Specialty restaurants - do you really need to book ahead on bigger ships?

[RSLeesburg]

After two wonderful cruises on Grandeur, we have booked a cruise on Freedom next year. We have loved the specialty restaurants on Grandeur, and have had no problems booking our reservations and getting times we wanted while we were on the ship. In most cases, we booked in the morning or afternoon for the evening, and the restaurants were never crowded. I was wondering if this was just a fluke because Grandeur is a smaller ship, or if this is the same across all the ships. Will I be able to do this on Freedom too, or do I need to do more advance planning?

 

 

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[Clarea]

Maybe we are more flexible with our schedule, but we've not had a problem booking specialty restaurants onboard. We usually try to book on day 1.

[LauraLL]

It really depends on the size of the group for the reservation. If it is only 2 or 3 of you, you can wait until you board. If it is a more than 3 I highly recommend making reservations before you board.

[Sunny AZ Girl]

We were with a group on the Allure and while we did make our reservations in advance we didn't feel as f we needed to once we got there. There was plenty of space in all 3 restaurants. We did go to each restaurant on Day 1 to be sure we would be seated together. Only at Chops did they already have us seated at the same table, even though our reservations were linked for dining and we made reservatons for the sme time.

[Mickeylee]

When we were on Freedom two weeks ago, we tried to make a reservation on Wednesday and nothing was available at the time we wanted until Saturday night. However, if you are flexible with time and/or night, you would probably not have a problem.

[setsail]

We always book onboard, be flexable

Edited December 28, 2014 by setsail

[cb at sea]

Unless you have a very specific day/time you MUST have, booking onboard is very doable. Even the day day, there are almost always slots available.

[RSLeesburg]

Thanks. It has been just my wife and I, but my BIL and his fiancé may join us on this cruise, so would be 4. We are generally flexible, but there are more entertainment options on Freedom, so I can see where planning ahead comes in handy.

 

 

 

 

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