Reservations at Specialty Restaurants with package

[beachbell]

I would like to purchase the 4 specialty restaurant dining package for our 11 night Edge cruise. I have read that the packages can sell out and that is why I want to purchase it soon. Will I be able to make reservations to the specialty restaurants, prior to boarding, with the package or will I have to wait to board to do so? I have also read that many who waited to make reservations at the specialty restaurants after they boarded, where only given dining times of 9pm and after. I don't want to eat that late. Also, we will be sailing in a Sky Suite, so would I be given priority restaurant reservations, meaning a time that I want? I appreciate any advice and help I can get.

[libridge8]

We purchased a package for our upcoming Silhouette cruise. Called Celebrity and was told we could not make dinner reservations until we were on board. 

[jelayne]

With the package you can not make reservations until you are on the ship.  That’s the trade off for the discount.  We take care of booking our reservations as soon as we board and are flexible on days, that helps.

Edited February 9, 2020 by jelayne
Typo

[beachbell]

Thanks libridge8 and jelayne. That's what it looked like when I tried making a mock booking. 

[Hawkstar33]

Also, if you were a Captains Club member,  your suite booking may get you a discount for Specialty dining.   Might depend on which Suite etc...

[keesar]

53 minutes ago, beachbell said:

I would like to purchase the 4 specialty restaurant dining package for our 11 night Edge cruise. I have read that the packages can sell out and that is why I want to purchase it soon. Will I be able to make reservations to the specialty restaurants, prior to boarding, with the package or will I have to wait to board to do so? I have also read that many who waited to make reservations at the specialty restaurants after they boarded, where only given dining times of 9pm and after. I don't want to eat that late. Also, we will be sailing in a Sky Suite, so would I be given priority restaurant reservations, meaning a time that I want? I appreciate any advice and help I can get.

 

if you are particular on which time to dine, this package may not be for you.  We book in advance and pay a little more but get the day and time we want.  You can take your chances but don't be surprised if there are limited days and times.

[beachbell]

48 minutes ago, Hawkstar33 said:

Also, if you were a Captains Club member,  your suite booking may get you a discount for Specialty dining.   Might depend on which Suite etc...

This will be my first sailing with Celebrity but I have sailed with Royal Caribbean many times so Celebrity assigned me a captains club number. Is that the same thing? Also, some of the literature I found concerning sky suite perks include this under the dining section, "Main and specialty restaurant seating preferences." That is such vague statement though. 

[MarKay525]

Hello - you were assigned a Captains Club number because Celebrity and Royal Caribbean have the same parent company, so loyalty on one line gets you the equivalent "status" on the other.

Since you are in a suite and priority is implied, you may want to call the Captains Club/One Hospitality line with questions about reservations: 800-760-0654

Happy sailing!

[cruise kitty]

We did the package on our N. Zealand cruise, & unfortunately they really do limit the times allowed,  even though we made our reservations as soon as we boarded, the moment they found out we had the package, we were limited to either dining at 6 or after 8:30.    

 

The very nice Maitre D at Tuscan told us just to show up at 6:30 each evening & she always had a window seat for us.   

 

It's a definite trade off for the discount,  next time I think I'd just do a walk up at 7:30 & ask for a discount on day of.  

 

Edit to add:  just saw you're in a suite, so pretty much ignore everything I said :)

Edited February 9, 2020 by cruise kitty

[beachbell]

Thank you for your post MaryKay525. It affirms my suspicions that specialty dining packages get undesirable dining times. Plus, thank you for the phone number. I will try it tomorrow and report back here as to what Celebrity conveys.

 

Thank you cruise kitty for your input as well. 8:30 wouldn't be so bad but anything after 9:00 would be pushing it, since the Mediterranean itinerary gets you into ports early and I do want to be off the ship early. I am one that needs her sleep! Only 2 sea days on this cruise.

 

Edited February 9, 2020 by beachbell
added more information

[ALANG]

4 hours ago, beachbell said:

Thank you for your post MaryKay525. It affirms my suspicions that specialty dining packages get undesirable dining times. Plus, thank you for the phone number. I will try it tomorrow and report back here as to what Celebrity conveys.

 

Thank you cruise kitty for your input as well. 8:30 wouldn't be so bad but anything after 9:00 would be pushing it, since the Mediterranean itinerary gets you into ports early and I do want to be off the ship early. I am one that needs her sleep! Only 2 sea days on this cruise.

 

Here is my experience regarding the dining packages.  On a recent cruise (Nov 2019) I called the Captains Club and asked about a four night dining package.  I stated that I did not want to dine at a specialty restaurant on the first night.  The representative said that would not be an issue and made reservations for times, dates, and restaurants I requested.  I also asked the representative about the Elite Plus discount for dining packages.  The representative said that they could not discount the dining package over the phone but I could go to Guest Services and they would credit the discounted amount to my onboard account.   On the second day of the cruise I went to Guest Services and they credited my account.  Needless to say I was very well pleased with my call to the Captains Club.  I hope to repeat this on my upcoming cruises.

[NMTraveller]

We purchased the 12 day dining package for our Mediterranean cruise.  We got there early and booked as soon as we boarded.  We found out that we could not get into Fine Cuts on some days.  If you are flexible with dates and restaurants it is OK.  If you really want to eat in Fine Cuts on boarding day or a sea day then probably not.  Fine Cuts seemed to be the most heavily booked,  Eden the second, you could always get into Sushi on Five.

[beachbell]

Thank you for all the input. I will call captains club and see if they can make reservations for us. 

[Mr. Click]

We bought a package for our Reflection sailing in Oct 2018.  When to make reservations as soon as we boarded and were told only bad times were left, so we left and went to guest relations and canceled  the entire package.  We met the CC hostess on night two told her our story and she went to work and got us a freebee at a time that worked for us in the Tuscan Grill for one night. The other night we were happy in the MDR and simply spent our OBC on other stuff we could enjoy.  We would not book a package again, only tried it this one time because we had a ton of OBC to use or lose.