Navigator specialty restaurants

[thehams]

We are traveling on the NOS in September and I saw that we can make reservations on-line for the specialty restaurants, but that we have to pay for them ahead of time. I don't mind paying ahead of time, but what if we change our mind once we are on the ship that we don't want to go or if we need to change the time?

 

Are we pretty safe waiting until we are on the cruise to make a reservation? I'm just worried all the "prime" dining times will get reserved.

 

Which ones are a MUST, we like the sound of all of them!

 

What does this mean: Make 3 reservations at any of our specialty restaurants and receive a 20% onboard credit† with our dining package.

 

I don't see a dinning package on the website.

[Clarea]

We have always had good luck booking specialty restaurants onboard. I would wait, unless you have some very specific reservation day/time you cannot live without.

 

The dining "package" is what you read, book 3 specialty restaurants and get some percentage of your dining fees back as onboard credit. You can do this on the ship too.

Edited April 13, 2015 by clarea

[George C]

We liked the specialty restaurants, I would book them about 2 weeks before the cruise , but most likely have no problem booking when you get on board, we will be on board in 2 weeks and have 2 reservations for Izumi ( we loved that last year) also one for Giovanni's and 1 for chops. Did not try Sabor. They are cheaper for lunch but not open everyday, Chops is only open for dinner.

[jenembeckey]

You can make reservation when you get on the ship. We always make our reservation shortly after we board on the first day and have had no problem. We have also been able to get a 20% discount for going to Chops on the first night. I don't know if other specialy restaurants do this.

[Sonnieb]

If you do the "dining" package, can you choose to do one of the restaurants twice or more) ... or do the choices have to all be different? Is it a set fee for the "dining" package, or just what each specialty restaurant charges?

[spookwife]

We are traveling on the NOS in September and I saw that we can make reservations on-line for the specialty restaurants, but that we have to pay for them ahead of time. I don't mind paying ahead of time, but what if we change our mind once we are on the ship that we don't want to go or if we need to change the time?

 

Are we pretty safe waiting until we are on the cruise to make a reservation? I'm just worried all the "prime" dining times will get reserved.

 

Which ones are a MUST, we like the sound of all of them!

 

What does this mean: Make 3 reservations at any of our specialty restaurants and receive a 20% onboard credit† with our dining package.

 

I don't see a dinning package on the website.

MY experience :

 

wait until you board. we pre paid a few and when we got on board they were offering very nice package deal(better than 20% ..it was closer to 30% plus offering Chef's table at 50% off) . but trying to get the adjusted pricing/credit was impossible. I still am convinced we paid full price twice for Chef's Table. instead of getting it at half off.

 

We adore Izumi, and Giovanni's table. Sabor doesn' do it for us, but many people love it. Chops, in our opinion, has gone downhill badly recently for dinner.

 

there should never be any problem getting a reservation, regardless of time or day( formal nights they do tend to be busier as people do not wish to dress sup for the MDR)

[Clarea]

If you do the "dining" package, can you choose to do one of the restaurants twice or more) ... or do the choices have to all be different? Is it a set fee for the "dining" package, or just what each specialty restaurant charges?

You can do a restaurant more than once and still get the OBC from the package:

 

http://media.royalcaribbean.com/content/en_US/pdf/dining_discount_packages.pdf

[DebJ14]

It is great advice to wait until you get onboard until you are unable to get a reservation.

 

We sailed the NOS and pre-reserved 1 reservation at Chops, 1 at Giovanni's Table and 1 at Sabor.

 

We were very disappointed in the MDR when I was served food containing gluten the first night and was sick as a dog within 30 minutes in spite of the waiter knowing about our GF diet and specifically going over the order with the head waiter.

 

We had no such problems with any of the other restaurants so we decided to avoid the MDR. We were only able to get one more additional reservation in Sabor and were closed out of the other two restaurants when we wanted additional reservations. Even the Concierge could not get them for us.

 

So, now we pre-book all the reservations we think we might want and cancel if things go well in the MDR. They money is refunded in the form of an onboard credit.

 

FYI - it is even harder to score a reservation onboard Carnival for the steakhouse. They let people make reservations without paying and they get completely booked up. We have been put on the waiting list for additional reservations, and never been able to get them. (Carnival Steakhouse is actually much better than Chops.)

[Paulette3028]

We love Izumi and when we are on a ship (like Navigator) that has it, we are there for a dinner.....all the rest we have in the MDR.

 

Anyone reading this and sailing on Navigator on the 11/22/15 sailing....join our Roll Call!!!!

[Sonnieb]

Thank you Clarea for your response. Now we'll know what to do. Thanks again.

[BigB0882]

How much is it to eat at the specialty restaurants? Is everything priced separately like at a normal restaurant or is it a set fee to get appetizer, entree and dessert...regardless of choice?

 

We will be on NOS for a 12 day Baltic next summer. I have never sailed RCL but I am pretty sure I will not be able to do MDR 12 nights in a row.

 

Do they do any kind of package where you can buy unlimited specialty dining? I would consider it. Just got back from our 3rd Carnival cruise and some of the food is fine but nothing in the MDR is ever great and it all starts to feel the same after 4 nights or so. Maybe RCL will be different and I wont mind the MDR but this is a huge trip for my husband and I so I want to treat us to some specialty restaurants during our trip.

 

So, what can we expect to pay and is there some kind of package besides the promotion about reserving 3 and getting 20% back?

Edited June 29, 2015 by BigB0882

[Clarea]

How much is it to eat at the specialty restaurants? Is everything priced separately like at a normal restaurant or is it a set fee to get appetizer, entree and dessert...regardless of choice?

 

We will be on NOS for a 12 day Baltic next summer. I have never sailed RCL but I am pretty sure I will not be able to do MDR 12 nights in a row.

 

Do they do any kind of package where you can buy unlimited specialty dining? I would consider it. Just got back from our 3rd Carnival cruise and some of the food is fine but nothing in the MDR is ever great and it all starts to feel the same after 4 nights or so. Maybe RCL will be different and I wont mind the MDR but this is a huge trip for my husband and I so I want to treat us to some specialty restaurants during our trip.

 

So, what can we expect to pay and is there some kind of package besides the promotion about reserving 3 and getting 20% back?

The restaurants on Navigator with a fixed cover charge are: Giovanni's Table, Chops, Johnny Rockets, and Sabor. Note that Chops has some entrees that have an extra cost above the cover charge.

 

Izumi has per item pricing.

Edited June 29, 2015 by clarea

[George C]

Best bargain is Giovanni's for lunch normal price is 15 but they were charging only 12 the week I was on, it is only open on sea days, 4 course meal , great service