What are the peak dining times?

[Redking]

Taking our first Regent cruises on Explorer this October/November. 

 

Bookings open for speciality dining in August. I've read that if you're prepared to dine outside of peak hours you'll have more success in securing reservations. We prefer to dine later anyway and don't generally attend shows. The question I have is how late is considered to be outside peak hours?

 

TIA.

[shuguley]

I would say 8:00.

[drkitkat123]

7 hours ago, shuguley said:

I would say 8:00.

Is 8pm answering the question in the title (what are peak dining hours) or answering the question in the post (how late is considered to be outside peak hours)?

[papaflamingo]

Since you're making reservations, simply decide on the date and time you want.  When reservations open up for you, and you select the restaurant and date you want, it'll show if a table is available or not.  If it's available, book it, if not, select another day or time. 

But most people select around 6:30-7:30.  Shows start at 9:30 so many people take that into account.  Also seems most people select days at sea rather than shore days. 

Edited July 14 by papaflamingo

[shuguley]

6 hours ago, drkitkat123 said:

Is 8pm answering the question in the title (what are peak dining hours) or answering the question in the post (how late is considered to be outside peak hours)?

Usually by 8pm the dinning rooms tend to start to clear out.

[welshfamily]

My answer would be

Depends on the cruise / day etc. We are on a back to back 

First cruise 

We booked Concierge on the voyager and went online at 7am( Uk time ) on the day we could book. ( 8pm USA time ) 

Some choice for 2 people 

Everytime for 4 people.

We selected a variety of times the latest 7.30pm as we prefer to eat early 

Second cruise.

Again Concierge.

Nothing for 2 people.

Choice for 4 

As we travel with our adult children we were happy with the smaller choice.

However last year on the Mariner people were swopping days right left and centre therefore I would recommend you book even if you are not so keen on the times on offer and speak with the staff once on board. We turned down quite a few offers as we really liked Compass Rose.

 

 

[-Lew-]

5 hours ago, welshfamily said:

We booked Concierge on the voyager and went online at 7am( Uk time ) on the day we could book. ( 8pm USA time ) 

 

Am I missing something?  Currently when it’s 7:00 AM in the UK, the local time in New York is 2:00 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, EDT).

[welshfamily]

Our travel agent told us that the speciality booking opened at 8pm in the States which is 1am the next day here therefore unless we stayed up on a work day the first convenient opportunity we have to book is 7am. 
Hope this helps

[-Lew-]

1 hour ago, welshfamily said:

Our travel agent told us that the speciality booking opened at 8pm in the States which is 1am the next day here therefore unless we stayed up on a work day the first convenient opportunity we have to book is 7am. 

 

Understood...

 

We find ourselves waking in the middle of the night while in Europe every year to book excursions a year in advance.  It usually goes pretty quickly, but Regent's website can easily bog down when everyone logs in at the same time.  We do the same every winter in the Caribbean, but no need to do it in the middle of the night.

[Jim_Iain]

On 7/14/2024 at 2:31 PM, welshfamily said:

Our travel agent told us that the specialty booking opened at 8pm in the States which is 1am the next day here therefore unless we stayed up on a work day the first convenient opportunity we have to book is 7am. 
Hope this helps

 

Do you know if that 8PM quoted is Eastern Time Zone?   I thought I remember reading that it opens Mid-Night Zulu (Greenwich)

[DaveFr]

41 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

Do you know if that 8PM quoted is Eastern Time Zone?   I thought I remember reading that it opens Mid-Night Zulu (Greenwich)

It is 8 PM in the eastern time zone. So it’s 5 PM on the West Coast.
 

Dave

[Jim_Iain]

1 hour ago, DaveFr said:

It is 8 PM in the eastern time zone. So it’s 5 PM on the West Coast.
 

Dave

Very convenient to us on the West Coast.   I booked my first Regent Seven Sea cruise today.  

Edited July 15 by Jim_Iain

[-Lew-]

52 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

I booked my first Regent Seven Sea cruise today.

 

Congratulations and welcome!

 

I know you cruise in the Retreat on Celebrity.  We also cruise in the Retreat and on Regent and enjoy both very much.

[papaflamingo]

3 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

Do you know if that 8PM quoted is Eastern Time Zone?   I thought I remember reading that it opens Mid-Night Zulu (Greenwich)

Depends on time of year.  It always opens at 8 pm Eastern time, either EDT or EST.  During Daylight Savings Zulu time is +4.  During Standard Time Zulu time is +5 so 1 am Zulu.

[Jim_Iain]

20 minutes ago, -Lew- said:

 

Congratulations and welcome!

 

I know you cruise in the Retreat on Celebrity.  We also cruise in the Retreat and on Regent and enjoy both very much.

 

Thanks Lew,

 

I'm really getting excited about this one and it is not until May of 2026.  Capetown up West Coast of Africa to Lisbon and then on to Miami.   I've always wanted to see Africa and will probably spend a week prior in Victoria to visit the falls and do a Safari.

 

Incredible how quick RSS books -  We booked a Concierge and Waitlisted for a higher grade but to tell you the truth, I think we can have a great time even if we don't clear a wait list. 

 

It feels like a bargain at about $1,200 a night after TA upfront discount. I'm sure the time will fly by.

Edited July 16 by Jim_Iain

[-Lew-]

@Jim_Iain...

 

Excellent itinerary!!  You both will enjoy it for sure.

 

Our first Regent cruise was in a Consierge and we've booked that category on all cruises since.  The size and layout works well for us.

[Redking]

@Jim_Iain fabulous! We've our eye on something similar for 2027. 

[Jim_Iain]

2 hours ago, Redking said:

@Jim_Iain fabulous! We've our eye on something similar for 2027. 

I'm getting the feelings that booking early is the key to both getting the cabin you want and the best prices.   

 

At the suggestion of our TA we purchased Refundable Fares -  If I recall a processing fee of $100 pp up until final payment date.  

 

Are you thinking of an Africa cruise?    I had been looking and wanted one on the West Coast ----really didn't find many and this one with a TA was the perfect choice for us. An East Coast may work with you and cut your flight time.

 

Oops really getting off topic.  Sorry OP

Edited July 17 by Jim_Iain

[Redking]

31 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

I'm getting the feelings that booking early is the key to both getting the cabin you want and the best prices.   

 

At the suggestion of our TA we purchased Refundable Fares -  If I recall a processing fee of $100 pp up until final payment date.  

 

Are you thinking of an Africa cruise?    I had been looking and wanted one on the West Coast ----really didn't find many and this one with a TA was the perfect choice for us. An East Coast may work with you and cut your flight time.

 

Oops really getting off topic.  Sorry OP

🤣I'm  the OP.

 

Agree, options around Africa seem to be more limited compared to other regions. The more so when you start to get picking about cruise lines and ships! We'll keep scanning. The new Regent itineraries out to 2027 are released on the 24 July (I 🤔).

[Jim_Iain]

14 minutes ago, Redking said:

🤣I'm  the OP.

 

Agree, options around Africa seem to be more limited compared to other regions. The more so when you start to get picking about cruise lines and ships! We'll keep scanning. The new Regent itineraries out to 2027 are released on the 24 July (I 🤔).

LOL... Duhh...

 

Thanks for the date.   Will put on my calendar.   I've been spending my summer  as a jurist on a LONG murder trial.  

[RELS]

31 minutes ago, Redking said:

The new Regent itineraries out to 2027 are released on the 24 July (I 🤔).

You can browse and reserve those itineraries starting tomorrow (7/17). Actual booking starts on 7/24.

[Redking]

49 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

LOL... Duhh...

 

Thanks for the date.   Will put on my calendar.   I've been spending my summer  as a jurist on a LONG murder trial.  

Wow!

[papaflamingo]

On 7/16/2024 at 8:21 PM, Jim_Iain said:

I'm getting the feelings that booking early is the key to both getting the cabin you want and the best price

This has always been the case with any cruise line, as long as it's refundable (as you said your TA advised).  And if the cost decreases you can always take advantage of the new rates.  So really no risk other than the administration fee (or cancellation penalty on longer cruises).

On 7/16/2024 at 8:21 PM, Jim_Iain said:

If I recall a processing fee of $100 pp up until final payment date.  

That is correct dependent... for the Regent Suite and cruises over 61 nights it's much higher.  The cancellation penalties are listed under FAQ section on the website. 

Edited July 18 by papaflamingo

[Hambagahle]

On 7/14/2024 at 11:31 PM, welshfamily said:

Our travel agent told us that the speciality booking opened at 8pm in the States which is 1am the next day here therefore unless we stayed up on a work day the first convenient opportunity we have to book is 7am. 
Hope this helps

Had a similar issue for excursions.  Booking opened at 2000 EDT.  Which is 0200 CET.  I got up at 0145 and at 0200 I had booked all the excursions we wanted.  Then went back to bed.   No problem!

[Whinenowine]

On 7/15/2024 at 7:43 PM, Jim_Iain said:

Very convenient to us on the West Coast.   I booked my first Regent Seven Sea cruise today.  

Jim--sorry I'm a bit behind on CC, so I'm just reading this today.  Welcome to the dark side!  As a fellow Retreat refugee (though not Zenith) I too am branching out and have my first Regent cruise in December in a Cat D cabin.  I expect you and Iain will love it.  I think it'll compare nicely to a CS cabin on Celebrity (slightly less cabin, slightly more balcony).