Specialty Restaurants

[judatt]

Greetings, everyone. We are preparing for our first RCI cruise in about 3 weeks on the FOS out of Port Canaveral. This is a family cruise with 11 people and 5 cabins. My wife and I are veteran Celebrity cruisers so we are grateful to have received reciprocal Diamond status but no one else will have any "status" for this cruise.

 

Now for my question. We have 2 events that we want to celebrate and I'm thinking that we will go to a specialty restaurant on those 2 evenings. On Celebrity there are often discounts for the specialty restaurants once you board depending on how many advance bookings they have. I have always managed to get at least one at a discounted rate.

 

Is that the case for RCI? I was tempted to book in advance but then I thought we could just go to either the Diamond Lounge or the Concierge Lounge and they could get us a reservation so it didn't seem really necessary to book in advance.

 

Any thoughts? Thanks, everyone.

[delirious9876]

Greetings, everyone. We are preparing for our first RCI cruise in about 3 weeks on the FOS out of Port Canaveral. This is a family cruise with 11 people and 5 cabins. My wife and I are veteran Celebrity cruisers so we are grateful to have received reciprocal Diamond status but no one else will have any "status" for this cruise.

 

Now for my question. We have 2 events that we want to celebrate and I'm thinking that we will go to a specialty restaurant on those 2 evenings. On Celebrity there are often discounts for the specialty restaurants once you board depending on how many advance bookings they have. I have always managed to get at least one at a discounted rate.

 

Is that the case for RCI? I was tempted to book in advance but then I thought we could just go to either the Diamond Lounge or the Concierge Lounge and they could get us a reservation so it didn't seem really necessary to book in advance.

 

Any thoughts? Thanks, everyone.

Probably not necessary to book in advance, though soon when you get on the ship.

 

You will be lucky to get any discounts but ask and try :-)

[Clarea]

They typically have discounts for booking a specialty restaurant on the first night.

[dacsmom]

They also have perks for booking 3, 4, or 5 specialty restaurants. You get a percentage back in OBC. They also have new children's pricing in some of the restaurants.

[TheGaDawgFan]

I think I remember a discount for larger parties the first couple of nights on the Freedom in April. It showed up to book online.

[StarSong2001]

Going on Allure this November. If I make reservations online for a specialty, like Chops, do I have to pay ahead of time too? Or do they wait and charge you after you've actually had the meal?

Is it usually possible to get a reservation after boarding, or should it be done months in advance?

[NorbertsNiece]

Going on Allure this November. If I make reservations online for a specialty, like Chops, do I have to pay ahead of time too? Or do they wait and charge you after you've actually had the meal?

Is it usually possible to get a reservation after boarding, or should it be done months in advance?

 

If you book Chops online then you will be charged to your CC at the time of making the booking. You can certainly book after boarding in which case the cost will be charged to your onboard account.

[Clarea]

Going on Allure this November. If I make reservations online for a specialty, like Chops, do I have to pay ahead of time too? Or do they wait and charge you after you've actually had the meal?

Is it usually possible to get a reservation after boarding, or should it be done months in advance?

We have had no problem booking specialty restaurants on board. If you are very particular about time/day, then go to the restaurant as soon as you board.

[ValerieJo]

We have had no problem booking specialty restaurants on board. If you are very particular about time/day, then go to the restaurant as soon as you board.

 

Same for us. We were on Jewel in March and booked both Chops and Portofino for later in the week when we boarded the ship. We were given a 20% discount for booking both.

[StarSong2001]

Thank you both! That's exactly what I needed to hear, errr... read. :)

[judatt]

Thanks everyone. Great info. David