Equinox Royal Suite Specialty Dining Booking

[Hypo]

We have booked a Royal Suite on Equinox for our April6 cruise.  How does one make early reservations for specialty restaurants prior to the cruise?

One of the perks of the RS is unlimited specialty dining.  But I am concerned that all of the available time slots will be booked pre-cruise by people that are paying for their specialty bookings.

 

I really do not want to make bookings and pay for them and then go through the hassle of getting them refunded on the ship.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Mark

[CHEZMARYLOU]

You will be contacted by the shore side concierge anywhere from a week prior to sailing or a month prior.  Email or phone call, we've had both so make sure your information is up to date on Celebrity's site.

 

They usually hold back some times for guests in RS and higher.  We just had the concierge make us 7 reservations at 3 restaurants for 7:00.  There was only one night we could not get 7:00 but they were able to book us at 6:30.

[Hypo]

Thanks for your quick reply...

Mark

[groryjm]

When in an RS one is rarely, if ever, told no.

 

On our last trip we got back from a shore excursion with a yen to eat at Tuscan and I nipped down to ask the Maitre d' to reserve a table only to have him suggest the next night as they where fully booked. I didn't get round to giving a name or cabin number just shrugged and said I would check with the rest of our party. 

 

It was tea time so I popped into Michael's on my way back to the suite to check in with my MiL who was in the habit of stopping in there at 3.30 everyday. By chance our Butler was on duty so I asked him on the off chance if he could get us in to Tuscan that night. He asked what time and popped back to us a minute latter to confirm the reservation for that evening at our chosen time.......

 

I wouldn't worry about getting your chosen reservations even if you don't do them before you board through the shore side concierge. Just pass your requests the Michael's club concierge or your butler when you board and I would be very surprised if there was a problem with any of your choices.

[chemmo]

We always book the first two nights through the shoreside concierge. First night Tuscan to enjoy the wake views, second night Murano’s to enjoy the food!

 

Once on board we ask for a copy of the Luminae menus for the cruise and then plan the rest of our dining. We then give our provisional plan to the butler who will sort it all. Usually this is done by the end of first sea day.

 

We do sometimes make changes during the cruise and are usually accommodated. On one or two cruises we have been on speciality dining (especially for Murano’s) has been in high demand. We have seen suite guests disappointed that they could not book their preferred restaurants and times towards the end of the cruise.

 

Generally, if you can give the speciality restaurants a ‘plan’ early in the cruise they do appreciate it rather than them trying to ‘juggle’ to accommodate you on a day by day basis. 

[Covepointcruiser]

We just returned from a RS on the Silhouette.   We made full use of Specialty Restaurants, however, don’t expect special treatment.    We made five reservations thru the Shoreside concierge, and 3 worked.    Two were pre emoted and changed to another night because of 1.  A “Dine with the Officers” event which we could have had for an additional $69 per person and this was in addition to the RS.   We said, no thanks, as this had always been provided free with an officers invite.   The second time was the Lawn Grill and we were told it was totally booked by our Butler and by Michaels Club.

We went up there, without a reservation, and the Matee D said he could accommodate us.   No one else was there.    In a few minutes the Hotel Staff (about 12) was seated along with the Cruise Director Sue.   So they were the ones who preempted us!   Needless to say, we were given no special treatment and don’t assume tables will be set aside for you.   The staff and money making opportunities will always some first.

[cmoore5524]

Don’t count on the fact that you are in a Royal Suite to guarantee specialty restaurant reservations at a decent time if you wait to book on the ship. We made a Tuscan Grill reservation with the shoreside concierge for our October Summit sailing in a Royal Suite and somehow the ship did not have it when we got on board. When I spoke to confirm it with the Michael’s Club Concierge the first night, he said there wasn’t a reservation and after calling the maitre ‘d, he said we could only go at 5:30 or 8:30 which was unacceptable. It took me sending a follow up email to our shoreside concierge to alert her to get it resolved. To her credit, within one hour of her receiving the email on a Sunday night, she called the MC Concierge and made the reservation for 7 pm happen. Next time I will start with my butler instead of the MC Concierge and see if that makes a difference. 

[jelayne]

Our last cruise we were in Murano waiting to be seated when a couple in a RS came in wanting to be seated with no reservation.  They were told nicely that they couldn’t be accommodated until 9:45.  Morale of the story,  make your reservation with the Shoreside Concierge and then reconfirm them as soon as you board.

[Sam.Seattle]

A lot of good tips and advise here.  Thanks...  

[chemmo]

Agree, if you do make your full cruise speciality reservations with the shoreside concierge definitely get them confirmed once on board with your butler. We always take a copy of requests we have given to the shoreside concierge to the butler then he has it as a ‘tick list’ to check on bar set up etc as well as dining reservations. A give away your reservations may not have gone through is if you do not have the ‘dining confirmation card’ in your room as you board. We have found some information transfer ‘hit and miss’.

 

Covepointcruiser, what a poor experience! We were told we couldn’t book Tuscan one night last cruise for a Tuscan Special event, perhaps that was the event you were ‘bumped’ for. Other than that we have always had the restaurants we have requested at the times we want. Like yourselves, dining with officers on Celebrity has always been an invited event.

 

On the positive side, we have found the speciality restaurants very good at trying to accommodating us when we have made changes last minute. We always ask our butler to extend our apologies for the request and try to offer an ‘ish’ time (about 7ish) and are then quite happy if they come back with 6.45 or 7.30....I genuinely think the M’Ds appreciate suite guests booking pre or early cruise to help them organise themselves, offer discounts on quiet days etc. 

 

 

 

 

[Covepointcruiser]

Yes the Tuscanwas having a special event.   It was pay $69 a piece to dine with a ships officer, not sure how many passengers took advantage of this.   The MC hostess did tell us we could also pay to attend, but we said no thanks as we had already paid plenty for the RS with unlimited Specialty Dining.