nickel-and-dime-me Posted February 7, 2020 #1 Share Posted February 7, 2020 So, we're cruising with HAL in June and just had specialty dining open for reservations online. We were hoping to use our OBC to pay for the specialty dining, however it looks like you're charged online immediately upon booking a reservation. We called cusromer service about this and were told that HAL keeps a certain number of reservations open for those who want to book upon boarding the ship. For those who may have done it this way, did you have any luck getting the dining times you wanted? I'm imagining fighting through a mad rush of people boarding the ship only to find out all the reservations are already taken. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cruising-along Posted February 7, 2020 #2 Share Posted February 7, 2020 It would depend on the cruise, (and length of the cruise) and number of specialty restaurants. On longer cruises we've never had any problem getting specialty dining reservations for the times we want. Of course there are more days so more choices. I imagine on shorter cruises there may be more trouble, but I would be willing to bet that if you call the first day you can get what you want. What ship? The smaller ships have fewer specialty restaurants. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nickel-and-dime-me Posted February 7, 2020 Author #3 Share Posted February 7, 2020 38 minutes ago, Cruising-along said: It would depend on the cruise, (and length of the cruise) and number of specialty restaurants. On longer cruises we've never had any problem getting specialty dining reservations for the times we want. Of course there are more days so more choices. I imagine on shorter cruises there may be more trouble, but I would be willing to bet that if you call the first day you can get what you want. What ship? The smaller ships have fewer specialty restaurants. Thanks for the information. We'll be on the koningsdam in june for an alaska cruise for 7 days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krazy Kruizers Posted February 7, 2020 #4 Share Posted February 7, 2020 One time I forgot to book specialty restaurants before we left home. When we got on the ship -- among the first since we were in the PS, no reservations left -- even our concierges couldn't get us a reservation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nickel-and-dime-me Posted February 7, 2020 Author #5 Share Posted February 7, 2020 2 hours ago, Krazy Kruizers said: One time I forgot to book specialty restaurants before we left home. When we got on the ship -- among the first since we were in the PS, no reservations left -- even our concierges couldn't get us a reservation. Thats kind of what I'm afraid of happening. I'm tempted to just book and pay now, but we have a $600 obc and i don't know how we'll use it all if i don't put it towards dining. Pretty much everything else is already paid for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catl331 Posted February 7, 2020 #6 Share Posted February 7, 2020 (edited) 2 hours ago, nickel-and-dime-me said: we have a $600 obc and i don't know how we'll use it all if i don't put it towards dining. You can probably spend more of it if you go to Sel de Mer instead of the PG. 😀 Also, since SdM is ala carte I think you don't have to pay in advance. Pretty sure that's how it was when we were on K'dam in 2016 anyway. Edited February 7, 2020 by catl331 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lcand1923 Posted February 7, 2020 #7 Share Posted February 7, 2020 If you definitely want to eat in one of the Specialty Restaurants on a particular date and time, I would book in Advance. When I tried to book onboard, the only times I could get were 9pm, nothing before then. That is a heavy OBC. Is any portion refundable? It can go towards the HSC and for laundry so you go home with clean clothes. It sounds goofy, I know, but I needed to buy some wine to take home in my suitcase one time to use up my OBC. I gave it as gifts later in the year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cruising-along Posted February 7, 2020 #8 Share Posted February 7, 2020 12 hours ago, nickel-and-dime-me said: Thanks for the information. We'll be on the koningsdam in june for an alaska cruise for 7 days. Ah, for a 7-day I agree with the others, I would book ahead of time. At least with the Koningsdam you have more (and better IMO) specialty restaurants to choose from. We were just on the K for 26 days, great cruise and ship. We loved the Tamarind especially. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nickel-and-dime-me Posted February 7, 2020 Author #9 Share Posted February 7, 2020 4 hours ago, catl331 said: You can probably spend more of it if you go to Sel de Mer instead of the PG. 😀 Also, since SdM is ala carte I think you don't have to pay in advance. Pretty sure that's how it was when we were on K'dam in 2016 anyway. You're right. Sel de mer is still a la carte so maybe we just splurge a little there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nickel-and-dime-me Posted February 7, 2020 Author #10 Share Posted February 7, 2020 3 hours ago, lcand1923 said: If you definitely want to eat in one of the Specialty Restaurants on a particular date and time, I would book in Advance. When I tried to book onboard, the only times I could get were 9pm, nothing before then. That is a heavy OBC. Is any portion refundable? It can go towards the HSC and for laundry so you go home with clean clothes. It sounds goofy, I know, but I needed to buy some wine to take home in my suitcase one time to use up my OBC. I gave it as gifts later in the year Its promotional OBC so i dont believe its refundable. Looks like the better bet is just book in advance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rkacruiser Posted February 7, 2020 #11 Share Posted February 7, 2020 (edited) 19 hours ago, nickel-and-dime-me said: So, we're cruising with HAL in June and just had specialty dining open for reservations online. We were hoping to use our OBC to pay for the specialty dining, however it looks like you're charged online immediately upon booking a reservation. We called cusromer service about this and were told that HAL keeps a certain number of reservations open for those who want to book upon boarding the ship. For those who may have done it this way, did you have any luck getting the dining times you wanted? I'm imagining fighting through a mad rush of people boarding the ship only to find out all the reservations are already taken. My recent experience on the Eurodam: I wanted to book Sel De Mer. Reaching the podium to do so, my preferred time of dining was 8:00. Not available, I was told. The later times were booked online, "but we have seatings available for 5:30 and 6:00." I registered my displeasure with this and clearly indicated by my verbal comment and non-verbal actions that I wouldn't book it at all. Suddenly, a 7:30 reservation "magically" appeared. I accepted. There is no disagreement, based upon my observations, that the night(s) that Sel de Mer is available as "pop-ups" in comparison to the nightly PG patronage, the restaurant is significantly busier. For me, I don't want to book most special services prior to boarding, other than specific shore excursions. My reason is I want my on-board credits to be easily applied to these extra cost items and not have the possible hassle of having what I paid prior to boarding being applied to my account as a credit. . Edited February 7, 2020 by rkacruiser Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Tom O. Posted February 7, 2020 #12 Share Posted February 7, 2020 If you prepay for your dining, you could book an excursion or two after boarding. That would burn up a lot of your OBC. Or you could buy a beverage package after boarding. We like to eat early and we usually don't have any trouble getting reservations. But we prefer to book ahead of time, because we are real fussy about which days to eat at the specialty restaurants. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nickel-and-dime-me Posted February 8, 2020 Author #13 Share Posted February 8, 2020 Thanks for the responses all. I decided to go ahead and book the specialty dining in advance and pay now. One less thing to worry about when boarding. I'll find something else to spend the rest of the OBC on. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DivotMaker Posted February 8, 2020 #14 Share Posted February 8, 2020 7 hours ago, nickel-and-dime-me said: You're right. Sel de mer is still a la carte so maybe we just splurge a little there. This person said it's no longer a la carte...Not sure if true or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DivotMaker Posted February 8, 2020 #15 Share Posted February 8, 2020 2 hours ago, nickel-and-dime-me said: Thanks for the responses all. I decided to go ahead and book the specialty dining in advance and pay now. One less thing to worry about when boarding. I'll find something else to spend the rest of the OBC on. We're sailing Eurodam to Alaska on June 13th but we still can't make reservations online. Each time I select a date for the restaurant a screen opens with the following weird message Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nickel-and-dime-me Posted February 8, 2020 Author #16 Share Posted February 8, 2020 8 hours ago, DivotMaker said: We're sailing Eurodam to Alaska on June 13th but we still can't make reservations online. Each time I select a date for the restaurant a screen opens with the following weird message Our sailing is one week before yours and the specialty dining reservations just opened up for us a few days ago. I'd keep checking on it as it seems to be somewhat random when it shows up for any given cruise date. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DivotMaker Posted February 8, 2020 #17 Share Posted February 8, 2020 Thanks, I appreciate it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Tom O. Posted February 8, 2020 #18 Share Posted February 8, 2020 DivotMaker, Last week I was finally able to make reservations for my August 9 cruise. But I got a similar screen as you when I clicked on the Available Dates section. However, if I clicked on Buy Now, a screen opened up that allowed me to choose a day and time and complete the reservation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DivotMaker Posted February 8, 2020 #19 Share Posted February 8, 2020 3 minutes ago, Tom O. said: DivotMaker, Last week I was finally able to make reservations for my August 9 cruise. But I got a similar screen as you when I clicked on the Available Dates section. However, if I clicked on Buy Now, a screen opened up that allowed me to choose a day and time and complete the reservation. Ahh, thank you, that worked! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowerin999 Posted February 17, 2020 #20 Share Posted February 17, 2020 On 2/7/2020 at 8:24 PM, DivotMaker said: This person said it's no longer a la carte...Not sure if true or not. Hi, I'm sailing on the 5/16/20 Alaska on K'dam and it is 40$ flat fee to book in advance. From what I was told it is no longer a la carte unless it's the pop up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cruising-along Posted February 17, 2020 #21 Share Posted February 17, 2020 10 minutes ago, Snowerin999 said: Hi, I'm sailing on the 5/16/20 Alaska on K'dam and it is 40$ flat fee to book in advance. From what I was told it is no longer a la carte unless it's the pop up. Who told you that it's a la carte for the pop ups? I booked Sel de Mer for our April sailing on the Noordam (pop up) and was charged $49/person. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowerin999 Posted February 17, 2020 #22 Share Posted February 17, 2020 2 minutes ago, Cruising-along said: Who told you that it's a la carte for the pop ups? I booked Sel de Mer for our April sailing on the Noordam (pop up) and was charged $49/person. Sorry, my error! As per the HAL rep I spoke to last month, in the past it was a la carte for both, then HAL changed to fixed pricing for the ships with permanent restaurant but continued with a la carte for "popups." But now, as per your post, I'm assuming that they recently changed the pop ups to fixed pricing as well. That's great but I wonder why it's 9.00 more expensive? I know the menus are slightly different...maybe that's the cause. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cruising-along Posted February 17, 2020 #23 Share Posted February 17, 2020 3 minutes ago, Snowerin999 said: Sorry, my error! As per the HAL rep I spoke to last month, in the past it was a la carte for both, then HAL changed to fixed pricing for the ships with permanent restaurant but continued with a la carte for "popups." But now, as per your post, I'm assuming that they recently changed the pop ups to fixed pricing as well. That's great but I wonder why it's 9.00 more expensive? I know the menus are slightly different...maybe that's the cause. I wondered too about the $9 difference! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leerathje Posted February 18, 2020 #24 Share Posted February 18, 2020 3 hours ago, Cruising-along said: Who told you that it's a la carte for the pop ups? I booked Sel de Mer for our April sailing on the Noordam (pop up) and was charged $49/person. I booked the Se de Mer pop up on the Oosterdam in the Mexican Riviera. We will be dining on March 3. And we paid $49. as well. L. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare kazu Posted February 18, 2020 #25 Share Posted February 18, 2020 3 hours ago, Snowerin999 said: then HAL changed to fixed pricing for the ships with permanent restaurant but continued with a la carte for "popups." Incorrect information from Seattle (again). The “pop ups” have never been a la carte - I’ve been on the ships with them and dined there each time and they are always the fixed price. The only ships that ever had the a la carte price were the Pinnacle Class (Koningsdam and N Statendam). The only “addition” In cost is if you order some of the “extras” like Fruits de Mer. It’s been $49 for the pop up dinners since Sel de Mer was instituted (unless I missed a price increase 😉 ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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