Dawn Dining Reservations 130 days out

[Gampy1967]

Staying in a suite and booked my dining reservations 130 days out.  There were a few quirks that I called about after booking online that they suggested to just leave and fix onboard.

1. Even at 130 days out almost no times available for parties of 3.  So I booked the days and times I wanted for parties of 4 with no problem.  I assumed they would put 3 people at a 4-top anyway so I am really not taking an extra table up for the imaginary 4th person.
2. For some reason there are NO reservations available for anytime time and any restaurant for the middle day of the cruise, Wednesday, March 27.  Not even any times available in the 2 main dining rooms.  It is as if they will not be serving dinner at any restaurant on that day.  Obviously a glitch but that can be taken care of onboard.
3. Nothing to plan out and reserve now.  Nothing to do for 130 days other than wait.

[brookie848]

Just now, Gampy1967 said:

Staying in a suite and booked my dining reservations 130 days out.  There were a few quirks that I called about after booking online that they suggested to just leave and fix onboard.

1. Even at 130 days out almost no times available for parties of 3.  So I booked the days and times I wanted for parties of 4 with no problem.  I assumed they would put 3 people at a 4-top anyway so I am really not taking an extra table up for the imaginary 4th person.
2. For some reason there are NO reservations available for anytime time and any restaurant for the middle day of the cruise, Wednesday, March 27.  Not even any times available in the 2 main dining rooms.  It is as if they will not be serving dinner at any restaurant on that day.  Obviously a glitch but that can be taken care of onboard.
3. Nothing to plan out and reserve now.  Nothing to do for 130 days other than wait.

The same exact things happened to me when I booked a few weeks ago (130 days out, three of us, staying in a suite). We booked everything for four people. Check later in the day -- Wednesday should open up. I was able to make reservations over the phone, but they opened up later in the day online. 

 

I made the same observations about Wednesday -- they really don't expect you to eat then. If you check on available dining, the Garden Cafe wasn't even coming up!

 

I talked to the pre-cruise concierge to make reservations for Wednesday, but that didn't go well. We got our reservations, but not without a fight. It was my worst experience with this department. The woman didn't know the rules, kept giving me false information and was not nice at all. I really wish I had gotten her name. I finally got my Wednesday reservations, but only after fighting her for them. 

 

We also found it strange that there were no reservations available for any number of people for certain times (maybe 6:30?). We may end up changing a few of our reservations on board.

 

Enjoy relaxing until your cruise! We've booked everything we can, so it is a waiting game for us as well. 

 

[roger001]

Yea.  This reservation system has been screwy for our last two cruises.  Some days completely missing and frequently only a few slots available on the other days.  Being in a suite, I just emailed the concierge desk and they got me what I wanted with an response in almost within minutes.  

[Gampy1967]

15 hours ago, roger001 said:

Yea.  This reservation system has been screwy for our last two cruises.  Some days completely missing and frequently only a few slots available on the other days.  Being in a suite, I just emailed the concierge desk and they got me what I wanted with an response in almost within minutes.  

The concierge desk knows the online reservations are screwy also.  The Wednesday finally opened up last night and I got the last of my reservations in (at 4 rather than 3 people).  The concierge desk are the ones that strongly suggested I simply keep what I have since I like my times and just change the quantity of people once I get onboard.  That is what I am going to do.  I went for all early dining times so we can catch the 8p shows if we wanted.

[KeithJenner]

Regarding not being able to book for the correct number of people, this has always been a problem.

 

we just book for the next available number of people up (ie 4 instead of 3), and then just go to the reservation desk to adjust it after booking. We’ve been doing this for years now.

[Gampy1967]

1 hour ago, KeithJenner said:

Regarding not being able to book for the correct number of people, this has always been a problem.

 

we just book for the next available number of people up (ie 4 instead of 3), and then just go to the reservation desk to adjust it after booking. We’ve been doing this for years now.

You would think this would be an easy fix because they are going to put three people at a table that holds 4 anyway. Oh well.  It is done and over with so now we just have to pack.

 

Is 129 days out too early to start packing??

 

[Barb Nahoumi]

We never book anything ahead, always do it on board,and never have trouble getting what we want.

 

Of course we like to eat early, so that might be a factor.  Our last cruise was mostly older folks, so many of the early slots were taken.  They were able to fit us in at good times, so that we could go to the entertainment.

 

We booked all of our excursions on board as well.