Half empty Steakhouse = Fully booked?

[mrneil001]

My last cruise, my GF and I tried a few times to book a reservation for the steakhouse about 3-5 hours in advance. And every time we did, we were told that they were fully booked and just ended up eating at our anytime dining. Curious, I went upstairs to take a look and saw that they only had 5 couples eating at that time, with a more than half empty restaurant. During the entire cruise, I noticed that the steakhouse was not full at any time. Curious to know why Carnival decides to keep their most profitable dining area half empty all the time. Thoughts?

[naz022292]

Dinner in the steakhouse takes 2-2 1/2 hours and is by reservation. There aren't set times, so depending on the times of the reservations, they eliminate the ability to seat others. For example... if someone made a reservation at 8:00 pm, they couldn't sit anyone at that table later than 5:30-6. Since most people book later than 6 in the steakhouse, many of those tables sit empty.

[cb at sea]

You should have just "walked up" and asked to be seated...they will generally take walk ups!

[bar1068]

My last cruise, my GF and I tried a few times to book a reservation for the steakhouse about 3-5 hours in advance. And every time we did, we were told that they were fully booked and just ended up eating at our anytime dining. Curious, I went upstairs to take a look and saw that they only had 5 couples eating at that time, with a more than half empty restaurant. During the entire cruise, I noticed that the steakhouse was not full at any time. Curious to know why Carnival decides to keep their most profitable dining area half empty all the time. Thoughts?

 

We "experienced" something similar on our last cruise. We had reservations one night at 8pm. We got to the steakhouse about 7:30 hoping to maybe get in a little early, but they told us no, they were booked, come back at 8. A quick glance saw the steakhouse hardly full. We came back at 8, were seated, looking around, many empty tables, that were not filled while we had our dinner. Our thinking was people make reservations, then either cancel last or just don't show, as I don't recall any penalty for late cancelations or no shows.

 

We've been to the steakhouse many times on different ships and have yet to see the steakhouse full. Most full we've seen was on Breeze a couple of years ago...more full, because there was 12 of us celebrating a birthday!!

Edited June 1, 2016 by bar1068

[countrygirlcruiser1234]

Here is what we were told

The steak house only has so many staff, they can only serve so many tables.

while the steak house used to be fully staffed, may people did not choose to pay an up charge to dine there, so the cruise line reduced the staff. so most of those tables just sit there never used and they can only accommodate so many people and are thus technically fully booked.

[E&B]

Here is what we were told

The steak house only has so many staff, they can only serve so many tables.

while the steak house used to be fully staffed, may people did not choose to pay an up charge to dine there, so the cruise line reduced the staff. so most of those tables just sit there never used and they can only accommodate so many people and are thus technically fully booked.

 

 

This is true with any restaurant. Many times you will see empty tables but have to wait. Wouldn't want to be seated then not have someone waiting on you for long periods of time.

 

 

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[StolidCruiser]

As others have contributed, a half-empty restaurant doesn't mean it's half-booked.

 

The staffing is sufficient to match reservations. Walk-ups and last-minute requests often times (not always) cannot be accommodated due to lack of staff to provide the service experience expected.

 

Which is worse - having staff standing around hoping for stragglers to fill seats or a packed house with not enough staff to deal with the walk-ups?

 

I'd much rather be turned away than poorly served - and Carnival agrees.

[OCruisers]

The Steakhouse waiters and staff there require special training.

There's space but not enough trained staff.

[elliair]

My last cruise, my GF and I tried a few times to book a reservation for the steakhouse about 3-5 hours in advance. And every time we did, we were told that they were fully booked and just ended up eating at our anytime dining. Curious, I went upstairs to take a look and saw that they only had 5 couples eating at that time, with a more than half empty restaurant. During the entire cruise, I noticed that the steakhouse was not full at any time. Curious to know why Carnival decides to keep their most profitable dining area half empty all the time. Thoughts?

 

We ate the steakhouse the first night on our recent Alaskan cruise - only to get the free bottle of wine. There were a total of 5 five couples eating there at 7:00 pm. I suspect they don't have the servers available to have a full restaurant, nor the cooking staff to keep up with all the orders. Like you said, there were plenty of empty tables.

Edited June 1, 2016 by elliair

[crusinpsychRN]

I've been told the same thing before.

[GatorGirl57]

As others have touched on - just because there are tables does not mean there is staff. They could have probably accommodated a reservation a few days in advance because then they would have known how much staff to have in the steakhouse, but they can't change staffing only a few hours in advance. Why check every day - why not just make a reservation one day?

[Je Souhaite]

My last cruise, my GF and I tried a few times to book a reservation for the steakhouse about 3-5 hours in advance. And every time we did, we were told that they were fully booked and just ended up eating at our anytime dining. Curious, I went upstairs to take a look and saw that they only had 5 couples eating at that time, with a more than half empty restaurant. During the entire cruise, I noticed that the steakhouse was not full at any time. Curious to know why Carnival decides to keep their most profitable dining area half empty all the time. Thoughts?

 

Not sure if it's been mentioned, but what is happening is the table is yours for the night.

 

And I'm not sure if even the early diners tables have enough time for a second seating.

 

With the kids, we always choose 6 PM, and the room maybe has 4 other tables going. And believe it or not, we are usually done between 90 and 105 minutes. Whether they use our table again or not, we were always taold it was ours for the night. But we have never gone back.

[Djptcp]

We make our steakhouse reservations online way before the cruise so we don't have to depend upon trying to get something when we board. Takes the worry out of it if you really want to eat there. You send an email (it's part of your booking information) and you receive an email confirmation back. Very slick. Bring the email confirmation with you just in case.

[Lace]

We make our steakhouse reservations online way before the cruise so we don't have to depend upon trying to get something when we board. Takes the worry out of it if you really want to eat there. You send an email (it's part of your booking information) and you receive an email confirmation back. Very slick. Bring the email confirmation with you just in case.

 

We like to do it on a whim. Anything can happen and then we are locked in.

 

Have never had a problem booking the after of out interest.