Specialty restaurant reservations

[Shellyd22]

I’m interested in booking a specialty restaurant for dinner for the first night of my cruise on 4/22. I have a couple other specialty restaurants booked but last minute decided I want to book another. There is no availability in the app and ship appears to be full. Is there a chance I can get a reservation upon embarkation? We will be in retreat, is this  something to concierge can assist with? I’m willing to be flexible with time. I just don’t know how likely it is to get reservations once on ship. But I assume they have to have some spots open for people with dining packages? 

[cruisetonowhere10]

2 minutes ago, Shellyd22 said:

I’m interested in booking a specialty restaurant for dinner for the first night of my cruise on 4/22. I have a couple other specialty restaurants booked but last minute decided I want to book another. There is no availability in the app and ship appears to be full. Is there a chance I can get a reservation upon embarkation? We will be in retreat, is this  something to concierge can assist with? I’m willing to be flexible with time. I just don’t know how likely it is to get reservations once on ship. But I assume they have to have some spots open for people with dining packages? 

To piggyback on that…on mine there are no lunch reservations listed on any sea day…does that happen later?

[Shellyd22]

2 minutes ago, cruisetonowhere10 said:

To piggyback on that…on mine there are no lunch reservations listed on any sea day…does that happen later?

I noticed that as well. I wanted to try raw on 5 one day for lunch I was going to ask about it once I was on board. 

[cruisetonowhere10]

5 minutes ago, Shellyd22 said:

I noticed that as well. I wanted to try raw on 5 one day for lunch I was going to ask about it once I was on board. 

That’s exactly what I’m looking for too.  

[cruzzzinma]

If no one is taking specialty reservations when you embark, I would go to the closest speciality restaurant and a make a reservation. Sometimes someone is outside the ocean view making reservations. I would not go to the retreat and lineup with others to speak to concierge first thing.

[ROYALBOY]

We had to book day 9 out of 12 to get our time in Eden. Plus booking in advance the gratuity was included in the price paid.

[Carried_Away]

2 hours ago, Shellyd22 said:

I’m interested in booking a specialty restaurant for dinner for the first night of my cruise on 4/22. I have a couple other specialty restaurants booked but last minute decided I want to book another. There is no availability in the app and ship appears to be full. Is there a chance I can get a reservation upon embarkation? We will be in retreat, is this  something to concierge can assist with? I’m willing to be flexible with time. I just don’t know how likely it is to get reservations once on ship. But I assume they have to have some spots open for people with dining packages? 

 

I think you have a good chance of getting the reservation, especially since you're willing to be flexible on time. The app doesn't show all availability. When I've booked specialty dining packages, I haven't had difficulty making reservations on the ship on embarkation day. A number of times, I've also been able to change reservations well into a cruise. My experience is that the specialty restaurant managers try to be as accommodating as possible. Even when their first response is that they're fully booked, they tend to find a way to find a way to make something happen, at least in my experience.

 

I'm assuming you'll have priority as a suite guest.

 

 

I'm sure the Retreat concierge can help with a reservation, but if the concierge is typically busy on embarkation day, you can go to any specialty restaurant to make a reservation or find the crew taking reservations in other locations. There are usually tables for specialty reservations outside of Oceanview and sometimes in other places around the ship on embarkation day.

 

 

 

[keesar]

3 hours ago, Shellyd22 said:

I’m interested in booking a specialty restaurant for dinner for the first night of my cruise on 4/22. I have a couple other specialty restaurants booked but last minute decided I want to book another. There is no availability in the app and ship appears to be full. Is there a chance I can get a reservation upon embarkation? We will be in retreat, is this  something to concierge can assist with? I’m willing to be flexible with time. I just don’t know how likely it is to get reservations once on ship. But I assume they have to have some spots open for people with dining packages? 

I believe that you will have a very good chance.  On our recent cruise, there was plenty of availability for Specialty Restaurants even though a few weeks before, there appeared to be none.  In fact, there were good discounts being offered.  I suspect the rapid price increases has been a factor in booking 

[bigbenboys]

17 hours ago, Shellyd22 said:

I’m interested in booking a specialty restaurant for dinner for the first night of my cruise on 4/22. I have a couple other specialty restaurants booked but last minute decided I want to book another. There is no availability in the app and ship appears to be full. Is there a chance I can get a reservation upon embarkation? We will be in retreat, is this  something to concierge can assist with? I’m willing to be flexible with time. I just don’t know how likely it is to get reservations once on ship. But I assume they have to have some spots open for people with dining packages? 

Have you called X?

Simply call 1-877-RETREAT, and The Retreat Concierge will assist you with your booking and help plan and arrange every moment of your vacation before you even set sail.

[Shellyd22]

19 minutes ago, bigbenboys said:

Have you called X?

Simply call 1-877-RETREAT, and The Retreat Concierge will assist you with your booking and help plan and arrange every moment of your vacation before you even set sail.

I have not. I’m in a SS so I didn’t know if they would assist with any pre-boarding stuff but I’ll give it a shot! Thanks 

[bigbenboys]

19 minutes ago, Shellyd22 said:

I have not. I’m in a SS so I didn’t know if they would assist with any pre-boarding stuff but I’ll give it a shot! Thanks 

I have only called the number once. We were in a CS. When I called there were 2 options. One option was for SS. All they can say in no. X does save space for retreat guests.

[go.without.you]

I was on Silhouette last week and we wanted to change our 8pm to 6 the first night at Lawn Club. We boarded the ship early at 11am and went straight to Retreat Lounge and the host was able to call and get it changed for us. She called the restaurant directly. We also then asked about special lunches and then booked thru her also.

[jelayne]

On 4/15/2024 at 6:55 AM, Shellyd22 said:

I noticed that as well. I wanted to try raw on 5 one day for lunch I was going to ask about it once I was on board. 

Raw on 5 does not take reservation before the sailing.  You can make reservations once on board.  We have never seen Raw on 5 even 1/2 full.  

[CruiseLifeIsTheBest]

33 minutes ago, jelayne said:

Raw on 5 does not take reservation before the sailing.  You can make reservations once on board.  We have never seen Raw on 5 even 1/2 full.  

We have a dinner reservation at Raw on Five for an upcoming cruise and had one at Sushi on Five in February. Have not experienced Raw yet but agree, never saw Sushi even 1/2 full.