Specialty restaurants Splendor

[LindsayC]

We are first time Regent cruisers and don't really understand which specialty restaurants we can book before the cruise. Is it Compass Rose, Pacific Rim and Prime 7? And then Sette Mari you can't book up front? On Regents website (FAQ) it says no reservations needed for Sette Mari and Compass Rose so we are a little confused.

 

Lindsay & Siegfried 

[kjbacon]

47 minutes ago, LindsayC said:

We are first time Regent cruisers and don't really understand which specialty restaurants we can book before the cruise. Is it Compass Rose, Pacific Rim and Prime 7? And then Sette Mari you can't book up front? On Regents website (FAQ) it says no reservations needed for Sette Mari and Compass Rose so we are a little confused.

 

Lindsay & Siegfried 

Compass Rose is the main dining room and Sette Mari is the daytime buffet transformed for evening dining … neither require reservations. The restaurants you book in advance are Pacific Rim, Prime 7, and Chartreuse.

[TJShap]

Pacific Rim, Prime 7, & Chartreuse are the 3 you reserve upfront, space available you can go back more times.  Compass Rose is the "main dining room"  no reservation needed.  Sette Mari is set up every evening in La Veranda, no reservations needed.

[Gilly]

And don't forget that on Splendor (and Explorer, I believe) one or more of the speciality restaurants are open at lunchtime (no reservation needed) so it's well worth watching the dining information each day to see what's what.  The menu is a lighter option at lunchtime, but the service and ambience remain the same.  We love our lovely lunches, set in style with fine linen and glassware!

[RetiredandTravel]

Your priority for specialty reservations (& excursions) is based on your room type.  Concierge suites and higher get more time before the cruise to make reservations thus end up with the most popular dates & times.  Suites below Grand suites get one reservation prior in each specialty restaurant ( unless you are on a longer cruise).  Grand suites and higher can eat at the specialty restaurants every night.   Compass rose and Setti Mare have no reservations, Setti Mare is an Italian restaurant which is a nice deviation from Compass Rose.  Setti Mare fills quickly so you need to get there close to when it opens or for the 2nd seating which is around 8 - 8:30 to be assured of getting a table.

 

Frequent cruisers also get priority for specialty reservations, once you reach the Silver level you have the same amount of time prior as a Concierge suite I believe.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[LindsayC]

Thank you all so much! Now we know which restaurants we can pre book we can go ahead with our planning. We have a congierce suite so hopefully we can book our dates and times of our choice.

[RetiredandTravel]

3 hours ago, LindsayC said:

Thank you all so much! Now we know which restaurants we can pre book we can go ahead with our planning. We have a concierge suite so hopefully we can book our dates and times of our choice.

 

Our second cruise was in a concierge suite (100% full cruise) and we got acceptable specialty reservations, not any we wanted but acceptable.  Just be sure to get online and book the reservations as early as you can the first day available, they go quickly.  You have a 5-6 hour time advantage. 🙂

 

Enjoy your trip.

[wishIweretravelling]

You also stand a better chance of getting a good time if you indicate that you are willing to share a table.

[Gilly]

10 hours ago, wishIweretravelling said:

You also stand a better chance of getting a good time if you indicate that you are willing to share a table.

Sadly, no table sharing with anyone other than our "travelling group" was allowed on Splendor recently.  We missed that aspect of our cruise very much indeed as we enjoy conversation with like minded people and always ask to share if we can.  Here's hoping that will be one restriction which will soon be gone.

[Portolan]

3 hours ago, Gilly said:

Sadly, no table sharing with anyone other than our "travelling group" was allowed on Splendor recently.  We missed that aspect of our cruise very much indeed as we enjoy conversation with like minded people and always ask to share if we can.  Here's hoping that will be one restriction which will soon be gone.

While that policy is understandable, we'll miss sharing tables if it doesn't change before our March cruise.  We've enjoyed meeting many great people who became friends doing this.

[Gilly]

@Portolan exactly.  Though we met a fun couple on Splendor and were able to share their table in Chartreuse on our last night.  So, it's possible to share a table with someone you know already....just not with mystery guests (sorry...hope you know what I mean - "mystery" seems kinder than "random" !!

[wishIweretravelling]

1 hour ago, Portolan said:

While that policy is understandable, we'll miss sharing tables if it doesn't change before our March cruise.  We've enjoyed meeting many great people who became friends doing this.

On the Explorer cruise in the Caribbean that I disembarked the other day, they did allow table sharing with mystery guests in Compass Rose. We met a lovely couple this way. We went to Pacific Rim the first night aboard, and although we'd requested a shared table they indicated that they were not doing shared tables that particular night but made clear it was because of it being embarkation day and not a covid thing. We got to chatting with the people at the next table, and then shared a table with them (by our collective request) in Prime 7 later in the cruise.  So I think that either table-sharing is an emerging thing (like allowing barstool seating, which was full-on happening on our cruise) or related to where the ship is located.

 

[cruise-a-holic]

On 11/24/2021 at 3:16 AM, LindsayC said:

Thank you all so much! Now we know which restaurants we can pre book we can go ahead with our planning. We have a congierce suite so hopefully we can book our dates and times of our choice.

 

On 11/24/2021 at 3:16 AM, LindsayC said:

Thank you all so much! Now we know which restaurants we can pre book we can go ahead with our planning. We have a congierce suite so hopefully we can book our dates and times of our choice.

The Compass Rose is an excellent restaurant (far superior to other cruise lines main dining rooms in our opinion). Also each night they do have an entree from one of the specialty restaurants on their menu.

[MarcyLondon]

I am trying to book the 3 speciality restaurants on Splendor this morning as we are Concierge Class but its only allowing me to book each once. Is that correct? We've not cruised on Regent before so unsure about the system

Marcia

[Gilly]

Marcia, that's correct.  Just one booking in each speciality restaurant until you board the ship, when you will be able to make further reservations.  Same rule applies to all the ships.

Edited July 13, 2022 by Gilly

[UUNetBill]

We've found that it's pretty easy to get at least another night or two in the specialty restaurants, even on shorter cruises.  Check with the restaurant manager as soon as you get on board.  It helps to be flexible on your times and to offer to share a table (assuming that they're back to sharing tables with people you're not traveling with directly).  The specialty restaurants are often open for lunch as well, and Compass Rose usually has some options from the specialty menus in their rotation.

 

To be honest, on cruises less than two weeks (most of ours) we're usually fine with our basic three specialty reservations.

[NCCruzQueen]

5 hours ago, UUNetBill said:

We've found that it's pretty easy to get at least another night or two in the specialty restaurants, even on shorter cruises.  Check with the restaurant manager as soon as you get on board. 

 

Now you will find a Dining Reservations Desk on the ships to make addition reservations once onboard.  Look for hours and locations in the daily Passage.

[UUNetBill]

3 minutes ago, NCCruzQueen said:

 

Now you will find a Dining Reservations Desk on the ships to make addition reservations once onboard.  Look for hours and locations in the daily Passage.

Yep, their office is just around the desk and Destination Services, in that general area.  I think that dedicated office is only on Splendor and Explorer?  

[NCCruzQueen]

1 minute ago, UUNetBill said:

Yep, their office is just around the desk and Destination Services, in that general area.  I think that dedicated office is only on Splendor and Explorer?  

 

Yes, Bill, Explorer & Splendor started having the office but I am pretty sure that I saw a desk on Mariner in May.  Can't remember seeing a desk on my March Navigator cruise and don't know about Voyager.  Hopefully someone can add on about those ships.

[Portolan]

2 hours ago, NCCruzQueen said:

 

Yes, Bill, Explorer & Splendor started having the office but I am pretty sure that I saw a desk on Mariner in May.  Can't remember seeing a desk on my March Navigator cruise and don't know about Voyager.  Hopefully someone can add on about those ships.

Navigator has a Concierge desk between Reception and Excursions.  In March, I assumed that it was a similar operation to Splendor and Explorer.  Nope.  They aren't able to see or interact with the restaurant reservations.  They did take my request and pass it to Prime 7 (the only reservable option), and I got confirmation later.  Not as useful as direct interaction where you can negotiate on time or sharing to reach a solution.

[daetchief]

Mariner's Reservation Desk is right before the Horizon Lounge - just aft of Coffee Connection on the Starboard side.

 

[irishwitchy]

We just got off a 17 night cruise on Splendor and I think because the number of passengers was so low,  we got to book two nights in each reserved dining room.  During the cruise,  I checked in with dining services one afternoon about dining in Chartuse one night and that wasn’t a problem at 7:30, which was when I wanted to dine anyway.     The last night of the cruise, we just appeared at Prime 7 and were seated with no issues.   We also did lunch in the reserved dining rooms and the menus are very good, overall, with Prime 7 being slightly better in our opinion.    So we did,  8 nights in the speciality dining rooms,  3 nights in Setti Marti,  4 nights in Compass Rose and the two over nights in port - we ate in town -  we like to eat the local food in our travels.  Have fun.  

 

 

 

[wishIweretravelling]

On a few occasions, when we've approached the maitre d' desk for Compass Rose, we've been offered the option of a specific alternative restaurant. I think they might do this when CR is a bit rushed but the alternative restaurant is below capacity.

 

Also, once on Explorer, we'd actually been seated in CR (to start a shared table) when we were asked if wanted to go to Pacific Rim instead. Seems there was a couple there who really wanted to share a table, and the head waiter figured we'd be good candidates. We have had a great evening with a wonderful couple.