Problem with Speciality Dining - Should I be offered anything?

[mtsublueraider]

At the risk of getting flamed I do want to ask a question about something that's happened to us....

 

MONTHS ago I reserved Giovanni's Table on Serenade so my wife and I could enjoy a dinner on my birthday during our upcoming cruise. It leaves in just a few weeks and a few days ago I got a call from RCI saying they made a mistake and that this restaurant was being used for Mystery Dinner Theater and I'd need to change my reservation. They said if I wanted to stay there I'd have to pay more for the MDT. :mad:

 

I guess I'm most upset that I booked months in advance and now the preferred times are certainly all gone even if I wanted to change nights. For instance, I want to go to MDR on Christmas Eve and Christmas and of course Sea Days are better than port days to dine in my opinion.

 

They offered an apology but should they have offered more? Even a FREE upgrade to Chops would have made me happy. (And no, I didn't ask. That's my fault).

 

In the end, I think they ended up winning because I wanted to do the Italian restaurant for the first time (I've already done Chops) so I booked chops for my birthday, Giovanni's for another night, and then because of the buy 3 save 20% we went ahead and got a third night! Ha!

[Thetrail]

At the risk of getting flamed I do want to ask a question about something that's happened to us....

 

MONTHS ago I reserved Giovanni's Table on Serenade so my wife and I could enjoy a dinner on my birthday during our upcoming cruise. It leaves in just a few weeks and a few days ago I got a call from RCI saying they made a mistake and that this restaurant was being used for Mystery Dinner Theater and I'd need to change my reservation. They said if I wanted to stay there I'd have to pay more for the MDT. :mad:

 

I guess I'm most upset that I booked months in advance and now the preferred times are certainly all gone even if I wanted to change nights. For instance, I want to go to MDR on Christmas Eve and Christmas and of course Sea Days are better than port days to dine in my opinion.

 

They offered an apology but should they have offered more? Even a FREE upgrade to Chops would have made me happy. (And no, I didn't ask. That's my fault).

 

In the end, I think they ended up winning because I wanted to do the Italian restaurant for the first time (I've already done Chops) so I booked chops for my birthday, Giovanni's for another night, and then because of the buy 3 save 20% we went ahead and got a third night! Ha!

NO...........:eek:

[Ourusualbeach]

I think that you would be surprised about all the prime dining times being taken. I have always been able to book the day and time I wanted on boarding day.

[LMaxwell]

No, but offering to rebook you or sending you a bottle of wine would be good customer service.

 

At least they told you now so they could refund your method of payment, and not notify you onboard to give you a refund as OBC :rolleyes:

[tinkerme1]

I understand the disappointment, but honestly, you should be thankful they alerted you to this change BEFORE boarding. In this case RCI did the right thing. Happy Birthday!

[rclibertygirl5]

Why do people think that if things don't go perfectly on a cruise ship, then they should be given something?? If a land based restaurant contacted you and cancelled your reservation because of a special event, would you expect them to compensate you in some way? Put your hand away and adjust your plans accordingly. Like the previous poster said, you should be grateful that they notified you before the cruise.

[Trekker954]

Why do people think that if things don't go perfectly on a cruise ship, then they should be given something?? If a land based restaurant contacted you and cancelled your reservation because of a special event, would you expect them to compensate you in some way? Put your hand away and adjust your plans accordingly. Like the previous poster said, you should be grateful that they notified you before the cruise.

 

Agree with this.

[knittinggirl]

I disagree with most posts. If they had your money for months, they should have given you honored the price paid for Giovannes with the mystery dinner price.

 

Of note, we did the mystery dinner on Voyager, and it's packed and noisy. We found the service below average because they had so many people they needed to satisfy. At the time, I stated in my review that we would have enjoyed it much more if they'd reduced the number of participants. I think they'd jammed 100 people into Giovanne's. Not sure if they moved in more tables, but I wouldn't have been surprised if they did. Not sure it would have felt like a celebration meal.

 

But, we did like their food. They also took our Diamond Coupons for a free specialty coffee.

Edited December 4, 2014 by knittinggirl

[candiac]

We had late seating on our cruise. Due to the 'Come Fly with me' show at 8:30, I felt I had no choice and booked Giovanni's for 6 o'clock the first night. When we arrived for our reservation, we were told, sorry, the restaurant is fully booked for a private function - no notice months ahead, no notice in our room, no tv message, (reservation still showed as active).

 

We were told that Windjammers would open at 6:30!!!! No apology.

 

I also thought we would be eligible for discount and had pre-booked five speialty restaurants. Again, told only no we have changed that 20% off. We cancelled most of our reservations and did so enjoy the main dining room. Excellent service and meals.

 

Not sure I would bother with the specialty restaurants ever again.

[PuterMonkey]

I certainly understand being bummed and annoyed about it, but you really aren't owed anything here. These things happen, and they're giving advance notice. On your end, you're allowed to cancel reservations for dinner and excursions without penalty...

[dvcdisney]

Personally, I think they do "owe" you something. You booked the reservation to dine at a particular restaurant at a particular day and time. Now that they have taken over the restaurant for a special event, they should, at the very least, assist you in booking a new reservation for that restaurant at another time.

 

For customer service, they should not just inform you that you no longer have that reservation unless you want to pay more. They could offer you the MDT for no extra charge, but it sounds like this is not something RCCL would do.

 

Also, unlike other posters, I don't think you should be just thankful they told you before you embarked on the cruise. I think this should be absolutely required (as long as they know ahead of time). I don't think it should be acceptable any other way.

 

So, for pure customer service reasons, when they contacted you, they should have been prepared with other options - a list of other restaurants for that night or other days/times for the restaurant you reserved. In this case, this is what they "owe" you.

[dvcdisney]

We had late seating on our cruise. Due to the 'Come Fly with me' show at 8:30, I felt I had no choice and booked Giovanni's for 6 o'clock the first night. When we arrived for our reservation, we were told, sorry, the restaurant is fully booked for a private function - no notice months ahead, no notice in our room, no tv message, (reservation still showed as active).

 

We were told that Windjammers would open at 6:30!!!! No apology.

 

I also thought we would be eligible for discount and had pre-booked five speialty restaurants. Again, told only no we have changed that 20% off. We cancelled most of our reservations and did so enjoy the main dining room. Excellent service and meals.

 

Not sure I would bother with the specialty restaurants ever again.

 

That's horrible!

 

We are going on our first RCCL cruise next year and if we experienced anything like that, I would not cruise with them again. I pre-plan for a reason. I understand things change, but upsetting all those people who had reservation for that venue in order to accommodate a private function show very little respect for it's guests.

[Starry Eyes]

Honestly, even if they let you do so, I do not think you'd want to dine there the night of MDT. I'd be glad to know of the conflict in advance so I could adjust the plans. Sounds like you did so already. If you are not happy with your new plans, you can probably get a good reservation time upon boarding.

[awhcruiser]

Seriously? If your dinner reservation is cancelled?

 

We are going on our first RCCL cruise next year and if we experienced anything like that, I would not cruise with them again. I pre-plan for a reason. I understand things change, but upsetting all those people who had reservation for that venue in order to accommodate a private function show very little respect for it's guests.

Edited December 5, 2014 by awhcruiser

[kymbakitty]

That's horrible!

 

We are going on our first RCCL cruise next year and if we experienced anything like that, I would not cruise with them again. I pre-plan for a reason. I understand things change, but upsetting all those people who had reservation for that venue in order to accommodate a private function show very little respect for it's guests.

 

Hum. Interesting. You, your parents, brothers/sisters, and/or children must not work in a service industry where to err is human but to really mess things up takes a computer.

 

There aren't enough cruise lines afloat today to keep you on the high seas with unrealistic expectations such as a lousy restaurant reservation mix up (which is kind of funny given that there are so few places to eat on a cruise ship).

 

Part of being an awesome traveling partner is being able to ebb and flow with the little bumps in the road. Bouncing back from a minor setback. Not being so rigid with a human error that you say you'll never cruise with them again....how would the rest of your cruise look if that happened on day one?

 

If it was your spouse or child that made the error, would that make you a bit more forgiving?

 

You'll learn to take things in stride....you'll have to or you may have to go on vacation alone.

[scottrn7]

Well, like the old saying goes, "feces happens". I have come to the conclusion in life that things often happen for a reason and although the failed expectation was your planned dinner you ended up with some unexpected pleasures in getting a discount and dining three times in specialty dining. I think a lot of it is also a bit of karma and when something goes wrong I start looking at what good is going to happen next. Okay, I'm a optimist.

 

Interesting is complimenting people often comes with unexpected rewards. I watched a free at the end of a meal in a restaurant began to repeatedly compliment on the quality of service, food and how this particular venue was better than their sister in another part of town. The waiter was so overjoyed at the compliments he said, "let me get the manager". The story was then repeated to the manager with even more passion and he smiled and thanked us and complimented our entire meal, drinks and all of a party of 10.

 

My friend says, it works most of the time. Try it, it doesn't hurt and you may get a free drink, dessert who knows maybe even the meal.

 

I would have verbalized my disappointment, but complimented them on how much wanted to try the food because you heard it was so good. ;)

[Tee718]

Morning, Im just curious if you wanted to see the performance. Since you technically had a reservation there already, I would have kindly requested to keep my table with same costs, therefore you could have the best of both, your table and entertainment, especially for your birthday. Nevertheless whatever you choose, have a Happy Birthday and enjoy your evening. :)

 

 

 

At the risk of getting flamed I do want to ask a question about something that's happened to us....

 

MONTHS ago I reserved Giovanni's Table on Serenade so my wife and I could enjoy a dinner on my birthday during our upcoming cruise. It leaves in just a few weeks and a few days ago I got a call from RCI saying they made a mistake and that this restaurant was being used for Mystery Dinner Theater and I'd need to change my reservation. They said if I wanted to stay there I'd have to pay more for the MDT. :mad:

 

I guess I'm most upset that I booked months in advance and now the preferred times are certainly all gone even if I wanted to change nights. For instance, I want to go to MDR on Christmas Eve and Christmas and of course Sea Days are better than port days to dine in my opinion.

 

They offered an apology but should they have offered more? Even a FREE upgrade to Chops would have made me happy. (And no, I didn't ask. That's my fault).

 

In the end, I think they ended up winning because I wanted to do the Italian restaurant for the first time (I've already done Chops) so I booked chops for my birthday, Giovanni's for another night, and then because of the buy 3 save 20% we went ahead and got a third night! Ha!

[Havingfun2010]

So the exact thing happened to me on the Allure. I booked boarding day lunch and for a unknown reason, a few weeks prior the cruise, we received a phone call letting us know lunch will not be available. They offered to move us to another day, but we already booked dinner one night, so really did not want to do this on a sea day with so many activities going on. So they said they were sorry, they would refund us the money, and than gave us $25 per person in OBC as a gift we could use in one of the other many specialty restaurants if we change our mind.

 

We never asked for the OBC and we were not inconvenienced.

 

I do believe, that although it is not owed it is a customer service gesture since they cancelled your plans. A bottle of wine, OBC, box of chocolate goes a long way.

[bigque]

Come on people..sometimes "S" happens! Must we be compensated for everytime "S" happens??? People say if this situation happens to them they would not cruise with RCI again! Really???? So then you go to Carnival and the same thing happens, so you stop cruisng with them and then go to Celebrity????...then NCL????.....Then Princess???? I think I would have paid the difference and watched the Mystery Dinner Show...But that's just me...I'm easy! :cool:

[coffee59]

Well it happened to me too!!

 

I had booked a table for Valentines day on Brilliance. I found out the week before we sailed that the reservation was no longer valid as it was now a Mystery Dinner night. Yes, I could pay full price for the mystery dinner. No thank you. That is hardly my idea of a romantic date.

I was upset.......IT WAS VALENTINES DAY PEOPLE........I was more upset that the hotel manager did not book HIS EVENT months in advance like I DID!!

I went to guest services to complain....I have to be really upset to waste my vacation standing in line.:mad:

I got a bottle of red wine and a gigantic...huge....much too big plate of cheese, crackers and fruit. Yes, RCL was instantly forgiven. We had a huge laugh over the amount of food that showed up in the cabin. We could have hosted a cabin block party.

I think ALL those that had their evening cancelled should have gotten the same.

 

Am I greedy...........NO............I just expect to be treated fairly by a company that is receiving my business.

[dvcdisney]

Seriously? If your dinner reservation is cancelled?

 

Absolutely. But it's not because the dinner reservation is cancelled, it's the way the previous poster was treated. I think that was unacceptable. They should have offered another specialty restaurant and certainly they should not have been informed when they got to the restaurant.

[dvcdisney]

Hum. Interesting. You, your parents, brothers/sisters, and/or children must not work in a service industry where to err is human but to really mess things up takes a computer.

 

There aren't enough cruise lines afloat today to keep you on the high seas with unrealistic expectations such as a lousy restaurant reservation mix up (which is kind of funny given that there are so few places to eat on a cruise ship).

 

Part of being an awesome traveling partner is being able to ebb and flow with the little bumps in the road. Bouncing back from a minor setback. Not being so rigid with a human error that you say you'll never cruise with them again....how would the rest of your cruise look if that happened on day one?

 

If it was your spouse or child that made the error, would that make you a bit more forgiving?

 

You'll learn to take things in stride....you'll have to or you may have to go on vacation alone.

 

You've made assumptions about me, so I'm make it about you. I have a feeling that you don't like to take the time to plan anything. Otherwise, someone telling you that your plans have been cancelled but they have no intention to do anything to help would get you a little upset.

 

It's not the error, it's how they handled it. I don't think it was too much to ask to inform the guest before. I've travelled enough to know that it's important to make plans and reservations and have back ups in case there are issues and errors. We've had many such issues, but the difference is.....the company offered assistance because it was their error....just basic customer service.

 

I would hope that if you are in customer service and made such errors, there would be an apology and a plan to fix the issue. Errors happen, it's how you handle it that counts.

 

Now back to issue with the pp, when they do make these errors, do you think it was fine for them to say, "Just go to Windjammers? These people actually booked a specialty restaurant. They didn't want to eat at Windjammers....They should have offered to make a reservation with another restaurant to compensate for the lack of previous notice.

 

Telling a guest that they no longer have a reservation AT the restaurant without any similar option is bad customer service! Then telling them that "I understand we cancelled your reservation and we neglected to tell you ahead of time (so you had no way of making another reservation) with absolutely no option for another specialty restaurant, but too bad, we will not be honouring the 30% OBC that we said you would be receiving since you diligently reserved ahead of time."

 

Errors happen all the time. But for the sake of good customer service, something needs to be offered to help alleviate the situation...in this case, another reservation.

[dvcdisney]

So the exact thing happened to me on the Allure. I booked boarding day lunch and for a unknown reason, a few weeks prior the cruise, we received a phone call letting us know lunch will not be available. They offered to move us to another day, but we already booked dinner one night, so really did not want to do this on a sea day with so many activities going on. So they said they were sorry, they would refund us the money, and than gave us $25 per person in OBC as a gift we could use in one of the other many specialty restaurants if we change our mind.

 

We never asked for the OBC and we were not inconvenienced.

 

I do believe, that although it is not owed it is a customer service gesture since they cancelled your plans. A bottle of wine, OBC, box of chocolate goes a long way.

 

That's how I would expect them to handle it - let you know as far ahead of time as possible and apologize for the inconvenience, then offer to change it to another day. And since you didn't want to do it, they offered a refund. That's the most I would expect and would show that they value you as a guest. This alone would put RCCL in a good light with you.

 

And offering you $25 OBC was a great customer service gesture. ..not expected but I'm sure it was much appreciated. This would be above and beyond.

[dvcdisney]

....I just expect to be treated fairly by a company that is receiving my business.

 

Absolutely!

 

And I agree with your exact wording "fairly"...not "the same" since we all know we can't all be treated the same.

 

In your case, I think what they "owe" you is the assistance in making another reservation. All the extras were nice, but not necessary.

[kymbakitty]

You've made assumptions about me, so I'm make it about you. I have a feeling that you don't like to take the time to plan anything. Otherwise, someone telling you that your plans have been cancelled but they have no intention to do anything to help would get you a little upset.

 

It's not the error, it's how they handled it. I don't think it was too much to ask to inform the guest before. I've travelled enough to know that it's important to make plans and reservations and have back ups in case there are issues and errors. We've had many such issues, but the difference is.....the company offered assistance because it was their error....just basic customer service.

 

I would hope that if you are in customer service and made such errors, there would be an apology and a plan to fix the issue. Errors happen, it's how you handle it that counts.

 

Now back to issue with the pp, when they do make these errors, do you think it was fine for them to say, "Just go to Windjammers? These people actually booked a specialty restaurant. They didn't want to eat at Windjammers....They should have offered to make a reservation with another restaurant to compensate for the lack of previous notice.

 

Telling a guest that they no longer have a reservation AT the restaurant without any similar option is bad customer service! Then telling them that "I understand we cancelled your reservation and we neglected to tell you ahead of time (so you had no way of making another reservation) with absolutely no option for another specialty restaurant, but too bad, we will not be honouring the 30% OBC that we said you would be receiving since you diligently reserved ahead of time."

 

Errors happen all the time. But for the sake of good customer service, something needs to be offered to help alleviate the situation...in this case, another reservation.

 

A couple of things. First off, I'm a ridiculous planner. You don't have to be on a cruise, but when you book land vacations (last year's trip to Machu Picchu comes to mind because there are a lot of logistics involved) you need to be. But I love planning and I always have...probably a chunk of the fun. We usually book cruises pretty far in advance. We've had our 5th TA cruise booked for October 2015 since the itinerary was released. Ridiculous in many people's eyes, but that's okay.

 

Here is what my response is based on.....many years of first hand experience where I had everything planned to a T, but then "x" happens. We had been so fortunate for so many years (no missed connections, no missing ships, really nothing).

 

A few years ago, we were in Budapest and our credit union issued us new cards about two weeks before leaving. I didn't like the sound of it but I couldn't have them wait. It was already done. Long story short, out ATMs didn't work and to this day, Budapest remains a cash society. I could figure out enough to get $$ from our AMEX, but it wasn't without its challenges. I went to post office and could not convey what I was trying to do. I started to tear up....mostly out of pure frustration. A man overheard me (turned out to be a German Hungarian Embassy rep) and the kindness of that man, well, I'll just never forget. My only regret was that my husband didn't get to meet this angel. That experience touched me in a way that helped me help others in similar ways through the years. It also taught me that these bumps we experience, more often than not, are actual gifts. It all just comes with age and experience and just trying to not control (we only think we can control, but we find out we can't control anything really). I wouldn't change that ATM debokle for all the tea in China.

 

I'm not saying your reservation was life changing, but it is a mindset and you need to be open. Who knows, you could meet a man in the Windjammer that could change the direction of your career! The strangest most amazing things happen when our painstaking plans get changed. But you have to be open and have a willing heart....don't fight the bumps so hard is what I'm saying.

 

Lastly, and this speaks to how the OP was treated and what the RCI staff member said. Let's just say that perception plays a huge roll here. Our own personal experiences, our emotions/expectations, and various personality differences can greatly affect what the OP remembers about that exchange. After investigating complaints for many years, one thing is for sure. It is a given that if three people had the exact same scenario and subsequent conversation, there would be three different versions OF THE SAME EXCHANGE. It's actually amazing and I first saw this (never forgot it and it helped me later in life when I recalled it)...it was an episode of Fame (many are too young to recall TV show). One of the students fell off stage, and the event was seen by all. Each one of the students were required to tell that old man (see his face, but can't recall name). Everyone had a different story but yet no one was lying. I will never forget that. And boy did that come in handy in my chosen profession.

 

So someone else having the same experience might have reported the WJ comment completely different (or not even recall or think it important enough to remember) because of their own life experience. So when the other posters suggest being in a different place (not a try) and receiving a bottle of wine (when you got nothing other than being offended), perhaps their reaction to the same situation allowed the gentleman to go down a whole other avenue. He might have felt your anger and felt he needed to defend, who knows.

 

Things are always going to happen that we didn't want....or so we thought we didn't want. But now, when I get stuck behind someone in a line or car, I relax. I remind myself that if I forced my way through and tried to change course, I may not like the end result.

 

I'm still a planner. I always will be. And most things go according to plan. But when they don't, I'm reminded that I'm not driving this bus and there could be something in store for me that I couldn't have dreamed of....and it really opens your heart. It also makes you an awesome person to travel with.

 

I'm sure I lost 95% of the reviewers by now and the ones that are still here probably have their dukes up ready to call me Pollyanna. But that's okay.

 

Enjoy whatever experiences your vacation offers. And be the type of traveler that you would like to travel with. No one will ever have to walk on eggshells just hoping they don't experience any glitches because the love of their life can't figure out how to navigate these little nuisances.

 

:)