Speciality Restaurant Pricing/Payment Policy

[Black Pearl Sailor]

We have sailed on RCI four times in either Owners Suite or Loft Suite in the hope that we could find an alternative to NCL for a change of scenery. However always the two things that stop us hopping ship is the fact that other than a bigger room RCI don't have the NCL suite customer care and service ethos, and secondly up to now NCL's Freestyle Dining has been our favoured option.

 

We were very excited to see the Quantum class ships particularly with the Dynamic Dining, so we've happily booked Anthem for 11 days next year in a Grand Loft Suite, excepting that suite guests on RCI are not treated anywhere near as well as Haven guests on NCL.

 

Here's my observation, given that the ship will be new and full we will want to book our speciality restaurants to ensure we get the full experience. Now with NCL we can get this sorted via the concierge who will always get us in. I have looked at the online option for booking with RCI (which looks really cool) and thought I would use this. However the process RCI has is that if I want to reserve a speciality restaurant I have to provide a credit card which is charged NOW despite the fact that we are not sailing for six months. Why can't the bookings simply be charged to my on-board account, surely RCI are not that desperate for my cash?

[BekkaW]

The only things that you can charge to your on board account are things that you purchase while on board. Anything purchased ahead of time must be paid at the time of booking - this includes restaurants, drink packages, excursions etc. The good news is you're not forced to book early and can do so once on board. The will indeed be available to assist you in this but you may have to be flexible in your dining times/days

[steamboats]

BTW with NCL you can now book in advance online too. And I´m pretty sure that you also have to pay in advance.

 

Of course the Concierge will help you booking the specialty restaurants.

 

The advantage of booking online is an onboard credit (20% for booking 3 restaurants, 25 for 4, 30 for 5). So you will get money back on your onboard account.

 

steamboats

[Clarea]

You should be able to contact the Concierge via email pre-cruise and make reservations. You will probably have to wait until a week or two before the cruise before the Concierge can focus on your particular cruise.