linkerbink Posted October 10, 2015 #1 Share Posted October 10, 2015 We just got off an 8-nighter to New England and Canada on the Grandeur. Every day throughout the cruise we were approached by crew members offering 50% off at the different specialty restaurants. Are they having trouble filling the available reservations? And no, we didn't take advantage of the offers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clarea Posted October 10, 2015 #2 Share Posted October 10, 2015 It probably varies by ship and itinerary, but we have also experienced reduced price specialty restaurant offers on some, but not all cruises. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cb at sea Posted October 10, 2015 #3 Share Posted October 10, 2015 We've rarely found the specialty restaurants to be completely booked for every timeslot! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lahlah57 Posted October 10, 2015 #4 Share Posted October 10, 2015 I prefer free specialty dining and by the sounds of it so do others;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teecee60 Posted October 10, 2015 #5 Share Posted October 10, 2015 (edited) We just got off an 8-nighter to New England and Canada on the Grandeur. Every day throughout the cruise we were approached by crew members offering 50% off at the different specialty restaurants. And no, we didn't take advantage of the offers. Just curious as to why you would not take advantage of such a good deal? :confused: Edited October 10, 2015 by teecee60 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paulxyz2004 Posted October 10, 2015 #6 Share Posted October 10, 2015 My experience is for sure not scientific, but I´ve never seen the Restaurants anywhere Close to being fully booked, most of the times they are rather empty. I also recognize for years how they constantly advertise the specialyty Dining. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big_G Posted October 10, 2015 #7 Share Posted October 10, 2015 I have to agree with Bob because, after all, who wouldn't but most of all our experience has been almost full restaurants. Maybe we just sail and eat during peak times. Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
setsail Posted October 10, 2015 #8 Share Posted October 10, 2015 Did you ask them for an answer while on the ship? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nelblu Posted October 10, 2015 #9 Share Posted October 10, 2015 We like to eat between 5:30 - 6:30 and many times we are the first diners. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dschultz56 Posted October 10, 2015 #10 Share Posted October 10, 2015 We just got off an 8-nighter to New England and Canada on the Grandeur. Every day throughout the cruise we were approached by crew members offering 50% off at the different specialty restaurants. Are they having trouble filling the available reservations? And no, we didn't take advantage of the offers. We just got off the 9-night Canada/New England on Brilliance. Same story..we were approached almost every day for special deals. And we took them up on it 4 nights because the main dining room menu on several nights was just unappealing. And the specialty dining wasn't even close to being full on any night. There were fewer than 10 people most of the times we dined (usually 6-8pm). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonto524 Posted October 10, 2015 #11 Share Posted October 10, 2015 On the other hand, I'm concerned because I haven't been able to make a res at either Chops or Giovanni's for any night of our 13 night cruise. Showing unavailable. Is this because they really ARE or because we are close to sailing (10/25) and might I have better luck on board? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maggieq Posted October 10, 2015 #12 Share Posted October 10, 2015 That's a current perk for D+ I wish they would change it as it's not unique for D+ anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruisegirl1 Posted October 10, 2015 #13 Share Posted October 10, 2015 If I recall correctly, on our recent Freedom cruise, they were offering a speciality dining full package for $20 per person per night for the duration of the cruise. I guess that equates basically to BOGO every night. A few times we haven't been able to get a reservation but more often than not the restaurants have not appeared to be too crowded. M Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Smitty815 Posted October 10, 2015 #14 Share Posted October 10, 2015 My last cruise on the Oasis The four of us were given free meals at the Solarium one evening. Personally I felt that the windjammer and MDR were much better. They did it because they had too many people booked for the MDR. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clarea Posted October 10, 2015 #15 Share Posted October 10, 2015 My last cruise on the Oasis The four of us were given free meals at the Solarium one evening. Personally I felt that the windjammer and MDR were much better. They did it because they had too many people booked for the MDR. Windjammer and the MDR were better than dinner in the Solarium Bistro? That was not our feeling at all last month on Oasis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorkvillain Posted October 10, 2015 #16 Share Posted October 10, 2015 (edited) My last cruise on the Oasis The four of us were given free meals at the Solarium one evening. Personally I felt that the windjammer and MDR were much better. They did it because they had too many people booked for the MDR. Windjammer and the MDR were better than dinner in the Solarium Bistro? That was not our feeling at all last month on Oasis. Agreed. I could go for that bison right about now. Edited October 10, 2015 by Yorkvillain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clarea Posted October 10, 2015 #17 Share Posted October 10, 2015 Agreed. I could go for that bison right about now. And the atmosphere and service too. Really nice place to eat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShakeDaddy Posted October 10, 2015 #18 Share Posted October 10, 2015 We prefer the variety and always at least dine in a specialty a few times per cruise. A discount is not what drives our decision, but if it's available all the better. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kalliekae Posted October 10, 2015 #19 Share Posted October 10, 2015 I have to agree with Bob because, after all, who wouldn't but most of all our experience has been almost full restaurants. Maybe we just sail and eat during peak times. I've only been on two Oasis cruises, but we always eat in the specialty dining restaurants and all have been full or almost full. When we ate at Giovanni's, they were setting up extra tables in Central Park for the crowd and it was around 8:30pm. Chops was similarly busy. Only Vintages seems never crowded when we've been in there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ashland Posted October 10, 2015 #20 Share Posted October 10, 2015 Just recently off Radiance (Alaska) and took notice each night that Rita's Crab Shack and Izumi were empty...and the reason I did was on my two prior cruises before that on Jewel and Mariner the speciality restaurants were also mostly empty each night...From what I've seen recently it looks like these dining venues are not the big success RCI thought they would be. JMHO and what I personally noticed on my particular cruises. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linkerbink Posted October 10, 2015 Author #21 Share Posted October 10, 2015 Just curious as to why you would not take advantage of such a good deal? :confused: We already paid for our meals with our fare....no need to pay extra when we are perfectly satisfied with other options. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Smitty815 Posted October 11, 2015 #22 Share Posted October 11, 2015 Windjammer and the MDR were better than dinner in the Solarium Bistro? That was not our feeling at all last month on Oasis. Yeah all four of us were disappointed. I'm normally not one to complain as I'm easily satisfied, but the steak I had tasted like a rubber boot haha. We were all so excited to eat somewhere fancier but ended up leaving and going to the windjammer to fill up. The atmosphere was really nice and I loved the deserts that's were available. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big_G Posted October 11, 2015 #23 Share Posted October 11, 2015 I have to agree with Bob because, after all, who wouldn't but most of all our experience has been almost full restaurants. Maybe we just sail and eat during peak times. Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk Guess I spoke too soon. Had a 7pm res at Giovanni's tonight and were walked right in without anyone asking if we had one. Probably a quarter of the tables were empty. It got a little busier but was never full while we were there. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonto524 Posted October 11, 2015 #24 Share Posted October 11, 2015 So what do you all think about the situation currently with both Chops and Giovanni's showing nothing available for the 13 night 10/25 Brilliance sailing ? Really full? Closed to reservations until we board? Not that this is the end of the world, but it seems kind of strange. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trainman-2 Posted October 11, 2015 #25 Share Posted October 11, 2015 The specialty restaurants often appear to not be crowded, especially earlier in the evening because of the kitchen capacity/capability. On our last cruise we were told by the Chops manager that the kitchen can put our 20 meals every 30 minutes so the book reservations so that 20 diners come in every 30 minutes. For example, if a restaurant can seat 80 people they will book 20 reservations for 6 pm when they open and the restaurant will appear to be 3/4 empty. At 6:30 20 more people come in and the restaurant looks 1/2 empty. At 7 pm when 20 more people come it it will look 3/4 full. At 7:30 pm 20 more will come in and the restaurant will appear to be full but the first group will be starting to leave. When you think about it, this is a pretty good system which allows the restaurant to provide reasonably prompt service for everyone. It is when they are not booking 20 people every 30 minutes that they start offering discounts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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