Specialty Dining Reservation Tactics

[fredflint]

here is the scan from the offer

Edited January 9, 2014 by fredflint

[CathyCruises]

We generally don't do specialties much but that is a no-brainer!! Wow! Oh, I see it's on Reflection--lots of chatter about how crowded Blu is, that must be why. Still. . .great deal

Edited January 9, 2014 by CathyCruises

[stipmom]

Do you book the package on board? We might consider it as we got an Obc from our Ta

[Janet987]

What a deal! Since that was the 11 day TA, is there a similar dining package being offered to AQ on the Reflection one week Caribbean? I've read about the 50% first night offer, but not this. Interesting..is Blu that crowded now with the extra suites?

Edited January 9, 2014 by Janet987

[TowandaUK]

We are newbies so not in the Captains Club. We are booked in a C1 on Silhouette, so will not get the Aqua offer mentioned in this thread. We are new to X so are also wondering about speciality tactics. We have bought a 5 night package at a cost of £87.57 (approx $144), so that works out at £17.50 ($28.80) per meal. My questions are:

 

Could we do better buying on board?

 

How much is the Ultimate Package? I believe this is only available onboard- would that be offered to C1 or is it just for Aqua?

 

Could we buy 2 x 5 night packages and eat in speciality on 10 nights (14 day cruise)? I realise this would mean we would HAVE to eat in Tuscan Grill on the first two nights.

 

We are looking forward to dressing up for formal nights but realise it is not expected in speciality, would we be out of place in speciality in our glad rags?

 

Many thanks in advance for any advice you can give us.

[Hockeylovinmom]

OK. This is something we are interested in, but is it only offered on board? (The $75pp deal).

We are also "newbies" and not in Captain's Club.

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

Edited January 9, 2014 by Hockeylovinmom

[koolforkatz]

here is the scan from the offer

 

What a great offer! That is a no-brainer. I hope they start to offer that across the fleet. When we were in Blu on the Solstice in September it was packed out. I believe this is because more and more passengers in suites are accessing it. Maybe this is Celebrity's solution to keep everyone happy.

[CathyCruises]

What a great offer! That is a no-brainer. I hope they start to offer that across the fleet. When we were in Blu on the Solstice in September it was packed out. I believe this is because more and more passengers in suites are accessing it. Maybe this is Celebrity's solution to keep everyone happy.

 

I really think it's just going to be on Reflection, at those prices anyway. They added a lot of extra cabins without increasing the size of Blu, so it's a situation unique to that ship. I'm just surmising, mind you. . .

[dodger1964]

wow...i would book that in a second! We have 2 reflection cruises upcoming...i plan on signing up...hope you can do it b4 getting on board.

 

I just re-read offer...i see it is only for AQ passengers.

 

one of our cruises (1-2015) is in AQ...the other is in a suite...i wonder if i can get deal with the suite room?

Edited January 9, 2014 by dodger1964

[Janet987]

I really think it's just going to be on Reflection, at those prices anyway. They added a lot of extra cabins without increasing the size of Blu, so it's a situation unique to that ship. I'm just surmising, mind you. . .

And it could have been an offer unique to the Reflection TA, maybe there were few advanced reservations for the speciality restaurants, maybe past sales indicate TA passengers don't tend to book specialities. Reflection reviews from early Dec. mentioned the first night offer, but not this. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1965864 Edited January 9, 2014 by Janet987

[jagoffee]

wow...i would book that in a second! We have 2 reflection cruises upcoming...i plan on signing up...hope you can do it b4 getting on board.

 

I just re-read offer...i see it is only for AQ passengers.

 

one of our cruises (1-2015) is in AQ...the other is in a suite...i wonder if i can get deal with the suite room?

 

I was on the same TA that is referenced in the flyer. I was in a suite and did not receive the offer, so I would say it was Aqua only. I did receive the two free ones. I dined mostly in Blu and it was not really busy most nights. The speciality restaurants were not crowded on our two nights either. They did offer us a 2 for one in the Tuscan if we wanted to return. I suspect this special offer was due to lack of advanced speciality bookings since it was offered early in the cruise or it was a proactive approach to cut down on the number of people in the Blu. If the later it worked because I only had to wait for a table once.

[Janet987]

On board now in AQ. No speciality restaurant offers, not even 50% first night. Just usual letter that FIRST night only as it is busy

they give you a reservation for a one hour time a slot.

[Janet987]

Correction. The 50% off speciality restaurant was a telephone message I had not seen light blinking. Only AQ, only first night.

[Hlitner]

Our specialty restaurant strategy is quite simple. We think that X has darn good food in the MDR and also in Blu (we often do Aqua Class) but also enjoy their specialty restaurants. But our basic rule is that we seldom will pay full price for a specialty restaurant and are always looking for discounts. We think that X has priced themselves out of our market with their normal prices. On most of our X cruises we are able to get into specialty restaurants for 30-50% off of full price by simply asking. We simply approach the maitre'd of a particular restaurant (when nobody else is within hearing) and quietly ask if they have any 2 for 1 discounts. Sometimes it is yes, sometimes it is no, and other times there is a counter offer such as 30% off. If they are not offering discounts we thank them for their time....and enjoy ourselves in the MDR or Blu :)

 

Hank