Specialty dining reservation times need to be fairly distributed.

[Thought2go]

9 minutes ago, SATaxman said:

I can confirm that this is how it works. Our Butler was not able to obtain an extra reservation for a 2 top at 6:30 or 7:00 on the one night we asked.We did not check at either the reservation desk or the restaurants. Enjoyed terrace Cafe that night.

I think the one thing most of us do not acknowledge is that within the society of those who work on the ship there is a pecking order. Anyone who has worked in a hotel or fine dining establishment knows of this.

People/employees are liked or not liked. Favors are extended to the likes. Sometimes there is a monetary incentive. You pay that bus person extra for clearing “your tables” above the customary %. Or the bartender to put your order first above other servers. All quite hush hush of course. And sometimes there is a worker who just doesn’t fit in to their behind the scenes society and no one goes out of their way on their requests.

We however on the outside, are completely unaware and would never be cued in -left scratching our heads at what we see others get.

[pinotlover]

I guess a lot of us have different experiences. I’ve never had it rain on me , or sun burn my head, in any of the ship restaurants. Some people think they need to wear hats inside a restaurant? 😳. Must go with the Merican food or something! 🙄

[Thought2go]

2 minutes ago, pinotlover said:

I guess a lot of us have different experiences. I’ve never had it rain on me , or sun burn my head, in any of the ship restaurants. Some people think they need to wear hats inside a restaurant? 😳. Must go with the Merican food or something! 🙄

Most of those I know like what the hat does to their appearance. Covers a lot of skin.🤗

[pinotlover]

3 minutes ago, Thought2go said:

Most of those I know like what the hat does to their appearance. Covers a lot of skin.🤗

I thought they wore toupees for that! 😂. Lots of those evident! 😇

[MEFIowa]

16 minutes ago, sunlover12 said:

... With all due respect, I think you’re putting too much emphasis on Suite passengers asking for extra reservations. Not everyone wants them....

No, we agree on this. I don't really care for them. Too long to dine. And my wife dislikes Red Ginger. So did 2 reservations at Tuscan Steak. And when we dine in one, we tell them, "No wine and no bread" immediately. I rarely have dessert. So we did our 4 in our 22 nights and then it was TC for the other 18. (NO GDR for us, either. Too long. Too formal.)

[MEFIowa]

6 minutes ago, Thought2go said:

10 minutes ago, pinotlover said:

... Some people think they need to wear hats inside a restaurant?....

 

You might try the OUTSIDE part of TC. And Waves is "outside", too. Never forget the seagull stealing my pork dish one afternoon. Love to watch sundown while eating far aft.

[MEFIowa]

27 minutes ago, DrHemlock said:

.... Mind you, we don't wear our gold level caps to dinner so maybe we're just too incognito....

When O gives us both not one but two O Bronze baseball caps and two backpacks, we're going to use them on and off the ship. To save on wear & tear on the ones we brought. Fit nicely, looked nice, and I didn't pay for it. Good for TC aft. Esp. at lunch. Or before sundown.

[Mrs f.]

On 9/25/2024 at 10:40 AM, MEFIowa said:

When O gives us both not one but two O Bronze baseball caps and two backpacks, we're going to use them on and off the ship. To save on wear & tear on the ones we brought. Fit nicely, looked nice, and I didn't pay for it. Good for TC aft. Esp. at lunch. Or before sundown.

We never got either hat or bag when we became Bronze. Now we are Silver,..maybe? 

[Yesimapirate]

On 9/25/2024 at 10:22 AM, Thought2go said:

I think the one thing most of us do not acknowledge is that within the society of those who work on the ship there is a pecking order. Anyone who has worked in a hotel or fine dining establishment knows of this.

People/employees are liked or not liked. Favors are extended to the likes. Sometimes there is a monetary incentive. You pay that bus person extra for clearing “your tables” above the customary %. Or the bartender to put your order first above other servers. All quite hush hush of course. And sometimes there is a worker who just doesn’t fit in to their behind the scenes society and no one goes out of their way on their requests.

We however on the outside, are completely unaware and would never be cued in -left scratching our heads at what we see others get.

You're correct but there's also another level in that pecking order.  Having spent quite a bit of time working at a place known for it's hospitality to the point some people try to take advantage,  it's quite obvious.   And honestly,  it's pretty much common sense.

 

People who work in the service industry amd hospitality generally want to please their guests.   It's good for their income and their careers.   And cynically, it's also human nature.   They don't want people yelling at them or complaining to their boss.

 

The real world results are the nicer you are and easier you make their job, the more they going out of their way and do things in the gray area for you.  People who yell tend to get the minimum.   

 

Instead of "this meal is inedible" things like "I was so excited for this meal and I know how busy and hard the staff was working tonight but the meal was a little disappointing compared to your normal amazing service ".  

 

Additionally,  you're on a hotel floating in the middle of the sea.  On some level, it's a miracle they can even exist.   Pick your battles and don't complain to the staff about every tiny thing.  That's what cruise critic is for. 😁

Edited September 27 by Yesimapirate

[basor]

19 hours ago, Mrs f. said:

We never got either hat or bag when we became Bronze. Now we are Silver,..maybe? 

This was just started a few years ago and so perhaps you turned Bronze when we only received the pins...

[Mrs f.]

1 minute ago, basor said:

This was just started a few years ago and so perhaps you turned Bronze when we only received the pins...

Nope. We met some people in that cruise who did receive hats.  Oh well.  Life goes on

[basor]

17 minutes ago, Mrs f. said:

Nope. We met some people in that cruise who did receive hats.  Oh well.  Life goes on

Sorry to hear you were missed - I am sure if you have gone to the Future Cruise Consultant, they would have quickly remedied this.  We actually give our bags back as it is not something we would use.

[Mrs f.]

Not a problem.

[Tr1v1alCru1ser]

20 hours ago, Mrs f. said:

We never got either hat or bag when we became Bronze. Now we are Silver,..maybe? 

We only got hats and bags when we became platinum.

[Woofa]

Last night (45 days out for our B3 cabin) we made our specialty reservations for our upcoming Thanksgiving cruise on Marina.  I was online at 11 pm central and was in within a few minutes.  We prefer a two top but were open and we also are open for days and times.  The earliest reservation available for a two top at 12:01 (equivalent Miami time) at any restaurant was 8:30.  We reserved three at 8:30 and Jacques at 9:00 ( earliest available any day for a two top.)

Of course, we assume there was better availability if willing to share.  I assume by today some restaurants may already be out of two top availability.  

We may or may not try for another reservation onboard (as per advice here we left the first night open.)  We do like both the GDR and Terrace some nights and plan to do Thanksgiving in one of the two for sure.  (We are also booked on a full day chef led excursion one day and are not sure how hungry we will be that evening so figured it was a good night for Terrace/ Waves pizza.)

Anyway, not sure if this cruise is a good example but wanted to let you all know.

[sunlover12]

There is usually more availability in the specialty restaurants on the first night of the cruise.  On my recent Nautica cruise, the restaurant manager was walking down the line of people waiting in the GDR and asked them if they would like to dine in either Toscana or Polo. It was 6:30 and they had tables open right now. 

Think of it as a bonus in addition to your regular allotted reservations. 

[pinotlover]

2 hours ago, Woofa said:

Last night (45 days out for our B3 cabin) we made our specialty reservations for our upcoming Thanksgiving cruise on Marina.  I was online at 11 pm central and was in within a few minutes.  We prefer a two top but were open and we also are open for days and times.  The earliest reservation available for a two top at 12:01 (equivalent Miami time) at any restaurant was 8:30.  We reserved three at 8:30 and Jacques at 9:00 ( earliest available any day for a two top.)

Of course, we assume there was better availability if willing to share.  I assume by today some restaurants may already be out of two top availability.  

We may or may not try for another reservation onboard (as per advice here we left the first night open.)  We do like both the GDR and Terrace some nights and plan to do Thanksgiving in one of the two for sure.  (We are also booked on a full day chef led excursion one day and are not sure how hungry we will be that evening so figured it was a good night for Terrace/ Waves pizza.)

Anyway, not sure if this cruise is a good example but wanted to let you all know.

It’s been stated a1000 times. There are a lot more dining options available if one is willing to share. If sharing a table with fellow travelers seems so abhorrent that only a two top will do, that’s totally a personal decision. Some personal decisions have consequences.You get to choose. Everyone can’t eat at a two top at 6:30.

[Harters]

21 minutes ago, pinotlover said:

Everyone can’t eat at a two top at 6:30.

Booking Concierge/PH, we've been able to get a 2-top at 7.30 or 8.00 on all three cruises. Occasionally, not on our initial choice of evening but it's been an easy juggle to swap plans around. We've always said that, if we can't get the table and time, then we'll pass on the speciality and eat in the GDR but that hasnt come to pass as yet. 

[Woofa]

4 hours ago, pinotlover said:

It’s been stated a1000 times. There are a lot more dining options available if one is willing to share. If sharing a table with fellow travelers seems so abhorrent that only a two top will do, that’s totally a personal decision. Some personal decisions have consequences.You get to choose. Everyone can’t eat at a two top at 6:30.

As we understood going in.  No problem sharing if that is the choice but we know from our first cruise we generally like eating later anyway.

Note on our roll call from others, they jumped on the same time and got 6:30 and 7:00 reservations for all restaurants when clicking they were willing to share.  

Now it all starts to get real with six weeks to go...

[islabahia]

Hey woofa!  We were really lucky and were able to get two tops for all f our dining reservations!  I was online at 12:01 AM when our booking dining opened.  We are in a PH so could booked 75 days out.

[Woofa]

10 minutes ago, islabahia said:

Hey woofa!  We were really lucky and were able to get two tops for all f our dining reservations!  I was online at 12:01 AM when our booking dining opened.  We are in a PH so could booked 75 days out.

Hope to see you onboard!

[ORV]

3 hours ago, Woofa said:

As we understood going in.  No problem sharing if that is the choice but we know from our first cruise we generally like eating later anyway.

Note on our roll call from others, they jumped on the same time and got 6:30 and 7:00 reservations for all restaurants when clicking they were willing to share.  

Now it all starts to get real with six weeks to go...

Exactly

[Thought2go]

After having Afternoon tea from 4-5, I would not be hungry at 6:30. Happy to take the later bookings.

[osandomir]

1 hour ago, Thought2go said:

After having Afternoon tea from 4-5, I would not be hungry at 6:30. Happy to take the later bookings.

We normally skip the Afternoon Tea. We still don’t like to eat late because it’s difficult to sleep well after I finish my dinner at 10 pm. and need to wake up early the next morning.

[islabahia]

We enjoy room service “picnics” for dinner.  Dining room meals are not our thing.  They take too long.  We are looking forward to Terrace Cafe and Waves.  We tend to eat our main meal mid afternoon so earlier dining is perfect for us.  So excited!