Curious about specialty dining

[mocrimlaw]

I have been on other cruises - mostly Celebrity - but have never felt the need to go to the speciality dining rooms. I have always been really happy with the food in the MDR, and didn't see the need to pay for something else. But on Oceania, the specialty restaurants are included, at least a few nights apparently. I am trying to decide what is better about them so I know if I should book them as I understand they get booked up fast. I am on Sirena, which has Polo and Toscana. Thanks!

[sitraveler]

You can book specialty restaurants at any time, depending on your cabin class as to earliest booking date. You are entitled to at least 1 in each restaurant. You can even book when on board. The sea days tend to fill up first, and many prefer the earlier times.

As the menu never changes, many of us regulars have lost the excitement of eating there again and again and may not use our allotment.

Edited July 12, 2015 by sitraveler
.,.

[hondorner]

You needn't worry. You are guaranteed at least one visit to each, and possibly two visits to each if you are in Concierge (category A) or higher. Even if you do not book in advance, you will be able to make your reservations once you get on board. The only difference is if you strongly prefer one day or one time or a specific table (like for two). Because many are making their reservations early, you may have to be more flexible if you wait.

 

Frankly, except for very special occasions like a birthday or anniversary, I've never found much difference in which days I choose the specialty restaurants, and even though I prefer to dine early, I've never really suffered from a later time. As far as table size is concerned, sharing a table is the best way to meet new friends, and on Oceania, one very rarely gets stuck with a "clunker".

 

So, relax, make your reservations as early as you can given your cabin category, or wait until you get on board -- it's all good. And, you'll discover for yourself whether the specialty restaurants are really special -- no one can answer that for you.

 

If it turns out you really like them, you may be able to get additional reservations beyond your guaranteed ones by asking. It's easier on longer cruises, as it may be difficult to get everyone in for their guaranteed reservations on a short cruise.

[LHT28]

I would review the menus online then decide if you would enjoy the food there

The dining rooms are smaller & a nicer feel than the GDR

 

As stated some of us do not bother anymore the menus rarely change but others covet the chance to dine there again & again

 

Give them a try then decide for yourself

[Mura]

I pretty much agree. Even on Renaissance (we had 3 cruises on Ren, about 12 on O) we often didn't bother with the specialty restaurants at all because we happen to like the GDR. (I remember being called from staff, practically begging us to book a restaurant.) So on some cruises we will go more than once, on others not at all.

 

The menus are not absolutely set in stone but they don't change very often! And when they do, my favorite is deleted ... just my luck, I guess.

 

On the "R" ships we prefer Polo to Toscana, on the "O" ships we prefer Jacques to everything else (and we don't particularly care for Red Ginger, again we're in the minority).

 

But maybe it hasn't been made absolutely clear that the reservations are not given out entirely online before the cruise. Room is held for people who board once they board because in this demographic, not everyone is computer savvy. CC members are a relative minority once you are on board ...

 

If you book once you board, you should be able to get a reservation ... you may need to be flexible, as has been said. Early reservations are easier, shared reservations are easier. (By shared, you don't have to know with whom you want to share ... just say that you are willing to share with strangers, as happens in the GDR as well.)

 

Plenty of people seem to be able to get extra reservations above their allotment. It does depend on the cruise and its participants. If you're on a cruise where many of us "oldsters" aren't that interested in the specialty restaurants, you have a much better chance. You can go into a restaurant on the night and ask ... you may be refused, but you may get a late cancellation as well. It never hurts to ask!

 

If you are in a cabin category that gives you a butler, it's even easier. Just ask him to book what you want ... usually he can get it.

 

Mura

[smilin jack]

We have only been on one O cruise, however we found if you are a late eater you most likely will be able to get in just by showing up.

Even tho we are old, we stay up late, past midnight most nights....

[phillygirl63]

I just booked my 4 specialty restaurant reservations. My PCC explained that the limit of one reservation for each restaurant only applies to early bookings and is to ensure that each guest gets to experience each of the specialty restaurants at least once during the cruise. However, once on board, there is no limit as to which restaurant and how many times you may eat there (so long as a table is available), and you can change or cancel any reservation.

 

I prefer to have a plan, so reservations are a must for me.

[Mura]

I just booked my 4 specialty restaurant reservations. My PCC explained that the limit of one reservation for each restaurant only applies to early bookings and is to ensure that each guest gets to experience each of the specialty restaurants at least once during the cruise. However, once on board, there is no limit as to which restaurant and how many times you may eat there (so long as a table is available), and you can change or cancel any reservation.

 

I prefer to have a plan, so reservations are a must for me.

 

Booking your permitted amount online before the cruise is certainly recommended. But notice the phrasing re booking on board: there is no limit as to which restaurant and how many you may eat there AS LONG AS A TABLE IS AVAILABLE.

 

Depending on your fellow passengers, that may not always be possible. Yes, they reserve for non-computer-savvy passengers who only book once they are on board ...

 

As many have said before, your chances for increased reservations are enhanced if you are flexible. Dine early, share a table (sometimes with strangers, sometimes with people you already know, it can depend).

 

We've been on cruises where people just could not get extra reservations, no matter what level of suite they were in, but also cruises where it was never a problem. There is NO predicting that particular dynamic.

 

Good luck!

 

Mura

[phillygirl63]

Mura, are we not saying the same thing?

[Mura]

We are except that I am saying you should not assume that you can get as many extra reservations as you want. That may NOT be the case, depending on demand from others. On some cruises (where you have a lot of passengers like us who aren't all that interested in the specialty restaurants), your chances are excellent. But there are people who want to dine in a specialty restaurant every night ... and if they are the majority of passengers on your cruise, then it isn't so easy.

 

Now, if you are in a top suite with a butler to do the work, your chances are slightly better for an extra reservation.

 

There is no rule that says you may only have the amount of reservations your cabin category entitles you to ... you get at least those, but not necessarily more.

 

Again, depending ...

 

I hope I made this clearer.

 

Mura

[phillygirl63]

Thanks, Mura. Sorry for the confusion, but I did say "so long as a table is available." Therefore, I don't think I was assuming anything.

Edited July 18, 2015 by phillygirl63

[Mura]

You did indeed, and if you'd emphasized that phrase (no requirement for you to have done so!), I wouldn't have said anything. I just wanted you to know that that phrase is crucial. Obviously, you DID know. The thing is: not everyone does.

 

Mura

[Baybear]

I just booked my 4 specialty restaurant reservations. My PCC explained that the limit of one reservation for each restaurant only applies to early bookings and is to ensure that each guest gets to experience each of the specialty restaurants at least once during the cruise. However, once on board, there is no limit as to which restaurant and how many times you may eat there (so long as a table is available), and you can change or cancel any reservation.

 

I prefer to have a plan, so reservations are a must for me.

 

We were on a Caribbean cruise last February on Riviera and could not get ANY more than our allotted 4 specialty restaurant reservations. I tried EVERY NIGHT around 5:30PM or so, but nothing was ever available at ANY of them for the 10-day cruise! At least we did get to go to all four of them once (I booked these exactly 45-days ahead of the cruise online to "be sure."

 

But we're on a Greek Isles cruise (Riviera again) this September, and maybe when the ports are more interesting than the "scrub-brush" Caribbean islands, there will be more availability of these restaurants. Especially since the ship is in port until 8PM each day. I'll be interested to see if it's "easy" to book more than 4 trips on the September cruise because of people more likely to stay in the ports for longer each day.

[clcmdse]

Agree with Mura completely. It really depends on the cruise, something that I did not fully appreciate our first couple of O cruises. Probably rookie luck. We were very fortunate on our first two cruises because we like the specialty restaurants. Got into them as often as we liked. Sometimes I booked directly, sometimes our butler did. We ate late and were flexible on whether we ate alone or shared. We thought that was the ticket. As it turns out, not so much! This last cruise we experienced something similar to Baybear. Lucky to have snagged opening night as our extra specialty night. Otherwise we were completely out of luck for the remainder of the cruise.

 

I did hear during our last cruise a few weeks ago that while the answer was "no" in the morning and even at 6:00 p.m., sometimes it shook out much later. For example, cruising friends experienced shared tables that went unoccupied for two of their reservations. They started to encourage friends to approach the restaurant at 8:15 p.m. I understand it worked. But we never tried that. By that point in the evening, we had already decided whether we would do in-suite dining or head to the Terrace or Grand Dining Room.

 

All great food experiences, so in the end, it is all good.

Catherine

[GeorgesGal]

Baybear, do not wait till five thirty. There should be someone outside the lido at n

lunchtime with his trusty computer for reservations.

[LHT28]

We were on a Caribbean cruise last February on Riviera and could not get ANY more than our allotted 4 specialty restaurant reservations. I tried EVERY NIGHT around 5:30PM or so, but nothing was ever available at ANY of them for the 10-day cruise! At least we did get to go to all four of them once (I booked these exactly 45-days ahead of the cruise online to "be sure."

 

You might try asking early in the morning or even the day before to see if they can put you on a waitlist incase someone cancels

 

Some people come back from day trips & are just too tired to get ready for the specialties ....hopefully they call & cancel the reservation

[hypercafe]

On the Riveria there is a reservation desk in the lobby for the restaurants. I would go there in the morning or right when the trip starts.

 

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[StanandJim]

I believe that the take away here should be that all Oceania Passengers are guaranteed a specific number of Specialty Restaurant Reservations and there is never an extra charge to dine in the Specialties, regardless of how many times one gets a reservation.

 

"Extra Reservations" (defined here as Reservations over and above the Passengers' Guaranteed number) are subsequently offered, gratis, on a first come, first served basis, during the voyage.

 

For Every Passenger: the number and variety of "extra reservations" are only restricted by remaining inventory in the various restaurants. There is no cabin associated limit, whatever.

 

Because the Specialty Restaurants have static menu's while the selections in the Grand Dining Room and Terrace Cafe change daily, demand for Specialty Reservations tends to taper off gradually as the Cruise unwinds; this is most noticeable on Cruises of longer than twelve days.

Edited July 20, 2015 by StanandJim
punctuation correction

[Pet Nit Noy]

 

Because the Specialty Restaurants have static menu's while the selections in the Grand Dining Room and Terrace Cafe change daily, demand for Specialty Reservations tends to taper off gradually as the Cruise unwinds; this is most noticeable on Cruises of longer than twelve days.

 

My husband and I like the Grand Dining Room and don't share some cruisers' complaints about slow meals. However, I did notice that the daily variety was less varied than I remembered. I'm not talking about the three always - available Jacques Pepin signature meals. I'm talking about the fact that beef with green peppercorn sauce might appear on the menu two days in a row , skip a day and,then, reappear. Now, the cuts of beef would be different -- filet or prime rib are two cuts I recall and sometimes the dish was in the GDR category and other times it was in the "from Jacques" category. Still, I'm hard pressed to call those different dishes. Three dishes from Jacques get rotated at least twice each on a twelve day cruise: shrimp sautéed with olive oil and tomatoes was one of the regulars. Ditto for Red Ginger. Those three repeaters are Malaysian Beef Penang, Miso glazed sea bass, and a pork tenderloin dish.

 

The quality remains exceptionally high. Whatever Oceania is doing with its provisioning, its hiring, and its training, the compamy continues to excel and delight. But I think it's time for Oceania to look at the variety among its main dishes.

 

The starter course offers striking variety and innovation compared to the main course. I never ended making a meal of small plates but this remains an option.

Edited July 20, 2015 by Pet Nit Noy

[StanandJim]

I'm talking about the fact that beef with green peppercorn sauce might appear on the menu two days in a row , skip a day and,then, reappear. Now, the cuts of beef would be different -- filet or prime rib are two cuts I recall and sometimes the dish was in the GDR category and other times it was in the "from Jacques" category. Still, I'm hard pressed to call those different dishes. Three dishes from Jacques get rotated at least twice each on a twelve day cruise: shrimp sautéed with olive oil and tomatoes was one of the regulars.

 

 

We agree with you on one level, but your comments about specific dishes jogged a memory. On the Riviera, we once dined at a table for ten where the four other couples each had a member with a different dietary restriction.

 

Evidently, it is possible to prepare that Peppercorn Sauce sans fat, gluten, salt and/or dairy. ;)

[cbb]

At the Terrace we often see people early in the morning stop in at the reservation desk there and have been able to get a reservation for the specialty restaurants.

 

Often, as we come in for breakfast, one of the wait staff at the desk will hail us and ask us if we'd like to dine at Polo or Toscana.

 

We do eat breakfast early so perhaps going to the desk there as soon as Terrace opens might afford you an opportunity to make a reservation for that evening.

[hondorner]

Once, on Insignia, we were seated for lunch at the "last" table in the Terrace (just inside the door from Waves on the Starboard side). The maitre 'd's podium for specialty reservations is just inside the Port side door of the Terrace. This day, when it was time to close the podium for the day, there were apparently still reservations available. The assistant maitre 'd who had been staffing the podium walked out the Port door, crossed the passageway and entered the Starboard door to the Terrace. Encountering us first, he asked if we wanted reservations for that night. He had a table for four. We accepted for the entire table.

 

We then called friends we had met on that, their first Oceania cruise, and told them we had an extra reservation for the four of us. They thought we were really well connected, even though we were in an ocean view cabin. We let them think that until, about halfway through the meal, we started laughing and had to tell them the truth.

[ronrick1943]

Stan & Jim are right on....We had booked the specialty restaurants, we were on a b to b cruise in the Owners Suite. Had the max in booking, plus the butler book additional nights for us. We got tried of eating out so much we cancelled a lot of them just to grab someting in suite dining and the Terrace Grill just to get a little food......The Butler held the booking until each morning when he got us breakfast just in case we changed our minds.

So booking to come up, I'm sure it's just not us giving up bookings.

 

Rick

[Baybear]

On the Riveria there is a reservation desk in the lobby for the restaurants. I would go there in the morning or right when the trip starts.

 

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We did that on our cruise (went first morning). They wouldn't make any for that day or any other days since they said people that hadn't reserved their "four max" yet, might want to reserve and since we already had our "4," they would not give us any more.

 

Later we still came back to that reservation desk each day and "no luck" for the rest of the 10-day cruise. But at least we got to eat in each one once.