Murano Reservations

[phinn]

Hi everyone! Just got off the Century this am and back home. Wonderful cruise... however, our TA gave us ticket for free dinner at Murano. The first night, our butler (if you get Elvis, you will blessed with a great butler) called from our room and made reservations for us on fourth night. When that time came, we got a call 1/2 hour prior to reservation and was told they had no room for us! My advise is to be prepared to eat some other place if need be, as we were totally disappointed and annoyed that they took our reservation on Monday and Thursday suddenly they could not honor that. It certainly put a bad taste (excuse the pun) in our mouths to have that done, especially since it was a gift from our TA.

[Sea Island Lady]

WOW! I'd be really upset! Did they give an explanation? Offer to have you dine the next evening? Any compensation and where did you end up eating?

 

Other than your Murano problem, how was the cruise?

[Jade13]

Hi everyone! Just got off the Century this am and back home. Wonderful cruise... however, our TA gave us ticket for free dinner at Murano. The first night, our butler (if you get Elvis, you will blessed with a great butler) called from our room and made reservations for us on fourth night. When that time came, we got a call 1/2 hour prior to reservation and was told they had no room for us! My advise is to be prepared to eat some other place if need be, as we were totally disappointed and annoyed that they took our reservation on Monday and Thursday suddenly they could not honor that. It certainly put a bad taste (excuse the pun) in our mouths to have that done, especially since it was a gift from our TA.

 

How unfortunate. Did they give you any reason? Did you speak to Guest Relations? It really sounds like they gave your space to someone else...

They knew you had the reservations since they phoned you. Doesn't a suite passenger get priority?

 

How was the rest of the cruise? Will you be writing a review?

 

Also, if the gift from the TA had a $30.00pp value, was it placed back on your ship board account to be used towards your final bill?

[phinn]

I was not offered any other night and that was the fourth out of fifth night. I went to the desk and Celebrity gave me the amount of the gift as a credit to my account. The rest of the cruise was terrific, and I will be writing a review as soon as I unpack.

[FinelyCruising]

That stinks. Bummer.

[phinn]

For those of you who are Captain Club members, I would take advantage of the ability to book reservations online before you sail. Having said that, I didn't and was not going to until we found that gift waiting for us in our cabin. In the big scheme of things, for us, we had a better time with our table mates, but if it is important to you, I would check, and double check any reservation as I only got the call 1/2 hour prior. That is the part that bothered me.

[Sea Island Lady]

So, were you able to get to your regular dining table in time?

 

I am glad that Celebrity stepped up and offered you a credit for the generous gift. We had a TA that gave us a gift certificate to the specialty restaurant on the Millie and it was so wonderful!

 

Did you by chance let the concierge know that you would be dining with a gift certificate? Just curious if this had anything to do with the last cancellation. It shouldn't have!

[phinn]

Guest relations was great, and immediately gave me the credit. When our butler booked it he was in our cabin, and I heard him tell them we had a gift card. We got down to our tablemates in plenty of time and our fabulous waiter was pleased that we were able to join the table again.

[Sea Island Lady]

Perhaps the "gift card" did have something to do with your reservation cancellation. I am not sure why, unless the gift was already revenue the ship had in hand, and they wanted to generate revenue from another paying customer. Also, I think that some servers believe that if you are paying with a gift card, there will be no gratuity. :rolleyes:

[warmwinds]

I still think they owed you a clear explanation and apology. We were on one of the M class ships when some mucky muck was on board and the specialty restaurant was completely closed for a private party. I'm sure there were people who had made their reservations long before sailing who were not told until they were on board that they would not be accommodated.

[gillianrose]

I wonder how many others who have had gift cards & reservations for specialty restaurants and have had their reservations cancelled yet did not think to get credit back to their accounts as you did.

 

I was told by HAL this past summer that when Pinnacle Grill gift cards are given out by travel agents, the passenger cannot really count on getting a Pinnacle Grill reservation, but WILL get credited back the amount of the gift, although I don't know if it is automatic.

 

In your case, you not only had the gift card, you had the reservation.

 

It seems very tacky to me that your reservation was cancelled and that you were not told why. Personally, if I had the time, I might have have visited Murano's to inquire and take a look to see if I could determine the reason.

 

If it was due to illness of the chef, several servers, I would be more understanding than if your reservation was cancelled so that a group (more $$$$) could be situated there or someone who had dined there earlier in the week decided they wanted to come back and used your space.

[Sea Island Lady]

The last time we were on Celebrity, my DH and I were invited to eat with the Captain. We had to decline, because we were celebrating our DD birthday on the evening the Social Hostess asked us to attend. The children were not invited and the SH acted highly insulted that we declined the invitation.

 

I wonder if we can get a rain check (or a shipboard credit :D ) for missing the dinner. A week from today, we will be on the Century, so perhaps I should inquire. :)