Question about dining

[sho]

I plan to sail on Oceania Riviera and know that there are main dining restaurants and 4 specialty restaurants.

Do I have to book a table in advance? If so, how soon can I book?

Is it easy to get a table for two, as I prefer not to share a table with other guests?

[LHT28]

For the specialty restaurant you do need to book in advance if you want a specific date/time or you can wait & book onboard ...less options for times/dates

It will depend on your cabin Cat how far in advance you can book

 

GDR just show up during dining hours

 

Terrace same as GDR

[orchestrapal]

In the Grand dining room you will almost never have a problem getting a table for two. You will, however want to book your speciality dining reservations as soon as your cabin category can as there are not many tables for two.

[Freightgoddess]

Agree with above, b but don't forget to try the terrace for dinner. D surprisingly excellent.

[Hambagahle]

Agree with above, b but don't forget to try the terrace for dinner. D surprisingly excellent.

 

Totally agree! One of our favourites. And if the night is warm, dinner under the stars. Grilled lobster etc etc.

 

For the rest - Oceania lets you book dining reservations by cabin "rank". Suites get priority - can book earlier - and more reservations per cruise. You can find all this out on the "Already Booked" section of the Oceania website.

 

See what you are entitled to and then book as soon as you can.

[StanandJim]

I plan to sail on Oceania Riviera and know that there are main dining restaurants and 4 specialty restaurants.

Do I have to book a table in advance? If so, how soon can I book?

Is it easy to get a table for two, as I prefer not to share a table with other guests?

 

The Grand Dining Room and The Terrace, which is the ships' buffet restaurant (and partially open air), do not accept reservations, and are continuously first come first served. The same is true of Waves, the Pool Grill, which is a very casual open air affair.

 

The four Specialty Restaurants do require reservations, and although you will be guaranteed a certain number of visits to these Restaurants regardless, booking ahead is the best way to be sure of date, time and table size.

 

The number of Restaurant Reservations which one is guaranteed, as well as how far in advance of the voyage they may be made, are dependent both on the length of your Cruise and the type of accommodations reserved:

 

Number of reservations (Marina and Riviera):

 

Owner's Suite, Vista Suite, Oceania Suite

0-7 Sailing Days: 1 reservation at each restaurant

8-17 Sailing Days: 2 reservations at each restaurant

18+ Sailing Days: 3 reservations at each restaurant

Penthouse Suite

0-7 Sailing Days: 1 reservation at each restaurant

8-17 Sailing Days: 1 reservations at each restaurant

18+ Sailing Days: 2 reservations at each restaurant

Concierge Level Veranda, Veranda, Ocean View and Inside Stateroom

0-7 Sailing Days: 1 reservations at each restaurant

8-17 Sailing Days: 1 reservations at each restaurant

18+ Sailing Days: 1 reservations at each restaurant

 

All reservations have a maximum of 8 guests per table.

[StanandJim]

When to make your reservations:

Your booking must be paid in full.

-The online dining reservation system closes 7 days prior to your sailing's embarkation date.

-Owner's, Vista and Oceania Suites may make reservations 90 days until 7 days prior to embarkation.

 

Penthouse Suites may make reservations 75 days until 7 days prior to embarkation.

 

Concierge Level Veranda Staterooms may make reservations 60 days until 7 days prior to embarkation.

 

Veranda, Ocean View and Inside Staterooms may make reservations 45 days until 7 days prior to embarkation.

[Jancruz]

Totally agree! One of our favourites. And if the night is warm, dinner under the stars. Grilled lobster etc etc.

 

For the rest - Oceania lets you book dining reservations by cabin "rank". Suites get priority - can book earlier - and more reservations per cruise. You can find all this out on the "Already Booked" section of the Oceania website.

 

See what you are entitled to and then book as soon as you can.

 

The date you can book is also on your Oceania invoice..

Jancruz1

[Travelcat2]

Definitely book specialty restaurants in advance. Our opinion of the GDR and Terrace Café is a bit different than others. The specialty restaurants are definitely superior (in our opinion). After your expected reservations, it may be difficult to get a table for two. If you are in a PH or above, you can order from the specialty restaurants to be delivered to your suites. If we could not order from the specialty restaurants, we would not sail on Oceania. This is a harsh but truthful statement.

[TrulyBlonde]

Definitely book specialty restaurants in advance. Our opinion of the GDR and Terrace Café is a bit different than others. The specialty restaurants are definitely superior (in our opinion). After your expected reservations, it may be difficult to get a table for two. If you are in a PH or above, you can order from the specialty restaurants to be delivered to your suites. If we could not order from the specialty restaurants, we would not sail on Oceania. This is a harsh but truthful statement.

 

Not harsh because you prefer Regent and after reading the reviews about the recent Navigator cruise from many, we cancelled ours and will stick with O and our lovely Terrace Cafe under the stars enjoying our grilled lobster al fresco. Luxury is defined differently and O suits us just fine.

[Travelcat2]

Not harsh because you prefer Regent and after reading the reviews about the recent Navigator cruise from many, we cancelled ours and will stick with O and our lovely Terrace Cafe under the stars enjoying our grilled lobster al fresco. Luxury is defined differently and O suits us just fine.

 

I definitely respect your opinions and am sad that you cancelled your Navigator cruise. You could have dined under the stars on Regent as well. In our opinion, the main difference is the quality of the food available on Regent vs. Oceania. Not sure if you are aware that the Navigator is our least favorite Regent ship. We avoid her for a variety of reasons. However, we would rather dine in any Navigator venue than in the Terrace Café on Oceania. The "reviews" that you read on the Regent board were extremely negative and, IMO, not warranted. Really wish that you had given Regent a try.

[TrulyBlonde]

Thank you TC2, I respect yours, as well. As I stated on the Regent board, "never say never". I just felt that the Navigator was not for me after those appalling reviews. I have only been on Riviera for 3 weeks when she was new. Alaska this May on Regatta and I will compare. If the itinerary suits us, we may one day sail on Regent, but I probably chose the wrong ship with the Navigator. Always enjoy your reviews and thanks again for Disney for the family xo

[DaisyUK]

Just a rider to the OP - we have only sailed on Riviera one time so far, but we had no problem whatsoever making reservations for just the 2 of us in ANY of the restaurants, although as others have said we booked ahead in the specialty restaurants.

[Hambagahle]

And no problem for us either to get a table for 2 in the GDR OR the Terrace Café.

 

I don't know what Regent is doing about open air dining at night these days but in all the cruises I have had on Regent in "warm weather" places they never, not once, opened the back terraces of la Veranda for dinner. Which I thought was a real shame.

 

I also have stated elsewhere that we had the BEST Chateaubriand with sauce Bérnaise we have ever had in our lives in the Grand Dining Room on Oceania's Rivera. I am very impressed with the GDR, I have to say.

[babysteps]

...After your expected reservations, it may be difficult to get a table for two...

 

This is our experience as well. Sometimes being willing to dine late makes a 2-top easier to get.

 

Just because it says "sharing" on the reservation doesn't mean you won't get lucky - we had a "share" reservation at Toscana in December 2014 on Marina and our tablemates were (late? didn't arrive at all?) and we ended up at a table for two. Not typical, but never say never.

 

Also, if you are *not* affected by mal de mer and *if* your itinerary has a choppy evening on a night you don't already have a specialty reservation for 2, there will be plenty of unexpected openings at Polo and Toscana in our experience - possibly also Jacques and Red Ginger, although they theoretically get less movement.

[LHT28]

This is our experience as well. Sometimes being willing to dine late makes a 2-top easier to get.

 

Just because it says "sharing" on the reservation doesn't mean you won't get lucky - we had a "share" reservation at Toscana in December 2014 on Marina and our tablemates were (late? didn't arrive at all?) and we ended up at a table for two. Not typical, but never say never.

 

 

If you do not want to share then just put NO in the pull down menu when making reservations online

 

We had a table for 4 on one cruise ..I guess after us sitting there for 20 min the Maitre'D must have called the other party

He came to tell us they were too tired so were not coming & we would be served immediately

 

Again on Riviera we had sharing there were 5 of us sat waiting for 2 other guests who were no shows ..finally after 30 min one lady asked just to serve us ...the wait staff could not figure that out on their own :rolleyes:

 

PLEASE if you have reservation & are too tired CALL the restaurant & let them know so others are not waiting to eat because of you

Edited January 23, 2015 by LHT28

[PaulMCO]

Just a reminder there are 5 specialty restaurants. The best being La Reserve. You can book that up to 3 months ahead with prepayment.

[babysteps]

...

PLEASE if you have reservation & are too tired CALL the restaurant & let them know so others are not waiting to eat because of you

 

+1

 

and to clarify, our "sharing" reservation that turned into not sharing was an on-board same-day extra reservation (it was in addition to our pre-cruise reservations).