Pre pay for specialty dining or buy onboard?

[netingirl]

Is it cheaper to pay for specialty restaurants before you sail or is it the same price once you're onboard?

[DaveOKC]

14 minutes ago, netingirl said:

Is it cheaper to pay for specialty restaurants before you sail or is it the same price once you're onboard?

Same price.  But buying and reserving a time ahead of time is a good idea, especially for peak times and for cruises where HAL is giving away free specialty dinners as part of a promotion.

[Roktory]

i always pre purchase my dinners you get the best pick of times, 

[mcrcruiser]

If you are a  3 star Mariner  & Above you  get discounts  on speciality dinner s  .Thus ,we would think it best to make a reservation  before the cruise but pay after the dinner  for the discount 

[1ANGELCAT]

9 minutes ago, mcrcruiser said:

If you are a  3 star Mariner  & Above you  get discounts  on speciality dinner s  .Thus ,we would think it best to make a reservation  before the cruise but pay after the dinner  for the discount 

If you reserve before you must pay before and get the credit back onboard.

[mcrcruiser]

5 minutes ago, 1ANGELCAT said:

If you reserve before you must pay before and get the credit back onboard.

We reserved 2 pre cruise special restaurants & did not have to pay in advance. We will get the Mariner discount when we dine in each restaurant 😁

[netingirl]

Thanks! Much appreciate the information :)

[1ANGELCAT]

6 hours ago, mcrcruiser said:

We reserved 2 pre cruise special restaurants & did not have to pay in advance. We will get the Mariner discount when we dine in each restaurant 😁

Was this part of the HIA promotion or a regular booking?

[Florida_gal_50]

2 hours ago, 1ANGELCAT said:

Was this part of the HIA promotion or a regular booking?

Oh I can pretty much guarantee it was the hia promo.  It good to post accurate info.  

[Greysandy]

Same price. We book several in advance, even though we need to go to Guest services to have our Mariner discount applied afterwards, because we want to get the specific times we want.

[SeaCapt]

We book and pay in advance, and the Mariner discount has always been automatically applied to the onboard account right after we dine.

[canadarocks]

If you pre-pay for a specialty restaurant is the Mariner discount OBC refundable?

[Quartzsite Cruiser]

We used to pre-book, pay and then have to get the discount or the cost for the two free 5* dinners removed from our account.  That turned into a hassle even before Covid.    Even booking on board, we would sometimes have to get the charges removed.  

 

Last fall, we decided to pre-book our specialty dining on b2b2b2b cruises get the day and time we wanted.  I spent way too much time at Guest Services on during the first week trying to get the charges removed or discounted.  It was so bad, and required multiple trips for each charge, that we canceled the bookings for the remaining weeks.  We then booked during each cruise, and while that was better, we still had problems from time to time.

 

When it came time to book for our spring b2b2b2b cruises, we waited until each segment started to book, and had fewer problems.  The problems we had, we informed GS through the Navigator app, and they were taken care of quickly.

 

 

[ChinaShrek]

I booked the Canaletto in advance assuming that the menu listed online would be valid during my time on the cruise. Unfortunately, the menu listed for the Canaletto was not accurate. I am referring to the daily special. The daily specials listed online in no way corresponded to to what was offered on the ship. I will wait until I sail in December and rush right up to the restaurant.

[crystalspin]

4 minutes ago, ChinaShrek said:

Unfortunately, the menu listed for the Canaletto was not accurate. I am referring to the daily special. The daily specials listed online in no way corresponded to to what was offered on the ship.

Thanks, CS, I was just considering booking Canaletto for a Tuesday (shortribs with polenta). Now I know to just wait.

[Florida_gal_50]

1 hour ago, ChinaShrek said:

I booked the Canaletto in advance assuming that the menu listed online would be valid during my time on the cruise. Unfortunately, the menu listed for the Canaletto was not accurate. I am referring to the daily special. The daily specials listed online in no way corresponded to to what was offered on the ship. I will wait until I sail in December and rush right up to the restaurant.

Which ship? I found on the koningsdam it was bang on.

[Quartzsite Cruiser]

3 hours ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

Which ship? I found on the koningsdam it was bang on.

 

It was correct when we were on Koningsdam last fall and this spring.

[ChinaShrek]

11 hours ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

Which ship? I found on the koningsdam it was bang on.

Rotterdam in August. 

[ChinaShrek]

8 hours ago, Quartzsite Cruiser said:

 

It was correct when we were on Koningsdam last fall and this spring.

Hmm. Maybe it's ship specific. I will be on the Koningsdam in December. They better have Curry Chicken! The Rotterdam did not have it any day at all. 

[zacsc]

If we reserve a specialty dinner time and pay before the cruise, would we be able to apply our OBC on the cruise and have our charge account credited? Thanks

[canadarocks]

18 hours ago, canadarocks said:

If you pre-pay for a specialty restaurant is the Mariner discount OBC refundable?

Anybody know?

[crystalspin]

5 hours ago, zacsc said:

If we reserve a specialty dinner time and pay before the cruise, would we be able to apply our OBC on the cruise and have our charge account credited? Thanks

I don't think so. Planning to buy additional restaurant meals purchased on board!