Advanced Reservations...how soon??

[ldl05]

Hi! I am sure this has been asked before, but about how soon before your actual cruise can you book your entertainment/specialty restuarants? I just booked my husband and I for the Allure of the Seas on October 30th, and being the uber-planner (aka OCD!), I want to plan ahead! Thanks for the info!!:)

[Dave4120]

For entertainment and shore excursions, you probably don't have to reserve as far in advance as you do for the specialty restaurants and especially if you plan to do My Time Dining.

 

Based on our past experiences, the 6:30 to about 7:45-PM time frame for My Time Dining fills up fast and they keep open "X" amount of tables for every 15-minute time period.

 

I'm sure other people will also respond that my have more and/or a better information update for you. Good Luck.

Dave

[Dave4120]

Hello...based on our past experience, you probably do not have to reserve entertainment and shore excursions as far in advance in comparison to specialty restaurants and MY Time Dining, if you are choosing that.

 

The hours of 6:30-7:45-PM are the most popular for My Time Dining, and only "X" amount of tables are available for every given 15 minute time frame. So, these two dining categories should be reserved as soon as you can.

 

I'm sure some other people will expand on this and might have more, and/or better information than me. Good Luck.

 

Sorry for the double post. Something got messed up with the site when I posted.

 

Dave

[molly361]

I believe that it is around 60 days before sailing.

[DivingPrincessE]

Yup Dave is right, make sure to reserve the MTD (if you are doing that) as soon as possible. We just booked the Feb 19 sailing of Oasis and all the shows still appeared to have seats. We got all the shows at the times we wanted.

 

Then we went to reserve the MTD times :mad: We are eating at 5:45 every night b/c everything between 6:00 to 7:45 (and some nights 8:15 are taken). So we're not really getting to choose "My Time" are we...

 

Sorry I can't help you on the times. I believe I read that you can reserve them around the time that final payment is due...but I don't know if that's true.

[sharonlacey]

After reading this post I just made all our MTD times, lol. Just dont want to get stuck with early seating.

 

Thanks Sharon

[Sugar*Magnolia]

We're going on Oasis this June.

 

How far in advance should I reserve show tickets?

[Dave4120]

Hello Diving Princess....I just want to make sure I understood your post. Do we now have to make reservations to see the shows, versus just walking in at either one of the two show times. I did not see anything on the cruise planner under our reservations that had anything listed to reserve show times.

 

Thanks

Dave

[Ocean Boy]

If I remember it correctly, for our upcoming cruise on Oasis the entertainment opened up about 70 days out. I believe that the restaurants were open before that but I can't remember how far out as I did not attempt to do a booking.

[Ocean Boy]

Hello Diving Princess....I just want to make sure I understood your post. Do we now have to make reservations to see the shows, versus just walking in at either one of the two show times.

 

Thanks

Dave

 

You do not have to make advanced reservations. However, if you don't then you have to wait until about 10 minutes before showtime when they let people without reservations in if there is room left.

 

If you book online before your cruise the information is embedded in your seapass card. When you go to the shows they scan the card and it will show that you have a reservation.

 

There are 6 different entertainment venues that you can reserve. The rest is first come first served just like you are used to in the past.

 

And yes, I do realize that my name is not Diving Princess. :D

[Dave4120]

Hello Ocean Boy....Thanks for the help. But where do I find the place to reserve show times. I went to view my reservation and I only see categories of reserving shore excursions, specialyy restaurants, Gifts and Gear, etc.

 

Any help would be welcome.

 

Dave

[DivingPrincessE]

Hello Diving Princess....I just want to make sure I understood your post. Do we now have to make reservations to see the shows, versus just walking in at either one of the two show times. I did not see anything on the cruise planner under our reservations that had anything listed to reserve show times.

 

Thanks

Dave

 

Oceanboy already probivided the answer so I will echo him.

 

You only have to do to pre-booking for shows on the Allure and the Oasis. The other ships are still first come, first serve.

 

If you do not pre-book the shows, you can also try to book them on the first day at "the box office" (aka Studio B). We didn't know to prebook on the Allure and by the first day all the comedy shows, ice shows, and aqua shows were fully booked. The only shows we could book onboard were the shows in the main theater, and those did eventually fill up as well.

 

We showed up at all the shows we didn't have reserved 40 minutes in advance (as suggested) to stand in the "stand by line" and we were able to see all the shows. So I'm glad we saw all the shows...but who wants to stand in line for 30 minutes only to get the worst seats?

 

This time we know better and we booked ALL our shows in advance. We will still show up early, b/c we like to get the best seats. :)

 

I've read other posts stating that everyone gets in to see all the shows, and that was just not what we saw occuring on the Allure. The stand by lines were so long that there is no way they were all allowed in.

 

 

There is one show on each ship that does not allow for pre-booking. The "How to Train your Dragon" ice show on the Allure does not allow for pre-booking and is first come first serve, as is the "splish splash" show on Oasis.

[Ocean Boy]

Hello Ocean Boy....Thanks for the help. But where do I find the place to reserve show times. I went to view my reservation and I only see categories of reserving shore excursions, specialyy restaurants, Gifts and Gear, etc.

 

Any help would be welcome.

 

Dave

 

Are you sailing either Oasis or Allure? Those are the only two ships with an entertainment reservation system. Sorry that I did not mention that before.

[DivingPrincessE]

Oh and FYI, the comedy show is the FIRST to fully book up, and the hardest to get in to (especially in the stand by line).

 

There are (I believe) three shows per day, and they are all the same show the whole week. It's a very very small venue (think NYC comedy club), I've seen it posted that it seats about 150 people. So 150 x 3 shows x 7 nights = 3,150. That means about half the passengers on Allure or Oasis would not be able to see the show.

[Nimbus]

Thanks for the tip!

 

Our cruise is 60 days out and I was able to get an MTD dining time I liked but I was amazed at how many time slots were already filled.

[Dave4120]

Sorry for being somewhat stupid. I understand now. We are sailing on the Enchantment in early April So, going to the shows in the theater on this ship, from what you have posted, will still be just to walk in like we have done in the past.

 

It is good to know that if we ever sail on those other two larger ships, that we should consider making reservations in advance.

 

Thanks again for bearing with my lack of understanding.

 

Dave

[DivingPrincessE]

Sorry for being somewhat stupid. I understand now. We are sailing on the Enchantment in early April So, going to the shows in the theater on this ship, from what you have posted, will still be just to walk in like we have done in the past.

 

It is good to know that if we ever sail on those other two larger ships, that we should consider making reservations in advance.

 

Thanks again for bearing with my lack of understanding.

 

Dave

 

No worries, that's what CC is here for. Oh and it wasn't a stupid question at all. All these separate rules/procedures for different ships gets confusing.

 

Enjoy the Enchantment, it's a very nice ship :)

[Ocean Boy]

Sorry for being somewhat stupid. I understand now. We are sailing on the Enchantment in early April So, going to the shows in the theater on this ship, from what you have posted, will still be just to walk in like we have done in the past.

 

It is good to know that if we ever sail on those other two larger ships, that we should consider making reservations in advance.

 

Thanks again for bearing with my lack of understanding.

 

Dave

 

Yes, on Enchantment you just show up for the shows. As for your last line....Don't worry about it. We are all here to help each other out.:)

[deltatango]

So just to make sure, you cannot book Independence of the Seas shows...............

[Ocean Boy]

So just to make sure, you cannot book Independence of the Seas shows...............

 

Correct.