Dmgmd50 Posted August 10, 2011 #1 Share Posted August 10, 2011 Soon I will be able to make reservations for the specialty restaurants onboard the Marina. How do I that online myself, not have my TA do it? Will I be shown options of what is available each evening and what time? My wife and I are going alone and might prefer a table for two. What times tend to be easiest to obtain? I realize that many prime times will be gone since the suite passengers get to choose first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimandStan Posted August 10, 2011 #2 Share Posted August 10, 2011 Soon I will be able to make reservations for the specialty restaurants onboard the Marina. How do I that online myself, not have my TA do it? Will I be shown options of what is available each evening and what time? My wife and I are going alone and might prefer a table for two. What times tend to be easiest to obtain? I realize that many prime times will be gone since the suite passengers get to choose first. To book advance dinner reservations, you go to the Oceania Cruises web site and use your booking number to sign in under the "already booked" section. There you will see a calendar of the days that you will be aboard the ship. When you click on a date, you will first see a list of the restaurants where reservations are still available. Click on the restaurant and you will see the seating times that are still available. One does not choose a particular table, under this system, rather, you choose to dine alone or "sharing a table". Even if you are traveling alone, you may opt to share and Oceania will match you up with others to fill the table. The prime times for dining tend to vary, depending on where the ship is in the world, how port intensive the cruise is, and frankly, the age of your fellow passengers. I hope that this helped, and that you enjoy your cruise and all of the marvelous food~ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wripro Posted August 10, 2011 #3 Share Posted August 10, 2011 You can also make dinner reservations by calling Oceania, giving the rep your booking number and having her/him do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CintiPam Posted August 11, 2011 #4 Share Posted August 11, 2011 We travel in the last restaurant booking class (Oceanview C on Marina last trip) and got online the day I could reserve. We absolutely had no problem getting the seatings we wanted, for two alone, at 6:30 PM all four nights. We ate dinners with friends from our wonderful roll call other nights in the Grand Dining Room but preferred to book the specialty restaurants for just the two of us, including one of the best dinners of my life (combination of wonderful food and excellent service) in Jacques on my significant birthday in June. Although this seems a bit early, anyone who ever has eaten a meal with us can attest to my fame as the world's slowest eater, so this time worked out best for us to enjoy some after-dinner entertainment, including the evening show in the lounge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmgmd50 Posted August 11, 2011 Author #5 Share Posted August 11, 2011 To book advance dinner reservations, you go to the Oceania Cruises web site and use your booking number to sign in under the "already booked" section. I hope that this helped, and that you enjoy your cruise and all of the marvelous food~ I did go to the website and found my account. Got a message that I could not yet book reservations. I assume that if I go back to the site 45 days before the cruise, I'll no longer get that message and will be able to book dinner reservations. Our cruise is VERY port intensive with no days at sea (which I shall miss). I'm hoping people will want to eat early - so we can still get late reservations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dutch Explorers Posted August 11, 2011 #6 Share Posted August 11, 2011 I did go to the website and found my account. Got a message that I could not yet book reservations. I assume that if I go back to the site 45 days before the cruise, I'll no longer get that message and will be able to book dinner reservations. Our cruise is VERY port intensive with no days at sea (which I shall miss). I'm hoping people will want to eat early - so we can still get late reservations. Yes, it opens up exactly 45 days before departure. When I made my reservations there was plenty choice. The only time slots that were fully booked were 7.00 and 7.30. The rest was wide open. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jtamchay Posted August 12, 2011 #7 Share Posted August 12, 2011 We travel in the last restaurant booking class (Oceanview C on Marina last trip) and got online the day I could reserve. We absolutely had no problem getting the seatings we wanted, for two alone, at 6:30 PM all four nights. We ate dinners with friends from our wonderful roll call other nights in the Grand Dining Room but preferred to book the specialty restaurants for just the two of us, including one of the best dinners of my life (combination of wonderful food and excellent service) in Jacques on my significant birthday in June. Although this seems a bit early, anyone who ever has eaten a meal with us can attest to my fame as the world's slowest eater, so this time worked out best for us to enjoy some after-dinner entertainment, including the evening show in the lounge. I just returned from Scandinavian Splendours on Insignia. The specialty restaurants had plenty of openings on embarkation night and were openly offering them to guests who were doing a walk through of the ship. Over a two week span I saw that on the 4 occasions we ate in Polo that a 6:30 reservation could be very easy to get and that that as guests came to the restaurant to enquire about a "vacancy" they were often turned away in the 7:30 time frame...8:30PM was also a good time to find open tables in Polo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CintiPam Posted August 12, 2011 #8 Share Posted August 12, 2011 I just returned from Scandinavian Splendours on Insignia. The specialty restaurants had plenty of openings on embarkation night and were openly offering them to guests who were doing a walk through of the ship.Over a two week span I saw that on the 4 occasions we ate in Polo that a 6:30 reservation could be very easy to get and that that as guests came to the restaurant to enquire about a "vacancy" they were often turned away in the 7:30 time frame...8:30PM was also a good time to find open tables in Polo. Jo, on our previous three "R" ship cruises, we also never had any problem getting additional reservations by asking at breakfast, if we were flexible on the time. I have no idea if that is the same on Marina because our cruise this time only was 10 nights, and four nights of specialty dining was enough for us. We enjoyed the beautiful Marina Grand Dining Room and found that meal pacing there was better on Marina than the "R" ships, where it seemed that the larger the party, the slower the service and the longer it took for dinner. On Marina, we did not have that pacing problem at at all regardless of the size of our party, partly, I assume, because the crowd was more dispersed with all the additional dining venues, including the expanded evening dining option at the Terrace Cafe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimandStan Posted August 12, 2011 #9 Share Posted August 12, 2011 I just returned from Scandinavian Splendours on Insignia. The specialty restaurants had plenty of openings on embarkation night and were openly offering them to guests who were doing a walk through of the ship.Over a two week span I saw that on the 4 occasions we ate in Polo that a 6:30 reservation could be very easy to get and that that as guests came to the restaurant to enquire about a "vacancy" they were often turned away in the 7:30 time frame...8:30PM was also a good time to find open tables in Polo. Let me interject here that the "easy reservations on embarkation day" situation is particular to Stockholm sailings, because sailing out of Stockholm is wildly scenic and people don't want to miss it. Similarly, early dining is more popular on longer cruises (because older people have the time and money to TAKE longer cruises), and on port intensive cruises (because people tend to eat earlier when they have to get up in the morning to go touring). In the Caribbean, and on a Transatlantic cruise, you will find it more difficult to get a late reservation, as you will on a sea day on just about any itinerary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wripro Posted August 12, 2011 #10 Share Posted August 12, 2011 JimandStan, When I embarked the Regatta in May in San Francisco they were also offering reservations in the specialty restaurants the first night. Of course, we were going to sail under the Golden Gate Bridge. I guess the moral of the story is beautiful sailaway cities: plenty of room in specialty restaurants, ugly sailaway cities; no room. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmgmd50 Posted August 30, 2011 Author #11 Share Posted August 30, 2011 When we get aboard the ship, will we get a reminder for the evenings we have made advanced reservations? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dutch Explorers Posted August 30, 2011 #12 Share Posted August 30, 2011 When we get aboard the ship, will we get a reminder for the evenings we have made advanced reservations? Every morning on the day of the reservation there will be a card of the restaurant with all the details at your cabin door. Also on the travel documents all reservations are listed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrammieK Posted August 30, 2011 #13 Share Posted August 30, 2011 A card will be placed in your "mailbox" on the day of your reservation with the time and restaurant you have reserved. The reservations you chose will also be listed in your final cruise vacation summary, they will appear in your Cruise Booklet and you can access them thru "Already Booked" on the website as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare LHT28 Posted August 30, 2011 #14 Share Posted August 30, 2011 We also got a small card with all the reservations listed ..not sure if it was on the desk or with our world card Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dutch Explorers Posted August 30, 2011 #15 Share Posted August 30, 2011 We also got a small card with all the reservations listed ..not sure if it was on the desk or with our world card Yes, now I remember we got a small card with all the reservations with our world card also at boarding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
globevest Posted August 30, 2011 #16 Share Posted August 30, 2011 I booked on line yesterday for a cruise in November. The site should have been open for our cabin, 75 days before sailing but it only opened up 68 days before sailing. I was going to phone Oceania to see what was wrong but didn't have to. For me this was the first time the booking site did not open up on the prescribed date. Got the bookings that we were looking for so no problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare LHT28 Posted August 30, 2011 #17 Share Posted August 30, 2011 Yes, now I remember we got a small card with all the reservations with our world card also at boarding. I think it was in DH card holder...he never pays attention so I just happened upon it;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oasisoz Posted August 31, 2011 #18 Share Posted August 31, 2011 What happens if I miss out on the online reservation deadline? I am staying in the penthouse suites and I want to be able to dine in the specialty restaurants, will it be too late if I book once I get on board? Can the butler do that for us too? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TKS Posted August 31, 2011 #19 Share Posted August 31, 2011 Yes, your butler will be able to book for you. In fact, our butler on Marina was almost insistent that we eat in the specialty restaurants additional times. You can book your reservations once you board, however to get your choice of dining times it's best to book online, or to call O and ask them to book for you. As a PH level cabin you can book 60 days prior to the cruise. If you wait until you board all the concierge and regular cabins will also have had time to book, so your choices will be more limited. Any way you decide, you're going to love the specialty restaurants on Oceania! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oasisoz Posted August 31, 2011 #20 Share Posted August 31, 2011 Thanks for your reply. I booked the cruise very last minute so I have just missed out the 2 week deadline for booking online. I don't live in the US so I am not sure the local booking agent can make restaurant reservation for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimandStan Posted August 31, 2011 #21 Share Posted August 31, 2011 Thanks for your reply. I booked the cruise very last minute so I have just missed out the 2 week deadline for booking online. I don't live in the US so I am not sure the local booking agent can make restaurant reservation for me. Aussies certainly aren't shy about voicing their complaints here on Cruise-Critic, so, for the life of my I cannot understand why none of you has raised enough merry hell to get that "national-consolidator" business banished. Goodness me, they have you frightened enough that no one will even name them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oasisoz Posted August 31, 2011 #22 Share Posted August 31, 2011 Aussies certainly aren't shy about voicing their complaints here on Cruise-Critic, so, for the life of my I cannot understand why none of you has raised enough merry hell to get that "national-consolidator" business banished. Goodness me, they have you frightened enough that no one will even name them! Um I'm not sure why you have replied the way you have, but I was in no way making a complaint. I was merely asking for advice. I'm just new to this and I have been referred that this is the best place for advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimandStan Posted August 31, 2011 #23 Share Posted August 31, 2011 I don't live in the US so I am not sure the local booking agent can make restaurant reservation for me I don't believe that you don't mean that your "Agent" is not ABLE to make the reservation, but rather that your "Agent" would not be WILLING to make the reservation. Lack of customer service for Australian clients is a recurring theme, here on cruise critic. Apparently you have no choice of booking agents, and knowing this, that agent provides virtually no service at all. Considering that this "Agent" is receiving a handsome commission in return for booking this cruise for you, your statement that they will not act on your behalf SOUNDS like a complaint. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmgmd50 Posted September 1, 2011 Author #24 Share Posted September 1, 2011 I don't believe that you don't mean that your "Agent" is not ABLE to make the reservation, but rather that your "Agent" would not be WILLING to make the reservation. Lack of customer service for Australian clients is a recurring theme, here on cruise critic. Apparently you have no choice of booking agents, and knowing this, that agent provides virtually no service at all. Considering that this "Agent" is receiving a handsome commission in return for booking this cruise for you, your statement that they will not act on your behalf SOUNDS like a complaint. Speaking about the agents commission, what should we expect to get from our agent as his gift to us: On-board gratuities, a shipboard credit? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare LHT28 Posted September 1, 2011 #25 Share Posted September 1, 2011 Speaking about the agents commission, what should we expect to get from our agent as his gift to us: On-board gratuities, a shipboard credit? You could get either, maybe a bottle of wine or nothing at all They are in the business to make money ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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