Carnival Steakhouse Reservations process change??

[tony_g51181]

So I just got off a Cruise on the liberty three weeks ago and had submitted reservations and got a reply confirming those reservations.  I am now trying to do the same for a cruise on the Glory Oct 15, 2019 and now it appears you must pay for the steakhouse at the time of placing the reservations???  Is this new or is it based upon the ship???  I was booking for 6 but not going to pay for everyone.  Anyone know whats up?

[CC Rider 69]

25 minutes ago, tony_g51181 said:

So I just got off a Cruise on the liberty three weeks ago and had submitted reservations and got a reply confirming those reservations.  I am now trying to do the same for a cruise on the Glory Oct 15, 2019 and now it appears you must pay for the steakhouse at the time of placing the reservations???  Is this new or is it based upon the ship???  I was booking for 6 but not going to pay for everyone.  Anyone know whats up?

Not surprised, that's how it's done on Princess (another Carnival owned line).

[shof515]

new change went into effect early this year 

[Cruiseman38]

You can thank all the people that were making multiple reservations and not showing up.

[PhillyFan33579]

1 hour ago, shof515 said:

new change went into effect early this year 

 

I have made reservations at the steakhouse this year on Sunshine, Horizon, Breeze and a couple of times on Liberty, the most recent one being last week. I have never had to pay in advance when making any of these reservations. I received a confirmation e-mail for my latest reservation request two days ago on Saturday. 

[tkportersat]

I made a reservation in August for the Dream in January, I didn't pay up front.  And my reservation was confirmed by email within a few days.  I too am booking for 3 but not paying for everyone. 

[Jerseygirl1416]

In my cruise manager for my Christmas Breeze cruise, specialty restaurants have to be reserved and paid for now. I’m hoping they still honor my reservation I made months ago the old way.

[drafterdw]

I made reservations for Jan. & have confirmation. I did not pay ahead but it is for me & my husband so would have.

[DeesEscape]

I made reservations for our upcoming trip on the Valor and yes, I reserved and had to pay up front. Since this is our first time doing the steakhouse and it is only for 2 of us I got that cost out of the way. 

Edited September 30, 2019 by DeesEscape

[cmichael1279]

I just logged in to book the steakhouse on Breeze in December and went to book Steakhouse/Chef's Table/Cucina del Capitano and it did require me to pay.  Reservation was for 2 people

[TxShenanigans]

They must be rolling out this updated procedure now i just booked steakhouse a couple weeks ago For magic for october cruise and it didnt require prepay had to correspond via email with restaurant. Now however it requires prepay on the website.

[TEXSUN46]

At the end of last week got reservations for Steak house for our Oct 12th cruise on Vista. It did not require me to pre-pay. I got email back that time I wanted was not available and I did go back in later to see if I could pick a different time and it did look like it had to be prepaid. So I responded to the email they sent and worked out a new reservation time and did not prepay. I also reserved Cucina del Capitano and did not pre pay but if I go look now it does look like you would have to. 

[PhillyFan33579]

Interesting, looks like this is a change based on the posts in this thread. I don’t seeing it being a big deal if you are just cruising with your spouse, for example. But if you are cruising with a bunch of friends, I could see this being a pain. Guess I will see what happens in the near future when I make another reservation. 

[bury me at sea]

6 minutes ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

Interesting, looks like this is a change based on the posts in this thread. I don’t seeing it being a big deal if you are just cruising with your spouse, for example. But if you are cruising with a bunch of friends, I could see this being a pain. Guess I will see what happens in the near future when I make another reservation. 

 

I agree.  Personally I like to pre-pay whenever possible, but I don't want to presume friends going on the same cruise are ready to pay when I am.

 

Bottom line is that I really don't care.  However given that on my sailings I have never noticed the steak house to be half full, and I generally see an employee near the atrium hawking steakhouse reservations, it's hard to imagine the thinking of the bean counters.

 

Perhaps it is as a previous poster suggested, there are lots of people making and then canceling reservations.

[thesmiths]

I ordered this morning 4 reservations through my booking on the Horizon for 4 different Pay restaurants on board and did not have to Prepay for any.

 

I received confirmation for 3 of 4 already.

Cruise is in May.

 

 

[tkportersat]

I bet they are rolling it out by ship, seems to be the way Carnival does things - a few at a time. 

[reeinaz]

6 hours ago, Cruiseman38 said:

You can thank all the people that were making multiple reservations and not showing up.

I read that’s carnival determined that most people have a set amount they are prepared to spend once onboard the ship. The money paid on the front end doesn’t really change that. So people will still spend $200 on board rather than change that amount to $162 since they already paid $38 for the steakhouse. 

[bury me at sea]

54 minutes ago, reeinaz said:

I read that’s carnival determined that most people have a set amount they are prepared to spend once onboard the ship. The money paid on the front end doesn’t really change that. So people will still spend $200 on board rather than change that amount to $162 since they already paid $38 for the steakhouse. 

 

That could certainly be an explanation.

[UKJJ]

I booked two weeks ago for a party of 8 on the Magic in December. I was on my laptop and it wanted me to pay the money up front through the website. I went to the mobile website on my phone and it just wanted my information (the old way). I did this and got a confirmation email later in the day without having to pay up front.  I have noticed that the mobile site has changed in the past week so not sure if this would still be a viable work around. 

[christyran1228]

For my cruise on the Freedom 12/7/19 no prepayment required. but our 11/14/20 cruise  on the Vista it is.

Edited September 30, 2019 by christyran1228

[kimnicki]

Yes, had to prepay for our April 2020 reservations as well. 

[718ariana]

I was on the Sunrise in September and a woman dining at the Steakhouse made a scene about paying. She claims she did not know there was an additional fee and asked to speak with anyone who would listen to her. I wonder if there have been many other incidents like that?

Edited October 4, 2019 by 718ariana

[Joe817]

13 minutes ago, 718ariana said:

I was on the Sunrise in September and a woman dining at the Steakhouse made a scene about paying. She claims she did not know there was an additional fee and asked to speak with anyone who would listen to her. I wonder if there have been many other incidents like that?

It sounds like she was just wanting to get a free steakhouse dinner. SMH. Some people. 

[718ariana]

5 minutes ago, Joe817 said:

It sounds like she was just wanting to get a free steakhouse dinner. SMH. Some people. 

I think she genuinely thought it was all included. During her rant she asked one of the servers what the $1500 she paid for the cruise covered. Sounded like she booked a lot of for-fee things (dining, Build a Bear, chat function in the Hub) and thought they were all included. She was definitely shocked... and it was only night one!

I felt bad for the servers, but they, and the hostess, handled her complaints with respect and empathy. Not sure how it all ended - she may still be there complaining!

[cathyz]

I made dinner reservations for the steakhouse and teppanyaki a few weeks ago on the Panorama for March, didn't have to prepay.