Making dinner reservations for 17 people

[Clarea]

Thank you. We have many staterooms booked (12+), via at least two different TAs. Will have one of them get on this as it gets closer.

The tough part will be getting one of the TAs to give up their bookings. The group can only be "owned" by one travel agent.

[goncruzn]

@goncruzn -- When you say you put your rooms under a group booking, is that something only a TA can do? And same questions regarding making dinner reservations though the groups department ... can anyone contact that department or only a TA? Thanks for any info.

 

A TA could definitely do it, but in my case all cabins were booked individually directly with Royal. The information I received from Royal was that we needed 8 rooms to qualify as a group so I waited until everyone made final payment and then switched all individual bookings to a group reservation. At that point I started dealing directly with the groups department. I received a dining request form so I called them and made a reservation for all of us for the first night. The rep asked if we wanted every night, said it was no problem to do so. I left it at just the one night, but I will probably add 1 additional night for everyone to be together.

 

They (group dept) were very accommodating. He said they had availability each night to seat us together.

 

If you do not have a TA, you can definitely handle it yourself by speaking directly with the group department. You will need to have everyone's individual reservation number to give the group rep and they will put all individual res numbers under one group res number. They will also make your dining reservations for you. Actually, the reason I called to make the dining reservation was because I didn't send the form in by the due date. At first, I thought I was going to be too late to do so, but not the case.

 

Not sure if they will set up a group res for less than 8 cabins, but worth a call if you have less than that amount of rooms.

 

Hope this info helps!

[goncruzn]

Thank you. We have many staterooms booked (12+), via at least two different TAs. Will have one of them get on this as it gets closer.

 

Didn't notice this before that you actually have 12+ rooms. You definitely should have no problem switching everyone over. Try to do this at least 2 months in advance as the dining request form states they need it back 34 or 37 days (can't remember which) prior to sailing. Although I didn't get mine back in the specified amount of time, they were still able to assist but not sure if it would be that way for all sailings. I guess it will be a matter of how many people have signed up for My Time on your sailing.

[FOXTROT]

Just made dinner reservations for 23. Had everyone's booking numbers, called RCCL, told them the time & was done.

[goncruzn]

Just made dinner reservations for 23. Had everyone's booking numbers, called RCCL, told them the time & was done.

 

Yep, real easy to do. We did the group only because they will give us a room on the ship for a celebration get together. We are celebrating my mother's 80th birthday and my aunt's 85th birthday (mom's sister). It also allows us to do different activities and shore excursions together as a group.

[zooma]

Yep, real easy to do. We did the group only because they will give us a room on the ship for a celebration get together. We are celebrating my mother's 80th birthday and my aunt's 85th birthday (mom's sister). It also allows us to do different activities and shore excursions together as a group.

 

Thank you so much for all that info. Not meaning to hijack this (and maybe I'll start a new thread at some point), but while on the subject ... other than the dinner(s) and possibly a separate room for the bday celebration, do you have suggestions for other onboard group activities or planned gatherings for such a large family reunion?

[gerif]

Thank you. We have many staterooms booked (12+), via at least two different TAs. Will have one of them get on this as it gets closer.

Any one agency can only deal with the staterooms under their control - and why would they do any work for staterooms for which they are getting no commission? All bookings must belong to the same agency (or the cruise line directly) for it to be considered a group booking.

[goncruzn]

Thank you so much for all that info. Not meaning to hijack this (and maybe I'll start a new thread at some point), but while on the subject ... other than the dinner(s) and possibly a separate room for the bday celebration, do you have suggestions for other onboard group activities or planned gatherings for such a large family reunion?

 

Yes, they sent me a ton of information for things such as: group photo packages; group shore excursions; cocktail parties (private and non-private); private group flowrider sessions; private skating sessions; team building events that include rock wall, crafts, professional dance lessons, private zip line, scavenger hunt and much more. All available for a price, which gets pretty pricey! ;)

 

The only things I'm planning besides dinner on a few nights with everyone is hosting a "party" in our room, with light snacks. On a different day we'll probably also take advantage of whatever room they offer up as a place for us to have a private "get-together".

 

Glad to help with whatever information I have!

[zooma]

Thank you!!!

[Nashna]

We are really only concerned with dining. We have two GS staterooms booked side by side and we’re going to use those for meeting up. The other five staterooms are side-by-side ocean view balconies with kids and parents together. We are all booked with the same TA. Who gave us some great shipboard credits and specialty dining for all. This will be used for our anniversary dinner. Everything else we can do separately. I am trying to figure out how to book the Grill for us all without paying extra as we will use the TA’s booking incentive.

 

 

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[Clarea]

We are really only concerned with dining. We have two GS staterooms booked side by side and we’re going to use those for meeting up. The other five staterooms are side-by-side ocean view balconies with kids and parents together. We are all booked with the same TA. Who gave us some great shipboard credits and specialty dining for all. This will be used for our anniversary dinner. Everything else we can do separately. I am trying to figure out how to book the Grill for us all without paying extra as we will use the TA’s booking incentive.

You need to read the fine print on the travel agent's specialty dining perk. Many times that perk requires on-board reservations.