group seating help

[Rpcseed]

traveling with group of 12 people would like to confirm that all 12 are at the same table. has anyone gotten any help from royal on this matter 

[Biker19]

Regardless of whatever RCI shoreside tells you, confirm it on the ship as soon as you board.

[stevea36]

1 minute ago, Rpcseed said:

traveling with group of 12 people would like to confirm that all 12 are at the same table. has anyone gotten any help from royal on this matter 

when are you sailing?

 

are all of the reservations linked together for dining?  if not, have your TA link them.

also, I would recommend having 2 tables of 6 each rather than one large table of 12.  It is just about impossible to follow any conversation other than with those next to you at such a large table.

 

If you are within a month of sailing, send an email to rcldining@rccl.com with all names, cabin numbers, and reservation numbers and they will do their best 🙂

 

Steve

[PhoenixCruiser]

Just make sure your bookings are linked.  We had a group of 14 on our last family cruise and we had an oval in the Main Dining Room, worked great.

 

The previous group cruise we had 20 and were given an oval for 14 and a round for 6.

[Rpcseed]

thxs steve 1/20/19 freedom fifth year cruise and always sit one large table ans switch seats nightly always have a issue sitting together 

[Clarea]

4 minutes ago, Rpcseed said:

thxs steve 1/20/19 freedom fifth year cruise and always sit one large table ans switch seats nightly always have a issue sitting together 

 

If your group is a real group booking, then you need to contact whoever booked your cruise to arrange dining.

 

If your group is just a bunch of individual bookings, and you want one of the fixed traditional dining times, then you need to get all linked together for dining.  Also contact rcldining@rccl.com about 3 weeks before the cruise  and notify them of your dining preferences.

[Minimama]

We were a group of 16 people and had everything linked with reservations for 7:45.  Six people joined and when we tried to add them to our reservation it would not allow.  I emailed them weeks ago and got a response that my request was forwarded to the ship (Mariner). I never heard again.  I then followed up and got a reply that we would have to talk to dining when we got on the ship.  Now they are telling me no guarantees. We are two weeks out and I'm not sure why they cannot accommodate us.

 

[Clarea]

2 minutes ago, Minimama said:

We were a group of 16 people and had everything linked with reservations for 7:45.  Six people joined and when we tried to add them to our reservation it would not allow.  I emailed them weeks ago and got a response that my request was forwarded to the ship (Mariner). I never heard again.  I then followed up and got a reply that we would have to talk to dining when we got on the ship.  Now they are telling me no guarantees. We are two weeks out and I'm not sure why they cannot accommodate us.

 

 

The size of your group and closeness of the sailing date makes it much more difficult for them to accommodate.   

[Minimama]

1 minute ago, Host Clarea said:

 

The size of your group and closeness of the sailing date makes it much more difficult for them to accommodate.   

Yes, but I started the request over three weeks ago. It makes me upset that this could not be taken care of then. I have not even started my vacation and already am off to a shaky start. I have put many hours into this reunion and all we want is to sit together once a day.  Three tables of 8/ two tables of 11/3 tables of 7; however they want to do it works for us.  We are just looking for once a day to be able to all get together.  It doesn't cost them money and shouldn't be too difficult.  I feel that six weeks notice should have been a sufficient amount of time for this.

 

[Clarea]

14 minutes ago, Minimama said:

Yes, but I started the request over three weeks ago. ....

 

 

Three or six weeks may sound like a bunch of time to you, but that is a very short time for the cruising world.  Many people have been booked (and their dining set) for 18 months, or more.  They can't just kick other people out of their selected dining.

[Minimama]

11 minutes ago, Host Clarea said:

 

Three or six weeks may sound like a bunch of time to you, but that is a very short time for the cruising world.  Many people have been booked (and their dining set) for 18 months, or more.  They can't just kick other people out of their selected dining.

I totally understand, I work in the travel industry (airlines)   Of course, we would not move anyone out of their already assigned seats, and I'm not asking anyone to be switched out of their selected dining.  I am confident this is not the first time they had such a request.  However, for that reason, we block seats on all planes to make accommodations, when we can.  This is not rocket science and we have been in other groups on other cruises that had no problems working out seating.  It is unfortunate, that Royal Caribbean in unwilling to address my concerns.  Our group is spending plenty of money on the ship (cabana rentals/suites/drink packages/shore excursions) I didn't think the free dining arrangement would be a problem.  My bad for not booking 18 months out.

 

[NavyCruiser]

Assigned seating is totally different for planes vs cruise ships.  Most flyers already booked exact seat for Airlines flights.  Most, if not all, cruisers don't know their assigned seatings/tables until once onboard.  

So I would think the cruise lines should have no problems re-arranging tables to accommodate your group.

We've sail Royal every summer for a business function cruise for 10+ yrs, for 70 - 80 people, & they've always reserved a block section of 7 - 8 tables for us.  

[Clarea]

6 minutes ago, NavyCruiser said:

 ...

We've sail Royal every summer for a business function cruise for 10+ yrs, for 70 - 80 people, & they've always reserved a block section of 7 - 8 tables for us.  

 

Your business function cruise is most likely a group booking.  Dining assignment is totally different for a group booking.

[Biker19]

19 minutes ago, Minimama said:

  It is unfortunate, that Royal Caribbean in unwilling to address my concerns. 

It's not unwilling, but they may not be able to now. 7:45 is a fairly popular time and trying to find 24 seats together this late may not be so easy. The folks on board will try to make it happen, you may just need to accept some table further apart.

[nascarcruiser]

43 minutes ago, Minimama said:

I totally understand, I work in the travel industry (airlines)   Of course, we would not move anyone out of their already assigned seats, and I'm not asking anyone to be switched out of their selected dining.  I am confident this is not the first time they had such a request.  However, for that reason, we block seats on all planes to make accommodations, when we can.  This is not rocket science and we have been in other groups on other cruises that had no problems working out seating.  It is unfortunate, that Royal Caribbean in unwilling to address my concerns.  Our group is spending plenty of money on the ship (cabana rentals/suites/drink packages/shore excursions) I didn't think the free dining arrangement would be a problem.  My bad for not booking 18 months out.

 

And just how many other groups are making the same kind of request?  Maybe none but maybe many.  Like I tell people the amount of money is irrelevant.  We treat people the same no matter if the spend $10 or a million dollars.  They will accommodate you if possible.

[Minimama]

I am going to have faith that this will work out in the end.  I am just a bit frustrated. I am not a travel agent, but I am the family coordinator.  I have arranged plane tickets, hotel rooms, shuttle service, matching shirts, shore excursions, etc. and did not expect this would be the difficult part. Vacations are for memories...fingers crossed they are good ones!!

[Clarea]

7 minutes ago, Minimama said:

I am going to have faith that this will work out in the end.  I am just a bit frustrated. I am not a travel agent, but I am the family coordinator.  I have arranged plane tickets, hotel rooms, shuttle service, matching shirts, shore excursions, etc. and did not expect this would be the difficult part. Vacations are for memories...fingers crossed they are good ones!!

 

Next time consider using a good travel agent, that is what they are for.

[luv2sailAgain]

6 minutes ago, Host Clarea said:

 

Next time consider using a good travel agent, that is what they are for.

How do you find a good travel agent?  I have not had much luck with them. My friends don't travel much, so they are not a good source to help me find a good agent.

[Clarea]

14 minutes ago, luv2sailAgain said:

How do you find a good travel agent?  I have not had much luck with them. My friends don't travel much, so they are not a good source to help me find a good agent.

 

We got ours via word of mouth from friends we met on one of our first cruises. 

[Minimama]

2 hours ago, Host Clarea said:

 

Next time consider using a good travel agent, that is what they are for.

Thanks for the advice. Unfortunately, RC wouldn't allow our TA to give us the interline rate. Regardless, I am still a paying customer, and booked on our own or through a TA, they are in the business of vacations.  I am hoping that they will live up to their reputation and provide us with a positive experience and all the stress and frustration they have put me through over this will be forgotten.