Dining reservations

[asoe28]

We have a long history of luxury cruising, dating back to the glory days of Royal Viking Line. But, our first Regent Cruise, on Explorer, is coming up as the newest addition to our wonderful collection. I’d be very appreciative of any suggestions about alternate dining reservations. Are there usual times for pre/ post dinner entertainment activities? (Will try to avoid spending all our time eating.) how does one arrange to dine with others when we haven’t met anyone yet? Are there hosted tables in any of the restaurants? If so how do newbies join?

You are probably getting the picture of a shy quiet couple, who’d like to enhance their cruise experience by sharing it with others. Correct! We are among those few who actually found assigned seating a painless way of getting to know new people.

Any and all insider information will be put to good use. Lots of thank yous

Abby

[Travelcat2]

Hi Abby and welcome to the Regent board.  You will be sailing on our favorite ship - Explorer.  I'll try to answer your questions.

 

In my opinion, the most important thing is to book dining reservations online as soon as they become available (both for dining reservations and excursions).  All specialty restaurant reservations start at 6:30 p.m.  Specialty restaurants take only a small number of reservations at 6:30 p.m. so they can provide excellent service to early diners.  By the time the 7:00 p.m. reservations show up, the other guests have already ordered and have drinks.  This continues on throughout the evening.

 

When you make your reservations online, you can select the time and whether or not you are willing to share a table.  In the MDR (Compass Rose) you are asked if you want a table for two or if you would like to share a table.  This is a simple process.  

 

Yes - officers do host tables on special nights but generally they start with the highest level in the Seven Seas Society.  Sometimes people are chosen randomly to dine with officers.  

 

Entertainment begins at 6:00 p.m. in the lounges.  At this time hors d'oeuves are also passed around in the lounges.  The shows are at 9:45 except for the second to the last night when the crew puts on a wonderful show at 6:00 p.m. (this is not to be missed show and the theater is full.  

 

Interestingly, the two of the specialty restaurants are also open for lunch on alternating days (both are open on sea days) - no reservations required.  This is a nice dining option that is only available on Explorer.

 

Another Explorer only event is on Sundays (when Sunday is a sea day).  An incredible brunch buffet with champagne, mimosas and anything else that you may want to drink in Compass Rose.  On other Sundays, caviar and champagne breakfast is served in La Veranda and Compass Rose.

 

There are two nights when Compass Rose has a special menu (In my opinion, every night in Compass Rose the menu is wonderful).  The special nights are the night of the Captain's Reception and the Captain's Farewell.  The Captain's Reception is typically (but not always) the 2nd night onboard and the Captain's Farewell is the 2nd to the last night onboard.

 

If you have any other questions - just ask.  There are many of us that are happy to respond.

Jackie

 

[poss]

Just to add:

— You will also be able to choose whether you'd like to share a table for 4 or for 6.    (There are some larger tables, but I believe that they're usually for parties who come in together.)

— It also often happens that when one of the specialty restaurants is fully booked for tables for 2, it's quite possible to get a reservation if one would like to share.    So if you become especially fond of one or two of the specialty restaurants, there's a good chance on any given night that you may be able to obtain a reservation to share, even at the last minute, as a walk in.

— Which reminds me:   Even if you've been told that there's no availability in one of the restaurants, sometimes simply asking the maitre d' at dinner time can do the trick — again, especially if you're wanting to share.

 

There are no doubt plenty of other details on you questions, and people will chime in as they think of them.

 

Welcome to the Regent board.   We love the ships!

[asoe28]

Excellent information! I thank you both so much. And will keep you posted on our Regent experiences.

[2012_Alaska_bound]

Just got off 24 days on Navigator, and we chose to share a table every night.  Some nights we scheduled dinner with some of our new friends, but even when we did this, we often chose to sit at a table for 6 in order to still meet new people.  We did this both in Compass Rose and Prime 7 (only specialty restaurant on Navigator).  We did find it difficult to get a reservation for Prime 7 later in the cruise (even sharing) before 8, and we would miss most of the show that night.

[rusty2]

Our first Regent cruise and dining reservations open soon. We are traveling with another couple. How do we specify a table for four and add our friends to the same table? Can our friends also book a table and add us to that table? Thank you.

[Travelcat2]

8 minutes ago, rusty2 said:

Our first Regent cruise and dining reservations open soon. We are traveling with another couple. How do we specify a table for four and add our friends to the same table? Can our friends also book a table and add us to that table? Thank you.

 

In order to add your friends, you would need to cancel your reservation (easy to do online) and book a table for four.  You will need their booking number in order to do this.  Passengers can only pre-book one dining reservation in each specialty restaurant so if your friends dine with you, they will be using their one reservation.  Hope that this helps and welcome to the Regent board.

[rusty2]

Thank you for your answer. Looking forward to our first Regent cruise.

[welshnus]

What is the process for booking dinner reservations when they become available, thank you 

[slidebite]

Log onto your account online, go into your upcoming cruise, about halfway down the page there is a section called "Important dates" where you have the "milestones" of things you need/should do, like payments, excursions, dining, etc.

 

Once the date for reservations open up click it and make your res.

 

In my experience, the tables for 2 fill up fairly quickly for prime dining times, but you will have a high chance of a prime time if you are open to sharing a table. The last couple times we cruised it was 4 of us so we always shared, but since its just the 2x of us this time we'll probably try that a couple times.

 

You can also book on board.

[dsindallas]

Newbie here who will sailing on the Navigator in a few months. When booking the CR, do I have to make a reservation for each evening of the cruise or am I setting a time and table size for the entire cruise? 

[RELS]

6 minutes ago, dsindallas said:

Newbie here who will sailing on the Navigator in a few months. When booking the CR, do I have to make a reservation for each evening of the cruise or am I setting a time and table size for the entire cruise? 

 

Compass Rose does not require reservations. Walk in whenever you want. Some evenings there might be a slight wait if you arrive at a popular time, especially if you want a table for two.

[travlr21]

6 minutes ago, dsindallas said:

booking the CR

Reservations are not required for Compass Rose, just show up when you are ready to dine. You will only be able to prebook the specialty restaurants, CR will not even be there as as an option.

[dsindallas]

Thank you, RELS and travlr21! 

[HotRoot]

The only restaurant you can book on the Navigator is Prime 7.  You will be able to book one reservation prior to boarding.  You can ask for additional reservations once onboard.  Compass Rose and Sette Mare do not take reservations.  They are walk in only.  The other ships have more specialty restaurants.  You can find their menus on line.  If you see something you would like to try, order it in Compass Rose with at least 24 hours notice.  We always order the lobster tempura from the Asian restaurant.  

[slidebite]

FWIW I don't think I've ever had to wait more than 5, maybe 10 minutes tops at either Compass Rose or Seti Marie the couple times we sailed on Voyager and Mariner iirc, but I've never been on Navigator.

 

I do wonder if that will change though with the Pool Grill shutting down for dinner. I always saw a few casual people (never many) eating there. I guess room service will become the default for super casual dining?

[Scout16]

If you want to meet new people for dinner one of the best options may be to look up the Social Travelers gathering which will be listed in the daily Passages.  In 2019 there was always a group which went to dinner together often with an entertainer or the Social Hostess.  This past summer the crew were not allowed to eat with the passengers due to Covid, but there was often a few of us who would join together for dinner. 

[papaflamingo]

22 hours ago, slidebite said:

FWIW I don't think I've ever had to wait more than 5, maybe 10 minutes tops at either Compass Rose or Seti Marie the couple times we sailed on Voyager and Mariner iirc, but I've never been on Navigator.

 

I do wonder if that will change though with the Pool Grill shutting down for dinner. I always saw a few casual people (never many) eating there. I guess room service will become the default for super casual dining?

We did 40 nights on Navigator last summer.  Since we were in the North Atlantic, the Pool Grill rarely had any dinner diners.  The only wait we had was for Sette Mari.  It usually filled at opening time, but if you went later you could likely get a table.

In Compass Rose there was generally no wait, especially if you are willing to share a table.  There were occasionally wait times for a table for 2, but when informed, we simply agreed to share and were seated almost immediately and always with nice people for conversation.  Melanie was the hostess and we got to know her quite well.  When sharing, she would try to pair us up with people she felt we would enjoy dining with, and always did a great job.  We met a lot of people that way. 

[2012_Alaska_bound]

1 hour ago, papaflamingo said:

Melanie was the hostess and we got to know her quite well.  When sharing, she would try to pair us up with people she felt we would enjoy dining with, and always did a great job.

 

Agree that the host or hostess are able to match people pretty well. I think they base their opinions on if the passengers have a good reputation with the wait staff: pleasant, patient, willing to interact, etc. I always hope they know me because I'm nice, not for another reason!

[papaflamingo]

21 hours ago, 2012_Alaska_bound said:

 

Agree that the host or hostess are able to match people pretty well. I think they base their opinions on if the passengers have a good reputation with the wait staff: pleasant, patient, willing to interact, etc. I always hope they know me because I'm nice, not for another reason!

Well.. THAT explains a lot! 😱🤣

[RetiredandTravel]

It is important to get to Sette Mari close to when they open @ 6:30 (or 8PM seating) to be assured of getting a table.  Getting there closer to 6:30 will also mean you are one of the first to be seated and avoid it possibly getting a little hectic when its full.  Sette Mari is an excellent non reservation alternative to CR.

 

Sharing a table in usually good fun but I have seen it go horribly wrong.  Never happened to us but someone being "overserved" is usually the issue.

 

Enjoy.

 

 

[DaisyGoldberg]

Can solos book dinner for one or will they expect you to share? I'm willing to wait or eat at an unpopular time, but cruising is my escape from dealing with people I don't know 😉

 

[cwn]

This past Dec I saw several tables in the speciality restaurants with singles. We eat around 7. Just book the table for one online. There are plenty of small tables for 1-2. I understand your desire. We don’t like sharing with people we have not met behand on the ship.

Edited February 15, 2023 by cwn

[irishwitchy]

16 hours ago, DaisyGoldberg said:

Can solos book dinner for one or will they expect you to share? I'm willing to wait or eat at an unpopular time, but cruising is my escape from dealing with people I don't know 😉

 

We met a single man years ago on a cruise from Miami to Peru.  We never saw him or spoke to him on the ship, but kept bumping into him after the cruise in Peru - he had a Regent bag with him.  We must have bumped into him four times!  The last time was at the airport lounge - the place was packed and they put us next to him.   Anyway,  we spoke about the cruise - did he like it,  did he go to the single table, etc.  

 

I don’t necessary agree with his approach,  but he wanted to enjoy his dinner and wine by himself and didn’t want to spend time on social talk with others.  He also found that other singles, may not leave him alone after one dinner.   My husband and I had that once, with a very nice single woman - she was now trying to invite herself to all of our dinners.   That became awkward!  It’s your cruise, time and money - enjoy it the way you want it to! 

[papaflamingo]

20 hours ago, DaisyGoldberg said:

Can solos book dinner for one or will they expect you to share? I'm willing to wait or eat at an unpopular time, but cruising is my escape from dealing with people I don't know 😉

 

I can't say positively, but the smallest number you can reserve is a table for 2.  If you do that, I'm fairly certain that would mean you will dine alone unless you specifically bring someone with you.  But when you get on board, go to the restaurant and check and tell them you do not want a tablemate.