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Are you kidding me Royal Caribbean?

hackwid

By hackwid,
in Royal Caribbean International

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hackwid

hackwid

Posted
Posted

Extremely unhappy that Royal Caribbean is not allowing you to prebook Chops or Giovannis on the Christmas sailings. We are on Independence and wanted to have a quiet family meal at each restaurant to celebrate the holidays.

So I can not get a straight answer- either they prebooked Chops and Giovannis to where there is zero availability or- as I was told by a supervisor at Royal Caribbean - they are not allowing anyone on any ship to book a specialty restaurant For Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.

Who wants to eat Christmas dinner on an assembly line in the loud main dining room? If one of the perks of the ships are the specialty restaurants - why remove that perk on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day? I just do not understand.

This is from Royals own page -

 

Food & Beverage

 

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Q: Can Specialty Restaurants reservations be made onboard the ship?

 

A: Advanced reservations are recommended, however reservations can be made at the restaurant based on availability.

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spookwife

spookwife

Posted
Posted

you and everyone else want to eat in a specialty for the 24th and 25th. so it is probably quite likely that advance reservations are either not going to happen at all, or that only a very few slots will be made available.

 

FTR we found the christmas eve menu in the MDR to be slightly better than 'regular ' MDR fare and it was slightly more festive in presentation( a very pretty special printing of the menu) and it was no more loud/busy than on any other night.

 

you are no more deserving of a specific time and place to eat dinner those 2 days than anyone else 'celebrating' the holiday. hell my nephew was born on December 24th and I am sure he'd love to be able to eat at Chops for his birthday.

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setsail

setsail

Posted
Posted
Extremely unhappy that Royal Caribbean is not allowing you to prebook Chops or Giovannis on the Christmas sailings. We are on Independence and wanted to have a quiet family meal at each restaurant to celebrate the holidays.

So I can not get a straight answer- either they prebooked Chops and Giovannis to where there is zero availability or- as I was told by a supervisor at Royal Caribbean - they are not allowing anyone on any ship to book a specialty restaurant For Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.

Who wants to eat Christmas dinner on an assembly line in the loud main dining room? If one of the perks of the ships are the specialty restaurants - why remove that perk on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day? I just do not understand.

This is from Royals own page -

 

Food & Beverage

 

Print This Page

 

 

Q: Can Specialty Restaurants reservations be made onboard the ship?

 

A: Advanced reservations are recommended, however reservations can be made at the restaurant based on availability.

 

It's my understanding that all meals on the ship for those 2 times are being cooridnated between the mdr,SR's, and the WJ so that all will be able to get the same food in a quiet setting even in the WJ.

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RFerrington

RFerrington

Posted
Posted

We are having the same problem on our Christmas + New Year's cruise on Navigator (23 Dec - 3 Jan). No availability for Dec. 24, 25, 31 or Jan 1.

 

My guess is that they are planning on increasing the prices...but that's just a guess.

 

It's no big deal to me. If they aren't allowing reservations OR if they increase the price I will eat in the MDR.

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JimAOk1945

JimAOk1945

Posted
Posted (edited)

I think being in a full suite may make a difference. We typically cruise in GS or OS and always make a specialty dining reservation on line.

 

However, one time we booked a JS and could not make a specialty dining reservation on that cruise until we were aboard.

Edited by JimAOk1945
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caribbean sailor

caribbean sailor

Posted
Posted
Extremely unhappy that Royal Caribbean is not allowing you to prebook Chops or Giovannis on the Christmas sailings. We are on Independence and wanted to have a quiet family meal at each restaurant to celebrate the holidays.

So I can not get a straight answer- either they prebooked Chops and Giovannis to where there is zero availability or- as I was told by a supervisor at Royal Caribbean - they are not allowing anyone on any ship to book a specialty restaurant For Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.

Who wants to eat Christmas dinner on an assembly line in the loud main dining room? If one of the perks of the ships are the specialty restaurants - why remove that perk on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day? I just do not understand.

This is from Royals own page -

 

Food & Beverage

 

Print This Page

 

 

Q: Can Specialty Restaurants reservations be made onboard the ship?

 

A: Advanced reservations are recommended, however reservations can be made at the restaurant based on availability.

 

 

Maybe they are going to give the staff a break on Christmas eve and Christmas day.They are a long way from their family's.Have a great next cruise.:)

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CruisinNole

CruisinNole

Posted
Posted

I have pre-booked reservations for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day nights. I believe the reservations opened up close to cruise date, later than My Time Dining reservations. This was a couple of years ago so maybe they've changed but I would try again closer to the cruise.

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RFerrington

RFerrington

Posted
Posted
I think being in a full suite may make a difference. We typically cruise in GS or OS and always make a specialty dining reservation on line.

 

However, one time we booked a JS and could not make a specialty dining reservation on that cruise until we were aboard.

 

Maybe down the road this will happen but we are in a GS and there are no reservation times whatsoever for Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year's Eve or New Year's Day.

 

Maybe they will open them up later but as of now, nada.

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twinmommy08

twinmommy08

Posted
Posted
When we sailed over Valentine's Day they had special menus that cost more on that day. You could only book once on the ship. Maybe they will do something similar?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

 

 

I am unable to book Chops on my Independence sailing this coming Valentine's. I suspected they would offer a holiday themed dinner and would charge more. Thanks for confirming.

 

We booked on our last night, the 15th, instead. Doesn't bother us one bit. We can celebrate by other means [emoji6]

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

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FalklandIslander

FalklandIslander

Posted
Posted
Could probably cost more because of something special on the menu?

 

It should cost more because there is greater demand and no possibility of increasing supply. Increasing the price ensures that those who want it most intensely will get it, which is more equitable than first come, first served.

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spookwife

spookwife

Posted
Posted

There are additional items on the holiday menus, or at least there were on my one and only cruise on Grandeur. I think the price went up $5 but they included a more 'traditional' turkey dinner with all the fixings. Of course they served the exact same turkey dinner( which wasn't bad) in the MDR for no additional fee so what you were really paying for was the smaller venue. Which was not going to be any quieter and possibly just as busy/packed as a MDR seating so it wasn't like the staff to guest ratio was any better( attentive service, etc. the non holiday night we ate there another large table kept our waiter so busy we barely saw him, let alone got our glasses refilled in a timely manner)

 

 

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Paulxyz2004

Paulxyz2004

Posted
Posted

Since they started last year to Charge for several venues / parties around the ship for NYE, my bet is they will reserve those venues for some Special offers, offered onboard only.

 

Those offers will most likely be $$$$$.

 

Of Course this is just my personal speculation.

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