Reservations at Specialty Restaurants ~ earliest available booking 9 and 9:30PM

[Wren3]

We were only able to reserve reservations for 9 and 9:30pm at the specialty restaurants on our upcoming cruise 13 March on the Riviera. Is this a common occurrence when booking for a table for two? Does anyone think this may be too late to have dinner? What time does the specialty restaurants close?

Thank you for your input.

[ORV]

Yes this is common, and yes we feel this is too late to eat dinner. In order to eat earlier you'll have to choose to share.

[LHT28]

We were only able to reserve reservations for 9 and 9:30pm at the specialty restaurants on our upcoming cruise 13 March on the Riviera. Is this a common occurrence when booking for a table for two? Does anyone think this may be too late to have dinner? What time does the specialty restaurants close?

Thank you for your input.

For me it would be too late to eat but some others like to eat late

You can always ask once onboard for an earlier seating

Sharing a table opens up more possible times or select different night to see if any earlier time slots are available

 

They close at 9 or 9:30pm so you will be the last group of guests

[Wren3]

Thank you. I will do as suggested and reschedule dining option to a group service. Thanks.

[Mura]

Wren3, I'm assuming you were booking online and for this cruise it's fairly late in the process considering your sail date. They don't sell out the restaurants online -- they do hold back tables for people who don't "do" the computer. So your first visit when you board should be to see what you can get. If you have a butler, that will make it easier but a butler is not essential.

 

As has been said, sharing a table will make it easier to get an earlier sitting. We ourselves prefer sharing because it's easy to meet new people this way, and we have dinner home all by ourselves anyway! While we've had a very few not quite simpatico pairings, we've never had terrible ones. And usually we have really enjoyed the people we were meeting for the first time. (On a few occasions we were paired with people we'd already met which was serendipity.)

 

At 9 and 9:30 you WOULD be on the end of the bookings for the evening. OTOH, service should be faster with fewer tables being occupied ... or so it seems to me. When we have left the specialty restaurants around 9pm there have been plenty of empty tables.

 

We usually like to have dinner around 7:30-8:00. Dinner at 9-9:30 would be far too late for us, especially if we have an early tour the next morning ... But even if we don't, it means getting up earlier than we might in order to get to one of the restaurants. (For breakfast that means Terrace or the GDR.)

 

Of course, on a sea day you could sleep in and skip breakfast ...

 

Mura

[Wren3]

Thank you Mura for your response it was very helpful. We had originally booked on the date that the reservations opened up Jan 28th and they were only offering the late openings at that time as it were. So tonight, I went on line to switch the dinner reservations to eating with a grouping setting and the timings still showed up at 9 and 9:30pm so I suppose I will check when we board if there are earlier reservations available but looks like we will have late meals for the specialty evenings. I will take this as a learning lesson for our next cruise which is in Jan 2017 to book with a group setting. Thank you again.

[Mura]

Just another question, Wren ...

 

I just checked your cruise and see you only have one sea day. Our experience is that it is easier to get dinner reservations on port days but since most of your days are port days ... that probably does NOT compute!

 

I know that when I return from an adventurous port day I don't care to get dressed for a specialty restaurant. Okay, I know we don't really have to ... but I tend to dress up a bit more for a specialty as opposed to Terrace or the GDR. If it's been a long day, we often opt for dinner in our room if we're in a suite ...

 

Well, good luck!

 

Mura

[hiccups]

We were only able to reserve reservations for 9 and 9:30pm at the specialty restaurants on our upcoming cruise 13 March on the Riviera. Is this a common occurrence when booking for a table for two? Does anyone think this may be too late to have dinner? What time does the specialty restaurants close?

Thank you for your input.

 

We're on that cruise and found the same as you, but we don't mind sharing a table so we opted for that and were able to book earlier times.

[Wren3]

Thanks Mura ~ yes it is a port intensive itinerary however we have been to all but one port before therefore we haven't planned any tours presently so there will be no need to wake up too early after a late evening it would seem we will have with our meal reservations. We booked three of the specialty restaurants even so, we are very much looking forward to the GDR evenings as well. If we can change the reservations on board we will try otherwise we will just go with the flow on this one. :)

[Wren3]

We're on that cruise and found the same as you, but we don't mind sharing a table so we opted for that and were able to book earlier times.

Hi hiccups, unfortunately I tried to change the reservations on line tonight but the website is showing shared tables are being seated at 9 and 9:30 as well. I will double check with Oceania tomorrow and barring that will see if we can change the reservations on board to share with a table. Thanks and have a lovely cruise ~ maybe we will get to sit with your table. :)

[Mura]

It will work out, I have faith!

 

Mura

[Wren3]

Quick question. When on board the ship and wanting to make a change for a dinner reservation at a speciality restaurant do we go to the actual restaurant and speak with the maître d or is there somewhere or someone else on board that you speak with? Thanks.

Edited February 15, 2016 by Wren3

[JimandStan]

Quick question. When on board the ship and wanting to make a change for a dinner reservation at a speciality restaurant do we go to the actual restaurant and speak with the maître d or is there somewhere or someone else on board that you speak with? Thanks.

 

On the larger O class ships, there is a central reservations desk located in the Embarkation Lobby (Deck 5), but on the smaller R ships you will go to a temporary kiosk.

 

When you arrive onboard, ask where the kiosk will be for your cruise, as I've seen it located in a Specialty, in a Lobby and in a Lounge at various times.

 

Please keep in mind that Reservations are guaranteed based on a number of factors, and that one of the reasons why they hold back tables in the first place is to give everyone a chance at them.

 

The Overall Picture of how many cabins remain "reservationless" on Embarkation Day, which is impossible to predict here or now, must be considered by the staff before amending your reservations.

 

What I'm trying to say is that, unlike a typical reservation scenario, Guaranteed Reservations cannot be strictly "first come first served".

Edited February 15, 2016 by JimandStan

[Wren3]

Thank you JimandStan for you response. Good advice.

Edited February 15, 2016 by Wren3

[bitob]

On the r ships it is in the terrace restaurant daily. You can make arrangements at breakfast for the specialties

Edited February 15, 2016 by bitob

[LHT28]

Sometimes on port intensive cruises people will find after a long day they will cancel their reservation

I would check in the morning before leaving the ship to put you on the waitlist if they have any cancellations for an earlier seating that night

 

If so you will find the invite in your door later in the day

[Wren3]

Thank you LHT28 that is a wonderful suggestion.

[babysteps]

We're on this cruise also - like hiccups, are sharing to get earlier times.

 

IIRC, usually on O ship on embarkation day there are 2 different spots for specialty reservations staffed for a few hours in the afternoon. Which spot you go to is based on which cabin class you are in (one spot is the regular restaurant reservation desk on deck 5, the other I don't recall exactly but in a lounge or dining room perhaps). Details announced on PA.

 

I think last time we were onboard (Dec 2014) they were only handling folks with *no* reservations on embarkation day; change requests they were asking folks to make inquiries day of dining (this may have changed, and that was a 16 day cruise not 7 so perhaps different procedure).

 

Don't worry, we have done both extremes (no reservations before boarding, all reservations made before boarding) and it has worked out fine either way!

[Wren3]

Thank you babysteps :)

[Wren3]

Thank you babysteps. Won't be long now before we board! :)

Oops double entry.

Edited February 15, 2016 by Wren3

[Jancruz]

Thank you Mura for your response it was very helpful. We had originally booked on the date that the reservations opened up Jan 28th and they were only offering the late openings at that time as it were. So tonight, I went on line to switch the dinner reservations to eating with a grouping setting and the timings still showed up at 9 and 9:30pm so I suppose I will check when we board if there are earlier reservations available but looks like we will have late meals for the specialty evenings. I will take this as a learning lesson for our next cruise which is in Jan 2017 to book with a group setting. Thank you again.

 

Instead of checking on line, I suggest you call guest services and ask directly there..

Jancruz1

[Solent Richard]

We were only able to reserve reservations for 9 and 9:30pm at the specialty restaurants on our upcoming cruise 13 March on the Riviera. Is this a common occurrence when booking for a table for two? Does anyone think this may be too late to have dinner? What time does the specialty restaurants close?

Thank you for your input.

 

Yes this is common, and yes we feel this is too late to eat dinner. In order to eat earlier you'll have to choose to share.

 

I'm afraid I would beg to differ.

 

Having recently returned from Riviera's Mayan Mystique cruise...

 

http://solentrichardscruiseblog.com/2016/01/31/oceania-riviera-mayan-mystique/

 

I made all our reservations through the cruise personaliser weeks in advance and had the confirmations back immediately...

 

[JimandStan]

Richard,

 

Certain types cabin categories are permitted to book before others, and you don't give enough detail about your personal situation for us to assess whether your success in making advance reservations was a product of luck, the itinerary which you sailed, or hierarchy.

 

As the sailing date draws nearer, a decreasing number of reservations become available to an increasing passenger pool.

 

Offering to share a table is a wonderful way to increase the odds of getting a table at a "mainstream" time; booking a Suite would have a similar effect, by allowing the reservation to be made earlier. ;)

[CateW]

We are sailing Regatta on April 12th. February 12th was the date in our personalizer to reserve speciality restaurants. It is a 12 night cruise and we were allowed 2 reservations at each restaurant. I was able to make 4 reservations on line the morning of the 12th. The earliest we could get a table for 2 at Polo or Toscana any night was 8:00. This was perfect for us, but I don't think there were too many people making reservations at 5 a.m. I wonder how many reservations they hold back for people who are booking on boarding day.

[LHT28]

Getting specific time slots can also depend on your fellow shipmates & their dining preferences

It is just the luck of the draw if you can a 2 top for 6:30pm but you may be able to get a shared table for the same time

 

The reservation fairy works in mysterious ways :D