Booking Restaurants Onboard

[The Med]

So we booked a last minute 5 night cruise which is less than 2 weeks away so of course, as expected, there is no availability for restaurants online. Actually, we’ve managed to book one.

I understand that once onboard it’s possible to book, but with a boarding time of 4.00pm will everything be booked up by the time we get on board?
 

 

[TYCruise]

It may be hard to get reservations once you are on board.  You could try to add the "Splash of Romance" package for $200 which comes with priority boarding. It might be sold out at this point.

 

https://www.virginvoyages.com/cruise-deals/splash-of-romance

[jon81uk]

You will most likely be able to board about 3pm anyway. Most people with later slots reported back they have been able to board earlier.

[cantgetin]

First of all with a terminal arrival time of 4, I'd plan to show up about 3.  You can expect to board sooner than your time in most cases of a late time.  THe general advice is to show up 30 minutes in advance of your time, but odds are if you arrive at 3, you'll have little or no waiting.  

Since you were able to book late, I'd guess that the cruise is not full.  We've not had trouble booking once on board, and if you are not seeing what you'd like, go to Razzle Dazzle where they can assist you.

Other things for now...if you booked thru a "first mate" (VV speak for travel agent), contact them and see whether they can get anything for you.  I don't know if there is a UK VV Sailor Services number, but they can also assist. Many people who have booked in advance will change bookings after boarding.  For instance, if they are going to one of the dinner shows, they'll cancel their reservation for that night.  Another hint--if you know the restaurant you'd like to eat at on a particular night but don't have a reservation, go down to the podium about 6 and ask if there is a time that they can work you in.  THey'll usually be able to do something.

Edited March 1 by cantgetin

[mnocket]

This is one of the things that turns me off about VV.  Having great restaurants is meaningless if you can't get reservations.  Same goes for shows, etc.  I don't go on vacation to compete with my fellow travelers to get into venues. 

[CineGraphic]

If you booked with a travel agent, call them and see if they can book some dining for you.

[The Med]

Thanks for the replies and help, we shall follow the advice given by firstly ringing our TA and if we get no joy then we shall try again once on board.

 

It’s my husband’s birthday on the second night onboard and it would be lovely to know beforehand if we can actually be in a nice restaurant.

 

I do agree with the comments that the stress of faffing about beforehand trying to book tables does take away some of the pleasure of the actual holiday.

 

I wasn’t previously a fan of the old regime of fixed dining times but at least you knew that you would be in a certain restaurant at a certain time. I’m starting to feel nostalgic for the good ole days.

 

 

[MNcruisingcouple]

We were able to change/book additional reservations during our cruise.  If you keep checking, times can become available.  Also, we were able to walk up to the Wake one night right when they opened and got in without a reservation. You may also have success doing this late, after the rush.

[JandPB]

We were able to make some changes to the dining our TA booked and get restaurants booked when we boarded. You should be fine if you’re flexible with time. 

[dazadelaide]

1 hour ago, JandPB said:

We were able to make some changes to the dining our TA booked and get restaurants booked when we boarded. You should be fine if you’re flexible with time. 

"Flexible with time" great if you want to eat at 5pm or after 9.15pm.

The restaurant booking system was the most tedious thing about our whole Virgin experience.

We were on a 15 day cruise tried booking 45 days out and was only able to book 3 times.

Tried when on board but had no luck tried walking up twice were able to get in but only at razzle dazzle gave up after first week and just ate at the galley for the rest of the cruise.

Daz

[gsutiger2]

18 hours ago, mnocket said:

This is one of the things that turns me off about VV.  Having great restaurants is meaningless if you can't get reservations.  Same goes for shows, etc.  I don't go on vacation to compete with my fellow travelers to get into venues. 

 I totally agree with this. I will be on VV during a holiday sailing, and I don't want the headache of being tied to my phone to TRY to enjoy my cruise experience. They need to figure out a system where everyone has an opportunity to eat at all or most of the main restaurants and enjoy all main shows.

[lesters]

Thus is my #1 concern / apprehension with VV.  We sail in 71 days and I’m so geared up for the day the bookings become available.  We are on a casino offer via a third party so no assistance provided on restaurant bookings.  
 

For land based holidays we actually avoid booking AI resorts that require dinner reservations to be made in advance.   
 

i know I’m opening myself to ALL the roasting but this is one area (and maybe the only one) where it seems a Carnival cruise excels.  Their on board app is fantastic for booking restaurants when you want to go.  
 

I am hopeful it will all work out but the restaurant uncertainty is a stressor for sure.  

[cantgetin]

18 hours ago, dazadelaide said:

"Flexible with time" great if you want to eat at 5pm or after 9.15pm.

The restaurant booking system was the most tedious thing about our whole Virgin experience.

We were on a 15 day cruise tried booking 45 days out and was only able to book 3 times.

Tried when on board but had no luck tried walking up twice were able to get in but only at razzle dazzle gave up after first week and just ate at the galley for the rest of the cruise.

Daz

In 43 nights on board, we've never not been able to get a reservation.  On our most recent 15 night, the app crashed after I made 3 nights of reservations--my TA took over and booked the rest.  But most importantly, we did not stick to those bookings.  We made MANY changes after during the cruise based on which restaurants we liked, planned activities, etc. When we couldn't make the changes we wanted thru the app, we found the crew member at the restaurant podiums to be very cooperative.  And we never ate as early as 5 or as late as 9.  We did have days when one of us would say "I don't feel like doing X tonight," and we'd go to the app to see what else was available.  We did eat at The Galley for dinner based on the special of the night, but not because we couldn't get a restaurant reservation.

Good luck.
I do have an issue with shows.  I missed one show because I couldn't get reservations, and the next day learned that the show had been almost empty.  People were making reservations for the same show multiple times.  They really should fix it so that you can only make one reservation per show and after that use the stand by line if you wish to see it again.

[dazadelaide]

5 and 9.15 were the only times available via the app and when we walked up many times.

Dont know how full your cruises were on your 43 nights.

Our cruise from Dubai to Singapore was over 90% full that may have been part of the problem.

As I said that was the most annoying part of the Virgin experience.

Daz

[MMDown Under]

12 hours ago, cantgetin said:

In 43 nights on board, we've never not been able to get a reservation.  On our most recent 15 night, the app crashed after I made 3 nights of reservations--my TA took over and booked the rest.  But most importantly, we did not stick to those bookings.  We made MANY changes after during the cruise based on which restaurants we liked, planned activities, etc. When we couldn't make the changes we wanted thru the app, we found the crew member at the restaurant podiums to be very cooperative.  And we never ate as early as 5 or as late as 9.  We did have days when one of us would say "I don't feel like doing X tonight," and we'd go to the app to see what else was available.  We did eat at The Galley for dinner based on the special of the night, but not because we couldn't get a restaurant reservation.

Good luck.
I do have an issue with shows.  I missed one show because I couldn't get reservations, and the next day learned that the show had been almost empty.  People were making reservations for the same show multiple times.  They really should fix it so that you can only make one reservation per show and after that use the stand by line if you wish to see it again.

I thought you could only make one initial reservation per restaurant and show prior to departure.

[jon81uk]

4 hours ago, MMDown Under said:

I thought you could only make one initial reservation per restaurant and show prior to departure.

For restaurants it depends on the length of the cruise; seven nights or more and you can reserve each restaurant twice, six nights or fewer and it’s on reservation per restaurant.

 

There really should be a restriction on show bookings to stop people booking all times for the same show, but currently there isn’t anything to stop you reserving the same show multiple times.

[cantgetin]

13 hours ago, MMDown Under said:

I thought you could only make one initial reservation per restaurant and show prior to departure.

On cruises of 7 nights or more, you can make 3 dinner reservations in advance at each restaurant.  On cruises of 6 nights or fewer, you are limited to one advance dinner reservation per restaurant.

Note--you can EAT at restaurants more than that by doing walk ups.  Brunch reservations do not count in the totals.

To Daz, the most full voyage I've been on was about 3/4 booked.  So you are right, it might be very different on a full sailing.

[The Med]

We got off Virgin Scarlet Lady yesterday.

So after booking late and no restaurant bookings we had an embarkation time of 4.00, although we did go earlier at 3.00 and got straight on.

 

Before we went to our cabin we went straight to Razzle Dazzle and joined the very long queue to make our bookings.

 

Not what you want when you first get on board but the queue went down quite quickly and we did get the restaurants that we wanted at the times we wanted.

 

Thank goodness we joined that queue, we spoke to someone the next day who hadn’t been able to book anything, and the ship wasn’t even full.

 

I only really enjoyed  The Wake. Best meal of the cruise.

Razzle dazzle is just like a diner and we didn’t enjoy the food.

We enjoyed the food at Pink Agave but it all felt a bit manic.

Extra Virgin was ok, 

That was all we did. It was all very different and casual, which is fine, but I did rather miss a white tablecloth and a special experience. I do accept however that I’m not their target market.

I did enjoy breakfast and lunch in The Galley, that’s something they do better than other cruise lines, along with the grab and go bento boxes.

 

I’d book again, knowing what I know, I’d just pack differently. 

[Actuality251]

On 3/1/2024 at 1:35 PM, mnocket said:

This is one of the things that turns me off about VV.  Having great restaurants is meaningless if you can't get reservations.  Same goes for shows, etc.  I don't go on vacation to compete with my fellow travelers to get into venues. 

I’m a retired broadcast journalist. The two most stressful parts of the job were competing for information and troubleshooting technical problems. And somehow Richard Branson has managed to elevate those things around a luxury cruise, and I was unlucky enough to choose it.