Restaurant Reservations

[Firstimecruiser2012]

Hi All, New to this so please accept my apologies if I break any rules or my forum etiquette isn't up to scratch :-).

 

My Fiance and I get married in November and for our honeymoon we have booked 30th November Fort Lauderdale round trip on the Silver Spirit. We stay in a hotel for three days prior.

 

As it is our first cruise I wondered if anybody has any advice on how to secure a restaurant reservation in Hot Rocks, Stars and Seishin? I have read (horror) stories of a mad rush as soon as embarkation starts? I understand returning Silversea cruisers can embark earlier, does this mean all reservations will be taken?

 

Thanks is advance.

[Firstimecruiser2012]

Sorry, forgot to say November 2012!

[Emtbsam]

Congratulations on your upcoming marriage! You have chosen a great cruise for your honeymoon. We just returned from a similar cruise.

 

If you are at the pier around noon, you can board then with all the other passengers who show up early - not just the returning passengers.

 

Our cruises were not full -- 500 passengers rather than the 540 capacity which was nice.

Reservations for the various restaurants start at 2:30 in their locations. Alternatively, you could ask your butler to do it, but they are very busy on embarkation day and might not get to it early enough to get what you want. There will be a Chronicles in your cabin which lists the dress code for each night so you can plan accordingly. We generally did not have any problem getting a reservation except in LT.

 

Bon voyage!

[Firstimecruiser2012]

Thank you. It's very exciting to be planning the wedding and then knowing we've got a super cruise lined up! We'll certainly aim to be there early, i don't want to be disappointing my new wife by failing to get reservations!

 

In your experience is it better to eat in the speciality restaurants on formal evenings as most passengers will be eating in the MDR?

[Emtbsam]

We like to dress up on formal nights. Many who do not want to be so attired dine in the other restaurants on formal nights so those restaurants might be a bit more crowded, especially LT. We have never eaten in Seshin, so I can't speak to that venue. I would prefer not to be at Hot Rocks in formal wear.

 

Remember, even if the MDR is "crowded", it really never feels that way. In fact, you never feel crowded on the Spirit.

 

One suggestion, for a quiet cocktail or after dinner drink, try the Observation Lounge on Deck 11. We hardly ever went to the main bar since it always seemed noisy and crowded.

[Firstimecruiser2012]

Thanks for the tip about the Observation Deck, we had wondered if that was only for use by passengers in the more expensive suites upstairs...?

 

I'll also remember not to wear my tux to Hot Rocks, (should we secure a reservation) might be tricky to get sizzling steak juices out of my lapels

:-)

[farbster]

I think the comment about the butlers being busy is very accurate. If I were you, I would have a little calendar handy and write down the dress for each night and plan accordingly.

 

I would go to the restaurants (split with your wife) as soon as you can and place your reservations according to the plan you made. You may want to space them out so you aren't eating in the same restaurant 2x in a row. Use your cell phones to coordinate as you go, especially since you may have to juggle some nights based on availability.

 

My wife and I were very intent on Le Champagne, and were initially upset that we were shut out. Then we looked at the menu and realized we were much better off skipping it all together. While I'm sure it's great, just not for us.

 

All this being said, we've only done one cruise with Silversea, so all my ideas may be crap.

 

Enjoy!

[Firstimecruiser2012]

Thanks for all your advice guys. I'm sure we'll love the cruise regardless but i do hope to book a couple! :-)

[Emtbsam]

If you are doing back to back cruises, you will need to book reservations for the second cruise the day it begins.

 

On each of our 9 day cruises, we had 2 nights in LT and 2 at Hot Rocks.

[dougburns]

If you board at noon and go to the Pool deck for a bite to eat you can make your Hot Rocks reservations right there. The Maitre'd for Hot Rocks will be there. If you then go to La Terrazza before they close at 1400 you can make your reservation for there as well. You shouldn't have any problem waiting to do Sieshin or Stars( not real popular). If you want to do it all in one place, including Le Champagne, just see the maitre'd in the Restaurant. There should be no rush to do either le Champagne or Sieshin as they are not often full.

[Firstimecruiser2012]

I really appreciate all the above help, I'm really looking forward to the Silver Spirit and Silversea's famous hospitality.

[mortgagemaster]

You will absolutely LOVE Silversea. One thing that my wife and I did (we just returned from 9 days on the Cloud) was to book 2 nights (max allowed) at La Terazza immediately upon embarking, which was easy because they are open for lunch when you come aboard. Our Suite was not quite ready so we enjoyed a nice lunch (and GREAT pizza if you like a thin, crispy crust). One of the great things about Silversea is that you will find that you befriend 1 or 2 other couple pretty quickly. We met 2 couple with whom we dined most nights. So...we invited them to join us at LT and they invited us to do the same. Effectively we ate there 4 nights and it was our favorite by far. Also nice if they offer it is dinner under the stars. It's on the pool deck and by reservation also, but it is very nice when you are looking for a simple dinner of steaks, chops, salad, potato....which we were later in the cruise after all of the more exotic fare. Congratulations and have a great time!

[nfcu]

We sailed on Silver Spirit just last month. When we met our butler on the first day he asked what dining reservations we wanted him to make for us. We told him and he took care of it with no problems whatsoever. We got all the times and places we requested with written confirmations received the next day. We did no running around making reservations the first day.

[farbster]

If you trust that your butler will be able to make potentially complex dinner reservations on a very busy day, knock yourself out. Don't forget, other people are asking them to make their reservations, stock their fridge, unpack, etc.

 

Our experience was that we were lucky to see our butler when we arrived and that she looked like a deer in the headlights when were discussing reservations. Are you going to give them authority to juggle reservations around if one night isn't available? We had specific restaurants in mind for specific nights (eg. we wanted to eat outside at LT for out departure from Santorini.), but some nights we didn't care as much.

 

Also, check out the menu at Le Champ. for the night you want to go. You might get there and find that nothing suits you.

[Ravenscroft]

 

If you trust that your butler will be able to make potentially complex dinner reservations on a very busy day, knock yourself out.

 

 

.

 

Tend to agree. We have only sailed on full sailings though; I would hope the butler would be capable of dealing with this on a half full ship, but I'd rather take responsibility myself.

 

On the 20 December holiday cruise, we boarded Spirit around 1pm. Went to La Terrazza for lunch fully intending to be sure to 'do the rounds' at 2.30pm. However the LT Maitre d' came around with his reservations sheet at around 2pm. We were able to book LT, two nights, and Hot Rocks with him. As soon as we finished lunch, we headed to Le Champagne, where we perused the menus, chatted with the very nice Maitre d who was overseeing in there (Marcel) and secured reservations for 4 nights of the 14 day cruise.

 

 

We stayed on board an extra week and made further reservations in both La Terrazza and Le Champagne the night before the first cruise ended.

 

I don't understand why the dinner reservations are not computerised though. :confused:

 

Edited to add: we also found that securing a table after waitlisting for one wasn't a problem. We got extra nights in both La Terrazza and Le Champagne mid-cruise by doing this.

[Firstimecruiser2012]

I'm getting very hungry just thinking about it, November is too far away! For the seasoned Silversea Cruisers out there: Is this voyage normally fully booked? I notice a couple on the website are wait list only but this seems fully available.....