Renting Specialty Restaurants

[RCCL Fan]

I know it's allowed on other lines, but has anyone been able to do that on Royal Caribbean?

I know lots is changing with Royal Romance, but wondered others experiences.

[dcdiva]

Originally Posted by RCCL Fan

I know it's allowed on other lines, but has anyone been able to do that on Royal Caribbean?

I know lots is changing with Royal Romance, but wondered others experiences.

We looked into it, but were unable to make it happen. As I recall, we had to make arrangements through the RCCL groups department. It's a long story, but our party of 60 was not considered an official "group". At the time, they only allowed group bookings above a certain size to pre-book the specialty restautants on our ship. Policies have probably changed and might be different depending on which ship you are sailing. So it's worth checking with RCCL.

[kamusta1]

Yes, you can rent out specialty restaurants with Royal Caribbean. It is not handled by Royal Romance (but at first we were told they would handle it). It took a few weeks to see who would handle the booking. We are doing it for our wedding this upcoming August. Since we did our group booking through our travel agent, we had to do it through agent who in turn had to contact the event coordinator of the ship. If you booked directly through RCCL contact the Groups department they they will get in contact with the ships coordinator.

If you have any questions. I will be more than glad to help.

[km5377]

There is a website for Royal that has a lot of information including pricing for groups.

http://www.royalcaribbeanincentives.com/


We are trying to plan a large group wedding as well. Did they give you an idea of what venue you would get? Most ship weddings are small and can use the chapel. We want to be outside, but are having trouble finding a ship that has an outdoor area that can accommodate 80-100.

[RCCL Fan]

Hi everyone,

We were able to reserve Portofino for our wedding. We did it through our group coordinator!

It was a good deal.

[sarah85]

Originally Posted by RCCL Fan

Hi everyone,

We were able to reserve Portofino for our wedding. We did it through our group coordinator!

It was a good deal.

When is your wedding and how did you mange this? Was it costly or just the price of all the people the resturant would sit when full. How many people at your wedding and for how long do you get it?

Haha sorry for the million questions!

[RCCL Fan]

it's ok Sarah!

We paid a flat fee of 2K for portofino for the night. I think it was 3K for chops.

and we get the place for like 3 hours. private dinner for our guests. i forget the max capacity we could bring I think maybe 80.

We got it through the group reservation department, NOT royal romance. Just ask your travel agent, that's who did it for us.

[eggnoodle]

Originally Posted by RCCL Fan

it's ok Sarah!

We paid a flat fee of 2K for portofino for the night. I think it was 3K for chops.

and we get the place for like 3 hours. private dinner for our guests. i forget the max capacity we could bring I think maybe 80.

We got it through the group reservation department, NOT royal romance. Just ask your travel agent, that's who did it for us.

We booked the cruise through a TA, and I know we'll have to contact him to hammer out the details.

What ship were you on? We are planning to get into Chops for a group dinner (50 people) as a reception after our wedding on St. Thomas on Oasis next June.

[RCCL Fan]

Eggnoodle/Sarah,

We are getting married in March on the Independence of the Seas...

so it's planned, we haven't done it yet.

We also used a travel agent, your agent will contact the "group reservations dept" for you,
and get you the information for reserving the restaurant.

I just reviewed the email thread from when I booked. Here's the skinny:


Please see the below information on each venue:

Venue Rate Max guest count

Chops $3000.00 65 guests
Portofino $2000.00 65 guests
Vintages N/A Not available for buy out

I have sent a request to our Specialty Dining department to verify availability for a buy-out for each venue on Day 4.

If your group decides to proceed with he request, I will submit it to the Specialty Dining Department. Once confirmed, the charge will be added to the group.

The typical hours are 6:00-9:30 (These can vary by ship and will be verified upon
confirmation).

The buy out price includes all food and gratuities in the venue. It also includes coffee (not specialty) , tea and water (not including bottled water).

Other beverages are available through the bar service and are priced on an individual basis these beverages have gratuities added.

Once confirmed, the charge will be added to the group. Payment for the buy-out will be required along with the group's final payment.

Please see the attachment for the sample Buy-Out menu.
You will find options for your vegetarian clients, as well as options for Michelle who doesn't eat seafood or mushrooms.

The Specialty Dining department advised the clients can speak to the Restaurant Manager once on board Day 1 for any special requests.

The group can make speeches, conduct business or engage in other events/activities during the time they occupy the venue.



Restaurant Buy-Out Cancellation Fees:

Cancellation of one Buy-Out starts at 14 to 5 days of sailing = 50% of the price paid.
Cancellation of one Buy-Out at 4 days or less to sail date, cancellations made onboard or no show of the group = 100% of the price paid.

[sarah85]

Thank you so much for the information. It has made me feel a lot better about being able to buy out a restaurant!

The only problem I foresee for me is that I didnt make a group booking as I didn't want to have to worry about people's payments etc. but I'm sure it will work out!

Congrats for it working out so well for you!

[sarah85]

**Update**

On the oasis of the seas or allure of the seas, buy out fees are more expensive - chops $5000 and Giovanni's $3500

Also it notes if you have less than 41 ppl the restaurant is shared with other people, so I'm not sure why you would bother paying the buy out fee is your not really buying it out!

[RCCL Fan]

Oasis/Allure didn't work for our group too for a number of reasons.


But I will tell you, you can still do a group booking as long as you have 8 cabins.

You don't have to deal with money. Everyone still pays on their own, you just lock in rates and if you have a group deal RCI gives you freebies.

They're giving everyone in our group On board credits, wine, cupcakes.