Requesting Tables in Dining Room..

[Laurie12820]

We are going on our cruise as a honeymoon and having been on the Empress before I know where I want to sit. Can I request a certain table? If so, when should I do it?

[DHADEN]

If you can board early (around 11:00 or 12:00) do so, and go straight to the dining room first. There should be a rep for the Maitre'D that you can see and give him the number of the table you need. Most of the time, they are really good about working with you to get what you want. It may even be worth a $10 or a $20 to get what you want. ;)

 

Hope this helps, and Good luck.

[springtxbill]

Mention you are on your honeymoon and you will get better service. They go out of their way to help honeymooners.:)

[OliverTheCat]

Mention you are on your honeymoon and you will get better service. They go out of their way to help honeymooners.:)

 

Wow! I must have missed out on that better service when I was on my honeymoon last May. We were treated no different than anyone else. We only got a table for 2 because we got to the dining room very early and beat out the other requests for it. Plus, since I was in a wheelchair, it was probably easier to accomodate me at a table for 2 anyway (space wise).

 

I wouldnt look for special treatment though... maybe I just didnt get lucky.

[jax23]

Is it hard to get a table for two all week? I have requested one at the time of my booking, but they say "its just a request, not a guarantee". Do I have to "reserve" that as soon as we get on the ship? And would it be the exact same table (& wait staff) every night?

[wannalottadough]

I called and requested a specific table for 4 by the window (friends of ours had this specific table on another cruise and liked it) they (rccl) told us they would put it down as a request but no guarentees. When i looked at the profile for my cruise reservation on Royal C.'s website it is marked down for a request for that table #. That being said i will still go to the maitre'D as soon as possible to check it out. Always worth requesting, but any table we are seated at will still be fun as long as we are with the friends we are traveling with.

[OliverTheCat]

Go to the dining room before you DO ANYTHING upon boarding, and board before noon if you can. First come first serve with tables for 2...trust me.

[sweetiepie9339]

I booked on the Grandeur today- and requested a table for 2 on the phone- and she told me it would be no problem. I asked her how likely we were to get it and she said "very likely"- maybe it's because we don't cruise untill November or perhaps she was wrong?

[bobbie0253]

I once read on this board : You cannot tip to get a better table. If you could, the cruise line would be "selling" the best table locations. They will not accept a tip for a table change.

 

We have requested a table for two on three cruises. We have never had that request honored.

 

Seems like the honeymoon couples really did get the prefered seating for the tables for two.

 

Bobbie

[WillyNilly]

I did a B2B and on the very first day, was the first name on the list the maitre'd's rep was making for table request changes. Got a table for 2 the next day (though I was sad to leave the new friends I made that first night!). FOr the 2nd week, on the last night, I asked the head waiter for a table for 2 for the following week and had a new assignment on my door before we left port.

 

Granted, I was on my honeymoon, I don't think I mentioned it when I put in my original request -- just happened to be first.

[beachchick]

Wow! I must have missed out on that better service when I was on my honeymoon last May. We were treated no different than anyone else. We only got a table for 2 because we got to the dining room very early and beat out the other requests for it. Plus, since I was in a wheelchair, it was probably easier to accomodate me at a table for 2 anyway (space wise).

 

I wouldnt look for special treatment though... maybe I just didnt get lucky.

 

Don't worry. Every honeymoon is special, unique, and wonderful for the newly married couple. It is not special or unique for RCI, where you can have as many as 200 or 300 honeymooning couples on any given cruise. Not to mention all the special anniversaries and other events. It would be impossible for each and every couple to get that special treatment. (It would be nice, but it's not reasonable to expect, IMO.)

 

beachchick

[judy&steve]

We usually cruise with another couple and get a table for four. When they had to cancel at the last minute, we asked our TA to either get us a table for two or a table for 10. When we went to check out our table location, to our surprise, it was was one of the few tables for two in the dining room. It was very close to the entrance and right at the top of the staircase. It was a really nice location.

We were on a very to-capacity sailing of the Serenade last week.

Judy

[bug18]

bobbie0253 - I tried to tip the maitre'd in the dining room to put my whole group at one table since we were split and they would not take my money. They did put us at tables next to each other which was the best they said they could do. It worked out fine.

[cruzobsessed]

we are 2 families traveling together. we are still trying to have our 2 families sit at the same table. my TA said she couldn't do it because the other families reservations were made through royal caribbean directly and she didn't have access to their record numbers. what if....royal caribbean says to my friend that they can't reference MY booking numbers? could we (at boarding) ask in the dining room to be seated together? or...could we at least ask that both of our tales for 4 be near each other?

[Jimbo]

Get it done before you board the ship. Don't wait..........either give your booking number to the other couple and call RCCL and ask them to link the bookings together for dinner, give the table size and time you are requesting also.

 

Can't believe your travel agent couldn't take care of this, all they needed was the booking number or last name of the other party to get this done now.

I believe you can even do it online on rccl.com when you use the check-in feature.

 

Jimbo:)

[cdbaby]

Cruzobossed- We booked through a TA and our friends booked through RCCL a few weeks later. I gave my friend our booking number and the RCCL operator said it would be no problem linking our reservations for seating at the same table so I'd try RCCL if the TA can't help.

[OliverTheCat]

Don't worry. Every honeymoon is special, unique, and wonderful for the newly married couple. It is not special or unique for RCI, where you can have as many as 200 or 300 honeymooning couples on any given cruise. Not to mention all the special anniversaries and other events. It would be impossible for each and every couple to get that special treatment. (It would be nice, but it's not reasonable to expect, IMO.)

 

beachchick

 

Well, what stunk was we saw tons and tons of anniversaries and birthdays being treated like gold but not honeymooners. I mean, we chose their ship and paid $$$$ to spend it on there, and being its a one time deal, I would think they would at least say "congratulations" when we said we were just married...instead, nothing. Well, also, we didnt have the best waitstaff in the world...so...

 

It was no biggie, but just something I like to pass along my experience to others.

 

I dont even think they knew we were on honeymoon when we changed our dining assignment, so we ended up getting the table for 2 just out of luck, not because of a celebration...which I was grateful for.

[kenandlaura06]

Well, what stunk was we saw tons and tons of anniversaries and birthdays being treated like gold but not honeymooners. I mean, we chose their ship and paid $$$$ to spend it on there, and being its a one time deal, I would think they would at least say "congratulations" when we said we were just married...instead, nothing. Well, also, we didnt have the best waitstaff in the world...so...

 

It was no biggie, but just something I like to pass along my experience to others.

 

I dont even think they knew we were on honeymoon when we changed our dining assignment, so we ended up getting the table for 2 just out of luck, not because of a celebration...which I was grateful for.

 

Had your TA told RCCL that you were honeymooners?

[kenandlaura06]

Also, thanks for the great tips everyone!

[OliverTheCat]

Had your TA told RCCL that you were honeymooners?

 

We booked through RCCL directly and they defnitely knew we were honeymooners. Its really no big deal... I was just stating my opinion of it all.

[kenandlaura06]

We booked through RCCL directly and they defnitely knew we were honeymooners. Its really no big deal... I was just stating my opinion of it all.

 

I just asked because we are going on our honeymoon in July and our TA told RCCL and it is marked in our documents...not that we are looking for anything specific, but anything special would be nice. I was just curious.

[BellinghamBoaters]

My wife and I returned from a 10 day cruise on the Splendour of the Seas. We had a table for 8 with six people showing up. As we enjoy our privacy as much as or more than others we would have never given our table up for a table for two. We had a perfect location center dining room by the window. Most of the tables for two were tucked in places you would not believe a table would be placed. Would not dream of a table for two on this ship.

[OliverTheCat]

My wife and I returned from a 10 day cruise on the Splendour of the Seas. We had a table for 8 with six people showing up. As we enjoy our privacy as much as or more than others we would have never given our table up for a table for two. We had a perfect location center dining room by the window. Most of the tables for two were tucked in places you would not believe a table would be placed. Would not dream of a table for two on this ship.

 

That must depend, because ours was in a fabulous location, and near a window. Just depends on ship/who's working I assume.

[sumguy1]

are there tables for 3? Does anyone know?