Specialty dining reservations - how far in advance?

[vedettes1]

Do you know how far ahead I can make reservations? I have no status, am not booked in a suite. Thanks!

[voljeep]

If you are already booked - look in your manage booking for specialty dining.

 

You have to pay for it at the time of booking...

[Host CJSKIDS]

You should see where you can make reservations in your cruise personalizer. They only offer 5:30, 7:30 and I believe 9:30 for the online booking. You can change the time of your reservation once on board the ship. I would do this the first day.

[Astro Flyer]

Do you know how far ahead I can make reservations? I have no status, am not booked in a suite. Thanks!

Checking the Cruise Personalizer for our cruise in 393 days here’s their statement: “Online specialty dining reservations open 365 days prior to departure. Until then we have provided information and sample menus of the specialty dining venues available on your cruise”.

But not all specialty restaurants may be available to book in advance. Our cruise in 85 days only has Sabatini’s available but not Sterling’s. We’ve never had a problem by booking early on the ship & use complimentary OBC to pay for it instead of by credit card in advance.

 

[WmFCoyote]

We have never made reservations for a specialty restaurant prior to boarding the ship. First we go to the MDR and ask to see the menu's for the cruise and based on the offerings decide which nights to book specialty restaurants.

We also find it is faster to go in person to the restaurant to make the booking and you can see which times are available. We prefer to use our OBC to pay for these meals which is not an option if you book in advance on line.

[tailspintom]

Do you know how far ahead I can make reservations? I have no status, am not booked in a suite. Thanks!

As another poster said, we have also not booked before boarding. We have not had an issue in getting a table in our selected venue. But then, we do not restrict ourselves with a specific time. If you are looking for a specific date and time, I would book via the website.

 

You do have status. You have paid your fare for the cruise.

[skynight]

Do you know how far ahead I can make reservations? I have no status, am not booked in a suite. Thanks!

No status required. Go to the cruise personlizer, book & pay. Personally we always wait until after we board, never had a problem with getting the day and time we like, cost can go against OBC. Available times are greater than those offered on line. There is no difference in price.

[shof515]

i received a specially dinning as a promotion perk. how do book the dining option i want online?

[AF-1]

i received a specially dinning as a promotion perk. how do book the dining option i want online?

 

Did you book through a travel agent? If so contact them and see what night you are book for. If you log into your cruise personalizer it should show your reservation

 

I received a specialty dinner the first night of cruise for being in a suite. That was listed in my cruise personalizer

[shof515]

Did you book through a travel agent? If so contact them and see what night you are book for. If you log into your cruise personalizer it should show your reservation

 

I received a specialty dinner the first night of cruise for being in a suite. That was listed in my cruise personalizer

no, i booked directly with princess. i cant find anything online when it is

[Astro Flyer]

i received a specially dinning as a promotion perk. how do book the dining option i want online?

 

Whenever this question has been asked, the replies from those who tried it said you cannot book a promotional specialty dinner in advance because it requires payment by credit card.

 

Based on the experience of AF-1 that’s possible as a suite benefit but not as a promotional perk.

[skynight]

i received a specially dinning as a promotion perk. how do book the dining option i want online?

You can not book on line. On line bookings require payment. When you board there will probably be a gift card in your cabin saying you have a a certain restaurant and time reserved for you. If you don't like it call the DINE to ask for what you want.

[aknursemom]

Did you book through a travel agent? If so contact them and see what night you are book for. If you log into your cruise personalizer it should show your reservation

 

I received a specialty dinner the first night of cruise for being in a suite. That was listed in my cruise personalizer

I will be in a suite for the first time in May. I also received specialty dining as part of a Princess promotion. Only one specialty dining shows in my personalizer. Should it show two?

[IECalCruiser]

I will be in a suite for the first time in May. I also received specialty dining as part of a Princess promotion. Only one specialty dining shows in my personalizer. Should it show two?

I would assume that only the Princess promotion dinner shows in your Personalizer. We haven’t had a full suite complementary dinner show up in our

Personalizer but our last time in a full suite was about 16 months ago.

 

 

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[Delta Dear]

Can you book Ultimate Balcony Dining once you board? I booked it in advance for our last cruise. We loved it but not sure if we want todo it again.

 

 

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[aknursemom]

I would assume that only the Princess promotion dinner shows in your Personalizer. We haven’t had a full suite complementary dinner show up in our

Personalizer but our last time in a full suite was about 16 months ago.

 

 

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Thank you for the info!

[Astro Flyer]

Can you book Ultimate Balcony Dining once you board? I booked it in advance for our last cruise. We loved it but not sure if we want todo it again.

 

Yes & we’ve booked the UBD by calling upon boarding the ship & got our preferred day & time.

[OCruisers]

We never book our specialty dining reservations until we are actually on the cruise.

[Delta Dear]

Yes & we’ve booked the UBD by calling upon boarding the ship & got our preferred day & time.

 

Thanks, that's great to know. I'd rather spend $100 of OBC than to spend my money in advance.

[Steelers36]

OP, it might have been useful to mention the ship, route and length of cruise. For example, I have seen the Specialty Dining fairly busy on a 1 week Caribbean trip, but we just returned from 60 nights around South America (which was also sold in 3 segments) and a college marching band could have practiced most nights in Bayou Cafe or Sabatini's and not disturbed the diners.

[riclop]

Do you know how far ahead I can make reservations? I have no status, am not booked in a suite. Thanks!

As soon as you board.

[caribill]

Unless you are celebrating a special occasion, I do not see the need to book specialty dining before embarkation. How do you know in advance what other activities you would rather do each evening?

[shof515]

Unless you are celebrating a special occasion, I do not see the need to book specialty dining before embarkation. How do you know in advance what other activities you would rather do each evening?

it also depends on the itinerary too. on my cruise in October, there is only one sea day. i like to have to specially dinning on sea days so i am not rushed on port days.

[Sacto Rick]

I've seen where the Crown Grill would say they don't have anything available for the time slot you want when you call the reservation line. Then later on you notice people walk in and get a table without having a reservation. What gives with that?

[Astro Flyer]

I've seen where the Crown Grill would say they don't have anything available for the time slot you want when you call the reservation line. Then later on you notice people walk in and get a table without having a reservation. What gives with that?

 

My guess would be there were passengers who made reservations but didn’t cancel them & were no-shows resulting in people without reservations being seated.

 

I also discovered that empty tables does not mean they’re available. Once when passing we noticed it wasn’t full so asked to dine there without a reservation. That wasn’t possible because they stagger reservations & the empty tables would soon be filled by passengers with reservations.

Edited March 31, 2018 by Astro Flyer