Dinner Reservations for 6?

[melodyesch]

Could someone explain about booking specialty dining for multiple parties? I did try searching, but came up empty.  My DH and I only cruise alone, but next year will be cruising with his aunt/uncle (separate cabin) and his sister/niece (separate cabin).  Since I am platinum, I was going to offer to book all of the specialty reservations, but didn’t remember how it worked.  I can book reservations for 6 under my name, right?  And then each couple could pay separately when we dine?   What about Tappenyaki?  If we decide to do that, do you pay the fee up front?  I forget.  If so, I don’t want to fork over money for everyone in advance.

 

thanks!

[ChiefMateJRK]

13 minutes ago, melodyesch said:

I was going to offer to book all of the specialty reservations

There's your mistake.  Let somebody else do it or just do it on the ship.  No good deed goes unpunished.

[hallux]

Book the flat-fee first, so that it assumes you're using your FAS meals and doesn't charge.  One person can book a table of maximum size in any of the other venues, the system doesn't need to know who exactly will be there and "payment" is handled at the table.

[kelib]

4 hours ago, hallux said:

Book the flat-fee first, so that it assumes you're using your FAS meals and doesn't charge.  One person can book a table of maximum size in any of the other venues, the system doesn't need to know who exactly will be there and "payment" is handled at the table.

Clarify for me flat fee please..booking opens up for me in 2 weeks 

[ziggyuk]

2 hours ago, kelib said:

Clarify for me flat fee please..booking opens up for me in 2 weeks 

 

Flat fee will be like the cover charge for Moderno where you pay a fixed fee to eat as opposed to Cagney's which is a la carte and you pay for what you eat at the table.

They can't charge in advance for a la carte venues as they don't know what you will order.

[TrumpyNor]

4 hours ago, kelib said:

Clarify for me flat fee please..booking opens up for me in 2 weeks 

Moderno and Teppenyaki has a flat fee instead of a-la-carte prices, so always book those restaurants first when using dining packages (for all 6 persons), so that the booking system doesn't charge you the fee upfront. Then continue to book the rest of the speciality restaurants for your group. 🙂

Edited September 16, 2022 by TrumpyNor

[melodyesch]

Thanks for the responses, everyone!

[BirdTravels]

22 hours ago, melodyesch said:

Could someone explain about booking specialty dining for multiple parties? I did try searching, but came up empty.  My DH and I only cruise alone, but next year will be cruising with his aunt/uncle (separate cabin) and his sister/niece (separate cabin).  Since I am platinum, I was going to offer to book all of the specialty reservations, but didn’t remember how it worked.  I can book reservations for 6 under my name, right?  And then each couple could pay separately when we dine?   What about Tappenyaki?  If we decide to do that, do you pay the fee up front?  I forget.  If so, I don’t want to fork over money for everyone in advance.

 

thanks!

One person books a table for 6. The dinner reservation is not linked to individual people. At dinner time, each person can decide how they are paying for dinner (on board charge, specialty dining package credit, platinum voucher, etc.). As noted, if you are going to Teppanyaki or Moderno, book those first. 

[LGinPA]

On 9/15/2022 at 8:24 PM, hallux said:

Book the flat-fee first, so that it assumes you're using your FAS meals and doesn't charge.  One person can book a table of maximum size in any of the other venues, the system doesn't need to know who exactly will be there and "payment" is handled at the table.

 

On 9/16/2022 at 4:41 AM, TrumpyNor said:

Moderno and Teppenyaki has a flat fee instead of a-la-carte prices, so always book those restaurants first when using dining packages (for all 6 persons), so that the booking system doesn't charge you the fee upfront. Then continue to book the rest of the speciality restaurants for your group. 🙂

 

Please help a newbie understand this. 

 

I thought I understood that a reservation just reserves seats and the form of payment per person (FAS dining credit, OBC, charged to cabin) is not done until after the meal.  If that is so then why does it matter what type of restaurant is booked first?   Both explanations I bolded above imply that a charge is made at reservation time.  😖

[Sailing12Away]

2 minutes ago, LGinPA said:

Please help a newbie understand this. 

 

I thought I understood that a reservation just reserves seats and the form of payment per person (FAS dining credit, OBC, charged to cabin) is not done until after the meal.  If that is so then why does it matter what type of restaurant is booked first?   Both explanations I bolded above imply that a charge is made at reservation time.  😖

Assuming you have a 2 meal FAS package, but you wanted to book 3 reservations (and plan to pay the rest out of pocket, or using OBC, or whatever). If you book the a la carte places first, it sees you have 2 free meals and just says 'ok'. When you book a flat fee place for reservation #3 - it charges you for that flat fee to dine there at the time of reserving.

 

If you book the flat fee place first or second, it sees your FAS and says 'ok, it's free' and there's no charge. Then you can book your a la carte place third and also not be charged anything.

 

When you get to the restaurant you tell them what you want to do when you sit down - voucher, charge to room, FAS, etc. But their reservation system is a bit wonky, so just book the flat fee places first if you think you want to eat there. It doesn't matter what day, so you don't need to book it for the first day of your trip, just make it your first or 2nd reservation.

[hallux]

Couldn't have said it any better than @Sailing12Away did!

[ggTexasGal]

Completely agree with @Sailing12Away!

However, some people might still be confused with the above responses with regard to when they wish to dine.

 

Your bookings are best made as instructed above, however, the day of the week can be YOUR CHOICE (based upon availability).

Example:  On a Sunday to Sunday cruise -- Diners want to eat at Teppanyaki on Wednesday, with Le Bistro on Sunday, and Cagney's on Friday.  First entry on reservation: Teppanyaki on Wednesday evening.  Second entry, either Cagney's or Le Bistro, because it no longer matters, once you took care of you "for a fee" restaurant(s) first. You still may choose which nights work for you, as long as there is availability!

[LGinPA]

💡💡💡😄  Thank you all! 

 

So what it boils down to is, the reservation system "assumes" I want to use all FAS dining credits on the first reservation(s) made,  even though I may not actually want to use the credits at that venue!  

 

So I'm understanding now that the entire point of reserving in this order (fix price, then a la carte) is to avoid up front restaurant charges for the fixed venue.  Because if I want to dine at 2 a la cartes using my 2personx2 dining credits there (since it's a better value), and also at a fixed price (Moderno/Teppanyaki) I will indeed end up paying the $49x2, but not until the meal is over! YUMMY!

 

Whew!  Now I have to explain this to my group of 15 we're cruising with! I think I'll just send this link. 🙂

 

[ChiefMateJRK]

6 minutes ago, LGinPA said:

Whew!  Now I have to explain this to my group of 15 we're cruising with! I think I'll just send this link. 🙂

Just cut out the middle-man and send them @KeithJenner's phone number (jk Keith).

[hallux]

1 hour ago, LGinPA said:

Whew!  Now I have to explain this to my group of 15 we're cruising with! I think I'll just send this link.

Only need to explain it to those making the dining reservations.  One person can reserve a table for up to 10 in most venues.  You could have a couple people reserve for 6 or 8 (2 or 3 people making reservations) and then decide who is going to be in which group later.  All 15 of you won't be able to eat together anywhere except in the MDR, and each person reserving for themselves will result in 15 2-person table reservations.