Edge - reservation of specialty dining when it is comped

[bertrande]

We are sailing on the Edge next month and we apparently have unlimited specialty dining as a perk of our stateroom.  However, I can't seem to make reservations via the Cruise Planner without having to pay.  Do we wait until we are onboard before making the reservations (I am afraid they will all be booked out by that time) or do we reserve via the Cruise Planner, pay the fee and then have it refunded to our onboard account upon boarding?

 

Thanks in advance!

[CHEZMARYLOU]

It sounds like you are in a Royal Suite or higher.  You should be contacted by the shore side concierge 1 to 2 weeks before your cruise and you can arrange your dining then. If you do not get a call or email call the Captains Club and ask to be transferred to the shore side concierge.

[bertrande]

2 hours ago, CHEZMARYLOU said:

It sounds like you are in a Royal Suite or higher.  You should be contacted by the shore side concierge 1 to 2 weeks before your cruise and you can arrange your dining then. If you do not get a call or email call the Captains Club and ask to be transferred to the shore side concierge.

 

Thank you for your response.  Yes we are in a Royal Suite.  Hopefully the specialty dining availability will not be too limited a fortnight out - that is what we are afraid of.

[dkjretired]

22 minutes ago, bertrande said:

 

Thank you for your response.  Yes we are in a Royal Suite.  Hopefully the specialty dining availability will not be too limited a fortnight out - that is what we are afraid of.

You should not have a problem, there are perks for the suite, one of those is to see your Butler when you board. He will take care of you.

[CHEZMARYLOU]

We've never sailed on Edge but have been on other ships in the RS and did not have a problem getting reservations.  Sometimes we've had to adjust the time by 1/2 hour but we did get a reservation.  We've also been able to change reservations on board.  They do hold slots for RS guests.

[ALWAYS CRUZIN]

You will have no problem. Not crowded at all.

[TommyD3]

Actually Fine Cut steak house on Edge is EXTREMELY busy. Told by the F&B when onboard in March that they had a least 100 guests each night who wanted to dine there but could not due to excessive demand. That restaurant was sold out on my birthday two months before my birthday but we had our TA contact the shore side concierge and get us a reservation (we are double Zenith). Dont know how many spaces they save for suite guests.

[bertrande]

12 hours ago, dkjretired said:

You should not have a problem, there are perks for the suite, one of those is to see your Butler when you board. He will take care of you.

 

11 hours ago, CHEZMARYLOU said:

We've never sailed on Edge but have been on other ships in the RS and did not have a problem getting reservations.  Sometimes we've had to adjust the time by 1/2 hour but we did get a reservation.  We've also been able to change reservations on board.  They do hold slots for RS guests.

 

8 hours ago, twodaywonder said:

You will have no problem. Not crowded at all.

 

Thank you all for your reassurance!  I will wait until we are contacted by the shore side concierge then.

[ALWAYS CRUZIN]

When we walked on and headed 50ft to the steak house there was plenty of days and times. 

[Gonzo70]

35 minutes ago, twodaywonder said:

When we walked on and headed 50ft to the steak house there was plenty of days and times. 

 

On my Edge sailing spots at Fine Cut Steakhouse were extremely scarce; was told 85% of slots were booked prior to the cruise online by people paying full price; soon after boarding the remaining slots were gone. That said Celebrity takes care of those staying in top suites, so OP is highly unlikely to have a problem.

[ALWAYS CRUZIN]

At least a few weeks before your cruise or right after you book you can get a great discount. However, all I ever saw was 9:30 or later.

[TommyD3]

5 minutes ago, twodaywonder said:

At least a few weeks before your cruise or right after you book you can get a great discount. However, all I ever saw was 9:30 or later.

We received the standard Zenith 25% discount during the dinner but there was NO discount offered onlibe before the cruise. Are you referring to the dining packages where they sell multiple meals at a discount?

[ALWAYS CRUZIN]

No, the Fine Cut Steak house. The offer ended a few days before the cruise.

[ALWAYS CRUZIN]

I cannot check about the EDGE. But our next cruise for June 22nd on the Equinox. It shows first night discount for Murano's  $35.00 When you click on cruise planner. At the right side it shows in red DISCOUNTS click on it.

[hcat]

23 hours ago, TommyD3 said:

Actually Fine Cut steak house on Edge is EXTREMELY busy. Told by the F&B when onboard in March that they had a least 100 guests each night who wanted to dine there but could not due to excessive demand. That restaurant was sold out on my birthday two months before my birthday but we had our TA contact the shore side concierge and get us a reservation (we are double Zenith). Dont know how many spaces they save for suite guests.

Our res was not comped..We booked at online price...expected the E + discount on board...but it never got that far!

 

We had long standing pre made and pre paid  res... which we had printed out.  

 

When we went to confirm the eve  before, we learned we were moved without  notice to a later ( less desireable)  time... to "enhance our experience" ...no other explantion  or apology given 

 

They  refused to  restore our orig res time, and were  initially not cooperative  about a refund..Eventually, the fairly snooty  maitre d  on duty said okay.   Left a "bad taste" but not from food   .not to mention the venue  was crowded and loud!  We'll pass on it next time as well.

 

Heard this has also happened in EDEN..small groups were  split and given diff times  and also   had a hassle getting refund.  Guess the  word reservation has a diff meaning to some.

Edited May 13, 2019 by hcat

[vtcruising]

Edge specialties were completely booked on our January cruise per the Retreat Concierge when we boarded, except for what was held back for the specialty dining packages and suites. Since there were all new restaurants onboard, likely everyone wanted to try them. We were glad we had booked ours for good times way ahead. You can be put on a list and if slots crop up, they will call. We canceled one of ours and the RC was so happy, likely because he could give it to one of his other guests.  Obviously, there were no special deals (or at least that I knew about).

 

OP,  as others have said, between your call from the Shore Concierge and the Retreat Concierges onboard, being in an upper suite, you should be fine.

 

A couple of suggestions:

-you might want to book Fine Cut Steakhouse earlier in the evening since it gets noisier later on from the Grand Plaza (and request a table deeper into the restaurant, if you prefer a quieter spot). It was my favorite restaurant on the ship and we had 3 amazing dinners there!

-if you do the Rooftop Grill, you might want to do it on a night while you are in port, if you have one - it can be windy up there

 

Enjoy! We have eaten in all of the specialty restaurants (just lunch in RTG), Luminae and one of the  MDRs and our experience was very good to excellent.

Edited May 13, 2019 by vtcruising

[bertrande]

Thank you for all the wonderful tips here - especially about eating earlier at Fine Cut Steakhouse in the evening!  We will try to do Rooftop Grill on the one night that we will still be in port at dinner time (Monte Carlo).  We have not been back on Celebrity for a couple of years now and are really looking forward to our cruise.  We've done the S class and M class ships so we are interested to see what's different (apart from the Retreat) on the Edge class.

[vtcruising]

4 hours ago, bertrande said:

Thank you for all the wonderful tips here - especially about eating earlier at Fine Cut Steakhouse in the evening!  We will try to do Rooftop Grill on the one night that we will still be in port at dinner time (Monte Carlo).  We have not been back on Celebrity for a couple of years now and are really looking forward to our cruise.  We've done the S class and M class ships so we are interested to see what's different (apart from the Retreat) on the Edge class.

RTGG in Monte Carlo sounds wonderful - hope you can see the sunset!

 

The Edge really is a different experience than S and M Class, though same great service. Though we missed a few things from the S Class ships, overall we enjoyed the very unique experiences we had on the Edge, from entertainment to food to new activities to gorgeous art, staircases, lighting, decor (and the lovely Retreat Lounge and Sundeck). We are very happy to have another Celebrity choice. 🙂

 

Enjoy your Royal Suite!  I toured a couple of those on the Edge - the soaking tub is huge!  I'm not sure if saw this thread about the suite life:

 

 

Edited May 15, 2019 by vtcruising

[bertrande]

3 hours ago, vtcruising said:

RTGG in Monte Carlo sounds wonderful - hope you can see the sunset!

 

The Edge really is a different experience than S and M Class, though same great service. Though we missed a few things from the S Class ships, overall we enjoyed the very unique experiences we had on the Edge, from entertainment to food to new activities to gorgeous art, staircases, lighting, decor (and the lovely Retreat Lounge and Sundeck). We are very happy to have another Celebrity choice. 🙂

 

Enjoy your Royal Suite!  I toured a couple of those on the Edge - the soaking tub is huge!  I'm not sure if saw this thread about the suite life:

 

 

 

Thank you very much once again - that thread together with the dining resources post that you made were fantastic to whet our appetites for our cruise.  Not long more to go now before we are on our way - we booked this cruise the moment Edge itineraries were released and are very excited about it!

[vtcruising]

1 minute ago, bertrande said:

 

Thank you very much once again - that thread together with the dining resources post that you made were fantastic to whet our appetites for our cruise.  Not long more to go now before we are on our way - we booked this cruise the moment Edge itineraries were released and are very excited about it!

Enjoy! After your cruise, if you think of it, would love to have your Royal Suite review for the Edge Cabin Information sticky at the top of the Celebrity Cruise Critic page. We don't have a Royal yet! 🙂

 

[bertrande]

Just to update on this thread, I was contacted by Shoreside Concierge about 3 weeks before the cruise to take reservations for specialty dining.  It is good that they did so - Fine Cut availability was very limited and we are currently waitlisted for our two preferred dates and times while holding a confirmed reservation on another day.  We have been advised to check onboard whether our preferred timings open up.  

[TommyD3]

23 hours ago, bertrande said:

Just to update on this thread, I was contacted by Shoreside Concierge about 3 weeks before the cruise to take reservations for specialty dining.  It is good that they did so - Fine Cut availability was very limited and we are currently waitlisted for our two preferred dates and times while holding a confirmed reservation on another day.  We have been advised to check onboard whether our preferred timings open up.  

Was this after requesting the three reservations be made by the Shoreside Concierge?

Was Fine Cut already sold out 3 weeks before even for the top level suites?

WOW !!!!

[TommyD3]

I think they really made a mistake with the size of Fine Cut.

It is quite small.

There is SO MUCH wasted space on Edge !!!

Hopefully they will make it bigger on future ships !!!

[TommyD3]

WOW !!!

If someone in the Royal Suite cannot get reservations at Fine Cut three weeks before the cruise what hope do dining package holders have of dining there? They have to wait until they get onboard to make their reservations.

What happened to holding space for the suite guests and dining package holders???

What is the value of unlimited specialty dining if they wont let you eat at your preferred restaurant?

[vtcruising]

1 minute ago, TommyD3 said:

WOW !!!

If someone in the Royal Suite cannot get reservations at Fine Cut three weeks before the cruise what hope do dining package holders have of dining there? They have to wait until they get onboard to make their reservations.

What happened to holding space for the suite guests and dining package holders???

What is the value of unlimited specialty dining if they wont let you eat at your preferred restaurant?

On one of our Edge cruises, we had booked our reservations way ahead (paid full price with OBC). When we were in the Retreat Lounge the first hour of the cruise, we heard the concierge telling suite guests that the specialties were sold out. They took down their names and suite numbers and said they would notify them as reservations opened up. They likely saved tables for each time slot in all specialties for the packages and then released them if they weren’t needed. I imagine the upper suites were then first up for those.

 

The Edge specialties seemed always sold out for our cruises - there were all new restaurants that most wanted to try. As they get repeat cruisers, the demand may normalize. Of course, we went to FCSH on 3 different cruises and will go again on the next Edge and Apex cruises. 😋