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Do we "need" a reservation for the Steakhouse on the first night?

iujen94

By iujen94,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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iujen94

iujen94

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We are thinking about trying the Steakhouse on the first night of our upcoming cruise. I'm wondering if we "need" to make an advance reservation for the first night - or are we likely to be able to walk up when we are ready to eat and be seated relatively quickly? We aren't 100% sure we will eat there, nor are we sure exactly what time we will want to eat. Since they offer specials if you dine there the first night (1/2 off a bottle of wine, I believe?), I'm guessing that it usually isn't that busy on the first night, but I wasn't sure if we needed a reservation ahead of time if we ended up wanting to eat there. This is on the Liberty, a 3-day cruise out of Port Canaveral, leaving at 4:00pm. Thanks for any tips!

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jh2360

jh2360

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We are thinking about trying the Steakhouse on the first night of our upcoming cruise. I'm wondering if we "need" to make an advance reservation for the first night - or are we likely to be able to walk up when we are ready to eat and be seated relatively quickly? We aren't 100% sure we will eat there, nor are we sure exactly what time we will want to eat. Since they offer specials if you dine there the first night (1/2 off a bottle of wine, I believe?), I'm guessing that it usually isn't that busy on the first night, but I wasn't sure if we needed a reservation ahead of time if we ended up wanting to eat there. This is on the Liberty, a 3-day cruise out of Port Canaveral, leaving at 4:00pm. Thanks for any tips!

My cruise next week is booked the first two nights.

 

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tea4ular

tea4ular

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I'll agree that making a reservation gives you peace of mind that you're all set. You can always cancel, but it's never a given that you'd be seated within a short wait (or even at all) without a reservation. Due to the more relaxed dress code of the first night, and the wine offer, I would think it's one of the busier evenings.

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rkacruiser

rkacruiser

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Recently off Liberty on her 4 day cruise and the Steakhouse had many unoccupied tables. Just to be safe, though, a reservation can be made and easily canceled. I would check after embarkation that your reservation did get recorded--or make a reservation at that time. And, yes, the free bottle of house wine or 50% off any wine on their wine list is still available.

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rich121

rich121

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Book it. I made the mistake of waiting. I am on the Vista next week and the Steakhouse is booked every night of the cruse! I have never had a problem getting a reservation before while on the ship but now I regret waiting so long.

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riclop

riclop

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We are thinking about trying the Steakhouse on the first night of our upcoming cruise. I'm wondering if we "need" to make an advance reservation for the first night - or are we likely to be able to walk up when we are ready to eat and be seated relatively quickly? We aren't 100% sure we will eat there, nor are we sure exactly what time we will want to eat. Since they offer specials if you dine there the first night (1/2 off a bottle of wine, I believe?), I'm guessing that it usually isn't that busy on the first night, but I wasn't sure if we needed a reservation ahead of time if we ended up wanting to eat there. This is on the Liberty, a 3-day cruise out of Port Canaveral, leaving at 4:00pm. Thanks for any tips!

 

Always make a reservation.

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rkacruiser

rkacruiser

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Last time we went, it was Santa Carolina Merlot for the red and Santa Carolina Chardonnay for the white.

 

That is what I also was told aboard Liberty,

 

HAL also uses this label as a house wine. I have tried the Merlot and it is "OK"; not the best nor the worst I have tasted.

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rkacruiser

rkacruiser

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Can each diner get half off a bottle of wine and take it with them when they leave?

 

On another thread, it has been posted that the folks were able to buy 3 bottles of wine at 50% off. In my experience, not with this exact situation, when a guest buys a bottle of wine in any ship's venue, you may do with it as you wish: drink it all then, send it to the MDR, or take it with you.

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coevan

coevan

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I'll agree that making a reservation gives you peace of mind that you're all set. You can always cancel, but it's never a given that you'd be seated within a short wait (or even at all) without a reservation. Due to the more relaxed dress code of the first night, and the wine offer, I would think it's one of the busier evenings.

 

 

 

The more relaxed dress code does not apply to the Steakhouse, only the MDR. We witnessed a guy in shorts turned away on the first night.

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MMastell

MMastell

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I would make the reservation.

 

I have done walk ups and made reservations early, on the same day, and have never been turned away. The longest wait we had on a walk up was an hour.

 

If you are flexible with when you can eat then you have a great chance of getting a same day reservation if you book early in the day.

 

Take care,

Mike

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iujen94

iujen94

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Who do you email to make the reservation?

 

When you go onto My Cruise Manager on the Carnival website, there is an option for "Specialty Dining Reservations." You'll enter your preferred dining date and time, and they email you back to confirm the time or let you know what they have available. If your requested time isn't available, they'll offer you the next later time. In my case I requested 7:00 and they offered me 8:00. I was able to email back and forth and ultimately get an earlier time of 6:00.

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