Azamara Speciality restaurant bookings The Saga

[Grandma Gilly]

Hi fellow cruisers,

I took your advice and contacted the Captains Club (by email) to make 2 reservations, one in each restaurant. Here is the reply:

 

Dear Mrs. Green:

Thank you for your e-mail. Only Captains Club members can pre-book one night in the Specialty Restaurant starting sixty days prior and up to ten days before their sail date. We kindly ask that you choose which of the requests you would like to honor. When responding, please respond with history. For immediate assistance, please contact our office directly at 800-760-0654. We regret any inconvenience this may cause.

 

Note: Guests will be charged the $30.00 USD per person fee onboard at the time of dining.

Mrs. Green, we look forward to seeing you, our valued Select Captain's Club member, onboard soon.

 

Sincerely,

 

Cara Scott

Celebrity Cruises Captains Club

Now I am totally confused - by the number of reservations I can make and by the service charge. I am in a 1A veranda cabin and a Select level member.

 

[cruisePRN]

What a surprise, Azamara's poor customer service on land. Everything were told was inaccurate from the land CSR. We took our emails to guest relations to get things sorted out. We were charged wrong for Visa's, and coke card. Call the number and tell them the rules. Prime C and Aqualina got most of our business because the dining room food and service weren't to our liking. Both specialty restaurants are wonderful and the charge is only $5 for gratuity. Avoid the lobster, it's mushy and grainy and not sweet. If you must try it you may need to send it back and order something else. The lamb was out of this world.

[Eliger]

We were at a travel show last night. One of the presenters was a rep. from Royal Caribbean. We spoke to her for several minutes. She was on Celebrity (many ships but mostly Summit) and on Quest. She mentioned a fee of $5.00 pp to cover gratuity. She also said that the restaurants are fairly large and there should not be any problem getting reservation while on the ship, especially a 12-day itinerary one.

 

I think the agent you talked to must have mistaken the fee for one on another ship.

 

Gerry

[swigso]

Hi,

When Azamara was first launched the Journey relaced the Zenith and sailed to Bermuda honouring the bookings made on the Zenith.

At that time Journey was the only ship and was a sustitute for the Celebrity bookings for Zenith and so Originally there was a $30 charge for dining in the Speciality restaurants but guests had 1 free and suites had 2 free reservation.

Once the Quest and the Journey started their own itineries for Azamara

the charge of $30 was dropped and a sugested gratuity of $5 per person was put in place.

The captains club members are allowed to pre-book one reservation in either restaurant before sailing if available, once on board you will find that you can book either restaurant as many times as you wish and subject to availability.

It is no surprise that Celebrity customer service still gets this wrong , but

they can't be expected to know everything about their company policy can they??

Hope this helps and see you onboard on 24th

[Grandma Gilly]

Thank you Swigso. I'll try again and let you sall know what happens in my saga.

[Susan-M]

Now I am totally confused - by the number of reservations I can make and by the service charge. I am in a 1A veranda cabin and a Select level member.[/font]

 

We were also in a 1A and are Select members, and could only make one reservation ahead of time. We were able to make additional reservations on-board quite easily.

 

I would mention to the rep that the information that she has provided regarding the charge is incorrect. From Azamara's website: "Guests who have booked a stateroom will receive two nights of complimentary specialty dining, and guests staying in a suite will receive three nights of complimentary specialty dining."

[Susan-M]

It is no surprise that Celebrity customer service still gets this wrong , but

they can't be expected to know everything about their company policy can they??

 

Not everything....but I think this is something that they should know since it's probably one of the most frequent reasons that members contact the Captain's Club prior to a cruise.

[swigso]

Not everything....but I think this is something that they should know since it's probably one of the most frequent reasons that members contact the Captain's Club prior to a cruise.

Susan,

I totally agree with you, they should know and its silly that after more than 18months since its inception that basic knowledge is not available from the lines cutomer service

[fPetrarca]

Based on my experience last Spring on Quest-1) it's fairly easy to get alternative restaurant reservations while onboard. Don't waste your time trying to do it beforehand 2) the only charge is a voluntary $5 per person gratuity 3) the CS agents don't know much about Azamara--they are generic RCL/Celebrity contract workers. They were giving the OP info about Celebrity's "M" class specialty restaurants--not Azamara's alternative restaurants and were probably reading from a script.

[denims]

Based on my experience last Spring on Quest-1) it's fairly easy to get alternative restaurant reservations while onboard. Don't waste your time trying to do it beforehand 2) the only charge is a voluntary $5 per person gratuity 3) the CS agents don't know much about Azamara--they are generic RCL/Celebrity contract workers. They were giving the OP info about Celebrity's "M" class specialty restaurants--not Azamara's alternative restaurants and were probably reading from a script.

 

Well said!!!!!

[Albert Ross]

Hi fellow cruisers,

I took your advice and contacted the Captains Club (by email) to make 2 reservations, one in each restaurant. Here is the reply:

 

Dear Mrs. Green:

Thank you for your e-mail. Only Captains Club members can pre-book one night in the Specialty Restaurant starting sixty days prior and up to ten days before their sail date. We kindly ask that you choose which of the requests you would like to honor. When responding, please respond with history. For immediate assistance, please contact our office directly at 800-760-0654. We regret any inconvenience this may cause.

 

Note: Guests will be charged the $30.00 USD per person fee onboard at the time of dining.

Mrs. Green, we look forward to seeing you, our valued Select Captain's Club member, onboard soon.

 

Sincerely,

 

Cara Scott

Celebrity Cruises Captains Club

 

 

Now I am totally confused - by the number of reservations I can make and by the service charge. I am in a 1A veranda cabin and a Select level member.

 

Grandma Gilly Green: Why not call CaptC in the UK - 01733 865437. As Select you can prebook 1 night. You get 2 'free nights' (still have to pay the $5pp gratuity) where you get priority and then you can book as many subsequent nights as you wish ($5pp gratuity applies again)

[Grandma Gilly]

Thank you Albert. I have emailed them again to tell them the errors of their ways and have booked for just one -Prime C. I'll book the other restaurant on board.

[little britain]

So there is definitely no place to prebook the speciality restaurants on the website ? I thought I was going mad looking for it!

[Lobbylin]

So there is definitely no place to prebook the speciality restaurants on the website ? I thought I was going mad looking for it!

 

No, there is not on the website.

 

To be honest, it is just as easy to book once you get on board. Simply pick up the phone in your cabin on embarkation day and press the speciality dining room button and you can make your bookings easily.

 

We also booked more evenings whilst on board on an ad hoc basis and we rarely did not get additional bookings (above our allocation) so long as we were flexible and made the booking at least 24hrs in advance.

 

Note the last day is always packed so book early if you want to eat there on the last evening.:)

[marlong]

We were on Journey Feb 24th cruise. I emailed Azamara for the dates and time for our 2 specialty dinners. They never responded or booked our reservation as promised. We were able to go at 9:00 PM on any given night. The early hours were booked. My suggestion is have your butler call as soon as you board. It was worth the $5.00.

[brian_uk]

Last year we booked at check-in for the first night. Neither of us were that impressed with either of the Speciality Restaurants and we limited ourselves to one visit to each.

 

We much preferred the GDR or out on the Terrace at night.

 

Maybe they have got better or were just not to our taste.We will try again in August

 

Brian

[sinova]

The secret is there is no restrictions how many times you can book Prime C or Aqualina. We ate there five times (we were given two free dinners) and all you need to do is to call them before 5:00pm and ask them "How is your booking tonight? They'll give you a table if they are not fully book. The guests with no bookings before have the priority for reservation.

 

Eddy