Dining Reservation Times

[EJL2023]

3 minutes ago, clo said:

Sorry, I don't see that. No problem.

Well, look at post #19 for the whole story. Feel free to respond to this post on your mission to get to 14k posts. 😉

[clo]

11 minutes ago, EJL2023 said:

Well, look at post #19 for the whole story. Feel free to respond to this post on your mission to get to 14k posts. 😉

Since I was away for several years....LOL.

[edgee]

3 hours ago, EJL2023 said:

Well, look at post #19 for the whole story. Feel free to respond to this post on your mission to get to 14k posts. 😉

Clo, even without the reference by the questioner, you knew very well that Oceania, as most cruise lines do operate on Eastern (Miami) time. Just trying to be provocative as a resident of the Pacific time zone?????



 

[clo]

20 hours ago, edgee said:

Clo, even without the reference by the questioner, you knew very well that Oceania, as most cruise lines do operate on Eastern (Miami) time. Just trying to be provocative as a resident of the Pacific time zone?????



 

No, I didn't know that. And if poster had simply added EST question wouldn't have been asked/

And, as I said, I hadn't posted here in years and paid no attention to the # of posts. If anything when I see large #s for other people, I internally whisper "get a life." So, clo, get a life.

[Iamthesea]

?  If you are referring to me as "poster", I had EST in my question all along.  

 

Anyhow, tonight is the night!!!  😁

Edited January 24 by Iamthesea

[Iamthesea]

This stinks!!!  I gave up.😒 

 

Picking a table for 2 persons, we were only given options for two restaurants (Polo and Ember) and the earliest times were 8:30 and 9:00 on a couple of nights, and 9:00 on the others.  We went ahead and picked 8:30 for both, but now that we are older, that is too late for us.    The other two restaurants (Red Ginger and Toscano) were only available, and at earlier times, if we share a table with strangers.  We don't mind eating with someone after we have met on the ship and become friends, but showing up and being seated with perfect strangers is not our cup of tea.  

 

To think I have lost 1.5 hours of sleep to stay up and not get satisfaction.  This reminds me of a RCCL cruise when we had to make reservations for almost everything, including shows.  That's when we stopped sailing with them. 

 

Thanks for the help, anyway. Going to bed now. 🥱

[edgee]

40 minutes ago, Iamthesea said:

This stinks!!!  I gave up.😒 

 

Picking a table for 2 persons, we were only given options for two restaurants (Polo and Ember) and the earliest times were 8:30 and 9:00 on a couple of nights, and 9:00 on the others.  We went ahead and picked 8:30 for both, but now that we are older, that is too late for us.    The other two restaurants (Red Ginger and Toscano) were only available, and at earlier times, if we share a table with strangers.  We don't mind eating with someone after we have met on the ship and become friends, but showing up and being seated with perfect strangers is not our cup of tea.  

 

To think I have lost 1.5 hours of sleep to stay up and not get satisfaction.  This reminds me of a RCCL cruise when we had to make reservations for almost everything, including shows.  That's when we stopped sailing with them. 

 

Thanks for the help, anyway. Going to bed now. 🥱

One of the reasons we book Concierge...to get earlier time window, but even then we had to agree to share with strangers to get early Red Ginger reservation for late January Vista cruise. I too stayed up til midnight and  began booking at 12:01. 

 

Hopefully you can get better times when on the ship.

 t

Edited January 24 by edgee

[Vallesan]

1 hour ago, Iamthesea said:

This stinks!!!  I gave up.😒 

 

Picking a table for 2 persons, we were only given options for two restaurants (Polo and Ember) and the earliest times were 8:30 and 9:00 on a couple of nights, and 9:00 on the others.  We went ahead and picked 8:30 for both, but now that we are older, that is too late for us.    The other two restaurants (Red Ginger and Toscano) were only available, and at earlier times, if we share a table with strangers.  We don't mind eating with someone after we have met on the ship and become friends, but showing up and being seated with perfect strangers is not our cup of tea.  

 

To think I have lost 1.5 hours of sleep to stay up and not get satisfaction.  This reminds me of a RCCL cruise when we had to make reservations for almost everything, including shows.  That's when we stopped sailing with them. 

 

Thanks for the help, anyway. Going to bed now. 🥱

Don’t panic!

 

We have often had to take a shared table to get an earlier time and then, on several occasions, the other diners haven’t turned up so we have had a table for two. Although we don’t actually mind sharing.

 

Also, when you get on board you can often change the times etc. people cancel. There’s a reservation desk where you can go can each morning and see what’s available in the various restaurants. The restaurants  nearly always keep a few tables back for ‘emergencies’! As a last resort you can always check with the maitre’d as the restaurant opens to see if they have any earlier tables for that evening.

[Harters]

3 hours ago, edgee said:

One of the reasons we book Concierge

It's a definite benefit. Our reservations will open up in a few days. We know we want a 2-top and know which evenings we'd like to book for. We'll try to reserve on the preferred dates and times (7.30/8.00, or thereabouts). We'll juggle dates if needed, but 2-top and times are essential. If only sharing or "wrong" times are available, then we'll skip that speciality - it'll be no biggie

[Iamthesea]

Thank you all for your helpful and kind words. I will keep trying. 

 

We were not able to get a Concierge stateroom because they were all waitlisted.

 

This will sound weird, but when eating with others, I feel like I barely taste the food.  Having to carry-on a discussion distracts me from enjoying.  I feel the same way when we entertain.  I am so caught up in my guest that I don't remember eating. 🙄   I really want to enjoy Red Ginger, my favorite.

 

Having the same trouble getting my "free" excursions.  We still have almost $400 of unspent shore credit and the excursions we wish to join are full.

 

cjwags - I must apologies for hijacking your thread.  I hope my experience has been helpful to you since your cruise is in March, as well.

Edited January 24 by Iamthesea

[Redtravel]

Just relax. It will work out.

Edited January 24 by Redtravel

[clo]

16 hours ago, Iamthesea said:

This stinks!!!  I gave up.😒 

 

Picking a table for 2 persons, we were only given options for two restaurants (Polo and Ember) and the earliest times were 8:30 and 9:00 on a couple of nights, and 9:00 on the others.  We went ahead and picked 8:30 for both, but now that we are older, that is too late for us.    The other two restaurants (Red Ginger and Toscano) were only available, and at earlier times, if we share a table with strangers.  We don't mind eating with someone after we have met on the ship and become friends, but showing up and being seated with perfect strangers is not our cup of tea.  

 

To think I have lost 1.5 hours of sleep to stay up and not get satisfaction.  This reminds me of a RCCL cruise when we had to make reservations for almost everything, including shows.  That's when we stopped sailing with them. 

 

Thanks for the help, anyway. Going to bed now. 🥱

Just to clarify for me, are you saying that you couldn't even get close to what you wanted when "you're number came up" for booking online?  I wouldn't like that but would try various workarounds. We're way down in a C cabin on Nautica that only has two specialties. And we also are just too dang old. Ah well, at least I'm warned. And, hey, one time on Marina we really wanted a second dinner at Jacques so we opted to share a 4-top. It was completely pleasant. And for us anyway it's about the food. Good luck.

[Iamthesea]

Yes, if we want a table for only 2 persons, the only available times for the week were 8:30 and 9:00 for two out of the 7 nights.  9:00 for the rest of the week.  And these were just for Polo Grill and Ember.  The other two, Toscana and Red Ginger had no times available for tables of two.

 

As suggested, I am going ahead and booking the last two to sit with others (I am not sure if we can pick how many at a table) and then check when we are onboard.

[Waltershipman]

3 minutes ago, Iamthesea said:

Yes, if we want a table for only 2 persons, the only available times for the week were 8:30 and 9:00 for two out of the 7 nights.  9:00 for the rest of the week.  And these were just for Polo Grill and Ember.  The other two, Toscana and Red Ginger had no times available for tables of two.

 

As suggested, I am going ahead and booking the last two to sit with others (I am not sure if we can pick how many at a table) and then check when we are onboard.

An additional option maybe to call Oceania and request your alternative to two top table

 

We only got Toscana 2 top for 1st evening

 

Good luck 

[pinotlover]

The vast majority of us are pleasantly congenial at dinner. It may be a much more delightful evening for people to book early “ sharing” , than much later alone. We’ve had lots of great conversations, and meet numerous future friends and fellow cruisers, by sharing the dinner table. It’s only an extreme rarity that bad table mates can ruin a meal. However, if you’d rather eat late, that option is available for you. 
 

* We don’t wake up everyday looking for an excuse to be offended. 

[islabahia]

I have social anxiety so for me sharing a table is not an option.  When we hit our window (75 days) I will be booking as quickly as possible.  We prefer early and if we cannot get a two top we will dine in our suite.  

Edited January 25 by islabahia

[Waltershipman]

3 minutes ago, islabahia said:

I have social anxiety so for me sharing a table is not an option.  When we hit our window (75 days) I will be booking as quickly as possible.  We prefer early and if we cannot get a two top we will dine in our suite.  

Get on the website at 1200pm EST

Good luck

[clo]

18 hours ago, islabahia said:

I have social anxiety so for me sharing a table is not an option.  When we hit our window (75 days) I will be booking as quickly as possible.  We prefer early and if we cannot get a two top we will dine in our suite.  

Why not other venues on the ship?