Questions re Specialty Dining Reservations

[jennybenny]

Thought this might help with seeing how many dining reservations you get. It's all been said here, but the link has it as well. https://oceaniacruises.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360005477653-How-many-dining-reservations-am-I-allowed-in-each-specialty-restaurant-

[LSuzQ]

5 hours ago, jennybenny said:

Thought this might help with seeing how many dining reservations you get. It's all been said here, but the link has it as well. https://oceaniacruises.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360005477653-How-many-dining-reservations-am-I-allowed-in-each-specialty-restaurant-

Thanks for sharing the link. Just to be certain, does “ONE reservation per restaurant….”  translate to a reservation for both my husband and me? Likely a silly question, but you never know!

Edited February 1, 2023 by LSuzQ
Grammar

[LHT28]

50 minutes ago, LSuzQ said:

Thanks for sharing the link. Just to be certain, does “ONE reservation per restaurant….”  translate to a reservation for both my husband and me? Likely a silly question, but you never know!

one for you & one for  other person sharing the cabin

 in each restaurant

Would be pretty petty if they only gave one per cabin in each restaurant 😈

[LSuzQ]

50 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

one for you & one for  other person sharing the cabin

 in each restaurant

Would be pretty petty if they only gave one per cabin in each restaurant 😈

 

50 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

one for you & one for  other person sharing the cabin

 in each restaurant

Would be pretty petty if they only gave one per cabin in each restaurant 😈

Thanks! I couldn’t imagine that “petty” would be the case, but appreciate the confirmation!

[amusea]

What happened to Red Ginger?

 

I just checked my 16 day Vista cruise on the Oceania website and this is what it states for my dining reservation:

Veranda (B5) offers you 1 reservation per restaurant in Polo Grill and Toscana 

 

I am also assuming that EMBERS which has replaced Jacques does not require a reservation but that is also unclear.

[LHT28]

2 hours ago, amusea said:

What happened to Red Ginger?

 

I just checked my 16 day Vista cruise on the Oceania website and this is what it states for my dining reservation:

Veranda (B5) offers you 1 reservation per restaurant in Polo Grill and Toscana 

 

I am also assuming that EMBERS which has replaced Jacques does not require a reservation but that is also unclear.

I think it is a mystery to all  

The website says Ember require reservations for dinner

so who knows

https://www.oceaniacruises.com/ships/vista/culinary-experiences

[ORV]

6 hours ago, amusea said:

What happened to Red Ginger?

 

I just checked my 16 day Vista cruise on the Oceania website and this is what it states for my dining reservation:

Veranda (B5) offers you 1 reservation per restaurant in Polo Grill and Toscana 

 

I am also assuming that EMBERS which has replaced Jacques does not require a reservation but that is also unclear.

You might want to ask Pinotliver, I think he has the inside scoop on this. 

[1985rz1]

1 hour ago, ORV said:

You might want to ask Pinotliver, I think he has the inside scoop on this. 

Is that like liver and onions with red wine?

[amusea]

I asked my travel agent to contact Oceania about the lack of the ability to make reservation for Red Ginger before my 16 day Vista cruise in November.  I am very disheartened  and angry with their answer since of all the specialty restaurants it is my favorite.  Here is the answer:

 

I called Oceania, and they advised the only way to pre book Red Ginger is to book a cooking class. He checked and there are none available right now, but you can keep checking in your reservation to see when those open to reservation.

 

I realize that I can try to book once onboard but it will make the process much more difficult since the cruise is sold out.  I don't consider that a satisfactory option.  If I cannot eat at Red Ginger when I am cruising for 16 days that will probably be the end of my Oceania bookings.  I still do not know if Embers will require a reservation although for me it is much less appetizing than Jacques according to the publicity.  Why would Red Ginger have different reservation rules than Polo or Toscana?

[LHT28]

1 hour ago, amusea said:

I realize that I can try to book once onboard but it will make the process much more difficult since the cruise is sold out.  I don't consider that a satisfactory option.  If I cannot eat at Red Ginger when I am cruising for 16 days that will probably be the end of my Oceania bookings.  I still do not know if Embers will require a reservation although for me it is much less appetizing than Jacques according to the publicity.  Why would Red Ginger have different reservation rules than Polo or Toscana?

That answer sounds like BS   why would you need a cooking class to  eat in a restaurant?

 

Maybe once the ship is actually sailing  they will have things sorted out

You cannot book any restaurants   until minimum 90 days out   so why get  all twisted up over it

JMO

[Furball83]

On 2/1/2023 at 2:31 PM, amusea said:

What happened to Red Ginger?

 

I just checked my 16 day Vista cruise on the Oceania website and this is what it states for my dining reservation:

Veranda (B5) offers you 1 reservation per restaurant in Polo Grill and Toscana 

 

I am also assuming that EMBERS which has replaced Jacques does not require a reservation but that is also unclear.

I’m on the Vista Sept. ‘24, add it shows Red Ginger. Are you on the inaugural cruise? If so, maybe it won’t be ready yet(?)

[pinotlover]

On 2/1/2023 at 8:00 PM, ORV said:

You might want to ask Pinotliver, I think he has the inside scoop on this. 

Nope, if you read post #40, I asked the question there and solicited Jancruz’s help in finding the answer.

 

Their silence has been deafening! 🤔

 

Down to close to 90 days before the Vista first sails with paying passengers.

[PirateShark]

33 minutes ago, pinotlover said:

Nope, if you read post #40, I asked the question there and solicited Jancruz’s help in finding the answer.

 

Their silence has been deafening! 🤔

 

Down to close to 90 days before the Vista first sails with paying passengers.

Considering RG is my least favorite (shellfish allergies make most Asian restaurants a minefield to begin with), I personally wouldn't miss it for pre-boarding reservations.  That being said, their lack of information on how reservations will work for these two restaurants is odd.  Guess we'll find out shortly.

[ORV]

1 hour ago, pinotlover said:

Nope, if you read post #40, I asked the question there and solicited Jancruz’s help in finding the answer.

 

Their silence has been deafening! 🤔

 

Down to close to 90 days before the Vista first sails with paying passengers.

I know that, I was trying to make a joke of it. 

[jennybenny]

On 2/3/2023 at 12:07 AM, amusea said:

I asked my travel agent to contact Oceania about the lack of the ability to make reservation for Red Ginger before my 16 day Vista cruise in November.  I am very disheartened  and angry with their answer since of all the specialty restaurants it is my favorite.  Here is the answer:

 

I called Oceania, and they advised the only way to pre book Red Ginger is to book a cooking class. He checked and there are none available right now, but you can keep checking in your reservation to see when those open to reservation.

 

I realize that I can try to book once onboard but it will make the process much more difficult since the cruise is sold out.  I don't consider that a satisfactory option.  If I cannot eat at Red Ginger when I am cruising for 16 days that will probably be the end of my Oceania bookings.  I still do not know if Embers will require a reservation although for me it is much less appetizing than Jacques according to the publicity.  Why would Red Ginger have different reservation rules than Polo or Toscana?

I was wondering the same thing, why would only two restaurants be available to book but not the others. Being new to O i just figured, not allowed for newbies. lol 

I would love to try Red Ginger and Embers, but maybe they won't be ready when Vista first sails, or maybe they want to make it a chaotic mess trying to get people to book them on board? Don't know, but I'm still super excited about our upcoming cruise. 

Thanks for filling in the blanks for me, and showing that others are jus as confused by not being able to book two of the restaurants.

Thanks!

[LHT28]

27 minutes ago, jennybenny said:

I was wondering the same thing, why would only two restaurants be available to book but not the others. Being new to O i just figured, not allowed for newbies. lol 

 

Just  a guess  but I bet it is  an IT issue  as most things  like that are

You will get into both restaurants  don't worry

JMO

[Cliff-FLL]

On 1/29/2023 at 11:42 PM, Mura said:

We gave never encountered a "cabin Crawl" on O, although some years ago we did for a few times in our Coop building in NYC.  I wouldn't mind seeing what other cabins look like!''

Actually, on our first Oceania cruise, the folks that started the roll call also initiated a cabin crawl.  It was so popular, they had to split it into 2 groups.  Never having been on Oceania, we thought this was the norm, albeit a strange one.  Going through Marina, I was able to identify many cabin categories that I would never consider - as well as a couple that I might.  Not sure that I'd ever consider doing one again, though.  Worst "cabin crawl" ever was on the same sailing, when Oceania boarded "supervised" groups of TA's to tour their new ship, Marina.  We returned from touring that day and found that every toiletry, in both bathrooms, had been stolen.

[Cliff-FLL]

Hey, Mark.  Getting back on topic, I wouldn't let any of our allocated reservations go by the wayside.  We always book to the max and, after we get on board, we provide our list of requested changes to the butler - who then deals with F&B on our behalf.  If you already have a reservation, you're simply asking to swap for another restaurant.  If you're requesting new reservation, you're Oliver Twist asking, "Please, sir, may I have more?"  Bargaining from a position of strength is always better.

 

Vis-à-vis the gay thing, folks on Oceania are pretty laissez-faire about it.  In all of the years of cruising on Oceania, we've only had one issue. Sitting with a lovely couple, chatting, and I could suddenly see this look of comprehension come across his face.  For the rest of the dinner, he didn't say another word and they left the moment they finished their entrees.  She, on the other hand, continued to chat but spent the entire meal looking quite baffled.  Considering the number of people we've met or simply encountered without a problem, I don't think there's any need for concern.