Buy One/Get One Dining?

[Surfguyxxx]

It's been almost 5 years since I've done a Celebrity cruise and just can't find the answer to this.  Does Celebrity offer a "buy one get one" dining offer for speciality restaurants during the first 2 nights of a sailing?  Didn't know if that was just a Royal Caribbean thing or not.  Someone had mentioned it in a recent post but I just can't seem to find it anywhere.  On the Captain's Club Membership Benefits page it doesn't list it for Elite members, which I am, but it does give 15% discount for Elite Plus, which I am not.  I'll be on the 09/08/2022 Equinox sailing. Thank you.

[emmas gran]

2 for 1 are a thing of the past even for Elite + , the best we have seen is 30% off. 

[bye-seaya]

I haven’t seen that promo online in a long but will rely on there to confirm. However, I believe there is a Celebrity discount promo of 9% off dining or drink packages. You may want to check out the Celebrity site to ensure it’s still going on. 

[NutsAboutGolf]

Double whammy of bad news, unless something changes, no discounts on board and now there’s a forced 18% gratuity charge making a dinner for two at $55 a $129.80 charge.  I’ve been on six sailings since the restart including the equinox.  They have a manned specialty restaurant station right by the buffet entrance, I’ve heard many asking for a discount and be told no unless you buy a package, then you can receive the slight package discount.

[Surfguyxxx]

6 minutes ago, bye-seaya said:

I haven’t seen that promo online in a long but will rely on there to confirm. However, I believe there is a Celebrity discount promo of 9% off dining or drink packages. You may want to check out the Celebrity site to ensure it’s still going on. 

Thanks.  Yes I saw that but to me, that isn't much of an incentive to purchase and pay beforehand.  

Edited July 11, 2022 by Surfguyxxx

[miched]

Offers depend on the sailing.   If the restaurants aren’t getting enough reservations they will offer discounts

 

We did b2b2b and  got 50% off for any restaurant at any time after the b2b meeting for the next cruise.   The next leg after the b2b meeting I asked about getting the discount for the next cruise and they said none were being offered as there were many reservations.  
 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

[jelayne]

2 hours ago, Surfguyxxx said:

Thanks.  Yes I saw that but to me, that isn't much of an incentive to purchase and pay beforehand.  

If you are planning to book a specialty restaurant, not purchase a package the incentive to book ahead is that the sooner you book the more options of days and times you will have.

 

we are sailing on the Beyond in October Eden has 8:30, 9 and 9:30 on Day 1 open. All sea days no availability.  The port days 9 or 9:30.

LeVoyage is booked for all but 9 & 9 30 on the last night. 

[Surfguyxxx]

9 minutes ago, jelayne said:

If you are planning to book a specialty restaurant, not purchase a package the incentive to book ahead is that the sooner you book the more options of days and times you will have.

 

we are sailing on the Beyond in October Eden has 8:30, 9 and 9:30 on Day 1 open. All sea days no availability.  The port days 9 or 9:30.

LeVoyage is booked for all but 9 & 9 30 on the last night. 

Yikes 😳.  Thanks

[NutsAboutGolf]

40 minutes ago, jelayne said:

If you are planning to book a specialty restaurant, not purchase a package the incentive to book ahead is that the sooner you book the more options of days and times you will have.

 

we are sailing on the Beyond in October Eden has 8:30, 9 and 9:30 on Day 1 open. All sea days no availability.  The port days 9 or 9:30.

LeVoyage is booked for all but 9 & 9 30 on the last night. 

 

Once you're on board you can make requests and the more flexible you are the better chance you have of receiving it.  Doesn't matter if you purchase in advance or on board.  For example, if you want a 6pm reservation, tell the host the days you'd be interested.  People change their reservations all the time. 

[phoenix_dream]

Big discounts are a thing of the past unfortunately.  And I have also found if you wait until boarding you may be out of luck, especially for any desirable times and especially on M class ships with fewer options.  

[SusieV]

They don't offer discounts on board anymore? We've always been offered at least 30% off to go on a port day.

[ISABELLA]

I was always under impression that $50.00/pp charge was a service charge ( gratuity). And now Celebrity is charging gratuity on top of gratuity. 

[Arizona Wildcat]

1 hour ago, SusieV said:

They don't offer discounts on board anymore? We've always been offered at least 30% off to go on a port day.

Discounts are offered if it appears Celebrity will not fill the specialty restaurants.   With staffing issues and tons of OBC out there (we have $1250 on a TA next year!) recently there has been no need to discount very much.

Yes you will be offered a discount for the first night.  As to a discount for Eden - is sells at full price so why discount?  

[jelayne]

2 hours ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

Once you're on board you can make requests and the more flexible you are the better chance you have of receiving it.  Doesn't matter if you purchase in advance or on board.  For example, if you want a 6pm reservation, tell the host the days you'd be interested.  People change their reservations all the time. 

That wasn't the case on our sailing since the restart.   Roof Top Grill or Lawn Club  had some availability and a few nights LPC.   We were in a Suites and that didn't help with Eden or Murano.

Maybe if the ships get back to full staff then things will free up, but with reduced staff they have had to reduce bookings in the specialty restaurants.  

[Luvcrusn]

I haven't seen a 50% off in several years now. Sorry.

[Surfguyxxx]

4 minutes ago, Luvcrusn said:

I haven't seen a 50% off in several years now. Sorry.

Yeah, I'm thinking it's just a RC perk but it's only available on the first 2 nights of a sailing.  We are D+ on RC if that matters.

[Luvcrusn]

5 minutes ago, Surfguyxxx said:

Yeah, I'm thinking it's just a RC perk but it's only available on the first 2 nights of a sailing.  We are D+ on RC if that matters.

We used to see it offered on X the first night especially  but not for several years before the Covid shutdown. We haven't sailed on Royal for at least 5-6 years now.

[Mark_T]

3 hours ago, ISABELLA said:

I was always under impression that $50.00/pp charge was a service charge ( gratuity). And now Celebrity is charging gratuity on top of gratuity. 

It was always an up-charge, not a gratuity, but it used to include the gratuity, so they now have effectively raised the price by 18% with this recent change.

[bye-seaya]

After reading a lot of posts about Eden being booked up quickly - I booked a reservation for our May 2023 cruise, as we didn’t want to be dining super late. It’s an amazing dining experience with delicious but a lot of rich food to consume.

Last November we had to take a very late reservation as it was the only one available & we were sailing at 50% capacity. I do think we received a discount at that time, but can’t recall what it was. 

 

[NutsAboutGolf]

19 hours ago, jelayne said:

That wasn't the case on our sailing since the restart.   Roof Top Grill or Lawn Club  had some availability and a few nights LPC.   We were in a Suites and that didn't help with Eden or Murano.

Maybe if the ships get back to full staff then things will free up, but with reduced staff they have had to reduce bookings in the specialty restaurants.  

 

Which ship and I'm surprised the host or concierge wasn't able to do anything...They have a waitlist, perhaps one needs to ask to be put on it; they've always offered to put me on it

[Arizona Wildcat]

Supply and demand.  Right now demand is high so little discounting.  With lots of OBC out there many are buying multi night packages at a small discount. 

[Surfguyxxx]

1 minute ago, Arizona Wildcat said:

Supply and demand.  Right now demand is high so little discounting.  With lots of OBC out there many are buying multi night packages at a small discount. 

Great point.