Questions re Specialty Dining Reservations

[MarkWiltonM]

2 hours ago, Robjame said:

I have never seen these sentiments expressed on CC or any of the FB boards that I monitor.

When asked to share a table we have never been asked for preferences for our table companions.

‘Could you explain more about the origin of these stories?

I read about it right here on Cruise Critic. I'm not interested in searching for these threads/posts, but I'm sure you could find them yourself. I'm also not suggesting this is widespread; we had no issues on our cruise on Sirena last year. 

 

I'm not sure what to make of your comment, "When asked to share a table we have never been asked for preferences for our table companions." I didn't write or imply that Oceania was asking people if they were "okay" dining with gays. From what I remember of the CC comments I was referring to it was the guests who made it clear they were not comfortable. I can't remember the details now and I don't care. This was just a small part of my original post. 

[GeezerCouple]

2 hours ago, Robjame said:

I have never seen these sentiments expressed on CC or any of the FB boards that I monitor.

When asked to share a table we have never been asked for preferences for our table companions.

‘Could you explain more about the origin of these stories?

 

What does it even mean being asked for preferences for table companions?

 

"Someone who enjoys bringing onboard really fine red wine and likes to share"? 😄

 

Seriously, what would someone even say?  "People who know how to use their forks, knives, and spoons"!?

 

??

 

GC

 

[LHT28]

I prefer not to sit  with the farmer in his  overalls    but they usually were  at a 2 top  ..maybe by request or maybe the Maitre'd  din not want to embarrass other guests 😃

[Mura]

On 1/27/2023 at 5:14 PM, BigCheese1 said:

Hi Mura

So, so agree with sentiments, it’s the person that counts not any choices on orientation.

 

But  what I wanted to ask you (newbie on Oceania here, 1st trip due mid March). You say “ since Oceania instituted … tours”. Can you elucidate?

Willing to try but I'm not sure I remember the exact dates.  It's definitely been a few years.

 

We started traveling on O around early 2003.  Before that we did 3 cruises on Renaissance.

 

Originally on O we would do a small number of ship's tours but usually set up (or join) small private tours.  Once Oceania set up the program of a number of "free" tours the numbers dropped off on wanting private tours.  That does NOT mean that they disappeared.  Not at all.  It's just can be harder to find the number of passengers you want.  If you are looking for a group of 8, my impression is that this is not so difficult.  Just not as easy as it used to be.

 

If you are looking for a larger group -- such as in 2006 (I think) when another CC member set up a tour to the Giant's Causeway in Belfast, we were 16.  He had no trouble getting that number.  What would happen today?  I am not sure.

 

Hope this helps!  Feel free to privately if you want more info. (My email appears down below my signature.)

 

Mura

 

 

 

 

[BigCheese1]

2 hours ago, Mura said:

Willing to try but I'm not sure I remember the exact dates.  It's definitely been a few years.

 

We started traveling on O around early 2003.  Before that we did 3 cruises on Renaissance.

 

Originally on O we would do a small number of ship's tours but usually set up (or join) small private tours.  Once Oceania set up the program of a number of "free" tours the numbers dropped off on wanting private tours.  That does NOT mean that they disappeared.  Not at all.  It's just can be harder to find the number of passengers you want.  If you are looking for a group of 8, my impression is that this is not so difficult.  Just not as easy as it used to be.

 

If you are looking for a larger group -- such as in 2006 (I think) when another CC member set up a tour to the Giant's Causeway in Belfast, we were 16.  He had no trouble getting that number.  What would happen today?  I am not sure.

 

Hope this helps!  Feel free to privately if you want more info. (My email appears down below my signature.)

 

Mura

 

 

 

 

Hi Mura thanks for the explanation.

 

sadly I have misunderstood! I thought you meant an on Board  ‘cabin crawl’ arranged by means of the Roll call. Some cruises I have been on those involved offered their own cabins to be seen by a pre-arranged bunch of people, say 4-6 different grades of cabins. It was very interesting to see a suite with a baby grand (have I imagined that?).

The prearranged CC meet up (hosted by the ship) was always very nice and friendly. We sometimes arranged to have a drink/ shared table for a meal  on another day with those we hit it off with.

yes I have also set up ‘private’ tours myself via the roll call with others (I remember once on the Azores ours was much better than the ship’s excursion since the big bus couldn’t get up some narrow lanes whilst our minivan could). Of course it a trust/risk thing… if others who say they will share don’t appear you are left with a bigger bill. That had never happened to us.

happy cruising!

[pinotlover]

I always took the table sharing requests by some to be gimmicks. Only time we ever heard any requests/demands were from a couple that had a reservation in the PG for sharing, and quite loudly told the Maitre de they refuse to sit with anyone drinking alcohol. 
 

I held up our bottle of wine and said” that won’t be us”! The couple behind us said “ Us Either”! 
 

I didn’t believe they kept a table for the Baptist, so they got a two top. Believe that was the gimmick from the start. They couldn’t book a two top on the reservation system, so they played a game.

[Mura]

23 hours ago, BigCheese1 said:

Hi Mura thanks for the explanation.

 

sadly I have misunderstood! I thought you meant an on Board  ‘cabin crawl’ arranged by means of the Roll call. Some cruises I have been on those involved offered their own cabins to be seen by a pre-arranged bunch of people, say 4-6 different grades of cabins. It was very interesting to see a suite with a baby grand (have I imagined that?).

The prearranged CC meet up (hosted by the ship) was always very nice and friendly. We sometimes arranged to have a drink/ shared table for a meal  on another day with those we hit it off with.

yes I have also set up ‘private’ tours myself via the roll call with others (I remember once on the Azores ours was much better than the ship’s excursion since the big bus couldn’t get up some narrow lanes whilst our minivan could). Of course it a trust/risk thing… if others who say they will share don’t appear you are left with a bigger bill. That had never happened to us.

happy cruising!

We gave never encountered a "cabin Crawl" on O, although some years ago we did for a few times in our Coop building in NYC.  I wouldn't mind seeing what other cabins look like!''

 

Never EVER got stiffed by people who said they'd do a tour but didn't show.  Do hope that never happens ...

 

Mura

[GeezerCouple]

1 minute ago, Mura said:

We gave never encountered a "cabin Crawl" on O, although some years ago we did for a few times in our Coop building in NYC.  I wouldn't mind seeing what other cabins look like!''

 

Never EVER got stiffed by people who said they'd do a tour but didn't show.  Do hope that never happens ...

 

Mura

 

Oddly, we had that happen just one time... one couple just didn't show up for the large catamaran charter.  However, that was also the one time that we simply arranged to take a regular "catamaran tour" private, but with their regular itinerary, so the tour company collected the money up front.

The problem then was that we kept waiting for them, so that delayed/shortened the time the rest of us had on the actual excursion. 😡

 

All of the other times, we were on the hook for the payment, but everyone showed up.

 

It's worked out well thus far...

 

GD

[pinotlover]

9 hours ago, GeezerCouple said:

 

Oddly, we had that happen just one time... one couple just didn't show up for the large catamaran charter.  However, that was also the one time that we simply arranged to take a regular "catamaran tour" private, but with their regular itinerary, so the tour company collected the money up front.

The problem then was that we kept waiting for them, so that delayed/shortened the time the rest of us had on the actual excursion. 😡

 

All of the other times, we were on the hook for the payment, but everyone showed up.

 

It's worked out well thus far...

 

GD

It’s a numbers game. Go on enough private tours and you’ll eventually end up with No Shows. Sometimes it affects the per person price of the tours, other times not.

 

It’s a two way street. If someone is a jerk, they can be voted out ( kicked off) any future tours. Sometimes paying extra is worth the cost of not dealing with certain people.

 

All in all, private tours still wins hands down over Oceania tours.

[Redtravel]

Relax.  Making online reservations can be a challenge. Been there.  If you can get a reservation, book it.  If not, don’t be upset. Once you are on the ship, visit the reservation desk. They hold back reservation slots from the online bookings.  We were on Marina in December.  We made reservations online.  Thinking about cruising during pandemic, we opted not to share. We were happy to get tables for 2 even if times weren’t great.  We like to eat early. However, we are flexible. If we booked a late time, we went to tea for late afternoon snacks.  We were also able to rearrange bookings and get additional bookings.  Even though we were willing to share a table,  we never shared a table. 
 

 

[pinotlover]

1 hour ago, Redtravel said:

Relax.  Making online reservations can be a challenge. Been there.  If you can get a reservation, book it.  If not, don’t be upset. Once you are on the ship, visit the reservation desk. They hold back reservation slots from the online bookings.  We were on Marina in December.  We made reservations online.  Thinking about cruising during pandemic, we opted not to share. We were happy to get tables for 2 even if times weren’t great.  We like to eat early. However, we are flexible. If we booked a late time, we went to tea for late afternoon snacks.  We were also able to rearrange bookings and get additional bookings.  Even though we were willing to share a table,  we never shared a table. 
 

 

An important part to this. We often purposely book at least one later dinner reservation on a sea day for the sole purpose of having the opportunity to enjoy Afternoon Tea. If the ship is in port, we’re ashore, so sea days are the only options we have.
 

If I’m having all the goodies at Tea at 4ish to 5, then no way do I want dinner at 6:30-7:00. Having Tea either means that becomes our dinner ( which it is for a significant percentage) or chilling out and dining later. An advantage of dining later, for those of us that enjoy sharing, is we often to to meet, and enjoy the company of, an entirely different crowd of fellow cruisers than the early diners. 

[madera1]

So how do you go about reserving a table if you know another couple on the cruise and want to share a table at a specialty restaurant ? Our first day allowed to reserve is in a week. Each of us has 2 dinners in Polo and 2 in Toscana? 

[1985rz1]

14 minutes ago, madera1 said:

So how do you go about reserving a table if you know another couple on the cruise and want to share a table at a specialty restaurant ? Our first day allowed to reserve is in a week. Each of us has 2 dinners in Polo and 2 in Toscana? 

You will need their booking number to add to the reservation.  If you add them to your booking, it uses one of their advance, online reservations, and vice-versa.

[BigCheese1]

On 1/30/2023 at 4:49 AM, GeezerCouple said:

 

Oddly, we had that happen just one time... one couple just didn't show up for the large catamaran charter.  However, that was also the one time that we simply arranged to take a regular "catamaran tour" private, but with their regular itinerary, so the tour company collected the money up front.

The problem then was that we kept waiting for them, so that delayed/shortened the time the rest of us had on the actual excursion. 😡

 

All of the other times, we were on the hook for the payment, but everyone showed up.

 

It's worked out well thus far...

 

GD

Thanks for your thoughts on this. Yes self arranged  tours have always worked well, I think we used to try and arrange for  a quick meet-up coffee the day before, that worked.

We have done all ship-arranged excursions for our March O cruise. We didn’t fancy being deep in the rain forest (or wherever) in a minibus with a flat tyre and the ship sailing without us (not risk takers, I suppose).

We haven’t done many excursions  on the Caribbean side since we have done all of the stops multiple times.  That’s because we owned a house in FL for 17 years, being there for 6 months each year, and took advantage of pretty good deals going from FL ports.

Happy travels to you……

 

[pinotlover]

I’ll post this here instead of starting a new thread.

 

Passengers are about 100 days from the Inaugural Cruise of Vista. Final payment is due soon. That means those in a PH and above are about 25 days from booking their Specialties. Has there been any clarity yet on which, and how many, of the restaurants will be open for early reservations? 
 

Perhaps Jancruz can provide some insider info.

[cruisemom42]

As a new cruiser, I'm looking for confirmation of how many dining reservations I am entitled to, and how far in advance I can book them?  I'm on Insignia for 17 days in one of the solo cabins, so guessing I am in the last group.  

 

 

[schmerl]

3 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

As a new cruiser, I'm looking for confirmation of how many dining reservations I am entitled to, and how far in advance I can book them?  I'm on Insignia for 17 days in one of the solo cabins, so guessing I am in the last group.  

 

 

 

The date at which you can make your reservations should be on your invoice. Or you can sign into your account on the Oceania website and go to "booked cruises" and it will be there. 

[cruisemom42]

16 minutes ago, schmerl said:

 

The date at which you can make your reservations should be on your invoice. Or you can sign into your account on the Oceania website and go to "booked cruises" and it will be there. 

 

Thanks -- found it.

 

Invoice states 45 days in advance. Also, that for 17 days I am entitled to one reservation per restaurant -- is that correct?  Somehow I thought I'd read online that it would be two per restaurant.....

 

 

[1985rz1]

16 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

Thanks -- found it.

 

Invoice states 45 days in advance. Also, that for 17 days I am entitled to one reservation per restaurant -- is that correct?  Somehow I thought I'd read online that it would be two per restaurant.....

 

 

Here is Oceania's policy:

 

https://oceaniacruises.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360005477653-How-many-dining-reservations-am-I-allowed-in-each-specialty-restaurant-

[ORV]

46 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

As a new cruiser, I'm looking for confirmation of how many dining reservations I am entitled to, and how far in advance I can book them?  I'm on Insignia for 17 days in one of the solo cabins, so guessing I am in the last group.  

 

 

You're a new cruiser with 30k posts? Or you're new to Oceania? 

[schmerl]

34 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

 

 

 

36 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

Thanks -- found it.

 

Invoice states 45 days in advance. Also, that for 17 days I am entitled to one reservation per restaurant -- is that correct?  Somehow I thought I'd read online that it would be two per restaurant.....

 

 

 

Concierge level and above get two reservations per restaurant. All others get one for a cruise of 17 days or less. You just missed the cut off. 

[cruisemom42]

16 minutes ago, ORV said:

You're a new cruiser with 30k posts? Or you're new to Oceania? 

 

New to Oceania. Been cruising since I was 9 years old and on Cruise Critic for 18 years.

[cruisemom42]

4 minutes ago, schmerl said:

 

Concierge level and above get two reservations per restaurant. All others get one for a cruise of 17 days or less. You just missed the cut off. 

 

Always a day late and a dollar short... 🤣

[osandomir]

1 hour ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

Always a day late and a dollar short... 🤣

You can ask concierge on board for additional reservations. On the 17 days cruise you may have a chance to get in especially if you are open to sharing.

[amusea]

Hello Mark,

 

Our profiles are similar and we have encountered many of the same situations and preferences.  Last September on Regatta we failed to make any specialty reservations before boarding the ship.  There was a splendid concierge gentleman at a special desk who handled requests and complaints.  Since we also like to dine early we just left our requests with him and he was able to work it out to our satisfaction as the cruise proceeded.  We gave him as many possibilities for time and date as possible.  

We have just booked the Vista and were fortunate to get one of the last accommodations still available for the Panama Canal cruise from L.A. to Miami on November 3rd.  Since the only reservation available was a French Veranda guarantee we are in the very lowest category and thus have concerns about getting a table for two at an early hour but we will try to make changes once onboard if what is available doesn't meet our needs.