Beyond Specialty Dining question

[Sackat60]

I've cruised a number of other lines recently, but not very experienced with Celebrity.  Boarding in 8 days and I've been trying to get specialty dining reservations for weeks for us and the other 4 people that we're traveling with.  My little group would love Le Voyage (or something else upscale as a second choice), but I haven't seen much availability since I started looking.  So two questions.....    1).  is it worth trying to book onboard, or will that be a waste of time and and a frustrating exercise?  and 2).  is there another (more likely available) restaurant that would be worthwhile as a substitute? I keep getting emails suggesting we buy specialty dining packages and promoting Chef's table, but there's no point in getting one of those if they are all booked up.  Thanks!!

 

[jelayne]

They normally hold back some reservations for booking on board.  One of your group should go to any of the specialty restaurants as soon as you board with a few days and times that would work and a list of restaurants in priority order, flexibility is important.  The people taking reservations can access and book any of the specialty restaurants.  If LV isn’t available ( it is very small) Eden is also popular as is Fine Cut Steakhouse. 

[George C]

Agree go to restaurant as soon as you board , our favorite restaurant on beyond was definitely Le Petit Chef , which is less popular than the others . 

[jelayne]

That’s what is nice about the Beyond, 6 choices something for everyone. 

[countess5]

Last month we spent 14 days on Beyond, Booking on board isn’t an issue but as said be a bit flexible. There is a table down by guest services where reservations are made. You can try a restaurant when you board but we never found anyone there. That’s including when we sailed Edge and Apex. Again our experience 

I would dine at Eden before LV. Very disappointed in LV. We only do specialty restaurants. We spent 47 days this winter on 3 ships and Eden was the best. LV was in our dining package we bought, if you are paying one at a time the cost of LV in my opinion is not worth it.  

Very small dining room no atmosphere and the food underwhelming.

 

But as I say food and dining is very subjective so I only share my opinion.

 

Enjoy the Beyond! It’s a great ship!

 

Cheers! 

[Silvery Seas Cruiser]

When we sailed on Beyond in early February this year we unwisely waited until we boarded to make restaurant reservations. We either couldn't get in preferred restaurants at all or were told only late seating was available but we just don't don't eat late.  We ended up eating in premium restaurants at lunch if they happened to be open. That included the bistro and the Raw on Five. It was a big disappointment for us not to eating the other restaurants. There was just two of us. Trying to book for even more people might be even harder. I  hope you have better luck than we did. 

[keesar]

We booked Eden and Fine Cut Steakhouse 6 months before our cruise.  We wanted to book another night a couple of weeks before our cruise but no times were available.  On board, there was a  wait list for Eden  in case there were cancellations.  Eden was real special. 

[dreamer321]

I was on Beyond in late January and booked Eden for night 1 and 3 several months before the cruise. I enjoyed Eden so much that I asked the maître d' if I could get in one more time and he squeezed me in on the last night at 8:30. Maybe it was because I was solo or because I was a repeat diner but he was able to get me a table despite Eden being sold out.

 

I also booked Le Voyage for night 5. The food was fine but I probably would not dine there again unless it was comped.

 

As has been pointed out upthread, flexibility is key if you hope to get a reservation. Don't expect to find a table at 7:00 pm for six except maybe in Raw on 5. The fact that you need a table for six makes it even harder.