offer a discount while another will not. I've done 2 celebrity cruises and I was able to eat at restaurants with this "day of" discount.

[bouhunter]

Looks like the second night is formal night on our cruise so definitely don't want to miss that in the dining room

 

 

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We just booked a four night dining package on Reflection with the first night to dine being the second night of the cruise. Formal night is a good one to miss for us......:D

[hotlipss]

We booked the specialty package of three immediately as we boarded but didn't have to go the first night.:)

 

 

Can I ask how much did u pay?was it the same price as online ahead of time?

 

 

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[Turtles06]

OP: not sure why they have that rule when you book in advance, it was a turn off to us as well and so on our most recent X cruise, a TA, we opted before we sailed not to buy the package. At it turned out, on boarding, there were reps from the specialty restaurants on the pier promoting the package, and they told us that we could have the first dinner any night we wanted. So we booked the package then.

 

From the comments above, it appears others may also have had that experience on board, but it's not clear whether that's something you can count on.

 

Have a great trip!

Edited February 26, 2015 by Turtles06

[bothluv2cruise]

We are booked on an Alaskan cruise in May of this year and purchased the 3 night specialty dining package. Not only were we told we had to book the first night, but we were also told which one of the three restaurants we had to dine in on that night! I'm not happy about it or the fact that I can't book the other 2 nights until I'm onboard.

[nekzaadvakil]

On our last 2 cruises in the Med, as soon as we boarded and went to the Oceanview cafe, the restaurant staff were cross-selling speciality dining and packages at a discount.

 

We booked only 1 restaurant (wanted to try Qsine and we got to choose WHEN we wanted to dine, what time and we got a 20% discount as well. The discounts were higher if you took a 3 or 5 night package.

 

On the last night, Qsine was going at a 50% discount. I wouldn't be too worried about not booking this till I was on a cruise. Unless of course there's a special occasion and you must be in one of those restaurants.

[phoenix_dream]

I am not fond of how they handle specialty dining packages either. I understand why they want you to go the first or second night - those are usually less booked by others and it is the price you pay to get a pretty nice discount. I don't really mind that part much. What I really don't like is that you can't book the other times until you board. Last time we tried a package (a five night on a 10 night cruise) we had a very, very difficult time getting decent times for any of the restaurants, even though we boarded early and went directly to the place where you book the times. Virtually all the key times (i.e., for us that means between 7:00 and 8:00) were unavailable. We had to eat very early or very late. That really turned us off to the packages, and now we try to book AQ for Blu instead. Not quite as good as the specialty restaurants I admit, but better than MDR (IMHO) and few issues with dining times.

[waterbug123]

We have never sailed on Celebrity before but from what I'm reading in my reservation is that if I buy the 3 restaurant deal I have to book and go to one the first night?why is this ,can it not be second or third night..after I'm tired of the dining room and want a change?

 

Most likely it is because demand for specialty restaurants is lowest on the first night, because many like to go to the MDR that night to meet their wait staff. Celebrity doesn't want everyone waiting til later to go to the specialties because it makes scheduling harder.

[hotlipss]

Thanks guys for all your info...I think I will just wait till I board and check out the deals then...never sailed Celebrity before so I'm sure even the dining room will be nice even if we only eat there :)

 

 

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[Wirral]

I booked the 3 night package on our Eclipse cruise last October. I booked a couple of months in advance and as far as I knew like you I had to have dinner on the first night. When we boarded I went to the speciality restaurant desk to sort out the other 2 nights. I was informed that I did not have to go on the first night and in fact we spread our 3 nights over our 2 week cruise and did not go for a number of nights later for our first dinner. It seems the system required a date for booking but once on board you can sort out your own nights. Hope this helps you.

[DaisyFire]

I booked the 3 night package on our Eclipse cruise last October. I booked a couple of months in advance and as far as I knew like you I had to have dinner on the first night. When we boarded I went to the speciality restaurant desk to sort out the other 2 nights. I was informed that I did not have to go on the first night and in fact we spread our 3 nights over our 2 week cruise and did not go for a number of nights later for our first dinner. It seems the system required a date for booking but once on board you can sort out your own nights. Hope this helps you.

 

Wirral, Thanks for sharing this info. We pre-booked a package for our November cruise, and I had figured that I would try to reschedule the first night once on-board when I scheduled the 2 remaining nights. Worst case, all they could so was say no, but that seemed unlikely.