Booking Specialty dining before boarding?

[Pizzasteve]

We have a pretty good onboard credit we want to use for a dining package and wondered how to book this in advance. Online all I see are a PDF, and cant seem to add anything to the cart.  Thanks for any advice you might have.

[uktog]

You cannot book them before boarding. On boarding they will have various stations set up for reservations- last cruise it was in Windows Deck 9 plus the two speciality restaurants so three places to book. You can of course buy a package, use your OBC and also book chef’s table there as well 

[harrodsfan]

Make sure to go as soon as you get on and you should have no issue. We mostly ate in specialty restaurants as we were in a suite. So no extra charge, there were plenty of free tables most nights. Of course our cruise was just 65% full. 

[Grandma Cruising]

We always book as soon as we get onboard, and they always know when White Nights are so you can avoid them.

[81Zoomie]

On 8/12/2022 at 12:49 AM, Pizzasteve said:

We have a pretty good onboard credit we want to use for a dining package and wondered how to book this in advance. Online all I see are a PDF, and cant seem to add anything to the cart.  Thanks for any advice you might have.

The website says to call to book dining packages.  Good news, we got through to AZ very quickly.  Bad news is they will only accept payment pre cruise.  We were told if we wanted to use OBC we would have to “book at the pier”. Funny, I never thought I would say Celebrity had a good IT system…. But it goes to show, never say never!  Celebrity allows you to book extras with OBC pre cruise.  Apparently, Azamara does not.

Edited August 23, 2022 by 81Zoomie

[suec12]

Well you can use OBC to pre-book excursions but not dining. Altho I'm not sure, can you pre-book the package but not make actual reservations?

[uktog]

7 hours ago, suec12 said:

Well you can use OBC to pre-book excursions but not dining. Altho I'm not sure, can you pre-book the package but not make actual reservations?

No you cannot it all has to be done onboard. 

[Grandma Cruising]

8 hours ago, 81Zoomie said:

The website says to call to book dining packages.  Good news, we got through to AZ very quickly.  Bad news is they will only accept payment pre cruise.  We were told if we wanted to use OBC we would have to “book at the pier”. Funny, I never thought I would say Celebrity had a good IT system…. But it goes to show, never say never!  Celebrity allows you to book extras with OBC pre cruise.  Apparently, Azamara does not.

But it’s not a problem as there are no limit to the number of packages sold. Not allowing you to reserve speciality restaurants beforehand is fair as then everyone has the same chance.

[Bobal]

Is there a way of knowing what the main dining room/buffet theme menus will be in advance once we board so specialities can be booked on nights which are less appealing. And if we book specialities for a particular night and then find there is something we want elsewhere (eg Indian buffet) is there plenty of flexibility to switch nights?

[uktog]

10 minutes ago, Bobal said:

Is there a way of knowing what the main dining room/buffet theme menus will be in advance once we board so specialities can be booked on nights which are less appealing. And if we book specialities for a particular night and then find there is something we want elsewhere (eg Indian buffet) is there plenty of flexibility to switch nights?

They have a list at the booking table.  You have to ask to see it but it has all the culinary events day by day including windows themes (no longer buffers) chefs tables and white night. We have ideas of more nights than we’d like when we approach the table then drop some once we see the list. That way saves delaying others behind us. 
(Pet peeve on embarkation day, those who want to have a long slow read of the menus then big debate about where and when to book when so many others are waiting.  Took nearly an hour on Quest to get to the table though the staff were great, we had a snack nearby whilst waiting and they came for us on our turn) 

Edited August 24, 2022 by uktog

[Norn Iron Man]

Im on a b2B cruise. Is it possible to book speciality dining for week 2 during week 1

[marinaro44]

11 minutes ago, Norn Iron Man said:

Im on a b2B cruise. Is it possible to book speciality dining for week 2 during week 1

Usually you can book week 2 at or after the back-to-back meeting held on one of the last full days of the first cruise.

[PirateWife]

Emphasize book early. While I would not choose to dine every night in speciality dining, on last two cruises we were only able to book one night unless we wanted to eat at 8:30.

[mj_holiday]

15 hours ago, 81Zoomie said:

The website says to call to book dining packages.  Good news, we got through to AZ very quickly.  Bad news is they will only accept payment pre cruise.  We were told if we wanted to use OBC we would have to “book at the pier”.

So, if you would have wanted to pay for the specialty dining, you would have been able to when you called?

[81Zoomie]

3 hours ago, mj_holiday said:

So, if you would have wanted to pay for the specialty dining, you would have been able to when you called?

Yes, they would allow you to pay for a dining package, but not use OBC.  You would still have to get in line after boarding to schedule.  It would be a much more relaxing boarding experience if you could do everything (pay, use OBC, & schedule) online prior to boarding if you want too. Just our wish, we would rather head to the pool or bar and grab a drink then stand in line when we board the ship. Others my prefer to wait until they board.

[marinaro44]

2 hours ago, 81Zoomie said:

Yes, they would allow you to pay for a dining package, but not use OBC.  You would still have to get in line after boarding to schedule.  It would be a much more relaxing boarding experience if you could do everything (pay, use OBC, & schedule) online prior to boarding if you want too. Just our wish, we would rather head to the pool or bar and grab a drink then stand in line when we board the ship. Others my prefer to wait until they board.

No.  Did that twice on Regent.  Top suites had priority to reserve ahead of the rest.  Slim pickings after that.  Please, no.

[Stem to Stern]

Apologies for this question being a bit off topic, but once I board the ship where should I proceed to for the indulgence package.  I want to apply my on-board credit toward this selection.  Thank you.

[Mackdogmolly]

2 hours ago, Stem to Stern said:

Apologies for this question being a bit off topic, but once I board the ship where should I proceed to for the indulgence package.  I want to apply my on-board credit toward this selection.  Thank you.

I would think that Guest Services could take care of this for you. Deck 4

[uktog]

2 hours ago, Stem to Stern said:

Apologies for this question being a bit off topic, but once I board the ship where should I proceed to for the indulgence package.  I want to apply my on-board credit toward this selection.  Thank you.

You go to guest relations.  There might be a line so In the meantime you can also make reservations for restaurants etc because it will all align up with your package in due course