Speciality dining every night - some questions

[luxury-lizard]

We booked the Solstice Auckland-Sydney departing Dec 10 quite a few months ago (directly on the Celebrity web site) and made the final payment last week. Now today I tried to add Select Dining only to find it is wait listed. It still asked me to pay the gratuities which I did as could not seem to "un-do" this selection.

 

Now after reading this forum I can see that this wait list is not likely to come through so we are now thinking of just pre-booking Speciality Dining for every night. Here are my questions:-

 

- we are in a suite so get 2 Speciality Dining evenings included meaning we need 10 more nights. Is it best to just book the 5 night option * 2 or can I call Celebrity and ask for pricing on an "every night" option (which is not offered on the web site) ?

 

- should I get my now pre-paid MDR gratuities refunded? Even after reading a number of threading about dining and gratuities on this forum I am unclear if these gratuities are paid regardless of what dining options you have / select. If I need to pay them no matter what I don't have an issue with the pre-payment.

 

- I realise I could just book a 5 night package then add another 3 or 5 night package while on board and do things like try the buffet, Blu (if available), or whatever. I am now concerned that our preferred dining time (7:30pm) at the speciality restaurants may get booked up so thought it best to book ASAP.

[WestLakeGirl]

There is an ultimate dining option but can't be booked until you are on the ship, search this board to learn about it

[BrusselsGirl07]

Hi there! You do need to pay the gratuities regardless of what dining you selected, so that is now done and you don't have to worry about it. They just ask you to pre-pay when you choose Select Dining as you are potentially sitting at a different table with different staff serving you each night.

 

If I was you, I would book the 5 night package and lock in the times for those, and then you are covered for at least 7 nights. Then you have the freedom once onboard to try other options. Being in a suite, you are able to try Blu, and if you are not going at an overly busy time, you should be able to get in. You may love it (as we did) and want to go more nights. You may also love a particular speciality restaurant over another, and want to go there more than the others. If you buy the 5 night package, you are locked into those options.

 

We have booked specialty restaurants on board and have not had a problem getting between 7pm and 8pm for the nights we wanted. You could also go to guest relations as soon as you board and book in your times and choices if you are worried about it.

 

They may also have the Ultimate Dining Package available, which I don't know that much about but I believe you pay a set price per day and can eat in any speciality restaurant every night.

 

Good luck with you choices!

[Project_gal]

- should I get my now pre-paid MDR gratuities refunded? Even after reading a number of threading about dining and gratuities on this forum I am unclear if these gratuities are paid regardless of what dining options you have / select. If I need to pay them no matter what I don't have an issue with the pre-payment.

 

We have only eaten in the speciality restaurants since 2009 and always book select dining so as not to disrupt anyone's table in the MDR but would never even consider cancelling our pre-paid gratuities. These gratuities do not just cover dining in the MDR but where ever you have breakfast and lunch.

 

Sue

[MoyCoy]

We were on the Solstice this 2 weeks ago. We had the same dilemma. We decided to go with one 5 package and eat the rest of our dinners in MDR. We purchased the package on board which meant that most of the prime time hours were already booked. I could not book a 7pm for any night in any restaurant! I purchase the package right when I walked on the ship. Looking back, If I were determined not to eat in MDR, I would book the ultimate package on board if you are not picky about when you eat dinner. We found that we enjoyed Murano and Tuscany much more than Harvest and would have preferred not eating in Harvest twice. You would have more freedom with the ultimate package, but you trade convenience of booking your first night now. Don't forget , there are discounts on the first night in all specialty restaurants -normally

 

;)

[fredflint]

Don't forget if you are in a suite you can eat in Blu also.

[luxury-lizard]

thanks for the replies, I will call Celebrity but will probably just go with the % night package to augment the 2 already included with our suite and perhaps try the buffet and the MDR (but 8:30pm really is a bit late for us).

 

This is our first trip on a mega-cruise (more than 350 passengers) so all of these "issues" are a bit new to us.

[MEcruzr]

You can also order room service from the MDR and your butler will serve it course by course. We typically do this the last night of the cruise.

[WestLakeGirl]

You can't get your "pre-paid MDR gratuities refunded" because the gratuities are not exclusively for the MDR evening meals. That gratuity covered your stateroom staff, plus the buffet servers, the people who work the hamburger grill, the Aqua Spa cafe, the ice cream station, and et cetera

[travelingmom37]

be forewarned we had a suite and when I tried to book the restaurant I was told the freebie was only honored on the FIRST NIGHT OF THE CRUISE.

 

there is a package where you pay less is you commit to multiple specialty dining venues.

[gracecarmo]

I think that the two complementary specialty restaurants given to suites has changed. You do not have to do it on the first night. We were on the Summit recently and when we checked in we were given the option of selecting any date, not just the first night.

[MEcruzr]

be forewarned we had a suite and when I tried to book the restaurant I was told the freebie was only honored on the FIRST NIGHT OF THE CRUISE.

 

there is a package where you pay less is you commit to multiple specialty dining venues.

 

Last month on the Summit we were in a suite. When boarding, they tried to book us for the first night. I said no... we'll make our reservations onboard later. NO PROBLEM getting reservations for a different night. Don't let them tell you that you have to use the "freebie" the first night. It's not true, but they make it seem that way.

[Aloha 1]

Call the customer enhancements desk to book your two freebies. You call call the main number and asked to be transferred.

[sandancer]

I have been in touch with the Captains Club recently regarding ultimate dining on the Solstice. This is the response.

 

The only specialty dinner packages available for your sailings are the three (3) night packages or the five (5) night packages. You may inquire onboard if they offer an unlimited specialty dining package; however, we cannot guarantee that one will be available. We regret any inconvenience this may have caused.

[PelicanLvr]

LuxLiz: We have eaten every night in the specialty restaurants for several cruises over the last few years.

 

In January (2013) we were 14 nights on Eclipse. We pre-booked 13 nights (planned to eat off the ship cause of a late departure in Aruba) in the specialty restaurants. Booked all the "prime times" we wanted and paid in full at the time of booking.

 

When we boarded we went to one of the specialty restaurants to confirm all our reservations. They told us about the "ultimate" package. The deal was for $29 per day per-person you could eat in any of the specialty restaurants each night, eat at the Bistro on 5, and be invited to the "fancy sea-day" lunches in the specialty restaurants.

 

We agreed to switch to that plan. They refunded all our advanced payments, charged us $29 x 14 days x 2 people and allowed us to keep all the times we had already reserved. You must pay for ALL days, so eventhough we still ate in Aruba one night we still paid for that day as well under the plan....it was still much cheaper.

 

If you are indeed offered this ultimate plan, you may lose the "free night" because you may have to pay for all nights.

 

No guarantees it will work the same for you as X is always changing things. But that's how it worked for us and I hope we can grab the same deal again this January for 10 days on Equinox. We'll see....

 

Enjoy your cruise.