Iona main dining room - booking?

[Norwayfan1]

It's quite a while since we sailed on Iona.

 

I may be mis-remembering, but I think we were able to pre-book tables in the main (free) dining rooms, about three weeks before we sailed.(Although only for early or late time slots.)

 

Is this the case?

 

And, assuming it is possible to pre-book the main dining rooms, is it possible to pre-book one table for the occupants of two cabins? (Because there was a problem with the travel agent's website, we had to make two separate bookings for the two cabins, although the cabins have since been 'linked'.)

 

Many thanks!

[terrierjohn]

3 hours ago, Norwayfan1 said:

It's quite a while since we sailed on Iona.

 

I may be mis-remembering, but I think we were able to pre-book tables in the main (free) dining rooms, about three weeks before we sailed.(Although only for early or late time slots.)

 

Is this the case?

 

And, assuming it is possible to pre-book the main dining rooms, is it possible to pre-book one table for the occupants of two cabins? (Because there was a problem with the travel agent's website, we had to make two separate bookings for the two cabins, although the cabins have since been 'linked'.)

 

Many thanks!

If you use the virtual queue, I assume you could book a table for 4, once you are all ready to eat, in any of the 4 MDRs. This will give you the full benefit of freedom dining, and not have you rushing to be ready at a specific time, booked in advance, which might now be inconvenient.

[thornegirl]

We are on Iona in 3 weeks (half term), and on our cruise personaliser for all 4 MDRs it says no booking needed.  The chefs table, limelight club, epicurean, sindhu, beach house all say coming soon.  Keel and Cow, Glass house, Olive Grove all say enquire onboard. 

 

[TigerB]

In our experience, booking for the MDRs for both Iona and Arvia opened up at two weeks out, but only up until 18:00. Our last cruise on Iona was in February, so it may have changed since then. For our most recent cruise on Arvia, from which we returned last Sunday, the available reservations were up to 18:30, and for a table size of up to eight; to the best of my recollection, the maximum table size previously available was up to six.

The 'up to' 18:30 availablity may only be an option on Arvia, due to the lower number of covers available in the MDRs, but you will soon find out if it is so for Iona.

We like to dine early, but 18:00 was a little too early; 18:30 was ideal.

 

@Norwayfan1, you are able to book ahead for yourselves and the occupants of other cabins; you do not need to specify the other cabin number(s) when you do so, but you give them all when you arrive at the restaurant.  The same applies to the virtual queue to which @terrierjohn alludes.

An advantage of being able to book for multiple cabins is booking multiple restaurants for a given night. In our case, when the reservations opened I logged on to my sister and brother-in-law's account and booked an 18:30 slot for four in Zenith for every night. I then logged into our account and booked a table for four in some of the other free or speciality restaurants for certain nights. The next day we got our heads together, made a firmer plan of where and when to dine, and cancelled the surplus bookings.

[TigerB]

Thinking again about being able to book dining for more than the occupants of your cabin, I wish you could do the same for entertainment bookings. There were a couple of times when spaces for a venue was available and, after booking for us, there was no further capacity when my sister logged on to try and book for them. 

[smj777]

We are due to sail on Iona for the irst time in November. Can we ask, what is the difference between the 4 main dining rooms?

[terrierjohn]

33 minutes ago, smj777 said:

We are due to sail on Iona for the irst time in November. Can we ask, what is the difference between the 4 main dining rooms?

All 4 offer the same menu, the two large ones on Deck 6 and 7 are very similar in  design, while the 2 smaller ones are different in design, but identical in service.

Edited Thursday at 10:45 AM by terrierjohn

[thornegirl]

23 minutes ago, smj777 said:

We are due to sail on Iona for the irst time in November. Can we ask, what is the difference between the 4 main dining rooms?

The largest two Pearl and Coral are both at the back of the ship, Opal and Aqua are smaller and are midships.

[smj777]

Thanks for your replies. Another question, do you get allocated to a particular restaurant or can you choose to go to any of them?

 

[TigerB]

Your choice entirely; it's all freedom dining on Iona

[Harryjacobs]

We prefer Pearl and Coral.  Both are bigger and more spacious than the other 2.  Just seems more roomy if that makes sense