Requested dinner reservations

[clo]

16 minutes ago, EJL2023 said:

Did you book as b2b and received two cruise credits, or as a Grand Journey with only one cruise credit(assuming total days under 25) with regard to the loyalty program? I am not sure, but I’m thinking that could have an impact on when/how many reservations can be made when it opens 

Allow me to show my ignorance: I don't know what a "cruise credit" is. Maybe because our trips are based pretty much 100% on itinerary. And definitely not a grand journey. 

[EJL2023]

Never mind. 

[mauibabes]

@clo

It is the way the Oceania Loyalty Club works, earn One or more Cruise Credit based on the length of your cruise. At varying numbers; 5,10,15,20,40,60 cruise credits, you receive  an enhanced Amenity Package. I am sure you have seen the Numbers posted on CC Boards before or they are on line when you look up the O Club info. IMHO, it is an Excellent Loyalty Club and culminates with a Free 14 day cruise with each 20 cruise credits earned. 
I am sure you will be hearing from many others because we all get to have opinions. 
Mauibabes

[Harters]

44 minutes ago, pinotlover said:

Just hypothetically, which group do you believe is squawking for earlier dinners?

I don't have sufficient insight into American culture to hazard a guess. As reasonably well known, we Europeans tend to eat later, although there's a fairly wide spread of timings across the continent. I reckon Southern Europe generally eats later than Northern Europe. It's about temperatures - who wants to sit down and eat a big meal when it's still really hot. 

 

Most fellow Britons I know tend to eat dinner at around 7.30 - 8 unless work commitments interfere with that - my brother in law used to drive a taxi mainly working a night shift, so they would have an early dinner and he'd start work about 7. . Many years back, I worked with a much older guy who arranged his working day so he was usually home for 5 and would be eating dinner shortly after. Of course that was back in the  days when the housewife wasnt out at work and would have dinner ready for when the man got home. 

[AMHuntFerry]

I don't think it is just older people eating early. A large number of GenX and below (and likely some boomers) who want to eat healthily in their day-to-day lives don't eat late; on vacation some may opt to deviate from that schedule. For example, my spouse and I aim to not eat between 7 pm and 10 am, and not drink between 7 pm and 7 am. We let it slide while on the ship and tend to start dinner around 7 or 7:30 but our bodies notice.

Also, while cooking isn't a completely lost art among the <60 crowd, during the work-week most working people I know use a lot of semi-prepared foods or take out so that dinner prep takes a short amount of time. As long as their commute isn't insane, eating before 7 is quite possible.

Edited Wednesday at 06:09 PM by AMHuntFerry

[Cruising Maryland]

3 hours ago, clo said:

AFAIK you can only make the reservations based on the dates of each cruise, not the whole trip. We only had two cruises and the dates for making our res was about ten days apart.

 

The Grand Voyage is considered 1 cruise of 50 days. It is called South America Kaleidoscope. But you can take it in pieces, you don't have to do the whople thing

[Cruising Maryland]

3 hours ago, EJL2023 said:

Did you book as b2b and received two cruise credits, or as a Grand Journey with only one cruise credit(assuming total days under 25) with regard to the loyalty program? I am not sure, but I’m thinking that could have an impact on when/how many reservations can be made when it opens 

When I look at my dining, I see this: Your 50-Day Voyage in a  offers you 7 reservations per restaurant in Jacques, Polo Grill, Red Ginger and Toscana.

 

So II think I can make them all when it opens.

[EJL2023]

1 minute ago, Cruising Maryland said:

When I look at my dining, I see this: Your 50-Day Voyage in a  offers you 7 reservations per restaurant in Jacques, Polo Grill, Red Ginger and Toscana.

 

So II think I can make them all when it opens.

Personally, I think you should also. 

[Adornme75]

I started this thread with a simple question, and never thought it would evolve into this. I guess there’s a lot of opinions out there. 😂

[TomKan]

Just ran across this today:
 

According to the American Time Use Survey, most Americans are eating dinner between 5:07 p.m. and 8:19 p.m., with peak dinner time nationwide being at 6:19 p.m.

[EJL2023]

22 minutes ago, TomKan said:

Just ran across this today:
 

According to the American Time Use Survey, most Americans are eating dinner between 5:07 p.m. and 8:19 p.m., with peak dinner time nationwide being at 6:19 p.m.

Makes sense. Pretty much everything you read says you should eat between 5 and 7 for health and weight purposes. 

[tarhoosier]

Toast™, a highly used restaurant point of sale technology (it is quite common) says that the most common time the transaction occurs is 19:00, then 20:00. This is the time the bill is paid so entry, seating, reservation was likely 18:00-ish to 19:00. This for full service restaurants. 

https://pos.toasttab.com/news/full-service-restaurant-reservation-booking-trends

Reservation times that are most requested are 18:00, then 19:00 then 17:00. Info is down the page a bit on this link:

https://pos.toasttab.com/blog/on-the-line/restaurant-reservations-and-wait-times-data

All this for the U. S. 

[mauibabes]

Let me see, “for weight purposes” so if I can get 6:30 reservations maybe all that great food won’t add pounds 🙏🤞😇 while we are on the cruise?  Actually my DW refuses the elevator rides, only stairs and eliminates the bread basket, except the focaccia in Toscana, and can come home from a 2-4 week cruise the same weight as she left. I think it must be my taking the elevator that causes me to add 3-5# 😇🤞

 

DW subscribes to that eating regimen too, so 6:30-7:00 is our time and if I can not get a reservation, it’s the TC or GDR for us. Dinner, a little music from the String Quartet, visiting with friends and then maybe a Show at 9:30 or just crash early for the next days port call. Usually the next days activities determine our evenings activities. 
 

Ciao,

Mauibabes

[mb777]

2 hours ago, TomKan said:

Just ran across this today:
 

According to the American Time Use Survey, most Americans are eating dinner between 5:07 p.m. and 8:19 p.m., with peak dinner time nationwide being at 6:19 p.m.

Hallelujah!

[gilmore177]

Hi. I am On the Sirena and I regret Not knowing about the booking process before I left   I was Guaranteed the 2 but after that it was impossible to get another reservation on any other night.  I tried Every morning and sometimes afternoon and never got one. Only one additional night was I able to get.  We were a party of 5.  So if you can book early I would do that. 

[IWantToLiveOverTheSea]

1 hour ago, gilmore177 said:

Hi. I am On the Sirena and I regret Not knowing about the booking process before I left   I was Guaranteed the 2 but after that it was impossible to get another reservation on any other night.  I tried Every morning and sometimes afternoon and never got one. Only one additional night was I able to get.  We were a party of 5.  So if you can book early I would do that. 

I'm sorry you could only get 1 extra reservation.  I think some people make it sound like it's easy to get additional reservations no matter which ship it is, how full it is, etc.  But it does depend upon a number of things and isn't guaranteed.