Specialty Restaurants/availability beyond advance reservation allowance

[blueexpedition29]

I am sailing on Marina and have made reservations for each of the availble restaurants.  That said, I am wondering if there are 
"walk in" opportunities for additional nights or how you try to get another seating if there is one you really like or want tp try earlier than your prebooked reservation? 

 

[PhD-iva]

20 minutes ago, blueexpedition29 said:

I am sailing on Marina and have made reservations for each of the availble restaurants.  That said, I am wondering if there are 
"walk in" opportunities for additional nights or how you try to get another seating if there is one you really like or want tp try earlier than your prebooked reservation? 

 

You will get some good responses to your question from experienced O cruisers. I’ll just jump in and say that you will get better, more customized response if you can include more information: the date of your sailing, how many days and your state room category. 
To summarize, the shorter your itinerary, the less opportunity there is for everyone to get their minimum number of reservations and therefore less openings for you to sneak in an extra resy.
The higher your statement category, the more pull you have when you make a request, and of course, if there are fewer pax sailing on your itinerary, then there is less demand for the specialties and more room for you.

Also, embarkation day tends to have less demand for the specialty restaurants, so see if you can pick up an extra reservation as soon as you get on board. 
Enjoy your cruise!

[Snaefell3]

@PhD-iva pretty much covered it.  I'll only add that butlers, if you have one, can serve meals from a single specialty kitchen (Red Ginger/Jacques, Polo/Toscana on Marina), course-by-course, in your cabin during dinner hours.  Not sure how far you can push it towards "all nights"  🙄

[blueexpedition29]

We are on a 15 night sailing from Miami to Lima which appears to be nearly full. We are in a veranda, so no butler. 
Thx

[Mura]

33 minutes ago, Snaefell3 said:

@PhD-iva pretty much covered it.  I'll only add that butlers, if you have one, can serve meals from a single specialty kitchen (Red Ginger/Jacques, Polo/Toscana on Marina), course-by-course, in your cabin during dinner hours.  Not sure how far you can push it towards "all nights"  🙄

Not that we've tried to push the in-dining option in a suite, but I don't think it would be a problem.  The butler might object! But we gave been on cruises where we used that option several times and never had a problem with being accommodated.

 

Then again, unless we are talking about honeymooners, probably most passengers wouldn't want in-suite dining every night!

 

Mura

[YourWorldWithBill]

1 hour ago, blueexpedition29 said:

I am sailing on Marina and have made reservations for each of the availble restaurants.  That said, I am wondering if there are 
"walk in" opportunities for additional nights or how you try to get another seating if there is one you really like or want tp try earlier than your prebooked reservation? 

We are in a similar situation on Riviera soon, and scheduled a specialty restaurant, one that we definitely want to dine in again, on the first night. When there we will ask about another night, as some have suggested on various message boards here.

[PhD-iva]

56 minutes ago, blueexpedition29 said:

We are on a 15 night sailing from Miami to Lima which appears to be nearly full. We are in a veranda, so no butler. 
Thx

I would think you will have the opportunity for some extra resys. It helps to be flexible as to sharing with others, and flexible on dining times. Ask early and often!
Others will have good strategies on how to make your requests known (go to the speciality restaurant as it opens for dinner and ask if they have any openings/cancellations; there’s a desk specifically for requesting dining reservations, look in Currents for the time they are open and ask for any openings….)

And I usually find the GDR is also quite good, especially if you’re not in a hurry…..

[edgee]

2 hours ago, PhD-iva said:

I would think you will have the opportunity for some extra resys. It helps to be flexible as to sharing with others, and flexible on dining times. Ask early and often!
Others will have good strategies on how to make your requests known (go to the speciality restaurant as it opens for dinner and ask if they have any openings/cancellations; there’s a desk specifically for requesting dining reservations, look in Currents for the time they are open and ask for any openings….)

And I usually find the GDR is also quite good, especially if you’re not in a hurry…..

I would emphasize "if you are not in a hurry" big time based on my current experience. On Vista now and have had very bad experiences with service in the Grand Dining Room. Main course takes forever to arrive and unless you want to extend your dining time by 45 extra minutes, forget about desert and coffee! So disapponting!

Edited November 9, 2023 by edgee
clarity

[Woofa]

When we were on a full Riviera on January we followed the advice from these boards and checked by guest services as well as the restaurant itself once it was open.  We snagged a second Jacques reservation.  Honestly we did not try very hard as we enjoyed eating in Terrace when they had the grill and had good weather to eat outside.  On the last night I was speaking to someone I met playing bridge and they had eaten at specialties 9 of the 10 nights.  I do not know what cabin level or how many cruises they had on O.  Remember that on an O class ship if you eat in each restaurant including the pizza at waves at night that is already 7 dinners (8 if you eat at la reserve or privee one night (for a charge)) Also remember that the specialties are not supposed to have higher quality food (ymmv).  On our next cruise on Marina next year we will most likely try for a second reservation at polo and/or Italian.  

[SATaxman]

On our first O cruise last month, we enjoyed eating outside at the Terrace Grill on 2 nights. There was wonderful Greek food, and perfect weather.

 

[pinotlover]

On Deck 5, in the main foyer, there is a Dining Reservations Desk, that daily takes requests for additional reservations for that evening. Best place to go , if interested, before heading out to port.

[cruiserchuck]

We boarded Riviera today, and stopped by the reservations desk right after we boarded.  The host told us she will call us later today if there are any spots available tonight.  She said they need to wait until folks with no advance reservations board before they will know if there is space available.

[roberts2005]

12 minutes ago, pinotlover said:

On Deck 5, in the main foyer, there is a Dining Reservations Desk, that daily takes requests for additional reservations for that evening. Best place to go , if interested, before heading out to port.

Not sure if this is a new thing.  Was on the Vista transatlantic in a concierge cabin.  I would go to deck five at 8:00 to make an extra reservation.  Even if there was availability, I was waitlisted because I had already booked my 4, plus a few extra.  They actually checked out how many times I had eaten previously.   

[cruiserchuck]

11 minutes ago, roberts2005 said:

Not sure if this is a new thing.  Was on the Vista transatlantic in a concierge cabin.  I would go to deck five at 8:00 to make an extra reservation.  Even if there was availability, I was waitlisted because I had already booked my 4, plus a few extra.  They actually checked out how many times I had eaten previously.   

That was our experience when we cruised on Marina many years ago.  We were waitlisted every day, and on a 16 day cruise, got one additional reservation.

[pinotlover]

16 minutes ago, roberts2005 said:

Not sure if this is a new thing.  Was on the Vista transatlantic in a concierge cabin.  I would go to deck five at 8:00 to make an extra reservation.  Even if there was availability, I was waitlisted because I had already booked my 4, plus a few extra.  They actually checked out how many times I had eaten previously.   

Not a new thing at all. Over the years, Oceania has used several approaches to this. At one time, PreCovid, everyone would make their requests, but final notification wasn’t given until after 2:00. This way people weren’t lining up at 7:00 expecting first come first. They took everyone’s request and acted accordingly. Likewise, there was a time when the Specialties would allow no walk ups. They all had a wait list, from the Reservation Desk, from which they worked. 
 

Point being, through the years, the ships have employed multiple different procedures that change regularly. What happens on one ship may be different on another.

 

The only thing consistent is that Dining Reservation Desk is on every ship. People looking for “ one size fits all” procedures are on the wrong line.

Edited November 9, 2023 by pinotlover

[roberts2005]

Also, when in a PH, I have rarely found our butler to do do any better than my going to deck 5.

[blueexpedition29]

THANKS ALL - this is all helpful. 

[cruiserchuck]

We were unable to get an extra reservation through the desk on deck 5 on our first night tonight on Riviera.  I went by Jacques when it opened, and was told no space was available.

 

We waited in line at the MDR for about 15 minutes shortly after it opened at 6:30 pm.  Our meal there was excellent.

Edited November 9, 2023 by cruiserchuck

[Cliff-FLL]

8 hours ago, roberts2005 said:

Also, when in a PH, I have rarely found our butler to do do any better than my going to deck 5.

We've always found the butler to be quite helpful in obtaining additional reservations.  When we board, we hand him a copy of what we already have reserved and our requested extra reservations.  Invariably, he's been able to get what we want, albeit at a slightly different time on occasion.

[cruisingxpert]

10 minutes ago, Cliff-FLL said:

We've always found the butler to be quite helpful in obtaining additional reservations.  When we board, we hand him a copy of what we already have reserved and our requested extra reservations.  Invariably, he's been able to get what we want, albeit at a slightly different time on occasion.

That's because you are special😂

[pinotlover]

Jacques is typically the most difficult extra reservation to get. Even on longer single segment cruises (20-20+ days), I’ve had our butler say one extra at Jacques is all you can get.

[Cliff-FLL]

1 minute ago, cruisingxpert said:

That's because you are special😂

How come you're the only one that recognizes that?!  🤔🤣

[FetaCheese]

12 hours ago, cruiserchuck said:

We boarded Riviera today, and stopped by the reservations desk right after we boarded.  The host told us she will call us later today if there are any spots available tonight.  She said they need to wait until folks with no advance reservations board before they will know if there is space available.

You are on the ship with @Sthrngary !

[GeezerCouple]

19 hours ago, pinotlover said:

Jacques is typically the most difficult extra reservation to get. Even on longer single segment cruises (20-20+ days), I’ve had our butler say one extra at Jacques is all you can get.

Ah, but if your *Butler* is telling you that, at least you do have the option of dining in your suite with your choices of Jacques offerings!

We used that quite a lot, and especially if we are a bit tired from an excursion or such, in which case we are definitely *not* in "Jacques-appropriate attire"!

😉 

 

We also order from Red Ginger... but apparently that wonderful sea bass is no more?

😞 

(Is it still really sea bass in Jacques, if I'm even remembering correctly?)

 

GC

 

[cruiserchuck]

2 hours ago, GeezerCouple said:

We also order from Red Ginger... but apparently that wonderful sea bass is no more?

The menu for Red Ginger that is available on the TV in our stateroom is still showing sea bass as of today on Riviera.  We have not eaten there yet on this cruise, so no first hand knowledge yet.